Readiness Check

 

Readiness Check

 

Matthew 24:29-44, The Message - “Following those hard times,

Sun will fade out,

    moon cloud over,

Stars fall out of the sky,

    cosmic powers tremble.

“Then, the Arrival of the Son of Man! It will fill the skies—no one will miss it. Unready people all over the world, outsiders to the splendor and power, will raise a huge lament as they watch the Son of Man blazing out of heaven. At that same moment, he’ll dispatch his angels with a trumpet-blast summons, pulling in God’s chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole.

“Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer’s just around the corner. So it is with you: When you see all these things, you’ll know he’s at the door. Don’t take this lightly. I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for all of you. This age continues until all these things take place. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.

“But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven’s angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

“The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah’s. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away.

“The Son of Man’s Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.

 

                A couple of reflections ago, I mentioned that Matthew 24 has spurred many wide-ranging interpretations scholars over the history of the Christian church.  It is this passage above, concerning the return of Christ, that presents the most difficulty.  What does tall this strange imagery mean?  I’ll be completely honest; I’m not sure.  I not even sure that Jesus’s intentions with these words was to provide any real clarity on what His return will be like.  Jesus even states that even He, in that moment, did not know exactly when all this would occur.   Jesus also states that no one other than God knows the timing.  But there is a thread of clarity throughout this passage.  That thread is readiness.

Readiness.  Right now, could you make a list of the things for which you know nothing about, but you are currently prepared?  That’s pretty hard to do when we don’t know what is coming.  When we know the details about a coming event, we prepare.  We pack for a trip.  We study for tests.  We board up the windows when the hurricane is coming.  The Lord has said that He is indeed coming.  Are we prepared for that? 

Awake.  It is a reminder to me to not live in the past (what could have been) or the future (waiting for something to happen in the future that may or may not ever come).  We are to live fully in the present because the present is the only time we can do anything about. Living in the present can redeem the past and prepare us for the future.

Jesus is teaching that being fully engaged (awake) in the moment in which we are living and prepared for Him to show up in any of those present moments is the way that His followers are to live.  No, the smartest biblical scholars can’t agree on the details of the Second Coming.  Jesus assures us that knowing the details is not necessary.  Knowing Him is what prepares us.  Living fully awake in the present will help us recognize when the time is coming.  Jesus makes it clear that, while everyone will know when the Second Coming occurs, not everyone will receive it as good news because of unreadiness.  Ready and Awake. The words for this day. And every other day for that matter.

 

Questions:  Have you ever caught yourself living on autopilot?  (in other words, not fully present with what was going on right in front of you)

 

Prayer: God, help us to live in the present, knowing you can redeem our past and you have a glorious future in store for us.  Prepare us for to recognize and respond to Christ when He returns.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for political prisoners all over the world today.

Song:  I Wish We All Been Ready - DC Talk

Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric March 1, 2022

Readiness Check

 

Matthew 24:29-44, The Message - “Following those hard times,

Sun will fade out,

    moon cloud over,

Stars fall out of the sky,

    cosmic powers tremble.

“Then, the Arrival of the Son of Man! It will fill the skies—no one will miss it. Unready people all over the world, outsiders to the splendor and power, will raise a huge lament as they watch the Son of Man blazing out of heaven. At that same moment, he’ll dispatch his angels with a trumpet-blast summons, pulling in God’s chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole.

“Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer’s just around the corner. So it is with you: When you see all these things, you’ll know he’s at the door. Don’t take this lightly. I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for all of you. This age continues until all these things take place. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.

“But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven’s angels, not even the Son. Only the Father knows.

“The Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah’s. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away.

“The Son of Man’s Arrival will be like that: Two men will be working in the field—one will be taken, one left behind; two women will be grinding at the mill—one will be taken, one left behind. So stay awake, alert. You have no idea what day your Master will show up. But you do know this: You know that if the homeowner had known what time of night the burglar would arrive, he would have been there with his dogs to prevent the break-in. Be vigilant just like that. You have no idea when the Son of Man is going to show up.

 

                A couple of reflections ago, I mentioned that Matthew 24 has spurred many wide-ranging interpretations scholars over the history of the Christian church.  It is this passage above, concerning the return of Christ, that presents the most difficulty.  What does tall this strange imagery mean?  I’ll be completely honest; I’m not sure.  I not even sure that Jesus’s intentions with these words was to provide any real clarity on what His return will be like.  Jesus even states that even He, in that moment, did not know exactly when all this would occur.   Jesus also states that no one other than God knows the timing.  But there is a thread of clarity throughout this passage.  That thread is readiness.

Readiness.  Right now, could you make a list of the things for which you know nothing about, but you are currently prepared?  That’s pretty hard to do when we don’t know what is coming.  When we know the details about a coming event, we prepare.  We pack for a trip.  We study for tests.  We board up the windows when the hurricane is coming.  The Lord has said that He is indeed coming.  Are we prepared for that? 

Awake.  It is a reminder to me to not live in the past (what could have been) or the future (waiting for something to happen in the future that may or may not ever come).  We are to live fully in the present because the present is the only time we can do anything about. Living in the present can redeem the past and prepare us for the future.

Jesus is teaching that being fully engaged (awake) in the moment in which we are living and prepared for Him to show up in any of those present moments is the way that His followers are to live.  No, the smartest biblical scholars can’t agree on the details of the Second Coming.  Jesus assures us that knowing the details is not necessary.  Knowing Him is what prepares us.  Living fully awake in the present will help us recognize when the time is coming.  Jesus makes it clear that, while everyone will know when the Second Coming occurs, not everyone will receive it as good news because of unreadiness.  Ready and Awake. The words for this day. And every other day for that matter.

 

Questions:  Have you ever caught yourself living on autopilot?  (in other words, not fully present with what was going on right in front of you)

 

Prayer: God, help us to live in the present, knowing you can redeem our past and you have a glorious future in store for us.  Prepare us for to recognize and respond to Christ when He returns.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for political prisoners all over the world today.

 

Song: I Wish We’d All Been Ready – DC Talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSW5uO4kKto

A SERIOUS Commitment to Goodness - January 13, 2022

 

A SERIOUS Commitment to Goodness - January 13, 2022

 

Matthew 18:6-9, The Message - But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don’t have to make it worse—and it’s doomsday to you if you do.

“If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

 

The child that Jesus placed in the midst of his teaching session with the disciples that we talked about last time is still there in this passage.  Jesus has urged his mentees to rediscover their childlike faith and outlook and now, probably looking sweetly at the child, he issues a particularly harsh warning;  don’t cause children to lose that faith and outlook which grown-ups need to recover.  Those who cause children to stumble will wish they hadn’t.  The extreme threat-ladened language Jesus uses here illustrates Jesus fiercely passionate love for children.  This is a place where I feel a particularly close connection to Jesus because I seem to share that strong urge to defend and look out for the needs of children. 

Jesus uses the warning against causing children to stumble as a segue to a more general warning about anyone or anything that causes anyone else to stumble.  There are a couple of important principles here.  First, this teaching brings to the forefront the truth of interdependence.  What we do does not just affect ourselves.  We can hardly do anything that doesn’t affect others.  Jesus is teaching us that we are, at least in part, responsible for those results. 

I am the oldest of three children and so, many times when I was growing up, I got in trouble for violating this principle Jesus is teaching.  I had led my brother and sister to do something that got all three of us in trouble.  My protest at the time was that I hadn’t MADE them do it;  they made that choice themselves.  In one of these particular times (I can’t recall the details of the situation), I made that very argument to my mother. 

She said, “Eric, if you hadn’t made the choice first, they would not have even thought they could make the same choice.”

She had me. I don’t think I admitted it at the time, but I admit it now.  This is not just a truth for those of us with younger siblings.  We all make choices every day that affect the choices of others.  Living with the awareness of that and acting accordingly is something Jesus teaches us to do.  Furthermore, if anything causes us to veer off course, we need to think about removing it.  We’ve mentioned before that Jesus likes to use hyperbole to make a point and he does so here with the business of cutting off hands and poking out eyes.  The point here is that there may be times when we need to put restrictions on ourselves so that we can stay on the path we you know is right.  If you are an alcoholic, it may be necessary to make sure it’s never readily available whenever possible.  If pornography is a problem for you, you may need to look into available software that limits the websites you can visit.  Those are just two examples.  These are just two examples of how self-imposed restrictions can help you live the way Jesus has taught us.  

The larger thread that runs through all this teaching in the first half of Matthew 18 is that we foster that which is good in us and others and we look to hamper and diminish what is not good for us and others.  The implication is that we are looking for and aware of that goodness and are always actively working to protect it.  We feed and nurture goodness and we starve that which hinders it. 

 

Questions:  Who is influenced by what you do? Might it be necessary to impose some self-restriction in order to get the results you know God wants for you?

 

Prayer:  Lord, show us how we affect those around us and how we are led astray.  Help us be aware of these interdependencies and work to love what is good and shun what is evil.  Amen,

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time asking God to show you how you influence others and how you are influenced as well?

 

Song:  Jason Mraz - Look For The Good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2trTOe8YuX0