matthew 9... compassion

wow, what do you say about chapter 9?  i guess i can say so much about chapter nine.  it has so many of the stories i love.  feeling like there is so much i can say, maybe the best thing to say is the two "verses" that seem to be the key of the chapter.

v12-13 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

v36-38 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.  Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

would you pray that prayer?  and would you pray that you would embodies these verses?

matthew 8

What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?

it would have been something to see someone who performed instant miracles.  peter's mother-in-law got right up and started serving them.  what power.

matthew 7... one of the scariest chunks of the bible

this is a scary chapter.

- the same judgment we use will be used on us...

- the narrow and wide gate...

- false prophets...

dang.

but the scariest thing to me is

Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say to Me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?"

And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS."

it's not scary because it's arbitrary.  God doesn't work in the arbitrary.  these are people who are doing things for the Lord.  they are prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles... yet Jesus doesn't know them.  they practice lawlessness.

these few verses don't scare me and keep me up at night... but they do make me evaluate myself every now and then.  why am i doing what i'm doing?  is it just a list of things?  is it to earn points?  or is it because i'm truly in love with this amazing God and can't wait to do more to show him my love?

as i've known him more and more i love him more and more.  and my desire to serve him continues to increase.  i hope i know no one who "serves" God and has to hear these words from him.

matthew 6... i dare you to pray this prayer

this chapter is PACKED.  i want to write so much but i think maybe my words would just get in the way.  so i'm just going to copy some verses that stand out and put occasional comments.

v2-3 So when you give to the poor...

v5 When you pray...

v16 Whenever you fast...

v14-15 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

wow!  is my forgiveness from God dependent on my forgiveness of others?  surely not.  does Jesus know what they did to me?  i think he does.

v19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth...

i store up ALL THE TIME.  i like stuff.

v24 No one can serve two masters... You cannot serve God and wealth

v31 Do not worry then, saying, "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear for clothing?"

i dare you to seriously pray this model prayer that Jesus laid out - and mean it.  it's not a prayer that many western christians pray.  would you seriously pray that only your needs are met day to day?  would you pray that God's forgiveness of you be based on your forgiveness of others?  would you not only pray it today but for this semester?

i believe there are christians who seriously pray this prayer.  i believe there are students here that do seriously try to live for Jesus.  i believe there are true disciples walking among us.  but... when i think of western christians... i tend to think that we pray more like this

Our Father who is in heaven,

Holy is Your name.

Your kingdom come for me

Your will be done (when it matches mine),

on earth as in heaven.

Give us all our needs and our wants,

don't make us wait.

And forgive us our sins,

as those who have sinned against us get what they deserve.

And don't lead us into temptation, pain or poverty,

but deliver us from the evil one.

For your kingdom is one of power, wealth, comfort and glory forever.

Amen.

would you pray the Lord's prayer for your life and not your own prayer?  i dare you.

guess i didn't do too good of a job shutting up this time :)

matthew 5... God bless america

talk about not holding back.  Jesus comes out of the gates swinging.

i wonder how this sermon would go over if he preached it now?  how many would be right there with him and how many would be saying (or thinking)...

• he can't really mean that being angry with someone is the same as killing them.  or saying "harsh" words with them is not just like, but actually is a dagger to the heart.  doesn't he know how much they hurt me?
• really, no offering to God if someone has a problem with us?
• seriously!  lust = adultery?
• the only reason for a divorce is marital unfaithfulness?  you've got to be off your rocker cause that's not how it's practiced today.
• no vow's
• no revenge!  not only no revenge but give to and love your enemies?
• pray for your enemies
• be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect?

this must all be figurative.  right?  God doesn't really expect this from us... does he?  i mean, Jesus didn't....... actually...... do these things..... hmmmm

wow, what if he does?  what if he embodied this to show us not only that it can be done, but how to do it?  what if i embodied it?  what if his people embodied this?  what if there were no stories of church splits but stories of churches loving everyone they came in contact with.  giving to all who are in need?  what if we were a city on a hill... a light of hope and promise to the people around us.  what if we were like salt and made people thirsty for living water?  what if?

i guess it all goes back to our blessings.  don't get me wrong, i believe that God has given this country a lot so we could be a blessing to the world.  but in all the talk about people being blessed i wonder if we're slightly off base?  to be blessed in this country is to fulfill the american dream.  surprisingly, that's not what Jesus defines as being blessed.

so i'm left asking the question... how blessed am i?  do i understand what it truly means to be blessed?  can i read the beattitudes and at the end say with all honesty that i am blessed?

Lord, i want your blessings.  as much as some of them go against what my flesh wants... 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

matthew 4... where does the Spirit lead you?

there is so much happening in chapter 4 but there is a verse that just jumps out at me.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  Matthew 4:1

i'm always a little unsettled when i read that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted.  but that's not the part that stands out to me.

when i decided to follow Jesus and started reading about his life i think i was missing something.  we (christians) have lived so long teaching about and believing in the trinity (which i do believe in - even if the word is nowhere in the bible) and discussing what that means about Jesus and his Godhood that i didn't think much about his humanity.  from what i had been taught i had created a Jesus that was much more fully God and just enough human to walk around with us.  i mean, how can you be 100% God and 100% man at the same time?  and with that understanding i never quite got the temptations.  doesn't scripture say that God can't be tempted?  why was the devil wasting his time? (that brings up a whole other discussion about what i thought and now think about the devil.)

but what if i had it backwards?  what if rather than being just human enough to walk around with us, he was a 100% red-blooded jewish man?  what if he went through puberty and had zits and bad breath?  what if i actually trusted what paul wrote in philippians 2 that Jesus emptied himself of some of his Godness?  and the author of hebrews when he writes that we have a high priest just like us who was tempted in every way but without sin?

now this might sound like i'm slow, but i know i'm not the only one who has had to deal with this.  i run into believers all the time who end up saying things like... "yeah, but that was Jesus... he was God."

but if he was fully human then what does that say about me when i go through temptations and sin?  but more importantly what does it say about Jesus in chapter 4?  he could have taken the easy way out.  he could have turned the stones to bread and passed them out, as caesar did, and showed the people that he was the king that could and would take care of their every need and want.  but that's not the kind of kingdom he wanted or the kind of king he was.  i can't say that i wouldn't have tried to take the easy way out.  but i LOVE Jesus for being willing to do it the hard way.

matthew 3

i've noticed something.  i'm trying to read through the gospels to get a fresh look at Jesus but i keep being drawn to the people around him.  in chapter 1 it was the ladies in his genealogy.  in chapter 2 it was the magi.  in chapter 3 it's john the plunger.  i guess you're known by the company you keep.  i think the reason i'm drawn to them is because of what they say about me, Jesus and my relationship with him.

anyway, three things just jump out at me in this chapter.... hmmm, 3 things in chapter 3 :)

* - when i read about john i think about how i am supposed to be one who is preparing the way.  one who is making the path straight.  then i think about how strange john was.  which when you think about it makes perfect sense.  it's not normal for God to step out of heaven like he did.  you have to be a little odd to take on this task.  but the question is, how odd do you have to be to be someone who prepares the way for Jesus?

* - that leads me to verse 8 - Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  repentance is more than just not doing the things you were doing that you shouldn't be doing.  repentance is doing the things you weren't doing.  how else do you produce fruit unless repentance is more about what you do rather than what you don't do?

* - that leads me to verse 15 - But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."  Then he permitted Him.  

i sometimes wonder if i make too much sense to the world around me.  i sometimes wonder if i shouldn't be more like someone who produces fruit in keeping with repentance that causes me to live a righteous life that doesn't seem to make a bit of sense to most people i come in contact with...

am an enough of an ordinary radical?

matthew 2... a different kind of king

how did they know?  have you ever thought about that?  it's a question i've always had.  these wise men were gentiles, not jews.  they don't mention anything about studying the scriptures... just the stars.  based on a star they pack up some gifts and go to find the king of the jews and worship him.  so very odd.  so little is recorded about them.  did they know who they were really going to worship?  did they keep up on current events and know what later happened to this king they went and worshipped?

although i ask these questions, i've recently wondered what a 1st century jewish man would have been thinking as he read this chapter.  what is God doing?  i mean, isn't the messiah... the king of blessing and promise... for the jews?  how can Jesus be the one if the first people who come to worship the king (as recorded by matthew) are gentiles?  what is God trying to tell me?  could i have missed it?  is his kingdom for jews AND gentiles?  is it for those close AND far away?

better yet... what was mary thinking when these guys showed up?  what was joseph thinking?  they both had visions about Jesus.  did they expect this?  what was it like having some men from the east show up with gifts and worship your child?  i would love to have seen their faces.

this chapter brings up a lot of questions for me.  but one thing is certain... this was a different kind of king... and a different kind of kingdom.

side note: anyone noticed how many prophecies have been fulfilled in just two chapters?

matthew 1

this first chapter of matthew {a gospel written to the jews specifically} is so full of great stuff.

Jesus the messiah... the promised, anointed one that they had looked for since....

"the son of david"... the promised king that would reign on the thrown forever, ruling God's people and building YHWH's temple (ii samuel 7:12-16, i chronicles 17:11-14)... that would be a king of blessing because he is....

"the son of abraham"... the promised blessing (genesis 12:1-3, galatians 3:16) for ALL NATIONS from so many years ago...

what a statement.  what a promise.  what a faithful God who keeps his word.

genealogies are some of the most boring things in the bible to me.  but this one is amazing.  let's just look at the women involved.  the fact that Jesus' genealogy has women is pretty remarkable for the time.  two of them (rahab and ruth) were not jews... rahab was a prostitute... the other two ladies (tamar and bathsheba) were adulteresses.

to a jewish man at the time this is so wrong... it's embarrassing!  but to God.... it's purely beautiful.  salvation isn't just for the jews... it isn't just for the men... it isn't just for the perfect who have it all together...

what a statement.  what a promise.  what a  God who's salvation, his promise, is for everyone.  he made us all and loves us all.  this is who and what Jesus was all about.

i hope to some day live a life that the same can be said about me.

and the experiment begins

what does it look like when a small community tries to get back to the basic and spends a semester in the gospels just trying to reconnect with Jesus?  trying to read about him with fresh eyes?  i'm not sure but i look forward to finding out.

i love my wife

i love my wife.  and i know that Jesus loves his bride.  i don't want to talk badly about anyone's wife - especially if they're married to Jesus.  with that said, many of us look around at this christian life we're living and we know that there has to be something more.  like we're missing something.  for some of us, this leads to talking bad about Jesus' wife (the church).  but i got to wondering... maybe there isn't something more.  maybe... just maybe... there is something less.

is it possible that a lot of stuff has been added over the years?  maybe even stuff that in and of itself isn't bad?

is it possible that worship isn't about the music?  is it possible that God doesn't worry about the music nearly as much as we do?

is it possible that in our desire to worship God we have gotten off track?

is it possible that, in our desire to improve, we have added just enough flavors and preservatives that we altered the receipt?  don't get me wrong... it's still edible (sometimes even good) and feeds people.  BUT, what would it taste like to get ahold of the original, stripped down, back to basics receipt?  how much better does it taste?  how much more does it satisfy?

is it possible that Jesus' yoke... his burden... really is light?

i think so.