Psalm 24:1-5 In the righteousness of Jesus we live!

 Psalm 15:1–5

LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?

Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

He who walks uprightly,

And works righteousness,

And speaks the truth in his heart…

There is no righteous man but, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. All-God and all-man He gave up His pure and spotless life for ours and overcame death that through His righteousness we could be saved. Jesus removed the veil that separated us from God and through Him we enter into the throne of grace.  He stands at the right hand of the Father and all glory and honor are His. Carla

Psalm 24:1-5

1The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness,

The world and those who dwell therein.

2 For He has founded it upon the seas,

And established it upon the waters.

3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Or who may stand in His holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,

Nor sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord,

And righteousness from the God of his salvation. (NKJV)

The psalmist praises God as Sovereign over all He has created. These words also set the stage for the question of verses 3–5: If God is Lord over all, who then may approach Him? God’s rule extends to all people, even those who do not acknowledge His power. Drawing on the language of Genesis 1 in which God calls the dry land to rise from the watery abyss (Genesis 1:2, 9), David describes God’s continued control over the waters.

As in Psalm 15, those who approach the Holy One to worship Him in the temple in Jerusalem—His holy place—must approach Him in righteousness. This verse highlights the inability of any person except the King of glory to stand before God. The NKJV Study Bible 

The psalm begins by asserting Yahweh’s rule over the earth.

Old Testament writers depict Yahweh as having power over the sea (Psalm 77:16; Job 38:8) to show He is the supreme deity—infinitely more powerful than other ancient Near Eastern gods who continually battle the forces of chaos. The psalmist describes Yahweh’s power to emphasize His victorious rule as the “King of glory” (Psalm 24:7–10).

He who is innocent of hands and pure of heart were the requirements for entering the temple and are both external and internal. The Hebrew word for “clean” (naqi) means “innocent” (10:8; Job 4:7). The term “pure” (bar) emphasizes moral purity. Purity is a characteristic of God’s Law (Psalm 19:8). Along with “pure heart,” this emphasizes the internal requirements of temple entry. This, along with “clean hands,” emphasizes the external purity required for temple entry. While the description in verse 4 seems to indicate only the perfect can enter the temple, this verse indicates the worshiper receives righteousness and salvation from Yahweh. Faithlife Study Bible

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

1 Corinthians 10:26

for “the earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness.”

Psalm 89:11

The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;

The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.

You see, wholeheartedness (compassion, service and care), and healing (restoration), are not mutually exclusive.

Yes, care begins with self-care.

In other words, we find replenishment, and, we choose to be a witness. This is not a pep talk. This is not a test to pass. Or a list I check off for God’s thumbs up. This is permission; the invitation and the affirmation to be and to live, wholeheartedly and kindheartedly, the truth of who I am. Sabbath Moments

Hebrews 6:9-12 God is faithful!

 Matthew 10:42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

What does God ask of us. He ask us to be fair, to forgives others as we have been forgiven and always, always walk humbly with Him. We know that we only partially see the times we live in but God sees the whole thing. In Holy Spirit we can keep our hearts soft and pliable, not hardened, by the cares of this world. God cares about our heart. Carla

Hebrews 6:9-12

But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (NKJV)

With the warmth and affection of the title beloved, the author assures the Hebrews that he is confident of better things for them. Their good works were signs to the author that they had genuinely received Christ (verse 10). Sluggish is the same word which is translated dull in 5:11 and initiates this exhortation to the Hebrews to grow in their faith (5:11–6:12). The NKJV Study Bible

Just like the good soil in verse 7, the author believes that his audience will be eternally blessed because they are following God. Throughout the ot, God is portrayed as just and faithful. The author fears that some in his audience might turn away (Hebrews 3:12), be hardened by sin (3:13), and fail to enter God’s rest (4:1, 11). The Greek text here refers to complete confidence—in this case, confidence regarding God’s promises (Romans  4:21). Believers must trust in God and His Son (Hebrews 2:8–9) just as the wilderness generation was called to trust in God despite their circumstances. Chapter 11 provides a list of biblical exemplars that culminates in the call to focus on Jesus, the pioneer of faith (12:2). Faithlife Study Bible.

1 Thessalonians 1:3

remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, 

Hebrews 13:7

Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 

Hebrews 10:36

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

Proverbs 19:17

He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD,

And He will pay back what he has given

What does it mean for us to embrace the invitation to participate—and invest—in this life. To bring all that I am to the table of this moment—the sacrament of the present.

To invest my heart.

To be a witness for integrity and justice.

To create space for healing and restitution.

To spill light where I can.

I know that on this ordinary day, when our world has been shaken and we know that chaos can be real, we do have this: A meeting place. On common ground. And I would say, on holy ground.

And while we know that we can never be perfectly safe, we know that even there we can reassure one another, and look into the eyes of one another, and remind one another that there are truths greater than fear—and that we are walking one anther home.

Hope. And courage. And light. Our journey to healing and wholeness does not begin with bravado. It begins with vulnerability. It begins when we know that our hearts can, and will break, and that it is in the very breaking...

that we can get up...

that we can try again…

that we can choose love instead of fear and hate…

Whenever I am burdened with worry or disquiet or angst or fear, I am tempted to shut down my heart, to not listen to my heart, to not speak from my heart, and to not offer sanctuary to those who need it.

Henry David Thoreau talked about not wishing to live “too thickly”—barraged by noise or clamor or hype or panic.

Yes. I wish that too.

So. Here’s the deal: Today, I do not wish for my heart to be calcified.

I do not wish it, because when I give in to fear, I choose and act from cynicism and anger and resentment.

Onward together, my friends.

Sabbath Moments

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Love Never Fails.

 Daniel 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! 

Without the fruit of Holy Spirit in our lives we are unable to follow the commands of God to love our neighbors and live in peace.  We are able to love others because God first loved us and without His  love behind our actions we are just making noise. We can serve God or man we choose whom we will serve. Choose life not death. Carla

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.  (NKJV)

Bestow all my goods likely pertains to the spiritual gift of giving to others (Romans 12:8). Paul uses an intentional exaggeration to illustrate the uselessness of each spiritual gift without love. The Corinthians would readily understand the images of sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. Many of them had used brass instruments and cymbals as standard elements of pagan worship in their lives before Christ. Love never fails. The NKJV Study Bible

The reference to tongues “of angels” probably indicates the belief that one type of “gift of tongues” involved speaking in the language of angels.

A genuine and selfless concern for the well-being of others Paul identifies  as the greatest of the three Christian virtues (verse 13). Paul chastised the wealthy believers because they did not demonstrate love to the less wealthy believers (11:17–21).

People used cymbals to worship Dionysus, the god of wine. Paul mentions the crashing cymbal to suggest that spiritual gifts without love make the Corinthians’ worship no different from the pagans’.

Helping the poor was a focus of Paul’s ministry. Faithlife Study Bible

Matthew 17:20

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 

Matthew 21:21

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 

Mark 11:23

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 

1 Corinthians 12:8–10

for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit…

1 Corinthians 13:8

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away

We can choose. This is an invitation to participate—and invest—in this life. To bring all that I am to the table of this moment.
To invest my heart.
To be a witness for integrity and justice.
To create space for healing and restitution.
To spill light where I can.
What Barbara Kingsolver calls a “conspiracy with life.”

Easy? No. Somedays, I feel very broken. Broken and dispirited. And I don’t have the words. And I don’t have the strength. Maybe you can relate.
So, how can we be a witness then? What possible difference can we make?
Well, this is interesting. You see, compassion (service and care) and healing (restoration) are not mutually exclusive. Because the light we share is born in those broken places. Which means that being a witness goes hand in glove with renewal.
In other words, we find replenishment and we choose to be a witness.
This is not a pep talk. This is not a test to pass. Or a list I check off for God’s thumbs up. This is permission; the invitation and the affirmation to be, and to live, wholeheartedly and kindheartedly, the truth of who I am.
Please know this my friends: it is from this self—the broken or wounded self—that compassion and kindness and tenderness and empathy and healing and reconciliation can flow. Sabbath Moments

“May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received,

and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones,

and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.”

(St. Therese of Lisieux (“the Little Flower”).

Matthew 22:15-22 Jesus is Lord. Caesar is not!

The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” 

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” 

And they brought him a denarius. 

Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” 

They answered, “The emperor’s.” 

Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 

When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

In one of his finest no-answer answers, Jesus said: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

His critics were “amazed.” They got it. They understood his point.

It seemed somehow clear to them. Clear enough to turn and walk away.

But it has rarely seemed that clear to us. Over the centuries Christians developed at least five interpretations of Jesus’ “render to Caesar” comment: (1) Caesar and God are separate — pay the tax; (2) Caesar and God are an enigma, an unsolvable puzzle meant as a deflection; (3) Caesar and God are a paradox and we, somehow, must serve both; (4) Caesar and God are at odds — pay your taxes but “with contempt”; or (5) Caesar is under the authority of God and give the state nothing, no matter the consequences.

Take your pick. Each one of these positions has theological oomph — and has been supported and argued over and over and over again in church history. 

That makes me wonder: Have we missed the point? 

When this story was first written down, sometime between 60 and 80, Roman emperors made a claim to divinity. Indeed, the imperial titles for Caesar included “Dominus et Deus” and “Dominus et Salvator.” Not “Mr. President” or “Your Honor” or even “Your Royal Highness” or “Your Majesty.” But “Lord and God” or “Lord and Savior.” Those were titles held by Caesar.

Jews hated it. This was idolatry. And Christians hated it, too. Christians hated it so much that they stole the titles and gave them to Jesus. No calling Nero their Lord and God. Instead, they proclaimed “Jesus is Lord.” 

And the year 60, they were being killed for saying it.

That’s the invisible context of the Caesar tax story. In these early years, every Christian knew their creed: Jesus is Lord. Not Caesar. 

The first audience of Matthew’s gospel would have known exactly how it was intended. The story undergirded their creed — Jesus is Lord. Not Caesar. They might have laughed upon hearing or reading it. Caesar thinks everything belongs to him. We don’t think that! Because nothing belongs to Caesar. Everything belongs to God! 

The story was written down because it supported what Christians already believed. Not that they were trying to figure out some doctrine of church and state. 

They were not worried about taxes. They were worried about Roman authorities throwing them to wild beasts. 

They already knew that Caesar was a pretender. That evil was upon the throne. And God? Well, no matter what Caesar did, even if he murdered them, Caesar could never own them. Because God did. Through faith. Through baptism. Through their love of God. Through their solidarity with neighbors. Jesus is Lord! 

And that’s it. The first creed was a theological statement. And it was a political statement. The first creed was theo-political. Jesus is Lord. Caesar is not.

In the case of this verse, the long historical argument of state and church in Christian theology is a complexity of our own making. It is complicated because we’ve made it complicated — trying to justify governments and practices and systems of politics that literally have nothing to do with divine intention and the sacred heartbeat of the cosmos. 

Jesus is Lord. Caesar is not.

The Pharisees were amazed because it was so clear. So simple. They’d complexified Caesar and God — and Jesus cut to the chase. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s — to God what is God’s. 

It is simple. Everything belongs to God. Simple, yes. But it is very hard to live. The early Christians knew that. Simplicity doesn’t mean it is easy. And we know that, too.

But the simplicity still shines: God. Dominus et Deus. Lord and God. Dominus Mundi. Lord of the Earth. Dominus universum. Lord of the Universe. 

Remember the creed — the cry — of the first followers of Jesus: Jesus is Lord! 

Not Caesar. Never Caesar.

May we be brave enough to proclaim the same — and courageous enough to live it in our day.

Diane Butler Bass “The Cottage”