Sep 27, 2023
(Hg.1:1-8; Ps.149:1-6,9; Lk.9:7-9)
“He who earned wages earned them for a bag with holes in it.”
“Bring timber, and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory.” Rebuild the house of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit you are. Shore up the breaches in its walls and solidify its foundation, that you might “sing to the Lord a new song of praise in the assembly of the faithful,” that you might be as those who are “glad in their maker… For the Lord loves His people, and He adorns the lowly with victory.” Humble yourself before Him, take care to observe the words of His mouth – turn from your selfish ways and your blindness to His presence, and you shall again sing with delight in a house of blessings.
Are you, too, like Herod, perplexed at the identity of Jesus? Do you, too, question: “Who is this man about whom I hear all these reports?” Be more than “curious to see Him,” my brothers and sisters; lay down your lives before Him and His teaching and His redemptive sacrifice, and you shall come to know that He is the Son of God – you shall find Him who is the salvation of your soul, which wanders now far from the safety of the walls of His temple. In His flesh alone will you find your home. Your vain curiosity is not enough to bring you there. Your doubts about His glory must be faced and seen for the emptiness they hold – or you risk beheading yourself in the refusal to bow to Him who is Truth and holds all that matters in His redeeming hands.
“Let the high praises of God be in their throats,” our psalmist sings. To such blessing of fulfillment he exhorts our souls. This indeed is “the glory of all His faithful”; for to have our souls filled to overflowing with the praises of our Lord and our God, who loves us to overflowing and desires only for us to know His love in its being lived out in all our days and with all our being… in this we find our home in His blessed hands.
All else but God is vain, and its emptiness will rise to your eyes in a time you do not anticipate. See now that you repair the holes in your very soul, that you might become a temple of His Spirit and find the grace to praise His Name worthily in the assembly of all His chosen ones.
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O LORD, in your House let us make our home
and to us you will be known.
YHWH, may you receive due glory from all souls, we pray. May all bless your holy NAME with songs of praise in your Temple. May all recognize that you are the God of all and that Jesus is your only Son, and so may all rebuild their broken souls by the grace that comes through Him. O let us all put you first in our lives! as you deserve.
It is our joy to praise you, LORD, to recognize your glory in our midst and so join in that glory you offer through your Christ. Without you, what are our lives worth? We remain hungry despite the food on our tables; we remain naked despite the clothing on our backs – we remain empty and poor despite the riches we gather if we remain apart from you in our paneled houses.
O let us set our hearts on serving you, on humbly coming before you as your sons, dear God, and we shall exult in glory.