Psalm 105
Luke 15:  11-32
Seventeenth Day after Pentecost
TEXT:  "He ran (to the boy) and put his arms around him and kissed him"
        (Luke 15:20).

    Human families set mankind apart from all other living creatures.  Who else but human parents have children they can call their own for longer than it takes to set them on their feet or on their way?  Even the most "affectionate" animals -- the vixen, the bear, the lioness -- teach their cubs to make their own way in the world and then forget them.  After the eagle has taught her eaglet to fly, she will see it no more.  Calf, colt, grasshopper, dragonfly -- all go their separate ways as soon as they can.  Only humans stand with their children from first to last, from birth to death.  In other words, only the society of humanity is held together by the bond of love.

Psalm 112
Luke 14: 1, 7-14
September 1, 2013
TEXT:    "For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who
          humble themselves will be exalted"
          Luke 14:11

    There is an episode in Luke's Gospel in which someone asks Jesus, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" (Lk. 13:23). Judging by our own experience, we can almost hear what was going on in the questioner's mind. "Saving me won't be any problem for God. It's easy for God to see I'm on the inside track. I'm one of the good guys. But all those others out there. It's easy to see that not many of them are going to make it. I'll ask Him, 'Lord, will those who are saved be few?'" To which God's answer might well be, "Fewer than you think, 'FOR ALL WHO EXALT THEMSELVES WILL BE HUMBLED" (Lk. 14:11).