Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)
In this Gospel we read the tail end of the Sermon on the Mount, the first and most famous of Matthew’s five large collected sayings of Jesus. And the Gospel repeats the same theme as Isaiah and the Psalm, which is the advice to ignore our pesky human tendency to grasp at false refuges, but rather to rest in God’s world with trust. In this world, lofty cities are brought low, rains fall, floods come, and winds blow, but the one thing that remains steadfast is God’s love. It is steady as a rock, but only a metaphorical rock, for everyone knows that eventually even rocks crumble to dust.
So give yourself to God, who is Love. Nothing else works, or lasts, or feels good.
Namaste! Amen!
The Readings
Isaiah 26:1-6
On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strong city;
God sets up victory
like walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates,
so that the righteous nation that keeps faith
may enter in.
Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—
in peace because they trust in you.
Trust in the Lord for ever,
for in the Lord God
you have an everlasting rock.
For God has brought low
the inhabitants of the height;
the lofty city God lays low.
God lays it low to the ground,
casts it to the dust.
The foot tramples it,
the feet of the poor,
the steps of the needy.
Psalm 118
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
God’s steadfast love endures for ever!
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in mortals.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
You Lord are God,
and you have given us light.
Matthew 7:21,24-27
‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’
The readings are from the website below, with tiny adjustments to make the text more inclusive.
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