Sayers: Jesus, God and man

Saturday, April 11, 2020
    Holy Saturday
    Commemoration of George Augustus Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, 1878
Meditation:
    For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
    —1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If [Jesus] were God and nothing else, his immortality means nothing to us; if he were a man and no more, His death is no more important than yours or mine. But if He really was both God and man, then when the man Jesus died, God died too, and when the God Jesus rose from the dead, then man rose too, because they were one and the same person.
    ... Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957), Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World, Eerdmans, 1969, p. 16 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 15:21-22; John 1:4,14; 3:6; 10:10,30; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 5:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord Jesus, You are God to men and Man to God. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Graham: message delivered

Friday, April 10, 2020
    Good Friday
    Feast of William Law, Priest, Mystic, 1761
    Commemoration of William of Ockham, Franciscan Friar, Philosopher, Teacher, 1347
    Commemoration of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Priest, Scientist, Visionary, 1955
Meditation:
    But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
    —Titus 3:4-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, “I love you.”
    ... Billy Graham (1918-2018), The Quotable Billy Graham, Droke House, 1966, p. 82 (see the book)
    See also Tit. 3:4-7; John 3:16-17; Rom. 5;8; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; 1 John 3:16; 4:9-10,19
Quiet time reflection:
    Love Incarnate has appeared. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Therese of Lisieux: the life of love

Thursday, April 9, 2020
    Maundy Thursday
    Feast of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Teacher, Martyr, 1945
Meditation:
    Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
    —John 14:23 (NIV)
Quotation:
The eve His life of love drew near its end,
    Thus Jesus spoke: “Whoever loveth Me,
And keeps My word as Mine own faithful friend,
    My Father, then, and I his guests will be;
Within his heart will make Our dwelling above.
    Our palace home, true type of heaven above.
There, filled with peace, We will that he shall rest,
        With us, in love.”
    ... Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), Poems of St. Teresa, Carmelite of Lisieux, Boston, Angel Guardian Press, 1907, “To Live of Love”, n. 1 (see the book)
    See also John 14:23-27; Ps. 90:1; 91:1; John 14:2-3; 1 John 4:15-16; Rev. 3:20; 19:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I receive You in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Love straight through

Wednesday, April 8, 2020
    Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg of New York, Priest, 1877
Meditation:
    And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.
    —Matthew 26:50 (KJV)
Quotation:
    He said to Judas, when he betrayed Him: “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” Just as if He had said: “Thou hatest me, and art mine enemy, yet I love thee, and am thy friend.” ... As though God in human nature were saying: “I am pure, simple Goodness, and therefore I cannot will or desire or rejoice in, or do or give anything but goodness. If I am to reward thee for thy evil and wickedness, I must do it with goodness, for I am and have nothing else.”
    ... Theologia Germanica [1518], Anonymous, ascribed to Johannes de Francfordia, (1380?-1440) & Susanna Winkworth, tr., published anonymously by Martin Luther, ch. XXXIII (see the book)
    See also Matt. 26:50; Ps. 31:19; 34:8; 41:9; 55:12-14; 107:1; Luke 22:48; John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; Jas. 1:27; 1 John 4:8-10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have embraced me when I have betrayed You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Carlyle: illusion and reality

Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Meditation:
    Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.
    —Proverbs 9:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Sweep away the illusion of time; glance, if thou have eyes, from the near moving cause to its far distant mover. The stroke that came transmitted through a whole galaxy of elastic balls, was it less a stroke than if the last ball only had been struck, and sent flying? Oh, could I transport thee direct from the beginnings to the endings, how were thy eyesight unsealed, and thy heart set flaming in the light-sea of celestial wonder! Then sawest thou that this fair universe, were it in the meanest province thereof, is in very deed the Stardomed City of God; that through every star, through every grass-blade, and most through every living soul, the glory of a present God still beams. But Nature, which is the time-vesture of God, and reveals Him to the wise, hides Him from the foolish.
    ... Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Sartor Resartus, 2nd ed., Philadelphia: Munroe & Co., 1837, p. 267-268 (see the book)
    See also Prov. 9:8; Deut. 4:19; Ps. 8:1-4; 33:6-9; Matt. 5:45; John 1:18; Rom. 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I witness Your hand in the universe. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Johnson: petition for grace

Monday, April 6, 2020
    Commemoration of Albrecht Dürer, artist, 1528, and Michelangelo Buonarrotti, artist, spiritual writer, 1564
Meditation:
    Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
    —Galatians 3:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Almighty and most merciful Father, I am now about to commemorate once more, in Thy presence, the redemption of the world by our Lord and Savior Thy Son Jesus Christ. Grant, O most merciful God, that the benefit of His sufferings may be extended to me. Grant me faith, grant me repentance. Illuminate me with Thy Holy Spirit. Enable me to form good purposes, and to bring these purposes to good effect. Let me so dispose my time, that I may discharge the duties to which Thou shalt vouchsafe to call me, and let that degree of health, to which Thy mercy has restored me, be employed to Thy Glory. O God, invigorate my understanding, compose my perturbations, recall my wanderings, and calm my thoughts, that having lived while Thou shalt grant me life, to do good and to praise Thee, I may when Thy call shall summon me to another state, receive mercy from Thee, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
    ... Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), Prayers and Meditations, London: Vernor, Hood, and Sharpe, 1806, Easter Day, 1771, p. 84-85 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 3:13-14; Pr. 13;4; 1 Cor. 15:58; Gal. 6:9; Eph. 1:7-8; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; Rev. 5:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, prepare us to receive Your grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Watts: Hosanna to Christ

Sunday, April 5, 2020
    Palm Sunday
Meditation:
    The crowds that went ahead of [Jesus] and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
    —Matthew 21:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
Hosanna to the royal Son
    Of David’s ancient line!
His natures two, his person one,
    Mysterious and divine.

The root of David here, we find,
    And Offspring are the same;
Eternity and time are join’d
    In our Immanuel’s name.

Bless’d he that comes to wretched men
    With peaceful news from heaven!
Hosannas of the highest strain
    To Christ the Lord be giv’n!

Let mortals ne’er refuse to take
    Th’ hosanna on their tongues,
Lest rocks and stones should rise, and break
    Their silence into songs.
    ... Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs [1707], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, book I, hymn 16, p. 301 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 21:9; Ps. 118:24-26; Isa. 55:12; 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Mark 11:9-10; Luke 19:38,40
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have announced Your peace!

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