His Brother

An Open Heart

(1 John 3:17, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 30, 2016)

But if anyone has the world's goods

and sees his brother in need,

yet closes his heart against him,

how does God's love abide in him?

The World's Goods

We have “the world's goods.” Paul writes about having “food and clothing” in 1 Timothy 6:6-10. Do we have food and clothing? What a blessing! Do what John the Baptist instructed people who came to him: “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” (Luke 3:11)

Seeing a Brother in Need

If we have food and clothing then we should not only be content, we should also have our eyes open to see “a brother in need.” This was a hallmark of the early church. They made sure that people were fed and clothed (Acts 2:42-47), and they had “glad and generous hearts” according to Luke. When care for the poor was neglected among the worshiping assemblies of early Christians, it was a scandal. (Acts 6, 1 Corinthians 11) This goes beyond “the poor” as a category. John writes about seeing a particular “brother.” This starts among our family relations (1 Timothy 5:8), but it goes beyond our family of origin, to talk about another family circle: our family of destiny (Mark 3:35). Before we can give food or clothing to someone, we have to see that person as more than just a part of a nameless impersonal category. (Mark 14:7)

A Closed Heart Against a Brother

When we see a brother in need, even an elder brother like Jesus (Luke 8:1-3), we need not only open eyes, but also an open heart. Otherwise the Lazarus at the gate is just part of the scenery. (Luke 16:20-21)

How does God's love abide in him?

Each person has been created by God and is an image-bearer of the Almighty. When God came in person, he was objectified, despised, and “mocked” by some in His moment of greatest love (Luke 18:32, 22:63, 23:11, 23:36).

To love more fully we need to know love more fully. Jesus saw us wounded and bloody (even dead) by the side of the road, and he came for us (Luke 10:30-37). He gives us a new life.

Is there a limit to our ability to care for a poor brother? We certainly have limits. We may reach emotional limits long before we reach the end of our food and clothing. Some of our exhaustion may be religious amnesia. We forget that Jesus is really feeding the brother or sister. He is only using our hands. Jesus is giving through our poverty. (Matthew 25:35) Could He be the giver?

Old Testament Reading—Esther 9 – Judgment Upon the Persecutors

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:7 – Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

My Life for Yours

Laying Down Our Lives

(1 John 3:16, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 23, 2016)

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us,

and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Knowing the Love of Christ

What does it mean to “know love?” Someone might know the definition of love. Many don't even know this. A person may know the definition but would have to admit that they are not sure if they have ever experienced love or even observed love. There is a third way to “know” love. God is love, and Jesus is the visible manifestation of the invisible God. To know Jesus is to know the person of love. The church sees Him. We know Love. We also experience and observe Love all around us, and we have come to understand what true love is.

Love can be summarized with this resolve: “My life for yours.” Lust, which is often confused for love, is the opposite of this. It demands, “Your life for mine.”

Lust can take over a whole society. Consider what Israel was like at around 1200 BC. Life at the end of the book of Judges was severely dysfunction. It was a world of lust and not of love. The book ends with this repeated refrain: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

How do God's people live well in an age like that? The Ligonier Conference in 2017 has this title as that Christian ministry commemorates the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation: “The Next 500 Years.” That is a helpful perspective for those who may feel in a dark time like the sky is falling.

There is always a future and a hope for the people of God (Jeremiah 29:11). We just need to look in the right direction in order to find it.

Immediately after the last verse of Judges we are treated to the book of Ruth, which begins with this phrase, “In the days when the judges ruled.” In those same dark days, there was an opportunity for Boaz to do the right thing. When it seemed like a hopelessly dark time, Boaz married Ruth, and they had a baby. At the end of Ruth we read, “Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.” [Jesus is called “the son of David.” (Matthew 1:1)]

Boaz was a great man of love. “My life for yours.” He ran his farm in love. When a young woman showed up there to glean in order that she and her mother-in-law would have food for survival, he told her, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one.” Why do you suppose he told her that? Why did he instruct his young men about what they should or shouldn't do so that Ruth would be both safe and blessed by her time on Boaz's farm? Why do you think he kept on providing her with extra food to take home to her mother-in-law? When Ruth came to the threshing floor at night to propose to Boaz, why did he give his workers strict orders about what they should say to others about Ruth? Why did he bring up the matter of marriage to the elders in the public square rather than handling all this privately and then maybe apologizing later if need be? My life for yours. That's why.

Move ahead about 700 years to another dark time in history for the beloved of God. Many Jews were living in the 127 provinces ruled by Ahasuerus. Mordecai was watching over his younger relative, who would eventually be Queen Esther. Mordecai cared for her well-being before Esther became queen and he continued to care for her after she ascended to her exalted position. In Esther 8, Esther revealed to Ahasuerus the true connection between Mordecai and Esther. Mordecai had protected this orphan relation with a father's love. But his care was not only for one person, but for all of the Jews. His love caused him to write a law for the Persian empire that would allow the Jews to defend themselves against adversaries that wanted to destroy them. This too was love. In a dangerous world, “my life for yours” may involve putting oneself in the posture of defender and protector at the risk of one's own life.

Yesterday a group of people gathered together to mark the life of Walter Herold who died back in July. Walter came to the United States as a German Jew on the last boat possible. He gained his citizenship by fighting against fascism as an officer in the tenth mountain division in charge of about twenty men, all of whom survived the war. Many who went over did not survive. Why do we shed tears of admiration for that generation? They demonstrated love. They were a “my life for yours” group who were willing even to kill adversaries in order to save the weak.

Christ's Love: He Laid Down His Life for Us

The church in every dark age knows that we are citizens of a better and more lasting kingdom than anything that the world can offer. We have a King over that kingdom who is the very definition of love. He went into battle for us to defeat a very dangerous enemy, but not to kill any man. Instead, He would be the one casualty of war on the day of His most important battle. He would show His love for us by dying for us. See Isaiah 52:13-53:3.

When Jesus died on the cross for us, He defeated sin, death, Satan, and the entire realm of evil. He defeated the end of the book of Judges, and the murderous spirit of Haman the Agagite. Though He won by dying, He not only laid down His life for us, He also picked it up again by rising from the dead. In His death and resurrection, both of which had meaning only because of the perfect purity of His sinless life, He won, and we won in Him.

Christian Love: We Lay Down Our Lives for the “Brothers”

Now we have the great privilege of laying down our lives for others in the Body of Christ. If we are Boaz, we marry Ruth, and the right way. If we are Mordecai, we watch over young Esther. We thank God that we live in a worldwide community of true lovers that spans generations. We are inspired by their examples, most of all by the Captain of our Salvation. But the love of Jesus is more than an example that inspires us; He is a presence that empowers us. He accomplishes what the Law could never do. As we see Jesus in the Word as our true Love, we are changed.

What does John mean when he writes about the church “knowing” the love of Christ? It has to be more than a mere awareness of Christian doctrines. On the other hand, we don't want to reduce knowing to our awareness of “feeling” the love of Christ, or our lives will be destabilized based on the great variety of factors that can have an impact on our emotions.

Ultimately it will be very difficult for us to fathom the inner workings of how it is that through seeing Christ in the Word we truly discover and grow in God's love. We do see this: those who know Christ's sacrificial love show that knowledge best by sacrificially loving the Lord's family.

Old Testament Reading—Esther 8 – Salvation for the Jews

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Out of Death and Into Life

We Love the Brothers

(1 John 3:14-15, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 16, 2016)

[14] We know that we have passed out of death into life,

because we love the brothers.

Whoever does not love abides in death.

[15] Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,

and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Out of death into life

Don't miss opportunities for daily grace. They come in many ways—not only in Bible study and prayer, but in the opportunity that we have to listen to someone and to care. Ask yourself these important questions: What was I created for? What was I redeemed for? The Lord has made you and redeemed you to enjoy Him and to give your life away in service as an act of true worship. If you are too busy, you may be missing the fact that the people all around you in their hectic lives are your opportunities for receiving and giving daily grace.

God has gone to great lengths to rescue you out of death. You were once worse than comatose in sin. Dead people do not have daily opportunities for the kind of grace that only comes to the redeemed. Though they may be restrained from much evil, at the end of the day they are still spiritually dead. But you have “passed out of death” by the grace of the Almighty. Where are you headed now that you have left the old neighborhood of the dead? The same God who brought you out of death has brought you into life together with all who belong to Jesus.

But how can we know? Love is the proof, especially love for “the brothers.”

Do you have the life that John writes of? If so, it came to you by the Lord's mercy. You were delivered from spiritual blindness and have come to see that God is your only hope. Through the simple act of prayer, you have expressed your need to the One being who can bring life to the dead. As John Calvin wrote in his Brief Outline of the Christian Faith, “Man must turn to God in order to ask from him, by prayer, what he has learned to be in him.” This sincere petition for life is the first step of the new Christian.

A genuine work of saving grace is displayed in a life of love for the brothers and sisters in God's family. This obedience of perfect love was first and most supremely displayed in the cross of our Lord and Savior. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus won us by His love. He came. He healed. He taught. He saved. This love of Christ for His disciples lives on right now through His disciples. It is the visible proof that you have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life.

Here's how this works: Love lived once. Love lives on today. Let love live through you.

Where? Let love live through you at home. Let love live through you among the “brothers” in the church. There is more for you (work, community, world), but you can start in these two spheres of family and church as proving grounds for any broader work as a Christian servant.

Of course, non-incarnational Christianity has its advantages. You don't have to be around people that are less than perfect in so many ways. To look at this another way: Incarnational living is annoying. But it is also very rewarding. As Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) [Example of Paul in Ephesus as recorded in Acts 20. Further example of modern life in a Presbytery. Living a life of spiritual friendship and common endeavor in the church is well worth it, and it is a sign that a person has moved from death to life.]

What about the person who “hates his brother?”

These verses contrast the condition of someone who loves the brothers in Christ with those who hate the brothers. Right away we might all object to what appears to be an exaggeration. We would say, “I don't hate them.” But the apostle John makes the connection between “not love” and “hate” taking away any supposed middle ground. How could this be? Remember this: Detachment is a soft hate. It turns another human being created in God's image into a person who does not even exist in our world. That kind of elimination of a person is truly hateful.

John goes on to make the connection between “hate” and “murder.” That may seem way over the top, but remember that Jesus made the connection between calling someone a fool and God's command that tells us, “You shall not kill.” Detachment is hatred. Hatred is man-killing. And a man-killer does not have eternal life abiding in him.

But we feel sure of much better things... (Hebrews 6:9-12)

But not you. By God's grace, the church is a resurrection community of true brotherly love. Of course, there is much room for us to grow in love toward one another, even in the best times and in the best churches. We are not in the best times or the best environment for Christian living. We are told by Jesus that the day will come (Is it already here?) when “the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12) What can Christians do to turn up the temperature of our love?

Just as we turn to God in prayer in our first motion of Christian faith, we can pray to Him for much improvement in love. We can ask for the daily grace of seeing every present annoyance as an opportunity for daily grace, rather than an unpleasantness to be avoided.

Why not cultivate a new habit of instant and constant prayer? Paul says, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Another quote from Calvin to the point: “To know that God is the Lord, to know that everything good comes from him, to know that he invites us to ask him for what we need, and yet not to call on him and pray to him, is like knowing of a treasure hidden in the earth and, through indifference, to leave it there, without taking the trouble to dig it up.”

The false pride of not admitting our need will do us no good. “Blessed are the meek.” We should humble ourselves, since spiritual arrogance only leads to the murderous spirit that John sees as a sign that the King of eternal life is not remaining in us. Grace is the only way to obtain a gift as precious as exemplary love. Ask and you will receive.

Augustine said this in a sermon on 1 John: “Love God and do what you want.” The more you actually love God, the more you will love the brothers. Jesus loved the Father supremely, and then He did what He wanted. He loved you. Paul loved God and then he did what he wanted. He loved the church in Ephesus.

You were created for this. You were redeemed for this. Admit your need for grace. Yes, you are the meek. And also admit this: that you (and not haters like Haman) shall inherit the earth.

Old Testament Reading—Esther 7 – The Death of Haman

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:5 – Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Christianity and Autonomy

A World of Hate

(1 John 3:13, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 9, 2016)

Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

Brothers

So far in this walk through 1 John, the verse that has had the biggest impact on me is 1 John 3:3. It reads, “Everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure.” What struck me about that verse is the sanctifying power in a person's life of having what the Bible calls “hope.” Ten verses later, John makes a distinction between those he calls “brothers” (the church) and those he refers to as the world (not the [true?] church). Do these groups have different hopes?

The word “brothers” is one of the most common ways that Jesus and the New Testament authors refer to the church. One good way to distinguish between the church and the world is the content of their hope. The church believes that the Sovereign God who created and upholds all things, sent His own very self, the Son of God, to live and die for us, and to win for His children a new resurrection world that is coming in fullness in the return of Christ. This is the hope that we preach. The world does not believe that. The world may have hope of some kind, but it is not based on the promises of God in the Scriptures with Jesus at the center. We do not do surveys to discover this. It is true by definition. A true profession of faith in Christ includes believing in the Christian hope. Growing in that hope leads to greater purity of life as defined by biblical ethics.

The world hates you.

In 1923, J. Gresham Machen, wrote a blockbuster book that shook the Christian world of his day entitled Christianity and Liberalism. Machen carefully made the case that biblical Christianity and liberal Christianity were not two different forms of Christianity. Liberalism, which rejected key Biblical texts and doctrines was a different faith entirely. Machen was hated by many for making that point. Many wanted to be thought of as Christians even if they did not believe in the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus, and His bodily resurrection from the grave. Machen knew that there was sure hope in real Christianity and none in liberalism. On his deathbed, he sent this telegram to a friend: “So thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it.”

Today, the word “liberal” is confusing because of its various historic and political meanings. We now need to make the distinction between Christianity and Autonomy. Christianity is the same faith that it has been for centuries, centered in the Scriptural understanding of beliefs, ethics, and habits of fellowship found in historic statements such as the Nicene Creed, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer. This is and always will be Christianity. The world has a different faith. Autonomy insists that my heart and choice must be supreme above all and must be celebrated by all. It is the belief in personal autonomy above every other value. Autonomy rejects a God who would deliver to His people doctrinal and ethical absolutes. Autonomy is unmoved by God's instructions concerning how we communicate with Him and worship Him. I will decide that. In short, autonomy places the individual on the throne where God must always be according to historic Christianity. According to autonomy, “I AM.” This is the absolute. What does the man or woman of autonomy say at the moment of death? I will resist quips. Not funny.

Speaking clearly about these matters, however softly or graciously, may very well lead to anger, just as Dr. Machen's distinction between Christianity and Liberalism yielded much discomfort in the twentieth century. The world does not always appreciate this point of distinction. By the way, the leaders of the world will not necessarily bring us clarity on this matter. Even though we are to be respectful of authorities, we do not believe that just the right leader will make the world into the greatest kingdom of God place. Only Jesus will do that when He comes with the fullness of the resurrection age. Until that day, it should not surprise us that Jesus Himself referred to King Herrod as “that fox,” and that he told His disciples that the rulers of this world like to be called “benefactors” when they used their lordship abusively over other people. Leadership in the church should be different than a worldly grasping for power at all costs. Our King came to give His life as “a ransom for many.” We are called to follow Him, and not any impressive leader who destroys reputations and households for his or her own glory. That kind of me-above-all behavior fits the autonomy creed—not ours. The world's leaders must not be our role models.

Luke 13:31-35

[31] At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” [32] And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. [33] Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ [34] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! [35] Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Matthew 20:20-28

[20] Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. [21] And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” [22] Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” [23] He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” [24] And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. [25] But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. [26] It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, [27] and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, [28] even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Luke 22:24-27

[24] A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. [25] And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. [26] But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. [27] For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

Do not be surprised.

Therefore, we are warned that we should not be surprised about Haman-like arrogance and hatred in all its many ugly forms. Such leaders will be humbled. God announced “enmity” in Genesis 3 between the seed of the serpent and the seed of woman. Why be knocked off-course in our Christian commitment when we discover personally that the world hates the church?

What is the right relationship between church and world? If we are to love those who persecute us, where can we find strength to persevere? We can live well even in a dark age of animosity between people who hold to differing views. We cannot do this if our motto is, “Overcome evil with evil.” Nor will it work for us to join autonomy part way in the hope that we can overcome evil by pretending that there is no evil. Paul said “overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) What is the particular evil that you are mourning today? Is there something right and good that you can do to overcome that particular evil with some word or action of positive good?

In the meantime, you may be saddened by what you read about, hear, or see in both the world and the church. So be it. Blessed are those who mourn. Remember, they shall be comforted. It is good for false hopes to be exposed, but don't give up on the Christian hope that sets us on a road of gospel purity. Note Machen's encouragement to readers at the end of his book. There is yet a river in the Christian gospel of hope “that will revive the weary world.” (Machen, p.177)

Old Testament Reading—Esther 6 – The Humiliation of Haman

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Like I Have Time For This

Love and Murder, Cain and Abel

(1 John 3:11-12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 2, 2016)

[11] For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. [12] We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.

We should love one another

Psalms 42 and 43 go together. They share this memorable refrain: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” Hoping in God takes time. Are we too busy to hope?

One day, all of those who hope in God will find Him to be their first attention and their continual joy. John seems to write so many verses in this epistle from the view of that perfectly secure future day. He insists that this is who we really are even now. But we find it hard to follow even the most delightful commands. We grasp so firmly to the fleeting twenty-four of this day that we do not think we have the time to enter into the rest of God's eternal seventh day.

The Lord has given us one day in seven as a day to worship and rest in Him, but we are not always sure that we are at liberty to do that. He tells us to put our hope in Him, but we can easily imagine that hope is a hill too far for us to climb. If we have trouble with rest and hope, how will we fair with the command in 1 John 3:10—the command to love?

Love goes beyond feelings. Anything that is supremely displayed in the cross (John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this ...”) is not painless. Love costs. Cost only makes sense in a mindset of scarcity. Time... People who love are willing to give time to others. It becomes second nature to willingly give time to others when we enter into the mindset of eternity. John knew that the church would one day live in a world of perfect love, and so he called them to that good life during the present fleeting lives of his ancient hearers, now long gone.

What is the Christian ethic?

This is the Christian ethic. All of the Ten Commandments and all of the Law and the Prophets are summed up in what John tells us to do in this passage: “We should love one another.” Our anxious world has a different ethic—personal autonomy and choice are most important, taking the place of God and His choices. Technology has expanded our choices, and yet twenty-four hours in each day won't budge even a second. The result? Unsettled people created in God's image who are furiously stuffing more items into the finite bag of time.

Remember the old TV show Supermarket Sweep? “There's hardly any time left. Hurry up!” Eventually the bell sounds in our lives and the game is over. Who wins in the game of a life well-lived? Not necessarily the person with the highest cash value shopping basket, but the one who has learned the Master's love, and freely shared it with others.

Aside from the obvious fact that love is costly, why would anyone ever say “No” to the Lord's directive that we should love one another? We may imagine that we just don't have enough time for the Lord of the universe. But there is a deeper problem. It turns out that people have rejected God's command that we should love one another “from the beginning” because we have rejected God as the One who has the right to tell us what to do. That rejection of the Light has led us into some pretty thick darkness. Only the Lord can lead us out.

What's our problem? We won't agree to someone being over us with any ethical absolutes until our disposition toward the Giver of divine Law has been changed. If we reject the concept of a loving God who is above us, we will even reject His command to rest and to hope lest our obedience might be viewed as bowing the knee to Him. We are not sure we should trust anyone with the power to command us—even God. What might His next command be. Now we know: “Love one another.” Like we have time for this? We would reject the gift of loving God and others around us because we have grown accustom to trusting our own choices above His.

Cain and Abel

To understand love better, John gives us a very horrifying contrary example from the first book in the Bible, We are told that this account of the attack of one son upon another son was not love. Immediately after the fall of mankind in Genesis 3, we learn about the first death—a death that was not from natural causes, but by the anti-love of murder.

Genesis 4:1-10

[1] Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” [2] And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. [3] In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, [4] and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, [5] but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. [6] The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? [7] If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

[8] Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. [9] Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” [10] And the LORD said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

This is a story “from the beginning,” but it is not a story of sacrificial love, but of hate and murder.” Why did Cain murder Abel, even after he was warned by God? John tells us that like the evil one that Cain was following in that awful moment, Cain did what he did because his own deeds were evil, and his brothers were righteousness. Cain did not like that. He took action, and “sin” mastered him and took action through him. The result was devastating.

The history recorded in the Old Testament teaches us about the depths of human sin and our need for a great work of divine love within us. The New Testament assures us that divine Love has come. Jesus gave His life as a ransom. His blood speaks. (Hebrews 12:24) We who have received His gift are called and empowered to love in the midst of a murderous, frantic world.

What would love have looked like in the case of Cain and Abel? Receiving God as a good father. Resting. Hoping. Loving. Taking the time to listen and to learn from a brother. What would love look like for you and me? Our Brother's death and resurrection tell us about something worthy. Will we listen? God will lead us if we let Him. If we humble ourselves before the God of heaven and earth, we will find the time to take in this news: Jesus has given us the kingdom.

Old Testament Reading—Esther 5 – Esther's Banquet – Part 1

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:1-3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.