Aloha Friday Message – June 16, 2023 – Get Right and Get Left

June 16, 2023

2324AFC061623 – Get Right and Get Left

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    Exodus 19:4-6 – 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings (↔ Music Link) and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom (↔ Music Link) and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”

Psalm 100:3 – 3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Romans 5:10 – 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

Matthew 9:37-38 – 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Matthew 10:7 – 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.

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!) Aloha Friday! TGIF! (Thank God I’m Forgiven!) Does today’s title remind you of a series of books and movies? I hope not, because I don’t think it is exactly what Jesus had in mind in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Here are those passages just as a reminder:

Matthew 24:40-42 – 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.

Luke 17:34-37 – 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken and the other left.” 37 Then they asked him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

Fairly often in these messages we refer to our gifts in the roles of Priest, Prophet, and King (like here for example). If we look through the Key Verses for today, it seems there is a common theme of obedience and possession. “Obey my voice and keep my covenant,” and “we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” God made us to know him, to work with and for him, to do what is right, and to Love him. Of course, those are the things we’d like to do for and with him always, but – as we have also said often – we forget. God has taken care of that through the Life, Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of his Son, Jesus. As The Apostle Paul put it “much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” In the Gospel passage from Matthew 9, Jesus has been preaching in many of the villages and towns and telling them that the Kingdom of God was near. Some listened and began walking the road to salvation. Others listened and walked away. Did Jesus go after them? No. Did he send the Disciples after them? No. You may recall he even told them to “shake the dust off your feet” when a household or town refused to be hospitable and to listen to the Good News. Neither did Jesus drive them away. We tell our kids, friends, and neighbors “Everybody makes choices.” All of us have learned by experience that choices have consequences. Good choices generally have good consequences, and bad choices do not. We have been told (↔ Music Link) why God made us and why we are created with an innate desire to know him and to love him; but, we forget – and the consequences of that are the consequences that accompany bad decisions. Another of those consequences is to tell ourselves, “It’s OK. I’ve got time to repent and get it all sorted out – soon, real soon.” Let’s take a look at a couple of passages from the Psalms and see what God has said about the consequences he’s put in place:

Psalm 1:4-6 –
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 37:10 –
10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.

Now I am going to ask you to turn your thinking inside-out for a short time. Please reread the passages that have been used as the basis for the “Left Behind” series. That storyline portrayed a day and time of judgment wherein the wicked and lost were left on earth while the righteous and the holy were taken into the skies to meet Jesus. What if it was just the opposite? What if God gathered up all the sinners, the real goats in the world, and pastured them away from the righteous, and then Jesus came to the righteous, the sheep of his flock – who are the ones “left behind” – to bring everlasting Peace to them? He said, “the way of the wicked will perish,” and “Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more.”

On the other hand, God has spelled out good consequences for good decisions:

Psalm 50:5-6 –
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. Selah

Psalm 50:14-15, 22-23
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God, [my emphasis]
or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.
23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me;
to those who go the right way
I will show the salvation of God.”

The kingdom of Heaven is here among and within us. When we forget that, it’s sort of like renouncing our Kingdom-citizenship; but, God is faithful and just and willing to renew our station in his kingdom if we remember to know that he is God and there is none other. Could it be, ʻŌmea, that when we get right with God, we get left within his even-closer presence? If we, who are sinners, are reconciled to God in Christ Jesus, do we not banish the evils of this World from our lives? Yes, indeed, the wicked continue to flourish even though they not only forget God, but also ignore and deny him. The “wicked will not stand in the judgment” because they will be laid low by their guilt and removed from “the congregation of the righteous.” In 1 Corinthians 5:9-13, The Apostle Paul warns the church authorities in Corinth that they must segregate themselves from persons who claim to be Christians but fail to live a Christian life. At the end of the passage he quotes a stern command from God given seven times in the book of Deuteronomy: “Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst.” The method of purging was execution. Might it be that God will “purge the evil from our midst” when the general judgment takes place? Remember only Noah and his family were saved and God shut the door of the Ark so that only Noah and his family were left alive. All the wicked, along with everything they had polluted with their wickedness, were washed away. We should prefer to be left out of the Judgment at the return of the Lord, so since we don’t know when it’s coming, we know that constant readiness is a requirement – one we often forget.

We know that our particular – individual and personal – reward will occur immediately at the moment of our last wisp of life, and that particular judgment will be the permanent state of our soul until the day of Final Judgment when the dead shall be raised. At that time our resurrected bodies will continue the reward we have chosen and earned in our earthly life. Again, we turn The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 – 51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,  but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. We never will be able forget again. NOW is a very good time to start – and continue – to remember! Get right and get left. Belovéd, Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. (Psalm 33:8) Celebrate his Love. Send him a “knee mail.” Make your entire day a sacrifice (↔ Click Link) of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise. It’s a great way to NOT-forget. (I know; split infinitive, but consider it a construct.)

Again I say, “Aloha Friday! TGIF! (Thank God I’m Forgiven!)” because I can be spared from being purged from the midst of the wicked if I just remember – As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” It is he that made us, and we are his. Having been reconciled, we will  be saved by his life. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” That means that wherever unrepented sin abounds, those who have forgotten about the suddenness and utter destruction of God’s righteous judgment are exposed to the vulturous demons gathering away the damned. God’s judgments are always just and always applied when and where they are needed. Remember that because your Life depends on it!

This has been a little take-away-the-box experiment. The Gospels say “one was taken and one was left behind.” Here, we have tried to imagine what it might be like if “the one taken” was the evil one. I don’t know the answer. In our house we say “God knows, but he’s not telling. Yet.” Either way, we’d best live our lives so as to end up walking amid the saints toward Jesus. The weather there is much nicer than that other place.

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

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.

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

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 9, 2023 – Corpus Christi

June 9, 2023

2323AFC060923 – Corpus Christi

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
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    John 6:55-58 – 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

1 Corinthians 10:17 – 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread

Psalm 147:14 –
14 He grants peace within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat. (↔ Music Link)

Deuteronomy 8:2-3 – 2 Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. 3 He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone,(↔ Music Link) but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. [as he decrees]

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 in the breaking of the bread. This Sunday is the fourth and last of the Principal Celebrations in the Easter Season – The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. The next Principal Celebration is the First Sunday of Advent on December 3, 2023. On Monday, June 12, we return to the tenth week in Ordinary Time. Some Catholics will tsk-tsk about parts of this. Most non-Catholics will merely shake their heads and think, “No wonder.” NONETHELESS, I ENCOURAGE ALL OF YOU TO READ THIS because there is a lot of good Scripture, a ton of good music, and a few things to ponder as we go along. Let’s get going then!

  We can begin with this startling statement by Jesus. Even those of us who have heard this over and over on this Solemnity find it strange and mysterious. This quote is from John 6 which contains some of the most remarkable things Jesus said and did. He fed 5,000 men and their families. He walked across the Sea of Galilee during a storm, and as soon as he stepped foot in the boat, the storm was over and the boat and everyone in it instantly arrived at their destination. It is in this chapter that Jesus’ discourse on ” the bread from Heaven” occurs (See John 6:27-59 this is really fascinating stuff.) When the Disciples heard this they were grumbling (gongyzousin – murmuring in discontent), and some were offended (skandalizei shock, stumble, offend, scandalize) – some were so offended by this time that they gave up following him. For this reason, we must look at what he said.

John 6:32-35 – Good News Translation (GNT) [1]
32 “I am telling you the truth,” Jesus said. “What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread that God gives is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they asked him, “give us this bread always.”
35 “I AM the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty. Just down the page a bit in verse 41, Jesus is quoted as saying “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” Then in verse 51 he repeats and expands this, saying 51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. I AM the Living Bread (↔ Music Link). Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for  the life of the world is my flesh.” Well, naturally, the folks there at the synagogue in Capernaum where Jesus said this were … astonished! Verse 52-53 says, 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

  Today around the world the dispute that erupted then goes on with statements like “This is not really the actual body and blood of Jesus. It’s just a symbol, a representation, that’s all. Saying that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine is ridiculous.” “When the Priest intones ‘This is my body,’ he’s talking to a wafer of bread, and that’s all. Nothing else happens.” Jesus said, in Verses 53-54, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” When the Priest intones “This is my Body,” he MEANS what Jesus meant: This is the Body of Christ. And here I must remind all of us of the meaning of houtos in these passages. This Greek word is very specific and means this one thing (or person), 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, THIS.

I have commented previously in 1512AFC051515 – Look him up about the word οὗτος houtos (oútos) {hoo-tohs or oo-tohs} we looked at recently in Luke 22:19 – 19 Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” The Greek words used here are τοῦτό and τοῦτο which are two of the many forms of the root word οὗτος we just looked at. As with the passage in Acts on the Ascension, the meaning is very clear. Here is what we can learn from their usage.

When Jesus says, “this is my body,” his declaration is that what he is about to share – pieces from the broken loaf of bread – IS HIS body. He is not saying, “this represents my body,” “this is like my body,” “this is a symbol of my body,” or “pretend my body is bread” or “think of this as a body.” He means what he says: “this is my body.” In the next sentence, there is another declaration in the form of a command: “Do this in remembrance of me.” He is telling the Apostles they are to do and say exactly what he has done and said. During the Eucharistic Prayer, the presiding Priest does NOT say, “This is his body,” or “This represents his body.” The Priest, in his ministry as the Alter Christus, repeats what Jesus told the Apostles to repeat: “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Here again, the meaning, intent, and purpose are perfectly clear. It is the same with the communion Chalice – as in Matthew 26:27-28 – 27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is my blood of the [new] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Here is the Real Presence of the Body of Christ, here is the Real Presence of the Precious Blood of Christ, and here is the exact expression of what Jesus commanded should be said and done. Wherever we find one of the demonstrative pronouns in these passages, there we will also find the meaning this one, meaning the item actually present here, the one just named and none other than this one; and also this action, meaning the action actually performed here, the one just shown and none other than this one. In these few words, Jesus affirms that the Grace given by and of his own flesh and his own blood as the true Paschal Lamb of God, as the Sacrifice for the sins of the world, and as the wherewithal of the true life of mankind will be present when the Supper of The Lord is celebrated as he has prescribed. “This is my body … This is my blood …” This is Jesus (↔ Music Link)

In this commemoration of his Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension, Jesus affirms that the Grace given by and of his own flesh as the true Paschal Lamb of God, as the Sacrifice for the sins of the world, and as the sustenance of the true life of mankind will be present when the Supper of The Lord The Supper of the Lord (↔ Music Link) is celebrated as he has prescribed. Over the centuries, it was gradually revealed to us that Christ is the Priest at the Altar because he is the one making the offering. Christ is also the offering on the altar because it is he who willingly Sacrificed once-for-all (See Romans 6:5-11) his life as bread for the Life of the world. Moreover, Christ is himself the Altar because the offering and the offeror are made in and through him. One Bread one Body (↔ Music Link) Does that make sense? I admit, it seems a bit circular in logic, but it has long been an axiom in theology that Christ’s offering is sufficient and efficacious; there’s a word we need to explore a bit.

Efficacious is a word closely associated with the meaning of sacrament. A Sacrament is an efficacious symbol of Grace, meaning that it produces the outcome it represents – baptism is a symbol of washing, and through baptism sin is washed away. There is an inherent attribute or benefit that is realized in the exercise of each Sacramental action. Christ’s willing Sacrifice of his Life is commemorated (NOT recommitted) in the Sacrament of the Eucharist – Holy Communion – and thus his flesh and his blood are given through this efficacious symbol of Grace producing Life for “whosoever believes in him.” In sum, then, the Precious Body and Precious Blood offered at the Altar and consumed in the believer become the efficacious saving Grace of Eternal Life. Whew! All of this at The Table of Plenty! (↔ Music Link) Thus we have The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. We commemorate this as a community of believers. We come share our story (↔ Music Link)

Many of us have heard in recent years of a Pew Research Center survey (see summary) finding that a bit less than ONE-THIRD (31%) of Catholics believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Nearly half (43%) believe that it is the Church’s position that this error is actually the Church’s teaching! About one-fifth (22%) disbelieve the action of transubstantiation is actual even though they know that’s what Scripture, Apostolic Teaching, and the Magisterium profess in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 1374 The mode of Christ’s presence under the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as “the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend.” In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.” “This presence is called ‘real’ – by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be ‘real’ too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.”

When we say we believe that Christ is “consubstantial with the Father,” we mean that he is of the same substance as the Father. So it is also with the elements of the Eucharist – they are of the same substance of the Christ of God – they are The Real Presence. He is indeed present to us “through him, with him, and in him” as O Sacrament Most Holy (↔ Music Link). Thus, the Eucharist is the perfect core and operating system of the Absolutely Perfect Plan. We are One Body in this One Lord.

We close with this classic hymn for Corpus Christi: Panis Angelicus (↔ Music Link)

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

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

 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.

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

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

[1] Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.

Aloha Friday Message – June 2, 2023 – Dishonor The Giver

June 2, 2023

2322AFC060223 – Dishonor The Giver

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
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    Exodus 34:6 – The Lord (↔ Music Link)
6 The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed,
“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”

Daniel 3:52 –
52 “Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors,
and to be praised and highly exalted forever;
And blessed is your glorious, holy name,
and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever.

2 Corinthians 13:11 – 11 And now, my friends, good-bye! Strive for perfection; listen to my appeals; agree with one another; live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. (↕↔ Music Link) Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible. Used with permission

John 3:16-19 – 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Click here for (↔ Music Link)
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,  who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,  to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. That’s from Galatians 1:3-5. Last week (← Check it out!) we covered the model of honoring God by accepting – and using – his gifts: “Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift.” Today we are led to consider how and why the opposite happens so often to “them,” to “us,” to “me.” This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, a day when we turn our attention to the remarkable mystery of God in Three Persons as One Being. Lots of grand analogies have been written – I even took a shot at it – but today I want to talk about not believing in the Trinity – or in God, or Christ, or the Holy Spirit. I want to think about doubting that any or all of this whole Trinity-thing might be true. My own personal experience tells me that what I have held as Truth in Faith and Faith in Truth must be right. Empirical (observed, pragmatic, realistic, firsthand, and verifiably objective) proof may be hard to come by, some say, but there are enough of us who hang onto this Mystery that the holders-on themselves could be experiential proof. Why should anyone believe in God just because God says he is believable? Why would we ever disrespect the Gifts of God? Why would we ever dishonor the Giver? Who would do such a thing?

Well, of course, all of us know the answer: It’s us. We are sinners, and we keep forgetting about the Love that created and redeemed us. We also know that Faith is a Gift. As with all Gifts from God, we can accept it or refuse it. The passage we have from Exodus today is the beginning of the account of Moses’ second trip up Mount Sinai with the second set of stone tablets. We all remember this scene from the movie, Exodus. Do we remember, can we remember what the message was? It sounds familiar compared to something Jesus and John the Baptist said. How about “Repent and believe in God!”? (↔ Music Link) Moses interceded for the Hebrews. It’s important to remember that Moses was offered the covenant like Abraham’s to be his own forebearer of nations, but he refused it. (See Exodus 32:9-14) Moses rejected the Gift and God changed his mind about wiping out the Hebrews right then and there. Wait, Moses rejected the gift? The key is in verse 10: 10 Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation. Moses defended the Covenant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and declined God’s offer. Moses knew God better than any person at that time, and knowing God he knew God’s majestic name and recognized it when he heard ““The LORD, the LORD,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” Moses knew he could trust God even if God could not trust the people Moses led.

The Hebrews, who threw one heck of a kegger the first time Moses went up to discourse with the Lord, were the ones who rejected God’s Gift of deliverance and freedom, and Moses – in a type – an Old Testament antecedent of Christ – pleaded for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Hmmm. Where have we heard that before? By the time we get around to the time of Daniel – a contemporary of Ezekiel, Judith, and Jeremiah – Israel is now captive in Babylon, and Daniel is one of the very few that still trust in, and pray to, God calling him THE God who is and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever.  Daniel persisted even though it meant a trip to the lion’s den (↔ Music Link) where he prevailed because of his persistence – just like Moses in the wilderness. Just as one can say “Jesus is Lord” only in the Holy Spirit, one can only know God as the Ultimate Source and Infinite Pinnacle of all Eternity, and nowadays we profess that as “the Source and Summit of our Faith,” the Eucharist. It is the highest form of fellowship with each other and with God because God includes us in his fellowship of the Trinity. I apologize for the redundancy, but I must say it again: We keep forgetting that God is God and that everything we had, have, or will have, all that we were (sinners), all that we are (saints in development), and all that we will be (The Resurrected Children of God) is exactly what God keeps telling us throughout Scripture, Apostolic Teaching, and Authorized Revelation: “I LOVE YOU ENOUGH TO CREATE YOU SO YOU CAN LOVE ME ENOUGH TO FOLLOW ME.” In this relationship, God NEVER forgets (↔ Music Link) us, (See Isaiah 49:15), but we forget – way too often – to remember we are his and he is ours when we live like we believe that.

Here’s something from last November. You might (or might not) remember it, but in my heart and mind, it sums up all that I know is true about The Trinity. In the Catechism of the Catholic  Church §’s 232 – 267 (see it here as a summary or here as the full text) we find a full discussion of the Trinity that is Scripture-based and passed down through the Traditions and Teachings of the Church. Let’s just read one “leg.” The Son is not the Father, the Son is in the Father, the Son Glorifies the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Son is God. Did I miss any? Do I understand all of it, how it can be that the Holy Trinity is One God in Three Persons? Nope. Do I understand that in this image, “glorifies” also means “Loves?” Yep. Do I understand enough of it so that I’ll never forget? Nope. Do I know that it’s true? Yes! Because why? Because everything in it is a mystery that I tightly embrace as an inestimable Treasure to claim as my Gift from God. Whenever I forget, he relents and declares “it shall not be” forestalling the correction I deserve. (See Amos 7:3) God does that so often throughout Scripture. Belovéd, do you know why?

Because God IS LOVE. Up there in that diagram, we see that God is community. Guess what? So are we! We are made in the likeness of God. How much can we trust God, anyway? If he is what he claims to be – One God (Shema Yisroel Adonoi Eloheinu Adonoi Echad) – then there is absolutely nothing to distrust or dishonor! No matter how we understand Him/Them, the complexity of the Trinity is its simplicity as well. No matter how much or how little of it we understand, it is always part of us and we are always part of it. However you perceive Him to be, God is always the same, always Faithful, always Loving, always Saving, always ONE. He alone possesses those Core Qualities of “Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, and Eternal Salvation through Christ our Lord.” I’ve just got to fly in one more witness in for this: Isaiah.

Isaiah 43:10-13 –
 10 You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
11 I, I AM the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.
12 I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses, says the Lord.
13 I am God, and also henceforth I am He;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work and who can hinder it?

Reflect on this Belovéd: We know God because we know Jesus, and through Jesus we can live in the Holy Spirit, the Lord the Giver of Life. We are edified by the Holy Spirit in whom we encounter Jesus who makes us present to the Father. We are called by the Father to follow Jesus by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As some of us have recently learned, when one member of the Trinity Acts, all three Persons act in union to produce the same efficacious result which is to know and do the Will of God. And what is the Will of God that we should know and do it? Well, we might pull up an old chestnut (for some of us) from the venerable Baltimore Catechism, Lesson 1, Question 6.

  1. Q. Why did God make you?
    A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.
    We have a Father as our Creator, a Son as our Brother, and the Holy Spirit as our Paraclete. We have had these available to us from the beginning of eternity and then lost direct access to all because people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. They forgot what was Good, ignored what is Right, and Dishonored the Giver.

It is our responsibility to stop “forgetting.” Whenever we do forget, if we remember God will forget that we forgot, that should make it easier for us to remember to honor the Giver by accepting the Gift. To do any less is to dishonor the Giver. When our forgetfulness is intentional, that’s when we need to rely on God’s Core Qualities the most. Sometimes I think of it this way:

Because of God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan, I have three wonderful Friends to whom I can take any problem, pose any question, or confess any sin, and they all live at the same address: Home. That’s where I’m heading now, and I am so very glad you are going with me, ’cause I’m Standing In The Need Of Prayer!

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.

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.

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

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

 

Aloha Friday Message – May 26, 2023 – The Gift of Gifts

May 26, 2023

orld2321AFC052623 – The Gift of Gifts

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
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    1 Corinthians 12:3-7 – 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Acts 2:2-4 – 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. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

John 20:21-22 – 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

“Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift.” Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. (↔ Music Link) I have used that quote about Giver and Gift in these posts at least forty times over the years. It is one of the most important things we should know and also one of the least remembered or carried out. Even though we know that God is good, we gloss over the fact that everything we are and everything we have are HIS GIFTS. Life itself is a precious Gift because it is Holy as a Gift from God. It is our most important treasure because it is given to us expressly for the purpose of giving it away, and how well we do that is all that will matter at the moment our life ends. How could something that important be so easily forgotten or ignored? “Out of sight, out of mind.” Is that any way to respond to the One who Loves us regardless of how we fail to return that Love?

There are so many stories of unrequited Love. That kind of situation is something most of us have experienced. We call it a crush or an infatuation, and it is always pretty one-sided because the object of our affections is not known to us or hasn’t been open with us – they might not even know who we are! Sadly, that’s how we treat God sometimes. We don’t open up to him. We reckon we can hide what we think or say or do. Sometimes the Love we reserve for God is kept in a tidy little box like “brown-paper packages tied up with string” – except we don’t open the box until we have a problem for God to fix. We (again) forget that Jesus did not have a World view. He has an ETERNAL view, and knows the outcome of our willingness or unwillingness to accept his Gifts. Honestly, would we be able to recognize his Gifts?

Considering Life as the first of God’s Gifts, the next gift we should certainly recall is Jesus – “he gave his only begotten son.” Jesus gave his human Life for us so that we could have access to Heaven. That’s where we’d all like to end up, so Jesus made it a bit easier by giving us the Holy Spirit. Already we have listed four astonishing Gifts which none of us deserved but we still got all of them in all their fullness even though we often cannot see that. Some of the folks in the world live as though they have an infatuation for God – something akin to an enchantment. They still receive his Gifts. Some of the folks in the world completely ignore God, and some vigorously oppose him. They still receive his Gifts. In our first Key Verse today, The Apostle Paul says there are a variety of Gifts, Services, and Activities and all of them originate in, and are given Life by, God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. That leads us to the second Key Verse and the fourth of the Great Gifts we just listed.

The Advent of the Holy Spirit is the birthday of the Church. We recall that glorious event at the feast of Pentecost (May 28th), and in honor of her birthday, the Church gives us a Gift. This Gift, the Holy Spirit, is the center of all creation. It is the Spirit who moved across the waters. It is the Spirit who moves within our hearts to make our bodies a Temple for the Lord. All other gifts come to us, work in us, and enliven us for the purpose of loving and serving God by loving and serving the Body of Christ which is the Gift given to The World for salvation “as the Spirit gave them ability.” As described in “Words from the Son of the Preacher,”(↔ Learning Link) we find that we are “giving more than you can hold // to sullen hands of death incarnate // blindly waving God away.” What should we be holding then? Sometimes it is helpful to have a little list of God’s Graces. Let’s try to fit one in here. We can start with the Letter of James.

James 1:17-18 – 17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. BOOM! It’s all from God for God. The Apostle Paul gives three lists. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (See Galatians 5:22-23).
Then he says 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. (See Romans 12:6-8).
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. (See 1 Corinthians 12:7-10). Jpeg?

In all of these, the Greek work for Gift is χάρις (charis) {khar’-ece} – the same root for words like charisma, charismatic,  and charism. The word means an undeserved Gift, a Gift of Grace, and the list above is only a partial list. I’ll choose just one as an example, then put a summary of this list. The example I choose is “leader.”

The Gift given to leaders is diligence – the successful leader is careful, persistent, thorough, and works hard at developing expertise in her/his sphere of responsibility. Their goal is to serve as the revitalizing source of empowerment for others. In this we see that with this Gift – as with all Gifts – there is an additional implied charism. Leaders can’t lead without followers, and being a follower is a wonderful charism! Prophecy, speaking the message of God, is given in proportion to faith, and faith requires preaching so the Word can be heard. We see they are all interconnected and can more easily recognize that every Gift in the multitude of Gifts is essential, because why? Because God says so! Why does he say so? It’s a GIFT! So, here’s a list from the passages from the Epistles of The Apostle Paul:

The Apostle Paul’s List of Gifts: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, generosity, diligence, cheerfulness; wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues.

To all of these I would also add all of the graphic arts and all the performing arts. Painting, sculpting, poetry, drama, symphonies, ditties, ballet, gymnastics – gosh! That’s a lot! All of them are Gifts from God through the Holy Spirit. The list from the Epistles are Gifts to and for the Church. There we have access to God directly through the Sacraments We have the Gift of Worship. (Seek the Lord while he may be found.) But all the other Gifts I listed can also be used to honor and glorify God. That’s how to honor the Giver by accepting the Gift – USE IT FOR HIS GLORY. And so many of you are Gifted beyond measure! ALL of you have multiple Gifts, so that you can glorify God in multiple ways. Through the Prophet Joel, God promised to send his Spirit:

Joel 2:28-29 –
28 Then afterward
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

“Lord send out your Spirit and renew the face of the Earth.”

I want to mention one more fantabulous Gift: DEATH. Wha-a-a-a-a-t? Let me show you how that works. St. Francis wrote a canticle – a hymn or chant of praise to God – called The Canticle of Creatures. It has 14 verses. Verse 12 brings us this thought: “Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no one living can escape.” Hank Williams Sr. put it this way: “No matter how I struggle or strive, I’ll never get out of this world alive.” (↔ Music Link) Someone asked Hank, “How do you write all of those sad songs?” Hank answered, “Hell boy, you can’t just write ’em, you gotta live ’em, and remember this, everybody loves to feel sorry for themselves.” Well, there’s no doubt that death does bring us sorrow, and some of us think it’s the cause of much evil. Truth be told, it’s the outcome of evil, but it’s a good outcome because, for the one who dies, it’s the end of their chances to be evil.

We spend a lot of time and energy avoiding Sister Death, and we’d rather she’d call on  someone else – like maybe someone that isn’t a loved-one. When somebody loves somebody, they don’t want the other one to be the “first to go.” Somewhere beyond the sunset (↔ Music Link) on the far side of Jordan’s Banks (↔ Music Link) we will meet the Lord in the same moment as our last breath. There we will receive the completion of THE great Gift, the eternal AMEN sung by the Angels and Saints – the Gift of Love in the Everlasting Love of The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now that is something I most definitely do NOT want to avoid! God has given us the Gift of Gifts, and the greatest Gift of all of them is the opportunity to spend eternity with him. What a Gift that is. Honor the Giver by accepting the Gift.

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

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

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.

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

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

Aloha Friday Message – May 19, 2023 – Look! Up in the sky!

May 19, 2023

2320AFC051923 – Look! Up in the sky!

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

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     Acts 1:11 – 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Psalm 47:7 –
7 For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a Psalm

Ephesians 1:22-23 – 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Matthew 28:17 – 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. This Sunday in many parishes, the Church will be celebrating The Ascension of the Lord. The actual feast day of the Ascension was yesterday, May 18th. It just so happens that Crucita’s “Saint Name” – the Saint or Sacred Event for which she was named – is the Ascension, and this year her birthday (yesterday May 18) and her feast day are the same day. In years past I have written about this event in the life of Christ many times. It is my favorite Gospel message – the day Jesus went to Heaven in a cloud while the baffled Disciples watched. It is important to me because of the content of Acts 1:11. In the post called 1512AFC051515 – Look him up, I said it this way: “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.” A few years later in 1917AFC042619 – THIS is important, we find this about “THIS:” “I have also commented there about the word οὗτος (oútos) {hoo-tohs or oo-tohs} as it appears in verse 11 – “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.” This Greek word is very specific and 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.” It’s one of the most important aspect of the APP.

Every time I hear that it gives me chicken-skin (that’s how we say “goose-bumps” in Hawaiʻi). The angels are confirming what he’s been telling the Apostles and the other Disciples: “I’m coming back to get you and take you home with me.” I wasn’t actually there, but I was there via contemporaneous concomitance (↔ Learning Link), and that experience fills me with great-big, shiny HOPE. I have no doubt that it happened, and I have no doubt that it is true – Jesus is coming back for us at the “end of the age” (the age of The Church). If that bit is true, then it is reasonable that everything else God – the Blesséd Trinity – has said all along: “I love you, and if you will only love me only, I will restore all of you to the Way your Life is supposed to be.” I really, really like that idea! It also fits right in with our Key Verse from Psalms because God is indeed King over all the Earth. The Response in our Responsorial Psalm is “God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.” That Key Verse ends with “Sing Praises with a Psalm.” The kind of Psalm referenced here is called a Maskil – it is a “wisdom song” designed to be sung by two choirs for the purpose of meditative instruction. Thus, we have two contrasting outlooks – the first is to raise a ruckus whilst praising God, and the other is to meditate on the magnificence of God’s kingly powers. The boisterous praise is the antecedent to the goal of contemplative reflection leading toward wisdom – as we described last week in the concept of “fear of the Lord.”

Before we tackle the next Key Verse, let’s take in the title. Do we recognize that phrasing? In our minds do we hear “It’s a bird!” “It’s a plane!” “No! It’s ….”? The person we are expecting is not Superman. The person we are expecting is Jesus! But, are we really? How often do I, do you, do we really look up in the sky to see if that cloud elevator he rode up into Heaven is headed back down? Isn’t it true that most days we are so wrapped up in the day-to-day grind that we put it completely out of mind – you know, “out of sight, out of mind.”? Getting in touch with God is actually pretty easy – when we remember to do that. But how do we stay in touch with God anytime all the time? I remember a song from 1972 that instructs on how to get in touch with God in a wise way – maybe it’s a modern maskil? We can and should turn our attention to God, tune in on what he has to say (he’s telling us stuff all the time!) and just Turn Your Radio On. Belovéd, I love that song! First because it tells a timeless truth: If you want to stay in touch with God, you gotta listen!

When God speaks it is very often in that “celestial hymn” and so, “Lord, with all the angels and saints, we, too, give you thanks as in exultation we acclaim: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts, …” Did you know that if we’ve got our radio on, we might – you and I just might – hear our Guardian Angels singing along?!?! Sometimes they sound like our grandkids, or our neighbors, or like real-deal angels – but if we don’t hear them it’s NOT because they are not singing! It’s because we’re being fence-post Christians – just standing there in the noise like fenceposts in the meadowlands. Belovéd! We’re singing with the Angels and the Saints! And if we are missing that, what else might we be missing if we aren’t looking up and listening in? “Pray without ceasing” keeps the radio on, so when we make our entire day a prayer of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise we are certainly less likely to miss the millions of little piece of the gigantic moments in our lives when God is singing “Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes – this is a sing-along, not a sing-alone, so I’m signing to you BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!”

Can you believe that? God’s Love is everywhere all the time. It’s in all the blessings he showers down on the good and the no good. Sometime this week, as we’re about to nod off in front of the TV or in bed, let’s agree to take a moment or two to count our blessings (↔ Music Link) just for that day. Too tired? Then let’s count them (↔ Music Link) just since dinnertime. I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to stay awake long enough to cover them all. Sometimes they’re hard to remember because we’re not paying attention. What if we really tried hard during the day to know that “he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” When I give God my entire day as a Daily Offering, it helps me keep that radio plugged in and turned on. The Apostle Paul tells us we can fill our days with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (See Ephesians 5:15-21 – it’s beautiful!) – so turn on your local Gospel station or EWTN. Stay on the straight and narrow. Walk the Path of God’s design. Read Psalm 27 every day if you need to (or just memorize it), especially verses 1 & 11. Don’t hang out with wicked people – even though we’re surrounded by them and we are sinners, too. Just remember GIGO – Gospel In Gospel Out. We need to be doing what we know is right and avoid doing what we know is wrong. When we mess up, we fess up – we repent and stick to it. Don’t be full of “it.” Be full of him who made you and blessed you with his Love. If we find that hard to believe, we may not be getting any reception where we are. It might be time to get a stronger receiver or get closer to the broadcaster (Sehlah. ↔ Learning Link) or, maybe we need to simply believe the incredible, the unbelievable, the incomprehensible:

Jesus is real, Jesus is alive, Jesus was taken up into Heaven in clouds. Jesus is coming back the same way, but he won’t be alone then because it will be the end of time. We might think it extraordinary that even as they watched Jesus’ Ascension, “some doubted.” After all, the Apostles spent about three years with him day and night, and those who witnessed his appearances in the Cenacle surely had no doubt that the glorified Jesus was “this same Jesus” with whom they had shared many intimate moments before and after the resurrection. The text does not give any indication of how many were with him on the mountainside when he was taken up into Heaven, but imagine how his followers might have perceived him as different.

His body may have had the holy shimmer of Glory as we covered in 1202AFC011312 – Sh’khinah Glory for you, that same glimmer hovering over the Mercy Seat on the Ark of The Covenant. Perhaps they weren’t convinced that “this same Jesus” was the Man of Sorrows (↔ Music Link) who had been severely beaten beyond recognition, and then crucified. Perhaps – even with the testimony of the 12, the attestations of the Saints in the Cenacle, and the words of the” two men dressed in white” – the total magnitude of the “sheer goodness of God was so overwhelming that reason could not take it in; such information can be held only in the earthen vessel of F.A.I.T.H. – being Fully Aware I Trust Him. After the Resurrection, Jesus’ body was transformed into the eternal, divine, and glorified human who participated in creating everything this that is, was, or will be. Considering that, I believe Jesus must have had a different appearance than what some Disciples could comprehend. When I try to imagine that, I remember a story told by Dr. Fred Begay. (↔ Learning Link)

Dr. Begay was from was the first Navajo, and also the first Native American, from any Indigenous People, to receive a Ph.D. in physics. In an episode on NOVA in 1979, Dr. Begay explained how, as a child, he first tried to understand how clocks worked. his experience in his family had taught him that one can tell the time using the position of the sun. As I recall, he postulated that the sun’s rays entered into the mechanism and made it move. He seemed destined in his family to be a Healer and farmer, but after serving in the Korean war, he was recruited by the Federal Government to go to college and study mechanical engineering. He eventually ended up at Los Alamos National Laboratories as a nuclear physicist. He has won many prestigious awards and his work is recognized internationally. So, what’s the connection? In much the same way that one can tell time by the position of the sun, one can also view Time by the position of The Son – but only if we’re looking for the Sun and not trying to lock him into some sort of mechanical box to make the World function. God already took care of that, but we are still obligated by F.A.I.T.H. and reason to keep watching for Jesus. If we’re gonna watch, we have to look. If we want to stay watchful, then everything we think or say or do must be “hidden in Christ.” (See Colossian 3:1-11. There is some really Good News there!) I also recommend remembering that after the Resurrection, Christ did not appear to everyone. Over the forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension, he appeared to many Disciples – as many as 500 at one occasion – but he didn’t go into Jerusalem and shout, “Hey everybody! Look what God did!” He appeared with and spoke to the Body of Christ, the Church. Can we trust him to appear in out lives and speak to us? Let’s look to Genesis 28 as we close up shop for today. Maybe it will help us see the Light. (↔ Music Link)

This is where we find the story of Jacob’s Ladder and the Promise God made to Jacob –

Is it JUST a telephone Pole?

called by God IsraʻEl. In verse, 15 God tells Jacob, “15 Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Our Blessed Trinity is still working on that promise. They have not left us (“Behold, I am with you always … ), so we can believe that we are not abandoned. IF we believe Jesus “was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”
THEN we should take to heart his admonition to watch (See Matthew 24:42-44). We can take as our motto, Just Trust. He’s coming back to us in the sky amid the clouds, so Look! Up in the sky!

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

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

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.

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

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 12, 2023 – Sanctifying Fear

May 12, 2023

2319AFC051223 – Sanctifying Fear

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often. Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Acts 8:14-17 – 14 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit 16 (for as yet the Spirit had not come] upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 66:16, 20 –
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me. 

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

John 14:21 – 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Alrighty then, who’s afraid of God? Is this an image of God that usually comes to mind when you think of him?

If you’ve spent any time reading the Old Testament – especially 2 Chronicles – you know that lots of people died either directly from “the hand of God,” or from those whom God empowered to wipe out his (and/or Israel’s) enemies including the nearly-genocidal extinctions of the Seven Nations of Canaan. Steve Wells, a self-proclaimed atheist, authored a book titled “Drunk With Blood: God’s Killings In The Bible” which seems to stretch the truth more than a few times by negatively manipulating Scripture. In it he has done a “deep see dive” into the number of persons killed by, or for, or in the name of God. He estimates it to be as high as 25,000,000 – twenty-five-million. Most of those are in the Old Testament, with considerably less than 1,000 in the New Testament. Most people, including Christians of all stripes, “sorta-kinda” know about some of that, but will excuse it as “probably justified and necessary” because God was wiping out sinners or folks opposed to his Law (which, by the way, is Torah – the Entire Law of God, including since about 300 AD, all 613 Mitzvot (↔ Learning Link), not just The Ten Commandments). On the other hand, some of us can think of God as a nice grampa type who benevolently watches over us as in this painting of God the Father by Giovanni Battista Cima, also called Cima da Conegliano (c. 1459 – c. 1517). In my heart, this is the way I think of the Author of Life and of the Absolutely Perfect Plan.

Earlier this year, in 2304AFC012723 – The Discipline of Discipleship, we featured The Emerald Throne from Art created by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992, 2002. For me, personally, that is more in line with how I imagine “my El Shaddai-Olam” in my morning prayers (← Check it out!). Some of you who might know my Facebook page will recognize this logo on my Facebook home screen:

This image reminds us there is a “proper fear,” the Fear of the Lord, which includes adoration, thanksgiving, and praise – like Standing Ovation Praise. Now, most of us know that when we see that phrase – fear of the Lord – it does not always mean we are to be afraid of God. It means to be in awe of God, to reverence and to venerate him by honoring and respecting him, and to know he is our Creator, our Salvation, and our Enduring Hope. Fear Not, because you Fear God! Fear Not and Know Fear. (← Check it out!) Someone has written that there are 365 instances in the Bible that tell us not to be afraid. I’d say that is pretty convincing evidence that being afraid in our lives is not what God intended for us. Here’s a good quote from the following selections in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke: Matthew 10:28 – 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. And Luke 12:5 – 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Use the link to see about 20 translations of this passage from Luke.)

I used to think that passage refers to Satan, but it does not. It is referring to God’s final judgment after the Resurrection. In my admittedly limited experience, that is the only time Jesus told us to be afraid of God – or did he? Could we not read that as “rather give reverence to him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” instead?

In most instances when we read, “Fear God,” we know it means to reverence God, to give God our awe and admiration for his Magnificence as Creator of the Universe (including each of us). Note that God created the universe. God is not the universe and the universe is not God. Mysteriously, God is omnipresent in the universe but still separate from it. The substance of the universe is only the universe, and the substance of God is only God. Now that we have that out of the way (I hope), let’s take a look at “sanctifying.”

To sanctify is to consecrate, to set apart, to purify, dedicate, to ascribe the qualities of sacredness and holiness. When we ask God to sanctify our actions (↔ Music Link) or our very selves, we are asking him to help us to be wholly holy as he has commanded. Let us recall the word from The Apostle Peter: 1 Peter 1:13-16 – 13 Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. 14 Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 15 Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (See also Matthew 5:48 – 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Most of us are afraid we will never live up to that standard! If so, it is because we are forgetting how very much God loves us (his Only Begotten Son teaches us that). So many times in Scripture God says, “Don’t be afraid.” Jesus repeatedly told the Apostles, “Fear not,” or “Do not be afraid.” How do we keep from being afraid of God?

First, be faithful to the Gospel. In the words of the simple instructions Jesus gave at the beginning of his ministry (and the end of John’s) – “Repent and believe the Gospel.” Prophecies that do not include a call to repentance were instantly recognized as false prophecies. We must start out with Faith that is nurtured and pruned through repentance. That is how we face and overcome the fear that all of the commotion around us can stir up. That is the second thing we must do. We must not fear.

You see, it is fear that the Foe uses to make us abandon our mission to go to all corners of Earth to proclaim the Good News. Satan uses F.E.A.R. to keep us in doubt and desire to keep us dissatisfied. We don’t have to submit to those tactics; in fact, we must not buy that line of baloney from Satan or his minions among our fellow earthlings. Some time ago I sent you a very special music link: Be Not Afraid (↔ Music Link). Maybe you could watch it again? We cannot, must not, should not be afraid to make the Gospel known and to live it as completely as we can. We know that Jesus has told us he is always with us, that God is always watching over us, and – as the Apostle Paul said – “all things work together for good for those who love the Lord, who are called according to his purpose.” (See Romans 8:28) Ah, that last little phase there is quite the hook! For what purpose are we called? We are called to be faithful, to testify from the housetops (see Matthew 10:26-33, especially verses 32 and 33), and to reverence God. Check out the APP if you believe it’s OK to wait until That Great Day to make up your mind about God’s judgment.

God Our Father himself said, Isaiah 41:10 – 10 … 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. We have Jesus’ word as well in John 16:33 – 33 I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world! So, Belovéd, what shall we do? Scripture shows us we need not be afraid, so what outlook should we embrace? Let’s choose Psalm 37:3 – 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. Again, who can do that, and how? Here’s what God himself says about this: Leviticus 20:7-8 – 7 Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep my statutes, and observe them; I am the Lord; I sanctify you. I can’t do it! Can you do it? (Remember last week we said ” Prayer is a gift of Grace. We cannot give Grace to ourselves any more than we can give Salvation to ourselves. Grace comes from God, God is always of and in community.”)

God will sanctify us if we consecrate our complete selves to him which means we Love him, we obey him, we give him primacy in all things by living our lives as his servants following the example of Christ. Our “fear of the Lord” is our loving reverence for his majestic benevolence across all of his Creation – including us, Belovéd. That reverence is what effects, brings about, is the outcome of letting him be God and letting ourselves be his children. That relationship is the consecrating reverence, the sanctifying fear, that makes us able to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. If he will sanctify us, we can sanctify – to consecrate, to set apart, to purify, to dedicate, to ascribe the qualities of sacredness and holiness – our reverence for him and his magnificent Love and Salvation. God does Sanctify us when we are baptized, when the Bishop lays his hands on us and we receive the Holy Spirit when we are confirmed (see Acts 8:14-17 above), when we rightly receive the Eucharist, when we offer our lives as witnesses to his Kingdom, and more as when in our hearts sanctify Christ as Lord – God is always finding ways to make us his!

Next time we’re tempted to think of God as a mean old man (an image sent to us by the Tempter), let’s just remember this from 1 John 4:18 – 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. Jesus said it like this in John 14:21 – 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them. We are sanctified in and because of his Love. As the Psalmist said, Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast Love from me. If you review our Key Verse from Psalms, you will see – and receive – an invitation: Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me. When we reverence God, our sanctification comes as we worship him and he blesses us. Our reverence is sanctifying as we set aside our wants to give God Glory and Praise (↔ Music Link). As we read in our Key Verse from 1 John 2:4-6 whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him:  whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked. (↔ Music Link)

Belovéd, let us all sanctify our fear by giving him All Glory, Laud, and Honor. (↔ Music Link) Let this be our daily Prayer:

Almighty Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – I love You. I worship You. I adore You. I praise You. I glorify Your name. I give you thanks for revealing your Great Glory through Christ Jesus Our Lord. I ask you to enlighten, guide, strengthen, and console me. Teach me Your will and empower and inspire me to fulfill it completely, for it is my heart’s desire to serve You well in all that You ask of me and everything that You allow to happen to me. Only make Your will known, and grant me the graces necessary to faithfully follow You to the place You have prepared for me. I offer You this prayer in the name of Jesus, The Christ, our Lord who lives and reigns with God, The Father Almighty, in the unity of The Holy Spirit, The Lord, the Giver of Life. AMEN.

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

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

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.

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

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 5, 2023 – Obedient scissors

May 5, 2023

2318AFC050723 – Obedient scissors

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Acts 6:7 – 7 The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

1 Peter 2:6-8 –
6 For it stands in scripture:

“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,”
8 and
“A stone that makes them stumble,
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

John 14:10-14 – 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask [me]* for anything, I will do it. (*Some ancient authorities exclude the word “me”)

Psalm 33:18 – 18 Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love  

  Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. In addition to our Key Verses, we begin today with a quote from one of our favorite Christian authors, C. S. Lewis. Here it is in a nice little meme featuring that quote. You may recall the passage in James which talks about faith and works: James 2:26 – 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. A scissor (or pair of scissors if you prefer) is an apt image for the relationship between faith and works. Today we are also going to think of scissors as working like faith and prayer together. Prayer is one of the most perfect “works,” because when we pray we pray in Hope – 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) We know what we are hoping for because we are certain of what we do not see; prayer is hope in action. Today, then, we are talking about the blades of the “pair of scissors” as being faith and prayer – which of those two is most essential for living a genuinely Christian life?

The obvious answer is that – like the quote from Lewis – one is not much good without the other. If we live in prayer without faith, we’re just heating up plain air. If we live in faith without prayer, it’s like we’re swimming in sand. They really do belong together, and when we don’t keep them together (here it comes), we just can’t cut it in Life. There’s quite a lot more to scissors, though, than just the blades. Back (way back) in 2008, we had a post called 840AFC100308 – Faith and Wheelbarrows. (↔ Click Link) It was kind of fun to write because at the end we knew that the handles were Trust and Knowledge, the pan of the wheelbarrow is practical knowledge we learn in our lives, and then we went a bit bonkers with the wheel being consciousness and morality (check out the post to see how we got there).

Let’s begin with why “scissors” is a plurale tantum – that’s a noun that is used and understood as a plural without any form that is a singular of that noun. The etymology of scissors comes from a Latin word which referred to a cutting instrument with two blades that slid past each other. (c.f. “What’s the Singular of ‘Scissors’? at Merriman-Webster online). The simple answer is that over centuries we got used to the idea of referring to the two-bladed shears as a pair of scissors. HOWEVER, the scissors have more than the blades just like a wheelbarrow has more than a wheel and a “barrow” (the mound of “stuff” carried in the pan). Scissors have handles too, and if the blades work like faith and prayer, then the handles work like ways to “handle” faith and prayer.

What do we need to handle Faith? Well, we’d need something or some-One as the basis of Faith. Since those two items are – for Christians – directed at God, then the basis of Faith is Scripture through which God has continued to reveal himself since the day he first said, “Let there be …” Scripture is such a powerful tool! It provides movement, strength, and control in our lives. Now the other blade representing Prayer also has a handle. What do you suppose would be the handle for Prayer? Let me ask some simple questions. How did we first learn to pray? How did we grow our prayer life from those first lessons? Where do we most often  join hearts, hands, and voices in Prayer? We learned to pray from our parents, most likely; our parents who represent the Domestic Church. Later we are, hopefully, blessed to have some form of religious education through church, and as adults we find a “Church Home.” Let’s call the handle on the Prayer side of the scissors “The Church.”

Now, if Scripture and the Church are the handles of the scissors, it’s pretty evident that they most certainly are going to be working together. Each will assist the other in cutting through the bonds that that restrain us, or the fabric of our lives, or opening envelopes that bring us information we need for successful living. You know, when we use scissors, we pretty much always use them with one hand, our dominant hand, and one handle is operated by the thumb and the other handle is operated by two or three opposing (to the thumb) fingers like this:

   The action of the thumb is like the powerful opening and closing action of Prayer, and the action of Scripture is like the guiding action of Faith. Our hands guide the action of the scissors just like our thoughts, intuitions, and decisions guide our lives. We can see that Prayer is the type of action that happens when we work with God and with others in community. Prayer is a gift of Grace. We cannot give Grace to ourselves anymore than we can give Salvation to ourselves. Grace comes from God, God is always of and in community. Scripture and Faith help us to use the power we can experience through community and prayer. When Scripture and Faith, Prayer and Church all come together great things can happen! But wait!! There’s MORE!!

How in the WORLD can we use a pair of scissors that has no fulcrum? You know, that little post that holds the blades together so we can stick our fingers through the handles and make them work? Goodness sakes! If we have Scripture, Faith, Prayer, and Church, what else do we need to live a Christian life? Belovéd, the fulcrum for all those things is

OBEDIENCE!

And there is the meaning of the title of this post and the thread that runs through all the Key Verses. We see “ a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” Next we have, “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” I read that as “disobey the Word, the Logos.” In the Gospel we see, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” Jesus’ entire human Life and Divine Life centered on obedience to his Father. This is why he says, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” What is God’s Great Command? “I am the Lord your God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. You shall Love your neighbor as yourself. I AM the Lord your God.” Can we truly forget that Jesus is God? If you are in CIAY, or a good student of theology, you will know that whenever one Person of the Trinity Acts, they all act together. Obedience is at the core of everything in our relationship with God – or rather we should say it is our disobedience that disfigured our relationship with God. His image in us has been damaged, but he wipes away the damage and helps us hold Scripture, Faith, Church, and Prayer together. Just one thing left:
Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love

In this short passage we have the traits of reverence and hope. When those virtues combine with obedience, we experience humility. We surrender to the Lord our present endeavors, or future expectations, and acknowledge his Primacy in all things. Can you take a guess at what part of the scissors this might represent? We’ve established that the fulcrum is the essential piece that makes it possible for the scissors to work. WHAT HOLDS THE FULCRUM IN PLACE? LOOK AT THIS PHOTO. The scissors’ fulcrum is held in place with a fastener – a nut, a bolt, a screw, or a rivet – something that keeps the fulcrum in place, allows the blades to work together without budging from its position. In the same way, humility anchors obedience. Without the fulcrum and its retainer, the scissors are not of much use. Without humility and obedience, Scripture, Faith, Church, and Prayer are also not of much use. “The eye of the Lord is on those who Love and obey him.” His Everlasting Love (↔ Music Link) is there every time we pick up the scissors. You must be tired of hearing this by now, but nonetheless “It’s in the Absolutely Perfect Plan.” God IS Love. He cannot, will not, stop watching us, encouraging us, guiding us, Loving us. (↔ Music Link. That’s a secular love song, but imagine Jesus singing that to you). So, what’s next?

How about this? “Yeah, so what?” said someone. We all know this game. We know paper covers rock, rock breaks scissors, scissors cut paper. Suppose with me then, that the rock is the World, a stumbling block to believers, and that the paper is the life we are given to shape and change and to beautify. The paper is a gift from God, and so are the scissors. When we use our Gifts against the World, the paper covers the stone but the stone does not go away. Also, when we use the scissors against the stone, they have little effect on the World and can damage or even break the scissors. Take a moment to reflect on what we’ve covered, and then think about this photo and compare it to 1 Corinthians 6:9-14. Add to that this passage from a couple of pages ahead of that one: 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 – 12 For what have I to do with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to judge? 13 God will judge those outside. “Drive out the wicked person from among you.” Other than evangelization, we don’t do anything to change the World into something more like paper. But wait! There’s MORE! <groan>

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. That rock up there by the scissors and paper? That rock is inanimate. It’s dead. When we shed ourselves of the World, we become living stones which can help to build a spiritual house with Christ as the Corner Stone (↔ Music Link). Let us leave the dead rocks alone and join up with the Living Stones of the whole New World. Take our scissors, too; walk – don’t run – with the Man from Galilee. (↔ Music Link) Repent and believe the Gospel, then go ahead and rock out alive forever and ever because YOLO-F. Peter tells us Christ was “chosen by God and precious to him.” Christ, the Messiah is “called ‘elect,’ as appointed by God to the most exalted office conceivable.” And we are called to that same life as his servants. We are called the elect, the chosen because “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (Ephesians 1:4 paraphrase) This word is ἐξελέξατο exelexato (↔ Learning Link) and it denotes chosing the best of its kind or class. What a GOOD God we have! He even gave us obedient scissors.

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.

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

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 – April 28, 2023 – Deeper than always

April 28, 2023

2317AFC042823 – Deeper than always

Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Do you know someone who enjoys Bible study, or who might like to read this? Ask them to email us or to subscribe on our blog-site.

    Acts 2:38 – 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Psalm 23:5 –
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

2 Corinthians 9:8–11 – 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.” (Cf. Psalm 112:9)
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us

1 Peter 2:23-25 – 23 When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

John 10:9-10 – 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.  (See also 1718AFC050517 – Seeds and Sheep)

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! [We] pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth (of His Love), and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (See Ephesians 3:18-19)

Once again, we have a surprising topic (at least, it surprised me). “Deeper than ever,” or “Deeper than the deep blue sea” might be things we’d think of when a phrase starts would with the words “deeper than.” “Deeper than always” might spark a memory of Dolly Parton’s hit Longer Than Always (↔ Music Link) The lyrics (↔ Learning Link) are “kind-of-close” to something like a religious song as in Sister Act. Jesus certainly made it clear that he will love us “longer than always” and we certainly want to love God that way, too. But I digress. What about “Deeper than always?” How deep is that? We might want to ask a little fish about it (↔ Learning Link for “A Fish Tale” by Steve Brown). Just how deep is deeply Loving?

We know God is deeply Loving because God IS Love. God the Father Loves God the Son and that Love is so powerful that it lives as a Person named The Holy Spirit. These three persons eternally Love one another, otherwise we could not say “God IS Love.” Now, if you’re in the community of believers studying the Catechism In A Year, you’ll recognize that; but, if not, we can all recognize that Love is one of the fundamental characteristics of God. As a reminder, we recall that Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, and Eternal Salvation through Christ our Lord. Here’s how I think of that; it goes back – way back – to 10th grade and Plane Geometry with Mr. Hughes at TJ Hi. A line segment is a connection of points that has a beginning point and an end point. That’s like our earthly, physical life. A LINE is a straight path on a plane that extends endlessly in two directions – left-right, up-down, there-there. That’s like the Trinity – there is no beginning and no end. A RAY is a line segment that has a beginning point, but then extends continuously in one direction with no endpoint. That is like YOLO-F. Those four fundamental characteristics (four out of infinite) are but a few of the totality of the Eternal God. Moreover, the “line of existence” for God is endless in any and all directions. The deeper, the farther, the higher, the lower, the longer, the shorter, the all-in-all of that Divine Existence is completely humanly incomprehensible. Ahh, but the Love extant in that Existence is not. When we are touched by such Wondrous Love as This (↔ Music Link), we cannot keep from singing (↔ Music Link) as the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 71:8, 15-16 –
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all day long.

15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all day long,
though their number is past my knowledge.
16 I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,
I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

We who love the Lord can barely fathom how much Joy there is going to be as God immerses us in such endless Joy, and the endless echoes in our souls as we sing together with each other, all the Saints, and all the Angels. That’s pretty deep, but that Joyous Life will go deeper than deep because one Day we will sing an AMEN that has Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, and Eternal Salvation when the trumpet sounds and the dead shall be raised and sing God’s praise until Forever is Always every endless day!

THAT IS DEEP!

Belovéd, we are headed in that direction – quintazillions of rays with decazillions of intersections all going to and through the same place all at once forever. (If you don’t recognize those numbers, it’s because I made them up, but don’t tell Mr. Hughes.) Now, of course we can’t understand that, but guess what? WE DON’T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IT TO BE LIEVE IT! I believe it because that’s HIStory, and I’m stickin’ to it! A certain Nobel-Prize-winning poet (↔ Learning Link) once said, “I was born a long way from where I belong and I am on my way home.” Encountering Life that is actually (not virtually) endless changes us if we try to embrace it. Sometimes whatever seems impossible to believe is confirmed for us in things that have no tangible connection to Faith. I’d like to show you an example of that – a quote from a guy who ran full-force, head down, smack into a brick wall – a prison wall. His name was Charles “Chuck” Colson.

You might remember him as a Watergate felon. His experience in that life seemed to change his direction. What happened goes back to that plane geometry lesson about lines, rays, and segments. Chuck’s life was a ray in politics, then he hit a point when his sins marked out a segment in his life and sent a ray in another direction – a proper direction. He eventually became a much-respected and often-quoted evangelist. Here’s how his experience for his criminal acts opened his heart to the Truth of the Resurrection:

  “I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.” That’s deep, Belovéd, but not as deep as always, and definitely not “Deeper Than Always.” Is there anything we know that is that deep, deeper than always? The answer I always get when I ask that question is one of God’s most-favorite answers to prayer: “Not yet, but I have something even better in mind.” “I see,” says I, “I guess I’ll keep walking.” I know he will set me on the right path (See Psalm 25:4-5) and keep me there when I try to turn a ray into a segment (See Isaiah 30:21). I know he will lead me if I follow him (↔ Learning Link), so where he leads me, I will follow (↔ Music Link). As he told his chosen one, Israel “do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you,” (See Isaiah 41:10), and all we have to do is say “Yes” (See 2136AFC090321 – Opened to Hear, Closed to Fear). See also 1718 and 2201 “seeds and sheep” and “like a shepherd.” In the Key Verse from 1 Peter about having gone astray like sheep, we, too, must return to the Good Shepherd.

“Yes” seems like such a simple, perhaps even shallow, word – “Yes.” But look what happened when a certain you woman said “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (See Luke 1:38) Belovéd, that’s deep!  About 33 years later, her Son – born of the flesh and in the Spirit – said “Yes, Thy will be done.” Belovéd, that’s deeper than deep! Because why? Because that means that death is not just the endpoint of another segment joined to another ray. It means that death is now a sign of Hope because Life is an Always thing, not a no-way thing. What comes next is still part of a ray which we have come to call a Ray of Hope. You know the Scripture: 28 “For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.'” (See Acts 17:28) There has been some … discussion (read “nitpicking”) over The Apostle Paul’s quote from a well-known poet (probably Aratus who had written that line around 300 years before The Apostle Paul spoke it here). His familiarity with that level of literature is an indicator of the multicultural education Saul of Tarsus had acquired before his conversion. Using that quote in the Areopagus in Athens would have certainly drawn closer attention to his speech. We have no “Epistle to the Athenians,” but we do have two epistles to the Thessalonians who had just thrown The Apostle Paul out of town, threatened his life, and even came to Athens to stir up more trouble for him. We also have two epistles to the Church in Corinth, and The Apostle Paul doesn’t mince words with them either. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, he lays out the image of the Church as one Body, the Body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12:27 he says 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Let that sink in a minute.

We are one body, The Body of Christ. (↔ Music Link) The Church is the Body of Christ. The Church is the Bride of Christ. The Church is revealed to everyone through the Holy Spirit as both visible and spiritual and is preparing all believers and nonbelievers for the End of the Age. The Church is here as the pathway to holiness and Heaven for whomsoever will respond to her mission of always restoring humanity to its intimacy with our Creator. That restoration will be the fulfillment of every prophecy, every prayer, every Scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit and that, my Belovéd Sisters and Brothers in Christ is about as close to Deeper Than Always as we can envision because “eye has not seen” (↔ Music Link). As we close today, please spend a moment thinking about Isaiah 64:4 and 1 Corinthians 2:9-13 – 9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13 And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual. What we learn from and through the Holy Spirit, therefore, is always deeper than always. The Apostle Peter started his ministry with the same words Jesus used when making present the Kingdom of God: Acts 2:38 – 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Day by day he makes himself known to us. Today we are asking that you read aloud all of the Key Verses and that you take a few moments to reflect on each before going to the next one. Go higher up and deeper in. Love so as to Love deeper than always so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness.

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

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

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.

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

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

Aloha Friday Message – April 21, 2023 – Whadaya know!

April 21, 2023

2316AFC042123 – Whadaya know!

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    Acts 2:32-33 – 32 This [same]* Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear.
* In the koine 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 who was visibly present here among us, 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 Jesus who died on the Cross and was raised up to Glory at the right hand of God. Follow up with 1917AFC042619 – THIS is important

Psalm 16:7, 11 a –
7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
11 You show me the path of life.

1 Peter 1:20-21 – 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Luke 24:35 – 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. This is the story of the Road to Emmaus. You’ll recall that later that same day – RESURRECTION DAY – he took a little trip to a village that was about 7 (yep, seven!) miles from Jerusalem. More on that later, first, though, I want to call to mind some very meaningful events that happened during Spring:

  • February 25th – 46th anniversary of my confirmation at St. Bede church in Montgomery AL
  • March 27th – 75th anniversary of my baptism as an infant at 1st Presbyterian Church in Rapid City SD
  • April 3rd – 68th anniversary 1st profession of faith at Corona Presbyterian Church in Denver. I had tyo recite the Apostles Creed unassisted.
  • April 5th – 54th anniversary of my baptism and first communion as a Catholic in 1969
  • April 18th – 57th anniversary of my selection for membership at Corona Presbyterian Church in Denver CO
  • April 19 – 54th anniversary or our Holy Matrimony. Charles O. Todd, III married Crucita A. Gonzales at Chapel 2 on Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio TX.

Events like these matter, and that is why we remember them. The First Eucharist is at the top of the list for important things to remember – “Do this in remembrance of me.” When we follow those simple instructions, life changes. And the change is for the better!

I would be remiss to focus only on these joyful celebrations when there are so many tragic incidents in our nation and in our world. The shocking events with the mass shootings of defenseless people, brutal deaths imposed by – and even upon – law enforcement officers, the evil actions perpetrated and boasted about by those who attempt to defend the so-called “right’ to murder the unborn, the grievous wars and persecutions all across the globe, and the corruption we see in all manner of institutions of government. All these are signifiers of the evil that underlies a pervasive culture of blatant deception and death. For those who commit such heinous and dehumanizing acts of terror, murder, and indifference to the sacredness of life, let us all the more reaffirm our resolve to make faith, hope, and love prevail (↔ Music Link) and above all to love one another as He has loved us. Belovéd, the whole purpose of the Moon Beam Network is to pray for one another and to feast on the Word. St. Ambrose of Milan said, “He who reads much and understands much receives his fill. He who is full refreshes others. So Scripture says: “If the clouds are full, they will pour rain upon the earth.” And if hearts are full of Love, the rain they make is refreshing indeed!

Let’s look back at our Key Verse from The Apostle Peter. He is on fire with the Holy Spirit and speaking with a boldness and certainty he did not have until then. He knows what he is saying is True, and it has liberated him to be a witness (martyr) for Jesus. The first thing he is moved to do is to share his anointing with others. His heart is overflowing with Divine Love, and he cannot hold it back – it bursts forth like summer rain which waters the Earth and brings forth new life. He is experiencing that limitless flow of Living Water Jesus talked about with the Samaritan woman. The Fire of the Spirit and the Waters of Rebirth! That is certainly something to S H O U T about, something to celebrate, something to remember! Look at the Key Verse again. Do you see that there are TWO asterisks? Wherever you see “this” written in Scripture, remember THIS is important. We have another important statement in Psalm 16. Let’s have another look at it.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 11 You show me the path of life. How wonderful it is when we walk with the Lord with humble patience! With him, we are always seeing the World more like God sees it, and less like we formerly saw it before we joined him and his Disciples on the Road Home. Even when we are at rest, we converse with him and he with us. As we go toward the place he has prepared for us, we can be confident that we will remember Isaiah 30:21 – 21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Even as we sleep, our hearts are filled with good will, our ears with good advice, and our eyes with good rest. Our hearts are filled with gladness and our souls do rejoice, even our bodies flourish with confidence because we know our Road Home will bring us to Life Everlasting. Here’s why:

King David, the Psalmist, knew all this because God had revealed it to him in countless ways. David understood that God already knew how sin would be eradicated, Life would be restored, and God would once more live among his people. Jesus, the Christ of God, would bring all things back together by his incarnation, holy life, and salvific death. In David’s time, the Messiah was foreknown, but not yet manifested in the World. He came to Shepherd God’s sheep, (↔ Learning Link) the Peoples who follow his voice. What would happen if you and I were listening for Jesus’ voice and he said “Follow Me” (↔ Music Link) right this minute? Belovéd, is it true – as The Apostle Peter said – that our faith and hope are in God? If that is true, then we can pray in bold confidence, ” Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us; make our hearts burn while you speak to us.” Were not our hearts burning within us?!? (↔ Music Link)

My Belovéd sisters and brothers in Christ, these two Disciples recognized Jesus “in the breaking of the bread.” In what do I, do you, do we – whose determination it is to walk with him – recognize him? If indeed we walk with him, then do we see him in all the Corporal and Spiritual Acts of Mercy? ⇓ If not, why not? If so, then Whadaya know! If we see him there, we can see him anywhere and everywhere just as easily as saying it because he will be saying, “turn here, do this, help them in secret, rejoice and be glad, for your Father in Heaven who sees in secret will call you by name and we’ll all walk Home together.” Whadaya know about that? It sure sounds good to me! Do you want to know why? IT’S IN THE APP! Dear Friends, remember: YOLO-F

Corporal Acts of Mercy

feed the hungry
give drink to the thirsty
clothe the naked
shelter the homeless
visit the sick
visit the imprisoned
bury the dead

 Spiritual Acts of Mercy

counsel the doubtful
instruct the ignorant
admonish sinners
comfort the afflicted
forgive offenses
bear wrongs patiently
pray for the living and the dead

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

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

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.

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

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

On The Road Again –April 14, 2023

April 14, 2023

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! As stated previously, we’re on the road again – figuratively speaking – so I’m just going to give you a link to a previous message: 2115AFC040921 – Enduring Mercy.

 This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. Please consider the Mercy of God in your own life as you read this post.

If that one doesn’t strike your fancy, you can give this one a try: 1716AFC042117 – What is Mercy?

Next week we should be “back to usual” – whatever that is.

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

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

Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit.

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