1 Corinthians
5:1-8 – Sexual Immorality Defiles the
Church
It is actually
reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of kind that is not
found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife. And you
are arrogant! Should you not rather have mourned, so that he who has done this
would have been removed from among you?
For though
absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present I have already
pronounced judgment in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such
a thing…Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens
the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new
batch as lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the
festival, not with the old yeast, the year of malice and evil but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Luke 6:6-11 –
The Man with a Withered Hand
On another Sabbath,
he entered the synagogue and taught and there was a man there whose right hand
was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would
cure on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. Even though
he knew what they were thinking he said to the man how he had the withered
hand, “Come and stand here!” He got up and stood there. Then, Jesus said to
them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do well or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save
life or to destroy it?” After looking around at all of them, he said to him, “Stretch
out your hand.” He did so and his hand was restored. But they were filled with
fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
In his reflections, Father
Michael Busch spoke about the scribes and Pharisees who were blind guides and lead
people astray. He asked everybody if we use the law as an excuse for not doing well.
Are we required to do what is necessary or to destroy life? How much are we
willing to sacrifice? There is no real love, no honesty, and
no sincerity in what we do if we are not true to ourselves. We become antagonistic to anyone including priests
and laymen who try to open our eyes and have a look of what is happening around
us. The church has changed its core beliefs, is open to new ways, and the needs
of modern life. But real worship means love in action and that includes sacrifice. We
should listen to God’s voice and deny ourselves or step out of our comfort zone.
Nothing will change unless we put our prayers into action, love one another, and
do something about it.
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