Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 19: Year 1
Morning, Psalm 71; Evening, Psalm 74
1st Kings 22:29 to 45; 1st Corinthians 2:14 to 3:15; Matthew 5:1 to 10:
“Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are discerned spiritually. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.” (1st Corinthians 2:14 and 15)
I continue today in the spiritual sphere. I have heard it said that we are spiritual beings learning to be human, not human beings learning to be spiritual. I can’t remember who said it, but it sounds right.
Paul says that he built on a foundation begun in Christ that others also must build on. Personally, I don’t believe he is the only one. We have other foundation builders who have built on it as well. There is Peter, James, Mary Magdalene and Mathew for whom we remember today. The second part of Paul’s verse bears this out, “Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ:” (1st Corinthians 3:10 and 11).
My beloved of the Lord, let us not be afraid to let go and let God. You don’t have to have answers, just wonder and adoration. “It is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.” (Kallistos Ware)
Being spiritual is not foolishness. It is a discerning gift from God for all who wish to have it. It is like mysticism. The great mystic Evelyn Underhill speaks of the availability of mysticism. “Evelyn Underhill’s most valuable contribution to spiritual literature must surely be her conviction that the mystical life is not only open to a saintly few, but to anyone who cares to nurture it and weave it into everyday experience,” (Great Cloud of Witnesses for June 15)
God is Spirit according to the Gospel of John (4:24). And all who want to worship God must do so in spirit and truth. You, who are reading this blog, are a spiritual child of God. Live spiritually and discern all things, and be subject to no one’s scrutiny. For me, this is pondering. Thank You Lord Jesus.
Today our Church remembers Matthew (AKA Levi), a Tax Collector turned Apostle and Evangelist. I will always remember how much my New Testament Professor, the Reveren Dr. Tony Lewis, said that, “walking around in this Gospel changed his life.”
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Russia, and our schools.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
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