Forgetting How to Be a Child - January 12, 2022

 

Forgetting How to Be a Child - January 12, 2022

 

Matthew 18:1-4, NLT - About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

I can’t pinpoint when it happened, but I know that I have known this scripture since I was a child.  I suspect that my favorite Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Harpe, taught it to me, but I don’t remember for sure.  But what I do remember is that I claimed these verses for myself.  I didn’t hear them from the point of view of the adult disciples Jesus was trying to teach about childlike faith.  I heard Jesus’s words from the point of view of the child sitting on his lap while he taught the grown-ups.  I heard Jesus telling the disciples to be like me.  I already had the childlike faith and Jesus was telling those men that they needed it. 

The painful part about that memory is that now, I’m on the other side.  I’m one of the grown-ups that has largely forgotten how love and hope and faith like a child does.  I had what Jesus was holding up as the goal, but I lost it.  The really sad part of this that, most of the time I don’t even notice that it’s gone.  After all, I have so much “grown-up faith” issues to deal with.  I have a full to-do list that never seems to get shorter, expectations from countless others to live up to, and an internal dialogue that never stops to wonder where that little child Jesus used as an example went. 

Then I hear Jesus’s words again; ““I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”  I hear them and I remember what I lost.  I remember a faith that had no need to understand everything.  I remember hope that literally kept me awake at night about what seems to be the smallest of things now.  I remember love that was just simple, humble, and didn’t make excuses. 

Let me be clear.  Growing up is not a bad thing.  Lots of necessary things come to those who do it well – responsibility, integrity, wisdom, etc.  But those things are not supposed to be obtained by shedding the faith, hope and love that comes from childlike humility.  Of course, there are some things from childhood days that we can never get back – things like innocence, endless free time, and limited responsibility.  But we are supposed to face the all-too-grown-up reality of the world with the wonder and humility of a child.  And yes, that is tremendously difficult.  Some days it seems impossible.  But Jesus reminds us that it is necessary, less we lose sight of the true nature of His Kingdom. Greatness in that Kingdom, Jesus says, is the opposite of the greatness of the this world. 

 

Question:  As you hear Jesus’s words in this passage, what do you sense you have lost and need to recover?

 

Prayer:  God, thank you for loving me every minute of my life just the way I am.  Help me to trust that love more fully.  Help me recover the essential aspects of faith, hope and love that I have lost on my way to other things.  I want to participate in your Kingdom.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people struggling with mental health issues today,

 

Song:  Return to Pooh Corner – Kenny Loggins – This is a song that seems to awaken childlike faith in me.  If it doesn’t for you, find a song that does. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iV4mol-Otw  

An Interesting Use of Freedom - January 11, 2022

An Interesting Use of Freedom - January 11, 2022

 

Matthew 17:24-27, CEB - When they came to Capernaum, the people who collected the half-shekel temple tax came to Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?”

“Yes,” he said.

But when they came into the house, Jesus spoke to Peter first.“What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect taxes, from their children or from strangers?”

“From strangers,” he said.

Jesus said to him, “Then the children don’t have to pay.  But just so we don’t offend them, go to the lake, throw out a fishing line and hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a shekel coin. Take it and pay the tax for both of us.”

 

The temple tax collectors in Capernaum want to know if Jesus pays the annual tax required of all Jewish males older than 20.  The tax is levied and administered by the religious leaders to provide for the upkeep and temple priests support.  There were fringe Jewish sects at the time who refused to pay the tax.  It’s possible the officials were trying to find out if Jesus was in one of those rebel groups.  Peter affirms that Jesus does pay the tax because he has no reason to think that Jesus doesn’t.  When they get back to the house, this prompts a discussion between Jesus and Peter. 

                Jesus, through a leading question, gets Peter to admit that a King’s children are not taxed.  The implicit point Jesus then makes is that He and Peter are children of God and not required to pay the tax.  “The children are free,” is how one translation renders Jesus’s words.  However, Jesus knows this will not go over well with the officials and will escalate conflict, so he provides the money to pay the tax supernaturally.  The coin in the fish’s mouth is a nice touch, especially since that coin is the exact amount to cover the tax for Jesus and Peter. 

                Why does Jesus develop a specific argument for not paying the tax and then provide for the paying of the tax anyway?  There are least a couple of reasons.  The first is the reason Jesus Himself provides.  If the tax is not paid, it will become a hindrance to the Jesus’s mission.  We already know from multiple occasions previously covered in Matthew that the religious leaders were looking for a reason to discredit Jesus.  Jesus expresses a desire to avoid giving them pretext with this offense. 

                However, there is another issue here that Jesus Himself points out.  The children are free, thus He is free not to pay the tax.  But he doesn’t use His freedom to excuse Himself.  Instead, He freely chooses to contribute the tax anyway because this will create good will for His movement – or at least avoid creating ill will for the moment.  Just because we have freedom to avoid something doesn’t mean that we should.  Children should want to contribute to the Kingdom of their Parents.  God’s children should use their freedom to do good things even when it costs them to do so.

                One more point.  The resource that is provided for Peter to pay his tax does not come from Peter.  I’ve caught many fish over the years that I’ve fished, but I have yet to find four days wages (the temple tax was about two days average wage) in any fish’s mouth.  God provides the resources for Peter to exercise his “freedom.”  I believe the same could be said for all God’s children.  This and other passages form the basis for the system of support for the church.  We are invited to volunteer our resources for the work of the church rather than be taxed.   But we are also reminded that all the resources we control are at our disposal because of the provision of God. 

 

Question:  Think about the causes that you have voluntarily given the most generously to.  What motivated you to freely give like that?

 

Prayer:  It all belongs to you God.  If you wished, you could take it all back in an instant.  Thank you for your provision.  Help us use whatever freedom you have given to do good.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people that hungry today.

 

Song:  FREELY, FREELY - Aaron & Esther

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS1ndKgU36I

“I Have Some Bad News and Some Good News” - January 10, 2022

 

“I Have Some Bad News and Some Good News” - January 10, 2022

 

Matthew 17:22-23, NRSV - As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands,  and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.

 

Before we get to the main reflection today, I want to comment on something some of you might have noticed.  In most modern translations, there is no verse 21 in Matthew 17.  This speaks to an issue that Bible translators have to deal with when they are rendering a new translation of the Bible.  Generally speaking, translators try to use the oldest manuscripts of the original handwritten texts available in the original language.  In this case, it is Greek.  There are a few ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament Books.  The problem is, there are differences between those different manuscripts.  We’ve stumbled onto one of them today.  Some have verse 21 and some don’t.  When translators come across something like this, they have to make a decision.  Do they include it or not.  That decision has many complex issues to consider that we don’t have time to consider today, but what I will say for now is that the majority of translation teams of among the most trusted English versions of the New Testament chose to omit verse 21.  This is why I chose not to cover it in these reflections.  But I did want you to be aware of the issues that are involved in bringing a new translation of the Bible to you and me.

                So moving into our reflection, Jesus gives the disciples a dose of “good news-bad news.”  They get the bad news first because the bad news will occur first;  Jesus will be killed.  The good news is that, three days later, He will be raised from death.  To be fair, this is not the first time they have heard this bad/good news.  If you remember, in Chapter 16, he begins to tell them this:

 (suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (16:21)

You should know that Jesus will tell them about His death and resurrection two more times before it actually happens (20:17-19 and 26:1-2).  It seems clear that Jesus knew that His disciples would take a while to wrap their mind around this coming event.  We have the advantage of looking back on something that has already happened.  We were taught this story with the “happy” ending already in place.  For the disciples, who don’t have this hindsight advantage, all they can hear is that Jesus says He is going to be killed.  They have found the Savior that their grandparents, great-grandparents, and dozens of previous generations have hoped for and now they are told that Savior is now going to be taken from them. 

                Imagine what pregnancy would be like if you weren’t sure that it would end with a precious child being born.  Imagine going through 16-20 years of education with no idea whether it would be useful when you received that degree (probably not too hard to imagine these days).  Imagine your most beloved family member telling you that they have only months to live and not knowing how you would be able to go on living without them (my guess is a few of us have already experienced that).  Our human tendency is to latch on to the bad news right in front of us.  When Peter objects to hearing the bad news in Matthew 16, Jesus tells him, “you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”(16:23)  While Jesus is patient, (telling His friends the same thing at least four different times)  He calls us to stretch to embrace a longer vision.  The bad thing that has you filled with dread right now is NOT the last thing, no matter how it plays out. 

Most of us have seen this play out.  Pregnancies most often end with sweet bables, but sometimes they don’t and it is bitterly painful.  But I know parents who have tasted that bitter pain and found joy again.  I have seen people spend those two decades of education getting the degree (even an MD certification in a couple of cases) and never work in their field of expertise because they found something even better.  And on occasions too many to count, I have seen people who hoped against hope that the terminal diagnosis would incorrect and ultimately be devastated when it proves to be accurate.  But over time, they find themselves experiencing peace on the other side of the loss they didn’t think they could survive.

Jesus needs us to know that “in this world, you will have trouble.” (John 16:33)  We can’t skip to the good part.  But especially in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus would have us see that there is always deeply good news on the other side of that thing that has us “greatly distressed.” (17:23).  The invitation is to embrace that long vision of life even when it’s so hard to see.  The worst thing is NEVER the last thing.

 

Question:  How would you live differently than you live right now if you knew that no matter what happens, the end of your story is “exceedingly good news?”

 

Prayer:  Holy Spirit, inhabit our hearts so that our minds could embrace your long vison of Good News.  Help us to hold onto the hope that the worst thing is never the last thing for your children.  Amen,

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for someone you know who is struggling to hold onto hope right now.

 

Song:  At the Foot of the Cross (Ashes for Beauty) - Kathryn Scott

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

Receiving the Disappointment of God - January 7, 2022

 

Receiving the Disappointment of God - January 7, 2022

 

Today we resume our journey through the Gospel of Matthew that we started back in August after focusing on Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. 

 

Matthew 17:14-20, The Message - At the bottom of the mountain, they were met by a crowd of waiting people. As they approached, a man came out of the crowd and fell to his knees begging, “Master, have mercy on my son. He goes out of his mind and suffers terribly, falling into seizures. Frequently he is pitched into the fire, other times into the river. I brought him to your disciples, but they could do nothing for him.”

Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” He ordered the afflicting demon out—and it was out, gone. From that moment on the boy was well.

When the disciples had Jesus off to themselves, they asked, “Why couldn’t we throw it out?”

“Because you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.”

 

In today’s passage, it’s especially important to remember what has just happened in the passage leading up to this one.  Jesus and three of His disciples have just finished witnessing Jesus being transfigured before them up on the mountain and in addition to that, Moses and Elijah show up to confer with Jesus.  If ever there were a faith-building event for these disciples, they have just experienced it.  They have just seen with their own eyes proof that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and all of heaven’s power is behind him. Fresh from that experience, they come down off the mountain and a man brings his son to Jesus’s disciples to be healed.  They are unable to heal him.  Jesus shows some emotion as he hears this. 

 

                “How much longer do I have to put up with this?,” he asks in exasperation.

 

                Jesus is disheartened that His disciples haven’t enough faith to perform this healing.  If I’m honest, I feel Jesus’s impatience personally as if He had directed at me.  While I have not witnessed anything like the transfiguration, I have witnessed many miracles over the course of my life, some of them in my own family.  If anyone should have a mustard seed’s amount of faith, it is me.  But I have to confess that I have often come up short when my faith was called upon to move even little molehills, much less mountains.  I hear Jesus’s frustration in this encounter and it hits home in my heart.

 

                Part of Jesus’s urgency here concerns Him having knowledge that the others do not have; His time is growing short.  He knows the time is quickly approaching that he will be hanging on a Roman cross and He wants His disciples to be ready.  It frustrates Jesus that his cohorts are further along in their faith journey than they are.  Likewise, it often frustrates me that I am not further along in my faith journey than I am.  Perhaps some of you know what I’m talking about from your own experience. 

 

                There’s part of me that would like to think that God never gets frustrated with me and my bumbling faith.  But the larger part of me knows that it can’t be true.  To love someone means that you will get frustrated when they aren’t living at the level you know they could.  Loving parents know just when to express this frustration to kids who need a little kick in the pants to do better.  Jesus is giving His disciples one of those shoves.  And they will do better as a result.  These men will be the leaders of the movement Jesus starts after Jesus ascends into heaven.  They will perform much greater miracles than the miracle they failed to perform here.  They are no worse for wear after being the recipients of Jesus’s expressed disappointment; in fact, they will be better because Jesus didn’t hold back.

 

Question:  When has another’s disappointment with you been the catalyst for positive personal growth?

 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, we long to have even a mustard’s seed amount of faith.  Do with us as you know best to move us to that faith-filled place.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those who have experienced a discouraging failure recently.

 

Song:  Ain’t No Grave – Molly Skaggs (Bethel Music)

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

The Duality of January 6th

 

The Duality of January 6th

Matthew 2:1-12 - After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem.  They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.”

 When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him.  He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born.  They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

You, Bethlehem, land of Judah,

        by no means are you least among the rulers of Judah,

            because from you will come one who governs,

            who will shepherd my people Israel.”

Then Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him.”  When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were filled with joy.  They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route.

 

Today is January 6, which brings together two remembrances that on the surface, seem like they could not be more unrelated.  Today is the church’s designated day for the observance of Epiphany.  It’s a day when we remember the story of the Magi/Wise men traveling to visit the child Jesus and pay Him homage.  They went to acknowledge and worship the one who had been revealed to them as a divinely ordained king.  It is our invitation to do the same each year in response to Christmas. 

January 6 is now also a day of American infamy – a day when a crowd who was gathered at the Capitol Building in Washington DC turned violent and destroyed property and caused needless loss of life.  The crowd was attempting to convince lawmakers to reverse results of a national election.  It was an effort to retain the power of one leader as a new leader was destined to take over the former leader’s role.  Wait… maybe these two occasions are not so unrelated. 

The January 6^th Insurrection in 2021 was not the first time monumental efforts were made to try and reverse the results of an election.  The 2000 election was challenged all the way to the supreme court.  Fortuantely, it did not come to violence, but we are told by historians that we came really close. The truth is there have been court challenges to many US elections.  Whenever a new power emerges, the current power is threatened.  Bringing this back to our text for today, when Jesus is born, Herod feels threatened and takes action to retain power. 

I realize that is a fundamental difference of perception and opinion among all those who read this devotional about what happened at the Capitol in 2021.  I’m not seeking to change anyone’s mind about that event as if I thought I could.  My reminder today is that the heart of Epiphany is even more important than who sits in the Oval Office “throne” and whether or not their position is legitimate by human standards. There is a King who has been born whose power and position should be acknowledged by all, but after over 2000 years, He is still not getting His due.  That King’s name is Jesus. 

The wise men were probably not kings, but their gifts to Jesus suggest that they were powerful men.  These powerful men, instead of acting to protect their power, travel across the known world at the time to defer to a power that they knew was infinitely greater.  And they refused to take part in Herod’s plot to take action against the newborn King.  The ironic thing about that humble decision is that history only remembers them for that decision.  We remember these men every January 6^th because they submitted their power (and some of their wealth) to Jesus.  In a very real way, their significance is enlarged, not diminished, by their decision to submit.  We need more leaders like that these days.

Back in August, at the beginning of our study of the book of Matthew, our scripture text was this same story.  Back then, my encouragement to you all was to look at the ways that, we, like Herod, sometimes act in less than noble ways when we feel our power and position is threatened by another.  Certainly, I still encourage us to do that and I strive to do the same.  But today, the exhortation I would add is, to the extent we can, look for and demand the wise men’s humility in the people we allow to lead us whenever possible.  You are reading a Christian devotional because, on some level, you believe that the real and supreme power in this world is God.  God exercised unmatched and unassailable power by laying down that power and becoming one of us.  Humble and Servant Leadership is the leadership God chose.  It should be the leadership that God’s people should choose as well.

 

Question:  What character traits do you look for in leaders you choose to follow?

 

Prayer:  God, help us to recognize your Spirit and character in those who we choose to support and follow.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus: Pray for our country today as our divisions will most likely be on full display.

 

Song:  We Three Kings – Nathan Cole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0BJonwPCds

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light - January 5, 2022

 

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light -  January 5, 2022

 

Isaiah 42:6  - “I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.”

Malachi 4:2 - “But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings”

Revelation 21:25 - “And there will be no night there,” and 22:5b, “They need no light of lamp or sun.”

 

The Song for this last day before Epiphany is Kathleen Thomerson’s “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light.”  Like yesterday, the core of my encouragement is to simply meditate on the lyrics.  Right after the hustle and bustle of the holidays is a natural time to refocus on the “everydayness” of our faith.  We’ve celebrated the Light that was given to us in Jesus and now we consider how we will live differently as a result.  We remember changes that we had considered or even committed to in the past but we, for whatever reason, did not follow through.  Maybe it’s time to consider them again.  Perhaps there is a change that we’ve never considered, but our present circumstances have caused us to see different possibilities. 

The tone of this song is a deep desire to move our faith further into the light of Christ’s way for us.  Hear the words and let them work on your spirit.

 

I want to walk as a child of the light

I want to follow Jesus

God sent the stars to give light to the world

The star of my life is Jesus

In Him, there is no darkness at all

The night and the day are both alike

The Lamb is the light of the city of God

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus

 

I want to see the brightness of God

I want to look at Jesus

Clear sun of righteousness, shine on my path

And show me the way to the Father

In Him, there is no darkness at all

The night and the day are both alike

The Lamb is the light of the city of God

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus

 

I'm looking for the coming of Christ

I want to be with Jesus

When we have run with patience the race

We shall know the joy of Jesus

In Him, there is no darkness at all

The night and the day are both alike

The Lamb is the light of the city of God

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus

 

Listen to the statements in each of the three verses:

I want to follow Jesus.

I want to look at Jesus.

I want to be with Jesus.

 

Question:  What would following, looking at, and being with Jesus in a deeper way this year look like for you.

 

Prayer:  God, I pray 2022 would be a year when I would allow more of your light to permeate the way I live and love.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people facing dangerously cold/severe weather conditions right now. 

 

Song:  I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light – Kathleen Thomerson (performed by Chris Brunelle)

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

Will You Come and See the Light? - January 4, 2022

 

Will You Come and See the Light? - January 4, 2022

 

John 1:1-5, NIV - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

 

Today, I bring to you a song that I had not heard before today (the day I am writing this).  I was searching for an Epiphany song and came across this one.   I was moved by the lyrics and touched by the beautiful voices that sang the version linked below.  I cannot find the story behind the song, so my encouragement today is to meditate on the words.  Each verse ends with the piercing question, “will you hide, or decide to meet the light?”  The brilliance of the lyricist is that question takes on a different angle based on the verse.  Spend some time with this question today, reflecting on the ways that we often decide to hide from spiritual insight/light because deciding to “meet” the light would force us to confront something unpleasant about ourselves or the world in which we live.  The focus of Epiphany is to engage in this difficult struggle. It is to move from the sentimentality of the “sweet little Jesus boy” to consider how we will live because He was born.  Jesus is God with us in the flesh! So what now?  How will we respond to this incredible event?  Engage with this struggle this week of Epiphany.

 

Will you come and see the light from the stable door?

    It is shining newly bright, though it shone before.

    It will be your guiding star, it will show you who you are.

Will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Will you step into the light that can free the slave?

    It will stand for what is right, it will heal and save.

    By the pyramids of greed there's a longing to be freed.

Will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Will you tell about the light in the prison cell?

    Though it's shackled out of sight, it is shining well.

    When the truth is cut and bruised, and the innocent abused,

will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Will you join the hope, alight in a young girl's eyes,

    of the mighty put to flight by a baby's cries?

    When the lowest and the least are the foremost at the feast,

will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Will you travel by the light of the babe new born?

    In the cradle lit at night there's a gleam of dawn,

    and the darkness all about is too dim to put it out:

will you hide, or decide to meet the light?

 

Question: What specifically would deciding to “meet the light” mean for you right now?

 

Prayer:  God, we confess that sometimes, we have “loved darkness instead of light” (John 3:19).  Pierce the darkness of our hearts and give us the courage to meet that light instead of hiding from it.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the biggest challenges of our

country today. 

 

Song:  Will You Come and See the Light? - David Haas, Michael Joncas, Marty Haugen and Paul A. Tate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPLTf_vDr6s