The Soul

"So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you." (Luke 11:40)
Before God, there will be no faking.  God will see through the mismatched colors, the cargo shorts, and the flannel shirt.  God sees what is deep within.  God sees the glitter and the fabulousness that is within.  So, before we go about living a life that is "clean" on the outside but "dirty" on the inside, let us come forward to God.  Let us give to God all that God has given to us.  Let us take off our mask that we use to get by and praise God with our whole heart, mind, and soul.  Just as Jesus made sure to make the unpopular and the downright ugly righteous and holy, so shall we make what is seen by others as detestable a glorification of our Lord of all.

Weep

Today's gospel is one of my favorites for two reasons.  The lesser reason is because Jesus uses a lovely passive aggressive technique in front of the Pharisees, which makes me think that Jesus had quite the sense of humor and a wit about Him.  The greater reason is because Jesus did not hesitate about the woman who came to Him.  Now, many other times in the gospel we see that Jesus forgives people's sins and then they're off on their merry way.  This instance, however, shows us an example of what we are to be.  Aside from the row between the Pharisees and Jesus, the woman comes to Jesus, weeping (Luke 7:38).
Weeping!
She took off her stern mask and began to give herself completely to Jesus.  She broke a jar of ointment on His feet.  She gave Him her all.
Let's take our time to take off our wig, wipe down our glitter and eye shadow, and surrender ourselves to God.  For when the situation gets tough, and you face persecution from the highest religious leaders, Jesus will fight for you.  Jesus will exalt you and send you off on your way, for He forgives sins and blesses you!

God's Authority

"For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come."  (Luke 4:36)
To whom do we give the authority in our lives?  Do we give it to money? To our boss? To the stars on the top 40 list? To Ru Paul?
Sometimes we can forget the simplicity of God's message.  God's love for us is manifested in Jesus Christ.  And yet, we like to complicate things by putting other things before God in our lives.  Why do we give more power to a song on iTunes than to the One who can save us from all of our sin, our sadness, or our loneliness?  When we take a step back, just as the Jews did before Jesus, we can witness the grandeur of God and all that God does for us.