Matthew 13:1 - Chosen to See, Hear, and Understand

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 29, 2021

Chosen to See, Hear, and Understand

 

Matthew 13:10-17, NRSV - Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”  He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.  The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’  With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:

 

‘You will indeed listen, but never understand,

    and you will indeed look, but never perceive.

For this people’s heart has grown dull,

    and their ears are hard of hearing,

        and they have shut their eyes;

        so that they might not look with their eyes,

    and listen with their ears,

and understand with their heart and turn—

    and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.  Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

 

                You might have noticed that we skipped some verses yesterday as we covered the parable of the Sower and it’s interpretation by Jesus.  In between the parable and the interpretation, we have the above verses – a quick exchange between Jesus and his disciples about why He uses parables.  Jesus’s explanation creates some tension for many because He seems to suggest that some are chosen to understand the “secrets of the kingdom,” and some are not.  I wish I could come up with rationale to explain that that is not what Jesus means to suggest, but I cannot.  Some ARE chosen to understand the kingdom and some are not.  Jesus says this is not new and quotes the prophet Isaiah who said the same thing.  But it does beg the question, “why?”

                Jesus doesn’t address the “why” question in this exchange here, but Eugene Peterson, in his The Message translation, suggests that it is a question of readiness:

“[Jesus] replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward a welcome awakening. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. (vs. 11-13)

There is truth to this.  If you aren’t ready to hear something, you will not hear it.  Furthermore, a good story can actually facilitate readiness to hear a hard truth even when you were not ready to hear it.  Many a preacher, including yours truly, know the power of a good story and use stories for that reason.  We chase this practice back to Jesus’s use of parables.

                However, the “power of stories” is NOT Jesus’s point here, lest we get distracted.  Listen again to final statement on the matter; “blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” He reminds the disciples that they are blessed because they have been given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom.  This understanding is not something they can be puffed up about; it is a gift.  Any revelation of the mysteries of God is given because the person has been chosen to receive it.  It was true in Isaiah’s day, Jesus’s day, and now.  To the extent you perceive God’s wonders, you do so because you have been granted access that you could never attain by your own merits, insight, or wisdom.  If you know God, you know God because God wants you to know God.  Don’t ever be tempted to think otherwise.

 

Question:  Have you ever gotten “puffed up” about the fact that you seem to understand the things of God while others do not?

 

Prayer:  Gracious God, thank you for any understanding of your Truth I have.  Purge me of any notion that have such wisdom because my merits.  Keep my heart humble that I may be gracious servant to you and others. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for church leaders by name today

 

Song:  Chosen – Sidewalk Prophets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1ymenyfDjs

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 - A Story About a “Foolish” Farmer

A Story About a “Foolish” Farmer

 

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23, NIV - That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake.  Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.  Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

(v. 18) “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.  The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.  But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

 

                Long reading today but I’ll keep the comments short.  Today we encounter the first parable of Jesus in Matthew.  It is also one of the few parables that Jesus actually interprets.  We’ll talk more about that next time, but for now, go back and read the scripture one more time slowly.  Not a lot of modern day folks are farmers, but most of us have been able to observe how plants do well in some environments and don’t do well in others.  And because of this, we tend to focus on the environments, or as the parable talks about, the soil.  We ask ourselves, “what kind of soil/environment am I?” While that might be a fruitful(double meaning intended) question, it’s not what Jesus intends for us to get from this story.  If it was, in v.18, He would have said, “listen to what the parable of the soils means.”  But Jesus plainly states that this story is about the sower. 

                The original audience, who were much more familiar with farming than most modern-day people, would have honed in on this because the sower in this story is quite odd.  The actions of the sower would have seemed foolish to anyone who has ever planted seeds.   Seeds are a valuable and scarce commodity.  A good sower ONLY plants seeds in good soil – not on the road, rocky ground, shallow soil, or among thorns.  Because the sower in Jesus story is so haphazard with the seeds, Jesus’s audience would have known that this is the detail of the story Jesus wants them to notice. 

                God is the Sower and unlike a sower of plants, God is lavishly haphazard in where the message/seed is spread.  Whether you are “receptive soil” or not is not the point; God gives the opportunity for the Kingdom seeds to take root in you anyway.  And not just you, but everyone!  While we might think that foolish . . .  while we might not even like that, God gives everyone an opportunity.  That’s the kind of Sower God is and that’s Jesus’s point here.

 

Questions:  If you were in God’s place, would you give all an opportunity even if you knew in advance that most would not take advantage of that opportunity?

 

Prayer:  God of all creation, thank you for deeming us worthy of an opportunity to participate in the growing of Your Kingdom.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who, in your estimation, will never take advantage of the opportunity God has offered them.  I know. I know. I know.  Pray for them anyway.

 

Song:  The Sower's Song - Andrew Peterson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIiKIR6mQOE

Matthew 12:46-50 - A Growing Family

 

A Growing Family

 

Matthew 12:46-50, NIV - “While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.  Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

 

Like so many things Jesus said, this ruffles a lot of feathers, and for good reason. Jesus seems to be denigrating his family, but I have never taken it that way.  Jesus is not just Joseph and Mary’s boy; He’s the Son of God.  As such, Jesus was simply expanding the notion of family beyond biology.  I remember reading this as a teenager and feeling affirmed in something that was already happening in my life.  Me and my three best friends – Travis, Matt, and Tim began to think of ourselves as brothers.  We were always at each other’s houses and so we got close not just to each other, but also each other’s families.  All four of us started calling all four mothers “Mom” and the fathers “Dad.” To this day, I still think of all of them that way.

That trend has continued to this day.  There are so many honorary McCreazies that I’ve lost count. My kids have a “Granny V” that is not related to them biologically.  Barbara and I have “children” that we claim who already have parents.  We have found an extended family in the community that Jesus created. 

One last thing about that.  We McCreazies are blessed that we already have a loving family that came to us through biology.  But not everybody does.  Because of the family following Jesus creates, people who have no family find family through a shared connection to Jesus.   I think this is the beautiful thing Jesus had in mind when he said, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?  Here are my mother and my brothers.”  I love that. How about you?

 

Question:  Who would you lift up as other members of your family that you have because of Jesus? 

 

Prayer:  Thank you God for blessing us with a family that transcends biology.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who are utterly alone in the world right now.

 

Song: We are Family – Various Artists

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPnhkr2Vr0Q

Matthew 12:38-45 - The Sign of Jonah

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 26, 2021

The “Sign of Jonah”

Matthew 12:38-45, NLT - One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.”

But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

“The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.  The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen.

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none.  Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order.  Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

 

We rejoin the spirted conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees/religious teachers.  After being warned by Jesus that they are teetering on the edge of sin that is unforgivable, the leaders ask Jesus for a sign to prove he has authority to say such harsh things to them.  Remember, they have witnessed several “signs” already, including demon-exorcisms, countless healings, and even a resurrection or two.  So Jesus, who isn’t a show-us-a-miracle traveling road show, refuses to perform on-demand for the leaders who will no more be swayed from their murderous intent than they have been up until now.  Instead, Jesus’s critique of them continues.

“Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.”(v. 39)

Once again, Jesus stops short of actually calling the leaders evil and adulterous, but He might as well have.  But as I have encouraged us to do before, let’s not distance ourselves from the targets of Jesus’s polemic here.  We need to hear Jesus’s warnings to those who should know better, because the warnings are for us as well.  Don’t continue to demand proof as a basis for faith when all the proof necessary has already been given.  Only people who have already steeled themselves against such proof and betrayed the faith insist on signs being given.    

                Jesus is angry and one of the words he uses here helps us understand why – generation (“only and evil, adulterous generation…”).  Jesus is making a charge against specific individuals; he’s leveling an evaluation of an entire generation.  Implied here is the troubling thought that, not only have these leaders turned against the God they claim to serve, they are leading and will continue to lead others to do the same.  Jesus is not just calling out evil. He is calling out systemic evil.  When Nineveh was called out by Jonah, they repented.  When the Queen of Sheba heard about the wisdom of Solomon, she traveled across the world to hear it personally.  But now, God-in-the-flesh is standing before these leaders and they continue to demand proof and cast doubts into the hearts of their followers.  Shame, shame.

                This grave warning still calls out all who persist in setting themselves against obvious truth and leading others to do the same.  Jesus says that the only sign that will ever be given for such rebels is “the sign of Jonah.”  Jonah was willingly thrown into the sea by those in peril so that those in peril might be saved from the wrath all around them.  Long before He is crucified, Jesus alludes to his ultimate sign;  he will die at the hands of those who oppose Him, but their “victory” is actually their once-and-for-all defeat.  Truth will prevail in the end.  And the “generation” that fought against truth and brought others down with them will find themselves in a worse situation than they were in before.

                It’s extremely hard to resist the temptation to conclude that Jesus’s warning is not for us.  But every generation recorded in the Bible and all the generations since the last word of the Bible was scribbled down have struggled with embracing the obvious signs they have already been given in favor of looking for a sign that will never come.  I already have all the “proof” I will ever need that I should follow Jesus with all that I have.  You have that proof as well.  This leads to a very uncomfortable question.

 

Question:  Why do we continue to resist truth we already know deep in our hearts is right? 

 

Prayer:  Have mercy on us Lord when we refuse to receive the truth You offer – the truth that could set us free.  Help us let go of our resistance even when it is so hard to do so, lest we become part of a generation that stands on the wrong side of Your warning.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the healing of divisions within the worldwide church. 

 

Song:  Come Tear Down the Walls/I Surrender All - Revere

https://youtu.be/pJhvXhA2CxU?t=103

Matthew 12:30-37 - The Unforgivable Sin?

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 25, 2021

The Unforgivable Sin?

 

Matthew 12:30-37, NIV - “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.  And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.  You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.  But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.  For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

 

As a pastor, I’ve gotten more questions about the “unforgivable sin” than anything else.  Of course, we would naturally worry about something we could do to cause God to “write us off” permanently.  So it is important to gain some clarity about what Jesus is suggesting here is unforgivable.

  The first thing we need to note is who Jesus is talking to here – the murderous pharisees.  As we talked about last time, the pharisees are so angry at Jesus that they have begun to look at everything He says and does as a possible reason to have Him killed.  He has just cast out a demon and healed a man and the pharisees make the ridiculous accusation that Jesus has cast out a demon by the power of demons.  Jesus rightly points out that the pharisees have witnessed demon exorcisms before and they never attributed such miracles to demonic power before – He is exposing their accusations as being motivated by something other than truth.  And then he utters a very pointed warning that has caused untold millions to wonder about the unforgivable sin:

“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (v. 32)

It is crucial to note here that Jesus is issuing a warning here, not an indictment.  Jesus doesn’t say that the religious teachers have committed the unpardonable sin, but he is alerting Holy Spirtiuthem that they are right on the edge.  They can hate on Jesus all they want, but when they let their anger carry them away so far that they begin attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the Prince of Demons, they will have gone too far.  It not so much that God has turned away from such offenders as the offenders have permanently turned their back on God.  To receive God’s forgiveness, one has to want it in the first place.  Jesus is teaching us here that people who attribute God’s power to the Devil don’t want forgiveness and further, God will not forgive someone against their wishes.  

                If you are one who even cares in the slightest that there is something God will not forgive, you are, by definition, NOT someone who could commit that which is unforgiveable.  What I would suggest we take away from this exchange between Jesus and the pharisees is not the unforgivable sin, but the larger point that Jesus is making.  Jesus states this point plainly at the end of the exchange:

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.  You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (v. 33-35)

When you focus your life on bad things (like looking for a pretext to kill someone), the eventual result of such a focus makes you a “bad tree.”  When you focus on producing good things, the opposite happens; a “good tree” is the result.  When you store up anger and rage, you literally ruin yourself from the inside out; the resulting toxicity can’t help but come out.  When you store away goodness in your soul, it too will be borne out in your actions. 

Question:  When you “take inventory” of your soul, what have you been storing up?

 

Prayer:  Show us the true motivations of my heart O, God.  Shine light into my darkness that I might turn and focus on your light.  Plant in me the things that make for a “good tree” that produces good fruit.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:   Pray for God to show you one new source of goodness today from which you could begin to focus on. 

 

Song:   Whatever is True – Vineyard Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgC1hWKMBUo

Matthew 12:22-30 - The "Runaway Train" of Anger

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 22, 2021

The “Runaway Train” of Anger

 

Matthew 12:22-30, NLT - Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see.  The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”

But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”

Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart.  And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive.  And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said.  But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.  For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.

 

Today’s passage is part of a larger section that extends to verse 12:37, but we are going to take two days to talk about it because there is much to see.  In this first part, we see yet another demon-possessed man exorcised and healed by Jesus.  I’d invite you to read the text above one more time remembering what has been happening.  Since Matthew 3 when Jesus was baptized, there is a growing division between the religious leaders (pharisees) and Jesus.  Earlier in chapter 12, we see that this conflict has reached a point where the Pharisees are plotting to kill Jesus.  A real and explosive resentment is growing in their heart for Jesus.

Think about a time when you have been in similar situations.  Something happened between you and another person that has caused hurt and resentment to begin building in your heart.  Then, that person persists in doing things that stir up even more resentment.  Over time, you begin to see everything they do in a negative light.  The offender might even be doing things that others you know do and you feel no offense, but when this wretched offender does it, you are incensed.  The resentment in you can become an unstoppable runaway train.  This is what is happening for the Pharisees.  Their resentment for Jesus has them seeing everything He does in a negative light, even exorcising and healing a poor tortured man.  Their animosity for Jesus has reached a point where they see this compassionate act as one done by the power of evil.  Read the text above again and see if you can see this runaway train.  I’ll wait until you get back 😊

                Can you feel the pharisees’ white-hot anger?  To the extent that we can, we can gain some deep insight into Jesus’s response.  Anger can blind people to things that are obvious to others.  Jesus is trying to point this out to the Pharisees.  The others present for this miracle are so moved by the exorcism that they begin asking, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?” It is obvious to most present that they have witnessed something done in the power of God, not Satan.  But the pharisees are so consumed by acrimony towards Jesus, they honestly are convinced they are seeing the work of the Devil.  Jesus asks a poignant, but common-sense question to expose the ridiculous nature of what the Pharisees were thinking; “…if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists?”  Jesus’s question assumes that the pharisees had seen exorcisms before and never attributed such miracles to anyone but God. Jesus’s query is an invitation to the Pharisees to “sober up” and see the obvious that everyone else present sees and they themselves could see if they were only thinking clearly; “the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.”

                We will talk more about this next time, but for today, I want us to see the danger of runaway anger and resentment.  It causes us to see things that are clearly not reality.  It causes us to see others motives as evil when nothing could be further from the truth.  And as will see next time, it puts us in danger of getting to a place where we are so cut off from God that nothing can be done.  Anger itself is not always a bad thing, but nurturing resentments towards others (and God) is toxic to our souls.  Jesus not only wants the pharisees to see this; He wants us to see it as well.

 

Question: Do you harbor any resentments towards others that cause you to see all that they do in a negative light?

 

Prayer:  Lord, help us to see the places in our hearts where unhealthy resentments are residing.  Empower us to refuse to continue to nurture such resentments.  Heal our hearts and deliver our souls. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the healing of the multitude of divisions in our country.

 

Song:  There is a Balm in Gilead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3e7AOWHyTM

Matthew 12:14-21 - The "Secret" Ambition of Jesus

 

The “Secret” Ambition of Jesus

 

Matthew 12:14-21, NRSV - But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.  When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them,  and he ordered them not to make him known.  This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,

    my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

    and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not wrangle or cry aloud,

    nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

He will not break a bruised reed

    or quench a smoldering wick

until he brings justice to victory.

And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

 

As we have noted before in our study of Matthew’s gospel, one of the things that Matthew wants to emphasize in his telling of the Jesus story is how Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s plan prophesied throughout the Old Testament.  In the passage above, we find the largest single quote of Old Testament prophecy in the book of Matthew.  Matthew cites Isaiah 42:1-4 as a confirmation of what Jesus has just done.  What Jesus has just done is run from the Pharisees (who are plotting to kill Him), attracted a large crowd, healed all the sick and broken among the crowd , and then instructed the crowd not to make Him known.  It should also be noted that Matthew has already eluded to Isaiah 42 in chapter 3, when Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist.  As Jesus is baptized, a dove (a symbol for the Holy Sprit descends upon Jesus and God speaks, “ this is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This is a paraphrase of Isaiah 42:1 spoken by God.  Matthew wants us to notice this.

Isaiah 42 is a prophecy first given to the Israelites who are in exile.  Their nation has been conquered, their resources seized, and their people scattered across the vast Babylonian Empire.  Spend some time thinking about what it must have been like to have experienced this kind of trauma.  Imagine the hopelessness that might set in over the course of multiple generations of Israelites who lived in exile for decade after decade.  Then, imagine how the words of the prophet might provide hope that someday, God will send a special “servant” to restore justice to the people of God.  In Isaiah’s day and in the hundreds of years after Isaiah and before Jesus arrived, leaders came along that folks thought “well, this might be the Servant for whom we’ve been waiting.”  Matthew is making it clear that, no matter who people thought that prophecy was about before, Jesus is the one for whom Israel and the whole world has been waiting.  Jesus will not only restore justice and hope for Israel, but for “the Gentiles” as well. 

But Matthew is pointing out something else here as well.  Jesus heals all the sick and broken in the crowd, but instructs them not to make Him known.  Jesus is not trying to create a buzz of become famous enough to eventually be made King.  Isaiah speaks of a humble Servant who resists “wrangling” and “crying aloud.”  This Servant goes about the mission quietly and without fanfare.  He doesn’t fan the flames of conflict (breaking bruised reeds), but keeps nurturing hope (smoldering wicks).  His mission is justice for all nations and He will not stop until it is accomplished.  Matthew will continue to develop this notion throughout the rest of the gospel, but it is here that He signals strongly that Jesus is not the next conqueror.  His kingdom transcends all earthly kingdoms. 

This message is important for us to hear today as well.  The Kingdom we are invited to be a part of is not nationalistic.  It doesn’t pit one nation against others.  It is for ALL nations.  It is about healing, justice and hope, not an engaged conflict to usher in an earthly King.  The Servant that comes from God doesn’t choose sides for the mission is to bring all to one side.  The politics of division have no place in God’s kingdom.  Healing, Justice, and Hope – that’s the Servant’s mandate and it is our mandate as well.

 

Question:  Do you ever find yourself hoping God will take your side over against others? 

 

Prayer:  God, help us to view the world through your lens of healing, justice, and hope.  Empower us to serve faithfully as Your Servant Jesus did.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for peace to take hold in the world’s fiercest conflicts today.

 

Song:  Secret Ambition – Michael w. Smith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTji0JRMDDs

Matthew 12:1-14 - Pharisaical Tendencies

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 20, 2021

Pharisaical Tendencies

 

Matthew 12:1-14 - At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?  He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.  Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?  I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.  If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

 

This passage is obviously about keeping the Sabbath, but it is also about something much bigger than the Sabbath – legalism.  As soon as I say the word “legalism,” most of us consciously or unconsciously uncheck the imaginary box in our mind that this passage is speaking to us.  After all, who wants to admit that they are a legalist.  But I want to submit to you that we all have legalist tendencies. 

In the passage above, the Pharisees (the quintessential legalists of the gospels) are challenging Jesus on this disciples harvesting food for themselves on the sabbath.  That was forbidden on the Sabbath and the disciples had actually done what they charged.  They were guilty according to the law and so the Pharisees are not technically wrong to challenge what they did.  But Jesus finds them wrong nonetheless.  Why is this?

There are two ways in which they are wrong.  As interpreters of the law, Pharisees are charged with communicating and teaching the intention or “spirit” of the law.  Jesus points the intention of this particular law when he quotes Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”  The Pharisees would rather the disciples sacrifice by not eating than by eating and breaking the letter of the law.  Jesus points out that it is merciful to let them eat and that showing mercy is more important than keeping the letter of the law because mercy is the intent of sabbath laws.  In Mark’s version of this same encounter, Jesus says, ““The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).    In other words, the Sabbath is supposed to be a merciful thing for people, not a sacrificial thing.

The second way in which the Pharisees are wrong here is related to the first, but is subtly different.  This plays out through the subsequent healing of the withered hand.  After Jesus has healed the man, the Pharisees are furious and begin to look for a way to kill Jesus.  Why would a healing provoke rage?  The answer lies in the fact that Jesus shows that the Pharisees were never interested in the intention of the law in the first place.  What they were interested in was USING the law to entrap Jesus and/or his disciples.  Jesus exposes this intention and embarrasses the Pharisees in front of others.  He is also challenging the very basis of their power which is being able to use the law for their own intentions. 

“Shame on those Pharisees” we like to say, but I would close today by making a bold claim.  All of us have pharisaical tendencies.  There are times when the “rules” are a convenient way to dismiss a difficult issue.  There are other times when we our use of the rules is not merciful.  Jesus reminds us today that when choose the rules over being merciful, we are not only choosing against mercy, we are choosing something He himself would not choose. 

 

Questions:  Do we ever use the “rules” to try and gain an advantage or avoid dealing with something difficult?  Do we use the technicality of the rules so we don’t have to deal with the intention behind the rules? 

 

Prayer:  For our own sake, Lord, show us our Pharisaical tendencies.  Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the fourteen kidnapped missionaries (including children) in Haiti. 

 

Song:  Buddy Greene - Recovering Pharisee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMyplW33E7c

Matthew 11:27-30 - Unforced Rhythms of Grace

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 19, 2021

The “Unforced Rhythms of Grace”

 

Matthew 11:27-30, NIV - “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

                                                                                               

Probably the best way to begin saying something about this familiar saying of Jesus is to make it sound a little less familiar.  Eugene Peterson has done this in his translation of this passage in the Message:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

I think a lot of people never really get what Jesus is saying here.  I feel like I have been one of them until fairly recently and even now, I am only beginning to get it.  I’ve got a long way to go.  Knowing that I have a long way to go could prompt me to stress about how unspiritual and undisciplined I am.  I know and have known that stress.  But that stress is the opposite of the “unforced rhythms of grace” that Jesus speaks of here.  Jesus does give us a “burden,” but it is not supposed to burn us out.  The yoke is an instrument put on a horse to guide and allow the horse to follow the driver and keep step with the other horses.  Jesus’s yoke for us is what we call a “calling” or ministry.  It is a calling that might in fact cause us to work very hard, but the work energizes us in a way that keeps us going and wanting to do more.  If following the lead of God in our life is wearing us out or grinding us down, something is wrong.  I love being a pastor, but I have let it wear me down at times and I’m still prone to do so.  Returning to the unforced rhythms is a regular correction for me. 

Another thought that occurs to me about this verse is that Jesus identifies the burden he gives us as “my burden.”  It is Jesus’s burden.  He allows us to share in it, but when we take ownership of it, it sets us up for a fall.  Some of the biggest hurts in my life have come when I had taken ownership of a burden I was never intended to carry and one that didn’t belong to me.  Knowing this and living it are often worlds apart though.  A yoke does require us to carry some weight, but the direction is always determined by the driver, the one who uses the yoke.  A good driver knows the right direction and is always careful not to let the load get too heavy.  Animals who trust the Good Driver’s guidance are always safe.  They learn to “live freely and lightly.” 

I tend to believe that I need to control way more than I ever could or should.  I’m going to be so bold as to say that you have that problem too.  It’s all too human an affliction.  It’s here that we could gain wisdom from animals who are yoked and don’t seem to mind it too much, for they have confidence and a sense of safety in trusting the Good Driver. 

 

Prayer:  God help us to know clearly the calling you have for each of us, but help us to not grasp it so tightly as if it were ours. Help us to trust your guidance and direction implicitly. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus – Pray for the deep divisions in our country right now.

 

No Song Today (although If there were, it would be “Hold On Loosely,” by 38 Special, but I digress) – Instead, I share a video of some of my favorite animals, the Clydesdales.  This demonstration and the accompanying explanation illustrates how these magnificent and powerful animals trust the instruction and guidance of their Driver.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPlMVY-Cfvc

Matthew 11:20-26 - A Jesus That Makes Us Uncomfortble

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 18, 2021

A Jesus that Makes Us Uncomfortable

 

Matthew 11:20-26, CEV - In the towns where Jesus had worked most of his miracles, the people refused to turn to God. So Jesus was upset with them and said:

You people of Chorazin are in for trouble! You people of Bethsaida are in for trouble too! If the miracles that took place in your towns had happened in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have turned to God long ago. They would have dressed in sackcloth and put ashes on their heads. I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Tyre and Sidon will get off easier than you will.

People of Capernaum, do you think you will be honored in heaven? You will go down to hell! If the miracles that took place in your town had happened in Sodom, that town would still be standing.  So I tell you that on the day of judgment the people of Sodom will get off easier than you.

At that moment Jesus said:

My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that is what pleased you.

                 

When we began this study of Matthew, I initially thought that it we would take selected passages of Matthew and move at a steady pace through the Gospel.  You might have noticed (since we are only on Chapter 11 two and half months later) that I was led early on to deal with every passage and skip none.  My primary reason for making this decision was that I did indeed feel that God was leading me to do so.  Along with that though, was a recognition that I needed to resist a tendency I have to skip over passages that are hard to comment on and uncomfortable to hear.  The above passage for today is one of those.  Reading and hearing this particular passage is important because it speaks directly to the resistance in us that tends to only pay attention to Jesus when his words are comfortable to hear. 

As Jesus traveled the Galilean countryside preaching, teaching, healing, and performing other miracles, some places were very receptive to his ministry and they turned wholeheartedly toward Him and the Kingdom He proclaimed.  This turning toward also implies a turning away from the way things were – this simultaneous turning away from and turning toward is the core definition of repentance.  The people who embraced Jesus’s kingdom saw their lives transformed.  This was Jesus’s intention for them and, by the way, it is still Jesus intention for us. 

But there were other towns, like Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, that may have enjoyed Jesus’s miracles, had their ears tickled by His teaching and may have even believed that Jesus was who He said He was, but there was no substantive change in their lives as a result.  They did NOT turn away from their old lives and they did NOT turn toward Jesus’s kingdom.  They may have enjoyed Jesus’s performance, but they were unchanged in any significant way. 

It's here where Jesus’s words get uncomfortable.  Judgement is coming for the those who do not turn away from their wickedness and lest we think that judgement is no big deal, Jesus recalls three cities whose terrible fates (Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom) will be better than the unrepentant cities he visited.  Tyre and Sidon were conquered and destroyed; Sodom was completely burned to the ground and wiped from the face of the earth.   All three cities were implored by the prophets to repent but did not prior to their destruction.   Like Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, they were unchanged by God’s word and works towards them.  Jesus emphatically proclaims there are dire consequences for making that collective choice.

My pastoral instinct is to try and soften Jesus’s words here – to offer some explanation for this harshness from the mouth of our Savior.  But to do so would be an attempt to “domesticate” Jesus, to make Him and His message something less jarring.  But the truth is that Jesus intends for His message to be jarring.   People do not change their ways when they are perfectly comfortable with their present ways.  There is no repentance (a simultaneous turning away from what was and a turning toward what is coming) in people who like what was just fine. 

So instead, my invitation today is “sit with” the discomfort of Jesus’s words above (and elsewhere).  Let that discomfort permeate your defenses and unsettle that in you which needs to be unsettled – those things in you that need to change.  Because Jesus proclaimed these warnings to whole cities (large groups/systems of people), I also invite us to let Jesus’s words unsettle in our own groups/systems of people that which needs to be unsettled – those systemic changes that need to happen in order for our cities to be aligned with the Kingdom of God. 

Tomorrow, we will hear the Jesus we like to hear, a Jesus who is “humble and gentle at heart” and who offers to lighten our load.  But today, we need to sit with the Jesus expects us and our cities to be changed by His words and warns us of the dire consequences coming if that change/repentance never comes. 

 

Question: What is something that would have to change if you were to turn toward Jesus even more than you have at this point in your life?

 

Prayer:  Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me, Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—then guide me on the road to eternal life. (Psalm 139:24-25, The Message) Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for specific places/situations of injustice that you are aware of right now in our world.

 

Song:  Lord Have Mercy - Michael W. Smith ft. Amy Grant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID0Mpy6zfts

Matthew 11:16-19 - Seeing the World As We Are

 

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 15, 2021

Seeing the World as We Are

 

Matthew 11:16-19, The Voice - What is this generation like? You are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out, “When we played the flute, you did not dance; and when we sang a dirge, you did not mourn.”  What I mean is this: When John came, he dressed in the clothes of a prophet, and he did not eat and drink like others but lived on honey and wild locusts. And people wondered if he was crazy, if he had been possessed by a demon.  Then the Son of Man appeared—He didn’t fast, as John had, but ate with sinners and drank wine. And the people said, “This man is a glutton! He’s a drunk! And He hangs around with tax collectors and sinners, to boot.” Well, Wisdom will be vindicated by her actions—not by your opinions.

 

In the passage for today, Jesus is lamenting the resistance to God’s kingdom that he mentioned in his defense of John that we read yesterday.  John was labeled demon-possessed because he didn’t do what the people expected.  Jesus Himself was labeled a glutton and a drunk for eating and drinking with the wrong sorts of people.  This may sound like nothing more than Jesus venting about the hard time he and John have had as they have pursued their mission, but I invite us to see the deeper principle that he is describing because it is still being played out two thousand years later as God’s kingdom continues to unfold. 

                People naturally struggle with being called to a new way of living.  John called people to repent because the Kingdom of God was coming.  Some people did, but most continued as if nothing had happened.  Jesus announces that the Kingdom has arrived and the people repeatedly ran Him out of town.  As we’ll see in tomorrow’s passage, he performed miraculous works in multiple towns with barely any response.  Ultimately, we know that Jesus and His Kingdom were rejected forcefully when He was nailed to a cross.  When you call people to change the way they are living, even when embracing that change can help them, they often respond drastically to keep doing what they have been doing.

                I point this out as if it is only others that act this way; it is not.  I act this way too.  I often react badly when others, however lovingly, tried to point out an error in my thinking and/or doing.  When God first called me to be a pastor, I pursued at least three other vocations before I became open to what God was offering.  Almost always, when I am confronted with a truth that requires me to change my thinking or behavior, my first instinct is to fight it or go in the other direction.   Over the years, I’ve gotten better at recognizing when this instinctive reaction has been triggered and I sometimes am able to override it with some clear thinking and engaged faith.  But that first instinct to resist has never gone away in me.  And in my decades of observation of others, I know I’m not the only one with this issue.

                The Kingdom of God is still unfolding; the revolution that John announced and Jesus catalyzed is still calling us to live differently than we are now.  We’ll talk more about this tomorrow, but for today consider this question.

 

Question:  What is something you know God wants you to do differently but, as of this moment, the resistance instinct in you has won out?

 

Prayer:  Have mercy on us, Savior.  Help us confront the resistance to Your kingdom that persists in our spirit so that we may embrace the life that truly is life.  Amen

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time confessing your own personal struggles with doing what you know is right to God today.

 

Song:  Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps&t=23s

Matthew 11:6-15 - If John Had Doubts About Jesus, What Chance Do I Have?

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 14, 2021

If John Had Doubts About Jesus, What Chance Do I Have?

 

Matthew 11:6-15, NIV – “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”  As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?  If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.  Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

    who will prepare your way before you.’

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Yesterday, we talked about Jesus responding to John the Baptist’s question about whether Jesus was the Messiah.  John seemed to be wavering in his belief, and Jesus gives him some scriptural reassurance to reinforce his faith.  As he finishes giving John’s disciples the message to deliver to John who is in prison, he makes the statement at the beginning of our passage for today.

“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Mt 11:6)

This is a transitional statement that is for John and for the crowd that Jesus is now turning to address. The crowd has heard the exchange between John’s disciples and Jesus and will need some reassurance of their own.  If the great John the Baptist is having doubts about Jesus, then who wouldn’t have doubts? So Jesus talks to the crowd about John.

                The interesting thing about Jesus’s remarks to me is that Jesus does not even address John’s doubts (or the crowd’s for that matter).  He simply talks about the greatness of John and John’s ministry.  Though we (two thousand years later) may miss it, he is drawing a contrast between John (“among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater”) and the man that imprisoned John, the King Herod Antipas, whose public symbol was a reed (“a reed swayed by the wind”).  At some point though, you might expect Jesus to say something like, “John was great, but even the greats have doubts sometimes.”  Jesus does not make any such statement.  What he does with the crowd is similar to what he did with John/John’s disciples.  After affirming John’s greatness, Jesus quotes scripture. 

“This is the one about whom it is written:

‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

    who will prepare your way before you.’”

The quote is from Malachi where Malachi talks about one who precedes the Messiah, an Elijah-like messenger.  By invoking this prophecy Jesus is simultaneously proclaiming that John is that Elijah figure AND that He (Jesus) is indeed the Messiah.  This is confirmed when at the end of our passage for today when Jesus says, “if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.”

                The implicit message of Jesus here is not a prescription to get rid of doubts, but an invitation to believe in the midst of doubts.  In fact, that is the very root of real faith itself.  Believing is easy when there is no cause for doubt.  But Jesus acknowledges that there is great cause for doubt (“the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it”).  Because of this, doubts will always be with us, but the invitation of the Kingdom is to keep on believing anyway.  The reasons for our doubts will fall away, but the Kingdom is forever.

                This sets up the last observation for today.  It concerns Jesus’s surprising statement, “whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than [John the Baptist].”  Why would anyone be “greater” than John, much less the “least in the kingdom?”  There is a lot that could be said here, but you’ve already endured a lot of explanation today, so I’ll keep it brief.  At this point in Matthew’s story, there is great confusion about the true nature of Jesus’s identity even among Jesus’s followers (and John the Baptist for that matter).  They hear Jesus proclaiming the Kingdom, but they aren’t ready for the “mind grenade” that it will come through Jesus’s death and resurrection.  They expect to see Jesus become an earthly king, not a crucified messiah.  There is no possible way for them to comprehend what even the most casual believer in Jesus embraces now – that the Kingdom that Jesus ushers in necessitated His death.  It is His death that makes the full expression of the Kingdom possible.  The “least in the Kingdom” now know something John the Baptist could have never known before.  You and I know that that too, “if we are willing to accept it.”

 

Question:  How do you choose to believe in Jesus and His Kingdom, in spite of doubts caused by all that is around us?

 

Prayer:  God, “we believe.  Help us in our unbelief”  (Mark 9:24) Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Choose a couple of specific people that you know that have not chosen to believe in Jesus yet.  Pray for them today.

 

Song:  Bill Gaither - I Believe, Help Thou My Unbelief

Note:  I have to confess.  I am not a huge fan of Bill Gaither fan (though my Mom adores him!), but this song deeply touches me and speaks to message for today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z__h1uiSC6I

Matthew 11:1-6 - Seeing the Forest for the Trees: John the Baptist Edition

 

Daily Devo W/ Pastor Eric October 13, 2021

Seeing the Forest for the Trees - John the Baptist Edition

 

Matthew 11:1-5, NLT - When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and preach in towns throughout the region.

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”  And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.

 

Poor John is beginning to have his doubts.  The bold wilderness preacher has been keeping tabs on what Jesus is doing. He hears about the miracles, but he was expecting judgement. Remember back in chapter 3, just before Jesus’s baptism, John proclaims, “Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees.” (3:10)  What John is hearing about is not judgement.  Healing, resurrections, and the Word being preached are all well and good, but the Messiah is also supposed to bring judgement.  Are you the one to bring it or are we waiting for someone else?

Jesus’s message to John doesn’t seem to address the question because He simply tells John what John already knows – the miracles.  But Jesus is quoting prophecy in Isaiah:

“Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, lame men and women will leap like deer”  (Isaiah 35:5-6)

“He sent me to preach good news to the poor” (Isaiah 61:2)

John does already know these prophecies too, but we all need to reminded of things we already know when our heart seems to be set on something else.  John has been fighting with the authorities since he began his ministry and needs to know that those with whom he has been fighting are going to “get theirs.”  The reality is that the inbreaking of a new Kingdom does bring judgement on the old, but it does so by ushering in such good news that people begin to embrace the new with their whole hearts, dropping the old in the process.  Jesus’s message to John (and the crowd gathered) is that what John is hoping for is indeed happening, but maybe not in the way John imagined.   

                We all need that reminder sometimes.  We all get discouraged and long for vindication from time to time.  In those times, it can be easy to begin to fixate on our enemies being exposed for what they are.  But Jesus’s words here remind us that our focus should not be primarily on our enemies, but on what God is doing.  Good things are happening, but we will overlook them if all we are thinking about is what is not happening.  It was a good Word for John and it is a good Word for us as well.

 

Question:  Is it possible that you are missing something important that is happening right now because you are focused on something that is not happening?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, help us not to confuse our expectations with Your Will.  Gently remind us today of the goodness in our lives to which we should be paying attention.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people in prison today

 

Song:  Accentuate the Positive – Dr. John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTMWNWrE3Uc