Live Like You’ll Live Forever:  Live a Life of Thanks The Good of Giving (Thanks)… read more

This Sunday we thank God for bringing our Christian loved ones out of the troubles and turmoil of this world and into eternal bliss and glory. And we ask God to preserve us in our faith so that we might one day join the saints in that place, without the fear of judgement.

Today the Church hears strains of the distant triumph song and affirms, “Blessed are they who are called to the marriage feast of the Lamb. So while we wait, the Church prays, “Keep us ever watchful for the coming of your Son that we may sit with Him and all your holy ones at the marriage feast in heaven.” We celebrate those who have died in faith and now realize the perfect joys of heaven. We, with our loved ones, live free from the fear of judgment.

Perhaps you have heard the axiom, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” In other words, while you still can, use what you have in order to enjoy life to the fullest. If this life is all there is, St. Paul agrees that would be a good philosophy. Paul wrote, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32). However, note the “if.” Paul was saying that the epicurean approach to life makes sense only if this life is all we have. But it isn’t. Jesus will raise us from the dead and take us to live in His home, a place of perfect comfort and beauty. Knowing that, we are set free from the need to live a self-indulgent life now. Instead, we can be generous people, using the wealth that God has given us to serve both Him and others. We can live a life of startling generosity.

St. Luke, the beloved physician referred to by St. Paul (Colossians 4:14), presents us with Jesus, whose blood provides the medicine of immortality. As his traveling companion, Paul claimed Luke’s Gospel as his own for its healing of souls (Eusebius). Luke traveled with Paul during the second missionary journey, joining him after Paul received his Macedonian call to bring the Gospel to Europe (Acts16:10-17). Luke most likely stayed behind in Philippi for seven years, rejoining Paul at the end of the third missionary journey in Macedonia. He traveled with Paul to Troas, Jerusalem, and Caesarea, where Paul was imprisoned for two years (Acts 20:5-21:18). While in Caesarea, Luke may have researched material that he used in his Gospel. Afterward, Luke accompanied Paul on his journey to Rome (Acts 27:1-28:16).

Especially beloved in Luke’s Gospel are the stories of the Good Samaritan (Luke 16:29-37) and the prodigal son (Luke15:11-32). Only Luke provides a detailed account of Christ’s birth (Luke 2:1-20) and the canticles of Mary (Luke1:46-55), of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79), and Simeon (Luke 2:29-32).

To show how Christ continued His work in the Early Church through the apostles, Luke also penned the Acts of the Apostles. More than one-third of the New Testament comes from the hand of the evangelist Luke. (From The Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House)

People think that establishing priorities is about ranking things in order of importance. But it is more than that. We do not have unlimited time and energy. So, establishing priorities enables us to say “no” to things which might be good yet not truly important. Without proper priorities, one inevitably will pursue that which is nice while downplaying that which is needed.

Throughout Scripture believers are urged to prioritize. It is the heart of the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Jesus calls for prioritization when He says, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Good news: followers of Christ maintain proper priorities. Even better news: followers of Christ receive His forgiveness for all the times their priorities have been improper.

Power is neither inherently good nor bad. Fire is powerful. The chef uses fire to create meals. But the arsonist uses fire to destroy homes. Nuclear fission is a powerful force. The engineer harnesses it, producing abundant electricity. The tyrant harnesses it, threating others with nuclear weapons. What matters is the purpose of the one who has that power.

Jesus has limitless power, as the numerous accounts of his miracles demonstrate. Those who witnessed those miracles understood that Jesus used his power for good. That doesn’t mean they all understood Jesus’ true purpose. Some thought Jesus’ purpose was to make this temporal life better. And while Jesus did that at times, his ultimate purpose was to save us from sin and give us the gift of eternal life. Followers of Christ see the true purpose of his power.

A loving father gives his son and daughter a list of rules and regulations. Chores, curfews, civilities, dress code—the father makes his will clearly known. The son strives to follow the rules for two reasons. 1) He wants to get his allowance. 2) He is afraid that if he breaks the rules, his father will punish him. The daughter strives to follow the rules, also for two reasons. 1) She believes her father established those rules not to control her but for her safety and blessing. 2) She wants to demonstrate how much she loves and trusts her father. Those two children’s actions might look almost identical. Their hearts are very different!

Likewise, following Christ is not simply a matter of outward observance of laws. It is a matter of the heart. The Law was given so we could see God’s heart and demonstrate how his heart has affected our own. The followership Christ seeks flows from hearts that have been radically transformed by God’s law and gospel. Christ wants his followers to be less like the son described above, and more like the daughter. This week we see that followers of Christ obey his law from the heart.

As Jesus concluded his Bread of Life discourse, many said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” and walked away. Read carefully. They did not say the teaching was hard to understand. The meaning was clear enough. Jesus was teaching that the only chance to enjoy eternity in heaven is through a close connection to him. He is the only bread that gives eternal life. That isn’t hard to understand, but it is hard to accept. Eating this bread means reordering our lives so that Jesus is by far our highest priority. It means loving the Blesser infinitely more than his earthly blessings. It means realizing that Jesus is the only thing we really need. If we had nothing but him, we would not lack anything that ultimately matters.

Jesus watches the multitudes walking away from him. He turns to the Twelve—he turns to us this week—and he whispers, “You do not want to leave me too, do you?” May the Spirit give us the wisdom to answer, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Physical food is a blessing from God without which we would literally wither away and die. That is why Jesus lovingly and miraculously fed thousands of followers with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Yet, while physical food is a good thing, it is far from the greatest thing God provides us. The greatest blessing God provides is spiritual food. The best thing God gives us is his Son, the Bread of Life. Without that spiritual food, we wither and die in a much worse way.

This week we see the multitudes coming to Jesus looking for two things: ever more temporal blessings—full bellies, healthy bodies—and an explanation of how to gain them. Jesus explains the greater need for spiritual food. He assures us that there is nothing we do to earn it. Our Father urges us to come to him for our daily bread, asking him to provide for our temporal needs. But may we hunger most for our greatest need: spiritual food that Christ freely gives.