2628AFC071026 – Fuhgeddaboudit!

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

Isaiah 55:11 –
¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Psalm 65:9 –
⁹ You visit the earth and water it,
    you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
    you provide the people with grain,
    for so you have prepared it.

Romans 8:19-21 – ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free.

Matthew 13:22 – ²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.

Before we look into the Key Verses, please take a moment and pray with us:

Father in Heaven, we praise you for your Wisdom and your Love. We give you thanks for revealing your Wisdom and Love in Christ Jesus, The Logos, Your Word. We ask that you remember and be merciful to those whose lives are disrupted or lost through violence, natural disasters, or disease. Trusting in your Mercy, we make this prayer in the name of Jesus your Son and our Savior. Amen.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. This Sunday we will hear one version of The Sower and Seed. This parable appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels – Matthew 13:1-53; Mark 4:1-34; Luke 8:1-18.

When we see that happen, it means that the message for us is necessary for our edification. This Sunday, the 15^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, has some pretty cool readings – not that there are any Scripture readings that are uncool! In the reading from the Prophet Isaiah, for example, God is declaring how he uses the rain and snow to water the earth and provide for the growth of crops that can be used for food, as he intends in his Divine Will, and he tells us that in just the same way – as part of his Absolutely Perfect Plan – he sends his Word out to the Earth to accomplish whatever is his intention. The water he brings to the Earth does what he wants it to do, and so does his Word. This is important to remember and understand, and there are some nice symbolic connections here, too.

Water is a sign of the Holy Spirit. When God sends forth his Holy Spirit (← Music Link), "the Earth is renewed." (See Psalm 104:30) When he sends forth his Word – here understood as his Logos – his Word will fully accomplish the objective he commands. His command and his intent were accomplished in and through the Holy Spirit: "By the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man." The Word did not return to his Father "void," that is in vain and without effect. Jesus told his Disciples, and therefore us, who are also his Disciples, in John 6:38 – ³⁸ for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

God's care for his creation of Earth and all its creatures is echoed in Sunday's Psalm. Please  reread that excerpt above. God's rive – Life – is filled with water – the Holy Spirit.The Psalmist tells us repeatedly that God really does know what he's doing – and that he always knows what we are doing. Way too often we act like we somehow forgot about that, or that somehow – even if God knows – he's not going to tell or remember. Although we do trust him to forget all our sins, there is a qualifier with that promise. He will forget the sins of which we admit and repent. It is an unwise plan to wait for Death to be at the door and then say, "Oh yeah, Father, about that time I ______'d. I kinda forgot to tell you; I'm sorry for that, too. I apologize for not admitting it sooner." What do you think might happen if we didn't get to finish that sentence? Would we find ourselves looking into an elevator with just one Big Blue Button marked with a large H? If, I, if you, if we pushed that button, which way would that elevator go, hmmm?

Next The Apostle Paul reminds us that God's creation and preservation of the Earth has one and only one culmination – the restoration of every living person to the Glory of Eden, the redemption of our bodies. He says that it is not just us, not just the Earth, but the entire Creation that groans and labors for that moment. He encourages the Church in his letter to the Romans to willingly bear all suffering present now in our lives because there is a greater Gift awaiting us. It is the Gift of freedom to be reunited with God as he intends – just as he intends that the Earth be watered, and that his Word will not be voided. Belovéd, that is the incomprehensible Hope we have in Christ Jesus. It is a Hope that is brighter than all the stars and galaxies in the universe, and it is that Light, that Truth, that Way of Life that draws us and everyone we meet nearer and nearer to Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy, Everlasting Love, Eternal Salvation, Immutable Justice, Irreproachable Wisdom, and Incomparable Grace through Christ our Lord.

But we forget about that. We forget about YOLO-F. We forget about the APP – God's Absolutely Perfect Plan. We forget there is no place to hide from the Divine Presence, the Divine Will, the Divine Love, and the Divine Wrath of our Almighty and Everliving God. His Plan is that we will grow in Grace as he prepares us for his gathering-in at the end of time – the Day of Reward. In the parable in Sunday's Gospel, Jesus gives us a wonderful example of how the Word, which guides us to our Heavenly Home, is given and received.

You know the story. If you don't, there are the three links above for the parallel Gospels that carry this important message. Usually when we think about this parable, we think about the seed because the seed is the Word. The whole purpose of the sower (in this parable, the Lord God) is to scatter the Word in every place in the field of harvest which here represents the entire World. Jesus describes four scenarios for the scattered seed. Three end in fruitlessness. One ends in a return of 30-, or 60-, or 100-fold. That's the seed that falls on the good soil. (← Music Link) In this parable, we want to be like the good soil. We want the Lord of the harvest to send the waters of dew, and rain, and snow on our good soil and sanctify our own Spirits. We want the Lord of the harvest to till the soil, to prune the vineyard or the orchard to increase the yield. We want to wait in joyfully eager anticipation of the rich fullness of the harvest.

Why, then, do we allow that fertile, tilled, and watered soil to raise up contentious greed and pandering abuse of ourselves and others, making wealth, instant self-gratification, and power our gods? Why do we allow our lives to be stunted by such a thicket of thorns? Shall we tell the Lord of the Harvest, "Oops, sorry. I forgot we were planning on harvesting a crop here. We can clean it up later, OK?" A discerning reader might protest that we keep the rocks and brambles out of our lives. Ah, but we are surrounded by thorns nonetheless.

Buy this pickup, and you’ll be so cool when you recklessly race through the countryside, scattering wildlife and dust and rocks while shouting “YEAH! Go for it!!”. Ask your doctor about this drug, and you’ll add another .15% to your lifetime. Buy this device, and you can “shave down there,” and be beautiful. Skip Church because your favorite team is playing, or your kids have a soccer game at that time. Rub this stuff under your eyes and you’ll magically look 10 years younger. Download this APP and you can get money immediately to buy whatever you want. “I want what I want when I want it.” Studies have shown that an overwhelming majority of younger consumers prefer spending their disposable income on experiences (such as travel, dining, and live events) rather than accumulating materialpossessions and state they are more interested in acquiring experiences, learning, and meaning than they are in buying physical goods. (← from AI data) “Get such-and-such Credit Card, and you can get cash back for anything, go anywhere. (We’ll charge you “only” 25% interest on the balance and because the average cash-back return is typically 1.5% to 5%, carrying a balance easily cancels out any rewards earned).

WE forget, almost effortlessly, that we cannot serve two masters. Repent? Consequences? A truly fruitful life as God intended? Fuhgeddaboudit!  That brings us to the quote from the Gospel. Why did Jesus say that?

We usually assume that Jesus told these engaging stories because what he really wanted to say was incomprehensible to the masses. Note, though, that he quotes a very strong admonition from Isaiah 6:9-10 –

⁹ And he said, “Go and say to this people:
‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
keep looking, but do not understand.’
¹⁰ Make the mind of this people dull,
    and stop their ears,
    and shut their eyes,
so that they may not look with their eyes,
    and listen with their ears,
and comprehend with their minds,
    and turn and be healed.”

God is telling us that they – WE – say, “Listen to God's messengers? Fuhgeddaboudit!” Jesus has said clearly and directly what his Father has told him to say. The Apostles ask him why he teaches the people in parables. He tells them it is because they will not listen to what he has plainly told them which is what the Judges and Prophets have told them for centuries. When he quotes Isaiah, he indicates that they are not trying to grasp the Truth. They only want to see more signs and hear more stories. “Forget the Truths, Jesus. Show us another marvel.” He is upbraiding them for closing their eyes and ears to what is True.

Jesus is saying that the crowds have not grasped the mystery and impact of his message because understanding has not been found in them even though he has told them – both plainly and in parables – what the Kingdom of God is like. For those who accept what Jesus has laid out before them, they will be enriched by the plentiful harvest of Graces they receive. For those who reject or fail to embrace Jesus' message, what little understanding they had will be lost to them. Because why?

Because when we are given the richness of the Word and bring those seeds of Graces intoour lives, our hearts, and our minds, we are to treasure them, nurture them, tend them like a precious effect of God's loving provision for us both physically and spiritually. When we are converted, we are healed – made wholly Holy. When we acknowledge our sins and repent, we are renewed as we feed more fully on the Word, we find the Gospel, the Love of God, and the message of Christ Jesus to be the most satisfying part of our lives. Some will understand YOLO-F as You Only Live Once – Fuhgeddaboudit. There is no poorer ground on which the Seeds of Grace can fall! Belovéd, let us promise each other never to forget because we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ARE WE WILLING TO STAKE OUR ETERNAL LIVES ON THAT???

Remember what YOLO-F actually means – You Only Live Once – and It’s Forever. The thorns covet the rich dust from which we are created and relentlessly try to encroach on that source because worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. We have the power, through the Holy Spirit, to tell the thorns “Fuhgeddaboudit!” Because why? Because we welcome the seeds of the Word to enter our hearts, and we can expect a rich harvest of Love and Happiness, and Joy. (← Music Link)

If you'd like to read something that will make your heart ache, READ Psalm 53. If you want to read something that will make your heart REJOICE, read Isaiah 55. Remember, we forget, so don’t forget to remember! Don’t just Fuhgeddaboudit!

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

Based on information from 2328AFC071423 – Something’s happening here