Knowing that this blog was going to be featured on the Carolina Blogger directory for the week of August 13, I had delayed this move until now. "This Day in the Word" is moving to a new home on the web at http://thisdayintheword.blogspot.com
Please note this change and, by all means, come and visit our new site!
Texts: 2 Samuel 16.1-23; Acts 22.17-29; Mark 11.1-11
As Jesus enters Jerusalem, the crowd greets him by invoking the memory of David, Israel's greatest king and the one from whose line the Messiah would come. "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" is an accalamation reserved for the One who will sit on David's throne and reign forever.
David is the archetype of Israel's coming King. But, as we have already seen, he was not the perfect embodiment of the values of God's kingdom. His own son, Absalom, leads a rebellion against him and drives him out of Jerusalem, plunging Israel into a civil war. David has been forgiven for his transgression with Bathsheba, but Absalom's rebellion is a consequence of that moral failure. David is well aware of this, and that is, perhaps, one of the reasons he takes the curses hurled at him by Shimei in stride.
"Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!" is a far cry from "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" The Messiah's great ancestor, whose name is given to the throne of his kingdom, is here cursed by a dead-beat hanger-on from the disgraced house of Saul. Yet David insists that Shimei be allowed to continue cursing him, acknowledging even the possibility that God has raised him up for that purpose.
David is well aware of his own sins. He knows that much of what he has, though given him by God, has come at the cost of many human lives. He would have wished to be a man of peace, but that was not to be his calling. He would be remembered as Israel's greatest king, but whenever Israel remembered him, they would remember everything about him--the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.
The true heir to David's throne was to be everything David would have hoped to be. The blood he would shed to inaugurate his kingdom would be his own. By doing so, he would redeem Israel's less than perfect past and extend its borders to the ends of the earth.
Lord, we thank you that you use imperfect people to perfect your plan of redemption. But most of all, we thank you for Jesus, the true Son of David, who came to redeem us through his perfect obedience to you. Amen.
From All That Dwell Below the Skies
From all that dwell below the skies,
Let the Creator’s praise arise;
Let the Redeemer’s Name be sung,
Through every land, by every tongue.Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord;
Eternal truth attends Thy Word.
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
Till suns rise and set no more.Your lofty themes, ye mortals, bring,
In songs of praise divinely sing;
The great salvation loud proclaim,
And shout for joy the Savior’s Name.In every land begin the song;
To every land the strains belong;
In cheerful sounds all voices raise,
And fill the world with loudest praise.
Prayer of the Day: William Porcher DuBose, 18 August
Almighty God, who gave to your servant William Porcher DuBose special gifts of grace to understand the Scriptures and to teach the truth as it is in Christ Jesus: Grant that by this teaching we may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Texts: 2 Samuel 15.19-37; Acts 21.37-22.16; Mark 10.46-52
For both Bartimaeus and Paul, recovery of sight is followed by an immediate act of faith. Bartimaeus follows Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. Paul, having been struck blind on the road to Damascus, rises and is baptized and the rest, as they say, is history.
Paul was the furthest thing from a believer when Jesus intervened in his life. Bartimaeus had nothing but faith when he cried out for the "Son of David" to have mercy on him. We don't know much about Bartimaeus, other than the fact that he is precisely the kind of person Jesus came to save: a poor, blind beggar rejected by "respectable" society, shouted down even as he cried out for mercy. We know plenty about Paul, however. This incident in Jerusalem, in fact, showcases much of his sophisticated upbringing. To the Greeks, he speaks Greek; to the Jews, he speaks Hebrew. He recounts for the crowd his training under Gamaliel, one of the most respected rabbis in Jerusalem. His zeal for the law led him, at first, to persecute the followers of Jesus until that day on the Damascus road when, being struck with physical blindness, he was awakened to his spiritual blindness.
For Bartimaeus, faith gave birth to healing. For Paul, healing gave birth to faith. For both, blindness was God's way of making them see a larger reality and opening their eyes to the wonder of his mercy and grace.
Lord, give us the faith to heal our own blindness, that we may see you and call out to you for mercy. Amen.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
- John Newton
Prayer of the Day: For Our Enemies
God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Texts: 2 Samuel 15.1-8; Acts 21.27-36; Mark 10.32-45
James and John request the seats of highest honor, one at Jesus' right hand, the other at his left, in the coming kingdom. This is a foolish and self-serving request, but it is by no means out of character for them or any of the other apostles. Earlier, they had been arguing with one another ove which one of them was the greatest, an act of childishness for which Jesus shamed them by putting a child in their midst to illustrate true greatness (Mark 9.33-37).
The other apostles are indignant with James and John, but they all would have made the same request had they been given the chance. Jesus' teaching about his coming ordeal seems to have gone right over their heads. They want to skip the suffering and move right into the glory. They have yet to grasp the true meaning of the kingdom Jesus is inaugurating and the means by which he will inaugurate it. That is why Jesus responds to the two brothers by saying, "You do not know what you are asking." In the coming kingdom of God, Christ will reign in glory after he has suffered and been raised from the dead. The seats of greatest honor will go to those who, like him, suffered much for the sake of the kingdom. To ask for such an honor is to ask for the worst kind of suffering. To ask for a crown is to ask for a cross. "Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" Jesus asks the over-eager brothers.
Again without thinking, without realizing what they are saying, James and John reply, "We are able." They are not able, of course, and their answer reflects sheer naivete. Who is able to drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism of suffering and death but Christ alone? He is able, but we are not. We can only drink the cup that he drinks and be baptized with the baptism with which he is baptized by completely surrendering ourselves to him. That means giving up our dreams of greatness. That means letting go of our self-reliance. That means embracing the cross and scorning its shame, being willing to become the servant of all.
Contrary to the popular hymn, we are not able. We rely too much on our strength and too little on his Spirit. We think too highly of ourselves and too lowly of him. To be worthy of even the lowliest seat in the kingdom of God, we must take ourselves a lot less seriously, so that we can be serious about following Jesus wherever he leads us.
Lord, we are not able, of our own strength, to do anything that is pleasing to you. Only by your grace and in the power of your Holy Spirit can we be enabled to do your will and to follow in your ways. Lord, you are able. We trust in you. Amen.
Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart
Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth; through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art;
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies,
No sudden rending of the veil of clay,
No angel visitant, no opening skies;
But take the dimness of my soul away.Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear.
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh,
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find!Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The kindling of the heaven descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.
Prayer of the Day: For Those in the Armed Forces of Our Country
Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Texts: 2 Samuel 14.21-33; Acts 21.15-26; Mark 10.17-31
The rich young man wanted to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life. He knew all the commandments and had kept them from his youth (or so he claimed). But Jesus knew he still lacked one thing. So Jesus told him to "go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Upon hearing this, the young man "went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." Gaining eternal life meant losing temporal pleasure. It was a price the young man was unwilling to pay.
Many are drawn to Jesus because of his love, the love that counted not even death too great a cost to purchase the world's redemption. Yet, in this instance, Jesus' love turns the rich young man away. "And Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” It was the same love that drew Jesus to the cross that compelled him to tell the young man what he was lacking in his search for eternal life. But, this time, that love did not draw the young man in. Rather, it drove him away.
What the young man lacked was not compassion for the poor. Neither did he lack a heart filled with charity for others. Rather, what he lacked was faith in Jesus to provide for all of his needs. The young man failed the test not because he wasn't willing to give up his possessions, but because he wasn't willing to trust Jesus. He could hear Jesus' commandment not as a loving invitation to enter into a life-transforming relationship, but as an impossible requirement for membership in an exclusive club.
Eternal life does not come cheap for anyone. It costs us everything because it cost Jesus everything. In love, he invites us to die with him to sin and rise with him to new life in the kingdom of God. That boundless, infinite love draws in all who have faith. But it also drives away those who lack it.
Lord, may your love draw us to you in faith, not drive us away in fear. Give us faith to follow you wherever you may lead us. Amen.
Jesus calls us over the tumult
Of our life’s wild, restless, sea;
Day by day His sweet voice soundeth,
Saying, “Christian, follow Me!”As of old Saint Andrew heard it
By the Galilean lake,
Turned from home and toil and kindred,
Leaving all for Jesus’ sake.Jesus calls us from the worship
Of the vain world’s golden store,
From each idol that would keep us,
Saying, “Christian, love Me more!”In our joys and in our sorrows,
Days of toil and hours of ease,
Still He calls, in cares and pleasures,
“Christian, love Me more than these!”Jesus calls us! By Thy mercies,
Savior may we hear Thy call,
Give our hearts to Thine obedience,
Serve and love Thee best of all.
Prayer of the Day: The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of our Lord
Almighty God, who chose the blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother our your only Son: grant that we who are redeemed by his blood may share with her in the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
As was the case yesterday, we encounter in today's Gospel reading a very difficult teaching from Jesus. At least, in our culture of serial marriage and no-fault divorce, his words come across as most troublesome. But they would have been no less troublesome for the Pharisees who initially asked him about the permissibility of divorce under the law of Moses. We must assume there was a particular reason, a vested interest, behind the question. The Pharisees had mastered the art of legalism, not at all meaning strict adherence to every jot and tittle of the law but, rather, what might be called creative compliance to its provisions based on a tradition of interpretation which fit their all too human experience.
Under the law, divorce was permissible only under extreme circumstances. But the Pharisees were adhering not to the law as it was written, but to an interpretation of the law which relaxed its provisions so as to permit husbands to send away their wives for just about any reason. Jesus does not dispute that Moses permitted "a man to write a certificate of divorce and send [his wife] away." What he does dispute is the cavalier manner in which the Pharisees had used this provision to vindicate their own self-righteousness at the expense of those they considered of lesser value than they. Furthermore, he reminds them that the purpose of the law was not to make them or anyone else righteous, but to act as a safeguard against the fallen human condition of hard-heartedness toward God, which was in turn manifested in hard-heartedness toward other persons. The very purpose of the law was to restrain the very thing the Pharisees were doing, namely, mistreating others so as to make themselves appear blameless.
There is a higher law to which human beings--male and female--must adhere. Marriage between a man and a woman was never intended to be regarded as lightly as it was by the Pharisees then and by our society now. Jesus affirms God's original intent in creation. Marriage is a sacred and indissoluble covenant between one man and one woman. "What God has joined together, let not man put assunder" is the law written into creation from the beginning. To deviate from it is the downfall of the family, the society, and the nation.
Lord, you have created us male and female in your image. Bless those who have entered into the covenant of marriage, that by your grace they may faithfully keep their vows and give honor and glory to you. Amen.
Happy the Home When God is There
Happy the home when God is there,
And love fills every breast;
When one their wish, and one their prayer,
And one their heav’nly rest.Happy the home where Jesus’ Name
Is sweet to every ear;
Where children early speak His fame,
And parents hold Him dear.Happy the home where prayer is heard,
And praise each day does rise;
Where parents love the sacred Word
And all its wisdom prize.Lord, let us in our homes agree
This blessèd peace to gain;
Unite our hearts in love to Thee,
And love to all will reign.
Prayer of the Day: Maximillian Kolbe, 14 August
Most loving Father, whose Son Jesus Christ came to give his life as a ransom for many: Give us the grace, as you did to your servant Maximilian Kolbe, to be always ready to come to the aid of those in need or distress, not counting the cost; that so we may follow in the footsteps of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
