Lectionary Devotions by Bishop Hawkins

Jesus implies that they and we have a dual citizenship, earthly and heavenly. At times, there is no conflict between these, but we must remember that they do at other times come into the strongest of conflict…

Both being unforgiven and unforgiving are full of torment. They are a taste of hell and a feel of its unquenchable flame. For hell is the place of no forgiveness, where there is no love to cover any sin.

Many in our day find the military language in that Epistle reading off-putting and offensive. But we want to be careful not to miss or dismiss Paul’s point – that there is a real, spiritual battle against evil and darkness.

This is a hard saying of Jesus, this ending to the parable. And for two thousand years Christians have wondered, “What is this wedding garment? What is the dress code for heaven? What is the one thing you have to have on, to stay at the heavenly banquet?”

What is it that is keeping you from walking? What is that is weighing you down? What burden is your crushing load? What cripples you, paralyzes you, confines you to your bed? Unforgiven sin. It holds us down and it keeps us there, even forever, if it can…

Neither the content nor the pattern of what we rightly call Jesus’ summary of the law is novel. It is the same as the Ten Commandments themselves. In fact, the very words are from the “Shema” or “Hear O Israel,” based on Deuteronomy 6.4-5 and Leviticus 19.18.

How much of human life, and the course and history of the world, is nothing but this, an endless grown-up game of musical chairs, everyone fighting over scraps of worldly glory, power, preference and prestige? And we see this in the Church at large, and on the local level as well…

Faint not, weep not… Neither fainting nor crying are things which it seems we have complete control over. So there must be something more here, some basis on which we can be exhorted not to faint or weep…

Three times Jesus tells us, “Do not be anxious.” It can all sound like the lyrics to that painfully peppy song, “Don’t worry, be happy.” I know that your worries and anxieties are real…

It is not enough to talk the talk, you must walk the walk. “Walk in the Spirit,” we are told by Paul two Sundays in a row, in readings from Galatians…