Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

On Using Anger as a Trigger to Transform Ourselves

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Dear friends, I am continuing my series of short meditations on the Gospel of Matthew. This one, the eight in the series, concludes the meditations on the sublime Sermon on the Mount. Thank you for reading along!

On Using Anger as a Trigger to Transform Ourselves

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged,” Jesus says. “For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

And so, Jesus reiterates a law of life: sowing and reaping. “Those

who draw the sword will perish by the sword,” he says. The

swift to condemn will be judged more harshly. For the seeds we plant

in the garden of our lives–our secret thoughts, our words, and the

kindness or meanness of our actions determine our flourishing.

We reap what we have sown in unexpected ways and at unexpected

times, since God, the righteous Judge, observes both our generosity

and our unkindness towards those we judged powerless to help

or harm us, and God holds our lives in his hands.

 

Jesus does not condemn accurately reading character. That

is an essential life skill—to realise that not everyone is trustworthy,

honest, truthful or decent. Indeed, Jesus warns us about

deceptive, smooth-talking people–“wolves in sheep’s clothing,”

out to devour you. Assess people by the fruit of their lives,

he says; thornbushes don’t bear figs.

 

However, dwelling on another’s faults, while ignoring our own,

invites judgement, Jesus says. He recommends using our irritation

with annoying or evil people as a reminder and trigger for

self-examination. When we are bothered by a speck in another’s eyes,

Jesus recommends checking if we have a whole log of the same

failing or a greater one in our own eyes. (Interestingly, Freud says

we are most infuriated by our own faults mirrored in other people!).

Obsessive judging is wasted time and energy. We must train ourselves

to refocus that energy into transforming those blind spots, limps, and

cracks in our characters, which so often destroy the house of people’s lives.

 

Besides, fretting over others’ faults leads only to evil, as the Psalmist says.

We unconsciously imitate speech and character traits we dwell on!

Read a good stylist, and you write better; focus on another’s stinginess,

manipulativeness, or dishonest self-promotion, and you risk mirroring it.

 

And what of us who’ve been judgey and critical? When we

repent, we live “under the mercy,” in Charles Williams’ phrase.

Jesus forgave Peter, who betrayed him, and he will forgive us.

God devises a unique calling suited to both the naturally sweet and

the naturally outspoken and no-nonsense. Whatever seeds you

have sown into your life, thistles or grapes, place them in the hands

of the God of redemption. Ask him to make the garden of your life

bloom, and to help you do the work he has given you to do.

 

I would love you to read my memoir, fruit of much “blood, sweat, toil and tears.”

Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India in the UK, and in the US, here, well, and widely available, online, worldwide 🙂

If you’d like to follow these meditations the moment they appear, please subscribe to Christian Meditation with Anita Mathias at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or  

Amazon Music

or Audible. And I would be very  grateful for reviews and ratings!!

If you’d like to read my previous recorded meditations,

9 Do Not Worry About What To Eat: Jesus

8. Happy Are the Merciful for They Shall Be Shown Mercy

7 The Power of Christ’s Resurrection. For Us. Today

6 Each Individual’s Unique and Transforming Call and Vocation

5 Change Your Life by Changing Your Thoughts

4 Do not be Afraid–But be as Wise as a Serpent

3 Our Failures are the Cracks Through Which God’s Power Enters our Lives

2 The World is full of the Glory of God

1 Mindfulness is Remembering the Presence of Christ with us.

Thank you 🙂

Do Not Worry About What To Eat: Jesus

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 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6

So Jesus advises his listeners–fishermen who had worked all night

and caught nothing, unemployed labourers, and those without food

for their guests—not to worry about what they were going to eat.

 

And when Jesus speaks, that man who visited from a world

beyond our world, to share the deep secrets of life and the

universe, we would be wise to listen up.

 

Jesus tells his original listeners that, by an effort of will, they must quit

wasting time and energy fretting about what they would eat, must

quit worrying about money, and instead trust the God who sustains

singing birds who never save a single worm. They must ask, seek and

knock on God’s door for wisdom and good ideas to meet their daily needs.

 

Of course, today, with an obesogenic food environment

and an obesity epidemic, we worry just as much about the sugary

fatty, ultra-processed foods everywhere, which lead to weight gain,

society’s condemnation, and our self-condemnation–pressure

which leads to further overeating. Having lost 82 pounds, I know

the difficulty of shedding weight and the fear of regaining it.

 

But we, like Jesus’s listeners, must refuse to worry about fattening

food, weight loss, and weight regain, but instead, live as God’s beloved

children, eating what our hosts set before us, without fuss,

as Jesus advised his disciples, and trusting our health to God.

 

Of course, Jesus does want us to reflect his “endless energy, boundless

strength” in Eugene Peterson’s phrase, and, being kind and practical,

he gives us strategies. Jesus recommends fasting, which brings a reward

from God and gives us power over oppressive forces of evil. Fasting

is sheer Jesus-genius, skipping a meal, saving time and money while

burning up metabolically active, inflammatory, toxin-storing fat which

overweight bodies don’t need. Hunger pangs which are temporary waves,

rising, receding, passing, are an internal bodily reminder, a trigger

and an alarm clock to pray about our worries. And the force

and power of persistent prayer slowly changes our lives.

 

Do not worry, Jesus says, but seek first God’s kingdom and his

 righteousness, and all the things the pagans run after will

be added to you. How does that work in the area of weight and health?

Well, the greatest commandment, Jesus says, is to love God with all

one’s strength. I have been incorporating movement into my spiritual

life, praying, and listening to the Bible and the book for my Christian

book group on my morning walk. And when my body buzzes

with endorphins, my mind and emotions work better, and my spirit soars.

 

And then Jesus says: the second commandment is like the first-

Love your neighbour as yourself. I’m trying to use movement

to bless others, too, decluttering my house of unnecessary acquisitions

from 33 years of marriage, working on my large garden to make it

a place of joy and hospitality, hanging out with friends during long

walks rather than over meals, and getting my body a little stronger

and fitter for life through “exercise snacks:” several daily

mini-sessions of yoga, weights, HIIT, dance, or rebounding.

 

The Father feeds the birds, which, like all wild creatures, instinctively

only eat what is a blessing to their little bodies. Seeking the kingdom,

acting as if Jesus were our visible beloved King, is refusing to eat a curse

on ourselves by eating food we know will not bless our bodies, but instead

slow them down by weight gain. For me, it’s sugar, wheat, rice, grains,

potatoes. We each have a unique metabolism created by genetics, our

biography, and our psychological makeup, and so we must ask the Spirit

to guide our minds and intuitions to a way of eating which blesses our bodies.

 

Seeking to establish God’s micro-kingdom in our own lives also means

getting our bodies fit enough to do the work God has given us to do.

Losing weight, getting fit, is like a conversion experience, completely

life-changing. As we bear this micro-cross of self-discipline without

which, Jesus said, we are not worthy of him, let’s pray we experience

the paradox he spoke of–that the yoke of following him is oddly

easy and light. May it be so. Amen.

 

This is a meditation on Matthew, Chapter 6

I would love you to read my memoir, fruit of much “blood, sweat, toil and tears.”

Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India in the UK, and in the US, here, well, and widely available, online, worldwide 🙂

If you’d like to follow these meditations the moment they appear, please subscribe to Christian Meditation with Anita Mathias at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or  

Amazon Music

or Audible.

And I would be grateful for reviews and ratings!!

If you’d like to read my previous recorded meditations,

8. Happy Are the Merciful for They Shall Be Shown Mercy

7 The Power of Christ’s Resurrection. For Us. Today

6 Each Individual’s Unique and Transforming Call and Vocation

5 Change Your Life by Changing Your Thoughts

4 Do not be Afraid–But be as Wise as a Serpent

3 Our Failures are the Cracks Through Which God’s Power Enters our Lives

2 The World is full of the Glory of God

1 Mindfulness is Remembering the Presence of Christ with us.

Thank you 🙂

Our Unique and Transforming Call and Vocation

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We read in the Gospel of Matthew, that as Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.

On the same walk, Jesus called two other brothers, James and John, who leave their boat, and their father, and follow him.

 

God is always speaking

His transforming words into our lives

As we still our hearts and listen.

He is, by his very nature, a God

Who speaks. At the start of his great Gospel,

The Apostle John calls Jesus the Word

Who was God, and became flesh

And lived among us.

 

And this speaking, communicating, yearning God

Calls each of us to the work he wants us to do in the world.

We are sometimes called at a particular point of time,

Through specific words or images,

Or else, gradually, through an inner conviction

That this is the task we are to embark on

With all our strength, for the rest of our lives.

The call we hear, or sense, is utterly serious.

And if we say “Yes!,” the moment of response

Is among the greatest and most important moments of our lives.

 

For it is a transforming call.

It changes the whole direction of our lives.

From the day we hear God’s call,

We must begin to restructure our lives

In accordance with this necessity.

What we read, the friendships we invest in,

Our social activities, hobbies, leisure,

Our whole lives…are hitherto

To be shaped in accordance with our calling.

 

The greatest, kindest person in the whole world,

Jesus Christ, has called you to something you

Are uniquely equipped to do, you

With your strengths and your weaknesses,

You have been called, commissioned

To a task in which you will flourish and find joy.

But not just you.

 

Jesus said he would give his flesh, sacrifice

His life for the life of the world.

And while what we are called to will make us fully,

Blazingly alive–mentally, emotionally, and spiritually,

What God calls us to do will also contribute

To the life and the flourishing of the world.

* * *

God wastes nothing.

Your call will use the gifts, experiences, and strengths

Formed in you by the circumstances of your life.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were fisherman

Who sometimes worked hard all night and caught nothing,

Who could row three and a half miles out of shore,

Who were caught in perilous storms, in which waves crashed into the boat

And they almost sank.

 

This hardiness gave them the tough, resilient character of men

Who could not only catch fish to keep themselves alive

But could also persuade humans into a richer,

Deeper, more peaceful and eternal life.

No longer fishermen but fishers of men, punning Jesus said.

The call of God, if obeyed, always leads to a bigger,

Better and more challenging place.

Your call will stretch you, mould you and transform you.

To reject, or to ignore the call is to reject growth.

 

The call gives us a new identity.

The fisherman became leaders,

Writers of the New Testament, poetic and prophetic.

And sometimes, at the point of the call,

God supernaturally puts into us spiritual gifts, strengths,

And abilities called an anointing (Oh, precious thing!)

Which makes difficult things easier.

If you yearn for that, then pray for it.

* * *

 

The call will involve sacrifice.

We cannot simply squeeze a new mission into our crowded lives.

If you hear God call you to write, let’s say,

You must immediately ask yourself: “What

Will I stop doing to help this new thing happen?”

Less time reading the news, or on social media?

Releasing outgrown friendships which drag you down?

Eating more simply, more raw foods perhaps?

Buying as few inessential things as possible?

 

God’s call is benevolent, beneficent, aimed at our flourishing.

And as we begin to obey it, with increasing faithfulness,

Our whole life changes.

It becomes more serious, more purpose-driven.

And purpose is one of the greatest things we humans can have,

(Along with faith, hope and love).

When we have purpose, our eyes are bright with it.

* * *

Having heard a call, you set out in obedience

On a very long journey,

Which will last the rest of your life.

There’s almost always a long gap between hearing a call,

And seeing the fruits of your work.

For God’s call to you is not just for the life and flourishing of the world,

But, also, for your own growth and flourishing.

While you are refining your skills to fulfil your call

God is shaping and refining you–

Your persistence, your ability to follow through,

To get from A to Z, meet deadlines, get organised,

To ask him for guidance, and learn the sound of his voice.

You grow up, you mature, you toughen,

You develop character as you develop your gifts.

 

The precise call may be revealed progressively.

You can only steer a moving car.

If you hear God’s call to write, say,

Begin today, with the words and ideas which come.

Polish and burnish your craft while awaiting

More precise marching orders,

Which may keep coming over decades.

* * *

Now, here’s the hard part.

Being called, as many are,

Does not guarantee blazing success in the world’s eyes,

Or by human metrics. God decides our platform,

Whether our work will reach dozens, hundreds, thousands, or millions.

 

In the Parable of the Talents,

God gives some one talent, some two and some five.

The ones with two and five talents each work as hard as they can

And each double their capital.

But still, one ends up with four talents, and the other with ten.

That’s life. If it seems unfair, it’s because we are characters

In a play God has written. He gives us our roles,

And it’s our job to play them as beautifully as we can.

 

Some writers, for instance, will always have a small audience.

Fact of life.

If that is you, write as truly and beautifully as you can,

With gratitude for your platform, large or small.

But hey, if having many readers or listeners matters to you,

(And it does matter to me!)

Ask God to grant you success,

And trust in his grace to work well, whether

In Milton’s phrase, your success will eventually be

“Less or more, or soon or slow, or mean or high.”

* * *

And what if you have heard a call

But have not been steadily faithful in following it?

And, here, I sadly put up my hand.

Me too.

I have not been single-minded.

I have been distracted.

 

If you’ve half-heartedly focused on your call,

And wasted time in trivial pursuits,

Sprint after Jesus as he continues walking by the Sea of Galilee.

Repent and promise renewed faithfulness to your call,

Renewed seriousness,

For our life is a short, serious and holy experience.

Recommit, and follow your call as intensely

As you wish you had done at first.

* * *

And what if you haven’t heard a specific call yet?

After all, Peter, Andrew, James and John,

Young working men, earning their living

Had not heard a call until that brilliant, costly, priceless day

When Jesus called them.

 

If you haven’t heard a specific call,

Then do the next right thing while you await direction.

Never jump into a ministry or your life work for God

Before you have heard God’s crystal-clear directions.

And while he prepares us, God also speaks through our lives.

What happens in the doctor’s office?

Do you leave resolving to exercise more,

To cut back on sugar, caffeine, white carbs? To meditate?

Start small in forming the good habits you’ll need, but start.

Is your house ready to invite friends over

Without a cleaning-up operation that’s like

Hiding the evidence of a crime?

Create time by decluttering everything inessential from your home,

Anything which slows you down as you run your race.

Do you tell yourself you’d love to wake with the sun?

Then recalibrate with night-time go-to-bed alarms and earlier nights.

All this is preparation.

 

*  * *

So, dear Lord,

Help us to be single-minded and laser-focused,

On being faithful to what you have called us to do.

We love you; increase our love.

We want to always see you before us, Jesus.

Increase our faith.

Amen.

This meditation is inspired by Matthew 4: 18-22

If you haven’t yet discerned your purpose in life, I’d recommend Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life (UK), or on Amazon.com

If you’d like to read my previous recorded meditations,

5 Change Your Life by Changing Your Thoughts

4 Do not be Afraid–But be as Wise as a Serpent

3 Our Failures are the Cracks Through Which God’s Power Enters our Lives

2 The World is full of the Glory of God

1 Mindfulness is Remembering the Presence of Christ with us.

Please subscribe at Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, Audible, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks!!

And, of course, I would love you to read my memoir, fruit of much “blood, sweat, toil and tears.”

Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India in the UK, and in the US, here, well, and widely available, online, worldwide 🙂

Do Not Be Afraid–But Be as Wise as a Serpent

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Welcome to the fourth episode of Christian Meditation with Anita Mathias.

Let’s breathe. For a few minutes, give ourselves the gift of restfulness. We’ll detach from “to do lists”, and re-enter the body, which, Scripture tells us, is the temple of the Holy Spirit within us.

When our minds are stressed, distracted or scattered, we can train ourselves to use breath prayers, short heart-felt prayers  to repeat as we calm our minds, hearts, and spirits.

Here’s a breath prayer, in simple Latin, because it has a lovely rhythm. Veni Sante Spiritus. Come, Holy Spirit.

Being filled with God’s spirit is one of our deepest needs and greatest experiences as human beings. It’s God’s wisdom to help us when we are baffled, to still us when we stressed. In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and fthe ear of the Lord. We need this power source, this electricity to do good work which lasts.

Let’s breathe and invite God’s spirit to descend on us. Veni Sancte Spiritus. Come Holy Spirit. It’s part of a lovely Taize chant you can listen to on Youtube, which goes like Veni Sancte Spiritus. Come, Holy Spirit.

 

Today’s meditation is on not being afraid, but rather, acting with wisdom.

Do not be afraid, the angel in the dream

tells Joseph: Marry your fiancée, Mary,

who is showing, despite your chaste restraint,

for in our magical world, in which angels

speak to humans, a virgin has conceived

by the Spirit of God, as long foretold, by the prophet Isaiah,

and the child shall be called Jesus, which means The Lord Saves,

and he shall save people from the power of sin.

 

And Joseph is not afraid and marries Mary.

And the angel’s words are soon confirmed

For a star appeared in the East,

And the astrologers who saw it, followed it to Jerusalem,

Searching for one they knew was born

the King of the Jews (terrifying jealous King Herod!).

And when the star stopped, they worshipped the child

With precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

 

But then, the prophetic dream-angel,

Appeared with a different message:

Flee to Egypt, and stay there “until I tell you to leave,”

For King Herod plans to kill

The child who is to be a forever-King.

 

What? The dream angel who exhorted, “Do not be afraid?”

Now says, “Escape to Egypt.”

Escape to Egypt? Leave my business, extended family,

Friends, my language? Live among strangers? Become a refugee?

But, oh dream-angel, wasn’t it you who said, “Do not be afraid?”

But the spirit is like the wind, the child Jesus later said.

It sometimes blows new guidance, new directions.

(And, indeed, Herod would soon slaughter every male infant and toddler in Bethlehem.)

 

God’s Spirit within us teaches us

The difference between acting out of fear

And acting with wisdom.

 

Scripture repeatedly commands us not to be afraid,

For most things we fear will never happen,

And when trouble comes: They are there–

God our loving Father, Christ our friend,

and the Holy Spirit whom Jesus calls

The Helper, Counsellor, and Comforter.

 

Fear wastes time, energy and life–

Fear of being judged leads to over-cooking and over-cleaning-up for guests.

Fear of judgement leads overwhelmed you to signing up to all those rotas

While neglecting your own home, family, gifts and calling.

Fear might lead to foolish worrying about your bank balance,

When you know the Lord Jesus Christ who added three zeros

When he multiplied the five loaves.

 

What then is the wisdom Jesus recommends?

We go out as sheep among wolves, Christ tells us.

And, he adds, dangerously, some wolves are dressed like sheep.

They seem respectable­­­—busy charity volunteers, Church people.

Oh, the noblest sentiments in the noblest words,

But they drain you of money, energy, time, your lifeblood.

 

How then could a sheep, the most defenceless creature on earth,

Possibly be safe, among wolves,

Particularly wolves disguised in sheep’s clothing?

 

A sheep among wolves can be safe

if it keeps its eyes on its Shepherd, and listens to him.

Check in with your instincts, and pay attention to them,

for they can be God’s Spirit within you, warning you.

We have too the wisdom of The Good Book.

And, as Jesus cautions, assess people before you trust them,

Not by their words, but by the fruit of their lives

Which says more than words can.

Do things add up? Any red flags?

 

And Jesus has another memorable piece of advice

For his disciples, those sheep among wolves.

Be as wise, as phronimos as a serpent. The koine Greek word

Phronimos means shrewd, sensible, cautious, prudent.

These traits don’t come naturally to me.

But if Christ commands that we be as wise,

shrewd, sensible, cautious and prudent as a serpent,

His Spirit will empower us to be so.

 

A serpent is a carnivorous reptile,

But animals, birds and frogs are not easily caught.

So, the snake wastes no energy in bluster or self-promotion.

It does not boast of its plans; it does not show-off.

It is a creature of singular purpose, deliberate and slow-moving

For much of its life, it rests, camouflaged,

soaking in the sun, waiting and planning.

It’s patient, almost invisible, until the time is right

And then, it acts swiftly and decisively.

 

The wisdom of the snake then is in waiting

For the right time. It conserves energy,

Is warmed by the sun, watches, assesses,

and when the time is right, it moves swiftly

And very effectively.

 

But what of “two-faced snakes”

Who smile and smile and yet are villains?

Who wait till their Caesar-enemy is down,

Before they strike. God does not bless such lives.

Those who take the sword, perish by the sword, Jesus says,

Unless they repent, and a merciful God forgives.

 

However, as always, Jesus balances his advice:

Be as wise as a serpent, yes, but also as blameless

akeraios  as a dove. As pure, as guileless, as good.

Be wise, but not only to provide for yourself and family

But, also, to fulfil your calling in the world,

The one task God has given you, and no one else

Which you alone, and no one else, can do,

And which God will increasingly reveal to you,

as you wait and ask.

 

Today’s meditation was from Matthew Chapter 2.

If you’d like to read my previous recorded meditations,

3 Our Failures are the Cracks Through Which God’s Light Enters

2 The World is full of the Glory of God

1 Mindfulness is Remembering the Presence of Christ with us.

Please subscribe at Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks!!

And, of course, I would love you to read my memoir, fruit of much “blood, sweat, toil and tears.”

Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India in the UK, and in the US, here, well, and widely available, online, worldwide 🙂

IMAGE: Photo by Bicanski on Pixnio

 

 

 

Make Straight Paths for the Lord

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Mark 1, Blog Through the Bible Project


1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
   “I will send my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
   make straight paths for him.’”


What does it take for you to make straight paths for the Lord?


These are some things which help me clear a pathway for God


1 Silence


2 Brutal honesty about where I really am, what I am really preoccupied about.


3 Prayer, a beseeching for aerial support in my hour of conflict and trouble.


4 Limiting busyness. Being intense and highly strung, I try and limit social things to two a week, maybe three. More than that, I don’t enjoy them, and it does effect my inner dialogue with Christ.


5 Scripture, which introduces fresh ideas, insight and conviction into the petri dish of my thoughts.


6 Most of all, repentance helps me create a straight path for God to enter my soul.

A Voice Calling in the Wilderness

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Mark 1: 1-3–Blog Through the Bible Project


1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: 

  “I will send my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way”
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, 


A voice calling in the wilderness.


For me, there is hope in that phrase. 


Would the wilderness–solitude, no human companionship, none of the works of art, civilization, learning, the absence of iron sharpening iron, an absence of everything but you and God–be considered a suitable training ground for the development of a unique voice, which has something real, and of urgency to say to the world?


Apparently so. 


The voice which comes out of the wilderness is uniquely your own.


But if it is to have something of lasting value to say to the world, then it must also be a voice which has clearly heard God’s voice in the wilderness, and is tempered, modulated and profoundly influenced by that other voice heard in the wilderness. 


The voice which has heard God’s voice in the wilderness can cry with an unforgettable power, poignancy and urgency which will echo through the centuries. 

All Power on Heaven and Earth is Given Unto Me.

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The Great Commission
 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

The scope of Christ’s authority is the entire universe.

And so the boundaries of what is possible and what is impossible are very thin indeed. Because Jesus has the authority to shift these seemingly intractable boundaries. 

And therein lies the point and power of prayer: That Christ has the power to shift anything.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
His last commission, to teach people to obey his commands.
ESV The name, not names of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is an early indication of the Trinitarian Godhead, and an overt proclamation of Jesus’ divinity.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And so Matthew ends with the reassuring and empowering words of him who came to earth to be “God with us” and the Gospel of Matthew ends with the wonderful affirmation of the constant presence of Jesus with us until the end of the age. 

Lonely? Afraid? Full of foreboding?
Christ walks beside you. He is with you always.

ESV Jesus concludes the commission, and Matthew his Gospel with the crucial element of discipleship: the presence of the Master who is “God with us.”



The Resurrection

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The hands of the Risen Christ, Jacob Epstein
Matthew 27: 57-66
The Burial of Jesus

 57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
ESV–Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin who did not consent to the actions against Jesus (Luke 23 50-51). His high standing within the Jewish community gave him access to Pilate. 

Isaiah 53:9 “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.”

The Guard at the Tomb

 62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

 65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Matthew 28

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 
The discourse between angels and humans always begins with the same injunction, “Do not be afraid.”


6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
Galilee: The central location of Jesus’s earthly ministry continues in importance during his post-resurrection ministry.
 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.
ESV The women take hold of his feet showing that this is no mere vision or hallucination, but a physical resurrection. By allowing this act of worship, Jesus accepts the acknowledgement of his deity, since only God is to be worshiped. 


10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
And he returns, full of kindness. Do not be afraid, he tells the women, and in total forgiveness of the brothers who deserted him arranges a rendez-vouz in Galilee.

The Guards’ Report

 11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.


ESV–Faced with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, the religious leaders are forced once again to conspire together in order to preserve their religious and political influence. 



The Christians said. The Jews said. So someone is lying–the guards or the disciples.


 Whom do you think is more likely to be lying–people who would lose everything if they told the truth, or people who would lose everything if they lied? The soldiers faced possible execution for dereliction of guard duty, one of the most severe offenses while occupying foreign territory. 

 The disciples would be in danger of being whipped, cast out of the synagogue, and losing their very lives by lying about the resurrection. Would a bunch of liars write such beautiful books as letters as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter and James have written? Would they be so utterly transformed?