Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

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Godly Abiding Spiritually in Jesus Changes the Meaning of What we See Worldly When Not Abiding in Jesus.

Spirituality is our innate ability to feel the difference worldly or godly thinking makes to the way scripture translates to our daily life and relationships.

All Scripture is a testimony to Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God. He is the complete revelation of God’s will of grace for salvation. Grace is the only unfailing rule of faith and practice for the Christian life.

The Gospel of grace is: rather than trying to be more faithful to become faithful, we become faithful by feeling the Faith God already has for and in us.

The Strength of Christianity is Grace

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Another name for Jesus is "Grace". Another name for God is "Grace". We are saved by GRACE. "Love" is not Love if it is not grace. This is true for "Faith", "Hope", "Joy" and all other theological words of significance in the scripture.

Until someone experiences the grace gift in their lives, all other theological words have no real meaning. Why not begin to use the word "grace" in place of "Jesus", "God", "the Spirit", "Love" and so on? It might seem inappropriate to do so. However, until it is actually experienced it will make no sense at all.

That is what this year is all about. Grace, did you get it?

Look for the grace label.

Pray this prayer from the Collect for this Sunday:

”O God, Increase and multiply upon us your mercy.”

Now quietly move into God's Presence and pray the prayer again:

“O God, Increase and multiply upon us your mercy.”

Did you feel the difference?

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 “The kingdom of heaven is...”

The Meaning of “Like” the Kingdom

The story is about the Kingdom of Heaven. It starts out small like a mustard seed but its potential is to become like a great bush. 

It is like yeast. Just a pinch of it raises up one’s life.

It can change our life. It is like a buried treasure. You do not own it until you are willing to sell all you have to buy the field it is in. 

It is like a merchant seeking a pearl of great price. Once they find it, he sells all he has and buys it. The merchant must be willing to seek it or he will not find it.

It is like a net that has caught different kinds of fish. The fishermen separate the ones of value from the ones that are not.

Then He adds, every scribe trained for the Kingdom is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.

While the parables are about the value of the Kingdom if read literally; it is their spiritual meanings that yield the real information about the Kingdom. The clue to what it is about is found in the last verse. It is not a matter of the value of the Kingdom; it is a matter of being trained to see it.

It is about knowing what a mustard seed can become. If you do not know it, you cannot believe something that small could become so large. If you do not know how much a little yeast can raise a whole lump of flower you do not know how to use it. It is possible for the untrained to discover hidden treasure but the odds are less than those for winning the lottery. Even if the treasure is recognized, the finder may not be willing to sell all they have, change their life and buy the field. If you are not a merchant who knows the value of the pearl seeking the Kingdom will do you no good. Unless you are a fisherman who knows which fish are valuable and which are not you will have a net load of fish no one wants.

Then He asks the disciples, did you get it? They did. He points out that it takes a scribe to be trained to know the value of what is new and what is old when he is copying scriptures.

We need to be trained to know the value of the Kingdom.

Knowing its value is not enough. We must understand how to know the value. There are great numbers of people who are not trained to understand how to know the value of the Kingdom. To know it, is to be able to experience it. 

It is quite simple for those who want the training. We need to know the Kingdom is in us. When we are out of the Kingdom, our thoughts create our feelings about our events. 

When we are in the Kingdom, the feeling of the Presence creates the thoughts in the event. The rest is doing it.

The question remains the same one that Jesus asked. Did you think this was a story or did you see it was a grace class on Life Training?

“O God, Increase and multiply upon us your mercy.”

Did you get the grace?

THE DISCIPLE-SHIFT: The Virtual Small Group: Members share once a week with their group through the internet when a shift from being out to being in the Presence made a difference.