“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”
The compassion of Jesus never fails to move me to compassion. I want to see what He and feel what He felt, and what He saw was a multitude of people who were weary and scattered and were like sheep without a shepherd. What He felt was compassion.
My favorite word in the Greek language is splagthnizomai, which comes from the word for inward parts or entrails and so means to be moved with “bowels of mercy” or to have a visceral reaction of compassion. The kind of compassion Jesus had wasn’t the manufactured tears or weepy faces that some people put on, and it wasn’t something He somehow had to work to summon up because He was “supposed to.”
Jesus’ compassion was one He was spontaneously moved to and one for which He had an accompanying visceral reaction. This kind of compassion is not the cool-headed Hollywood millionaire deciding to plunk down a fat check on his favorite charity. It is the kind of compassion that is visceral and bodily and can only come from a heart that has been made a compassionate one.
In His day, the people were weary, and they were scattered, everyone seemingly doing his own thing. They had no shepherd because they had no one to lead them.
And then Jesus came. He came teaching, preaching, and healing, and the amazing thing is that even after “Jesus went about all the cities and villages, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease,” Jesus still sees a multitude of sheep who need a shepherd. Having spent the days of His public ministry on behalf of others, there were still too many who needed to know and follow Him.
What He did in response to His compassion is also amazing. We might have expected Him to double His efforts, to begin teaching and healing in double-time so that twice as many could hear Him and be healed. He could have just commanded that all hear and be healed. But what He actually did in response to a world full of lost sheep was to send out laborers into the harvest.
In response to His great compassion, Jesus calls the twelve disciples to Himself and gives them authority over unclean spirits and to heal all kinds of disease. And then He sends them out into the harvest, to go and redeem lost souls, and to act as shepherds to who go out to gather the lost sheep.
Jesus still has compassion for the lost people of the world. He still has bowels of mercy and desires that something be done to heal the sick and preach the gospel and to have more sheep be brought into His fold. And He still chooses to do this the same way – by sending out His disciples into the world.
“The harvest is still plentiful,” He says to you, “but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Jesus Christ has sent you, His disciple, out into the harvest. He has called you to help go and make disciples of the nations.
You can’t fool me: I’m a former schoolteacher. I see some of you slinking down in your chairs and turning around, as if Jesus Christ means these words for the guy who’s sitting behind you. But He means these words for you: you are the one He is sending out to the multitude of lost sheep.
Sometimes I wonder about these words, “The laborers are few.” What does Jesus mean? In the U.S. there are 160 million adults (we’ll let the children off the hook for now) who claim to be Christians, which is about 77% of the adult population. 45% of adults in the U.S. claim to be “born again,” which would give us about 100 million people. Since there are something like 220 million adults in the U.S., I’d say we had plenty of laborers. I mean, after all, since almost half of the adults are born-again Christians, each of us only has to bring the Good News to just one person.
Unless, of course, something is wrong with my numbers. Why is it that we have a country where half the adults can say they’re born again Christians and yet easily more than half of the U.S. is still lost?
I think it comes down to the passion and compassion of Jesus Christ. Do we really have the same passion to serve God as Jesus Christ did? When we say we are really disciples of Jesus Christ, do we back it up with our lives? In the U.S. as a whole (and the world, I suppose), the answer is a clear “No!”
Do we have the compassion of Jesus Christ which looks out at the world and sees lost sheep, that is, lost souls going to Hell? Or do we see people just like us who don’t want to be disturbed, just as we are too busy to disturb others with the Good News of Jesus Christ?
But you can’t manufacture compassion for the lost sheep. It must come from a heart completely devoted to God and to doing His will. This is why Jesus saw lost sheep, when we see only golfing buddies or the office acquaintance or Uncle Harold.
Do you really want to give the perfect Christmas present this year? Give someone Jesus Christ. We love picking out just the right gift – but are we just giving to those who love us? Jesus has commanded us to go those who are not already a part of our circle of love or our earthly family. He has sent you to have compassion on those who are lost and to show your compassion for the lost and your passion for God by teaching them about Jesus Christ.
Without a passion for God, however, you will have no compassion for the lost sheep that propels you into motion. Therefore, this Christmas, come once again to Jesus Christ and adore Him. But don’t just Ooh! and Ahh! at the Christmas pictures or the cute kids at the Christmas pageant. Come and adore the King of kings, and hear His commandment to go out and make disciples of the nations.
For this is the most fitting Christmas present for the God who gave Himself to you and who has called you to give Him to others.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, I praise You today for Your passion in perfectly obeying the will of the Father for me. I praise You for Your compassion on the lost sheep of the world, especially myself. I pray that today I may be a true disciple by hearing the voice of my Master and obeying Your commandment to go into the world to give You to others. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
What does Jesus’ commandment to His disciples to go out and find the lost sheep mean to me? Do I believe this is a call He has placed on my life, or is it only for others? What have I done to obey my Master in going out to bring the lost sheep to Him? What do I hear Him calling me to do this new year to be a more faithful disciple in this regard?
Resolution: I resolve to adore and worship Jesus my Master this Christmastide. I resolve to worship Him by obeying His commandment to go and disciple the nations and to ponder my part in God’s plan of redeeming mankind.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Friday, December 19, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Friday of Advent 3 - 2 Corinthians 5:5–21
Christ was born of flesh that we might be born of the Spirit.
This is the message this morning, as the birth pangs of Christmas and miracle of the Incarnation come even closer to us. St. Paul doesn’t deal directly with the Incarnation here in 2 Corinthians 5, but in the context of the last days of Advent before Christmas, his message takes on a new and wonderful meaning.
Christ was born of flesh that we might be born of the Spirit.
We do see the meaning of Christmas in verse 19, where Paul writes that, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” Remembering that we can’t separate one part of the ministry of Jesus from another, we see the beginning of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation in His Incarnation. God’s first daring move in the work of salvation is to take on human flesh. With all of its finitude and sinfulness, God took on human flesh that He might reconcile the world to Himself.
How much God must have loved His ruined creation to become a part of it! How much more must He have loved those made in His image, even though they were image-destroyers and desecraters of His creation, to become one of us!
But it is not enough that God become one of us: the goal of the Incarnation is Glorification. God came down to earth and became man that man might ascend to heaven and partake of God. In this way, the love and humility of God become the glory of mankind and of all creation.
Even as God became one of us, God makes us a part of Himself, a partaker of His nature. Even as He takes off the Old Man from us, He puts the New Man on. This is why Paul says in verse 2 that we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven. Paul knows that though we have already been clothed with Christ, who is the New Man and our righteousness, we are not yet fully clothed. And so at Christmas we must use both of our eyes: one eye to rejoice in the First Coming of Christ in human flesh, and one eye to seek the Second Coming of Christ in which we fully dwell with God.
Because Jesus Christ was born at Christmas we are all enabled to be born again. Jesus Christ’s becoming one of us is what makes possible us becoming partakers of God. At Christmas we celebrate, therefore, not just the birth of Jesus Christ but also our rebirth in Him. The wonder and awe and praise and joy and thanksgiving we give to God because of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas should also be given to Him at Christmas because we have become born again!
While Jesus was clothed in human flesh, we are clothed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our new birth, the being clothed from heaven (verse 2.)
In celebrating Christmas, then, we celebrate not only the birth of Jesus Christ but also our own birth. Because Jesus Christ was made flesh and God chose to dwell with man, we are enabled by the Spirit to dwell with God.
At Christmas, we are witnesses of and participants in the greatest exchange of gifts in history. We are partakers of the eternal, divine Christmas.
But the gifts are not equal. When we as humans exchange gifts at Christmas, we usually try to “even things” out. If someone’s custom is to give me a $10 gift, then the odds are I’ll probably give them a $10 gift, and if he gives me a $100 gift, I’ll probably give him a $100 gift.
But in the original Christmas, the exchange of gifts was not “fair” or “evened out.” God gave Himself to mankind, a gift for which there can be no equal. He gave us His righteousness and eternal life. And in return we gave Him our sin and death. Some deal for God, huh? He must have really loved us to make it!
I like chemistry, and for those chemists who are reading, this is the greatest double replacement reaction ever known. Jesus Christ who was perfect and without sin becomes sin (verse 21), and we who were sinful become righteous.
It is something like this simple reaction:
NaOH + HCl => NaCl + HOH (or H20)
Sodium hydroxide + hydrochloric acid produces sodium chloride (table salt) + water
Theologically, the “replacement reaction” is like this:
Jesus Christ-righteous + man-sinful => Jesus Christ-sin + man-righteous
But praise God that though the second product of this reaction (the righteous man) continues forever, the first product (Jesus Christ becoming sin) no longer exists! In God’s exotic chemistry, what really is created is something beyond the understanding of the scientist. What is created is the following product of the divine chemistry of reconciliation: God-man. First: Jesus Christ made man; and second: us united with God forever in Christ. It is the reconciliation of God and man that is the product of the divine reaction that began at Christmas.
If all of this is mumbo-jumbo to you, then at least know this: Behold! You are a new creation – a human made righteous in Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ became like you and took away your sin and death. Because you are now a partaker of the divine nature and have received the greatest Christmas present ever, and because you have been given the love of God along with God Himself, it is now your turn. Now you, in Christ, are a minister of reconciliation. Now, with Christ, you are to take the greatest Christmas present of all time, and the only one that truly keeps on giving, and share it with those who are poor in spirit.
This Christmas, as God gave Himself to you, give the gift of God to others.
Christ was born of flesh that we might be born of the Spirit.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son in my life, who gave Himself for the redemption of the world. Thank You, Jesus, for becoming like me that I might live with You. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for making me a fit dwelling place for the Son of God. Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help me to show my thankfulness to You by giving You as a gift others. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. Remember and meditate on your reaction to the greatest Christmas present any human ever gave to you. What did you feel? Apply this reaction to the gifts that God has given to you.
2. Meditate on how you can demonstrate your thankfulness to God by being a more faithful minister of reconciliation, by more faithfully sharing the gifts that God has given to you.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate on God’s incomparable gift of His Son to me.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
This is the message this morning, as the birth pangs of Christmas and miracle of the Incarnation come even closer to us. St. Paul doesn’t deal directly with the Incarnation here in 2 Corinthians 5, but in the context of the last days of Advent before Christmas, his message takes on a new and wonderful meaning.
Christ was born of flesh that we might be born of the Spirit.
We do see the meaning of Christmas in verse 19, where Paul writes that, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” Remembering that we can’t separate one part of the ministry of Jesus from another, we see the beginning of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation in His Incarnation. God’s first daring move in the work of salvation is to take on human flesh. With all of its finitude and sinfulness, God took on human flesh that He might reconcile the world to Himself.
How much God must have loved His ruined creation to become a part of it! How much more must He have loved those made in His image, even though they were image-destroyers and desecraters of His creation, to become one of us!
But it is not enough that God become one of us: the goal of the Incarnation is Glorification. God came down to earth and became man that man might ascend to heaven and partake of God. In this way, the love and humility of God become the glory of mankind and of all creation.
Even as God became one of us, God makes us a part of Himself, a partaker of His nature. Even as He takes off the Old Man from us, He puts the New Man on. This is why Paul says in verse 2 that we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven. Paul knows that though we have already been clothed with Christ, who is the New Man and our righteousness, we are not yet fully clothed. And so at Christmas we must use both of our eyes: one eye to rejoice in the First Coming of Christ in human flesh, and one eye to seek the Second Coming of Christ in which we fully dwell with God.
Because Jesus Christ was born at Christmas we are all enabled to be born again. Jesus Christ’s becoming one of us is what makes possible us becoming partakers of God. At Christmas we celebrate, therefore, not just the birth of Jesus Christ but also our rebirth in Him. The wonder and awe and praise and joy and thanksgiving we give to God because of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas should also be given to Him at Christmas because we have become born again!
While Jesus was clothed in human flesh, we are clothed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our new birth, the being clothed from heaven (verse 2.)
In celebrating Christmas, then, we celebrate not only the birth of Jesus Christ but also our own birth. Because Jesus Christ was made flesh and God chose to dwell with man, we are enabled by the Spirit to dwell with God.
At Christmas, we are witnesses of and participants in the greatest exchange of gifts in history. We are partakers of the eternal, divine Christmas.
But the gifts are not equal. When we as humans exchange gifts at Christmas, we usually try to “even things” out. If someone’s custom is to give me a $10 gift, then the odds are I’ll probably give them a $10 gift, and if he gives me a $100 gift, I’ll probably give him a $100 gift.
But in the original Christmas, the exchange of gifts was not “fair” or “evened out.” God gave Himself to mankind, a gift for which there can be no equal. He gave us His righteousness and eternal life. And in return we gave Him our sin and death. Some deal for God, huh? He must have really loved us to make it!
I like chemistry, and for those chemists who are reading, this is the greatest double replacement reaction ever known. Jesus Christ who was perfect and without sin becomes sin (verse 21), and we who were sinful become righteous.
It is something like this simple reaction:
NaOH + HCl => NaCl + HOH (or H20)
Sodium hydroxide + hydrochloric acid produces sodium chloride (table salt) + water
Theologically, the “replacement reaction” is like this:
Jesus Christ-righteous + man-sinful => Jesus Christ-sin + man-righteous
But praise God that though the second product of this reaction (the righteous man) continues forever, the first product (Jesus Christ becoming sin) no longer exists! In God’s exotic chemistry, what really is created is something beyond the understanding of the scientist. What is created is the following product of the divine chemistry of reconciliation: God-man. First: Jesus Christ made man; and second: us united with God forever in Christ. It is the reconciliation of God and man that is the product of the divine reaction that began at Christmas.
If all of this is mumbo-jumbo to you, then at least know this: Behold! You are a new creation – a human made righteous in Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ became like you and took away your sin and death. Because you are now a partaker of the divine nature and have received the greatest Christmas present ever, and because you have been given the love of God along with God Himself, it is now your turn. Now you, in Christ, are a minister of reconciliation. Now, with Christ, you are to take the greatest Christmas present of all time, and the only one that truly keeps on giving, and share it with those who are poor in spirit.
This Christmas, as God gave Himself to you, give the gift of God to others.
Christ was born of flesh that we might be born of the Spirit.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son in my life, who gave Himself for the redemption of the world. Thank You, Jesus, for becoming like me that I might live with You. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for making me a fit dwelling place for the Son of God. Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help me to show my thankfulness to You by giving You as a gift others. Amen.
Point for Meditation:
1. Remember and meditate on your reaction to the greatest Christmas present any human ever gave to you. What did you feel? Apply this reaction to the gifts that God has given to you.
2. Meditate on how you can demonstrate your thankfulness to God by being a more faithful minister of reconciliation, by more faithfully sharing the gifts that God has given to you.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate on God’s incomparable gift of His Son to me.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Thursday of Advent 3 - Mark 6:1-6
As we approach our celebration of God made man in Jesus Christ, I find that this little passage in Mark 6 is a wonderful picture of the mystery of God made man.
Although by the beginning of Mark 6 we have already seen ample evidence that Jesus is God, we see it here again: Jesus lays His hands on a few sick people and heals them. But perhaps the greatest miracle God ever performed, along with the Resurrection and Atonement, is for God to be made man. How God can squeeze His infinite Self into a bodily vessel such as yours or mine defies the human mind and imagination.
But this God who can command the wind and waves actually did become a man. And this is why it is important to know that Jesus was a carpenter. Those in His hometown of Nazareth knew Him not as the Son of God or the Messiah but simply and only as Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph and Mary’s son, the carpenter.
Jesus the carpenter has captivated the imagination of Christians for centuries, and rightly so. Because Jesus is truly a man, He had hands, and with these hands He worked. He Himself, by His divine hands, had fashioned the heavens and the earth and ordained that man should work for six days of the week. He Himself created the physical things of the world and declared them to be good. How fitting, then, that the Creator of the world should become part of it and show us the sanctity of work.
It has not escaped the attention of Christians over the years that the same medium, wood, in which Jesus worked in His life as a carpenter was the medium by which He was put to death. By His working with wood, of the things of the earth, Jesus taught us the value of the world to Him and of man’s labor in it.
There is a wonderful Nativity Hymn by Ephraim the Syrian, a 4th century Church Father, part of which is:
“Blessed by your coming, O master of workers everywhere.
The imprint of your labor is seen in the ark,
And in the fashioning of the tabernacle
Of the congregation that was for a time only!
Our whole craft praises you, who are our eternal glory.
Make for us a yoke that is light, even easy, for us to bear.
Establish that measure in us in which there can be no falseness.”
The next time your work seems boring or meaningless or drudgery or heavy, learn from Him who both created and redeemed human labor. Remember the hands that created not only carts and tables but also healed mankind. Remember the hands that were pierced and bled for you. “And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!” (verse 2.)
Jesus as God is a wonder to behold, and so is Jesus the man. But it is God in man, the Incarnation of God Almighty of which we sing and which especially makes Christian hearts everywhere rejoice! Here is the greatest mystery and miracle and the greatest Christmas present of all: Immanuel, God with us, God in us!
I see this mystery at work not only in the life of Jesus of Nazareth but also in the lives of ordinary men. I see it even in the unbelief of the citizenry of Nazareth, in that mysterious verse, Mark 6:5, “Now He could no mighty work there . . . .” He could do no mighty work there because the people of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, lacked faith. Now God can and does perform His mighty works without our faith, and yet He has chosen to work through our faith, and not usually apart from it. This is another mysterious implication of the Incarnation.
This is St. Paul’s mystery of “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:9.) God’s grace is sovereign, and He will give it to whom He will give it. It is all from Him, and we in no way deserve it or can do anything to obtain it. This we know, and this is the divine side of Christ. We also know that God comes to us in our humanity, for He has laid His hands upon us and healed us. But it is in faith that the grace of God and the healing of man meet, faith which, though entirely of grace, is also a truly human response to this grace. God’s grace, received through faith, results in the healing of God’s people.
This is the miracle of Christmas, of God made man that man may be with God.
Let us rejoice because of the holy and loving hands of Jesus the Creator of the world and Jesus the carpenter. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10.)
Prayer: Blessed be the Wise One, who reconciled and joined the Divine with the Human Nature, one from above and one from below. Blessed be the One who blesses us with His nail-torn hands and hallows all human labor. Blessed be the All-Merciful One who by His grace has made us His work and made us in Christ Jesus to do the works of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. How can I set aside sufficient time to behold Jesus Christ this Christmas? It will be useful to remember that Christmas begins December 25th and lasts through January 5th (you have 12 days to celebrate and 12 days to meditate!)
2. Make specific preparations for how you can honor Christ by keeping a holy Christmas and one that is not polluted by the things of the world.
3. Reconsider your attitude toward the work that God has given you in life, in light of the labor of Jesus the carpenter.
Resolution: I resolve today to begin to ponder the meaning of Jesus Christ, God made man. Since this is such an immense mystery and blessing, I know that a few minutes on Christmas Day is not sufficient to devote to my Lord, and so I will meditate on Him today.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Although by the beginning of Mark 6 we have already seen ample evidence that Jesus is God, we see it here again: Jesus lays His hands on a few sick people and heals them. But perhaps the greatest miracle God ever performed, along with the Resurrection and Atonement, is for God to be made man. How God can squeeze His infinite Self into a bodily vessel such as yours or mine defies the human mind and imagination.
But this God who can command the wind and waves actually did become a man. And this is why it is important to know that Jesus was a carpenter. Those in His hometown of Nazareth knew Him not as the Son of God or the Messiah but simply and only as Jesus of Nazareth, Joseph and Mary’s son, the carpenter.
Jesus the carpenter has captivated the imagination of Christians for centuries, and rightly so. Because Jesus is truly a man, He had hands, and with these hands He worked. He Himself, by His divine hands, had fashioned the heavens and the earth and ordained that man should work for six days of the week. He Himself created the physical things of the world and declared them to be good. How fitting, then, that the Creator of the world should become part of it and show us the sanctity of work.
It has not escaped the attention of Christians over the years that the same medium, wood, in which Jesus worked in His life as a carpenter was the medium by which He was put to death. By His working with wood, of the things of the earth, Jesus taught us the value of the world to Him and of man’s labor in it.
There is a wonderful Nativity Hymn by Ephraim the Syrian, a 4th century Church Father, part of which is:
“Blessed by your coming, O master of workers everywhere.
The imprint of your labor is seen in the ark,
And in the fashioning of the tabernacle
Of the congregation that was for a time only!
Our whole craft praises you, who are our eternal glory.
Make for us a yoke that is light, even easy, for us to bear.
Establish that measure in us in which there can be no falseness.”
The next time your work seems boring or meaningless or drudgery or heavy, learn from Him who both created and redeemed human labor. Remember the hands that created not only carts and tables but also healed mankind. Remember the hands that were pierced and bled for you. “And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!” (verse 2.)
Jesus as God is a wonder to behold, and so is Jesus the man. But it is God in man, the Incarnation of God Almighty of which we sing and which especially makes Christian hearts everywhere rejoice! Here is the greatest mystery and miracle and the greatest Christmas present of all: Immanuel, God with us, God in us!
I see this mystery at work not only in the life of Jesus of Nazareth but also in the lives of ordinary men. I see it even in the unbelief of the citizenry of Nazareth, in that mysterious verse, Mark 6:5, “Now He could no mighty work there . . . .” He could do no mighty work there because the people of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, lacked faith. Now God can and does perform His mighty works without our faith, and yet He has chosen to work through our faith, and not usually apart from it. This is another mysterious implication of the Incarnation.
This is St. Paul’s mystery of “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:9.) God’s grace is sovereign, and He will give it to whom He will give it. It is all from Him, and we in no way deserve it or can do anything to obtain it. This we know, and this is the divine side of Christ. We also know that God comes to us in our humanity, for He has laid His hands upon us and healed us. But it is in faith that the grace of God and the healing of man meet, faith which, though entirely of grace, is also a truly human response to this grace. God’s grace, received through faith, results in the healing of God’s people.
This is the miracle of Christmas, of God made man that man may be with God.
Let us rejoice because of the holy and loving hands of Jesus the Creator of the world and Jesus the carpenter. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10.)
Prayer: Blessed be the Wise One, who reconciled and joined the Divine with the Human Nature, one from above and one from below. Blessed be the One who blesses us with His nail-torn hands and hallows all human labor. Blessed be the All-Merciful One who by His grace has made us His work and made us in Christ Jesus to do the works of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. How can I set aside sufficient time to behold Jesus Christ this Christmas? It will be useful to remember that Christmas begins December 25th and lasts through January 5th (you have 12 days to celebrate and 12 days to meditate!)
2. Make specific preparations for how you can honor Christ by keeping a holy Christmas and one that is not polluted by the things of the world.
3. Reconsider your attitude toward the work that God has given you in life, in light of the labor of Jesus the carpenter.
Resolution: I resolve today to begin to ponder the meaning of Jesus Christ, God made man. Since this is such an immense mystery and blessing, I know that a few minutes on Christmas Day is not sufficient to devote to my Lord, and so I will meditate on Him today.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Wednesday of Advent 3 (Ember Wednesday) - Luke 12:35-48
Why the sudden change today from St. Mark to St. Luke in today’s lesson? Because today is marked out in the Church year as an Ember Day, more specifically Ember Wednesday before Christmas. Advent is often seen as a “Little Lent” in which we prepare for the feast of Christmas, and so the Ember Days are to be used as days of fasting and praying, and there is also a tradition of it being a time to give to the poor. In this way, even as the Fall harvest is gathered in, we deny ourselves some of it so that we mortify the flesh as a means of preparation.
The great theme from today’s lesson from Luke 12 is to prepare for the coming of the Master. I’m getting a sense of déjà vu. Haven’t I heard this before somewhere? Performing a quick word search in my Daily Bread files, I remember now that on Monday of the First Sunday in Advent we heard John the Baptist cry: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight” and heard him preach a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Now I remember that Advent is a liturgical alarm clock going off in our heads. Just in case any of you have chosen to fall asleep in the last two weeks, Ember Wednesday is your own personal snooze alarm.
WAKE UP! Be like men who wait for their master (verse 35.)
The truth is that your Master is coming. The admonition to stand at attention and look for the coming of our Master has reference to the Second Coming of Christ. No man knows when that will be, and so we’d better all be ready.
But Jesus has delayed His Second Coming. It’s been 2000 years and counting, and the odds are He won’t come today or tomorrow.
But what if He did?
What if Jesus Christ returned to earth tomorrow at 6:21 p.m.? What would He find? Not just what particular activity would He find you doing (though He cares about that, too), but what would be the sum of your life before Him? I don’t know how He will measure your life, but I do know that He will do it.
We used to sing of Santa Claus:
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice:
Santa Claus is coming to town
At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, what if we substituted “Jesus Christ”
for “Santa Claus”? (What a novel idea – substituting Jesus Christ for Santa Claus at Christmas!) One day, Jesus Christ will come and judge both the living and the dead.
When He does, I think He may take into consideration some of the following things:
Did you come to worship Him in His Church when He called you?
Did you hear His holy Word?
Have you obeyed His commandments?
What have you done that you should not have done - not things in the past and repented of but things still actively doing without repentance?
What have you not done that you should have done?
How often each day and week did you turn to Him in prayer?
Did you in your heart, even if weakly, truly desire Him?
How did you spend the time He gave you?
How did you spend the money He gave you?
How well did you love those He put in your life?
Did you love Him with all your heart?
Considering the seriousness of Christ’s coming and the wanderings of my own heart, I am grateful that God gives me reminder after reminder. In Advent, we have an annual reminder not only that Jesus Christ has come, and therefore we should rejoice with exceedingly great joy, but also that Jesus Christ is coming, and therefore we should prepare our hearts. On this Ember Wednesday, we get an even more particular and pointy reminder (Ouch!) that Jesus Christ is coming.
The truth is that every day is a reminder of the coming of Jesus Christ because every day He is truly with His people. Every day is Christmas, but every day is also Advent. That is the tension of the “now but not yet” with which we live in this world. These days, whose number no man can count, will one day become The Day. But it is not only that God cares about you in eternity. He cares about you now. He comes to you now. Have you been watching?
The only way to prepare for meeting God in eternity is to prepare to meet Him today. The way we receive Him every day is the way we prepare for His Coming. Every day He comes, and every day is the Day in which He may come with great finality.
Blessed is that servant whom his Master will find so doing when He comes.
My prayer for you all, though I do not know some of you personally, is that you will be a wise and faithful steward who will be blessed when his Master comes – blessed this very day. For Jesus Christ is coming, and He is already with us.
Prayer: Awake me today, Lord, from my spiritual slumber. Rouse me by Your Holy Spirit that I may be made alive to You again. Give me Your grace that I may remember and seek You today and every day of my life until that Day when You shall come in judgment. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to find one way to help me remember the Coming of my Master. Choosing to fast, pray, or give alms (three things Jesus expected on the Sermon on the Mount that He would find His disciples doing) would be especially appropriate. Fasting and almsgiving should be accompanied by praying, and prayer should be accompanied by some practical action.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
The great theme from today’s lesson from Luke 12 is to prepare for the coming of the Master. I’m getting a sense of déjà vu. Haven’t I heard this before somewhere? Performing a quick word search in my Daily Bread files, I remember now that on Monday of the First Sunday in Advent we heard John the Baptist cry: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight” and heard him preach a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Now I remember that Advent is a liturgical alarm clock going off in our heads. Just in case any of you have chosen to fall asleep in the last two weeks, Ember Wednesday is your own personal snooze alarm.
WAKE UP! Be like men who wait for their master (verse 35.)
The truth is that your Master is coming. The admonition to stand at attention and look for the coming of our Master has reference to the Second Coming of Christ. No man knows when that will be, and so we’d better all be ready.
But Jesus has delayed His Second Coming. It’s been 2000 years and counting, and the odds are He won’t come today or tomorrow.
But what if He did?
What if Jesus Christ returned to earth tomorrow at 6:21 p.m.? What would He find? Not just what particular activity would He find you doing (though He cares about that, too), but what would be the sum of your life before Him? I don’t know how He will measure your life, but I do know that He will do it.
We used to sing of Santa Claus:
You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice:
Santa Claus is coming to town
At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, what if we substituted “Jesus Christ”
for “Santa Claus”? (What a novel idea – substituting Jesus Christ for Santa Claus at Christmas!) One day, Jesus Christ will come and judge both the living and the dead.
When He does, I think He may take into consideration some of the following things:
Did you come to worship Him in His Church when He called you?
Did you hear His holy Word?
Have you obeyed His commandments?
What have you done that you should not have done - not things in the past and repented of but things still actively doing without repentance?
What have you not done that you should have done?
How often each day and week did you turn to Him in prayer?
Did you in your heart, even if weakly, truly desire Him?
How did you spend the time He gave you?
How did you spend the money He gave you?
How well did you love those He put in your life?
Did you love Him with all your heart?
Considering the seriousness of Christ’s coming and the wanderings of my own heart, I am grateful that God gives me reminder after reminder. In Advent, we have an annual reminder not only that Jesus Christ has come, and therefore we should rejoice with exceedingly great joy, but also that Jesus Christ is coming, and therefore we should prepare our hearts. On this Ember Wednesday, we get an even more particular and pointy reminder (Ouch!) that Jesus Christ is coming.
The truth is that every day is a reminder of the coming of Jesus Christ because every day He is truly with His people. Every day is Christmas, but every day is also Advent. That is the tension of the “now but not yet” with which we live in this world. These days, whose number no man can count, will one day become The Day. But it is not only that God cares about you in eternity. He cares about you now. He comes to you now. Have you been watching?
The only way to prepare for meeting God in eternity is to prepare to meet Him today. The way we receive Him every day is the way we prepare for His Coming. Every day He comes, and every day is the Day in which He may come with great finality.
Blessed is that servant whom his Master will find so doing when He comes.
My prayer for you all, though I do not know some of you personally, is that you will be a wise and faithful steward who will be blessed when his Master comes – blessed this very day. For Jesus Christ is coming, and He is already with us.
Prayer: Awake me today, Lord, from my spiritual slumber. Rouse me by Your Holy Spirit that I may be made alive to You again. Give me Your grace that I may remember and seek You today and every day of my life until that Day when You shall come in judgment. Amen.
Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to find one way to help me remember the Coming of my Master. Choosing to fast, pray, or give alms (three things Jesus expected on the Sermon on the Mount that He would find His disciples doing) would be especially appropriate. Fasting and almsgiving should be accompanied by praying, and prayer should be accompanied by some practical action.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tuesday Advent 3 - Mark 5:21-43
This morning I’m a woman with a flow of blood. I’ve suffered with this terrible problem for 12 years.
It’s funny the stages we go through whenever we have a big problem. First, there is the developing recognition of the problem, and then the hope that it is really nothing. Then comes the growing acknowledgement that this might be a bigger problem than we realize, and then the hope that it will go away by itself.
As things progress and get worse, you realize that maybe you won’t be able to solve the problem all by yourself, and you begin to seek help. You ask around, discreetly asking if anyone has had a similar problem and if so how have they gotten relief. You get lots and lots of advice, and as the pain gets worse you become more and more willing to try different things.
I went with a lot of faith that the first physician I went to would heal me. He came highly recommended, and he assured me he knew just what to do. I stayed with him for a year because there was always “one more thing” he could try. More time and, of course, more money were always needed. One of my friends persuaded me to try another doctor. This got to be a regular habit, but already by the third doctor my faith in physicians was not well.
I started to get worse, which meant I went to more doctors. Each one had something new to offer that turned out to be the same quackery. At some point, it simply became a part of my life, and I secretly believed that this was to be my lot in life. Even as my physical discomfort grew worse, I became weary of always being unclean and having to remove myself from social situations. I felt more and more like a leper, and even most of my sisters in faith began to quietly walk away from me. I guess I just wasn’t much fun to be around anymore.
Being separated from the people of God, I grew apart from my Lord as well. You can imagine how earnestly I prayed in the beginning, after I’d accepted that I had a problem. I have to say that I was pretty strong for the first year or so. But as the blood continued to flow, I felt my life oozing away from me. I reasoned, in a fog of feebleness, that if God was going to give me this sickness without my asking for it then He could also take it away without my asking for it. At some point, I reached a spiritual equilibrium in which I wasn’t exactly dead but I wasn’t exactly alive either.
After 12 years of this, I felt like a ghost, doomed to wander the earth. By now I had spent all my money on doctors. I was weaker than ever, and my life was spiraling downward. I had nothing left other than my weaknesses and a small ember of faith in God.
And then I heard that Jesus was coming. I almost turned back twice, partly out of doubt, partly out of discouragement and despair. Besides, there was no way someone like me could get close to the great Master, even if I wanted to. I was ritually unclean, and this man was clearly a man of God. How could He possibly find me acceptable in His sight? And yet if He is from God, He’ll understand. He might even have mercy on me. Even if . . . even if . . . . But there are too many people. I’d have to part the Red Sea even to be able to get near Him. And yet . . . .
As I got closer, I knew that He could heal me. I couldn’t believe that no one else had thought of my idea. I couldn’t believe that the whole crowd wasn’t fencing Him in and taking turns touching Him so they could be healed. Why were they here, unless to hear Him and touch Him? Maybe my faith wasn’t quite as small as I’d believed it was. I think I’d just forgotten what it felt like and how to use it.
Well, you know the story. I used the crowd to hide me. I snuck up behind Him, scarcely able to keep up, in spite of the way the throng slowed Him down. I found that my faith was not as weak as I’d thought and found the grace from God to think remarkable thoughts: “This man is so holy, so truly from God, that if only I touch His clothes, I shall be made well. How funny this would be, if true. After I’d spent my life’s savings on quacks, after giving myself up for dead, how funny if this Man asked for nothing and all I had to do was to touch Him!”
So that’s exactly what I did. I touched a part of His garment that was billowing out toward me. I didn’t think anyone would notice or care.
And then things went crazy! I felt immediately within me that I was healed. I’m not sure how I knew, but I knew! By this time, I had stopped walking, and so Jesus was now ahead of me. He stopped and asked the crowd, “Who touched my clothes?”
What kind of a Man is this who not only healed me but also could tell that someone had barely touched his clothes?
He looked around and talked to His disciples, but He kept looking around. And then He found me. I became weak again, but this was a very different kind of weakness. I was weak before One who I suddenly knew was divine. Only now could I see who He really was, only after I had made that first weak move, enabled by His presence and grace. Only now could I see how blind I’d been to try and rely on myself. What a fool to trust in myself or in other humans with a problem that only God could solve!
How strange, that when I had plenty I didn’t feel as much like I needed God, but now that I’d lost all – my health, my wealth, and my friends – suddenly the God who gave me all these things was more real. What a strange way to go about healing people, but that is what the Great Physician did for me, in my poverty and weakness.
I came before Him with weakness, because I was a miserable sinner whom He had healed. I had no strength to say anything but only to fall down before Him. I knew then that this was my Master and my Lord. He was the one who had healed me, when all the earth’s doctors and I myself could not. I wanted nothing other than to be with the One who had healed my body and who I knew could also heal my broken, sinful spirit. I wanted to wrap my arms around Him, but did not dare. But I remained at His feet, for it was all I could do.
Only then was I able to open mouth, and I told Him the truth. I told Him everything. It all spilled out at once. I told Him why I was so desperate and how long I’d suffered. I told Him I was sorry for trusting in myself and doctors and for not being as faithful as I should have been. I told Him I was sorry for having made Him unclean by touching Him. And then I began crying from years of stored up pain, and from thankfulness, and from wonder. He patiently listened to it all.
And do you know what He said? “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
Can you imagine the peace and joy and thanksgiving that filled my heart? There is no way I could possibly describe it to you. But maybe some of you have been healed like I was and know what I’m talking about.
Prayer: Glory be to you, Son of God, because your healing power was revealed and proclaimed to the crowd through the hidden suffering of this afflicted woman. Through my life and your healing in it, which others are able to see, may the people around me see You. See my hidden faith today, Lord, and gave me a visible healing. Especially give me the gift of faith and a willingness to proclaim You to others. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Have you forgotten the healing God has done in your life? Find a way to remember God’s salvation and healing in your life, and find an appropriate way to give Him praise and thanksgiving.
2. Do you have a “flow of blood” in your life today? What is keeping you from turning more completely to the Lord in faith? No matter how small your faith, turn to Him today and ask for His healing.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate today on how this woman’s faith can instruct me in my faith.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
It’s funny the stages we go through whenever we have a big problem. First, there is the developing recognition of the problem, and then the hope that it is really nothing. Then comes the growing acknowledgement that this might be a bigger problem than we realize, and then the hope that it will go away by itself.
As things progress and get worse, you realize that maybe you won’t be able to solve the problem all by yourself, and you begin to seek help. You ask around, discreetly asking if anyone has had a similar problem and if so how have they gotten relief. You get lots and lots of advice, and as the pain gets worse you become more and more willing to try different things.
I went with a lot of faith that the first physician I went to would heal me. He came highly recommended, and he assured me he knew just what to do. I stayed with him for a year because there was always “one more thing” he could try. More time and, of course, more money were always needed. One of my friends persuaded me to try another doctor. This got to be a regular habit, but already by the third doctor my faith in physicians was not well.
I started to get worse, which meant I went to more doctors. Each one had something new to offer that turned out to be the same quackery. At some point, it simply became a part of my life, and I secretly believed that this was to be my lot in life. Even as my physical discomfort grew worse, I became weary of always being unclean and having to remove myself from social situations. I felt more and more like a leper, and even most of my sisters in faith began to quietly walk away from me. I guess I just wasn’t much fun to be around anymore.
Being separated from the people of God, I grew apart from my Lord as well. You can imagine how earnestly I prayed in the beginning, after I’d accepted that I had a problem. I have to say that I was pretty strong for the first year or so. But as the blood continued to flow, I felt my life oozing away from me. I reasoned, in a fog of feebleness, that if God was going to give me this sickness without my asking for it then He could also take it away without my asking for it. At some point, I reached a spiritual equilibrium in which I wasn’t exactly dead but I wasn’t exactly alive either.
After 12 years of this, I felt like a ghost, doomed to wander the earth. By now I had spent all my money on doctors. I was weaker than ever, and my life was spiraling downward. I had nothing left other than my weaknesses and a small ember of faith in God.
And then I heard that Jesus was coming. I almost turned back twice, partly out of doubt, partly out of discouragement and despair. Besides, there was no way someone like me could get close to the great Master, even if I wanted to. I was ritually unclean, and this man was clearly a man of God. How could He possibly find me acceptable in His sight? And yet if He is from God, He’ll understand. He might even have mercy on me. Even if . . . even if . . . . But there are too many people. I’d have to part the Red Sea even to be able to get near Him. And yet . . . .
As I got closer, I knew that He could heal me. I couldn’t believe that no one else had thought of my idea. I couldn’t believe that the whole crowd wasn’t fencing Him in and taking turns touching Him so they could be healed. Why were they here, unless to hear Him and touch Him? Maybe my faith wasn’t quite as small as I’d believed it was. I think I’d just forgotten what it felt like and how to use it.
Well, you know the story. I used the crowd to hide me. I snuck up behind Him, scarcely able to keep up, in spite of the way the throng slowed Him down. I found that my faith was not as weak as I’d thought and found the grace from God to think remarkable thoughts: “This man is so holy, so truly from God, that if only I touch His clothes, I shall be made well. How funny this would be, if true. After I’d spent my life’s savings on quacks, after giving myself up for dead, how funny if this Man asked for nothing and all I had to do was to touch Him!”
So that’s exactly what I did. I touched a part of His garment that was billowing out toward me. I didn’t think anyone would notice or care.
And then things went crazy! I felt immediately within me that I was healed. I’m not sure how I knew, but I knew! By this time, I had stopped walking, and so Jesus was now ahead of me. He stopped and asked the crowd, “Who touched my clothes?”
What kind of a Man is this who not only healed me but also could tell that someone had barely touched his clothes?
He looked around and talked to His disciples, but He kept looking around. And then He found me. I became weak again, but this was a very different kind of weakness. I was weak before One who I suddenly knew was divine. Only now could I see who He really was, only after I had made that first weak move, enabled by His presence and grace. Only now could I see how blind I’d been to try and rely on myself. What a fool to trust in myself or in other humans with a problem that only God could solve!
How strange, that when I had plenty I didn’t feel as much like I needed God, but now that I’d lost all – my health, my wealth, and my friends – suddenly the God who gave me all these things was more real. What a strange way to go about healing people, but that is what the Great Physician did for me, in my poverty and weakness.
I came before Him with weakness, because I was a miserable sinner whom He had healed. I had no strength to say anything but only to fall down before Him. I knew then that this was my Master and my Lord. He was the one who had healed me, when all the earth’s doctors and I myself could not. I wanted nothing other than to be with the One who had healed my body and who I knew could also heal my broken, sinful spirit. I wanted to wrap my arms around Him, but did not dare. But I remained at His feet, for it was all I could do.
Only then was I able to open mouth, and I told Him the truth. I told Him everything. It all spilled out at once. I told Him why I was so desperate and how long I’d suffered. I told Him I was sorry for trusting in myself and doctors and for not being as faithful as I should have been. I told Him I was sorry for having made Him unclean by touching Him. And then I began crying from years of stored up pain, and from thankfulness, and from wonder. He patiently listened to it all.
And do you know what He said? “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”
Can you imagine the peace and joy and thanksgiving that filled my heart? There is no way I could possibly describe it to you. But maybe some of you have been healed like I was and know what I’m talking about.
Prayer: Glory be to you, Son of God, because your healing power was revealed and proclaimed to the crowd through the hidden suffering of this afflicted woman. Through my life and your healing in it, which others are able to see, may the people around me see You. See my hidden faith today, Lord, and gave me a visible healing. Especially give me the gift of faith and a willingness to proclaim You to others. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Have you forgotten the healing God has done in your life? Find a way to remember God’s salvation and healing in your life, and find an appropriate way to give Him praise and thanksgiving.
2. Do you have a “flow of blood” in your life today? What is keeping you from turning more completely to the Lord in faith? No matter how small your faith, turn to Him today and ask for His healing.
Resolution: I resolve to meditate today on how this woman’s faith can instruct me in my faith.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Monday Advent 3 - Mark 5:1-20
Good morning, my name was Legion. So far in Mark I’ve been a fisherman and tax collector, a brother of Jesus Christ, a leper, and a paralytic. Today I am a demon-possessed man.
Without Christ, we are like a demon-possessed man, even though very few are actually ever possessed. We lead shattered lives that cause us to torment ourselves and others. We are unable to be controlled by anyone but our own desires. We dwell among the tombs, even when we don’t know it.
And then Jesus comes to us and commands the evil spirits of self-possession to come out of us. We have many selfish spirits from which Jesus delivers us: they are known as the fruits of darkness and are listed in many places in the New Testament. You know them by name. They include the 7 Deadly Sins (which I remember by an acronym I made up: PIGLEGS – Pride, Ire, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, Greed, and Sloth), as well as many others.
What are the consequences of having our “demons” exorcised by Jesus? There are three important ones in this lesson. First, after Jesus cleanses us, we are “clothed and in our right minds.” Before our deliverance, we were naked before God and in our wildness and barbarism. But Jesus clothes us with Himself, who is the armor of light and the New Man. Before, our minds were darkened and futile, we were ignorant and blind in our hearts, and we had been given over the works of uncleanness (Ephesians 4:17-29.) But then Jesus puts us in our right mind and gives us His own mind that we might think thoughts of God and His Kingdom.
The Christian life is a human exorcism in slow motion. Most of us have no experience with demons, but we do know what it is like to be under the influence of ungodly forces within us. It is primarily the fallen human nature which Jesus casts out of us, as He gives us more and more of Himself. In exorcism we see a picture of mortification and sanctification. It is probably for this reason that in the early church the baptismal service included an exorcism, and even today in the Prayer Book baptismal service the Christian vows to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil. The exorcism we have witnessed today is a picture of the work Jesus does in our life of cleansing us, first by mortification or the casting out of the Old Man and his works, and second by sanctification or the putting on of the New Man and His works.
The second consequence we see in this passage man being delivered from his demons is that we are to follow Jesus. In verse 19, the formerly demon-possessed man begs that he might be with Jesus. Here is one crucial difference between the demon-possessed man and us. Unlike the demon-possessed man, Jesus doesn’t discourage us from begging to be with Him: He desires this as much as we do.
If you recognized the work that Jesus has done in your life, as this demon-possessed man did, you too would beg Jesus to stay with Him. If you truly understood that you were delivered from a life and destination just as chilling and tormented as this man’s, then you would beg Jesus to stay with Him.
But because our exorcism is a human one in slow motion (most of the time), we often don’t recognize the glory of our deliverance. It’s very easy to take our life in Christ for granted and to think that it is somehow “ordinary.”
It is anything but ordinary!
And our response should be to wrap our arms around Jesus’ feet and beg permission to be with Him wherever He goes. We should be on our knees every day, throughout the day, begging Him for the privilege of being His disciple, His follower. Instead, we spend too much of our lives trying to hide from Him, lest He do some more exorcising and we have to give up more of ourselves to Him. We are like a student in class, slinking down in his chair and hoping the Teacher won’t ask Him to participate.
The whole point of Daily Bread is to help you and me to be able to beg Jesus to be with Him and to learn how to be with Him every day, throughout the day. If I don’t want to spend much time in Jesus’ presence through prayer and His Word while here on earth, I’m not sure what makes me think I’d actually enjoy His presence in greater concentration and power in heaven!
Finally, the third consequence of Jesus delivering us is that, being cleansed by Him and filled with His presence, by clinging to Him, we are to go and proclaim to the whole world what He has done for us. What is always the faithful response of those who have been delivered and healed in Scripture? They go and tell other people what Jesus has done for them and is continuing to do for them.
And what is our response to an even greater miracle – not the healing of the body or deliverance from demons but the salvation of our souls? It is often that of the 9 lepers who go on their merry way, without gratitude. It is often to be lulled to sleep and to think that God’s salvation in our lives is an ordinary thing. Therefore, we’re not terribly excited about it, and we don’t believe that anyone else would really want to hear about what Jesus has done in our lives.
But what does Jesus command us, as He commanded this man? “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had compassion on you.”
That is the story of the man possessed by Legion, and it is your story and mine. Because Jesus has delivered and is delivering you from yourself (and from Satan), your desire should be to beg to be with Him. And your overwhelming, bursting-at-the-seems-can’t-believe-what-He’s-done-for-me desire should be to go and tell your friends and neighbors and relatives about the compassion He’s had on you. And, yes, those of us who are already Christians want to hear too!
Prayer: Father, I thank You for delivering me out of the hands of my enemies, through Jesus Christ Your Son. Thank You for delivering me out of the kingdom of darkness and adopting me into Your holy family. Through the work of Your Spirit, give me a desire to be with You every day and the courage and passion to tell others what You have done and are doing for me. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Reflect on what God has delivered you from. You may need to work to recognize the magnitude of what God has delivered you from. Respond to this compassion of Christ in your life appropriately.
2. How much have you desired to be with Jesus? Beg Jesus not only to be with Him today and all the days of your life but also to give you a greater desire to be with Him as His disciple. What obstacles stand in the way of your desiring this more?
3. How eager and willing have you been to share what God has done for you with others? As you reflect on this, remember that this has always been the primary way that new disciples are made and an important way in which older ones are encouraged.
Resolution: I resolve today to contemplate the compassion of Jesus in delivering me from sin and self. I resolve today to meditate on how I might faithfully respond to this great salvation.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
Without Christ, we are like a demon-possessed man, even though very few are actually ever possessed. We lead shattered lives that cause us to torment ourselves and others. We are unable to be controlled by anyone but our own desires. We dwell among the tombs, even when we don’t know it.
And then Jesus comes to us and commands the evil spirits of self-possession to come out of us. We have many selfish spirits from which Jesus delivers us: they are known as the fruits of darkness and are listed in many places in the New Testament. You know them by name. They include the 7 Deadly Sins (which I remember by an acronym I made up: PIGLEGS – Pride, Ire, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, Greed, and Sloth), as well as many others.
What are the consequences of having our “demons” exorcised by Jesus? There are three important ones in this lesson. First, after Jesus cleanses us, we are “clothed and in our right minds.” Before our deliverance, we were naked before God and in our wildness and barbarism. But Jesus clothes us with Himself, who is the armor of light and the New Man. Before, our minds were darkened and futile, we were ignorant and blind in our hearts, and we had been given over the works of uncleanness (Ephesians 4:17-29.) But then Jesus puts us in our right mind and gives us His own mind that we might think thoughts of God and His Kingdom.
The Christian life is a human exorcism in slow motion. Most of us have no experience with demons, but we do know what it is like to be under the influence of ungodly forces within us. It is primarily the fallen human nature which Jesus casts out of us, as He gives us more and more of Himself. In exorcism we see a picture of mortification and sanctification. It is probably for this reason that in the early church the baptismal service included an exorcism, and even today in the Prayer Book baptismal service the Christian vows to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil. The exorcism we have witnessed today is a picture of the work Jesus does in our life of cleansing us, first by mortification or the casting out of the Old Man and his works, and second by sanctification or the putting on of the New Man and His works.
The second consequence we see in this passage man being delivered from his demons is that we are to follow Jesus. In verse 19, the formerly demon-possessed man begs that he might be with Jesus. Here is one crucial difference between the demon-possessed man and us. Unlike the demon-possessed man, Jesus doesn’t discourage us from begging to be with Him: He desires this as much as we do.
If you recognized the work that Jesus has done in your life, as this demon-possessed man did, you too would beg Jesus to stay with Him. If you truly understood that you were delivered from a life and destination just as chilling and tormented as this man’s, then you would beg Jesus to stay with Him.
But because our exorcism is a human one in slow motion (most of the time), we often don’t recognize the glory of our deliverance. It’s very easy to take our life in Christ for granted and to think that it is somehow “ordinary.”
It is anything but ordinary!
And our response should be to wrap our arms around Jesus’ feet and beg permission to be with Him wherever He goes. We should be on our knees every day, throughout the day, begging Him for the privilege of being His disciple, His follower. Instead, we spend too much of our lives trying to hide from Him, lest He do some more exorcising and we have to give up more of ourselves to Him. We are like a student in class, slinking down in his chair and hoping the Teacher won’t ask Him to participate.
The whole point of Daily Bread is to help you and me to be able to beg Jesus to be with Him and to learn how to be with Him every day, throughout the day. If I don’t want to spend much time in Jesus’ presence through prayer and His Word while here on earth, I’m not sure what makes me think I’d actually enjoy His presence in greater concentration and power in heaven!
Finally, the third consequence of Jesus delivering us is that, being cleansed by Him and filled with His presence, by clinging to Him, we are to go and proclaim to the whole world what He has done for us. What is always the faithful response of those who have been delivered and healed in Scripture? They go and tell other people what Jesus has done for them and is continuing to do for them.
And what is our response to an even greater miracle – not the healing of the body or deliverance from demons but the salvation of our souls? It is often that of the 9 lepers who go on their merry way, without gratitude. It is often to be lulled to sleep and to think that God’s salvation in our lives is an ordinary thing. Therefore, we’re not terribly excited about it, and we don’t believe that anyone else would really want to hear about what Jesus has done in our lives.
But what does Jesus command us, as He commanded this man? “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had compassion on you.”
That is the story of the man possessed by Legion, and it is your story and mine. Because Jesus has delivered and is delivering you from yourself (and from Satan), your desire should be to beg to be with Him. And your overwhelming, bursting-at-the-seems-can’t-believe-what-He’s-done-for-me desire should be to go and tell your friends and neighbors and relatives about the compassion He’s had on you. And, yes, those of us who are already Christians want to hear too!
Prayer: Father, I thank You for delivering me out of the hands of my enemies, through Jesus Christ Your Son. Thank You for delivering me out of the kingdom of darkness and adopting me into Your holy family. Through the work of Your Spirit, give me a desire to be with You every day and the courage and passion to tell others what You have done and are doing for me. Amen.
Points for Meditation:
1. Reflect on what God has delivered you from. You may need to work to recognize the magnitude of what God has delivered you from. Respond to this compassion of Christ in your life appropriately.
2. How much have you desired to be with Jesus? Beg Jesus not only to be with Him today and all the days of your life but also to give you a greater desire to be with Him as His disciple. What obstacles stand in the way of your desiring this more?
3. How eager and willing have you been to share what God has done for you with others? As you reflect on this, remember that this has always been the primary way that new disciples are made and an important way in which older ones are encouraged.
Resolution: I resolve today to contemplate the compassion of Jesus in delivering me from sin and self. I resolve today to meditate on how I might faithfully respond to this great salvation.
© 2008 Fr. Charles Erlandson
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