2540AFC100325 – Show me whatchya got.

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Habakkuk 2:4 (GNT) [1] – ⁴ And this is the message: “Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.”
(Use the link above to see the NABRE version)
Psalm 95:7c-8a – If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
2 Timothy 1:6-8 – ⁶ For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; ⁷ for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
⁸ Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God
Luke 17:10 – ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

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. ʻŌmea, do you feel something like a pall of darkness falling over the World? Is there a thin but clinging film of anguish being inflicted upon us as if someone is “water-boarding” our minds and hearts which choose to serve God rather than the World? Not a day goes by without news of some desperate soul or insurgency group lashing out and bringing harm to others sometimes 1:1, and sometimes mass murders or regional conflicts. There are several wars going on, the most discussed are in Gaza and Ukraine, but there are wars in Myanmar, Somalia, Syria, Sudan (particularly Darfur Province), Nigeria, Ethiopia and more. Most are terrorist insurgencies. In many cases the insurgents are Muslim, and many of the deaths are also Muslims. Whatchya got there is a dire need for conversion to the One True God.

Most are not initiated by Christians but rather are initiated – in large part – against Christians, and more than a few are jurisdictional or even ethnic disputes. “Wars and rumors of wars” sounds pretty familiar right now. A very large portion of the areas currently under conflict are former colonial “possessions” taken over by two or more groups that are willing to kill and be killed to be the ones in charge. What they have for their perceived enemies is contemptuous disdain. Each side sees the other as inferior, corrupt, unenlightened, and without value. They want to be the ones elevated to superiority over everyone else because they see themselves as being superior. It brings to mind a very familiar passage –

Isaiah 14:13-14 –
¹³ You said in your heart,
  “I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
  above the stars of God;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
  on the heights of Zaphon;
¹⁴ I will ascend to the tops of the clouds,
  I will make myself like the Most High.”

Most of us will remember this as being descriptive of Satan’s fall from Heaven because he was aspiring to be “equal to or greater than” God. Well, he kind of got greatness – the greatest failure of wannabes. Only God is Good. Only God is Great. Only God rewards us for the greatness of our righteousness which makes us smallest in the World. We can trick ourselves into believing that we’re really on the right road to Righteousness – until some trivial thing makes us blurt some careless remark (like politicians often do, eh?), and then we see our Road to Righteousness (↔ Music Link) has a few potholes. Here’s what Jesus has said about those off-the-cuff remarks: Matthew 12:36-37 – ³⁶ “I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; ³⁷ for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Smarty-pants putdowns are off-limits in the Kingdom of God. That’s no way to be great there or even in our own little worlds of fantasy. We want to be Great, but we need to be Small and servants to all. You know what comes next: It’s all in the Absolutely Perfect Plan. And with each whatchya got in that Plan, the whole thing culminates with YOLO-F! That is our favorite whatchya got!

People of faith in the One True God see, condemn, preach, teach, and act against evil. That’s what we’ve got – F.A.I.T.H. because we know God IS GOOD! There truly is no way we can understand how such evil can exist unless we have been touched by its effect on us or in us – whether evil threatens or damages us or whether we – in evil – threaten and damage others. Evil simply makes no sense to the upright of heart. Righteous people sin and seek forgiveness through submission to God and release from the wages of sin. Unrighteous people sin and seek personal glory and release from the torment of being unable or unwilling to submit to God. I can’t understand the multitude of people who cannot have a disagreement with someone else and then just walk away from that without killing their “enemy.” That’s a very sad and disturbing whatchya got.

And so we look back at our Key Verse from Habakkuk: “Those who are evil will not survive, but those who are righteous will live because they are faithful to God.” Look, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” WE know that! how come they don’t know that? Or maybe, surely, some of them know that but cannot accept it. Well, then, why is there evil? The classical answer is “When sin came into the World … ” My answer is usually, ”God knows, but he’s not telling.” We earthlings cannot answer that question adequately, but we can understand that [1] evil exists. [2] it is persistent, and [3] its growth is accelerating on a very steep upward curve (exponential or logarithmic, IDK). We don’t want to be dead to the Life-saving Gifts God has given us, so we see our Road to a Future in Heaven has to be that narrow little pencil line under all the rubbish and distractions of the Road to Perdition. Let’s hope and pray that’s not whatchya got.

To follow that straight and narrow road means we have to pay attention to what we’re doing as well as what we are not doing. It took me a very long while to realize that one of the things I should not be doing is carrying my burdens – including picking up others’ burdens. All of us are supposed to be wearing the Full Armor of God, and that’s all the burden we need because that is our defense. How do we know? Like we said last week, “The Bible tells us so.” Alright all you Senior Campers, what do we know about reading and/or hearing from the Bible? Indeed we know after years of being in the Word as well as of it, the Bible is the B.I.B.L.E., and it is also the easier way to hear God’s voice. What do we call it when we talk about the Bible? We call it “The Word of God,” so when we listen to the Word – whether with our ears or our minds, we are listening to God speak to us. So, is that whatchya got?

Pastors, lectors, proclaimers of the Word, this is the most important thing we can do when we pick up a passage to read aloud. God is using our vocal chords and lips to form his word into something that will enter the ears, minds, and hearts of the people who are listening. We’re not reading the news (despite calling it The Good News), we are reading what God himself has made known to the authors who dared to write down what GOD SAID. Therefore we are told, If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Now, how many times in a year do we chant that Psalm? Let’s just call it several and say “I can name that Psalm in 2 words!”(seriously, do we remember right this minute the number of that Psalm? FYI it’s #95) We must not only rely on the Holy Spirit to guide our proclamations of the Word but also rely on him to open the ears and hearts of those who hear us. That is our Gift from God – the Ministry of the Word which we have received through the laying on of hands and commissioning by an ordained member of the clergy. Pretty cool job, if that’s whatchya got. But we also know that being the ones doing the listening (whoever has ears, let them hear) is also a pretty cool job.

Many times when I hear people say, ”I just can’t _____,” I ask them “What’s stopping you?” After I ask that question five (yes always 5) times, we usually arrive at “the real problem or answer” and then can begin setting objectives and goals to eradicate that obstacle. When we do that, the past doesn’t’ look like a mountain of sharp-edged boulders, but rather a long hallway of doors. It’s certainly not a “walk in the park because – as Jesus himself told us in his Word – there will be great joys, with persecutions. We might look back and see that long hallway of potentially rewarding doors, but we also still have bruised knees and roughened hands from those boulders. Whatchya gotta do is put in the work to get the reward, run the race to get the crown, carry the Cross to get the Easter that is the last door on the Right – the Day of Reward. We cannot be afraid of that rocky climb to Calvary. It’s the Home Stretch! Our lives right now may or may not seem like a piece of pie (I’m not that fond of cake any more), but that very last whatchya got is a real doozey! The Apostle Paul has just the right words for it, and then we’ll open the Word for a lesson from The Apostle Peter.

Repeating our Epistle Key Verse: ⁶ For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; ⁷ for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
⁸ Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God
 

And then … Romans 6:15-18 – ¹⁵ What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, ¹⁸ and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Absolutely nothing is more important than sharing whatever the Holy Spirit speaks into us by the Word of God. The Apostle Paul’s scarred body was his testimony, his martyring, that asserted he was Jesus’ follower, Jesus’ servant , and the word used in Greek is δοῦλος (doulos) {doo’-los} which mean slave. And he, too, did only what was expected of him despite all he endured – including death by beheading – it was still “just enough.” And in closing we will listen to The Apostle Peter as he shows us what happens to those who are led astray by “all the evil spirits who prowl about the World, seeking the ruin of souls.” (See The Prayer to St Michael).

2 Peter 2:15-21 – ¹⁵ They have left the straight road and have gone astray, following the road of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of doing wrong, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

¹⁷ These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the deepest darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them.

Do you have your answer yet? Can you show me whatchya got? I’ll show you yours if you show me mine.

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

2538AFC091925 – An Anchor in The Storm

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Amos 8:7 –
⁷ The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

Psalm 113:7-8 –
⁷ He raises the poor from the dust,
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
⁸ to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people.

1 Timothy 2:8 – ⁸ I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument

Luke 16:11 (GNT) [1]  ¹¹ If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth?

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. ʻŌmea, some of what we will cover today will relate to what some folks call “Current Events.” Who among us is not heavier in heart after all the chaos we have witnessed in the past days and weeks? I have reflected on the assassination of Charlie Kirk and, in doing so, my memory bank brought up some additional Bible verses that relate to the Key Verses chosen for today. I will just list them for now. You probably will remember some of them, and you will also probably see how and why they fit in with today’s theme.

From 2135AFC082721 – The Beast Under the Bed –

Isaiah 5:20-21 – ²⁰ Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! ²¹ Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight!

Wisdom 2:23-24 – ²³ for God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, ²⁴ but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.

John 8:44 – ⁴⁴ You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2 Corinthians 11:3 – ³ But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

That first one from Isaiah just kept tolling in my head like a cathedral bell. Isn’t that what happened there in Utah? Someone was calling evil good and good evil? Consider these –
Here are some of the alleged quotes from various correspondences and interviews.

• “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” 
• “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
• Another source (which I cannot independently verify) CLAIMED Kirk was “too divisive.”

Is Tyler Robinson “a monster” for committing this murder. Doubtless someone will come up with that; it was a monstrous crime anyway. What I have not heard in any broadcast so far is whether or not his family was “a church-going family.” Allegedly his father’s views are fundamentally different from Tyler’s view, and Tyler was allegedly “radicalized” in online fantasy applications where one can satisfy a taste for “harmless violence” by participating in, chatting about, and embellishing scenarios focused on warlike battles. His move toward more “liberal-oriented” politics and what was/is basically an immoral World view was exacerbated by his relationship with his alleged boyfriend who was transitioning to being a chemically-induced woman.

So, there we have homosexual conduct, gender dysphoria leading to an incomplete attempt to a gravely disordered need for sexual self-gratification – all things which Kirk spoke against. Tyler took that personally as a matter of personal pride and judgment. We who know God know that judgment is his, not ours. We also know that knowing that does not universally prevent us from being judgmental. Tyler’s judgment was that Charlie was a bigot. Charlie’s response was that persons living a lifestyle like Tyler’s were living outside of God’s Law, and he was inviting them to abandon that and come into obedience.

It is my firm belief that our Key Verse from Amos – even though it is a condemnation of the selfish sinfulness of Israel – can be applied to both men in this tragic segment of history: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. Charlie lived his life as a witness by testifying (μαρτυρέω – mar-too-reh’-o like “martyr”) about the Gospel and how it must be part of our daily lives. His nonprofit organization Turning Point (← Information) states their mission is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government. This is done mostly on high school and college campuses – places where the ideologies opposed by conservative Christian values often find nurturing, and sometimes even forcible indoctrination. Charlie challenged that every day. And every day we, too, must fight against it  particularly when these values are lived-by in the activities and attitudes of someone claiming to be an adelphos – a brother or sister in Christ.

This is also our calling – to be witnesses for Jesus in our day-to-day lives. Sounds easy, but it’s not. It is our responsibility to assist God – in the name of Jesus, who –
⁷ […] raises the poor from the dust,
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
⁸ to make them sit with princes,
    with the princes of his people. One of the most important characteristics of that responsibility is to provide knowledge, to present proofs against errors, to admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, and pray for the living and the dead. Those word in Italics might (should!) sound familiar. Those are the Spiritual Works of Mercy. I’m going to list them again vertically  and with more traditional wording so we can just take a moment to ponder them.

1. Admonish sinners,
2. Instruct the uninformed,
3. Counsel the doubtful,
4. Comfort the afflicted,
5. To bear wrongs patiently,
6. Forgive offenses willingly,
7. Pray for the living and the dead.

That’s quite a checklist there, isn’t it? Someday, perhaps, we could do an Aloha Friday Message Series on the Acts (Works) of Mercy both Corporal and Spiritual! Mercy is the way of Peace. Now if you’ve been with these posts for a while you probably know Micah 6:8
⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

We must be just, merciful and kind, and humble – those are four different things that bring about the same result: Peace – BUT only in the way the Lord requires. In recent times it seems the way to settle a dispute is to pick up a gun and kill someone – or even many someones! Even as I am working on this on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, the airwaves and Internet are filled with news about five Law Enforcement Officers who have been shot – 3 killed and 2 critically injured as of the most recent report. I can see, and say, now that it is important to be divisive if we are going to live our lives as efficacious Christians. Jesus himself told us
Luke 12:51-53 – ⁵¹ Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵² From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; ⁵³ they will be divided:

father against son
    and son against father,
mother against daughter
    and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (See Micah 7:1-7)

The Word of God – Jesus’ Gospel – is intrinsically oppositional because it must separate those who will obey his commands from those who reject those commands. There is an irreconcilable contradiction between the Word and the World. Darkness does not commingle with Light, Evil does not fellowship with Sanctity, and we Adelphos who are Believers must not be yoked to persons who are Unbelievers. Nonetheless, we must still evangelize – both directly like Charlie did, or indirectly as is often (probably mistakenly) attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. We could learn a bit more from 1 Peter 3:1-17 (make time to read this over the next couple of days) and 2 Timothy 4:1-5 (← Please … stop and read this NOW). In these things we must discern that is we who truly are different. We are children of Light, living in Light that knows no darkness. (As long as you have your Bible handy, look up 1 John 1:5 – or just do what I do – follow the link 😉 .

Finally, what does all of this have to do with our Gospel Key Verse? This passage from Luke is in the Parable of the Unfaithful Steward. Jesus tells us about a guy who was ripping off his boss, and the boss found out about it so he demanded a full audit of the Steward’s activities. The crooked steward was too scrawny and lazy to get a job (like in his imagination, digging ditches), so instead he called in a few of his boss’s creditors and “fixed” their debt so that they would be beholding to him and might take him in after he was discharged. We know how that went because Jesus says the boss credited him with at least being resourceful. He still got fired, and the boss was still out of some money, but the steward was now someone else’s problem. It’s more than likely that the bum pulled the same stunt on the folks who took care of him afterwards. Like Forrest Gump might say, “Evil is as Evil does.” In this World, we have a choice between Right and Wrong, Good and Evil. One is Wealth – most likely on Earth as well as in Heaven – and the other is the loss of everything except eternal life (YOLO-F).

Forget about 50 shades of gray! There is not even one scintilla of gray here! If our lives are dedicated to good, then in this world the good we do does indeed live after us as our legacy and the inheritance of every additional Life our Good Works touch. We can see how the APP affects our Lives, in part, by how our Lives affect the lives of others. There are corporal and spiritual blessings – our beatitudes for service – in this World when and only when we use our corporal and spiritual blessings to bless God and to bless others. We must accept division, separation, confliction, exclusion, and persecution from the World if we wish to enjoy harmony, unity, compatibility, inclusivity, and equity in the Church. Because why? Because the Church must be separate from the World. Because why? Because that is the meaning and purpose of the Absolutely Perfect Plan.

We are entrusted with Truth. We don’t have “the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth” because we’re still in this World. In the World, we can use the Truth to find others who walk in The Light of Truth and to carry out another First-Order Task given to us as The Great Commission –
¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (See Matthew 28:19-20)

That’s what Charlie did. His YOLO-F is paying big dividends outside of this World. Tyler’s YOLO-F is still up for grabs – literally. Charlie was thinking on what is above, not what is below (it would be worth our time to review Colossians 3:1-5). Be like Charlie. Tyler was thinking about anything-but what is above. Don’t be like Tyler. At our Key Verses today I have the image of a 4-branch anchor. Again, because why? “There’s a battle outside and it’s ragin’. It will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, for the times they are a-changin.” (↔ Music Link) There is a battle outside of the Church – in some cases perhaps even inside the church – the battle, the storm, the birth pangs, the World – is worsening in intensity. We are Standin’ in the Need of Prayer (↔ Music Link), and failing that, we are in need of more witnesses to stand and proclaim “this far and no more.” That cannot be done as vengeance. It must not be done as retribution. Remembering we must obey and follow his Commands we turn to
Luke 6:27-28 – ²⁷ But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. and also
Matthew 5:44-45 – ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous as well as
Romans 12:14 – ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. That is our Anchor of Hope in the storm. Hebrews 6:19 ^a – ¹⁹ We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . The anchor I’ve shown you is something like a Cross. That is where our lives are headed – The Cross and then The Glory. An anchor without a chain or rope is pretty useless if you want to keep the boat – our life – from drifting away. What is it that connects our Anchor to our lives?

Every link we make with the Word of God.

There are more than a few of those links from his Word here. Be like Charlie and get Linked-Up with the Anchor of our Souls. That’s Grace. Embrace it. (←Video Link)

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the 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.

2536AFC090525 – Who’s on first? ← PODCAST LINK 😀

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Luke 14:33 – ³³ So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

Philemon 17 – ¹⁷ So [therefore] if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.

Psalm 90:12 –
¹² So [therefore] teach us to count our days
    that we may gain a wise heart.

Wisdom 9:15 – (GNT) [1] ¹⁵ [therefore] because our mortal bodies weigh our souls down. The body is a temporary structure made of earth, a burden to the active mind.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! May Peace always be with you and may God bless you, Belovéd! I feel badly about not delivering on my proposal to include biblical names in these posts, so – as we did last week – we will start with a look at a pair of sisters mentioned in the New Testament in Acts 24:24-27, 25:1-27.

The sisters’ names are Bernice and Drusilla. Here’s the back-story from Acts 24:1-23: The Apostle Paul is in prison in Caesarea having been accused as “a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” See verse 5, where a lawyer named Tertullus, cites the accusations against him. The Apostle Paul waited patiently, perhaps smiling at the oily tone of the lawyer, and then told the presider, the Governor Felix, “This fellow has nothing on me.”. His wife was also present. Her name was Drusilla. She and her sister, Bernice, were the great granddaughters of Herod the Great – the same Herod who ordered every male child under the age of two to be slaughtered in the hope that he would thereby eliminate the child Jesus. Herod was the kind of guy that always had to be Number 1 for everyone – and if he wasn’t your #1, he’d kill you.

The father of Bernice and Drusilla was Herod Agrippa I – the Herodian ruler that murdered the Apostle James and imprisoned The Apostle Peter. We are told that he declined to honor God and an Angel of the Lord struck him down so that he died from being “eaten by worms for five days.” So, now, Bernice was married to Felix who kept interviewing The Apostle Paul in the hope that he would be offered a bribe to let The Apostle Paul off. This went on for two years, and then Felix was replaced by a guy named Porcius Festus. Felix kept The Apostle Paul in prison hoping to please the Jews who kept accusing him of being and enemy of theirs because of his teachings about The Way. Festus tried to adjudicate the case but neither side convinced him, and he had decided to send The Apostle Paul to Rome (we recall he is still a Roman citizen).

About that time, King Agrippa II and his sister, Bernice – Drusilla’s older sister who was the wife of Felix, arrived for a visit and took an interest in the proceedings. None of these people could find any reason for The Apostle Paul to be in chains much less any crime worth a death sentence. The sisters were as immoral as their ancestors and relatives. Each married or acted as a lover to more than one man, always seeking greater power, always wanting to be what we today would call “The First Lady of Jerusalem.” None of them was ever satisfied with their position in life. None of them lived a life that demonstrated any reverence for God. They apparently never even considered giving God Preeminence in all things.

Returning now to our Key Verses, we can start with the Gospel selection. We can imagine that when Jesus’ Disciples heard that sentence, they were shocked and dismayed. “So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Having a wealth of possessions was a sign of God’s favor in Jesus’ time. People who were poor or diseased were considered as punished by God for their sins or even the sins of their ancestors. To voluntarily give up one’s possessions and take up that stigma of low-class citizens was radically different from everything they had been taught. We can understand this better by looking at the original Greek to see what’s going on. The word used to express “give up” is apotassó (ah-po-TAS-so). This verb has a literal or denotative meaning of “to bid farewell (either when departing or sending away). It also has connotative meanings “to renounce, to set aside, to say goodbye.” Jesus is telling his Disciples that they must count the cost of discipleship; nothing else – no something, no person, no place, no idea, or ideal can be more important than being a Disciple. Giving less than all our best will get us the opportunity to hear from Jesus, “Depart from me you evildoers! I do not know you!”

We might try to understand it like this: our lives are like a tower of shelves. The upper shelves are where we keep our greatest treasures. Who among us always has God – our El Shaddai-Olam, THE Eternal Triune God – on the First Shelf? In our individualist society, we’re taught to “look out for number one.” That’s really GREAT advice – if we know who Number One is. Last week I gave examples of several things we can do that disclose our real priorities, and usually those priorities are self-centered – they feature us on the First Shelf. “Who’s on first?” ME! Me, myself, and I. That’s why I picked that Key Verse from Philemon.

Instead of The Apostle Paul saying that to Philemon, what if that were Jesus speaking to us about the Holy Spirit or God the Father? “So [therefore] if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.” Incidentally, I added the word [therefore] because usually in the New Testament that is a connotative meaning for “so.” Do we consider Jesus to be our Partner? Do we welcome the Holy Spirit or Our Father in Heaven into our lives as easily as we accept Jesus? Is the entire Holy Trinity on First? If not, then we really don’t know God, do we? Right now, I’m probably thinking what y’all are thinking: “This is a difficult question because it does not have an easy answer!” Nonetheless, we all aspire to “get it right.” There just isn’t any room for a wrong answer. Forget about how many Angels can dance on the end of a pin and ask, “How long can I stay on-point for God?” How many days do we have to try to keep God on First?

For some of us, not as many as we think. For others of us, more than we’d care to know. It seems we’re never really satisfied with how much Life we have – or don’t have. We’re always wondering if that or that or us or them or he or she or whatever will finally satisfy us. We just want that taste of The Good Life. “Taste and See” (↔ Music Link) the Goodness of the Lord.” We know that’s The Good Life! Fickle little creatures of habit we are to decide we must choose something that is “other-than.” That hymn is based on Verse 8 of Psalms 34. Whenever we are having a difficult time choosing The Good Life, or whenever we realize we have failed to choose it, this Psalm 34 is like a balm for our wounded soul –
⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
    and delivered me from all my fears.

AND

⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

AND

¹¹ Come, O children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Which of you desires life,
    and covets many days to enjoy good?
¹³ Keep your tongue from evil,
    and your lips from speaking deceit.
¹⁴ Depart from evil, and do good;
    seek peace, and pursue it.

Once we learn how sweet The Good Life is, we return to the Lord and our Key Verse from the Psalms reminds us, ¹² So [therefore] teach us to count our days [aright]
    that we may gain a wise heart.
and, Belovéd, here is Wisdom : Every Day with Jesus is Sweeter Than The Day before. (↔ Music Link)

It turns out that most of the time we make the same mistake: we try to glom onto something/someone that will add goodness to our lives when what we really need to do is let go of all the useless, heavy, stumble-bumming possessions that weigh us down. We forget (again!) that Jesus is a Wonderful Savior (↔ Music Link) I heard this recently: “If ya can’t take it There, do ya really need to take it here?” Now, try to think of the One Thing we can take with us There. I vote for “The Joy of our Salvation,” and that is ours because He lives (↔ Music Link) So let me ask, “Do we think of Jesus as someone in the Bible as history, or like that song up there, is he alive in our hearts If we have that, we have all that we need, and really, would we ever want anything less? BUT, as always (here it comes again!) – WE FORGET! And, whenever we forget, our Almighty Triune God, El Shaddai-Olam is no longer on First and  [therefore]because our mortal bodies weigh our souls down. The body is a temporary structure made of earth, a burden to the active mind. As we’ve said a couple of times recently, we’re always tied to the mud, both coming and going, and as long as we’re trying to take care of our #1 mud, we’re gonna stay stuck. It seems there is only one way to avoid that: Give Primacy and Preeminence to God in all things at all times in all ways and all places so that God is all in all. Now, that’s something to sing about so I have a song (↔ Music Link) that Jesus gave me!

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

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

Who’s on first skit. ← Worth a few laughs. This is the original Abbot and Costello Skit “Who’s on First.”

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

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the 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.

2535AFC082925 –  You’ll get yours. ← PODCAST LINK 😀

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Sirach 3:18-19* –
¹⁸ The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself;
    so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord.
¹⁹  Many are lofty and renowned, but to the humble he reveals his secrets.
* V. 19 does not appear in all manuscripts but is included in some

Luke 14:11, 13-14 – ¹¹ For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! If you did not get last week’s email, I apologize for the inconvenience. I’m still getting “bounce-backs” from MicroSoft stating “We noticed some unusual activity on your account.” I’m resorting to sending only the first line or so of the post in the emailed version in the hope that the decreased density will not trigger that response. In addition, the Todd Team is still recuperating from a bout with COVID-19 this past week, so my “powers are somewhat under a cloud” as Mark Twain once quipped.

I want to begin this one with one of the Bible Character stories I promised but failed to deliver. This one fits into today’s theme. We can take a look at why Joshua never conquered the Philistines. Who were they anyway, and why did they never get wiped out like other nations in Canaan? The very basis of that story comes down to a single word very often associated with Israel: disobedience. God charged Israel to completely destroy the nations of Canaan and all their religious shrines, altars, sacred poles and sacred groves, and all the idols they worshipped. Israel was ordered to utterly destroy all those nations and not to leave alive anything that breathes (See Deuteronomy 20:16). They failed to do that. Instead, they took wives from the women left as survivors. They began using the idols and evil practices of the nations which were to be utterly destroyed. They ultimately made an idol of the Ark of the Covenant, worshiping the Ark itself instead of the One, True God who ruled them there. The Ark was captured by the Philistines when Hophni and Phineas, the sons of the High Priest at Shiloh – Eli – who was also among the Judges (military leaders) of Israel, committed grave sins in the Temple and in their duties as Levites. When they were killed in battle, Eli fell over backwards in his chair and broke his neck and died. They all got their abrupt and final reward because of the evil they committed or allowed.

Because of Israel’s disobedience, God left the Philistines and several other nations in Canaan to “be a thorn in the side of the Israelites.” God also decreed that these nations, and the Philistines in particular, would be a source of training in battle and war tactics for the younger generation which had not fought through the taking of the Promised Land. God removed those enemies from the Promise, again because of Israel’s own disobedience, evil, and decadence. What was promised in Covenant as victory became repeated ignominious defeat as punishment for breaking and blatantly dishonoring God by abandoning their obligations in the Covenant. In this God shows that he gives what he promises. Obedience brings blessing and prosperity. Disobedience brings calamity. In harmony with today’s topic, they got theirs – they got what they asked for not so much with their words but absolutely by there actions. Their direct and persistent disobedience became the recurring downfall of the nation over millennia. Israel’s failure to fully trust in God led to their fear of other nations which had mastered the fabrication of iron chariots which Israel could not withstand. Instead of relying on God to fight for them, they wimped out and compromised with their enemies.

One might wonder if today Israel is obeying God, and whether or not there is still any covenant to be obeyed. They certainly have enough enemies in this current day, and those enemies are in the same geographical regions at centuries upon centuries ago. Many of the names from those eras are with us today: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza. Modern statements about the region point out that today’s Palestinians are not descendants of the Philistines. The Philistines were conquered, divided, deported to Babylon, Egypt, and Assyria. The ethnic identity of “Philistine” disappeared by the 5^th century BC. They got theirs because of their continued dedication to grotesquely evil religious practices and were ultimately conquered by Nebuchadnezzar II. We might phrase it in today’s jargon as “they thought they were too big to fail,” but God did not find that attitude acceptable, and so they failed completely.

Belovéd, when we behave like we are too big to fail, do we not also get chaos and disruption to be ours? Conversely, and most importantly, when we live a life of humble service to God and neighbor, we see clearly how our lives are blessed. Too many of us live as if we have only our knowledge of “the Historical Jesus,” when we ought to know – and live in the reality of it – that Jesus is alive, the Lord of all the living, “the Firstfruits of those who have died.” (See 1 Corinthians 15:20) In our Key Verses from Sirach, there is clearly stated Wisdom that is the key to unlock the richness of Providence in our lives. God always gives everyone all Good Gifts. No one is exempt from God’s blessings except those who refuse to accept them. How do we refuse to accept God’s Gifts? What can we do that turns a Bundle of Blessings into a heap of pain? That happens when we forget. (There it is again, that propensity to disregard what we’ve been taught is Right). We forget that God does not change. He said so himself in Malachi 3:5-6 – ⁵ Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

⁶ For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished.

Today we do not have Prophets like Malachi who address us saying “Thus says the Lord, your God!” But we have many people – as God himself decreed – who speak from within God’s voice. Not often do we hear, “Thus says the Lord God,” but we do often hear things like, “God is expecting us to understand that …” These modern-day prophets speak out to us about the same things the Apostle Paul warned about: Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers – every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, envy, vaunted pride, murder, strife, deceit, all forms of sexual dysfunctionality and abnormal practices including same-sex fornication, prostitution, and even bestiality; witchcraft, astrology, faithless and untrustworthy, practicing craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters who are insolent, haughty, gluttonous, boastful, inventors of evil, filled with foul language, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die – yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. (See Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 5) To that list we must shamefully add murders of millions of innocents – babies, elders, political enemies, ethnic pogroms, and intentional destruction and failure of stewardship for our only home, Earth.

Adelphos, we all know without even a second’s thought that these are evil acts and intentions, that these are evil times, and that evil people are in every strata and vertical stay of everything. There is nothing any person can say or do that cannot be mocked or even destroyed, and there are few things that any person can do or say that have permanence in our interactions with others – including with our God. We state, and believe we are truthful, that we Love God with our total being, and we Love our neighbors as ourselves. We work hard, we profess, to be “in the world but not of the world,” but still break the Sabbath at Wal-Mart or A&W, or Micky D’s. We go 7 mph over the speed limit because we believe the police won’t stop us for speeding, then we go even faster when we’re certain there are no police around. We “slip” and use God’s name to curse someone, or don’t disclose we received more change back than we should have when we pay for lunch. Now, I harp on this one a lot because it is so common: We skip church because the Packers are playing (or whatever sport and team is an idol for us). Friends, neighbors, even our own children live lives of fornication “shacking up” and just boyfriend-girlfriend couples who also go ahead and produce children outside the blessings of Holy Matrimony. And “same-sex ‘marriages’” have become an acceptable model for the modern family.

Yes, I agree, most of these are things over which we have little or no control, but they are also things that are displeasing to God and a violation of his Law. We can at least “Lift up our drooping hands” (See Hebrews 12:12-17 to look for “repentance” right away!) and SPEAK OUT against these evils. Remember, we have often noted that “The Ten Commandments” is not a list of suggestions from which we can pick and choose. It is One Law, and infractions of any kind against any part of that One Law is an infraction against the Whole Law, and an affront to God. Therefore, we can thank God that he is known by his Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation. Our lives would be unlivable without those beatitudes surrounding us. Wherever God’s commands are blatantly transgressed in personal exaltation, everyone – everyone – falls under judgement. But for The Believer, a different reality arises.

For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Those who senselessly violate God’s One Law – and all the requirements that go with it – exalt their prowess in the World and basically dare God to cut them down. What they do not believe and cannot admit is Jesus’ promise for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. We’re back to YOLO-F again here, because along with the Resurrection of the righteous there will also be the Resurrection of the unrighteous.” Let’s look back again to the conquest of Canaan. God gave the Kingdoms of Canaan 400 years to repent before he brought the Hebrews out of Egypt, specifically the Amorites, because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” On the occasion of the Covenant with Abram, God said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” (See Genesis 15:18-21) Now, what sort of sins would take 400 years to repent? Much of the above list: Incest, adultery, idolatry, worship of and consorting with demons, ritual prostitution, child sacrifice by burning alive in worship of Molech, homosexual acts, divination, sorcery, violence against other nations including refusal to allow Israel to enter the land and attacking them instead.

Remember the Psalmist wrote Your decrees are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them  (See Psalm 119:129-130) – unless I foolishly try to characterize God as a liar, as The Apostle John told us. If it is the Light that makes moving forward safely in every circumstance, then why not walk in the light? (↔ Music Link) Jesus certainly knows where we are, where we’re going, and does everything he can to make sure we arrive at the Place he has prepared for us. Every single soul who has ever walked the Earth has full access to the saving Grace of Salvation. Untold numbers ignore that, oppose that, or – worse – are indifferent to that. The result is that they themselves vote themselves out of the Family of God. They vote with their feet by walking away from the Light. God will, and does, allow us to be stupid, disobedient, and rebellious while patiently waiting for us to wake up and do the right thing. He also wants us to speak up when we see the wrong thing, despite what ha-Satan, the Accuser, throws at us.

The thing is, there are endless, and I mean endless, opportunities to “settle with your accuser” (i.e., kick Satan in the butt ) before that last moment of Earthly life. After that moment, there are no do-overs. What’s done is done, and what we’ve won, we’ve won. God gives us the biggest and best opportunities to get it right and make a final smart move when he calls us by name, points to his son and says, “This is Jesus.” (↔ Music Link) Of course, Belovéd, we have that opportunity to see Jesus “every moment of every day“. (↔ Music Link) We also know that at any moment we can leave this Earth. Are we ready today, right now, for that irrevocable outcome at the end of our lives which is based on all our choices? Our making sure each of us is indeed fully and righteously prepared for that moment is the smartest move of all. How do we know? Try this: John 14:23 – ²³ Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Loving Jesus is a really smart move.

Remember, we are held accountable when the people we should have warned die unrepentant. A great example of a bad example is the Wisest Man in the World, Solomon. God allowed Solomon to keep on defying him in the hope that – like his father, David – he would repent. Every time Solomon took in another princess from another forbidden country or another concubine from another forbidden family, he was apparently thinking he was making another smart move to preserve his wealth, honor, and security. Actually it was just the opposite. He only impoverished himself and his people, he lost all honor from God and men, and enemies sprouted up all around and within Israel. Time was running out for Solomon to repent. There is no word in Scripture that he ever got to that stage. He may have died unrepentant, and that was definitely not another smart move. He took his chances and he got his reward. We’ll get ours, too, and that is all the more reason to speak out against what we know is wrong and to defend and to respect what is Right. Solomon failed at that. DON’T BE LIKE SOLOMON. To those four marvelous attributes of God I listed again earlier in this post, we can also add “Immutable Justice,” because it is an inexorable attribute of his Divinely Absolute Nature. In all things at all times in all ways and places, God’s Immutable Justice metes out whatever we ask of him by our obedience, or lack thereof, including his Mercy or his Retribution. Many are lofty and renowned, but to the humble he reveals his secrets. The Secret of Mercy is Obedience, and the secret of Obedience is Love. Yep. Love of God and neighbor is the secret we must know when getting ours – a Blesséd life for all of our YOLO-F.

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

2534AFC082225 – Mud in the wine. ← PODCAST LINK 😀

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Luke 13:24, 29-30 – ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. ²⁹ Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Isaiah 66:17-18 – ¹⁷ Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following the one in the center, eating the flesh of pigs, vermin, and rodents, shall come to an end together, says the Lord.

¹⁸ For I know their works and their thoughts, and I am coming to gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and shall see my glory,

Hebrews 12:5-8 – ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children—

“My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
    or lose heart when you are punished by him;
⁶ for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves,
    and chastises every child whom he accepts.”
⁷ Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? ⁸ If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children.

Ezekiel 8:1-4  (GNT) – Idolatry in Jerusalem  ¹ On the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of our exile, the leaders of the exiles from Judah were sitting in my house with me. Suddenly the power of the Sovereign Lord came on me. ² I looked up and saw a vision of a fiery human form. From the waist down his body looked like fire, and from the waist up he was shining like polished bronze. ³ He reached out what seemed to be a hand and grabbed me by the hair. Then in this vision God’s spirit lifted me high in the air and took me to Jerusalem. He took me to the inner entrance of the north gate of the Temple, where there was an idol that was an outrage to God.

⁴ There I saw the dazzling light that shows the presence of Israel’s God, just as I had seen it when I was by the Chebar River.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! It seems lately I’ve been given topics – titles for the posts – that are a little strange. I sincerely hope that by the time we finish today, you and I will both have a better idea why we’re talking about Mud in the wine. In this post, we will look at some pretty stark words from Jesus to his Disciples. In the 2000 or so years since these words were spoken, there has been much analysis of the text and other passages connected to it. We’ll look at a little of that today, but mostly I want to write about why “narrow” is such an important word in Christian life, and what it means to put a dollop of mud in a glass of Shiraz or White Zinfandel. Are you ready? Then let’s begin by examining the teaching mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:1

Last week we looked at how Jesus talked about bringing division and fire. These persons who learn and reteach demonic messages are the jesters of the universe – trying to claim they speak for Jesus – saying they want the world to sing the same song and share a Coke (although many prefer a toke instead). They claim to have heard the Word, but somehow it doesn’t apply to them because they have transcended that outdated collection of myths and mistakes. Here’s what happens to them as told to us in James 1:23-24 – ²³ For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; ²⁴ for they look at themselves and, upon going away, immediately forget what they were like.

Here are several additional passages that relate to today’s Key Verses:

Matthew 7:13-14 – ¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. ¹⁴ For the gate is narrow and the road is hard (constricted) that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Mark 10:25 – ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Matthew 7:15-19 – ¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Matthew 24:3-5 – ³ When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” ⁴ Jesus answered them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray.”

Let’s begin with Matthew 7:13 – that broad highway to destruction of which Jesus speaks. What does he mean by destruction? The Greek word used there is ἀπώλειαν apōleian from ἀπώλεια (apóleia) {ap-o’-li-a} “cut off” as someone or something is completely severed from whatever could/should have happened had they not strayed off from what is righteous. This is the same Greek word used and translated as “perdition.” Those “bound for perdition” (See Revelation 17:11 for example) will be utterly destroyed. That road that leads to utter, eternal destruction – the road to Hell – is wide and lovely (paved with good intentions, heh?), and many wish to follow it. They believe in the dawn of a New Age.

In this New Age, there is the evolution of a new consciousness. This revised reality comes from an “enlightened” understanding of how the universe acts on our behalf to show us the inner deity we all possess but do not recognize. The evidence is right in front of our eyes in the Aquarian Age and was clearly predicted in the “Mayan Great Cycle.” We, as the Children of Gaea (“Mother Earth”) will be able – if we raise our level of consciousness to full realization and actualization of our inner divine being – to capitalize on this “tremendous opportunity for spiritual growth” so we can readily and properly embrace genuine humanitarianism that unites the whole world into one massive village where, according to one of the principle theme songs of this “great movement,” there will be one government, one way for all, as we unite in group-consciousness and realize we are all gods because we at last understand “Christ Consciousness.” Adelphos, this BS is summed up in one word: IDOLATRY.

Belovéd, there are literally “billions upon billions” of aspiring luminaries who believe that horse-puckey. In their cosmogony of the universe, they believe that the spiritual masters they have been anticipating have arrived and (paraphrasing Pogo) “They are US!” That is a very Wide Road indeed, wide as the whole wide world. The problem of course comes up when it’s time to leave the road on Earth and go to the Road Beyond. You see, there’s a bit of a “bottleneck” there: The Narrow Road and the Narrower Door.

Many will try to enter that narrow door, but they cannot; it is too difficult for them because they want to “take it all with them” – after all they are gods – and that just doesn’t work because that’s not how God created it. Jesus was telling the Disciples quite plainly that choosing to follow him was not going to be a walk in the garden. It would be hard, treacherous, and even lead to death.

It is super-important to remember Jesus’ summary of the Law and the Prophets. what is the first and most important, most permanent Law? “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets.” Now, this is where we take the mud of last week’s lesson, plop a spoonful into a glass of wine, and use that to portray what sort of sins beleaguered Israel from day three in the desert (yep it took them only three days) up to Jesus’ day, and is still a problem today. We earthlings, whether male or female, ultimately come from mud, and we keep trying to find ways to worship that mud because (apparently) we reckon God can go ahead and do his thing, but we want to add something we know directly – something we make with our own Intellect and our own will, something we can see, and touch, and control through worship and sacrifice.

Remember, ALL cultures have religion, the heart of religion is worship, and the heart of worship is sacrifice. God tells us repeatedly “Don’t do that.” And what do we say to that? “God I know what you want, but I don’t really want you to put yourself out so much. I’ll just go ahead and do what I want. I’ve got this. I can handle it. I’ll take it from here.”

Now, God  has distinctly, repeatedly, and unequivocally made it clear that we are to have no other God but the Real, True, and only Living God of Hosts (and that term, Jehovah Sabaoth, means more than just God’s Army; it means everything God has created). He does not want us to worship idols, things that we make with our own hands, things that cannot speak, or move on their own, things that are nothing more than things. This is what Isaiah was talking about “going in the garden following the one in the center”– an idol. I believe I understand that clearly enough, but I also know that all of us can plop an idol into our lives, even as part of worship. We already have two examples of this in our Key Verses from Isaiah and Ezekiel. In the passage from Ezekiel 8 – Idolatry and abomination in the Temple, they actually set up secret altars to idols in the area of the temple! This has always been a problem because we earthlings, the mudders, just can’t seem to get over the fact that God requires our complete and undivided commitment to him. Everything that we are, and everything that we have, are his Gifts.

God’s gifts are always Good, always Pure, always Wonder-Full. Remember that line, “My cup overflows.”? OK, imagine a “table of feasting set up in the sight of my enemies,” and imagine a crystal goblet filled with a light and luscious wine in a decanter that is never empty. After sharing our umpteenth glass of this fabulous wine, we notice someone has dropped a teaspoonful of mud into the bottom of the glass. Why? So we could acknowledge our ties to Mother Earth, to Gaea, because we want to share the credit for our blessings with our Creator and the Source of our creation – mud.

I hope that sounds ridiculous. It should, but way too many times we muddy up God’s Good and Perfect gifts with other idols like televised sports that we watch instead of going to church. Or soccer practice with the kids. Or watching the Pokémon Championship Series. Or fishing in that secret spot in the mountains where we get back to God through Mother Nature.

Nope. Not gonna fly. Belovéd, we do well to recall the Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22:1-14 – especially that last verse: ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen. Some believe there are exactly 144,000 souls in that “few.” Others believe you can’t follow the road unless you find the road. I’m in that group. Sometimes I wander off-road and get lost in the brambles, but when I come back I find that the road I follow is like a straight pencil line drawn across a humongous floor upon which many have applied great quantities of paint, and sand, and riches, and filth, all set in swirls and splatters; but the line is always there, always straight, always narrow, and always findable.

I walk the line, stumbling off to one side or the other at times, and I see the Narrow Door up ahead of me. When I get there, Someone will hold it open for me. Let’s go there together, then, and cross that threshold to the Place where God is on his Throne, and where we are called to minister there in the Eternal Banquet beyond the narrow door through which only Saints – True Servants of God –  can pass. They can find and follow the Narrow Way. (↔ Music Link)

That door, that gate at the end of the Road – it’s not a swinging door that opens for ingress and egress. It is, perhaps, much like that quote attributed to Rev. C. H. Spurgeon which describes it something like this: Over the front of Heaven’s gate is a sign which reads “Whosoever wills let him come.” Upon entering we discover that a sign above the inside of the door says, “CHOSEN IN CHRIST (↔ Music Link) BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” 

Now, that’s the Pure, Sweet, Fine Wine that brings Joy to the Heart and rest from our labors. That is waiting for us at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb – our Heavenly Banquet where there will never be mud in the wine.

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

2533AFC081525 – The Struggle in the Mud

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Hebrews 12:1 ^a-b – ¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight* and the sin that clings so closely

* ὄγκον onkon – hindrance, distraction, besetting sin, a bulky mass of useless burdens

Psalm 40:2 –
² He drew me up from the desolate pit,
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.

Jeremiah 38:4 ^a 5-6 – ⁴ Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people […] ⁵ King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he is in your hands; for the king is powerless against you.” ⁶ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

Luke 12:49-50 – ⁴⁹ “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!”

May the God of Peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! And welcome to Post #1031. This blog site usually gets updated – rented, paid – at the end of September, and so far things are going great! Well, mostly. I bought a new keyboard and mouse and my typing errors have increased because I have to sit up and use all of it properly. Otherwise the keys get stuck like my old Royal Typewriter. Well, not really exactly like that, but it does slow me down when I have to go back and correct something that happened because I was being careless about how I use my tools. Well, sort of. Another part of it is because – like the Tin Woodsman – my parts are a little rusty. The osteoarthritis in my fingers, back, and feet slow me down, and I really should not spend hours sitting at the keyboard because my feet swell up and fire off the peripheral neuropathy pangs. Most of these are hindrances that get in my way because I didn’t do the right things when I was younger. Remember that song, “I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger.”? Ditto.

There are things I can do to lessen or ameliorate those limitations which can bring some relief, but the bottom line is some of it I just have to accept as “the new normal,” and then just keep on truckin’ until I get Home. I get plenty of help, though. Crucita puts up with a lot of baloney from me with my moans and groans, slow walk, cane falling over all the time (and so many times I hobble off on my own and forget it). She helps me with Salonpas, does my haircuts (since 1972!!), and we share the kitchen and household duties. I’m not much good outside though, so she still mows the lawn, and trims the trees and bushes at age 81. In a way, I am a burden for her because of my disabilities, BUT we do have a handicap parking card so, there’s that. Even so, she is true to her vows and sticks with me for richer or poorer (got the latter kinda worked out), in sickness and in health (not much of the latter in that one), and quickly points out when I am wrong or unhelpful (which, I have learned, is often). These are all things old, married, and patient couples deal with in some way or another. We have to work with the cards we’re dealt; but we all know some folks who have to cope with more glitches either by their own actions or by the actions of others. There’s some insights in today’s Key Verses we can use as glitch cleaners.

In our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah – who is always in some sort of fix because of God’s messages through him – the Prophet is tossed into a cistern by his enemies who are hoping he will die. The cistern was full of mud – the water it had to held had been used up and all that was left was silty, gooey mud; some might even liken it to quicksand. Raise your hand if you can remember someone else who was left to die in a cistern. Right! Well done, scholar! Joseph got tossed into a cistern and then sold into slavery. This was done because his older brothers did not appreciate their little brother telling them they would one day bow down to him.

Joseph was speaking a Prophecy given by God which later came true. Jeremiah was speaking a Prophecy given by God that Jerusalem would be Captured and burned down if King Zedekiah, and the people in and around Jerusalem, did not surrender to the Chaldeans a.k.a. the Babylonians. Four bigshots in the government complained to the king that Jeremiah was demoralizing the soldiers and frightening the people. He was a traitor and must be punished. Zedekiah was a wicked, crooked, conniving 32-year-old creep. He was carted off to Babylon and died there. He should have listened to Jeremiah. Instead he chose to hold onto his lifestyle and his baggage. It killed him. And thus, Jeremiah’s Prophecy came true.

Jeremiah had compared the people of Jerusalem to a cistern carved and paved inside by humans. This metaphor was used to tell them their “do-it-my-way” form of religion was displeasing to God. It was full of idolatry and disloyalty, The Law was ignored – even scoffed at – and the “cisterns of their souls” were broken and empty as compared to the cisterns of God’s Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, And Eternal Salvation where were gathered the Springs of Living Water. It seems that they preferred living in the muck and mire of an empty cistern under siege by a far greater power and without the assistance of the God who took them out of slavery in Egypt. The result of their obstinacy was that they became slaves in Babylon instead. “God we know what you want, but we don’t want that. We want what we want when and how we want it.” And that right there, Belovéd, is one very clear definition of sin with a capital S.

This idea of a cistern, or pit, is frequently used in the Old Testament. “Going down into the  pit,” for example, is symbolic of dying, or being imprisoned, or enduring great hardship and oppression. King David had down-days like that – lots of them. Even though he committed several whopper-size sins, he had sense enough to repent and return to God. He was smart enough – and faithful enough – to know it was better to jettison whatever was displeasing to God and to proceed only with his God-given Gifts, not the heavy, chunky, junky burdens he grabbed on his way through life. All that sort of trash just gets in the way when we’re trying to play those cards we’ve been dealt – it’s like carrying 30-pounds of wet rags while trying to win a foot race. It gets worse when we’re spiritually out of shape and short of breath – the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul is using this metaphor of making a journey or running a race when he talks about getting rid of the things that hold us back, wear us down, or betray our trust (as all idols do). When he says we are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses,” he is referring to the previous long list of Israelites whose faith kept them squarely in obedience to God’s will. From Enoch to Abraham to Moses, and many others he states that “By faith” they achieved God’s will and received God’s promise.”

The letter of James (See James 2, particularly vv. 18-26) also makes reference to some of these heroes who gave God the Glory for their lives rather than take idols unto their graves. The Apostle Paul uses this word ὄγκον onkon to describe that 30-pounds of wet rags as the worries and sins we carry. Do we really, really need that sort of hindrance? During Eastertide back in 2012 I told a story about 1218AFC050412 – 127 Degrees (← JIC). It involved seeking shelter in a desert while it was 127°. The “shelter” was the winter coats we wore to a Halloween party when I was in Junior High in Denver. We were instructed to “get rid of one article of clothing you don’t need in the desert when it’s 127 degrees.” Apparently we weren’t very smart at that age. Click on that link for the story to learn how it turned out. Sometimes the things we least need are the things we cling to most tightly. We have a very broad array of idols to cling to these days – some of the most obvious are drugs, alcohol, pornography, abusive relationships, and other forms of carnal desires. We are indeed idolators when we carry these in our lives instead of devoting our hearts to giving primacy and preeminence to Our Almighty Everliving God.

When we still fail to get rid of those old, wet rags – or when our enemies – spiritual or physical – throw us into a muddy hole, or under the bus, we have a consistently available recourse in Psalm 55:22 (↔ Music Link) –
²² Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.
The Apostle Paul put it in this Sunday’s passage from the Letter to the Hebrews this way:

Hebrews 12:2 (GNT) [1] – ² Let us keep our eyes fixed (↔ Music Link) on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne. What The Apostle Paul is telling us here is that it’s easier to win the race if you keep your eyes on the finish – and the prize. (↔ Learning Link) “Eyes forward” as the saying goes; we’ll probably never get where we’re going if we keep our eyes trained on the review mirror. And when our inevitable Cross looms ahead, that is not the time to give up! The human man, Jesus, could have said, “That’s it, I’m outta here” at any point in his Passion by calling upon his Divine Nature. HE DID NOT, but instead suffered human pain and died a human death. That is what he was talking about in our Gospel Key Verse: “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!” It wasn’t just the nails that held him to the Cross. It was his persistent Obedience to Love. Every single one of us has a Calvary in our future, and that is where each of us crosses the Finish Line (unintentional pun there). That leads us to an important – albeit not too obvious – question:

Do we want to cross the Finish Line with an armload of wet rags, or would we rather do that with empty hands? St. Augustine wrote – “It is good for the rich man to acknowledge his poverty. If he thinks himself full, this is mere puffing, not abundance. Let him recognize that his hands are empty so that God can fill them.” [2] Now think of this: What if we could fill our frail human hands with God’s hands? God always initiates contact with us – not the other way around – and he always meets us more than halfway. What if we reached UP to him from the muck and mire, or from the rocky crag, or from the mountaintop, standing on our tippy-toes and reaching out with our fingers and yelled (or whimpered) “Abba, help me.” What do you think? Consider these as you decide:

Matthew 11:28-30 – ²⁸ “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
1 Peter 5:6-7 – ⁶ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
1 Corinthians 15:58 – ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
And what is our “labor?” To Love and Glorify the Lord, to do his will, to be just and merciful, and to love justice. All of these things are simpler without toting a pile of wet rags or struggling to run while up to our necks in mud. Do you see that key in the clouds up there? The clouds are the witnesses who have proven that F.A.I.T.H. is essential. The Key represents the F.A.I.T.H. of each of us. What do you think? Might it also be the Key to the Home of Eternal Light?

Lay that burden down adelphos. (↔ Learning Link) Reach up to God’s hand and get out of the cistern’s mud. Get rid of what is unneeded. Go to God with your hands empty and leave it all behind, because we know with absolute surety that` there’s something far better ahead.

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

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the 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.

[2] (Augustine of Hippo: Selected Writings. 1988, Mahway, NJ. Paulist Press. 244.)

2532AFC080825 – How Big Is Your Hope?

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Wisdom 18:7-8 –
⁷ The deliverance of the righteous and the destruction of their enemies
were expected by your people.
⁸ For by the same means by which you punished our enemies
you called us to yourself and glorified us.

Psalm 33:18-20 –
¹⁸ Truly the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
    on those who hope in his steadfast love,
¹⁹ to deliver their soul from death,
    and to keep them alive in famine.

²⁰ Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and shield.

Hebrews 11:1-2, 8 (GNT) [1]– ¹ To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. ² It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God’s approval. ⁸ It was faith that made Abraham obey when God called him to go out to a country which God had promised to give him. He left his own country without knowing where he was going.

Luke 12:48 ^b – From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! It’s Aloha Friday! Praise the Lord for that! Bless his Holy name! Praise the Lord! What is Hope? Or, should we ask, Who is Hope? It’s astonishing how much has been written about Hope! I’ll begin with one of my favorites:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers—

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

                    ~~Emily Dickinson

The last two stanzas speak to me in the way I understand Hope. Hope comes from humble Love because Hope is neither selfish nor proud. Indeed, Hope is selfless and humble. There is a Latin phrase, “Semper Idem, Semper Fidelis, Spes Numquam Deficit.” This means: “Always the same, always faithful, Hope never fails.” A similar aphorism is “Semper idem, semper fidelis, spes non frangitur.” Always the same, always faithful, hope does not break.

Hope is always the antecedent of Peace. Peace is the realization of Hope. I mentioned that back on Valentines day (← Check it out!) this year. No matter how rough the storm, that little feathered thing called Hope still sings, still nests in the heart, still calls us to move with confidence wherever the Holy Spirit leads us. All of this is done for us, with us, and in us without requiring so much as a tiny crumb of compensation. How else could something like that happen except that it be a Gift from God? When we acknowledge and accept that Gift of Peace, we find the other two sisters of Hope – Faith, and Love. It is a Gift of Unmerited Favor, and what is that, adelphos? That is Hope – a Divine Gift from God, a gift of Grace, Grace that is greater than all our sins. (↔ Music Link)

Hope is just so amazing – and I’d surmise that is because it is based in Grace which we know is Amazing – and The Apostle Paul got it absolutely right when he said To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. Belovéd, what if our F.A.I.T.H. was so huge that our Hope became as powerful as that little bird who weathers every storm and the chilliest of starless, stormy nights? Dare we ever Hope for such Grace? Beloved, Grace builds up Faith. Faith builds up Hope. Hope builds up Love. And Love is our greatest treasure. Why? Because, the only reason we have it is so that we can give it away! Faith is All-that-is-Good because it is Good for All, and everything that is Good for All is from God as a Gift of Grace. Again we see these Three Sisters named Faith, Hope, and Love.

Here we are reminded of Saint Sophia and her three daughters who were martyred by the Emperor Hadrian. He is infamous for his vicious destruction of Jerusalem, even more vicious persecutions of Christians, and the absolute crushing of the Jewish Revolt in 135 AD. It was Hadrian who banned Jews from living in the lands along the Eastern Mediterranean Coast. He destroyed Jerusalem and then “rebuilt” it as a pagan city. St. Sophia (whose name comes from the Greek word for Wisdom) was a Christian widow who had three daughters named Faith, Hope, and Charity. They were brought to Hadrian who tried to force them to renounce their Faith. They refused repeatedly. The girls were submitted to unspeakable tortures and then beheaded all without denying Christ. Their mother later perished over their graves. You can find out more about that here (↔ Click Link). It was Hadrian who named the lands on the western coasts of Israel “Syria Palestine,” and we all know how that rankles to this very day.

This is the story of but four Holy Martyrs who had so much Hope that they willingly died for the Faith and Love that Bolstered that Hope. We know that hundreds-of-thousands of Christians were martyred – most through great suffering – over the past 25 centuries. Many of you might know that in this present age of dark violence, there are hundreds more Christians martyred for their Faith. This is especially true across Africa and Asia. (←See a link to an informative map here. I strongly urge you to take a look so as to understand how grave the persecutions are around the World.) You may notice that in North Central Africa the Nation of Chad appears to be free or nearly free of persecution, yet Boko Haram and other similar Islamist groups are trying to change that and are increasingly active there.

Now, I must ask you, what if Boko Haram, ISIS, HAMAS, ISIL, Al-Qaeda, and other Jihadists could muster a large enough hope that they could overpower the nations and peoples they oppose? Could that happen? We know for a fact that in the past there have been nations that instituted NATIONAL restrictions and persecutions for various groups – most prominently Christians, but others as well. My answer would be NO. Because why? Because they may be able to generate high hopes, but those hopes are based on Hate, errors in faith (wrong gods), and their hope is therefore in vain because at the end of it all, they do not have Faith, Hope, and Love as Graces from the One True and Living God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus, the Christ of God, and the Holy Spirit the Unity and Love of the Father and the Son. Without that surety of Grace, they can never succeed. Nonetheless, they can make one horrific mess of everything for billions of people, and that is why they must be opposed – in Love – at every twist and turn of their campaigns of violence. Their acts, their plans, their goals are utterly unrighteous! That is because they dwell in Darkness; but we, instead, radiate the Light of Truth (↔ Music Link) in Righteousness. And what does Wisdom say about the Righteous?

The deliverance of the righteous and the destruction of their enemies
were expected by your people.
For by the same means by which you punished our enemies
you called us to yourself and glorified us.

Why?

Psalm 124:8 –
⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

And also
Romans 15:4 – ⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

So that
1 Peter 1:3 – ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

So then What is Hope and why do we have it? Where do we get it, and from whom? In Hebrew it is  tiqvah (tik-vaw’). The root is literally the word for cord, as in a measuring line. In Greek it is elpis (el-pece’), the expectation of what is certain. In either language it implies patience – hupomoné (hoop-om-on-ay’) – literally “remaining under” as in to endure steadfastly whatever challenges God allows in our lives. Hope is patient-waiting for something we are confident will eventually be ours. We wait in the Hope of his steadfast love. The wait-and-watch Hope of Mercy (steadfast love) comes from our innate desire for what is Good, and that desire comes from God himself, as do all things that are Good (See James 1:17). Hoping is a way we patiently and vigilantly wait for something better, something encouraging, something we trust as well worth waiting to obtain. It is not complacent, vegetative waiting; it is active preparation for a future Blessing and so we act in Hope because of Hope.

Our hope was first promised in Genesis 3:9-23 when God promised that earthlings would eventually overcome the evil caused in Eden, all through “the seed of the woman.” (See = zera (zeh’-rah) Descendants, offspring, child/children) This is a very important fact to remember, because it is the Source of our Hope as well as the process through which it will be fulfilled. God told Eve and Adam that their sin conferred on them the curse of mortality; their inheritance would be Death. In God’s infinite Wisdom, that mortality was also the means through which humanity would be restored to unity with God. Here is how that Miracle is expressed in the Preface to Eucharistic Prayer III:

For we know it belongs to your boundless glory that you came to the aid of mortal beings with your divinity and even fashioned for us a remedy out of mortality itself so that the cause of our downfall might become the means of our salvation, through Christ our Lord.

Now, to me, that is completely amazing – a remedy out of mortality itself. In other words, it is Grace upon Grace. For me, that is Hope. When I look around the world and see loved-ones suffering; innocents being murdered, persecuted, tormented, and terrorized; natural disasters overwhelming the great and the small alike; the oceans, the lands, and the very sky above us polluted and dying; then I turn my eyes toward Jesus, and I see HOPE. It is such a great and wonderful Hope that I don’t mind waiting until (↔ Music Link) the Darkness fails because what I’m waiting for will be Great and Wonderful! And yet I wonder if my Hope is anywhere near as big as the Hope of St. Sophia and her daughters, or of St Pope John Paul II, or St. Mother Teresa, or “God’s influencer” St Carlos Acutis (See image at left). These last three are people who are my contemporaries, and should be my exemplars ; but then so it is with Sts. Sophia, Faith, Hope, and Charity and so many others like each and all of the Apostles all of who were martyred in grotesque ways. They died for HOPE; not fashion, not adulation, not for anything to do with feelings.

In today’s world, feelings are more important than Truth, and that’s a very sad fact. The World takes delight in shaming and persecuting us; nonetheless, we can – and must – endure in firmly-declared and patient Truth. DO we want to be liked more than we want to be truthful, or reverent, or righteous because we Love God? How easily we have forgotten that nothing, nothing in this World is worth dying for! Only that which is beyond the muck and smut of the World is worth dying for because only those things are worth living for. If your Hope is in Christ Jesus, it will always be big enough to hold the Hope of all the earthlings who have ben, are now, or will be inhabitants of this Earth which is merely a speck in the eye of the cosmos (and it’s even big enough for all of the rest of that cosmos, too!)

Because of our Great Big Hope, we have been given charisms, Holy Gifts from God, which we must use to Love and Serve God and each other. Those Gifts are just big enough to fill up our lives if we use them. They are generally the more-than-enough kind of Gifts, so when we get them, we are expected to use them by giving them away and in that way whenever we are gifted with much, much will be expected from us. If Love was like a jet airliner, maybe Hope would be the jet fuel. Big Jet – Big Hope. I’m looking forward to a soft landing!

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

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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

[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) are from the 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.