August 20, 2017 - Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost - What Comes Out of the Mouth Proceeds from the Heart

Farewell Bulletin Board
 for Pastor Michelle

This was the penultimate worship where Pastor Michelle will preside as interim pastor.

We are in the midst of the Tree of Life liturgy. It was good to have Shirley, Janice and Craig lead with Matt and me. There was a beautiful fullness to the music today.

The readings today spoke to the public world we are living in. Jesus talks about purity and what defiles the heart. Matthew 15 reads:

But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile." 

It is hard to keep these things from the heart when base and disrespectful words and actions are coming in from a Christian's ears and eyes. How is justice maintained and evil refrained from when life around you seems to trample on people's rights and freedoms?

In the First Reading: Isaiah 56 the Lord promises imminent intervention.  And this wonderfully echoes in my ears today like a Gospel reading from about a year and a half ago: Luke Chapter 4:14-21:

Detail

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

The chronological way we live our lives makes it very hard to keep in mind what Jesus taught his disciples many times and kept close to their hearts - God's kingdom - what is longed for - is both coming and already here. In Isaiah are beautiful promises to those people who might not feel worthy in their lives - named in the verse as foreigners, eunuchs and outcasts that they will be given, in the Lord's house, a monument and name better than sons and daughters - I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

Like Jesus being both Son of God and Son of Man what we experience an afterlife and life on this earth that our intertwined.

At the beginning of his ministry Jesus read another verse from Isaiah and states, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing".

When God promises imminent intervention in the Old Testament our trust turns to God that it did happen, is happening and will happen. With that trust we can drain evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, and slander from our coming out of our mouths as best we can.