Aloha Friday Message – June 24, 2016 – Just One

June 24, 2016

1626AFC062416 – Just One

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!

Luke 9:51 – 51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Aloha ʻŌmea. It’s good to be with you again. Did you know that when I work on these, I often think about you? I know that some of you read every message. I suspect that some of you might take a look at the file size in your in-box and decide to delete the message or maybe read it when you have more time. That’s OK; I don’t always read every message in my inbox – unless it comes from you – then I always read it. I think about whether or not you will enjoy the writing, learn something new, find affirmation for your faith, or just say, “Huh! How about that!” If you are a friend, a relative, or a neighbor, I think about you. If you’ve found this message randomly on the Internet, I even think about you. That’s why I post these at www.aloha-friday.org. Why do I think about you? Because you are the one person I want to read this – yep, you. If you are the one who reads this message, you are the one for whom it was written. When I start working on the keyboard, there’s just one thing I want to do – to reach you for Christ’s sake. It’s like the famous core of UNIX programming philosophy: DO ONE THING AND DO IT WELL.

I hope I do this well. I’ve mentioned before that I depend on the Holy Spirit to help me find a topic and then to help me find ways to make that topic a message that you can receive. I have a goal, and – being a very Task Oriented person – I resolutely pursue that goal. Usually that means doing something new and leaving behind whatever has gone before. There’s a change every week, but the main message is pretty consistently “God loves you so much that he gives you everything in your life including himself.” In today’s opening verse, Jesus is starting on a new phase of his ministry. This verse marks a sort of boundary between Jesus’ earlier ministry and his final exodus – his suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. It is the beginning of what is often called his Galilean mission as he unwaveringly walks to Jerusalem where The Cross will change everything. The earlier ministry began with Jesus being rejected in Nazareth. Now, as he begins this new phase of teaching, he is again rejected – this time by a Samaritan village. When the “Sons of Thunder” James and John learn of this, they are furious and say, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” (Luke 9:54) This calls to mind the Old Testament story of Elijah and King Ahazaiah (See 2 Kings 1). Jesus rebukes them because they just don’t get it. James and John are full of prideful indignation and have taken the position that anyone who does not accept Jesus should be severely punished. Jesus utterly rejects this because it doesn’t fit the one message – Love brings salvation. Jesus tells them off and then continues his march to Jerusalem and death. I wonder, what did he say to them? I imagine it was something like, “There’s only one outcome I have in mind and that’s not it.” Jesus often used the K.I.S.S. principle in his teaching: One thing is all that’s needed. Do you remember where and when he said that?

He was at the house of his friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Martha was all flustered about getting everything just right for Jesus and his Disciples. Meanwhile, Mary was just focused on Jesus. Martha is a bit like James and John; she wants it her way. She asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her. This time, though, his rebuke is a little gentler (but nonetheless firm!): Luke 10:41-42 – 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

doonethingwellThat’s all there is to it. There is just one thing needed – Jesus’ Love. Ah, Belovéd, we too are so often distracted by many things. We worry about stuff that isn’t all that important. In Luke 12:25, Jesus asks if worrying can make you live longer or grow taller. How do we usually answer? “Well, no, but …” or “Yes, but …”. James and John: “Yes, but Jesus, they dissed you!” Martha: “Yes, Jesus, but she could at least …” What’s your favorite “yes-but” for answering Jesus? That’s a good exercise for us to try sometime. The list can get pretty long. It is so easy to forget there is only one thing needed. The Apostle Paul gave us lots of tips about how to stay on task. For James, John, and Martha the distraction was The World and the earthlings that were messing things up but failing to focus on Jesus. These are the “things of the flesh.” Take a look at something Paul said in Galatians 5:16-17 – 16 Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.

How can we resolve this conflict between the Spirit and The World? Well, first, we need to realize that the battle isn’t really against flesh and blood because the real fight is a spiritual battle against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (See Ephesians 6:12) We cannot battle things of The World with worldly things, worldly ways, or worldly arguments. We have to battle the spiritual powers behind those worldly things. All of us have experience in losing those battles on a regular basis because, fundamentally, we lack one thing. Check this out: Romans 8:9 – 9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. I underlined since because I want to show you how important that little word is in this verse. The Greek word used is εἴπερ (eiper) {i-per’} – which means if indeed, if perhaps, if it be so, if really, if after all, since, if only … Let’s substitute some of those –

you are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you
you are in the Spirit, if after all the Spirit of God dwells in you
you are in the Spirit, if it be so the Spirit of God dwells in you
you are in the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you

Which “one thing” empowers and inspires us to take on and defeat the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places? The Spirit of God. How do we get that one thing? How can we choose “the better part?” What is the better part? What is THE ONE THING? I am asking you because you already know the answer. Do we want Jesus or The World? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I’d Rather Have Jesus, (↔ Music Link) and that’s what I KEEP FORGETTING TO REMEMBER! That means that something, someone, other than the Spirit of God dwells in me. Therein comes the battle, Belovéd. Our enemy uses every possible lie, any and every distraction, and all the power of the flesh to help us forget the Power of the Holy Spirit.

onewayAnyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. That’s terrible news! How do we fix that? There is just one way – follow The Just One. We must go with him to Jerusalem as our exodus. We can do as he did – set our face toward Jerusalem and resolutely move forward. There is only One Thing needed. There is only One Way to go. We can and will live in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in us. There is One Focus for our eyes, our hearts, our minds, and our souls. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus! (↔ Music Link) There is One, Just One. Accept no substitute! Sports? TV? Drugs? Alcohol? Lust? Anger? Sin? Security for me and my family? Success? “My legacy?” NO! Just ONE – The Lord, the Giver of Life: Jesus with, in, and within, the Spirit of God.

I’m thinking about you thinking about me thinking about Jesus and telling you that is the One Thing you need to know this week. A hui hou!

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

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

 

Aloha Friday Message – June 17, 2016 – Who?

June 17, 2016

1625AFC061716 – Who?

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! If you see (↔ Music Link), CLICK IT!

Luke 9:20 –Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He scolded them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ, through the Power of the Holy Spirit, Belovéd. Today we are going to do a quick overview of Luke 9, and then explore verse 20 a bit more.

The ninth chapter of the Gospel of Luke is a treasure chest filled with hope, wonder, miracles, and mysteries. Here are a few of the things that happen in the 62 verses of this amazing account of Jesus’ ministry:

  1. Jesus gives his disciples power over demons and diseases and sends them out to share the Gospel and the Power of The Word.
  2. Herod begins to think John the Baptist has been raised from the dead.
  3. Jesus feeds 5000 men and their families with five loaves and two fishes, fully satisfying their hunger, and there’s even some leftovers.
  4. Jesus asks his Disciples, “But who do you say that I am,” and Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ of God.
  5. Jesus tells his Disciples that he is going to Jerusalem where he will be arrested, will suffer greatly, will die, “and on the third day be raised.”
  6. In that same discourse he tells them that they must take up their crosses and follow him.
  7. Eight days after that, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John to a mountain. As Jesus prays, he is Transfigured as ultra-radiant and is speaking with Moses and Elijah. The three Disciples are astounded at what they see, and Peter wants to build little shelters for everyone.
  8. Just as Peter is finishing up showing his ignorance, from overhead a heavenly VOICE declares, “This is my son, my Chosen; listen to him!” Jesus commands them to keep all this a secret, and they descend to the plains.
  9. The following day, a man brings his son who is seized by demons and convulses. The man has asked the Disciples to heal the boy (see #1 above), but they could not. Jesus orders that the boy be brought to him; the demon is manifested. Jesus rebukes the demon and heals the boy.
  10. Jesus foretells his death once again saying that he will be betrayed into human hands. The Disciples are baffled.
  11. The Disciples start arguing about which of them is them greatest. Jesus calls over a little child and states, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.”
  12. The Disciples still don’t understand that Jesus is radically different from anyone else, but that does not make them anything like special. The tattle to him about another exorcist who is casting out demons in Jesus’ name and want Jesus to stop him. He tells them,“Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.”
  13. Jesus stalwartly and resolutely marches on toward Jerusalem – knowing fully what awaits him there – and on the way passes through a town in Samaria. They did not welcome him. James and John, still lost in misunderstanding about what true power is, want to bring down fire and obliterate the place. Jesus rebukes them and keeps moving toward Jerusalem.
  14. Someone says to him, “I’ll follow you anywhere,” not knowing that he would have to follow Jesus to the Cross. Another says, “I’ll join you, but let me say goodbye to my family. Jesus replies, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

That’s a lot of action in one chapter! Let’s get right into it then. Today I chose Jesus’ question to the Disciples – “But who do you say that I am?” The crowds don’t seem to know. Herod doesn’t seem to know. Even most of the Disciples don’t seem to know. Peter had an answer ready. The Messiah – in Hebrew that is מָשִׁ֣יחַ (mashiyach) {maw-shee’-akh} – The Christ – in Greek that is Χριστὸν (Christos) {khris-tos’} – and whether in Hebrew or Greek it means The Anointed One, the Chosen, the Belovéd Son of God. Apparently Peter was paying attention on the mountain after all and figured out that if a VOICE from Heaven says “This is my son, my Chosen; listen to him!” then Jesus must be The One. Jesus knew that all along. Jesus knew God was his Father; Jesus knew he was God’s Only Begotten Son. He had the answer to that question, “Who are you?” Do you?

Who do people say that you are? Perhaps more to the point, who to you say that you are? I’m with Popeye on this one. “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam.” If it is true that “What we do says who we are. Actions speak louder than words,” then I have some serious reforming ahead of me!

I am what I am. I can remember back in High School answering that question, or a form of that question, “Who Are You?” I was in a national youth group called Christian Endeavor. When challenged with that question, we would respond, “I am a child of God first. I am a son and a brother second. I am … An officer in the Colorado CE Organization; A TJ Spartan; Charles O. Todd, III; and so on. As my life drew on and I learned more about the world, I became a student at Hope college, then at Metropolitan State College, then an Airman 2nd, then Crucita’s husband, a Med Tech, a manager, a graduate student. The first two answers pretty much stayed the same, but to the second one I added the roles of husband and father. How many of these are translated as “I am what I do?

Now, as time goes by I am most like to answer “What/Who are you?” by saying, “I am old (and I am), or “I am happy (and that is definitely true), but there is more. I am what I am. “What are you?”

I am what I am, I am intolerant. Try as I might to shake it there are so many things that get to me in ways I do not like. I get flustered trying to deal with the things that irritate me, most especially with my own irritation. I say or do things that do not reflect what I profess. That is so irritating! Even those around me, especially those who love me most, are quick (and correct) to point out my intolerance and my flying off the handle when pushed to my very narrow limits. Sometimes I cannot tolerate my intolerance.

I am what I am. I am impatient. You can see and hear it when I am driving. It’s most flagrant when people speed past me going well over the speed limit, or run a stop sign without slowing down, or activate on their turn signal after they’ve started turning. Sounds a lot like intolerance, but it’s often quicker to flare up and quicker to burn out. The intolerance seems to last…well, way longer that I want. I am impatient when people can’t tell me, succinctly, what they need done or what is wrong. I am impatient when I have to do something over and over because of my mistakes or, worse, the mistakes of others.

I am what I am. I am self-important and arrogant to the point of being a jerk. I can remember arguing with a teacher that 5,200 read as fifty-two-hundred and should be written as 52,00. “My Dad says fifty-two-hundred dollars. I know that’s right!” I get an idea in my head and carry it to its “logical” (read absurd) extreme. When I have to back down, it’s a pretty noisy process. When I make a whopper-mistake, it is accompanied by lots of self-justification. That makes me feel and sound even more arrogant, and that makes me even more stubborn.

I am what I am. I am certainly stubborn. All of the above should make that clear. I am what I am, and it’s pretty hard to get me to be something else. Sometimes I have to pretend to be something else long enough that I can become that something else. I can leave out the most important understanding of something because I am too stubborn to let go of what I want. If you go back and look at the verse, St. Paul points out something that I overlook in all of these “I am” situations: “But, by the grace of God…”

So if I am all these things, how is that “by the grace of God?” He surely doesn’t want me to be like that, right? No, of course that is not what he wants. He wants me to be like him, but I just can’t seem to get there. So, what do you think he does about it?

He gets there for me. Think of your greatest failing or besetting sin, or whatever it is that creates disharmony between you and God and between you and the people he has given you to love. Think of that as a big pile of behaviors you just don’t want as part of your life, things you want to leave behind. Climb that big pile, stand on your tip-toes, and reach out as high and as far as you can. You will still not be able to reach what you need to pull you out of that mess, so Jesus will actually reach out to you and pull you up and away from all that.

If you want to be where Jesus is, you have to go where he is going; you have to follow him, run after him, reach out for him as if you were playing some sort of Celestial tag, and then, WHAM! He turns around and tags you. He calls you by name and takes you with him. And sometimes you don’t even have to chase after him; he just finds you on your pile and carries you away in Joy. Or if you are in the deepest pit of depression and desolation, he climbs down and gathers you up in his arms. Either way, you will find such serenity that you begin to wonder why you didn’t do that in the first place. After all, isn’t the first answer “I am a child of God?” How quickly we forget!

So, I am intolerant, impatient, arrogant, and stubborn (and a few more to be sure!). These thorns in my roses are reminders that I am weak and that he is strong. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10  Paul writes, 9 but he [Jesus] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

I don’t have much in the way of “insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints” in my life because he keeps blessing me no matter how badly I mess up. I have little or nothing to boast about except that when I am at my worst, he is there to humble me with his love and save me with his grace. Who am I? I am one of those saved by that Grace which surpasses all understanding. I am Jesus’ brother (and therefore your brother, too). Because of that I am also the adopted son of Mary. I am the adopted son of El Shaddai Olam. I am who I am but not always am I what I do – and thank God for that because that is how I am a sinner!

who-are-youBelovéd, who do you say that you are? If you are adopted too, then you know the answer. If you have freely elected – chosen, preferred, decided, resolved, opted – not to be adopted, then you are what you do. Do you remember that TV show CSI, the first one? The theme song was that hit by The Who called Who Are You? (↔ Music Link) – and in it there are these verses:

I know there’s a place you walked
Where love falls from the trees
My heart is like a broken cup
I only feel right on my knees.

I spit out like a sewer hole
Yet still receive your kiss.
How can I measure up to anyone now
After such a love as this?

Belovéd, who are you? You are the Belovéd, the chosen, the elect, the child of God, joint-heir with Christ!

Now, who do you say Jesus is?

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

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

 

Aloha Friday Message – June 10, 2016 – Giving to the Living

June 10, 2016

1624AFC061016 – Giving to the Living

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!

Luke 8:1-3 – Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

Galatians 2:19b-21 – I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Whatsoever you do (↔ Music Link) for the living is never wasted. If your gift of time, talent, treasure, love and caring, or dignity does not bless the one on whose behalf you act, then the blessing it carries returns to you. God is the Lord of all that lives and nothing that God makes is dead. He is depending on you, on me, on us to provide for others in ways that glorify him. We are his gift to each other.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! This coming Sunday in many churches around the world those who listen will hear about David’s recognition of his great sin against his friend Uriah whom he had murdered so that he could possess Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. We will also hear the Apostle Paul declare that The Law is unable to save us from its own justice because The Law is only just, not just and merciful. Action outside The Law, but congruent with The Law is Mercy. Mercy supersedes Justice without negating Justice because Mercy perfects Justice. God is Just and Merciful because God is Righteous (See Psalm 116:5 and Genesis 6:9). He expects us to be righteous by doing what he does – to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with him. (See Micah 6:8) The Biblical characters that were called in scripture righteous are all people who “walked with God.” If we are walking with God, we must strive to be righteous – just, kind, humble, loving, and obedient to Christ’s Law of Love. We can take a significant step toward that goal by being in the cadre of those who provided for them out of their resources. We have gifts given to us while we are living. What shall we do with those gifts? And come to think of it, why should we do anything with those gifts? We did nothing to receive them, we did nothing to merit them, we did nothing to choose them, and way too often we do nothing to use them.

One of the best things we can do is to give those gifts to others because whatever is not given is lost. What is lost? The opportunity to bless. Who loses it? The giver and the receiver. How is it lost? If it is not given now, today, it cannot be given yesterday. It will not be given tomorrow because the instant today ends, it’s already tomorrow. There is only now, for now (there will be eternity fur us eventually), because that is when we are living – NOW. You have to give your gift now. What will you give? Silly question, right? “You cannot give what you do not have.” What do you have? Your resources, the Gifts given to you by God and by others. Even the things you think you have earned – prestige, money, knowledge, skills, anything that required your personal effort – even those are gifts because the capacity to “earn” them is an a priori gift. What we have, who we are, where we came from, and where we’re going – ALL GIFTS! The gifts are not for our selfish consumption; our gifts are to be shared as we walk along through the land of the living with God in front of us and our brothers and sisters around us. Our gifts help support the continuance of the living. The gifts of Mary, Joanna, Susanna, and many others (note they are women!) sustained not only the women, but also the Apostles, and Jesus. There is no scripture that Jesus miraculously provided for his own needs; no, that was provided by others who gave of themselves and their resources within their means. They didn’t seize resources from others to support their own group. They used their own resources to care for each other so they could walk humbly with God.

In the scripture just preceding today’s Gospel quote, a very sinful woman, well-known for her promiscuity, kneels behind Jesus who is reclined at table, washes his feet with her tears, kisses them, dries them with her hair, and anoints them with precious ointment. She gave of her resources, and the greatest of the resources she had was Love which grew out of her gratitude for Jesus’ message of hope. His gratitude and generosity were rewarded with forgiveness of all her sins. In my heart, I feel that woman also walked with Jesus from that time on. Perhaps I am wrong in that, but she most certainly would have been welcomed by the other women all of whom had also found that the power of Jesus Word cleansed them of sin and freed them from bondage. They were alive in Christ Jesus and filled with joy.

In Galatians, we see that Paul is also alive in Jesus and filled with Joy. He is still living as Paul, but declares it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. How can this be? I mean, we know that when we accept Christ as our personal Savior, we experience Jesus alive in our hearts (↔ Music Link), and we know the Gift is from the Giver of all that is Good. When we walk with him, like these women did, we are called to reciprocate the generosity which characterizes our gifts by giving to the living who walk with us. That must be done responsibly; you can give what you have, but you cannot give what you take from someone else; you can share your gifts but must not deprive someone to indulge yourself or others. Paul states, “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We must love others and give ourselves for them. It’s a pretty simple concept, yet we seem remarkably capable at messing it up. It often works out that our ways of living declare “What is mine is mine and what is yours is mine.” As often repeated here – “What we do says who we are. Actions speak louder than words.” Love is an action. Give is an action. Live is definitely an action. The people in today’s scriptures met God and walked with him, knew him personally, gave of themselves to help him and the others who put their gifts to Good use by sharing. They got to know him by being with him. How are you getting to know him?

Where is YOUR Bible?

Where is YOUR Bible?

Have you met Jesus in a way that made him really accessible to you? Have you heard his quiet whisper on the mountaintop? Did you see him playing with his dog in the park? Have you given him a plate of food at the shelter? Did you see the light radiating from the Communion chalice? Did you hear his prophecy in a song on the radio? Did he multiply your resources after you shared them with others? Did he offer you loving correction and guidance in the heart of your friend? Did he bake you a batch of your favorite cookies? Did he show up at your door with a casserole when your dad died? Did he ride with you through the storm or away from the forest fire? Could you hear the nails piercing his wrists? Did someone see Jesus in you when you did these things for them? Then Jesus was present. Belovéd, he is most present to us when we are present to others, especially when we are present with him in The Word. Dust off that Bible and take a walk and share a talk with him today so that before tomorrow comes that chance to be with him that is found only in serving others now will be part of today and every single yesterday. Say hello, and give him your Gift. He’s right here, right now.

We can’t keep putting Jesus “over there” in the church or “Up There” in Heaven. He’s always “right here.” Stop. Look. Listen. Feel. Touch. Taste and see the Goodness of the Lord. He never ever goes away no matter how good things are or no matter how bad things are. He’s always revealing himself to you “Every Moment of Every Day.” (↔ Music Link) We must be always proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And on those days when we feel like we have moved so far away from him that he can’t possibly know where we are, he speaks a promise to us:

… do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid,  for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

We must not try to nullify the Grace of God by justifying our own selfishness. And I, for my part, will walk with you as well and I make this promise:

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

Aloha Friday Message – June 3, 2016 – Our Story is His Story

June 3, 2016

1623AFC060316 – Our Story is His Story

Read in 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!

Galatians 1:11-12 – 11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Much love to you, Belovéd, in the name of Jesus the Christ of God! As we read in Scripture, so also I say to you, my esteemed brothers and sisters in Christ: May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:3) May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance. (Jude 1:2)

I am eager to get right into this, today, because I want to share good news with you as well. Let’s begin with the passage from Galatians which is sometimes referred to a Paul’s vindication of his apostleship. What is vindication? It is proof, evidence, confirmation, substantiation, and/or verification. Paul is telling the Galatians, and through them also telling us, that the Gospel he preached was not something he read about (remember the Synoptic Gospels were not set down until somewhere between 60 – 100 AD), it was not something he learned from the Apostles in Jerusalem, nor was it something he learned from other missionaries. He states clearly and boldly, “I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” No one but Jesus has told him what he is to do with that Gospel. We know throughout his writings he speaks of his intimacy with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. That is why he specifically says “through.” (Here comes another lesson in Greek.)

The word used for “through” is δι’ from διά, the root of such English words as diameter and diametric. It connotes “by the means of,” and “on account of,” or “across to the other side and thoroughly back-and-forth.” It is a preposition that conveys the meaning of the route or means of transmission of a message or the performance of a deed. Paul and Jesus had direct-line, face-to-face communication. In those encounters, the Gospel was imparted to Paul. We know the word Gospel, but let’s also look a bit deeper into why that word was used.

The first time we see “Gospel” is in Matthew 4:23 – 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news [Gospel] of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. (See the link for other versions of this verse.) In this passage, the Greek word is εὐαγγέλιον (euaggelion) {yoo-ang-ghel’-ee-on}. It is the root from which we get EVANGELIZE, EVANGELICAL, and EVANGELIZATION. In the Old Testament, it meant any kind of good news. For example, take a look a 2 Samuel 4:10 for a passage that uses the same sense of this word. If we look at Mark’s account of Jesus’ ministry we see his account of “The Great Commission” in Mark 16:15 – 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news [Gospel] to the whole creation.”

In the Luke’s account of the ministry of Christ, there is an earlier, similar word in Luke 2:10 – 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news εὐαγγελίζομαι (euaggelizó) {yoo-ang-ghel-id’-zo} of great joy for all the people: I think we can see that this word “Gospel” not only means “good news” or “glad tidings,” but it is also information meant to be shared. That sharing is to be done with joy, mercy, grace, peace, love, and especially reverence. You will recall Paul’s words in what many believe was an early Christian hymn found in Philippians 2:9-11 – 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

David expressed a similar attitude when he said in Psalm 5:7 – 7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house,
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in awe of you.

Angel Adoration from the Sacristy door in Sacred Heart Church in Waterflow, NM

Angel Adoration from the Sacristy door in Sacred Heart Church in Waterflow, NM

(See also Psalm 138:2 frequently referenced in these posts as another example of reverencing God.)

This Good News, The Gospel, is indeed meant to be shared; in fact, if you possess The Gospel, you cannot help but share it – not just because Jesus commanded us to – but because it is such a joyful thing that it just bubbles up in your heart and soul. I’m going to throw in a little thing here I’d like to remind my fellow Catholics about, but I also what to encourage anyone who is not Catholic – or even not Christian  – to think about this as a way to reverence The Trinity, and most specifically, Jesus. It has to do with reverencing that name, Jesus.

Why reverence that name (other than it is the name of God)? In the historic culture of Israel – and indeed all of history in all nations – a person’s name was more than just an identity to share with others. One’s name declared the deepest fundamental nature of that person’s being. The name Jesus is from the Hebrew Yehosua יְהוֹשׁ֫וּעַ (Joshua) which means “The LORD is salvation.” Yeshu’a יֵשׁוּעַ was a frequently-used option – sort of like Chuck for Charles or Liz for Elizabeth – but it carried the same connotation and had the same defining impact on other persons and how each person was perceived by others. It has long been a custom in many cultures to acknowledge the dignity of another with a tilt of the head, or touch of a cap or visor (the beginning of what we see in our Armed Forces as a salute). In many cultures – for example in many Asian traditions – it is more than just a tilt of the head; it is a bow, and the degree of the bow is determined by the esteem in which a person is held. Catholics – and other Christians – bow their heads to pray out of respect and reverence to God, but there is another, maybe subtler but still significant way, to show that reverence. It is found in what we call The General Instruction for the Roman Missal (Catholic Instruction for Liturgy). It is a bow, not with the knees, and not from the waist, but a slight bow of the head. Here is the first part of that two-part instruction:

GIRM §275: A bow signifies reverence and honor shown to the persons themselves or to the signs that represent them. There are two kinds of bow: a bow of the head and a bow of the body.

A bow of the head is made when the three Divine Persons are named together and at the names of Jesus ….

It’s such a little thing, but like most little things it packs a wallop. Whatever church you attend, just try this during the liturgy: Whenever you hear the name “Jesus,” give a slight bow of your head. Whenever you hear “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” give a slight bow of your head. It’s that simple, but you will be amazed at how this simple little gesture fortifies your reverence for and participation in the liturgy – regardless of your church affiliation.

It is a way of willingly offering your allegiance to your Creator and Savior. Look at what we find here in Psalm 110:3 – 3 Your people will offer themselves willingly
on the day you lead your forces
on the holy mountains.
From the womb of the morning,
like dew, your youth will come to you.

Those who reverence the Lord are those who show up at reveille every day, not just when the Last Trumpet sounds. Those who listen attentively to the Gospel and teaching based on the Gospel – and the entire Word of God revealed in Christian Scripture – are those who know and serve God with joy, mercy, grace, peace, love, and especially reverence. If we are  “Gate-Post Christians” – someone who does not participate in the Liturgy as part of the Community of Christ but just stands or sits like a gate post, completely unmoved by what is happening – then we are failing to be The Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, The Church, and Life of the Gospel. There is no sense of gratitude in that sort of failure to worship, to be engaged in the community of believers. We have been taught to be better than that.

Paul was already a man who deeply reverenced God. When he started persecuting the Church and the Gospel he sincerely believed he was doing God’s Work. But Jesus changed that for him, permanently. Paul received the Gospel and his ministry directly from Jesus through revelation quite some time after Jesus’ Resurrection. There have been other claims of other revelations, but none of those came directly from Jesus; instead they allegedly came from angels, spiritual beings, voices, secret messages. The authentic Gospel comes only and directly from Jesus the Christ of God. Other messages may be embraced by other faiths, but there is only ONE Gospel – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is that Gospel and that name I reverence with every slight bow, with every genuflection, with every prayer whether kneeling, sitting, or standing. Please accept my encouragement to you to join in that simple reverence. You and I have not received the Gospel by revelation, but by the Word (LOGOS) of God. Let us reverence Him as The Word, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. His Story is our story if only he is in us and we are in him. It is, as Sherry Wendell says in her book Intentional Discipleship, and ongoing experience of conversion that brings us to the
Savior. When we are ready to lay down our lives to honor and serve God by honoring and serving each other and the rest of Creation, we understand that the Gospel … is not of human origin. Think about today. What are your intentions for God and Man? “Spirituality” in some mythical hyperbole, or the simple Truth that God is Love?

I Love to Tell the Story of Jesus and his love! (↔ Music Link)

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Belovéd! Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

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

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

 

 

 

Aloha Friday Message – May 27, 2016 – Wandering Off

May 27, 2016

1622AFC052716 – Wandering Off

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!

Psalm 119:10 – 10 With my whole heart I seek you;
do not let me stray from your commandments.

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!) Today is a day for remembering things – or so it seems to me. I am remembering my brother, Ken, whose birthday was yesterday; he’s 66, and that means I’m going to be 70 soon. That reminds me of my cousin-sister, Annie, whose birthday was in April and she’s already 70; she doesn’t like being older than me because I look way older than her. Ah, 70 we are now! When was it they changed the speed limit on the Valley Highway to 70? That’s I-25, and 70 seemed ridiculously fast, but people still figured they could go 77 because the Highway Patrol wouldn’t ticket them for speeding unless they were going 78. Those were great records! I loved to listen to them in my bedroom on Ivy Way; that’s always the place I think of as our home as kids. I had records by Spike Jones, New York Philharmonic recordings on the Columbia labels on 12 inch wide disks (they were my first conducting lessons), and lots of Big Band music – which I still adore. I can remember visiting the Trocadero Ballroom at Elitch’s Gardens with my parents and seeing some band playing there. Regrettably I don’t remember which band it was. I must have been about 5 then, because I think Ken was in a stroller at the time. Remember the Stroll? That was about 1958 I think. I was 12 then – maybe – or 11; yeah, 11. I think I saw kids dancing that on our old black-and-white Motorola TV. 1958 was

"Bali Hai" Mt Makana on Kaua`i

“Bali Hai” Mt Makana on Kaua`i

also when South Pacific came out. Ironically, it was filmed on Kauaʻi’s North Shore near Hanalei Bay. Even Ape Mountain – a prominent feature of the Anahola Mountains we often show on Facebook – was part of that movie – toward the end where Emile De Becque is strafed in the mountains. Now, how did we cover all that ground? It seems these days it’s easy for my mind to wander. My body, not so much; my wandering days are over, but my mind has always been “somewhere out there.”

Wandering is something with which we are all familiar. We have eyes that wander, minds that wander, feet that wander, winds that wander, and snakes that wander – no, wait; those are winders like sidewinders. We often wonder while we wander. Do you remember that? Julie Andrews did my favorite version of that. In the early sixties, there was a young woman who went to our church in SE Denver. She had an amazing voice like Julie Andrews, and when she sang I Wonder as I Wander, (↔ Music Link) it was breath-taking. But again I wander. Wandering was something the Peoples of The Exodus ended up doing – mostly because of their hard-hearted (and hard-headed) resistance to God’s leasing. You probably remember reading it in Numbers 32:13 – 13 And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness for forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord had disappeared. When we talk about wandering, we often remember that is usually appears to be aimless, without a goal or purpose, and is often associated with people who are senile or even simple-minded. But sometimes, we wander because of sheer obstinacy. That seemed to a an enduring problem for the Israelites.

Even after God had led the out of the desert and into Canaan, they kept forgetting why there was a reason for them to be in possession of that land. Their purpose was to give testimony to the Wisdom and Mercy of God. The People were more interested in pursuing their own interests than in following the mandate they received from God. Like a weary father, he chided his children saying, 10 Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
Truly they have loved to wander,
they have not restrained their feet; (Jeremiah 14:10a). We tend to wander like that, too; we go after things we think will “fulfill us,” or help us “find ourselves.”

Well, if all that wandering only leads one to oneself, it hardly seems worth the trip. All we can say about it is, “I was right here when I left to go look for me and I was still here when I got back.” Granted, modern logic says it’s not the destination, it’s the journey, but wandering around in circles usually ends badly. You die, lost and alone, and would have done better to just sit tight and wait. Being still in the presence of God (and really, where can you go that he isn’t already there?) seems to be just out of our reach many times. In Psalm 46:10 he says –10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.” When we wander, we often pretend it’s just a way to idle away from responsibility or waste some time; but, if we’re honest about it, we’re out and about looking for a little zing – something “fun” to titillate our imagination. That was the case with Samson who deliberately “wandered” across the border of where he was supposed to stay so that he could test the temptations of forbidden women. Delilah obliged him, and he ended up wandering around in circles until he finally came to his senses and brought the house of Dagon down. There are happier ways to wander.

In fact, I think this whole train of thought took off from the Home Station earlier this week when I remembered as song I used to sing while paying my 12-string (another pleasure long ago laid aside). It is called The Happy Wanderer. I thought about singing that song with the kids at St. Catherine School. I’m hoping to be able to teach them a song called Happy Am I, and this other song would be fun to sing with them too. Here’s how it goes (you might even remember it!):

The Happy Wanderer

1: I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track,
and as I go, I love to sing, my knapsack on my back.
Chorus:
Val-deri, val-dera, val-dera, val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha,
val-deri, val-dera, my knapsack on my back. (use last line from verse
as last line for Chorus)

2: I wave my hat to all I meet, and they wave back to me,
and blackbirds call so loud and sweet from ev’ry green wood tree.
Chorus

3: High overhead the skylarks wing, they never rest at home,
but just like me, they love to sing as o’er the world we roam.
Chorus

4: I love to wander by the stream, that dances in the sun.
So joyously, it calls to me, come join my happy song!
Chorus

5. Oh, may I go a-wandering until the day I die !
Oh, may I always laugh and sing beneath God’s clear blue sky !
Chorus

When I performed that publicly, I called out “One more Chorus,” and then – when I got to the ” val-dera-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha,” I’d break into giggling, then laughing, then every form of ha-ha and guffaw I had ever learned. The result was predictable; everyone else started alughing too. Then I would stop suddenly and shout out, “Ehhhhhh, what’re you laughin’ about?!?!” That was a fun kind of wandering! I hope I get to sing that with the kids! It is my desire to have that kind of fun with them

We need to continue to be careful about our desires, though. There’s this little reminder in Ecclesiastes 6:9 – 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire; this also is vanity and a chasing after wind. Ah, yes, Bob Dylan and Peter Paul and Mary often reminded us that “The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind.” (↔ Music Link) Our wandering hearts, minds, eyes, hands, feet, and intentions frequently lead us to disappointment, disillusionment, and sometimes even death. The Times they are a-Changin‘, (↔ Music Link) still the changes are not patterned on God’s long-standing requirements, but rather on our perceptions of what those commandments might mean when interpreted by our own misguided Worldly wanderings. What is it that blows in the wind?

Hopefully, for us who call upon the Lord, who wander the Earth seeking those who need his help, it is the Spirit. Jesus told us in John 3:8 – “6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  If we wonder as we wander, let us wonder at the Wonder of God and rejoice that our every breath is granted by his Grace. No matter what happens, if we are Blowing in the Wind that is the Holy Spirit, we are going rightly. We ride the wind so that we can see HIM – not ourselves – with our whole hearts so that we will not stray from his commandments. I find that I am quite happy about wandering like that – going whither the Wind blows, the Wind that created the heavens and the Earth. Surely I will someday soon wander into that home somewhere beyond the blue from which Angels beckon me through heaven’s open doors, ’cause I can’t feel at home (↔ Music Link) in this World any more. Won’t you mosey along with me? I’d love to have the company! We won’t be wandering off. We’ll be wandering onward to the Promised Rest.

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

Aloha Friday Message – May 20, 2016 – Made to Last

May 20, 2016

1621AFC052016 – Made to Last

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!

Revelation 1:8 – 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea. Before I begin with today’s post, I want to acknowledge two people. The first is Crucita. “Back in the day,” when I wrote to her, I started each letter with, My dearest Darling Wife, Crucita.” She still carries that title – along with a few others like Minister of Finance and Yes Dear – so I’m taking a few lines to just reiterate my best wishes to her as she is now on her third day into her seventy-second year. I’ve had the honor of chumming around with her for 47.08 years, about 65.75% of my life. I’ve mentioned before that our friends in 1969 predicted “it won’t last six weeks.” We were/are so very different from one another; but we use the differences to expand our reach in life, and for the first 47 years, that has worked out well; so well, in fact, that we have lasted 409.43 times longer than that early prediction. Back then, it did not appear that this Vocation of Marriage was built to last – but it did.

The second person I want to acknowledge is someone I met for probably less than five minutes – Aubrey. If you read the most recent Terrific Tuesday’s Message, you will know who I mean. Aubrey is terminally ill with a very poor prognosis. He has been the subject of a goodly number of prayers this week – and I hope you will continue to pray for him even after this week is over – and all of that is because of a brief chance encounter in front of our COSTCO store here in Lihuʻe. Seeing Aubrey in such a poor state of health was an agonizing reminder of the fleeting nature of our lives on this mote of dust in the eye of the cosmos. Length of life is never a guarantee, but death most certainly is. Perhaps I, and all of you – please God – will outlive Aubrey. His circumstances remind us that our bodies are not made to last – at least not any more. In biblical times, it seems people lived hundreds of years – although we often think they just counted years differently – and then life spans grew progressively shorter through time until – in the Twentieth Century – things began to turn around again, and now we are living longer. Still “longer” is not all that long, is it?

Nonetheless, as I have often repeated of late, we are “made to last.” Perhaps you might be thinking the better phrase is “built to last.” Maybe that has a different meaning – built versus made. For me, to build connotes the assembly of parts designed to make a composite unit. Make connotes to take one thing and transform it into something other than its original form. For that reason, I’m sticking with “made to last.” We start out as one thing – a being created in the image and likeness of God – and then through various changes without really adding any new parts (except for occasional repairs), we become more and more like the Creator and less and less like the Creation. Creation, of which we are a part, has a finite lifespan. Eventually everything that was created will cease to be (especially we earthlings), and then God will take everything that was and make it all new by reverting to what it was originally – eternal.

That’s quite a plan! It’s more than clever; it is flat our ingenious. I would never be able to think up something like that – not and make it work. I suppose there are scientists, and writers, and sages, and brainy folks that could spin a yarn like that; but, no way could it be so complex and yet simple, so foolish and yet so wise. God built the world with Wisdom. How do I know? (You surely have heard this one before.) The Bible tells me so. Here are three examples

Proverbs 3:19 – 19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;

Jeremiah 10:12 – 12 It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Proverbs 8:22-36 – Please click on that link and see how Wisdom – created by God himself – played a role in Creation.

We are products of the Wisdom of God. He made us in his image and likeness using his Wisdom and Understanding. He created the Earth, and from the Earth, he made … earthlings! Well, DUH! But the Earth, and by extension earthlings, are no longer “just like God.” Sin changed us. Salvation changes us back. When God makes everything new by restoring everything to its original state of perfection, we will again be “like him for we shall see him as he is.” (See 1 John 3:2) When Heaven and Earth pass away, the Wisdom of God will remain; what he created with Wisdom will remain. He created perfection. Sin introduced imperfection. God will restore all to perfection again. Because of this, because we somehow understand this, we can look around at how magnificent Creation is and say that God is majestic, magnificent, glorious, and superlative beyond all else – worthy of eternal praise. It is a good thing, then, that we are made to last because that allows us to praise and glorify him forever. THAT is “made to last.” But there’s a turn of that phrase that might not be as readily seen.

We are not only designed to last, we are also required to last. We are like HIM. We are eternally alive because of HIM. Our likeness to HIS likeness obliges us to live as he lives – beyond the limits of time. That is what allows us to believe in, anticipate, even expect to spend the rest of eternity praising him. That vey expectation induces us to praise and glorify him now. You might have heard the word DOXOLOGY before. The etymology of that is Greek from doxa – glory or praise – and logia – word. A doxology is a word (or words) of praise. Some common forms are like these:

The Doxology – Old One Hundredth. (↔ Music Link)

Glory Be to the Father – A Doxology (↔ Music Link)

Glory to God – A modern version Gloria (↔ Music Link)

We praise him in song, in dance, in prayer, in actions, in service, in alms, and in our hearts and minds. Someday soon we – most of us I hope – will praise him in person. There’s good reason to do this because we were made for that purpose – to worship and praise HIM who loves us. Take a look at these passages (and I hope you will use the links because they help lend us a wider perception).

Psalm 103:1-2 – 1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits.

Psalm 106:48 – 48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the Lord!

Psalm 111:10 – 10 The fear [reverence] of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.

Proverbs 3:19 – 19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;

Proverbs 8:22-36 – (Please click on that link and see how Wisdom played a role in Creation.)

Proverbs 9:10 – 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Isaiah 41:4 – 4 Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am first, and will be with the last.

Jeremiah 10:12 – 12 It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Everything God made was made to last – even us. You, and me, and Crucita, and Aubrey, and every earthling you know are all made to last for the glory and honor of God who, in HIS Wisdom made it so.

I’m betting that as you read through this, you are thinking of God as “God the Father.” But you know, I know, we know we also have God the Son who was there for every moment of Creation. Here is an amazing FACT about that:

John 15:16 – 15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

You may recall how that is going to happen. It will be through the Holy Spirit who was there for every moment of Creation with the Father and the Son. A-h-h-h. Now we have it. Sunday is Trinity Sunday, and we will hear some of these passages with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. That is why we sing praise to the Trinity now, and why we will be singing praise to the Trinity forever. With wisdom, power, glory, and might, God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – made all that is, all that was, and all that every will be – even you, even me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be World without end. Amen. AMEN!

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

 

 

Aloha Friday Message – Contemporaneous Concomitance – May 16, 2016

May 16, 2016

1620.5AFC051616 Contemporaneous Concomitance

Aloha pumehana, a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! Warmest Aloha, and may God bless you, Belovéd! This is an add-on essay to explain the term Contemporaneous Concomitance. I mention it fairly often – usually in the context of the Crucifixion and especially the Ascension. When it comes up, I usually say, “I’ll have to tell you about that sometime.” “Sometime” has arrived, so here is what I want you to know. For me, this is one of those “foundational aspects of faith.” What you see here is my interpretation of what it means. Other more scholarly writers might find this simplistic or even wrong. For me, it’s just one way to understand how an Eternal God can be in touch with me at any time; for me that means the converse must also be true: I can be in touch with the Eternal God at any time because he’s in touch with me. Is that circular logic? Well, I’m not sure I can answer that, but it is certainly not linear and neither is Eternity. Here we go, then!

CONTEMPORANEOUS [kən-tem’-pə-rā-nē-əs]: existing, occurring, or originating during the same time period. Simultaneous – existing, occurring, or originating during the same instance or instant.

CONCOMITANCE [kən-kä-mə-tən(t)s] : accompanying especially in a subordinate or incidental way; something that accompanies or is collaterally connected with something else, Meaning: present at the same time and place. Con-com-i-tance: the fact of existing or occurring together with something else.
©   In theology
The doctrine that the body and blood of Christ are each present in both the bread and the wine of the Eucharist.

The doctrine that explains why the whole Christ is present under each Eucharistic species. Christ is indivisible, so that his body cannot be separated from his blood, his human soul, his divine nature, and his divine personality. Consequently he is wholly present in the Eucharist. But only the substance of his body is the specific effect of the first consecration at Mass; his blood, soul, divinity, and personality become present by concomitance, i.e., by the inseparable connection that they have with his body. The Church also says the “substance” of Christ’s body because its accidents, though imperceptible, are also present by same concomitance, not precisely because of the words of consecration.

But again by concomitance his body and entire self become present as well. (Etym. Latin concomitantia, accompaniment.)

When He was on the Cross, I was on His mind (↔ Music Link)
Written by: Ronnie Hinson & Mike Payne
As Performed By the Florida Boys
I’m not on an ego trip; I’m nothing on my own.
I make mistakes and sometimes slip;
Just common flesh and bone.
But I’ll prove some day just why I say –
I’m of a special kind –
For when He was on the cross,
I was on His mind.

A look of love was on His face.
The thorns were in His head.
The blood was on that scarlet robe
And stained it crimson red.
Though His eyes were on the crowd that day,
He looked ahead in time
For when He was on the cross
I was on His mind.

He knew me, yet He loved me
He whose glory makes the Heaven’s shine!
I am so unworthy, of such mercy.
For when He was on the cross
I was on His mind.
For when He was on the cross
I was on His mind.

In my life, I have come to understand contemporaneous concomitance as a mystery or presence. The eternal is always part of the temporal, Spiritual is implicit in the mundane, and death is always integral to life. If Jesus is present at creation, and if I am always with him, I am present within him at Creation because he knows what, when, and who I am and will be – all at the same time together in the same place.

      I have thought about this song so many times when I contemplate His Passion and Death. I completely believe He knew what He was doing, why He was doing it, what the outcome would be, and my part in the whole process. When I think about all of that, I often get lost in all the implications of it. In those meditations, I think about other passages like

Jeremiah 1:5 – 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

This passage from Psalm 139, Psalm 139:11-17 especially, also captures my thoughts and directs my meditations: 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

So, why the big words, and what is all of this about anyway? This is something I have wanted to share with you for a long, long time, Belovéd. For me, this combination of words leads to a kind of meditation that is awe-inspiring, and that inspired awe leads to even deeper meditations, higher realizations, and wider horizons of faith.

Jesus is The Alpha and The Omega, the very beginning of The Beginning:

John 1:1-5 – 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 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.

He is from Everlasting. I am not from there, but I am going there. He is Eternal (existing perpetually without reference to linear time) all as well as Omnipresent (present in all places at all times). I am in Him and He is in me. He knew me before I knew anything or anyone; and yet despite that He still loves me, still inhabits me and is known in my praise. He still allows me to inhabit Him and His Kingdom. He is present with me at all times yet I am not always completely aware of His presence. However, I become present with Him in my awareness, our shared presence unites us. I can share the moments in Bethlehem and Nazareth. I can feel the desperation of the fast and secretive trip to Egypt. I can cross the Sea of Galilee, weep with Him over Jerusalem, stand in the Palace of Herod, even climb the rough slope of Golgotha. In all of that I know what it is like to be with Him because He is with me; he knows it, and I know it.

Now, I confess that sounds odd. Maybe it even sounds arrogant. I hope it isn’t heretical! But I do know that if I want to be where Jesus is, I have to go where Jesus goes; because he is not a temporal time-bound being like me, He and I “can go anywhere and everywhere just as easily as saying it.” ♥ and we do that together as part of our shared reality. It’s not my imagination taking flights of fancy across the centuries. It is my heart, my life, my time in this world, my senses and sensibilities – all united with Him. ♥ See Poems to my Peace, VI

We live in The Kingdom now. We have a foot in the next life now. We walk with Him with every breath we take even if we never know that’s what is happening! But when we KNOW that He is God and that He is present in every moment of our lives from the day the Spirit moved across the waters to the day when there are no more days, then we are “on His mind.” If he is on the cross looking at me and thinking of my need for and love of Him as he suffocates in agony there and if at the same time I am at the foot of the cross sobbing with grief at what I have done, then we are sharing the same moments that are originating at the same time, and we are present at the same time and place. He has united us to Him eternally through two absolutely stupendous acts: Creation and Salvation. He did that so that at the end of Act 3 – Resurrection, we will know and understand with absolutely clear certainty that we were always and everywhere with Him in all things simply because He chose to be with us.

My Lord and My God! Behold. I am come. Maran atha, Marana tha!

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

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Pray for the PEOPLE – all the People. Pray that all the Earth will know the Salvation of God. Pray for the poor, the marginalized, the suffering, the lost and lonely, and those who hear the call of God but disbelieve the reality of His Presence in every second; every cubic-centimeter, every though word and action of their lives. Offer God their day, the very best moments of their day:

A Prayer for All Living Souls

Jesus, lover of mankind, You came to Earth centuries ago to be the way, the truth, and the life, and yet countless men and women, boys and girls, do not know You, do not love You as well as they could, and many are indifferent or opposed to You. In this state of being, Lord, they might not consciously offer You their lives today. There are millions more, Lord, who do know You, do love You, but do not know about, do not care about, or have forgotten about making a daily offering, so Lord, on behalf of every living soul, whether good or bad,  I offer You the best moments of their day today so that You might be loved and honored in some way by them, too. Lord Jesus Christ, be merciful to them all as miserable sinners, forgive them their sins, and bring them to everlasting life. Amen.

A Morning Offering

  • Almighty Everliving God, my El Shaddai-Olam, I joyfully offer You this day and my entire life as a sacrifice of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.
  • Bless and approve this offering, sanctify it and make it Holy, so that it becomes for you a living sacrifice Holy and acceptable to You, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer – an offering made in Spirit and in Truth.
  • I joyfully offer You this day because You are my God and I am Your servant and this is my reasonable service of joyful worship.
  • I joyfully offer You this day because You are my Creator and I am Your creation, and all creation rightly gives You joyful thanks and praise.
  • I joyfully offer You this day because I love You, and I love You joyfully because You first loved me.
  • Thank You for this day, this life, this love, this JOY. Please help me to use them for  whomsoever or whatsoever Your will allows.
  • I offer this prayer in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

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

Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

Aloha Friday Message – May 13, 2016 – The House of the Lord

May 13, 2016

1620AFC051316 – The House of the Lord

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! (Use the links. They’re good for you.)

Acts 2:1-2 – 1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

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!) The Easter Season comes to a close this Sunday, May 15, 2015; it is Pentecost Sunday. It is the day Jesus meant when he told the Apostles to wait in Jerusalem (See Acts 1:3-5 – 4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father.) When we see this event in the movies, we see the house filled with wind and fire. We imagine the building shaking, and wonder if perhaps the walls will hold up and whether or not objects will blow off the shelves and tables. It was a powerful force – The Spirit of The Living God! It must have made the building shudder and groan as the same spirit which moved over the void in Genesis filled a tiny room in Jerusalem. But, Belovéd, there is more to it than that! Here is what The Spirit has to say about that house:

Psalm 23:6 – Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.

“Yeah. I remember that. So David wanted to spend all of his time in the Temple. And … ?”

It’s not the Temple. Here we go again with the Original Language stuff. House – בְּבֵית־ (bə·ḇêṯ-) {bǝ·’ḇêṯ}. A common root transliterated into English is “beth.” Think of Bethel – Beth-El – House of God. Bethlehem – Bet(h)-Lehem – House of Bread. Bethany – Beth-Anya (possible meaning) – House of Poverty. So we have some good reason to believe that when we see “Beth” or בְּבֵית־ we are thinking of a physical place – a building or a town. But wait! There’s more! Keep reading now an we’ll send you to Luke 1:69 – 69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David … . “Wait. Jesus was born in David’s house? I thought he was born in a stable.” Yes, Jesus was born in a stable, but he was born into David’s house. And Luke also adds Luke 2:4 – 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. Remember this one? Micah 5:2 – 2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. (Ephrathah: Perhaps “ash-heap.” It is a location close to Bethlehem and the locations of Rachel’s burial site.) But wait! There’s still more!

Use this link to go to a prophecy that God will build David a “house.” 2 Samuel 7:4-11 – 11c: Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Hopefully you are beginning to think (or remember, or are already tired of) that בְּבֵית־ also means “A household, family, family of descendants, descendants as organized body, ‘The family of (you or me).'” Yes, in these passages, you can, and usually should, read “house” as “family or descendants.”

“OK, cool, so what does that have to do with Acts 2:2? ”

Q: Whose “family” got blown around by the Holy Spirit?

A: The human family starting with the House of Israel.

Now, let’s hop over to the story of the Wise and Foolish Builders:

Matthew 7:24-27 – 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!”

When you read that this time, did your mind read “family” instead of “structure?” What happens if you build your family on a firm foundation like The Rock? Yes! Build your house on The Rock – not Dwayne Johnson, ladies – but the rock of Ages, The Eternal Rock and Fortress of Our God. Then your “house” will always stand firm. Build your house on the Sands of Time – on all the temporal and material things in life – and your house will not withstand the storm. There is a children’s Bible song about that. Maybe you’ve heard it. If not, check this out:

The wise man built his house upon the rock  (↔ Music Link)
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the wise man’s house stood firm.

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
And the rain came tumbling down

Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the foolish man’s house went “splat!” [clap hands once]

So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
And the blessings will come down

Oh, the blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayer go up
So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah says God is The Rock. One poetic expression of that Hebrew term is “The Rock of Ages.” Other poetic references to The Rock come from Psalms, I think there are at least 20, and in all of them God is a sheltering and safe refuge,  our protection from enemies, and an abode for the weary. We have other images about The Rock as in the Rock of Gibraltar, Rock-Solid Truth, Founded on The Rock, and even Plymouth Rock. The connotation is something that endures for an unimaginably long period of time in comparison to human life – like El Shaddai Olam – Almighty Ever-Living God. So if we combine the two ideas – the intensification of God’s name as Lord God or Lord Jehovah – plus the idea of endurance beyond human comprehension, then there is the sense that God is the only completely and eternally trustworthy Being in all of eternity. We can, or at least we ought to, always put our trust in Him without fear of His failing us. There is absolutely no adverse human condition in which confidence in God will be unfruitful – not terror or tragedy, not trials or tribulations, not even in death should we fail to trust in His sheltering love and protection. He is The Rock that gets us to higher ground. He is the Stone Mountain that shelters us from every storm. We cannot compare him to earthly rock for there is no comparison. It is His eternal permanence and power that stand in stark contrast to the impermanence of everything The World presents to us – even the Earth He created is ephemeral and super-finite compared to the LORD GOD. Those who place their trust in Him have placed their trust in His eternal permanence and power. There is no comparative, no superlative, and no equal to Him. He is ALMIGHTY GOD ETERNAL- El Shaddai Olam. Yes, He is an Awesome God!! Look at these other references to The Rock, the Stone the builders rejected, the Living Rock of Eternity:

Psalm+62 2+scripture+photoPsalm 62:2 – He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

1 Peter 2:4-5 – 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

“OK, so for David, ‘house’ meant family, but you said that in Acts 2:2 it meant the same thing. Why?” I’m glad you thought of that. Here is why. The Greek word for house is οἴκῳ (oikos) {oy’-kos} which means (you guessed it!) descendants, families, family, home, house , household, palace, place. Feel like tackling a project? If οἴκῳ is the root word, then in usage it might also be House (Acts 2:2) – οἶκον (oikon) {oy’-kon} from οἴκῳ. Try this from Acts 2:2 in Greek: Καὶ ἐγένετο ἄφνω ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἦχος ὥσπερ φερομένης πνοῆς βιαίας, καὶ ἐπλήρωσεν ὅλον τὸν οἶκον οὗ ἦσαν καθήμενοι·. Because of this, First-Century Christians, whether Jewish or Gentile, would have understood it wasn’t just the physical property that was filled with the Wind of The Spirit; it was the house of Israel first, and the House of the Gentiles later, and it is the House of us today.

Belovéd! Build your House on The Rock of Ages, not The Sands of Time. The Stone which the builders rejected will become a stumbling stone for many, but for us it will become the Stepping Stone to mount the Stairs to Glory. We will be all together in one Place, and it will fill our Whole House in the place where we are staying.

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.


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 – May 6, 2016 – Thus saith the Lord.

May 6, 2016

1619AFC050616 – Thus saith the Lord.

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!

Ephesians 1:17 – 21 – 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord (↔ Music Link)

~ by Paul Baloche

Open the eyes of my heart Lord,
Open the eyes of my heart,
I want to see You. I want to see You. (2x)

To see You high and lifted up,
Shining in the light of Your glory.
Pour out Your power and love,
As we sing holy, holy, holy.

Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy, holy.
Holy, holy, holy, I want to see You. (2x)

Aloha pumehana, Belovéd! Today we look forward to the celebration of the Lord’s Ascension. “Ascension Thursday” is 40 days after Resurrection Sunday – this year Ascension Thursday was yesterday, May 5th. In many churches around the world, this coming Sunday, May 8th, will be the day this event is celebrated. For us, the first reading will be Acts 1:1-11. This is my second-most favorite Bible passage (My #1-most-favorite is Psalm 138, especially verse 1). I like these passages because they are good descriptions of how I feel about my relationship with God. Here’s what I mean:

In the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament), as well as in the Vulgate (the Latin translation originating in AD 382), David opens by telling God that he will praise God with all his heart in the presence of the angels. Many English translations use the word “gods” instead of angels. The word in Hebrew is אֱלֹהִ֣ים (‘elohiym) {el-o-heem’}. Some of you will recognize that as one of the “names of God.” It can also mean messenger, judge, “God-like one,” or angels. In Greek that is ἀγγέλων (aggelos) { ang’-el-os} and in Latin it is angelorum. That’s how I want to spend my Eternity – at the threshold of the Throne Room listening to the myriads of angels ministering to God with songs of worship and praise, and I will be singing along with them – in their presence and HIS – with all my heart. I am impatient to get that started. It is that account of the Ascension the fuels my impatience. We’ve covered this before, but I just want to pull up something from the past that speaks to the power of that passage, so from May 15, 2015 (and even earlier in 2009) we have this:

This week, yesterday in fact, there was another kind of looking up that we commemorated: The Ascension. To me, that event is so reassuring. It is a very strong central tenet of my faith. And in a way, it’s one of my favorites because the angels in that account have a little bit of attitude about them.

Ascension - by CopleyHere’s what I mean. Jesus has just been talking with the disciples, and suddenly WHOOSH! He’s on the Cloud Elevator going back to spend eternity with His Dad – Abba. Very, very cool. And if we could be there watching (and we are – I’ll tell you about contemporaneous concomitance sometime), we would see the disciples standing there literally dumbfounded. Then two angels show up and say, “Men of Galilee, why-y-y-y are you standing there looking into the sky!? This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into Heaven will return to you in the same way you saw him going up into Heaven.” Man! How great is that?!?! I think that passage is just amazing. I guess some scholars can debate about “in the same way” or “in like manner” but for me the word that jumps off the page and makes my ears ring is SAME as in THIS SAME Jesus. Now for those of you who are true Biblicists, really-real Bible scholars, I may be stepping out on a limb here. In the Greek used in Acts, the word for same is houtos I can put the Greek letters here, but they might not display correctly on your screen: οὗτος. So it turns out that this word, which is used in a bunch of places in the Bible, means this one, the one visibly present here, the one just named and none other than this one. There’s not another one, there’s no way it could be someone else. It will be precisely, exactly, permanently that same guy you just saw take off into the clouds. It is HE who will return to you.

Jesus told the Apostles he was going to die a terrible death and then come back to life on the third day after his death. Jesus told the Apostles he was going back to his Father to make a place for them to live with Him forever. Jesus told the Apostles that he would send them the Holy Spirit. And then two angels – two of those myriads of ministering to God – told the Apostles Jesus was going to come and take us all Home.  All of that is absolutely crystal clear in my mind and heart. I want to see Jesus like that – shining in the light of his Glory, and then I will take up the songs of Praise and cry out Holy, Holy, Holy. (See Isaiah 6:3 and its echo in Revelation 4:8.) Some folks say they have no idea what God says; they claim he never listens to them so they don’t listen to him. That’s not my experience – at all!

Take this post for example. I usually start working on the next post the Saturday after the current one. But this past week, it just didn’t click like it usually does. That happened because I wasn’t paying attention. Then one of those 2X4 moments happened. I was cruising Facebook and came across a little video about an 10-year-old kid named Christopher. He was blind, autistic, and his adoptive father – his uncle actually – introduced him. His dad told a little about him and said he was going to sing a song called Open the Eyes of my Heart. (↔ Music Link – check our Christopher’s performance!)

WHAM!!

I love that song! It takes everything from Psalm 138 and Acts 1 and makes it fit together like peanut-butter-and-jelly – all rich and sweet and full of goodness. I love that song! Now, if you read these fairly regularly, you’ll know I often talk about songs I knew as a kid. This one, though, I learned as an adult. It was written by Paul Baloche – a prolific writer of Praise Music – in 2000. I probably heard it first on KHJC here on Kauaʻi. Maybe you’ve already clicked on that link I provided – that is Paul singing his song in front of a live audience. In describing the song, he says that it sort of wrote itself one night. He was just noodling around with his guitar that night, and the lyrics and cords flowed out. He relates it is based on Ephesians 1:18. (Take a sec and scroll up to look at the underlined part.) Are the words redundant? Yep. Is the melody simple? Yep. Does it make me want to sing? Yessiree! Suddenly, I realized Ephesians 1:18 was what God wanted me to write about. Normally I look at the reading for the coming Sunday to see if there’s anything that catches “the eyes of my heart.” I hadn’t done that until I heard Christopher. I decided to look to see what the readings were for this weekend, to see if there was anything that would tie in with the verse in Ephesians. Guess what? It IS the reading for this weekend! Well, it’s one of the options; the other one is from Hebrews.

WHAM!!

Not only were the eyes of my heart opened, so were the ears of my heart. I got the message. It was one of those “Thus-says-the-LORD” kind of moments. I could see why Paul wanted us to be looking toward God, and Paul says we want to see Jesus 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. That is the Sh’khinah Glory I long to see when I meet him face-to-face. You may have heard this Paul Baloche song sung by Michael W. Smith (↔ Music Link). I hope it gets stuck in your head and heart, because whenever it pops up, you’ll be reminded that – with The Apostle Paul – 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.

Now, allow God to open the eyes and ears of your heart. See him high and lifted up, shining in the Sh’khinah light of his Glory. Feel the outpouring of his Power and Love and sing:

Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! – Holy! Holy! Holy! Repeat ceaselessly for the first 10,000 years in Heaven because we’ve no less days to sing his Praise than when we’d first begun.

Blest be El Shaddai Olam!

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

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

 

Aloha Friday Message – April 29, 2016 – I’m Gonna Live Forever

April 29, 2016

1618AFC042916 – I’m gonna live forever! (↔ Music Link)

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!

John 11:25-26 – 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?

Proverbs 3:6 – 6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

1 Peter 3:14-15 – 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.

Sunday is May 1, 2016 – The Sixth Sunday of Easter. We are closing in on Pentecost Sunday and the end of the Easter Season. It goes so fast! For those of us “of a certain age,” time seems to be flying by. When I was 11 or so, it seemed like Summer Vacation lasted for years, and finally when September came around and I could go back to school, life sped up a little; but still it seemed like is was ages before Christmas would get there. Now that I’m nearly 70 (chronologically, but physiologically I’m more like 107!), I just can’t keep up any more. I go to church Sunday morning, and next thing I know it’s Thursday afternoon, and I’m working on a new post. Where does the time go!?!?!

It goes into Forever, that’s where it goes. You know, I keep telling people we’re all going to live forever. For some of us that’s great news! For some of us, that’s terrible news! And for a few of us, that’s irrelevant, because they don’t believe in FOREVER. Sometimes I think that’s a little odd because we use that word – forever – lots of times. “It took, like, forever, for them to get ready.” “I will love you forever (and ever).” “BFFs” I think we don’t really reflect on how long FOREVER is. “Forever” and “Eternal” connote a state of being that is beyond the boundaries of time – maybe even a nonlinear existence. Eternality is central to Christ’s teaching – the core of his ministry is that in him we have life (think John 3:16 here). ETERNALITY is without beginning or end, it is perpetual, unending, immutable, incontrovertible,  permanent, unimaginable for the minds of earthlings; but we talk about eternity so often, you’d think we would know what we’re talking about. God’s eternality is very important in our own existences because that same eternality is built into us – it is part of the “image and likeness of God” that makes us human; it is what makes it possible for us to experience “forever.” Here’s how I attempt to visualize that.

Who remembers the Plane Geometry? Can you differentiate between a Line and a Ray? A line is a straight one-dimensional figure having no thickness and extending infinitely in both directions. In Geometry, a ray is a line with a single endpoint (or point of origin) that extends infinitely in one direction. In my mind, God is somewhat like a LINE, and I am somewhat like a RAY. That helps me conceptualize it a little better, but it is also very limiting. God is more like a dynamic-array matrix, and I’m more like a linear equation. The thing is, all of that only begins to describe living forever, eternal life, and/or life everlasting. Let’s look at that a little closer and see if we can identify what appeal there is in living forever.

Why would we want to live forever? As we age, we actually start falling apart. Our body breaks down, malfunctions, and gets to be a pretty annoying reminder of our mortality. The idea of immortality is that that breakdown would cease and we would have “everlasting life,” life that is continuously renewed – without effort on our part – in ways that are supremely pleasant. Now, I confess that sometimes I wonder – if school-year summers were so long – what in the world would I do with and during FOREVER? The theologians tell me it won’t matter because I will be in the presence of God and his angels and saints, and I will be so filled with joy that every moment of FOREVER will be jam-packed with gratitude, worship, and praise so that FOREVER will always seems like NOW – not now here on Earth, but NOW is FOREVER. The ideology that Time is linear won’t rule my life, period. That’s what we want if we believe in FOREVER, and that is what Jesus promised just before he called out Lazarus. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life.

Another reason we find Eternal Life so attractive is because it’s part of our nature. Scroll back up and look at ETERNALITY. That “something” in us that makes us want to spend FOREVER with God is the Eternal Life he put there so that we could be with HIM. He has not deserted us – we know he is still with us because we can follow him and believe in him – but we ARE separated from him. When we get back together with him, we will be together with him FOREVER. That is what everything in Scripture promises.

How do we claim that promise of FOREVER?

Read John 11:25-26 again. That’s how we do it. By WHY do we do it? Why is everlasting life something for which we hope? Well, besides the absence of tears, and pain, and illness, and hunger, and all manner of human temporal miseries which are the consequences of sin, we also look forward to the PRESENCE of the Eternal Inhabitants of Heaven – the Trinity, the Angels, and The Saints. So, do you believe that? If you do, are you always “‘ … ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.’ ?” Can we do that? Can you and I defend our faith? Do we know our faith? How do we get FAITH?

We get FAITH by knowing the Lord. That verse from Proverbs up there gives us a good clue on how that’s done: Proverbs 3:6 – 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Our path becomes a RAY when we acknowledge God (← TRINITY) in every aspect of our life – which is why God (← TRINITY) can say, “and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”  That sounds like a pretty GOOD deal to me! I believe it, I do! Why? Take a look at this: John 14:29 – 29 And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe. (Check out John 14:23-29. Many of us will hear this in church this weekend.) God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – is eternal. That’s important because God can’t give us what he doesn’t have. He can give us eternal life because it is HIS Life, HIS Nature. WOW! Why? How? Why – because he Loves us. How – through the redemption of the Christ of God which calls us to love Jesus by keeping his commandment to “love one another as (≡) I have loved you.”

I want to share an excerpt from that longer passage in John. John 14:25-27 – 25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you.26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” HIS Peace becomes MY Peace. I do not hold my peace. I am held in Peace.

1Peter3.15SThis week’s post was inspired by 1 Peter 3:15. In my heart, in your heart, in OUR hearts, let us sanctify Christ as Lord and In all [y]our ways acknowledge him so that everyone who lives and believes in [Jesus] will never die. Do you believe this? I do, and it is the Hope that is within me. It’s such a BIG Hope that I cannot help but share it. As I write this, I’m trying to follow The Spirit’s leading, and there is one more thing I am led to share that wraps this up. It is the response to 1 Peter 3:14 – 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated …. Here it is:

Romans 5:1-5 – 5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Don’t just “Live long and prosper.” Whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, you ARE going to live FOREVER! It is my sincere HOPE to see you there.

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

 

Want more? Reread this: 1 Peter 3:14-17

 

Pages Email Newsletter
Categories Archives Connect

  • Connct to us here