Matthew 9:27-34 - Becoming What We Believe

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 30, 2021

Becoming What We Believe

 

Matthew 9:27-34, The Message - As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, “Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!” When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why, yes, Master!” He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.” It happened. They saw. Then Jesus became very stern. “Don’t let a soul know how this happened.” But they were hardly out the door before they started blabbing it to everyone they met.

Right after that, as the blind men were leaving, a man who had been struck speechless by an evil spirit was brought to Jesus. As soon as Jesus threw the evil tormenting spirit out, the man talked away just as if he’d been talking all his life. The people were up on their feet applauding: “There’s never been anything like this in Israel!”

The Pharisees were left sputtering, “Smoke and mirrors. It’s nothing but smoke and mirrors. He’s probably made a pact with the Devil.”

 

“Become what you believe.”  I love Eugene Peterson’s translation here.  Jesus asks the two blind men if they believe they can see by Jesus’s power.  They do and so Jesus allows them to become what they believe – men who can see.  It begs the question, “what do you believe you can be with the touch of Jesus?”

                Jesus tells the newly sighted men sternly not to tell anyone, having to know that they were going to tell everyone they met.  I wish I knew exactly why Jesus gave this instruction.  I have heard many scholars float many theories on the reason for the instructed secrecy, but none of them are compelling to me.  My best guess is that Jesus didn’t want to become known as simply a healer.  He wasn’t interested in becoming a spectacle for thousands who wanted to see the next miracle rather than hear the announcement that the Kingdom of God has arrived.  The healing Jesus wants to be known for is the ”healing” of the entire world. 

                Immediately after this, Jesus casts out another demon from a man who could not speak because of the hold the demon had on him.  The people’s reaction is that, “there’s never been anything like this in Israel!” They can’t be referring to the healings for there were plenty of documented healings in the Jewish scriptures (i.e…the Old Testament).  It seems more likely that the people were talking about the authority of Jesus.  It seems that nothing, not even demons can defy Jesus’s authority.  The people are noting that a human being seems to have Divine authority.  Certainly, as we have discussed in other passages, Matthew wants us to come to the same conclusion as the people.  There has never been anything on the earth like Jesus.  Have you, my friend, come to that conclusion?

                Finally, if the Pharisees were impressed by these events (and I believe that they were), they are even more concerned about the fact that crowds are coming to the conclusion that Jesus represents a brand new, never-seen-before revelation of God’s authority.  This is an Authority which challenges the Pharisees own authority. Lest we think we’re better than that, we would do well to consider the times in our lives when the next big thing overshadows that old thing that we have.  It’s hard to embrace Something, however wonderful it is, when that Something is personally threatening.  Make no mistake;  if we truly embrace Jesus, it WILL require us to let go of our own authority and power. 

                This brings us back to Jesus’s question to the two blind men, “do you really believe that I [Jesus] can do this [bring you sight]?” Jesus is asking the two men if they believe that Jesus has the authority to command their eyes to see.  The message here is that we can indeed “become what we believe,” but not by hard work and positive thinking.  We become what we believe when place ourselves fully under the authority of Jesus.  Tomorrow, we’ll explore some the implications of this.  But for now, consider again the questions above.

 

Questions:  What do you believe you can become with the touch of Jesus? Have you come to the conclusion that there is no one in history with the authority that Jesus has?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, demons believe in your authority and shudder. Storms obey your every command.  Diseases and afflictions fall away at your touch and/or word.   Yet, we confess that we sometimes struggle to trust your authority.  “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”  Help us become what we believe by fully submitting to your Lordship.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to give you a vision and faith for what you can become by Jesus’s authority.

 

Song:  So Will I – Hillsong Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfVd5x9W1Xc  

Matthew 9:18-26 - The Leader and the Outcast

The Leader and the Outcast

 

Matthew 9:18-26, NRSV - While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”  And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples.  Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.”  Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.  When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.  But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.  And the report of this spread throughout that district.

 

                This succession of two miracles woven together in the same story is recorded in three gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  Mark and Luke both include many more details than Matthew.  This is important because it seems clear to most scholars that Matthew intentionally streamlines this story in order to highlight what, for him, is the core of both miracles – faith. 

                The leader of the synagogue’s daughter has just died.  It’s important to remember here that Jesus was not a favorite among religious leaders and Matthew made that clear in other stories prior to this one.  But the death of his daughter has caused this leader (his name Jairus is included in Mark and Luke) to put aside his pride, position, and possible animosity for Jesus.  Jairus most certainly has heard reports of the miraculous things Jesus has done and at least some part of him believes that Jesus can save his daughter, even from death.  So this man who has position, power, and authority puts all of it aside to ask Jesus to heal his girl.  He kneels before Jesus.  Lest this detail be lost on us, no self-respecting religious leader would be caught dead kneeling before another human being.  A Jew only kneels before God as the first of the Ten Commandments instructs. The Old Testament is full of stories of Jews who faced death because of their refusal to kneel before humans. So Jairus believes Jesus is God or he would not kneel, even to save his daughter.  His faith in Jesus’s divinity and power are center-stage here.

                Jairus’s faith is upstaged, however, by the faith of the woman with the flow of blood who Jesus encounters on the way to the resurrection.  Because the nameless woman is bleeding, she is forbidden to touch anyone;  she is unclean.  She is not even permitted to speak to a Rabbi for she is supposed to be isolated from others as long as she is bleeding.  She has no name, power, or status.  This has been her reality for twelve years.  She, like Jairus, has faith that Jesus can save her, but she has no culturally-accepted way to ask for it.  She, like Jairus, lays aside her limitations and prohibitions and embraces an idea that she can’t shake; if she can just touch Jesus’s garment, she can be healed.  And Jesus confirms her faith-fueled risk when he says, “your faith has made you well.” 

                Moving on to Jairus’s house, Jesus encounters death rituals that have already begun (ie…the flute players) and Jesus clears the area.  They laugh at him when he suggests that their rituals are unnecessary “for the girl is not dead but sleeping.”  Matthew’s point here is that they do not have faith in Jesus’s power to do something about this tragic death.  But Jesus, acting on Jairus’s faith, goes into the room and returns with the resurrected girl.  So in this juxtaposed account, a religious leader and a religious outcast both receive miracles because they subverted everything else they knew to their faith that Jesus had the power and authority to change their reality.  Mark and Luke highlight other aspects of this story, but for Matthew, faith is more important than all else.  Whether it is the faith of a leader or and outcast is not important.  Whether the miracle is asked for (Jairus) or simply believed in (the bleeding woman), it comes by virtue of faith.  Life and wellness come as a result of faith.

 

Reflection:  Spend some time today thinking about your faith, when compared to Jairus and the bleeding woman.  What are you willing to lay aside to pursue that faith?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, we marvel at your miracles, yet we still struggle with our faith.  Help us to see what obstacles are within us that prevent us from asking and acting in faith.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those you love who are in need of a miracle.

 

Song:  Trust in You – Lauren Daigle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-SXz_exKE

Matthew 9:14-17 - Eighteen Months Later

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 28, 2021

Eighteen Months Later

 

Matthew 9:14-17, NLT - One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?” Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.  Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”.

 

March 2020, when the pandemic caused a worldwide shutdown, seems like such a long time ago.  As I take a few minutes to try and remember how things were back then, it is difficult.  If someone back in January 2020 described to me in detail all that was going to happen over the next year and half, I would have thought they were certifiably crazy.  What’s more, the pandemic continues.  What is clear is that we are still in the midst of humongous shifts in our world that we can’t even begin to predict how we will live on the other side of all this change.   We have some hints, but I’m sure we’re in for even more surprises.

 

Faced with all of this uncertainty, how do we cope? It seems that everything is different.  Schools are different.  Work is different in almost every sector of society.  Church is different. I know my tendency is to try and hold on to the familiar – routines, ways of doing things, activities that provide comfort.  There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but I know intuitively that many of those old ways of doing and being will cease to provide the comfort they once did (if they haven’t already).  I have heard many authors, preachers, and teachers use Jesus’s sayings above about patches and wineskins to try and caution me about this tendency for old structures not being able to support the new ways of being, but Jesus’s words have never hit me harder than they are now. 

 

I don’t know much at all about this “new wine” being poured out right now, but I know my “old wineskins” won’t hold it.  I see some epic wine spills coming and there is already a mess on the floor.  I have no tools to describe what our lives will be like even six months from now, because I’m too busy looking for new tools to handle what is happening right now.  As I re-read the last few sentences, it seems a bit over-dramatic for a pragmatist like me, but it does describe my current experience.  From conversations I’ve had lately, I know I’m not alone.

 

There is good news in all this.  God is still good and Jesus is still Lord.  A lot of things have and will change, but I know that God is still good and Jesus is still Lord.  I know that because I’ve experienced God’s sweet goodness many times over the past eighteen months. Many of those moments of goodness have come from exchanges I have had with you all.  Some have come from exchanges with people I didn’t know eighteen months ago.  I’ve been reminded that Jesus is still Lord because I’ve watched needed resources seemingly appear out of thin air.  I’ve gotten solutions dropped in my lap to address a problem I didn’t even realize I had yet. Yes, we will have to find new wineskins (and clean up all the messes) in order to make it in the future, but our good God/Lord Jesus will be with us. 

 

Prayer:  Lord, help us to breathe when we feel out of control and unable to face the future.  May we feel your Sweet, Sweet Spirit in that breath.  May we trust in your goodness and Lordship. Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for members of US Congress as they address monumental challenges this week.

 

Song:  The Adventist Vocal Ensemble and the Congregation of St. John's, Hackney, North London - Sweet, Sweet Spirit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9EGwkimNeQ

 

Matthew 9:9-13 - The Calling of Matthew (and you)

The Calling of Matthew (and you)

 

Matthew 9:9-13, NIV - As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.  While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?  On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

 

                One of the most effective pastors I know was a drug dealer before he became a Christian.  God has used his ministry to reach hundreds of folks who have had similar experiences.  Another man I knew years ago had served time in prison for violent crimes and before becoming a  Christian while incarcerated.  He began a ministry upon getting out of prison that continues now long after his death. They help inmates and recently released convicts find a path to a better life. And for the last two months, we have been working our way through a gospel in the Bible written by a man who exploited his fellow Jews to get rich collecting taxes for the Romans.  It is more than a little curious to see who God will choose to serve in his kingdom and yet, it is deceptively simple.  God will choose anyone.  God chose me and God chooses you. 

                When asked why he ate with “tax collectors and sinners,”  he quotes Hosea 6:6 in his answer: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”  We may miss Jesus’s edgy intent here, but the Pharisees would not have missed it.  The prophet Hosea was calling out his people for observing proper sacrificial rituals, but conducting them without the heart of love of God and neighbor that was supposed to be the reason behind those rituals.  Jesus, in quoting the prophet, was accusing the Pharisees of doing the same.  The Jews were a people that were set apart by God beginning with Abraham in Genesis 12.  But they has long forgotten that they were set apart so that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through [them]” (Genesis 12:3).                 They got the “set apart” part right, but they were not seeking to bless those who needed it the most. 

                Matthew wants to remind us that it is very easy for us to make the same mistake.  We can deem others (or even ourselves) unworthy of God’s blessing and isolate them from the community of believers.  In my lifetime, I’ve personally seen this happen to divorced people, unwed mothers, people of other faith backgrounds, and many other would-be “tax collectors and sinners.”  Ironically, the very Gospel quoted to legitimize such exclusion was written by a reprehensible tax collector.  When we do this, we forget two essential truths:  (1) we are “sinners” and (2) God and God’s people sought to bless us anyway.  There is no category or label we can put on someone that, in God’s eyes, excludes them from a place at the Lord’s dinner table.  Think of the most disgusting, repugnant person you know.  Seriously, conjure up that person in your mind and then picture this – Jesus having dinner with them.  Because I assure you  - Jesus would do just that.  As soon as we begin to think that we deserve a place at Jesus’s dinner table, we have, at the same time, begun to presume that there are people that don’t deserve it. 

This is not Jesus-like thinking/acting.  When we catch ourselves thinking/acting like that, we are already on the right track.  It’s people who don’t ever consider that their exclusionary thinking/acting is exclusionary that are departing from Jesus’s ways.  Awareness of what’s not like Jesus in us actually makes more space for Jesus in us.  As the old saying goes, recognition that there is a problem is the beginning of a solution.   

 

Question:  Do you ever catch yourself thinking you are more “deserving” of blessings than others?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, help us see our desperate need for Your mercy.  And then, help us to see others’ desperate need for the same and offer it to them. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for God to help you see un-Jesus-like patterns of thought in you.

 

Song:  Jesus, Friend of Sinners – Casting Crowns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJXIugwiN7Q

 

Matthew 9:1-8 - A Need Deeper Than Healing

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 24, 2021

A Need Deeper Than Healing

 

Matthew 9:1-8, CEB - Boarding a boat, Jesus crossed to the other side of the lake and went to his own city. People brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a cot. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man who was paralyzed, “Be encouraged, my child, your sins are forgiven.”

Some legal experts said among themselves, “This man is insulting God.”

But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why do you fill your minds with evil things?  Which is easier—to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  But so you will know that the Human One has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“Get up, take your cot, and go home.”  The man got up and went home.  When the crowds saw what had happened, they were afraid and praised God, who had given such authority to human beings.

 

Today we come to another healing by Jesus only this time, Jesus decides to forgive the paralyzed man’s sins first.  The obvious question here is “why?”  Why does Jesus see a paralyzed man and  proclaim his sins forgiven first?  He doesn’t heal the man until after the religious authorities make a fuss about his proclaiming forgiveness.  What gives Jesus?

To explain this, we need to remind ourselves about first century attitudes concerning diseases and physical ailments.  The thinking was if you had a disease or ailment, it was due to your sins and/or the sins of your family in some way.  Because of this, many people with these conditions were look down upon by their communities because after all, the “evidence” for their sinfulness was right there for everyone to see.  This kind of thinking persists even today in some circles.  I once had a man in my congregation was convinced that his grandson’s ailment was a result of the “sins” of his youth. 

It was clear that Jesus on many occasions tried to correct this line of thinking, so that makes his proclamation of the man’s forgiveness even more perplexing.  That is, unless we think about it from the paralyzed man’s perspective.  You see, on several occasions, including this one, the gospels state that Jesus knew what people were thinking.  So it is possible, even likely, that Jesus knew the biggest concern of the lame man’s heart was not his disability, but the burden of being labeled a sinner by everyone.  He might even believed in his cursedness himself.  In this light, Jesus’s offer was one of great compassion and relief.  In the eyes of God, his sins, whatever they were, were gone. 

As we know from above, this sent the authorities into a tizzy.  From their perspective, only God can forgive and God will only forgive after the proper sacrifices and liturgies are performed.  This is why they viewed Jesus’s proclamation as an affront to God.  Jesus saw all this coming and responds, “But so you will know that the Human One has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“Get up, take your cot, and go home.”  Then, the paralyzed man was no longer paralyzed and walked home.  Again, Matthew’s big issue is Jesus’s authority and so that is the issue front and center in this exchange.  Jesus not only has authority over diseases, demons, and storms, he has the authority to forgive sins.  And while the paralyzed man was certainly thankful for his healing, he was probably even more grateful for the stigma of his “sins” to be erased.

Have you ever fallen on hard times and had the stubborn feeling that you had brought them on yourself?  I know I have.  I am also aware of times when I was right – I was indeed reaping the consequences of my own actions.   In those times, I knew that I deserved my hardship.  To hear the authoritative Son of God proclaim my forgiveness was a greater need than even for my troubles to go away.  I needed to know that Someone had forgiven me even if everyone else hadn’t.  This is the Good News for me and for any of you in the same boat. “In the name and by the authority of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.”

 

Question:  Are you able to hear Jesus say to you, “your sins are forgiven?”

 

Prayer:  God, you know the darkness of each heart, the brokenness we all feel over the mistakes of the past.  Help us not only hear but believe in Your proclamation of forgiveness over each of us. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time today confessing your brokenness to God today and listen for his proclamation of forgiveness and healing over it.

 

Song:  Forgiven – David Crowder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_ZWEO36jok

Matthew 8:28-34 - Jesus and the Demons

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 23, 2021

Jesus and the Demons

 

Matthew 8:28-34, NRSV - When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way.  Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”  Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them.  The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”  And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.  The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs.  Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.

 

                This is a story that seems very strange to 21^st century folks for many reasons.  First, other than in the horror genre of tv/movies, we don’t talk much about demons anymore.  When most scholars do so, they often downplay them as mental illness and misunderstood afflictions that are better explained by modern science.  And of course, even over the last century as medical science and psychology have made enormous strides in explaining bizarre behavior that people used to describe as demonic.  However, I would caution us to listen to this story from the perspective of first-century folks, who were more convinced that there were real evil powers at work in the world than we moderns often are.  To the extent we can do that, we will be able to see the power of this story. So let’s pay attention to some of the details here.

                First, immediately upon getting out of the boat, the demons recognize Jesus.  This is very significant.  The people following Jesus around are still trying to wrap their mind around who Jesus is.  This is evident in yesterday’s story when they ask, “who is this that the wind and waves obey him?”  However, the demons know without question that Jesus is the Son of God and they address him as such.  Furthermore, they know that Jesus has complete authority over them.  Let’s not gloss over that.  The demons have completely taken control of the two men and are reeking havoc.  They have caused so much violence and destruction that the people of the region deemed the road where they lingered as unsafe for travel.  Yet, the demons readily concede that their fate is in Jesus’s hands.  They assume they will no longer be able to torment the men they inhabit, so they plead with Jesus to allow them to inhabit the nearby herd of pigs.  Jesus obliges with a simple command, Go!.” 

                Throughout the last few stories, Matthew is trying to help us see clearly that Jesus is the Son of God who holds complete authority.  Diseases like leprosy, violent storms, and demons obey His command.  He doesn’t even have to be physically present to heal (ie… the Roman Captain’s servant).  His word (Go!) and His touch (Peter’s mother-in-law) make things right again.  In Jesus, the God of the Universe walks among mortals and all are under his authority.  Matthew wants you to hear that above everything else.  There is nothing in your life outside the authority of Jesus.  Matthew wants you to acknowledge that at least as much as the demons do.  Take a few moments to ponder that before continuing to read.

                Back to the pigs.  Upon being inhabited by the demons, they are destroyed.  We need to note here that Jews hearing this story would not have worried about the loss of the pigs at all.  They were considered unclean animals and Jews were forbidden from eating them and raising them.  The very presence of the pigs tells us Jesus is in non-Jewish/gentile country, for only gentiles raise pigs.  This sheds some light on why the townspeople were upset about the affair because the pigs WERE valuable to them for eating and livelihood.

I have to admit that I see their point.  Matthew doesn’t say how many pigs there were, but Mark, who tells the same story in his Gospel (Mark 5:13), says there were two thousand pigs.  I hear that and I think, “that’s a lot of expensive bacon and pork chops!”  I’m not upset with Jesus about it, but I do wonder why Jesus allows them to possess the herd of pigs knowing that the pigs will be lost.  Perhaps it was to prevent them from torturing other people.  Maybe being cast into the sea accomplishes something we are not aware of that Jesus is.  The bottom line is that we don’t know and also, Matthew doesn’t tell us.  Rather, Matthew wraps up the story with Jesus being driven out of town after He has driven out demons.  The town folk don’t want miracle-worker around if He’s going to mess with their economy.  The town folk are more okay with two men being eternally tortured by demons outside of town than they are with losing precious bacon and pork chops.

They are not the only folk to prioritize commodities over the suffering of human beings.  Sadly, the same priority is seen even today.  Matthew would have us see that.  Jesus would have us see that.  We should ask ourselves, “do we see that?”  And even more than that, we should always ask ourselves, are we those folks with ill-conceived priorities?

 

Questions:  Two different questions today:  (1) Do we have the at least the same level of confidence in Jesus’s authority over the demons that plague us that the demons in today’s story have?  (2)  Where do you see wealth being prioritized over the alleviation of suffering even today?

 

Prayer:  God, deliver us from the demons that torture us, even if that deliverance is costly.  Help us never place wealth over people.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who seem mired in and tortured by real evil forces in this world.

 

Song:  Zach Williams – Song of Deliverance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZNXii1gzhk

Matthew 8:23-27 - What's in Your . . . Boat?

What’s in Your….Boat? - September 22

 

Matthew 8:23-27, CEB - When Jesus got into a boat, his disciples followed him.  A huge storm arose on the lake so that waves were sloshing over the boat. But Jesus was asleep.  They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, rescue us! We’re going to drown!”  He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you people of weak faith?” Then he got up and gave orders to the winds and the lake, and there was a great calm. The people were amazed and said, “What kind of person is this? Even the winds and the lake obey him!”

 

Have you ever been so tired that you could sleep through a really bad storm?  A few years ago, Hurricane Irma was churning in the Atlantic and forecast to run up the west coast of Florida.  At the time, I was serving a church on an island off . . . you guessed it . . . the west coast of Florida.  Experts were concerned about the size and intensity of this storm and the massive damage it would do.  As it turned out, they were right; Irma caused damage that is still being repaired now, years later.  I too had been very worried about the storm because it was forecast to hit our island directly.  I was so worried about what would happen that I barely slept for two days before Irma made landfall.  Before the storm arrived, we evacuated the island in a mandatory evacuation.  We went to stay in my sister-in-law’s house in Orlando.  The night the storm raged across Florida, I fell asleep and slept through the whole thing.  The storm was bad enough even in Orlando that the roof on my sister-in-law’s house had to be replaced.  But I had become so exhausted in the days before that I literally slept through a hurricane. 

I guess Jesus was even more tired than I was because he is sleeping though a nasty storm in a BOAT!  This is not a cruise ship; it was more likely a fishing boat, which in those days was basically an uncovered large rowboat.  But Jesus is sleeping!  Wow.  I guess He’s not worried about his safety.  Of course not! He’s the Son of God!

And this is the point.  He’s the Son of God.  The Son of the One and Only Living God is in the boat with them.  I might add that he is in the boat with them right after he’s performed a bevy of miracles that everyone in the boat witnessed.  He’s banished diseases and cast out demons, but his disciples are really concerned about wind and waves.  Hence, Jesus’s comment about “you people of weak faith.”

I’m the same. My eternal future has been secured.  I, too, have witnessed miracles.  I have been blessed in unimaginable ways because of my relationship with this Jesus, but I still find myself getting really worked up about a storm.  I once lost two days sleep because of one (see above 😉).  I am included in Jesus’s “ye of little faith” (King James Version).  But in every storm, the Son of God was in the boat with me the whole time!  My friends, we’re all in that boat.  We’re going to be okay.  The Son of God is in the boat and He is not worried. 

Question:  Do you ever find yourself wishing God were more worried about something that you are worried about?

 

Prayer:  We confess God that we often are short on faith and we lack Your perspective.  We are thankful that you respond to our cries for help anyway.  Help us to know that You are in the boat with us and that we will be okay.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Ask God to help you see your most pressing problem right now the way God sees it.

 

Song:  Note the lyric in this song, “the winds and waves still know His Name.”

It Is Well - Kristene DiMarco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNqo4Un2uZI

Matthew 8:18-22 - Why So Harsh Jesus?

 

September 21, 2021 - Why So Harsh, Jesus?

 

Matthew 8:18-22, NIV - When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

 

Of all the seemingly harsh sayings of Jesus, this one ranks near the top.  Is Jesus really asking the guy to forego burying his dead father.  This seems so out of character for the same Jesus who shed tears for his dead friend Lazarus even though He knew he was going to bring him back to life.  From the time I first heard this story as child, I have always thought that Jesus must be saying something that I did not understand, but it would be years later before I gained some measure of insight.  Let’s take a closer look.

First, we need to understand what is happening here.  Another spiritual teacher has just told Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  This is not a casual statement.  The teacher is saying to Jesus, “I want you to mentor me.”  Today, we might call what is being talked about here as a full-time internship.  This is a guy that wants to teach others what Jesus is teaching him so he is asking Jesus to disciple him for an extended time so that he can pursue that calling.  This is the way authoritative Rabbi’s extended their influence.  They would take on disciples, teach and show them everything they know, then send the disciples out to teach others.  The guy feels a calling share the way of Jesus.

Jesus first response to this guy is essentially, “this is not as glamourous as it seems; I often don’t have a proper bed on which to sleep.”  We don’t know how the spiritual teacher who asked the question responded because at this point, another disciple says, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  It is at this point that Jesus utters those seemingly harsh words, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”  It is at this moment that we need to hear the disciples request in its original cultural context.  “Let me bury my father” was an Aramaic saying that wasn’t actually referring to an actual dead father, but a sacred responsibility to take care of a father until he dies.  Basically, the disciple is saying, “right now, my responsibility is to take care of my Dad.  Whenever that responsibility is over after his death, I’ll come find you and pursue this calling then.”  I wouldn’t call it an excuse (as some commentators do), but rather an effort to “put it off” until later in life when he is more free to roam the countryside with Jesus.

 I have over the course of 27 years in pastoral ministry heard about a handful of times similar comments made by people with seemingly sincere intentions to follow a call, but to do so on a delayed timeline.  To my knowledge, none of those people ever did pursue the calling that they put off until later.  This helps us understand Jesus’s statement a bit more.   First, an authentic calling is not a static thing, meaning it never changes so it will be available whenever we get to it.  Jesus’s response implies an urgency; if the guy waits until his father dies, he will learn that by that time, Jesus will have died too.  Jesus is saying that if you’re going to follow me, it has to be now.  The opportunity will be gone later.

But still, there is this statement, “let the dead bury their own dead.”  Who are the “dead” that will be burying the dead.  In other words, if this disciple follows Jesus, who is going to take care of his Father?  Billy Graham has stated that he believes that Jesus is referring to the “spiritually dead,” and I think that fits in this context.  Jesus can get away with saying that because he is, unlike any of us, in a position to judge who is spiritually dead.  For me, it’s enough to say that there will always be a number of people around to carry out culturally expected tasks because so few actually choose to drop such those responsibilities to pursue an authentic calling from God.    When you are called by God, it is urgent and it should take precedence.  If God has called you, the other stuff will get taken care of by someone else.  Don’t.put.it.off.

 

Prayer:  Jesus, may we sense the urgency and priority to respond to your call for us. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who may be struggling to pursue a call from God.

 

Song:  God's Calling You (In Christ Alone)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd9qLE90zC8

Matthew 8:14-17 - Healing Rain

September 20, 2021 - Healing Rain

 

Matthew 8:14-17, CEB - Jesus went home with Peter and saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.  He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and served them.  That evening people brought to Jesus many who were demon-possessed. He threw the spirits out with just a word. He healed everyone who was sick.  This happened so that what Isaiah the prophet said would be fulfilled: He is the one who took our illnesses and carried away our diseases.

 

                Today we come the third account in Matthew of Jesus healing someone.  He heals a leper (8:1-4), a gentile (8:5-13), and now a woman.  I find it interesting that the first three people Jesus heals in Matthew’s gospel are all outcasts of various sorts.  Lepers were literal outcasts, gentiles were considered unclean, and women were considered property.  As word gets out about this, Jesus does begin to heal other people including people who were not outcasts.  But I do believe Matthew wants us to notice that Jesus first chooses to heal people that would have otherwise been overlooked and/or simply ignored.  All are included in the inbreaking of God’s kingdom and all does in fact mean ALL.  Too often Jesus’s community, is guilty of reverting to exclusion.

                The second thing that strikes me is a detail that always makes me chuckle a bit.   Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law and immediately, “she got up and served them.”  It makes me chuckle because it makes me think of my own mother.  My mother is a woman of perpetual motion.  It is hard for her to sit still, let alone lay down, for any length of time.  She would rather be up cleaning, cooking, or taking care of someone.  If she was sick enough to be lying in bed, the sickness would have to be significant.  Matthew is trying to signal to us that Peter’s mother-in-law was like my Mom.  She was really sick because otherwise, she would have been up taking care of everyone.  As soon as Jesus heals her, that is exactly what she does.  The healing Jesus offers allows us to be the people we were made to be and, as we said last week, be restored to our place in the community.

                Although there are other aspects of this passage that could be discussed, I want to highlight just one more detail.  Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law by touching her hand.  Obviously, this isn’t necessary because he heals the Roman Captain’s servant with a word from miles away.  Further, after Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, the word gets out and others start showing up for deliverance from evil spirits.  The text says that Jesus “threw the spirits out with just a word.”  No touch necessary.  I should also point out that it was taboo for a Jewish male, much less a Rabbi, to physically touch a woman that was not his wife.  The touch was not only unnecessary, but it was bound to cause a stir.  So why does Jesus choose to touch her anyway?

                The short answer is we don’t know.  But I want to add that I am touched by Jesus’s choice here.  He chooses to heal through touch someone who was not considered important or even worthy of his touch.  He heals people who were considered important and/or worthy without touching them.  It is as though Jesus is working to equalizing the playing field even through the subtle details of the methods in which he heals people.  He intentionally draws attention to those who we would ignore.  Some of the “illnesses” Jesus took and “diseases” he “carried away” are our prejudices.  That work continues still. 

 

Question:  Are there people you would consider unworthy of healing, including yourself? 

 

Prayer:  Jesus, you lifted up and healed those who were ignored and forgotten, oppressed and marginalized.  Help us to see others and ourselves with your eyes.  May your grace and healing know no bounds as your kingdom continues to grow in our midst.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for your neighbors today, whether you know them or not.

 

Song:  Healing Rain – Michael W. Smith (I chose this song because of the image “healing rain” – rain does not discriminate on whom it falls; it touches all of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4G32HMC-hY

Matthew 8:5-13 - God Showing Up in “All the Wrong Places”

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 17, 2021

God Showing Up in “All the Wrong Places”

 

Matthew 8:5-13, The Message - As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”

Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”

“Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”

Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, “Go. What you believed could happen has happened.” At that moment his servant became well.

 

This passage always steps on my toes.  It should step on the toes of all of us who claim to be “on the inside” of God’s community.  This is one of those passages where we want to be the Roman Captain, but we are not.  We are Israel where Jesus has not seen such faith.  We’re supposed to have such faith, but it often escapes us.  We sometimes get “outfaithed” by outsiders and it’s not fun. 

One of my favorite theologians is Soren Kierkegaard.  He spent much of his life as a self-imposed outcast of the church because he felt the Danish state church had lost its way.  He was embraced more as a philosopher in his own day (he is regarded as one of the founders of existentialism) and was not really taken seriously as a theologian until almost a century after his death.  But his writings on the nature of faith and the church have called many insiders to greater faith.  I am one of those beneficiaries. 

I have often gotten the chance to officiate at weddings and funerals for families that are not “church-goers.”  Many times, during those experiences, I encounter folks who talk about their faith in a way that is so refreshing and inspiring that I leave the encounter feeling like I received more from them than I gave.  I have often read magazine articles/books by people who don’t call themselves Christians and found that I encountered Christ in their writings.  I have heard God speak through podcasts/TED Talks from folks who would be offended if I called them a Christian.  Some of the most profoundly moving music I have ever heard was not created by Christians and yet I feel the Spirit in the notes they put together.  My point, and I think Jesus’s point as well, is not that the insiders are bad.  The point is that we insiders often forget that we do not have a monopoly on the things of God.  God is not confined to work through the church.  God’s voice can be heard in places where the church has not/will not go.  God’s healing is not reserved for those who “deserve” it (as if that were possible).  We professional faithers sometimes get too big for our britches and need to be humbled. 

 

Question:  When was the last time you were humbled by someone who is an “outsider” to the faith?

 

Prayer:  God forgive us for our presumptions about where you will show up, how and through whom you will speak, and who will receive your healing.  Give us humble spirits so that we experience your grace in whatever way it is offered.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray that God will speak to you today in a surprising way and then spend the rest of the day anticipating how it will happen.

 

Song:  Not surprisingly, I chose a song today from an “outsider.”  This is one of my favorite songs ever.  It awakens my spirit every time I hear it.  I hope you have music that does the same for you, regardless of where it comes from:

My Oh My – David Gray

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_M8fQG9OSI

Matthew 8:1-4 - The Purpose of Healing

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 16, 2021

The Purpose of Healing

 

Matthew 8:1-4, NIV - When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.  A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

 

Moving to Chapter 8, Jesus has finished the Sermon on the Mount and is still attracting large crowds.  A man approaches him who has leprosy.  Let’s stop right there because a man with leprosy should be nowhere near a large crowd.  The man is putting others in danger (it’s contagious!), but he is also putting himself in danger. Lepers were forbidden to approach people without the disease.  They were often required to carry a bell and ring it when others approached and shout “unclean.”  People with this disease were outcasts in every way.  To this day the word “leper” is a synonym for outcast.  So the man is defying the law in order to speak to Jesus. 

“If you are willing, you can make me clean,” putting Jesus on the spot.

“I am willing; be clean,” is Jesus’s response and immediately the man is healed.

However, the leper isn’t officially healed yet.  Leprosy in Jesus’s day was not curable.  On the rare occasion someone recovered from the disease, the law said the person was to go to the priest to verify the healing.   Only after receiving a written declaration of healing from the priest was the person allowed to re-enter the community.  Jesus knows this and so he says:

“See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Jesus is not only healing the man’s body; he is giving him the path back into community.  Not only is the man delivered from a physically debilitating illness, he is delivered from shunned isolation.  The man is told not to tell anyone he is healed until he has gone to the priest because he is not fully healed until he is declared restored to community.  We’ll talk more about Jesus’s telling people “not to tell” as get further into this compelling book of Matthew, but for now, let’s focus on the healing.

One of the profound purposes of healing, physical and otherwise is restoration to community.  If you’ve ever been quarantined because of COVID or something else, then you got a just a taste of the isolation.  Being declared “clean” is a moment of joy mostly because you can be with people again.  You time of “being an outcast” is over!   

The “salvation” Jesus offers is more communal than personal.  We are saved, healed, and delivered not to be a saved individual, but to join the community of Christ.  As the apostle Paul put it, we become part of a Body, the Body of Christ.  Watch for this theme as we continue our journey through Matthew, but more importantly, watch for this theme in your own life.  You are saved for community, not just for yourself. 

 

Question:  As you think about your own experience, what is the connection between your sense of being healed and your sense of belonging to a community?

 

Prayer:  Three-In-One God, your very identity as the Holy Trinity models community.  We are in awe that you invite us to share in in this divine relationship.  We are healed by this connection.  We praise you for that God.  We love you!  Help us to bring your healing and restoration to others by the way we love each other. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time thanking God for specific brothers and sisters in your faith community.

 

Song:  Lean On Me (Bill Withers) | Playing For Change | Song Around The World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiouJsnYytI

Matthew 7:13-28 - Avoiding the "Great Crash"

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September 15, 2021

Avoiding the “Great Crash”

 

Matthew 7:13-28

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

 

This is the end of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. In this summary, Jesus drives home the heart of the entire sermon (Chapters 5-7).

This is a longer reading today, but often we forget that many of these sayings that we consider separately were part of a longer teaching/sermon, in this case the Sermon of the Mount.  Matthew wants us to hear especially all this section together because a pattern emerges when we do.  Jesus mentions several contrasts – the narrow and wide gates, true and false prophets, sheep and wolves, good and bad fruit, true and false disciples, and wise and foolish builders.  Jesus is drawing a contrast between two kinds of life we can live. 

There is a path to a life that few find that involves making choices that most do not make. Most find out too late that they chose the wrong path.  As Stephen Covey put it, they realized their “ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.”  Sometimes, this is due to listening to the wrong teachers (false prophets).  Sometimes, they focused on producing the wrong kind of fruit.  Some even claim to be doing what they do for Jesus, but are actually making choices that Jesus would not even recognize.  Some chose to build their life on the wrong foundation. 

I think people like me (spiritual leaders) often make the Christian life seem all too easy.  There is an ease to following Jesus, but we should not mistake this for easy.  Thousands followed Jesus at first, but by the time he was crucified, the numbers of disciples is down to maybe a couple hundred.  Even among the twelve that traveled with him for three years, Judas fell away.  Jesus makes it clear that it is a difficult daily decision to follow Jesus, likening it to carrying a cross every day (Luke 9:23). 

Even though it’s difficult, what Jesus is trying to have us hear is that there is a remarkable quality of life that is found by those few who carry that cross daily.  There is a beauty, grace, security, wisdom, fruitfulness, and strength that begins to characterize their days that far outweighs the difficulty.  This is the truly rich life that we are all offered, but so many just see the difficulty and settle for less.  They take the wide road taken by the crowds and listen to the smooth-talking teachers that fill stadiums and make it all sound like a cakewalk.  They build on shaky ground and the smallest storm brings it all down like a house of cards. 

Don’t be them. Choose to carry the cross daily even when you don’t feel like it and even when it seems like “all the cool kids” are doing that other thing.  Enter. The. Narrow. Gate.  Be one of the few.

 

Prayer:  God, we want the life that really is life, not all the cheap imitations.  Help us find the narrow gate.  Help us recognize the voice of true prophets by their good fruit.  Help us find the unshakable foundation on which to build.  Thank you, Lord. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who feel stuck today.

 

Song:  Narrow Road - Hillsong Worship

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcLwOMzwBs0