A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7: 18-20
Jesus speaks these words to warn his followers about false prophets. These charlatans may be clothed in a gentle sheep’s skin, but inside they are voracious wolves consuming everything for their own gain. They are liars, thieves, cheats, and pretenders.
Yet many people trust and believe them. How can that be? Are we just too naive to see them for what they are? Maybe. But I think it’s more likely that we want to believe their lies because we think we will benefit from them. We excuse their cheating and veiled thievery because it hasn’t hurt us, just the “other guy”. We espouse their pretenses because we mistakenly believe they will advance us as well as the “wolves”.
Jesus knows we’re not stupid. He says there is one clear and sure-fired way to identify a false prophet. By their fruits you shall know them – and those “fruits” should be the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If, despite the rotten fruit they have produced, we follow them then we will end up in the fire just like they will.
An image today instead of a poem
Music: Ubi Caritas – Where Love and Charity Abide, There is God
“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the Law and the Prophets.“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:12-14
Jesus says that the gate is narrow which leads to life. It’s a warning that makes me want to sit up and pay attention to my life! Just what is it that I should take from Jesus’s words?
I think Jesus is telling us that our lives are occupied with a lot more unimportant stuff than important stuff. What is it that really matters each day in my thoughts, actions, relationships, plans?
Jesus says that the measure of what matters is this: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
I want to be respected, noticed, cared for, appreciated and loved. That’s what I hope others “do unto me”. When I pray over my day at night, have I treated others this way? Have I found the narrow gate Jesus is describing?
Prose: from How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
You want the approval of those with whom you come in contact. You want recognition of your true worth. You want a feeling that you are important in your little world. You don’t want to listen to cheap, insincere flattery, but you do crave sincere appreciation. You want your friends and associates to be, as Charles Schwab put it, “hearty in their approbation and lavish in their praise.” All of us want that. So let’s obey the Golden Rule, and give unto others what we would have others give unto us. How? When? Where? The answer is: All the time, everywhere.”
Music: Do Right to Me, Baby (Do Unto Others) – Bob Dylan
Don’t wanna judge nobody, don’t wanna be judged Don’t wanna touch nobody, don’t wanna be touched Don’t wanna hurt nobody, don’t wanna be hurt Don’t wanna treat nobody like they was dirt But if you do right to me, baby I’ll do right to you too Got to do unto others like you’d have them Like you’d have them do unto you Don’t wanna shoot nobody, don’t wanna be shot Don’t wanna buy nobody, don’t wanna be bought Don’t wanna bury nobody, don’t wanna be buried Don’t wanna marry nobody if they’re already married But if you do right to me, baby I’ll do right to you too Got to do unto others like you’d have them Like you’d have them do unto you Don’t wanna burn nobody, don’t wanna be burned Don’t wanna learn from nobody what I gotta unlearn Don’t wanna cheat nobody but don’t wanna be cheated Don’t wanna defeat nobody if they’ve already been defeated But if you do right to me, baby I’ll do right to you too Got to do unto others like you’d have them Like you’d have them do unto you Don’t wanna wink at nobody, I don’t wanna be winked at Don’t wanna be used by nobody for a doormat Don’t wanna confuse nobody, don’t wanna be confused Don’t wanna amuse nobody and don’t wanna be amused But if you do right to me, baby I’ll do right to you too Got to do unto others like you’d have them Say, like you’d have them do unto you Don’t wanna betray nobody, don’t wanna be betrayed Don’t wanna play with nobody, don’t wanna be waylaid Don’t wanna miss nobody, don’t wanna be missed Don’t put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist But if you do right to me, baby I’ll do right to you too You got to do unto others like you’d have them Like you’d have them do unto you
From this David’s descendants God, according to the promise, has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel; and as John was completing his course, he would say, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. Behold, one is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’ Acts 13:23-25
John the Baptist was a striking figure written across the pages of scripture. His astonishing lifestyle, his passionate preaching, and his resolute moral witness established him as a giant in human history.
Surely he could have personally profited from his extraordinary gifts and ability to inspire discipleship in his listeners. But instead, this was the Baptist’s message:
Listen people, you ain’t seen nothing yet!
Behold, One is coming after me; I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We ask to be humble, selfless heralds for Christ in our world. May the Gospel impel us to live in such a way that our very being announces God’s Lavish Mercy for the world.
Poetry: John the Baptist – Philip C. Kolin
Out of the wilderness came this prophet of fire and repentance, his voice a flame igniting souls out of darkness to witness the Messiah. Wherever he went bonfires reddened the night air.
He wore a tunic of camel hair, and a rope cincture binding unruly flesh from appetite; he lived on locusts and burr- nested cones. When he entered the Jordan
it flowed east, away from the sin-crusted west. Each wave was engraved with grace as he plunged sinners heavy with the world’s woes under only to lift them up toward the light. But not the Pharisees. Stones would rise sooner.
When he announced Christ passing by, the birds of the air carried each honeyed syllable to every open heart and sin-ridden soul.
Music: Ut queant laxis – Latin Hymn to John the Baptist
1. Ut queant laxis resonáre fibris Mira gestórum fámuli tuórum, Solve pollúti lábii reátum, Sancte Joánnes. 2. Núntius celso véniens Olýmpo Te patri magnum fore nascitúrum, Nomen, et vitae sériem geréndae Ordinae promit. 3. Ille promíssi dúbius supérni, Pérdidit promptae módulos loquélae: Sed reformásti genitus perémptae Organa vocis. 4. Ventris obstrúso récubans cubíli Sénseras Regem thálamo manéntem: Hinc parens nati méritis utérque Abdita pandit. 5. Sit decus Patri, genitaéque Proli et tibi, compare utriúsque virtus, Spíritus semper, Deus unus, omni Témporis aevo. Amen.
O for your spirit, holy John, to chasten Lips sin-polluted, fettered tongues to loosen; So by your children might your deeds of wonder Meetly be chanted.
Lo! a swift herald, from the skies descending, Bears to your father promise of your greatness; How he shall name you, what your future story, Duly revealing.
Scarcely believing message so transcendent, Him for a season power of speech forsaketh, Till, at your wondrous birth, again returneth, Voice to the voiceless.
You, in your mother’s womb all darkly cradled, Knew your great Monarch, biding in His chamber, Whence the two parents, through their offspring’s merits, Mysteries uttered.
Praise to the Father, to the Son begotten, And to the Spirit, equal power possessing, One God whose glory, through the lapse of ages, Ever resounding. Amen.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” Mark 4:37-40
Many years ago, at a particularly critical crossroad in my life, a revered mentor rescued me. She did it with a simple phrase, “Do not go down under this wave.”
Her counsel challenged me to stand up and reach for my faith, despite having been knocked down by gross misjudgment. Her confidence led me to realize that with faith we can find God within our circumstances, releasing a power we may not have recognized before.
In today’s passage, Jesus urges his disciples to live this kind of faith. God is with them, even when seemingly asleep. Fully trusting that Presence will allow their lives to unfold in peace, despite any passing storm. And yes, all storms are passing. 🙂
Poetry: I Go Down to the Shore – Mary Oliver
I go down to the shore in the morning and depending on the hour the waves are rolling in or moving out, and I say, oh, I am miserable, what shall— what should I do? And the sea says in its lovely voice: Excuse me, I have work to do.
Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Matthew 6:26-27
What is “worrying” really? For me, it’s about trying to control things that are completely out of my control. Worrying is a futile practice in which I continue to engage despite all logic! What about you?
With his words today, Jesus wants to spare us from worrying. One of the simple examples he uses are the birds. Birds don’t worry. That doesn’t mean they give everything up and loaf in the trees expecting God to wait on them!
Birds are industrious – building nests, feeding and training offspring, migrating long distances when its time. In other words, birds do what they can, The rest is in God’s hands. That’s the lesson today!
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We want to learn from nature what peace, acceptance and hope look like. Jesus tells us that there is a lot to learn there. If you can, try to pray outside today. No books, no earbuds, no buddies to converse with. Just be quiet and learn.
Scripture: Matthew 6:28-30
Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?
Music: Consider the Lilies of the Field – The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square
Jesus said to his disciples: “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.” Matthew 6:22-23
Jesus suggests that the movement from darkness to Light is continuous and dynamic. Picture yourself awakening without the intrusion of an alarm. We slowly open our eyes to the increasing light, remembering the world we left only a few hours earlier.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
We pray to open the eyes of our heart to the sacred Light Jesus describes. Jesus will go on to say in tomorrow’s Gospel that we find this Light by depending on and serving God.
Poetry: You Who Want Knowledge – Emily Dickinson
You who want knowledge, see the Oneness within.
There you will find the clear mirror already waiting.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’
“If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
In these verses, Jesus utters another dangerous prayer: forgive us, God, as we forgive others.
Uh oh! I don’t know about you, but I think we can be pretty bad at forgiveness. It’s so much easier to remember a wrong done to us, to excuse ourselves of any responsibility for it, to fester in its hurt, to calculate a concomitant revenge, to demonize and ostracize the offender.
Jesus says, “Hey, is that the way you want God to forgive you?”
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: We examine Jesus’s words in the Our Father to find the secret to forgiveness.
We are all the children of One God, equally and completely loved.
God wills holiness and joy for every one of us.
God will always grant forgiveness to the ready heart.
We live for the hope of heaven, and the circumstances of this world pale in its Light.
Still, in our daily circumstances, we need to be fed by the Spirit in order to find the courage and desire to forgive as God does.
Poetry: Enemies – Wendell Berry
If you are not to become a monster, you must care what they think. If you care what they think,
how will you not hate them, and so become a monster of the opposite kind? From where then
is love to come—love for your enemy that is the way of liberty? From forgiveness. Forgiven, they go
free of you, and you of them; they are to you as sunlight on a green branch. You must not
think of them again, except as monsters like yourself, pitiable because unforgiving.
But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret.
But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. Matthew 6:3-4;6;17-18
In these verses, Jesus tells us that our relationship with God – through almsgiving, prayer, and fasting – is private, personal, and intimate. When we commune with God through these actions, it is secret – a love shared between you and the Divine Beloved.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Let’s think about our acts of generosity, prayer, and spiritual discipline as gifts given to God, even though they are offered through our service to others. Living a grateful life, we are delighted by God’s gifts to us given from an Infinite Love. May we respond by our humble efforts to delight God in return.
Poetry: from St. Teresa of Avila
Christ has no body on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours!
Music: God Has No Body Now But Yours – David Ogden based on Teresa of Avila
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of our Creator God, Who makes the sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Matthew 5:44-45
It must have been so hard to hear and accept Jesus’s words in his Sermon on the Mount. These listening disciples had been raised on the Deuteronomic principle “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. What could ever make them turn that principle inside out to do just the opposite of what they had always thought? What would make us turn from this kind of “justice”? After all, it’s even-steven, isn’t it?
In Jesus Christ, there is no even-steven. The Mercy of God is given to all of us without limits. It rains from the heart of God over all Creation. Jesus showed us that there is no place in Mercy for quid pro quo justice. If a disciple wants to love like Jesus, this precept is foundational.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy: Perhaps we are someplace where we can watch the rain today. If not we can remember how rain falls without distinction over everything within its embrace. So too does God’s Mercy fall on us moving us to be its agents in our world.
Enjoy the Peaceful Rain
Poetry: from The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare
The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown: His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice.
Jesus said to them: “Offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to them as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand them your cloak as well. Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with theme for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
Although the word “reverence” is not specifically mentioned in our readings, it summarizes their core message.
Jezebel has no reverence for human life. She is a conspirator, thief, and murderer. Jezebel has no moral code and only one interest in life – herself.
Jesus calls his followers to be the antithesis of Jezebel. We are to so reverence life and truth that we become like Jesus. We are to be peaceful, non-violent, forgiving, and generous – even toward the “jezebels” of this world.
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:
Wow! No easy challenge, but nonetheless essential for discipleship! We ask Jesus to give us insight into any selfishness in our hearts, and the courage to live according to his mandate.
Prose: from Dorothy Day
“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?
When we begin to take the lowest place, to wash the feet of others, to love our brothers and sisters with that burning love, that passion, which led to the Cross, then we can truly say, ‘Now I have begun.'”
Lavish Mercy 