Show Notes
In this third week of “Ordinary” (or “Normal”) time, we are given a simple reminder to love God and share His love with others.
Nuance’s Formed for Formation is a weekly liturgy to encourage all of us to be faithful to Christ in the public square. Join Case Thorp as he follows the Church calendar through the reading of Scripture, prayer, and short reflections on faith in all facets of public life.
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Episode Transcript
Let’s orient ourselves to God’s will for the world and His way of bringing that about by reflecting on some of the words from Mylon LeFevre’s simple but profound sweet song of devotion: More of Jesus, less of me, by His power I will be, like a flower in the Spring, brand new life in everything, Holy Spirit, fill me up, gently overflow my cup, touch my eyes and let me see, me in you and you in me.
Our first reading today from the book of Galatians chapter 5 verse 1 and then 13 to 25.
5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
As someone who has devoted their life to study and teaching, I would never want to minimize the importance of rigorously applying ourselves to informing our faith. After all, we are instructed to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, our minds, and our strength. But at the same time, and so much of the Christian life is a divine tension, isn’t it? We can be in danger of over-complicating things if we’re not careful. While he is widely revered as one of the greatest theologians of modern times, the great Karl Barth is also remembered for once summarizing his beliefs by quoting the old children’s song, Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. I expect something of the same spirit was stirring in the apostle Paul when he wrote to the Galatians that the whole Jewish law could be summed up in a single commandment. Quote, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. How to do that? Through living by the spirit and tilling and cultivating our hearts so that the fruit of the spirit may grow there. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Missional strategies then are important as we go into our world as ambassadors of the kingdom at work in our schools and the public square. But what might it look like if we just focused on being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind and generous, faithful, gentle and self-controlled everywhere we went in a world dominated and driven by the works of the flesh that Paul says include enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, and factions, propensities fueled and fed by much of our media and marketing industries, a softer heart may be surprisingly disarming. As you go about your day in the world, remember that God’s love is the answer. Just look for ways to embody it through exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit. Paul’s exhortation is really the familiar K-I-S-S principle, refined by God’s presence, Keep it simple, saint.
The 16th Psalm, a miktam of David.
Keep me safe, my God,
for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
“They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Let’s echo Eldon Degge’s prayer together.
Dear Father, grower of spiritual fruit, let the fruit of the spirit blossom, mature, and ripen in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these. Let us possess them. Since we belong to Christ, ee have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Let us live by the spirit. Let us walk by the spirit. Let us show no self conceit, give no provocation, have no envy toward anyone else. Let us live in and through and for Christ Jesus as he lives in and through and for us and his whole church. In the name of Jesus, we ask you to perfect us, whatever that may take, and give us the grace to endure your renovation process. Amen.
A reading from the Gospel of Luke chapter 9 beginning in verse 51.
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
