Monday • 7/8/2024 •

Monday of Proper 9

This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalm 1; Psalm 2; Psalm 3; Numbers 32:1-6, 16-27; Romans 8:26-30; Matthew 23:1-12

This morning’s Canticles are: following the OT reading, Canticle 9 (“The First Song of Isaiah,” Isaiah 12:2–6, BCP, p. 86); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 19 (“The Song of the Redeemed,” Revelation 15:3–4, BCP, p. 94)

This week’s readings in the Old Testament are transitional. The Israelites are on the cusp of their campaign to cross the River Jordan and begin the conquest of the Promised Land—a campaign that will take place after Moses’s death. In today’s reading, Moses secures the Reubenites’ and the Gadites’ promise to participate in the upcoming military campaign despite their decision to settle east of the Jordan. In subsequent readings this week:

Moses assigns towns for the Levites (who will have no inheritance of land, but will be disbursed among the tribes), as well as cities of refuge (Tuesday),
Moses reminds the Israelites of the structure of leadership under “judges” that he had established and which he expects them to continue in the Promised Land (Wednesday),
Moses transfers leadership from himself to Joshua (Thursday),
Moses offers his valedictory (Friday), and departs this life at age 120 (Saturday).

With so many transitions going on around us in our own day, it’s worth taking note of Moses’s end. As a consequence of disobedience, Moses eventually understood that he would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. But he was allowed to view the goal toward which he had, as friend of God, been leading the people—a gifted he accepted with grace. Entrusting himself to the Lord of his redemption, he worked to make the transition for the next generation of leadership as smooth as possible.

Romans 8:26-30. Here are five of the richest verses Paul ever pens. Paul has just been contemplating how we are caught in the tension between an adoption that is “now” and “not yet.” We know that new life in Christ means sin and death no longer reign in us, but we also know full well the drag of the old life. We joyfully call God “Abba! Father!” But out of the feeling that we are not quite home, we also groan in concert with a creation that longs for release from corruption.

That tension would be incapacitating were it not for our champion, the Holy Spirit. In fact, says Paul, we would not even know how to pray were it not for the Holy Spirit. But by means of the Spirit, Christ himself dwells deep within us. The Holy Spirit explores those deep cavities of our hearts, and enables “sighs too deep for words”—rather like an escape valve that keeps us from exploding from the pent up anxiety and pain within.

Deeper than that is the fact the Holy Spirit has been poured out into our hearts enabling us to love God (Romans 5:5). And when we, by the enabling of God’s own Spirit, love God, we can have a confidence that no matter what comes our way—good or bad—our loving Heavenly Father uses it for our good. That is the point of Romans 8:28, and I rather like the force of the variant from the Vulgate that the Jerusalem Bible notes: “We know that for those who love God everything conspires for good….” Everything.conspires.for.good. Everything. Lord, give us grace to hold on to that truth!

And this short paragraph climaxes with a string of lovely statements about what God the Father has done to secure our relationship with him:

He foreknew us—that is, he has loved us (this is “know” in the biblical sense, as in “Adam knew Eve,” the result of which was a child) from the foundation of the world (see Gen 4:1; see Gen 18:19; Jer 1:5; Amos 3:2; Gal 4:9 [cf. Mt 7:23]; 1Co 8:3).
He predestined us—yes, that means he chose us before we chose him. In fact, if he hadn’t done so, we never would have made the good choice. But he did, so we did.
He called us—he gave us ears to hear. Elsewhere, Paul says we were dead in our trespasses and sins until God made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:1-4). The capacity to say “Yes!” to God comes entirely from that inner call which God and God alone enables us to hear.
He justified us—he cleared us of every charge against us—every charge from the law, every charge from our enemy the devil, every charge from anyone who doesn’t like us, every charge from our own conscience.
He glorified us—so sure is our future destiny of resurrection, that Paul can (rhetorically) put it in the past tense: it’s a done deal.

There’s a lifetime of praise to be offered from the contemplation of these five verses alone!

One matter I failed to note just now is that God’s predestining love has a goal—and that goal is not that we become some sort of “frozen chosen,” but live and love as though profoundly loved (which we are)! The Father’s goal for us is that we become “conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Romans 8:29 NRSV edited).

Matthew & conformity to the image of the Son. The beauty of Matthew’s gospel is that Jesus lays out very clearly what conformity to his image looks like. He has put it more positively in the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7), and now with elegant symmetry, more negatively in the Final Discourses of Matthew 23-25. Just so, in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus has sketched the life he has come to inculcate (rather like the blessings of Mt. Gerizim in Deuteronomy 27:12; 28:1-14); while in the Woes of Matthew 23, Jesus now outlines the life he has come to deliver us from (rather like the curses of Mt. Ebal in Deuteronomy 27:13-26; 28:15-68). Lord, have mercy.

All who exalt themselves will be humbled. — Matthew 23:12. While the blessedness of the Kingdom comes to those who are “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3), the Kingdom is far from those who take pride in titles and practice their religiosity in order to be seen by others. Christ, have mercy.

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others… — Matthew 23:4. While comfort will come to those who empathize with and mourn over the troubles of others (Matthew 5:4), there will be no joy for those who show no compassion for, no tenderness towards, their fellows who are burdened by life’s hardships or the weightiness of the law. Lord, have mercy.

I pray you live in the blessedness of the Kingdom—of the ongoing work of the Father to conform you, by the Spirit, into the image of his beloved Son.

Be blessed this day,

Reggie Kidd+