The Upper Room Daily Reflections: daily words of wisdom and faith of Nashville, Tennessee, United States "God Makes All Things New" for 4 September 2017

The Upper Room Daily Reflections: daily words of wisdom and faith of Nashville, Tennessee, United States "God Makes All Things New" for 4 September 2017

Today’s Reflection:

I BELIEVE THAT it is God’s nature to heal, that is, to continue creating us to be the unique persons God intends. When we are sick; when disaster strikes; when we are buffeted by betrayal, tragedy, abuse, or our own sin; when we are oppressed by distorted social systems, God’s desire is to redeem, transform, and make new.
We are saved, redeemed, and born again not just once but repeatedly throughout our lives as we are invited to grow in grace. This growth continues whether we are old or young, renegade or saintly, overtly suffering or feeling pretty well. We can trust that God is always inviting us to the next step in our growth and healing, even at death. At every stage, age, and circumstance in our lives, God nudges us to grow and change. [Tilda Norberg, Gathered Together]
From page 23 of Gathered Together: Creating Personal Liturgies for Healing and Transformation by Tilda Norberg. Copyright © 2007 by Tilda Norberg. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question: What do you see God renewing around you?
Today’s Scripture: This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. [Exodus 12:14, NRSV]
This Week: pray for those affected by natural disasters.
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Did You Know?
In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.
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This week we remember: Mother Teresa of Calcutta (August 13).
Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Birth

Agnes Gonxha Bajaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia

Death

Mother Teresa on September 5, 1997 in Kolkata, India

Received

Joined the Loreto Novitiate on May 23, 1929

First Profession

May 25, 1931 and was to be known as Sister Teresa after her patroness St. Therese of Lisieux

Final Profession

May 24, 1937 and was to be known as Mother Teresa following Loreto custom

Inspiration Day

September 10, 1946 on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received the "call within a call," which was to give rise to the Missionaries of Charity Order.

Founded MC

October 7, 1950 the Missionaries of Charity was officially erected as a religious institute for the Archdiocese of Calcutta.

Among the 124 Awards Received

Padmashree Award (from the President of India) August 1962

Pope John XXIII Peace Prize January 1971

John F. Kennedy International Award September 1971

Jawahalal Nehru Award for International Understanding November 1972

Templeton Prize for "Progress in Religion" April 1973

Nobel Peace Prize December 1979

Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India) March 1980

Order of Merit (from Queen Elizabeth) November 1983

Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee August 1987

United States Congressional Gold Medal June 1997

Missionaries of Charity

In addition to the Sisters, Mother Teresa founded four other branches of the Missionaries of Charity family. On March 25, 1963, the Archbishop of Calcutta blessed the beginning of an active branch of Brothers. The contemplative branch of the Sisters began in New York on June 25, 1976, and the contemplative Brothers were established in Rome on March 19, 1979. The Fathers were founded in the Bronx, New York on October 13, 1984.

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, the future Mother Teresa, was born on 26 August 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian heritage. Her father, a well-respected local businessman, died when she was eight years old, leaving her mother, a devoutly religious woman, to open an embroidery and cloth business to support the family. After spending her adolescence deeply involved in parish activities, Agnes left home in September 1928, for the Loreto Convent in Rathfarnam (Dublin), Ireland, where she was admitted as a postulant on October 12 and received the name of Teresa, after her patroness, St. Therese of Lisieux.
Agnes was sent by the Loreto order to India and arrived in Calcutta on 6 January 1929. Upon her arrival, she joined the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling. She made her final profession as a Loreto nun on 24 May 1937, and hereafter was called Mother Teresa. While living in Calcutta during the 1930s and '40s, she taught in St. Mary's Bengali Medium School.
On 10 September 1946, on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received what she termed the "call within a call," which was to give rise to the Missionaries of Charity family of Sisters, Brothers, Fathers, and Co-Workers. The content of this inspiration is revealed in the aim and mission she would give to her new institute: "to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus on the cross for love and souls" by "labouring at the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor." On October 7, 1950, the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially erected as a religious institute for the Archdiocese of Calcutta.
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Mother Teresa expanded the work of the Missionaries of Charity both within Calcutta and throughout India. On 1 February 1965, Pope Paul VI granted the Decree of Praise to the Congregation, raising it to pontifical right. The first foundation outside India opened in Cocorote, Venezuela, in 1965. The Society expanded to Europe (the Tor Fiscale suburb of Rome) and Africa (Tabora, Tanzania) in 1968.
From the late 1960s until 1980, the Missionaries of Charity expanded both in their reach across the globe and in their number of members. Mother Teresa opened houses in Australia, the Middle East, and North America, and the first novitiate outside Calcutta in London. In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. By that same year there were 158 Missionaries of Charity foundations.
The Missionaries of Charity reached Communist countries in 1979 with a house in Zagreb, Croatia, and in 1980 with a house in East Berlin, and continued to expand through the 1980s and 1990s with houses in almost all Communist nations, including 15 foundations in the former Soviet Union. Despite repeated efforts, however, Mother Teresa was never able to open a foundation in China.
Mother Teresa spoke at the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly in October 1985. On Christmas Eve of that year, Mother Teresa opened "Gift of Love" in New York, her first house for AIDS patients. In the coming years, this home would be followed by others, in the United States and elsewhere, devoted specifically for those with AIDS.
From the late 1980s through the 1990s, despite increasing health problems, Mother Teresa traveled across the world for the profession of novices, opening of new houses, and service to the poor and disaster-stricken. New communities were founded in South Africa, Albania, Cuba, and war-torn Iraq. By 1997, the Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members, and were established in almost 600 foundations in 123 countries of the world.
After a summer of traveling to Rome, New York, and Washington, in a weak state of health, Mother Teresa returned to Calcutta in July 1997. At 9:30 PM, on 5 September, Mother Teresa died at the Motherhouse. Her body was transferred to St Thomas's Church, next to the Loreto convent where she had first arrived nearly 69 years earlier. Hundreds of thousands of people from all classes and all religions, from India and abroad, paid their respects. She received a state funeral on 13 September, her body being taken in procession - on a gun carriage that had also borne the bodies of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru - through the streets of Calcutta. Presidents, prime ministers, queens, and special envoys were present on behalf of countries from all over the world.

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Lectionary Readings for Sunday, 10 September 2017
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 149
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
Scripture Texts for Exodus 12:1 Adonai spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt; he said, 2 “You are to begin your calendar with this month; it will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Speak to all the assembly of Isra’el and say, ‘On the tenth day of this month, each man is to take a lamb or kid for his family, one per household — 4 except that if the household is too small for a whole lamb or kid, then he and his next-door neighbor should share one, dividing it in proportion to the number of people eating it. 5 Your animal must be without defect, a male in its first year, and you may choose it from either the sheep or the goats.

6 “‘You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the community of Isra’el will slaughter it at dusk. 7 They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the door-frame at the entrance of the house in which they eat it. 8 That night, they are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire; they are to eat it with matzah and maror. 9 Don’t eat it raw or boiled, but roasted in the fire, with its head, the lower parts of its legs and its inner organs. 10 Let nothing of it remain till morning; if any of it does remain, burn it up completely.

11 “‘Here is how you are to eat it: with your belt fastened, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand; and you are to eat it hurriedly. It is Adonai’s Pesach [Passover]. 12 For that night, I will pass through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and animals; and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt; I am Adonai. 13 The blood will serve you as a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over [Exodus 12:13 Hebrew: pasach] you — when I strike the land of Egypt, the death blow will not strike you.

14 “‘This will be a day for you to remember and celebrate as a festival to Adonai; from generation to generation you are to celebrate it by a perpetual regulation.

Psalm 149:1 Halleluyah!

Sing to Adonai a new song,

his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

2 Let Isra’el rejoice in their maker,

let Tziyon’s children take joy in their king.

3 Let them praise his name with dancing,

make melody to him with tambourine and lyre;

4 for Adonai takes delight in his people,

he crowns the humble with salvation.

5 Let the faithful exult gloriously,

let them sing for joy on their beds.

6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats,

but a two-edged sword in their hands

7 to carry out vengeance on the nations

and punishment on the peoples,

8 to bind their kings with chains

and put their nobles in irons,

9 to execute the judgments decreed for them;

for this will glorify all his faithful.

Halleluyah!

Romans 13:8 Don’t owe anyone anything — except to love one another; for whoever loves his fellow human being has fulfilled Torah. 9 For the commandments, “Don’t commit adultery,” “Don’t murder,” “Don’t steal,” “Don’t covet,”[Romans 13:9 Exodus 20:13–14(17), Deuteronomy 5:17–18(21)] and any others are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[Romans 13:9 Leviticus 19:18] 10 Love does not do harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fullness of Torah.

11 Besides all this, you know at what point of history we stand; so it is high time for you to rouse yourselves from sleep; for the final deliverance is nearer than when we first came to trust. 12 The night is almost over, the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and arm ourselves with the weapons of light. 13 Let us live properly, as people do in the daytime — not partying and getting drunk, not engaging in sexual immorality and other excesses, not quarrelling and being jealous. 14 Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Yeshua the Messiah; and don’t waste your time thinking about how to provide for the sinful desires of your old nature.

Matthew 18:15 “Moreover, if your brother commits a sin against you, go and show him his fault — but privately, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. 16 If he doesn’t listen, take one or two others with you so that every accusation can be supported by the testimony of two or three witnesses.[Matthew 18:16 Deuteronomy 19:15] 17 If he refuses to hear them, tell the congregation; and if he refuses to listen even to the congregation, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax-collector. 18 Yes! I tell you people that whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. 19 To repeat, I tell you that if two of you here on earth agree about anything people ask, it will be for them from my Father in heaven. 20 For wherever two or three are assembled in my name, I am there with them.”

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John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for Exodus 12:1-14

Verse 1

[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

The Lord spake — Had spoken, before the three days darkness. But the mention of it was put off to this place, that the history of the plagues might not be interrupted.

Verse 2

[2] This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

This shall be to you the beginning of months — They had hitherto begun their year from the middle of September, but hence-forward they were to begin it from the middle of March, at least in all their ecclesiastical computations. We may suppose that while Moses was bringing the ten plagues upon the Egyptians, he was directing the Israelites to prepare for their departure at an hour's warning. Probably he had, by degrees, brought them near together from their dispersions, for they are here called the congregation of Israel; and to them, as a congregation, orders are here sent.

Verse 3

[3] Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

Take every man a lamb — In each of their families, or two or three families, if they were small, join for a lamb. The lamb was to be got ready four days before. and that afternoon they went, they were to kill it, ( Exodus 12:6,) as a sacrifice, not strictly, for it was not offered upon the altar, but as a religious ceremony, acknowledging God's goodness to them, not only in preserving them from, but in delivering them by the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians. The lamb so slain they were to eat roasted (we may suppose in its several quarters) with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; they were to eat it in haste, Exodus 12:11, and to leave none of it until the morning; for God would have them to depend upon him for their daily bread. Before they eat the flesh of the lamb, they were to sprinkle the blood upon the door-posts; by which their houses were to be distinguished from the houses of the Egyptians, and so their first-born secured from the sword of the destroying angel. Dreadful work was to be made this night in Egypt; all the first-born both of man and beast were to be slain; and judgment executed upon the gods of Egypt, Numbers 33:4. It is probable the idols which the Egyptians worshipped were defaced, those of metal melted, those of wood consumed, and those of stone broke to pieces. This was to be annually observed as a feast of the Lord in their generations, to which the feast of unleavened bread was annexed, during which, for seven days, they were to eat no bread but what was unleavened, in remembrance of their being confined to such bread for many days after they came out of Egypt, Exodus 12:14-20. There was much of the gospel in this ordinance: (1.) The paschal lamb was typical. Christ is our passover, 1 Corinthians 5:7, and is the Lamb of God, John 1:29. 2. It was to be a male of the first year; in its prime. Christ offered up himself in the midst of his days. It notes the strength and sufficiency of the Lord Jesus, on whom our help was laid. 3. It was to be without blemish, noting the purity of the Lord Jesus, a lamb without spot, 1 Peter 1:19. 4. It was to be set apart four days before, noting the designation of the Lord Jesus to be a Saviour, both in the purpose and in the promise. It is observable, that as Christ was crucified at the passover, so he solemnly entered into Jerusalem four days before, the very day that the paschal lamb was set apart. 5. It was to be slain and roasted with fire, noting the exquisite sufferings of the Lord Jesus, even unto death, the death of the cross. 6. It was to be killed by the whole congregation between the two evenings, that is, between three o'clock and six. Christ suffered in the latter end of the world, Hebrews 9:26, by the hand of the Jews, the whole multitude of them, Luke 23:18. 7. Not a bone of it must be broken, Exodus 12:46, which is expressly said to be fulfilled in Christ, John 19:33,36. (2.) The sprinkling of the blood was typical. 1st, It was not enough that the blood of the lamb was shed, but it must be sprinkled, noting the application of the merits of Christ's death to our souls; 2dly, It was to be sprinkled upon the door-posts, noting the open profession we are to make of faith in Christ, and obedience to him. The mark of the beast may be received in the forehead, or in the right hand, but the seal of the lamb is always in the forehead, Revelation 7:3. 3dly, The blood thus sprinkled was a means of the preservation of the Israelites from the destroying angel. If the blood of Christ be sprinkled upon our consciences, it will be our protection from the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the damnation of hell. (3.) The solemn eating of the lamb was typical of our gospel duty to Christ. 1st, The paschal lamb was killed not to be looked upon only, but to be fed upon; so we must by faith make Christ ours, as we do that which we eat, and we must receive spiritual strength and nourishment from him, as from our food, and have delight in him, as we have in eating and drinking when we are hungry or thirsty. 2dly, It was to be all eaten: those that, by faith, feed upon Christ, must feed upon a whole Christ. They must take Christ and his yoke, Christ and his cross, as well as Christ and his crown. 3dly, It was to be eaten with bitter herbs, in remembrance of the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt; we must feed upon Christ with brokenness of heart, in remembrance of sin. 4thly, It was to be eaten in a departing posture Exodus 12:11, when we feed upon Christ by faith, we must sit loose to the world, and every thing in it. (4.) The feast of unleavened bread was typical of the Christian life, 1 Corinthians 5:7,8. Having received Christ Jesus the Lord, 1st. We must keep a feast, in holy joy, continually delighting ourselves in Christ Jesus; If true believers have not a continual feast, it is their own fault. 2dly, It must be a feast of unleavened bread, kept in charity, without the leaven of malice, and in sincerity, without the leaven of hypocrisy. All the old leaven of sin must be put far from us, with the utmost caution, if we would keep the feast of a holy life to the honour of Christ. 3dly, It was to be an ordinance forever. As long as we live we must continue feeding upon Christ, and rejoicing in him always, with thankful mention of the great things he has done for us.

Verse 9

[9] Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

Raw — Half roasted, but throughly drest.

Verse 10

[10] And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

Ye shall burn with fire — To prevent the profane abuse of it.

Verse 11

[11] And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover.

The Lord's passover — A sign of his passing over you, when he destroyed the Egyptians.

Psalm 149

Verse 4

[4] For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.

The Lord — He rejoiceth over them to do them good.

Beautify — Heb. adorn, make them amiable and honourable in the eyes of the world, who now hate and despise them.

The meek — All true Israelites are such.

Verse 5

[5] Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.

In glory — For the honour which God putteth upon them.

Beds — By night as well as by day.

Verse 7

[7] To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;

Vengeance — For all their cruelties and injuries towards God's people. This was literally accomplished by David upon the Philistines, Ammonites, Syrians and other neighbouring nations.

Verse 9

[9] To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.

Written — Appointed and declared in the holy scripture.

Romans 13:8-14

Verse 8

[8] Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

From our duty to magistrates he passes on to general duties.

To love one another — An eternal debt, which can never be sufficiently discharged; but yet if this be rightly performed, it discharges all the rest.

For he that loveth another — As he ought.

Hath fulfilled the whole law — Toward his neighbour.

Verse 9

[9] For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

If there be any other — More particular.

Commandment — Toward our neighbour; as there are many in the law.

It is summed up in this — So that if you was not thinking of it, yet if your heart was full of love, you would fulfil it.

Verse 10

[10] Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law — For the same love which restrains from all evil, incites us to all good.

Verse 11

[11] And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

And do this — Fulfil the law of love in all the instances above mentioned.

Knowing the season — Full of grace, but hasting away.

That it is high time to awake out of sleep — How beautifully is the metaphor carried on! This life, a night; the resurrection, the day; the gospel shining on the heart, the dawn of this day; we are to awake out of sleep; to rise up and throw away our night-clothes, fit only for darkness, and put on new; and, being soldiers, we are to arm, and prepare for fight, who are encompassed with so many enemies. The day dawns when we receive faith, and then sleep gives place. Then it is time to rise, to arm, to walk, to work, lest sleep steal upon us again. Final salvation, glory, is nearer to us now, than when we first believed - It is continually advancing, flying forward upon the swiftest wings of time. And that which remains between the present hour and eternity is comparatively but a moment.

Verse 13

[13] Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

Banqueting — Luxurious, elegant feasts.

Verse 14

[14] But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ — Herein is contained the whole of our salvation. It is a strong and beautiful expression for the most intimate union with him, and being clothed with all the graces which were in him. The apostle does not say, Put on purity and sobriety, peacefulness and benevolence; but he says all this and a thousand times more at once, in saying, Put on Christ. And make not provision - To raise foolish desires, or, when they are raised already, to satisfy them.

Matthew 18:15-20

Verse 15

[15] Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

But how can we avoid giving offence to some? or being offended at others! Especially suppose they are quite in the wrong? Suppose they commit a known sin? Our Lord here teaches us how: he lays down a sure method of avoiding all offences. Whosoever closely observes this threefold rule, will seldom offend others, and never be offended himself. If any do any thing amiss, of which thou art an eye or ear witness, thus saith the Lord, If thy brother - Any who is a member of the same religious community: Sin against thee, 1.

Go and reprove him alone — If it may be in person; if that cannot so well be done, by thy messenger; or in writing. Observe, our Lord gives no liberty to omit this; or to exchange it for either of the following steps. If this do not succeed, 2.

Take with thee one or two more — Men whom he esteems or loves, who may then confirm and enforce what thou sayest; and afterward, if need require, bear witness of what was spoken. If even this does not succeed, then, and not before, 3. Tell it to the elders of the Church - Lay the whole matter open before those who watch over yours and his soul. If all this avail not, have no farther intercourse with him, only such as thou hast with heathens. Can any thing be plainer? Christ does here as expressly command all Christians who see a brother do evil, to take this way, not another, and to take these steps, in this order, as he does to honour their father and mother. But if so, in what land do the Christians live? If we proceed from the private carriage of man to man, to proceedings of a more public nature, in what Christian nation are Church censures conformed to this rule? Is this the form in which ecclesiastical judgments appear, in the popish, or even the Protestant world? Are these the methods used even by those who boast the most loudly of the authority of Christ to confirm their sentences? Let us earnestly pray, that this dishonour to the Christian name may be wiped away, and that common humanity may not, with such solemn mockery, be destroyed in the name of the Lord! Let him be to thee as the heathen - To whom thou still owest earnest good will, and all the offices of humanity. Luke 17:3.

Verse 18

[18] Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth — By excommunication, pronounced in the spirit and power of Christ.

Whatsoever ye shall loose — By absolution from that sentence. In the primitive Church, absolution meant no more than a discharge from Church censure.

Again I say — And not only your intercession for the penitent, but all your united prayers, shall be heard. How great then is the power of joint prayer! If two of you - Suppose a man and his wife. Matthew 16:19.

Verse 20

[20] For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name — That is, to worship me.

I am in the midst of them — By my Spirit, to quicken their prayers, guide their counsels, and answer their petitions.

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