Saving the Lost

This Sunday's reading is from Luke 19:1-10,

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

The story of Zacchaeus is commonly used by revisionists to justify their argument that, "All are welcome at the table." Which is to say that the LGBTQ+ are welcome to come as they are, and that the people who need to change are you, me, and the Church. Nothing could be farther from the truth of the story of Zacchaeus. In it, he is the one who is transformed. The same should be true for the LGBTQ+ who come to church. Sadly, many churches have abandoned this teaching in favor of full "acceptance" of what the Bible teaches is sexual immorality.

It does more harm to let the lost continue to wander in the wilderness when Jesus is waiting to lead them to salvation.

Sit down with Jesus and you will be changed.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin: Words to the Church of England

 Once large numbers if parish priests are corrupted, it is only a matter of time before they become bishops who can corrupt the whole Church. The results of a recent survey in England foretell its doom.

From the Church Times,

"MORE than 1100 licensed priests in the Church of England have indicated that they are willing to conduct same-sex marriages if they become legal.

The survey was conducted by the Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England over the course of the last month. In a statement announcing the results, the chairman of the organisation, the Revd Nigel Pietroni, said: 'It is clear from the feedback after Living in Love and Faith that the majority want the current situation to change.'

The list of signatories is being kept private, but the names were cross-checked against clergy databases, and only those who are currently licensed were counted.

According to the Campaign for Equal Marriage, every diocese was represented among the signatories, who ranged in experience from assistant curates to bishops."

This survey spells doom just as in Daniel 5, when God wrote upon the wall,  "Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”  

Orthodox Anglicans must escape to GAFCON. 

Self-righteous Pride

This Sunday we read from Luke again (his feast day was this week). In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus makes a Pharisee the bad guy and a tax-collector the good guy.

 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

These days we might substitute a virtue signaler, a politician,  or a woke corporate CEO for the Pharisee, but we might keep the tax-collector in the parable. 

Self-righteousness and pride go hand in hand, and neither are pleasing to God.

 

Christian Nationalism Explained

Have you noticed the rise in memes and posts on your progressive friends' social media pages in which the term "Christian Nationalist" is used in a derogatory manner? I sure have. Here is the easiest explanation as to what it is and why we are seeing the term used. 

From Crisis Magazine, 

"In a prior day, these mainstream folk were called social and fiscal conservatives or 'values voters.' But today, as the progressive utopia (not the Republic, as claimed) is slipping away at the ballot box, they’re labeled 'Christian Nationalists'—this, despite the fact that a vanishingly small percentage would fit the nefarious descriptions presumed by most critics and denounced by all decent people, including those who are being so labeled."

"It is a clever strategy intended to marginalize and delegitimize anyone and anything standing athwart the progressive march to new moral norms and government expansion." 

"What better way to silence your opponents than to associate them, and their beliefs, with the darkest examples of human history? What better way to impose your will on them and undermine democracy?"

 

Keep Praying

Continuing our Sunday journey through Luke, we heard Luke 18:1-8 today and the parable of the persistent widow,

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’ And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

God's justice may not be the kind of justice that we pray for, but it will be just. 

Will the Son of Man find faith on the Earth when he comes? 

Not if we roll over and play dead in the face of the zeitgeist. 

Keep praying that people will continue to pray.

Skeletons don't care about the pronouns you use

Now the wackos are concerned about offending skeletons. From Mercator,

Yes, a group called the Black Trowel Collective has issued a manifesto — Archaeologists for Trans Liberation. It calls upon colleagues to acknowledge gender fluidity in the bones found in ancient burial sites.

“There is overwhelming evidence from past societies that our current ways of understanding sex and gender are fleeting and contingent. Neither sex nor gender are fixed in aspect or immutable over time and between cultures.”

 The Black Trowel Collective argument that, "There is overwhelming evidence from past societies that our current ways of understanding sex and gender are fleeting and contingent. Neither sex nor gender are fixed in aspect or immutable over time and between cultures.”, undermines the whole LGBTQrs argument that their modern way of understanding sex and gender is the correct one.

I don't expect the skeletons to care what pronouns you assign to them.

In this Sunday's reading from Luke 17:11-19, Jesus heals ten lepers,

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Only the Samaritan came back to thank Jesus. 

Do we remember to thank him and praise him when things go our way?

I have known some remarkable Christians who thank him and praise him as they suffered from cancer.

We have no excuse when we forget to do so during the good times. 

Same sex blessing's starting to create a wedge between Rome and its churches

Like a virus, the notion that the Church can somehow bless something that scripture condemns is spreading to the Roman Catholics. From Premier Christian News,  

Flemish Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday issued a document effectively allowing the blessing of same-sex unions, in direct defiance of a ruling against such practices by the Vatican's doctrinal office.

The document published on the website of the Bishops' Conference of Belgium suggested a ritual that included a prayer and a benediction for stable same-sex unions. But it stressed that it was not "what the Church understands by a sacramental marriage".

It said the Church wanted to be "pastorally close to homosexual persons" and be a "welcoming Church that excludes no one."

The ritual would start with prayers and includes a commitment by the two people in front of family and friends to be faithful to each other. It would end with more prayer and what the document called a "benediction".

A Vatican spokesman had no immediate comment.

In March 2021, in response to formal questions from a number of Roman Catholic dioceses on whether the practice of blessing same-sex unions was allowed, the Vatican's doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), ruled that it was not.

WWTPD (What would the Pope do)?

From Crisis, 

"This has been a long time coming. Though the Vatican has held the line regarding the illegitimacy and immorality of same-sex 'marriage,' Pope Francis’ chaotic papal style has certainly flirted with that line over the years. From his infamous 'Who am I to judge?' to broad condemning of homosexual discrimination in Amoris Laetitia, to his off-the-cuff, out-of-context comments in the documentary Francesco where he claims support for civil unions for homosexual couples, the way has been pretty well paved for this Belgian scandal."

If this continues, we can expect to see the day when pairs of Roman Catholic priests will be standing at the altar, holding hands, and receiving their "benediction".

 

Growing in Faith

This Sunday's reading from Luke 17:5-10 appears to contain two separate teachings from Jesus,

The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.

‘Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field, “Come here at once and take your place at the table”? Would you not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink”? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, “We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!” ’

Notice that Jesus does not answer the apostles' demand directly. Instead he first tells them to see where their current state of faith stands and then launches into a story about a slave's standing and duty. 

It seems to me that Jesus is letting the apostles know that they have a long way to go, and that it is going to take a lot of hard work for their faith to increase. 

For most of us, growth in faith is a lifelong effort with lots of duties to attend to as we progress.