Aloha Friday Message – December 29, 2017 – Never Ending Love

December 29, 2017

1752AFC122917 – Never Ending Love (↔ Music Link?!?)

1 Corinthians 13:8a – 8 Love never ends.

1 Corinthians 13:13 – 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

It’s true you know. Love never, never, never, never, ever ends. Love never quits. Love cannot be stopped, or killed, or be overcome. Love can be tainted, abused, forgotten, betrayed, corrupted, and even despised; but it can never die. Why is this, Belovéd? Surely by now you know. It’s part of our family treasure. God is love, and all who abide in love abide in God and God in them. (See 1 John 4:16) In fact, our family, the Family of God is our Forever Family – if we have love for one another and for God.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! We made it! It’s the end of 2017 in just a few hours. Perhaps some of us may not celebrate here on earth with friends and family, but we will nonetheless be alive to mark the end of this year and the beginning of the next. This last Sunday of the year, the first Sunday after Christmas, is dedicated to remembering the Holy Family – Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. By adoption, we are also members of that family.

We don’t really know very much about Jesus’ early years. We know quite a lot about his birth, his genealogy, his mission, and his Passion; but, we have very little to go on about what kind of a kid he was. Here are a few “one-liners” that are the only clues we have:

Luke 2:21 – 21 After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Luke 2:40 – 40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Luke 2:52 – 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

At one point we are told that when he was forty days old, his mom and dad took him to the temple for the Rite of Purification. There they were met by two very remarkable characters – Simeon and Anna. (See Luke 2:22-38) In addition, we have a little knowledge about his relative, John which you can find here: Luke 1:57-80 – The Birth of John the Baptist. John was the son of Zechariah and Mary’s relative, Elizabeth. (His full name was Yochanan ben Zekharyah – John son of Zechariah).

We have the account of the Magi visiting the Holy Family in a house, but we don’t know how old he was then nor do we know for certain where the house was (but it wasn’t in the stable and he wasn’t in the manger). We know of course that after that visit from the Magi, the Holy Family fled to Egypt to evade the violent wrath of Herod (See Matthew 2:13–23). We also know the story of when he was about 12 and stayed behind at the Temple. The ending of that story (found in Luke 2:41-52) is that second reference above. We have no idea how old Jesus was when he returned from Egypt and moved with his family to Nazareth. So between roughly 13 and 30, we don’t know what the Holy Family was up to except that Jesus grew up, got smarter, was well-liked, had a keen mind and some strong curiosity, and that he was obedient to his parents. That sounds like a good family life, doesn’t it? I’m sure that, like me, you know many families that would just love for their life as a family to be that simple.

Family life never seems to be simple, though. The Holy Family certainly had some drama as they started out in life together! Angels, visions, visitors from the east, a murderous plot against an innocent child, an impromptu trip to a foreign country that was the reverse of the Exodus from Egypt, a presumably quiet return to their homeland after a lengthy absence, a career for Joseph in the construction business, and doubtless some worries over what would truly become of the boy who would be known as “The Son of the Most High.” Well, maybe not such a normal family after all? These days, however, a “normal family” is more and more difficult to define. Somehow, however, if it is a family, it has to be centered on Love because Love begins in the community of the family. A family’s love should be like God’s love. That may not be the case for many families. Never Ending Love is easier for God than it is for us.

Did you click on that music link at the top of the page? That’s a lovely song about God’s Never Ending Love. I’ll tell you what I know about that kind of love: It is stronger than Death! Have you ever wanted to tell God to give you back a loved-one who has passed? We know that’s not in The Plan, but sometimes we want it anyway. There are several accounts in the Bible of people being “raised from the dead,” nine of them in fact; well, maybe 10, but nine of them died again anyway:

Accounts of People Raised from the Dead – who also later died

  1. Elijah raised the son of the Zarephath widow from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-22).
  2. The son of a Shunammite woman was returned to life by Elisha (2 Kings 4:32-35).
  3. A man’s life was restored when his body touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20-21).
  4. At the moment of Jesus’ Resurrection, many believers were also raised (Matthew 27:50-53).
  5. The son of the widow of Nain was resuscitated as he was being carried to burial (Luke 7:11-15).
  6. Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead (Luke 8:41-42, 49-55).
  7. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44).
  8. Tabitha was raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter (Acts 9:36-41).
  9. Eutychus was raised from the dead by Paul (Acts 20:9-1010).

And lastly,

10. Jesus was “raised from the dead,” but by resurrection, not resuscitation. He rose to eternal life in a resurrected body. (Matthew 28:5-8; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:5-7).

In families, we’d like for all of us to just keep going, just stay together forever. I think that’s because most of the time we forget that we are all going to live forever – not here on Earth of course since most of “forever” will be spent with or without God someplace other than Earth. You know by now that I’m cool with that. I think it’s just great, and I don’t mind being on this side of the grass as long as I know that the other side of the grass is the front entrance to Heaven! I know that because of the Love I know from my family (the people God gave me as parents, siblings, and relatives). I furthermore know through the love of my friends (the “parents, siblings, and relatives” I chose for myself – with God’s help of course!). The combined love I know from God, from my family, and from my friends is what sustains me on my worst days and what makes me exult on my better days. I am grateful for, and pray for, everyone I have ever loved (and there are many, everyone who has ever loved me (also quite a few), and anyone who has ever loved them (many, many). It is indeed a Never Ending Love.

Now, some of us of a certain age remember a song called I’ve got a Never Ending Love for You (↔ Music Link) What if you sing this to your spouse, your child, your mom & dad? What if you sing this to The Holy Family? What if you sing this song to Jesus?!?!

Belovéd, what if Jesus sang this song to you? He did, you know. He’s singing it right now. Stop and listen.

Jesus loves you, and so do I. It’s part of God’s Never Ending Love Story. AMEN.

(Please play that second music link a couple more times with your eyes closed and imagine it’s you and Jesus doing a duet.)

 

 

 

Forever Love
(See Psalm 16:2) What can be better than love!?
*Songwriter: Delaney Bramlett
Music & Vocals: Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett
Check this link for the LYRICS.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – December 22, 2017 – A Guest with a Gift

December 22, 2017

1751AFC122217 – A Guest with a Gift

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Today I have the privilege of once again welcoming a Guest Author, Pastor John W. Kretser. John and I were laboratory supervisors in the Navajo Area Indian Health Service Agency back in the ’80s. We developed a lasting friendship having shared many trials and adventures in our work and many joys and assurances in our love for Jesus. Rev. Kretser offered to share some of his sermons with us to help alleviate the effort of preparing something every week during and after my weeks of feeling less than optimal. I am sharing it, with minor edits, because it expounds on the True Joy which is so easily lost in our present age. With great thanks and love, here is his message for the Moon Beam Network members:

Isaiah 11:10 – 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. (NRSVCE)

Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV): 10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

The Gift That Keeps On Giving                                                   December 24, 2006

A teacher asked her students how they celebrate Christmas.

“Tell me, Patrick, what do you do on Christmas Eve?”

Patrick said, “Me and my brothers and sisters go to midnight Mass and we sing hymns. Then we come home very late and we put mince pies by the back door and hang up our stockings. Then we go to bed and wait for Father Christmas to come with all our toys.”

“Very nice, Patrick,” she said. “Now, Jimmy, what do you do at Christmas?”

“Me and my sister also go to church with Mum and Dad, and we sing carols. When we get home, we put cookies and milk by the chimney and hang up our stockings. We hardly sleep waiting for Santa Claus to bring our presents.”

“That’s also very nice, Jimmy,” she said.

Realizing that there was a Jewish boy in the class and not wanting to leave him out of the discussion, she asked him the same question.

“Now, Isaac, what do you do at Christmas?”

“Well, we also sing carols,” Isaac responded.

Surprised, the teacher exclaimed, “Really!”

“Oh, yes. We do it every year. When Dad comes home from the office we all pile into the Rolls Royce and drive to my Dad’s toy factory. When we get inside, we walk through the warehouse to look at all the empty shelves and then we sing, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Then we all go to the Bahamas for 2 weeks.

As I reflected on this cute little story it occurred to me that perhaps the hidden lesson in the tale might pertain to appreciation. Of all the characters in the story, the one who expressed the greatest appreciation for Christmas or even mentioned the name of Jesus was the Jewish boy who was able to relate in practical terms to just what Christmas meant to him and his family. The others, by comparison, related to Christmas in terms of ritual, tradition, and fantasy, none of which included even a mention of the central figure that Christmas is supposed to honor, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father Christmas and Santa Claus are offshoots of the blending of pagan and Christian beliefs and seem to be the focus of greatest interest and attention to the Christian children in this story.

I think this little story is an example of how the world regards Christmas. The emphasis is, clearly, on worldly notions and values. I discovered this the other day while I was looking for some clip-art or photos to use on my annual Christmas letter to family and friends who are some distance away. Out of the 900 images I checked, there were only 12 that one could say were related to the Bible account of the birth of Jesus Christ. All the rest were pictures of presents, Santa, reindeer, ornaments, trees, wreathes, mistletoe, snowmen etc. I believe this experience, just as the humorous story does, reveals where the hearts of most people are today when it comes to Christmas, including those of us who call ourselves ‘Christians’.

Someone may be thinking right this moment, “John, why don’t you just lighten up? What’s wrong with a little fun even if it isn’t all focused specifically on the religious aspects of Christmas?”

There is nothing wrong with a little fun and joy in many of the traditions that have attached themselves to the Christmas celebration. However, we should remember these traditions are merely “attachments” that have added to, but have not improved, the true reason for the season. What is wrong is that these attached traditions become more important in people’s hearts than the spiritual reason for celebrating Christmas. It’s a bit like the fellows from the country who went to visit New York City but became so caught up in all the sights, sounds, hustle and bustle of Grand Central Station they never did see the city with its many sights and, instead, they wound up spending their entire vacation without setting foot outside the terminal. They became stuck in a small portion of what could have been a far more memorable experience.

But there is a more subtle shift away from the spiritual that most people are not aware of because it takes place in the church community. Christians love to hear the Christmas story. For the great majority of believers this story consists of several elements:

  1. The angel appears to Mary to tell her she will be the mother of the Messiah.
  2. The angel appears to Joseph to tell him the same thing.
  3. Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem to be counted in the census.
  4. Joseph and Mary have to stay in a stable because there is no room at the inn.
  5. When Jesus is born the angels sing.
  6. The angels tell the shepherds about Jesus.
  7. The wise men follow a star to Bethlehem and give gifts to Jesus.

That’s it! It is a true and wonderful story, although not entirely accurate, and it is right to celebrate the wondrous event, the birth of the Savior of the World. However, there is so much more to the story than this. So many people become stuck on the Christmas story to the point they would prefer to hold onto this lovely story about a miracle baby and never go beyond it. As proof of this, how many times you have heard others, or yourself, say something like, “Oh! Christmas is my favorite time of the year!” The truth is that Christmas was only the beginning of a new and significant period of time in history that would set in motion another whole set of wondrous events, each proclaiming the glory of God and His infinite love for us.

Our scripture verse for today, taken from the book of Isaiah, reminds us of this truth and takes us far beyond the birth of Jesus Christ contained in the traditional Bible story. It is the truth about the gift that keeps on giving.

This particular verse is part of a prophecy by Isaiah regarding the Messiah. Bible historians, theologians, and commentators have written a great deal of material on this whole chapter of Isaiah as a two-fold prophecy. One part of the prophecy deals with events that have already happened – but were yet to come when Isaiah foretold them pertaining to the reign of King Hezekiah, the captivity and return of the people to Jerusalem. I don’t have time to discuss this part of the prophecy today.

However, the second part of the prophecy deals with the Messiah, Jesus Christ; the scattering of the Jews following the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans; their return to a united Israel; the return or Second Coming of Jesus Christ; and the establishment of His millennial kingdom. This is what our scripture verse for today is all about. The first words of verse 11, “And in that day… are significant because they clearly indicate a time in the future, not only the future for the people of Isaiah’s time but our future, too. The promise for the first coming of the Messiah has taken place and it is the fulfillment of that promise that we celebrate at Christmas-time. But, Isaiah tells us there are more and even greater things to come from this Messiah.

The next words in this scripture verse are there shall be a Root of Jesse, a phrase that clearly points to the second coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The “Root of Jesse” indicates the royal line of David, the genealogy of which leads from Judah, one of Jacob’s sons, to Jesus. This was first prophesied by Jacob over his son Judah approximately 1000 years before Isaiah was even born back in Genesis 49:10: The scepter shall not depart from Judah … until Shiloh comes, whom all people shall obey. Shiloh is yet another word for Messiah and refers to the same event, the Second Coming of Jesus that Isaiah referred to in his prophecy. This is awesome!

The next words of the verse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the

Gentiles shall seek Him, or as the Living Bible expresses the same words, will be a

Banner of salvation to all the world. The nations will rally to him… A Banner is a rallying symbol, and Jesus the Messiah is the banner for the gathering of peoples from all over the earth. This is a prophecy of the coming of people of all nations to the knowledge of God which is a work that has been in progress ever since Jesus gave His disciples their mission before He ascended into heaven. It is the mission which is our responsibility as Christians, today, as we work and wait for the return of Christ.  This mission is described in Matthew 28:19-20 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

It is also interesting to note that the verses spoken by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel did not reveal a new Bible concept. The concept of evangelism was first given in Genesis 12 when God said to Abraham, “… 3I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and the entire world will be blessed because of you.” (See Genesis 12:3)

Isn’t it awesome and amazing to see God’s plan for man’s salvation has been in effect for nearly 4,000 years? All these words and prophesies were written or spoken by men under the inspiration of God in many different periods of history. It is reassuring to me and serves to prove the authenticity of the Bible; it exposes the notion as impossibly ridiculous that the Bible exists by the collaboration of ordinary men.

Finally, the last phrase of our scripture reads …And His resting place shall be glorious.” There are many opinions on exactly what or where the resting place is, including Jerusalem, the temple, Mt. Zion, the right hand of God and the body, or church, of Christ. It could be all of these but I tend to favor the notion that the ultimate resting place of the Messiah is our hearts, the target of all God’s desires for His children. In Luke 12:34, Jesus said, “F or where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Ever since Adam fell away from Him into sin and death, God has been working on Plan B to restore that perfect relationship between mankind and Himself, 16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) How much plainer can it be? God wants to be the treasure of our hearts even as we are the treasure of His heart.

What a deal that is for us! As we make Jesus our heart’s treasure, we inherit blessings in this life and then eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Brothers and Sisters, I don’t know where your heart is on this Christmas Eve. I earnestly hope, wish, and pray that you might know that Jesus is the reason for the season. That you are for Him and He is for you the Pearl of Great Price, the treasure hidden in the field of your own heart and the gift that keeps on giving, even unto the end of time and beyond.

Perhaps you have desired to accept this gift, but don’t know how to go about receiving. Perhaps you have not desired this gift before, but now you want it. Perhaps you have received the gift and want to make sure someone else receives it. Perhaps you merely want to affirm receiving the gift. How is it done? Let the words of the beloved Christmas carol show how.

“O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend on us, we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in;
be born in us, today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell.
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord, Immanuel.”

Hallelujah! Amen.
Have a blessed and Merry Christmas!

Pastor John W. Kretser

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!

May Hope and Peace and Joy and Love

be yours in the Coming of The Christ Child

The Todd Family 48th Annual Christmas Letter – 2017

December 19, 2017

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) Here we are facing the end of another year that has passed way too quickly. Much of what has happened has been surprising – even though we saw it coming. We apparently need to forget about being “retired!”

Crucita is actually busier than ever. She’s still active in two retired-teachers organizations, and subbing at “our little school” – St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic School. She jumped in as a temporary-full-time teacher for a couple of weeks in December when one teacher left suddenly. This year she “broke a record” and subbed for every grade level including Kindergarten! That was “interesting!” we had planned on laying aside our roles as RCIA/C teachers, but no one else stepped up, so we’re back at it again with three young catechumens and two adult candidates. It’s very rewarding work. Maybe this coming Easter, someone else will step up to take the reins. Crucita does an amazing job catechizing the children. She is now the Vice Chair for the Pastoral Council; Chick left the council after 6 years due to health reasons.

Chick is still working – sort of – but only as a management consultant for Hawaii Home Infusion. He decided to step down from his duties as a lector and cantor at church. We decided it would be too much of a distraction if the lector fell over on the way to the Ambo. He really enjoys the RCIA/C classes, and continues to work on the Aloha Friday Moon Beam Network blog – there are now over 600 posts there! All of the messages are sent out by email, but it’s possible in the near future that only a link will be emailed; the Site Manager figured out a way to make a Reader View available even on Windows devices.

Health issues continue to play a significant role in our lives. We both got knocked for a loop in September and October with some horrific flu-bug. Nonetheless, Crucita manages her health issues quite well. We found out in October that Chick has a full-thickness tear in a tendon in the left shoulder. We considered surgery, but the surgeon recommended Physical Therapy first. That’s going well, and may pave the way for moving forward to replace both hips. We are hoping that if those surgeries are successful, we may be able to do some traveling again. That would be great news for Crucita.

The biggest change this year is that our son, Tim, has moved to Kauaʻi to be our live-in caregiver. He arrived mid-August, and has already made a huge difference by picking up the chores Chick just can’t handle any more. He brought along his cat, Lucius, and started busking around the island. Most days or evenings when he’s out he pulls in pretty darn good money! We are really happy to be reunited after 20 years apart; it has taken some getting-used-to for all of us, but it’s well worth it.

Cereza is still living and working in TN. Her boys are doing well in their classes; aged 13 and 11, they are good to their Mom and enjoying going to church. Perhaps if we are able to travel …

As for what’s next, Crucita is in the early stages of planning a BIG party to celebrate our Fiftieth Anniversary in April of 2019. She’s enlisted the help of some young ladies whose wedding we attended. The events were just beautiful, so she’s hoping to capitalize on their experience. And of course ALL OF YOU ARE INVITED!  Stay tuned for further details.

Come visit sooner if you can. Our email addresses are shown below and (surprise!) we’re also on Facebook. Be sure to check out https://aloha-friday.org and to join the Moon Beam Network. To sum it up, we’re doing pretty well, and still crazy in love. We’ll close with our traditional

Christmas Blessing:

May Hope and Peace and Joy and Love
Be yours in the coming of the Christ Child!
Chick                       and                       Crucita

Aloha Friday Message – December 15, 2017 – Light and Darkness

December 15, 2017

1750AFC121517 – Light and Darkness

John 1:7 – 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.

Isaiah 9:2 – 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined. (See also Matthew 4:13-16)

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! As I write this, the day is December 12 – Chanukah (or Hanukkah if you prefer). It is the Festival of Lights, a beautiful eight-day celebration of the Miraculous Power of God. It is also the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe which is celebrated across the Americas. In these dark hours across the world, we will take a little time today to shed some light on things that are pushing back the darkness.

Just above our Key Verse in the Gospel of John, we have this:

John 1:3-5 – 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

In the past several weeks, we’ve seen way too much of what happens when you shut out the light. Many people, especially several previously-powerful men, have had their dark deeds exposed. They are all rightfully disgraced for their lewd and greedy sexual immorality (fornication). We are rightfully all disgusted with what we are learning about their actions in the past. It seems no one is exempt from this darkness or the Light that is now shining on it. At this point I don’t believe anyone can accurately predict what the final outcome will be for some of the most famous people in the Nation. We know, though, that the Light has overcome the darkness, and that this is explained well in Scripture. I was going to just give you a link, but in this case I have been led to insert the complete passage I was planning to reference. You will find comparative translations here:

Ephesians 5:3-20 – 3 But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. 5 Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be associated with them. 8 For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Sleeper, awake!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”*

15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Emphases added.)

*Some authorities posit this may be derived from Isaiah 60:1-3.

How has this come to be? Have we fallen into the abyss of sin that characterized the Land of Canaan in the days of Abraham and Lot, and are therefore liable to judgment as were Sodom and Gomorrah? Why does it seem this advancing tide – indeed, tsunami – of evil is overcoming all that is good and right and just? We most certainly see those “wars and rumors of wars,” and “signs in the heavens;” earthquakes, floods, fires, famine, pestilence, and all manner of immoral conduct in much of humanity (See also Matthew 24:6-14 and Luke 11:8-14). Are these truly, truly the “End Times?” Jesus said he didn’t know when that would be and that only the Father knows; I’m not going to hazard a guess (as some have). I can only say, “See what you are looking at and take Scripture at its Word!” We are most assuredly at war: Ephesians 6:12 – 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

I’d like to show you an example of how that war is fought and how some battles are won. Some among us “of a certain age” can remember a very popular recording by the Edwin Hawkins Singers called Oh Happy Day. (↔ Music Link) That was popular from about 1952, when it was written through the 70’s – and we still love to sing along with it today. Are you listening now? How in the World did a Gospel chorus get such air time? Satan must have hated it every time it came on the radio. People sang it while they were out walking, around campfires, in church services, in revival meetings, and in the shower. Not long after that – around 1976 – there was another song that sure sounded like a Gospel chorus and it got lots of air time as well: You Light Up My Life by Joseph Brooks, as sung by Debby Boone. (↔ Music Link). I mention this one because there is a story behind it that illustrates our topic, Light and Darkness. The composer was one Joseph Brooks.

He wrote the song, then wrote and directed a film by the same title. The lead role was played by Didi Conn. When Brooks was asked about the meaning of the song, he declared it was an interpersonal love song. When Boone was asked about the meaning of the song – who it was about – she said simply, “God.” Every time I hear it, that’s what I think too. HE certainly lights up my life! The record became so popular that DJ’s got sick of playing it. It is, perhaps, a little overly-sweet, but it is still a powerful statement about the Presence of God – his Sh’khinah Glory – that glows inside and around those living their lives closest to him. After that success with the original song – which won a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and, finally, an Oscar for Best Original Song – and the movie, Brooks was invisible to the entertainment world for many years. But, he resurfaced again in 2009 charged with multiple counts of fraud (bogus casting calls), and multiple accusations of sexual assault, and even rape. There was a 91-count indictment. He was awaiting trial in 2011 when he killed himself. He never turned to the Light that could light up his life, but instead lived his life in disobedience. When the Light was directed toward his choices in life, we could all see that we should 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible …

Belovéd, there is a great deal of darkness presently. We who have walked in that darkness also have seen A Great Light. How do we overcome this Darkness? We know about the Whole Armor of God (See Ephesians 6:10-18), but once armed, how do we fight?  Once again, instead of just a link to a great passage in Scripture, I place all of it here for your examination:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 – 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise the words of prophets, 21 but test everything; hold fast to what is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.

23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

We can know the will of God in Christ Jesus if we walk in the Light. We must abstain from every form of evil. Yes, Belovéd, what’s done in the dark will come to Light. Which of us loves the Darkness? We know many who do. We have all seen and/or heard John 3:16-17, but we need to read a little farther down the page to find John 3:19-20 – 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. “Yea though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow Death, I will fear no evil.” (See Psalm 23:4) Little children, walk in the light. (See 3 John 1:4) Which way do we go to be in the Light? The answer is here: John 8:12

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!

NEXT WEEK WE HAVE A GUEST AUTHOR WITH A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MESSAGE!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – December 8, 2017 – Waiting for God

December 8, 2017

1749AFC120817 – Waiting for God

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

2 Peter 3:8-9 – 8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

Has anyone ever said to you, “What are you waiting for? Just do it already!” or words to that effect? This challenge is usually meant as a form of encouragement, a little prod to move us toward a goal. That’s great if you know what and where the goal is. Sometimes we need help in clarifying our goals. Forming goals and objectives is something we begin to learn as children, and – if all goes well – we get better at it as we get older. When we choose a goal, we need to set up the steps – the objectives – that we must accomplish to reach the goal. If we want to shop for groceries for example, we may choose to make a shopping list as the first objective. A second objective might be to decide which store we want to visit. Next we decide the route and departure time for shopping. And we make hundreds of these little decisions every day without thinking about the “planning process.”

Other things in life, of course, are more complicated. We ponder where to go to college, when to start a family, how to choose a career, and what to do about God. I confess to be astounded by how many people have a problem with deciding on their relationship with God. Someone looking at my life would probably say, “It’s the way you were brought up. You didn’t really make any choices; it was hammered into you as a kid.” Well, … yes and no. Yes, I did have the benefit of growing up in a faith-filled home where God was honored and Scripture was taught. No, I didn’t always stick with that upbringing without experiencing some skepticism and doubt – even some rebellion; OK, a lot of rebellion. Waiting for God to swoop in and save me from my poor choices was my expectation for God’s Goodness and Grace. It took me quite a while to realize that I had to make the second move because he’d already made the first move – the first several moves – and met a bunch of objectives toward knowing what to do about God.

He created the universe and put me in it (you too, Belovéd). He provided for my salvation. He called me to be his servant. He put me where I could learn everything I needed to know about him and what to do with that knowledge. When I finally started paying attention to all that he had already done, I had to reassess my plans. OK, not just reassess my plans, not just rethink my plans, but pretty much dump my plans and get on board with his. Compared to what he had laid out, my goals and objectives were worse than silly. They would end up taking me in the wrong direction – farther away from God instead of closer to God. I realized I had become one of those people whose prayer was, “What are you waiting for, God? Just do it already!” I was not paying attention; he had already done everything. I simply ignored most of it.

The first thing I decided I needed to know about God is what to do about sin. I am a sinner. I don’t like that. It’s not something I want in my plan. I find my sinful nature very irritating. I find myself saying with the Apostle Paul (See Romans 7:15) “15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” Why doesn’t God fix that? Well, he did. He gave us Jesus, the Christ of God. The fix is simple: Follow him, walk with him, love him, serve him, and be his forever. And that requires making a choice – setting an objective.

I find some encouragement here: 2 Peter 3:13-15a – 13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.14 Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

Yes, I am the one who must be striving to be found at peace without spot or blemish; but I must do that while I regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. As it turns out, I am not waiting for God – God is waiting for me. How about that?!? We are waiting for a new Heaven and new earth from God and God is waiting for a new objective from us. He is patiently waiting for us to accept his plan, his Grace, his salvation. Now, who among us is included in “us?” well of course, Belovéd, you know the answer. EVERYONE IS US! As it states in Revelation 7:9 – … from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. Take a look at these excerpts from Scripture:

Mark 11:17 – 17 He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” (See Isaiah 56:7)

Mark 16:15 – 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

Mark 13:10 – 10 And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations.

Galatians 3:8 – 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.”

Matthew 24:6 – 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

We see WAR all around the world and it is in sharp contrast to this season preparing for and commemorating the birth of Jesus. We see unprecedented natural disaster, atrocious crimes, staggering poverty, rampant disease, and we wonder, “What can I do about that? It’s more than I can handle!” So many people around the world are asking “God, what are you waiting for?” God is patiently waiting for the people who are not asking that question, people who have not heard the word in their hearts; God is waiting for us – EVERYONE – to say yes or no. God has a plan. He wants us to live out that plan. You and I have a plan. Is it his, too? How do we choose?

Beloved PRAY. Here’s one you’ve seen before. Philippians 4:6-8: 6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these.

And if that’s still not enough to get you started, sing “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” (↔ Music Link) The concept comes highly recommended. Recall the Herald Angels’ Song: 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”  (Luke 2:14) And upon whom does his favor rest? Those who have made his plan theirs. His plan is infinite Mercy and Grace. It’s a very Good plan!

He is there with his unlimited mercy before we sin. He is there with his unlimited redemption after we sin. He is overflowing with tender, loving compassion and sympathy for each of us. He knows every living soul. He knows the “good, the bad, and the ugly” about everyone. Even though we don’t deserve mercy, he makes it readily available in such abundance that we can never use it up. Although we are completely lacking in personal merits, he always tips the scales of justice in our favor. He forgives thousands of generations of sin because it pleases him to do so. Even people who are blatantly evil will be forgiven when they repent of their evil. Whether we sin willfully or unknowingly, in malicious rebellion or carelessness, he is immediately prepared to redeem us and make us righteous. No matter how many times we repent and then fail again, he forgives everything of which we repent, but never remembers how often that happens. Only he can do this because only he is Omniscient. He knows everything about me and yet he still loves me; sometimes even I don’t love me, but his love never fails. HIS LOVE NEVER FAILS. That is because God knows every living soul more intimately than we know ourselves.

Let us then stop waiting for God. He is patiently waiting for us so let us do everything we can to bring everyone to him. One day is as a thousand years for him because he exists outside of Time. What do we do? How do we get out of this mess? Look at Joel 2:12 – 12 Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. We go back to him with all our heart. We repent. We give God glory and honor in worship and in day-to-day living. We trust God’s Mercy for us and for our enemies. We rely on God’s Justice for us and for our enemies. We do not tolerate evil and give it permission to enslave us, or harm us, or destroy what God has given. We oppose evil. We serve God. We give obedience to God above all others. We give all who willingly disobey God whatever justice he plans for them. Meanwhile, in this season of Advent, we share the Joy of expectant waiting for the King. It is a wait filled with Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Repent, therefore, and believe the Gospel! Amen.

It works like this: Zechariah 1:3 – 3 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
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Aloha Friday Message – December 1, 2017 – DO get caught!

December 1, 2017

1748AFC120117 – DO get caught!

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Isaiah 64:5a – 5 You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways.  (In the New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE), this sentence is in Isaiah 64:4a and reads: 4 Would that you might meet us doing right, that we might be mindful of you in our ways!)

Isaiah 64:8 – 8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.

One of the most important things I learned as a manager was the necessity of catching people doing the right thing. After all, isn’t that what we expect of employees, that they will be motivated to do the right thing? Truly we all like to be told that we are doing the right thing more than we like being told we are doing the wrong thing. There are times when correction is important, and there are times when we appreciate correction as long as it is fair and nonjudgmental – what we call feedback. Sometimes feedback can help us be aware of our lack of attentiveness and encourage us to be more engaged in what we do. Sometimes, no matter how often we receive correction, praise, or other feedback, we just keep doing the wrong thing, and we get caught doing that more often than we get caught doing the right thing. When faced with a situation like that, it would be wise to make a deep examination of the fundamental assumptions we have about our position in life.

Back in September 2014, I wrote a piece called My 4,357th Second Chance. I asked what would happen if we really could change. One of the most important – and most difficult – changes to make is repentance. To be repentant, we must ask for forgiveness – and that is what usually trips us up because … we have to admit we were WRONG! Why is that so hard to do? Well, that one is a three-part deal.

First we have to get past our pride that makes us feel we are superior to everyone else because – although we may not always be right – we are never wrong. That’s also what did in Adam: “It wasn’t my fault! She made me eat it!” You’ve been through that enough times that I don’t need to spell it out.

Next, even if we can wrestle down our pride and admit we were wrong, we have to be willing to say – and mean – that we are sorry. “I’m sorry” gets stuck in our craw for the same reason as admitting we’re wrong: Pride. It takes humility to apologize and most of us are wired to avoid humility.

Lastly, we have to make up our minds not to do “that” again. We have to repent. We have to reform. We have to go back to being without that intention to gratify our egos and, in so doing, hurt someone else – or even ourselves.

That’s how we should deal with correction, but what about dealing with getting caught doing the right things? I can recall hearing sermons and parental admonitions that went something like “If Jesus walked in right now, would you be ashamed for him to see you doing that?” Wow! Talk about a downer! Honestly, if Jesus walked in right now, I’d be so happy that I would stop doing anything – good or bad – just to embrace him for real. Of course, the idea is that, since he can come at any moment like a thief in the night, I should endeavor to do only that which is right and good – to be perfect, to be wholly holy – as he commanded me to do. That would be a rare feat indeed! Who among us can claim perfection? To do so would be the sin of pride, and pride is what gets us in most of our messes anyway. So, how do we manage being caught doing the right thing?

While we know we cannot be perfect, we can still try to be better. Better is always better, always a positive move toward doing right things better and better things right. This is what is called intentionality. We rarely succeed at being or doing better without intending – without consciously trying – to improve, or at least to remain consistently good. God, in his infinite grace and generosity, accepts our intentionality as readily as he accepts our good works. In short, it’s not impossible for God to catch us doing the right thing as long as we are intentionally and consciously trying to be obedient to him.

In the first of our two key verses today, we see the word meet. The connotation of this word is to meet, to encounter, to reach, to touch, to welcome, to help. God intentionally and consciously seeks to catch us doing the right thing. He always is present and open to our actions; if we do well, he blesses us with a clear conscience; if we fail, he blesses us with loving correction. He is generous with both sorts of blessing because he always wants to help us remember his ways, his conventions, his Everlasting Love. When he looks at our lives, he sees what we do, and if we are doing what he asks – if our actions are consistent with trying to be like him – he is pleased, he is blessed, and he blesses us before, during, and after we act. He is always shaping us in ways that help us conform to his image – the image in which he created us – his own. He fashions us with the capacity to do the right thing. If we remain flexible in his hands, we are well-formed indeed! That brings us to one of the most famous verses in the Bible – the potter and the clay.

Isaiah 64:8 – 8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. We might look around and wonder how that can be when we see the tsunami of evil rolling across the world. Terror, wickedness, greed, suffering, disease, famine, and defiance of God’s laws are occurring at every moment of every day. How can these things be done by all who are the work of his hands? Those who behave so contrary to what God requires – and provides for – are proud in their rebellion. They refused to be shaped by him who made the universe. There is another passage in Isaiah that addresses this: Isaiah 45:9 – 9 Woe to you who strive with your Maker, earthen vessels with the potter! Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”? or “Your work has no handles”? In another version it reads like this: One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger, one who is like a mere shard among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter, “What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill!” New English Translation (NET) Yes! We sometimes speak to God like that! And he has an answer for it through the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 – The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me:” 6 Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done?” says the Lord. “Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” God is not fooled, and he is always in control. He will always try to reshape us properly. If we cannot be reshaped, it is possible we can end up on the floor like other pieces of broken pottery, like a mere shard among the other shards on the ground!

Beloved, we are all clay in the potter’s hands (remember, “from the dust of the ground” – Genesis 2:7), but remarkably some of us still try to call the shots and shape our own lives in our own image. As it was with Israel, so it is with us. We earthlings find it so difficult to relinquish our will to anyone – or so we think. We let friends, or family, or peers influence us into doing things that do not honor God. “What do you mean you’re going to church instead of watching the Ostriches versus the Echidnas? What kind of a fan would miss that?” “C’mon. One little toke won’t hurt you!” “If you really loved me, we’d stop wasting time talking about it and just do it.” “Hey, just one more for the road. Drink up! Ya only live once!” (And don’t forget YOLO forever.)

Those comments, that outlook, these distractions will guarantee a shattered future somewhere along the line – perhaps even as far down the line as Death’s Door. We willingly give our bodies, minds, and spirits, even our allegiance, to things that are impermanent; but we will not give an entire day once a week to the God who created us, who sustains us, and who fills us with only the finest things, “gift of finest wheat” (Psalm 81:16, John 6:35, 2 Corinthians 4:7), and “treasure worth more than gold.” Beloved, that is the way to destruction!

We know we are going to “get caught.” God is all about looking for ways to catch us trying to be like him. When we do that, he likes it, and he rewards it. When we don’t (or won’t) do that, he doesn’t like it and – like the potter in Jeremiah – will try reshaping the clay for another purpose. I see that as a win-win situation, and I am grateful God’s work is done in me when I yield to his hands. I’d love to be caught doing that!  Maran atha! Marana tha! We need to tell our God Have Thine Own Way, Lord! (↔ Music Link)

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Aloha Friday Message – November 24, 2017 – DON’T Do It Yourself

November 24, 2017

1747AFC112415 – DDIY

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Ezekiel 34:11-12 – 11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.'”

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Are you enjoying the endeavor of finishing up the Thanksgiving Feast? We did our “Turkey Day” on Sunday, the 19th, as a combined birthday and Thanksgiving celebration. Crucita and Timothy picked up a nice small turkey for three bucks at Safeway. Then Crucita worked for hours preparing the turkey, the cornbread-and-pecan stuffing, the homemade pumpkin pies, scalloped potatoes, turkey-stock gravy, Orange-Marshmallow Glazed Yams, and I opened the can of cranberries. She and T did amazing work and most of it from scratch. They did it all themselves, and it was good; it was very good. It was quite a creation.

Do you remember what God said about his “homemade” creation? Genesis 2:1 – Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. In Hebrew, that word looks like this: וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ The Hebrew word for finished is וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ way-ḵul-lū which comes from the root word כָּלָה (kalah) { kaw-law’}. The expression finished here means “consummated” or “to perform the last act which completes a process, to accomplish, fulfill.” Everything that needs to be done has been done. It is a fully-completed, made-to-order, exactly-right process concluded properly and correctly in every possible way. Whatever can or needs to come next can succeed because the perfect preparation for it has been completed. Remember? The verse immediately before this one says 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31) All the other days of creation ended with “And God saw that it was good.”At the end of the sixth day, indeed it was very good, so good in fact, that God could rest for a day after all the work he had done creating the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in them. It was the perfect ending of all he had done. And he did it all himself; we know because he told us so. Check it out.

In another passage he declares that he, and he alone, is God: Isaiah 43:11-12 – 11 I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed – I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.”

God loves us so much he decided that he, and only he, could save us from sin and death. There are many passages in the Bible where the Lord uses this emphatic reference – I, even I or I myself – to describe the punishments he will mete out for those who are disobedient. God also uses this strongly-reflexive idiom when describing how he will protect, love, and comfort his people as in our key verse today. God did all of that himself because we could not do it at all. He began this Great Work of Salvation in Eden, and God himself proclaimed its completion from the Cross saying “It is finished.” (More on that shortly.) God himself cared for his people as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his flock. He promised them restoration to the good things they lost through their disobedience and lack of love. They – we – cannot do that ourselves. We cannot restore our lives which are lost to the wages of sin. We cannot bring salvation. There are no animal sacrifices, not a single sacramental holocaust, no redeeming acts or prayers that we can perform which will accomplish what only God himself can do. But, we still try anyway, and God himself still loves us as the sheep of his flock.

This was an image well-understood by the Children of Israel. For the nation Israel, livestock was a central component of everything from worship to shelter to clothing. Animals were important, and they were cared for as the investments they truly were. We know the story of the lost sheep. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to realize that losing one lamb would be a bad setback. Losing a ewe and her unborn lamb would be far worse. God says that he himself will be the shepherd to Israel, and for the Israelites that was a brilliant illustration. God’s “hired hands,” the Priests who were supposed to lead and protect the people, had failed in their job, so God announces, “I will do the job myself because I care about my sheep so much I don’t want them to suffer like this any longer.” Then he promises to send another Davidic Shepherd, the heir of David’s throne, and like the shepherd David, this Good Shepherd will lead God’s people in the right way, defeat God’s enemies, and establish a Kingdom where God and his Shepherd rule with justice and equity for ever.

Beloved, that is – of course – the Kingdom of God, and you and I already live there. So does every living soul on this earth. All of us live in the Kingdom of God, but not all of us are part of the Kingdom of God. If Jesus is your Shepherd, you are part of His Kingdom. If Jesus is not your Shepherd, you live in the World, but not in the Kingdom. No one is excluded from the Kingdom by the Shepherd. The only way to be excluded is to ignore the Shepherd. And if Jesus is your shepherd, then you have to go where Jesus goes; that’s what we mean when we say, “follower of Jesus.” We go where he goes, and conversely, we do not go where he does not go. God himself went to the ultimate end of it all to finish what he himself began “In the beginning,” and we must also go there, because that is where it is very good. It is where redemption is finished by God himself, and he alone can make it וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ way-ḵul-lū – completely finished. When God finished the universe, he took a rest. Then came sin, and God had to end his rest and start the process of redemption. That work was completed by God himself. How?

John 19:30 – 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.”Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

“It is finished.“In Greek, this is Τετέλεσται, (Tetélestai) {teh-TEH-les-tie}. Some translations read, “It is consummated, “which is another appropriate translation of the word Τετέλεσται. This expression comes from a Greek word τελέω teléō  {tel-eh’-o}, which also means consummation, or to complete a process all the way through the final step which means everything that needed to be done has been done. It is a fully-completed, made-to-order, exactly-right process concluded properly and correctly in every possible way. Whatever can or needs to come next can succeed because the perfect preparation for it has been completed. Wait. That sounds familiar! So, could it be that way-ḵul-lū in Hebrew and teh-TEH-les-tie in Greek have the same denotative and connotative meanings? Certainly! Jesus was there when the words of Genesis 2:1 were spoken (think of John 1:3a – All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.) God did all of it himself. We don’t have to do it – in fact, we can’t do it. We seem to have a hard time remembering that even now. Many times Israel was briefly able to toe the line, to repent and do what God had commanded; but then they forgot and went right back to ignoring good and enjoying their own version of This is MY Life. We believe we can compromise- broker a mutual agreement – with God and get a better deal.

Compromise is not a biblical word, it is not a Biblical concept, and it is not an acceptable approach to living with God in his universe; he made it, so he gets to make all the rules; we don’t. The word compromise is pretty difficult to find in the Bible. In all the versions I have, I could only find it in one – the New Jerusalem Bible, and then in only 1 verse: 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 – 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

We still believe we can substitute our idols, our ideas, our points-of-view for what God himself has decreed. Belovéd, DON’T Do It Yourself! God has already done it. It is finished. And God is uncompromisingly clear about what we must do to be what he created us to be – wholly holy. (See Leviticus 19:2 and 1 Peter 1:15-16) Come away from the World with all its compromises. Abhor and avoid what is unclean. Don’t try make a deal that will land you in the Devil’s condo at the end of time when the King separates the sheep from the goats (See Matthew 25:31-46. Seriously! Go read that while you listen to this (↔ Music Link)). God has a mansion for you that he himself has made. It’s yours for the asking because that’s what God does – he does it his way for us, with us, and about us but never without us. Why? Because he loves us!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com

 

Aloha Friday Message – November 17, 2017 – The Answer is … 46

November 17, 2017

1746AFC111717 – The Answer is … 46

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Today I’m doing something a bit unusual. I’m taking excerpts from previous posts and combining them together. The Gospel for this Sunday is about the King who gave his servants large sums of money – talents of silver. In Israel, a talent of silver weighed about 100 pounds. That’s a lot of money! The men who received this were expected to invest it and return it to their master with the earnings of their investment. That has something to do with how I approached this post.

The Old Testament reading for this weekend is about the “Proverbs 31 Woman.” You may know a few women who fit that description – well, at least one, perhaps. There is also a very good description of the blessedness of a man who has a good wife in Sirach 26. As I thought of these two passages, I remembered writing about The Proverbs 31 Woman. I looked for it on my blog and found a lot of other things that also sparked my heart. I also thought of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the number 42. Douglas Adams claimed he chose that number totally at random; I like that idea, so I looked at the index number for this post – 1746 – and then I got that familiar little murmur  from the Holy Spirit and decided to pick 46 as my guide. Then the message went something like this: “Look for something in every #46 in the list.” This compilation is in response to that directive! I’ve converted each of the index numbers to links so you can go explore if you like what you see and want some more.

346AFC110203 – A Love Story

In Sister Act and Sister Act II, we saw Whoopi Goldberg and a gaggle of singing nuns take standard secular songs and turn them into hymns. That’s been happening in my head this morning, so I thought I’d share with you how it works. Remember the movie “Love Story?” And what about the theme song? “Where do I begin to tell the story of a love that could not be? A great love story that is older than the sea? Where do I start?” I kind of started hearing the melody first, then some of the lyrics drifted into my Swiss-cheese brain, and then it dawned on me that that’s the story of Jesus and me. It’s part of Thanksgiving, I guess, because I sure do feel thankful to have a message like that rolling around in my head. And today as I meditate on what that all means, I hope that lyric is the story of Jesus and you, too.

646AFC111706 – Coffee and God

“Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”

God brews the coffee, not the cups . . . enjoy your coffee.

“Being happy doesn’t mean everything’s perfect, it means you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections.”

746AFC111607 – The kid said what?

  1. Where there’s smoke there’s – – – pollution.
  2. Happy the bride who – – – gets all the presents.
  3. A penny saved is – – – not much.
  4. Two’s company, three’s – – – the Musketeers.
  5. Don’t put off till tomorrow what – – – you put on to go to bed.
  6. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and – – – you have to blow your nose.
  7. There are none so blind as – – – Stevie Wonder.

846AFC111408 – Suffering

For me, in those times when God seemed farthest and I seemed most desperate, the only thing that made any sense was to keep doing what I knew to be “the right things:” To pray, to read the Bible, to serve, to give, and to expect healing. I also realized I had to be open to the help, the empowerment, and the encouragement given by others who might not have fully understood my despair, but who nonetheless held out helping hands and hearts. They were Christ for me when I could not be Christ for anyone. When JOY returned, it was different in texture, content, and context. I realized it was a rough trip, but well worth it. I also realize now that there are probably some other stretches of “25 miles of bad road” ahead. I’m OK with that. I would not have found JOY as readily, I believe, had I not persisted in the common things and accepted the many and varied gifts of family and friends, I would still be kicking at the darkness and wrestling with the drought caused by doubt.

947AFC112009 – The Most Beautiful Heart

(This is one of my favorites. I hope you will read the whole thing sometime this week. It says a lot about how I feel about you.)

I am very grateful for the pieces of your hearts I carry in my heart. Should the time ever come when the pieces of your hearts far outnumber the leftover pieces of my heart, then our heart will begin to look a little bit more like His heart. That is why I pray each day, “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto your heart.”

1046AFC111210 – The Economics of Sin

We all know of persons who claim to be antireligious or irreligious, and still they are kinds and generous and do many things that benefit many people. God alone knows the depth and breadth of their faith. I still hold that whatever good they do is only done because “all good things come from above.” (James 1:16-18 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.) The good we are able to do is possible because God put Good into the world through Jesus so we could understand how to worship God together. More and more the world is turning inward and worshiping confusion. Why worship God when you can worship yourself?

1146AFC111811 – A Handful of Seeds

Beloved, where is your crop? Where is your mustard-seed bush, your acres of wheat, your vineyard of grapes, your orchard of fruits of the spirit? You cannot expect a harvest if you do not commit to the stewardship of planting. […] When you plant the Word in the “good soil” of your heart, you have to plant more than one seed to get a harvest. You must also add to the stewardship of planting the stewardship of nurturing. And if you nurture the seeds, the crop they bear will require you to add the stewardship of harvest. It is from the harvest that the sower gets seed for the next crop and grain for the bread to feed himself and others.

1246AFC111512 – 3-D Discernment

Today I am thinking about discernment. Recently I received a Word from the Lord about discernment, and I want to share with you what I found. The Word came as “3-D Discernment.” 3-D Discernment is a Discernment that is Direct, Deliberative, and Descriptive. Direct in the sense that it is confrontational as when Jesus spoke directly to the demon that was oppressing someone. Deliberative because it weighs the evidence of Good Fruits versus Corrupt Fruits. Descriptive in that it lays out in no uncertain terms where the errors are and defines them so that only a demon or a fool would be unable to see the differences between Truth and error.

1346AFC111513 – The War rages on!

Do you believe in God? If you do, then you must also believe in Satan, because God is not a liar, so he would not warn us against him if he was not real. Do you believe in Angels? Then you must believe in demons, because Satan took with him many of the Holy Angels who joined him in his rebellion against God. Do you believe the souls of our Faithful and Obedient departed are with God? Then you must believe that the souls of the faithless and rebellious departed are with Satan. Think of all the people you know – not just the ones you hang out with – all the people in the news, all the people in the nations where war is happening right now, and all the people whose “spiritual ideologies” exclude any aspect of the reality of the Holy Trinity. Now think of all the people who claim to know God, to serve Christ, but whose words and actions contradict everything they claim. Next, think of all the people whose words match their lives, who can say with absolute certainty “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Run a quick tally in your head. Which of these three groups is the smallest? Which of these three groups is most likely to become allies when the battles intensify? Finally, if you know in your heart how to distinguish one group from the other, then you know how to “test the spirits.” In the end, we will all have to answer these questions, so it is best to answer them today – and every day – as we test the spirits we encounter. Paul refers to one of those spirits as the Spirit of the antichrist. (Read the rest of the article to see what “antichrist” really means.)

1446AFC111414 – I Ain’t Lyin’!

This Sunday, many of us will hear a reading from Proverbs 31. I have mentioned this section of scripture before when I wrote about the Virtuous Woman. Check that last link for a list of 10 Virtues of the Proverbs 31 Woman. I have known a number of women who are worthy of the title, Virtuous Woman – or Proverbs 31 Woman. If you look through that list of 10 virtues, you will perhaps think of someone who fits most, if not all, of those descriptions. For the passage about the Virtuous Woman in Proverbs 31, see Proverbs 31:10-31.

1546AFC111315 – What’s next?

How, then, can we get to heaven? It is only through the Grace of God who gives eternal Joy to all who will believe in the Christ of God. One must repent, believe the Gospel, be baptized, love God and Neighbor, and be a witness (testify) to the Salvation granted by our God through Christ Jesus. Outside of those criteria, only at the Day of Judgment before Christ will we know. I encourage you to follow this link to read Matthew 25:31-46. This is the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, the division of the nations (all humanity) into two groups: The Righteous and the Unrighteous. Christ will judge. God will award. That is what’s next. All of us will go down to the dust of the earth. All of us will be raised up on the last day. Some of us will spend the rest of eternity with God and all the Angels and Saints. Some of us will not. What’s next for you? Is it Philippians 2:9-11? I sincerely hope so!!

1646AFC111116 – Can I get a Witness?

A witness (n.) is one who testifies. To witness (vt.) is to see personally in present reality. Martyr is one who gives up life for the sake of a promise to God. To martyr someone is to kill them because of their faith. In this day and age, in places around The World, hundreds – perhaps thousands or even tens of thousands – are responding to Jesus’ call, “Can I get a witness?” Stephen said yes. Paul said yes. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Bartholomew said yes. Who among us can say yes? Who will shed her/his own blood for Christ? […] Our idea of being a witness for Christ, pretty much stops at getting up in a tent-revival meeting and answering the altar call. But there are remarkable exceptions. Many of us – whether Catholic or Evangelical fundamentalists, or Buddhists, or Jews, or you-name-it-faiths – are content to quietly go to services and live unmolested about our faith when in society. We often barely have courage to “Stand Up for Jesus.” (↔ Music Link). What’s that you say? You disagree? Where is your zeal?

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

Aloha Friday Message – Friday, November 10, 2017 – God did that

November 10, 2017

1745AFC111017 – God did that

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! I’m back to being able to actually see what I’m doing on the computer. My monitor was getting flaky, and I finally had to replace it. Thanks again for those of you who have been praying for our needs here in Kapahi. I can assure you that it is making a difference. I especially thank you for your continued prayers for the persons named in the Share-A-Prayer list over the past few weeks. Lives are being changed! The recent news about not having to go to surgery – yet – was a nice surprise. Hopefully the PT will relieve the inflammation in my left shoulder and I will be able to regain a greater range of motion with much less discomfort; if that doesn’t work, then it’s go ahead with the surgery and do the PT all over again. Meanwhile, my hips are competing for attention, but until the shoulder issue resolves, not much will be done for those worn-out parts. Whatever the outcome, I am trying to be ready for God’s will in all things. Being ready means you don’t just assume that when the time comes you’ll be prepared for whatever happens. You have to be paying attention to “the little things.” Jesus taught several lessons on being ready. We will hear one such lesson this weekend – the 10 Virgins at the Wedding Feast. Here’s what I’d like to use as our key verse today:

 Matthew 25:10 – 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.

In this story, there are 10 virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to return so that the Wedding Feast can start. All of them fall asleep. Five of them have brought extra oil; they are referred to as the wise virgins. Five of them did not bring extra oil; they are referred to as the foolish virgins. When the bridegroom arrived, the wise were ready to go into the feast with him because they could refill their lamps and trim their wicks. The foolish ones begged the wise for more oil. The request was not granted. Instead they were sent out into the darkness to attempt to correct their foolishness. The wise went in with the bridegroom. The foolish were locked out. Although the parable does not say it directly, we can come to a reasonable assumption that the door was locked by the bridegroom after he entered the feast with the 5 who were ready. It is very apparent in this parable that Jesus is the bridegroom and the 10 virgins represent his followers – all 10 are invited to the feast. You may recall in the parable of the King’s Wedding Feast, the servants went out and brought in strangers, everyone they could find, people who would not normally have been invited. In this parable of the virgins, all of them are invited to share in the celebration. How can the bridegroom shut them out, and why? And what about the people who were never invited? What became of them? Why are they left out?

The series of parables in this part of Matthew are addressed to the Disciples – not just the Twelve, but to all who have answered the Gospel call. Jesus frequently pointed out that answering that call required a radical change in one’s life (we’ve discussed metanoia previously). If a Disciple was not able to sustain that level of commitment, they “fell away” from discipleship. They were left out. This is the basic message of everything in the Bible. We are to love God and love our neighbor. In and through that love, we find ways to obey God, to draw ever closer to him, and to find the strength to keep our commitment to his love. As stated here repeatedly, everyone is called, everyone is invited, the Wedding Feast is open to anyone who will come in and honor the bridegroom. In the Wedding Parables, those who could not do that were “bound hand and foot and cast out into the darkness where there was weeping and grinding of teeth” (paraphrasing there). Yes, we can be thrown out of the party, even if we think we belong there! Check out this passage:

Matthew 7:21-23 – 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’” Just who are these who are the “many,” the ones who expect Jesus to wave them into Heaven along with all the righteous? They are the “Sunday-goin’-t’meetin'” Christians. They are the folks who associate with the Church because they like hanging out with believers, but are only superficially tied to the church. Many passages in the Epistles and catholic letters deal with members of the early church who are abusing the fellowship (koinónia) of the Christian community.

The Apostle Paul tells those early Christians that faking it isn’t going to work. We’ve looked at this passage previously: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – 9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. All are invited, few are called, and many are excluded because they won’t “stick with the program.” Just as the people who would not honor the traditions in these parables were left out of the benefits enjoyed by those who would honor them, God will not allow those who dishonor his Son to enjoy the benefits of his heavenly reward – eternal life with him. Some folks just don’t believe God will do that. If you’re in that group, I have only one response: Read your Bible! Here are a few reminders –

Genesis 7:16 – 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. Yes, God did that. He shut the door and no one else could enter.

Psalm 145:20 – 20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. Yes, God did that. He allowed the nations in Canaan 400 years to repent and reform. When they did not, Joshua and the nation of Israel came in and utterly destroyed them – men, women, children, livestock, cities … everything. At least that was what he ordered them to do. Some of his people refused to give their obedience, and they suffered the fate God intended for their enemies.

Psalm 34:15-16 – 15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. Yes, God did that. It’s abundantly clear throughout the whole Bible – and visible in all of earthly life – that God favors the righteous, but he will destroy those who are evil along with everything they do.

Matthew 13:41-43 – 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen! Yes, God did that. He planned it in a way that if we think we can go along for the ride just because we hang out with his Disciples, we will be left out – thrown out – with Satan and all his followers. Believe it or else.

Titus 2:11-14 – 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, 12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. Yes, God did that. He gave us the gift of Grace that empowers and inspires us to love God and neighbor, but to abhor all that is Worldly like the five virgins who thought being invited was sufficient.

These are the false followers without truly being Disciples. They want the benefits of being a believer without doing the work. They are too self-centered to make Jesus the focal point of their love, preferring themselves instead, and expect the genuinely-committed to bail them out in the end (See verse 8 here.) The foolishness of this assumption is the whole point of the parable. At the outset, we may think that their foolishness was “failure to prepare.” In a way, that is true, but the real kicker is in the consequence of that failure. One’s faith in, and obedience to, Christ’s Law of Love cannot be bartered off to save someone else. It is only Jesus who saves, and he saves only those whose faith – the oil that lights the lamp – is consistently ready. Yes, God did that. We must not forget that it was God who created the universe, blessed it, and called it Good. The door is his to close at his chosen time. Right now, it’s open for everyone who can trust and obey (↔ Music Link) God’s Divine Plan. There is another who has a plan for you, but it is most definitely not good!

If we’re invited to the feast but never show up, we can be certain the door will be shut when we try to go in to the Feast. If we try to fake it, we will not make it to the Feast of the Righteous. On the Day of Reward, our reward will be eternal life – as it is for all souls – but it will be eternity without happiness of any kind. Yes, God did that. He offered Mercy to all and richly rewards all who will accept that Mercy. To those who refuse his Mercy, he gives his Perfect Justice. Yes, God did shut the door of the Ark, and that was the beginning of Justice for all who were not inside. Yes, God did warn the wicked in Canaan that their lives and property would be destroyed and the land would be handed over to his People. Yes, the Apostle Paul did tell the flatterers who wanted to be seen as Christians (like the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day) that they can’t fake their way into Heaven or invent their own Gospel. It is true that God commanded that the Ark be built, but it was Noah’s obedience that God honored by protecting him and his family at the time of that dreadful Justice. Mercy opens the door; justice closes it. Yes, God did that, but those who have eyes to see can see that the door is still open just a crack.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

Aloha Friday Message – November 3, 2017 – Easy Does it – NOT

November 3, 2017

1744AFC110314 – Easy Does It – NOT!

Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea!  Thank you for your patience this week.  With my monitor out, it was difficult to do any research or writing.  Let’s begin right away with our key passage:

Matthew 23:11-12 – 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

 

Although we hear this passage frequently,  when we hear it we don’t really listen to it.  We know that Christ expects us to be humble.  We accept that intellectually, but as a practical matter we usually don’t do too well in fulfilling this command.  Sometimes, we manage to “fake” being humble by being self-deprecating.  This is most definitely not what Jesus asked us to do.  God created us in his image and in his likeness.  God does not make junk!  We cannot call ourselves junk without failing to recognize this important fact: We are wonderfully made.  As the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 139:14 – 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

When we look into our past, way back to Eden, we remember how the Serpent deceived Eve lied to that Father of Lies when she said in Genesis 3:2-3 – 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” God only said not to eat of that tree; he said nothing about touching it. This is a reflection of the same sin that Lucifer committed: PRIDE. Eve’s pride prompted her to believe that she could be equal to God – as did Lucifer. As we learned in our 2016 Lenten Series, The 7 Deadly Sins and Their Corresponding Virtues, Pride and Humility are opposites. What it boils down to (and what it’s always about) is choice. We choose between sin and virtue. We can work on being humble or we can just wallow in our Pride. What does it take to be humble, anyway?

Thomas À Kempis put it this way in The Imitation of Christ – Study to do another’s will rather than thine own. Choose ever to have less rather than more. Seek ever the lower place and to be subject to all; ever wish and pray that the will of God may be perfectly done in thee and in all. Behold such a man enters the bounds of peace and calm. Like I am always saying, “It’s a choice given to us through the gift of free will.”

There is a wonderful litany which is (incorrectly) attributed to Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X called The Litany of Humility . This short spiritual exercise, when prayed in earnest, is a good daily reminder of the many things we can set aside that will help us learn the value and power of humility. The original author of the Litany of Humility is that famous writer and poet, Author Unknown. I recall a little vignette in which a clergyman decided to work of each of the Seven Virtues for a year at a time so that he could master each. He decided to begin with Humility. After the passage of many years, he confessed that he had still not mastered it. But he never gave up trying!

It seems that is the only way to get there – keep trying! Here are some other reminders:

Psalm 10:17 – 17 O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear

Proverbs 16:19 – 19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. Proverbs 29:23

Proverbs 29:23 – 23 A person’s pride will bring humiliation, but one who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Matthew 18:4 – 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Luke 14:8-11 – 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; 9 and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

There are at least as many places in the Bible where we learn how much God loves us and is hoping we will love him in return, he gives us everything we need to be humble, to be happy, and to be his! Think about these things:

Psalm 8:4-6a – 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? 5 Yet you have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;

Isaiah 49:15 – 15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

John 3:16-17 – 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Ephesians 2:4-7 – 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Revelation 4:11 – 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

2 Chronicles 7:12-14 – 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

1 Peter 5:5-6 – 5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”* 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.  * (See Psalm 138:6 and Proverbs 3:34)

James 4:10 – 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

St. Augustine wrote “Humility is the foundation of all the virtues; therefore, in a soul where it does not exist there can be no true virtue, but the mere appearance only. In like manner, it is the most proper disposition for all celestial gifts. And, finally, it is so necessary to perfection, that of all the ways to reach it, the first is humility; the second, humility; the third, humility. And if the question were repeated a hundred times, I should always give the same answer.”

Like the cleric who humbled himself by realizing he was a failure at being humble, and like the writer of the Litany of Humility who faded from the view of the world, let’s just keep trying, fully aware that it is not easy, but also fully aware that the effort is worth it, win or lose.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Creative Commons License
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 

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