Best Buy

                                          Matthew 13: 44-52

 

 

            Turn on the internet and type in “best deal.” Many sites emerge.

“Best deal in town,” “best deal finder,” “best deal shopping;” you get the idea. There are many suggestions for how and where to get the best deal. But the internet can only lead you to where you ask. If you ask for the best clothing deal, it will make suggestions. The same is true for all kinds of material things. What if you ask the internet to take you to the best deal of your life? Do you think the internet could do that for you?

          What would be the best deal of your life, anyway? Is it the same for everyone? Would it be something to do with money? Security? Health? Long life? If you could make the best deal of your life today, what would it be? If you had one wish? If you had one goal that you could make come true? Would you go for it? Would you commit yourself to this one thing if you knew it was the best deal of your life?

          Today we look at three more parables of Jesus. The first two act as a pair. They convey the same meaning, but Jesus uses two different illustrations to make the same point. Remember that Matthew 13 is a series of parables from Jesus, all designed to tell us about the kingdom of heaven. All three of these parables only appear in Matthew’s gospel. There are no parallel stories in Mark or Luke. The third parable is the parable of the Net. It is a parallel illustration that would fall in line theologically with the parable of the weeds, which we have just looked at recently, so we will concentrate in this message on the first two parables.

          What is the kingdom of God like? Well, it’s like a treasure hidden in a field. It’s also like a pearl of great value. How is that so?  It is so in this way. The kingdom of heaven is so valuable, so life changing, that when you have a chance to enter it, you lay down anything and everything that is in your way in order to come in to the kingdom.

          In first century Palestine, it was not uncommon to bury money in the ground. There were no modern banks as we know them today. There was certainly no FDIC to insure your money on deposit. So you put it in as safe a place as you could. Sometimes, that meant hiding it in the ground. There were rules about buried treasure. If you were a workman, and working in someone’s field, anything you found in that field, including buried treasure, belonged to the owner of the field.  But if you bought the field, anything in the field at the time of the purchase was part of the purchase. So in our first parable today, the workman finds a treasure in the field where he is working. He realizes his find. It is so incredible that he sells all that he has in order to buy the field, which makes him the owner of the treasure as well. Is there an ethical problem here? Does the workman have some ethical duty to disclose his find? The short answer to that is that is not relevant. The story is not a lesson on ethics. It is a lesson about a life changing discovery.

           In our second parable, a merchant is in the business of searching for and acquiring valuable pearls. He finds the greatest pearl he has ever seen, and he is in the pearl business, so he knows how great it really is. He sells everything he has in order to acquire the pearl.

          How is the kingdom of heaven like a treasure in a field or a pearl of great price? They are just things. Well, yes, they are just things, but are not just any old things. They are things of superlative worth. They are the one thing that defines all the other things. When we talk about the kingdom of heaven, we are not going to have anything parallel in our universe with which to compare it. All we can do is to compare the things of our understanding to that thing not of our understanding. So, the kingdom of heaven is like… In this case, it is like the greatest treasure ever found or the greatest pearl ever made. Although it will take almost the ultimate sacrifice to make these acquisitions, it is worth it, because it is the Best Buy. It is the deal of the century. It is the deal of their lives!

          Think about the gospel in terms of pearls. Let’s just say that ethical living…being a good guy…being trustworthy and nice, is like a bag of exquisitely beautiful pearls. Or let’s say that religion…regular church attendance…Bible studies…Sunday school; serving on committees…is like another bag of those valuable pearls. But then, imagine that Jesus comes to town. He is preaching the gospel at church hour and you can’t go to church in both places. He is showing us the way, and your ethics have rules that get in between you and that Gospel. You have to put it first or it won’t work. What will you do? One way is nice. It’s clean. It’s always worked before. But it depends on you. The other way? Messy. Putting all your eggs in one basket. We all know what our mothers told us about that. But our mothers didn’t reckon on that basket being held by Jesus. To follow him will be pricy. In some very real ways, it will cost you everything you have. That is the cost of discipleship. And the kingdom is worth infinitely more than any cost we might be called upon to pay. No matter how much and how deep the cost may be for us, it cannot match the cost paid for each of us by out Savior.

          Verses 51 and 52 are probably best read together. Verse 52 is very difficult and scholars continue to debate what it means, so don’t feel bad if you find it complicated. In verse 51, Jesus asks the disciples if they understand. They say yes. Certainly they do understand on some level, but Jesus is asking a lot from them. Only a chapter later, they are still asking for explanations and Jesus shows his frustrations at their slowness. But here, they say they understand. So then Jesus makes an observation which is more like a caution and a command. He says that scribes trained for the kingdom of heaven are like houses who display both new and old possessions.

Think of the scribes as the disciples. Now think of disciples as followers. Now think of followers as not just first century but also twenty first century. Now think of yourself. If you today in your reading of Scripture neglect to read and study the Old Testament, then you have relegated it to the attic of your spiritual house. The Bible is a testimony. It is a testimony of the Gospel, divided into two sections and sixty six books to tell one story. Let your treasure…the presentation and understanding of the Gospel...reflect both new and old. Let your spiritual house present it all, for it is all part of God’s revelation to us.

In Matthew 13, Jesus is telling his first century and modern day disciples about the kingdom of heaven. Even Jesus has to struggle with words and concepts big enough to tell the story. The kingdom of heaven is not an everyday story. It is not an everyday place. But wait. That’s not quite true either. The kingdom of heaven is an everyday place. Oh, I know, it’s not a physical destination. But it is a spiritual destination. Even the very parables that Jesus chose demonstrate that to us. The treasure was obtainable. The pearl was obtainable. Their owners were able to enjoy them in real time! The kingdom of God is very much a destination, and a destination for which the cost of admission is everything.

But everything is love. The proof of love is obedience and repentance. And obedience and repentance bring us the fruits of the Spirit. And then…we are home, for the kingdom of heaven starts here and now in our hearts. It is the treasure. It is the pearl of great value. It is Emmanuel…God with us.

                  Living in the Weeds

                       Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43, Romans 12: 17-19, 21

 

 

           

Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a perfect neighborhood! In a perfect town? Wouldn’t it be nice to have perfect neighbors? Garrison Keillor talks about such a place in his weekly show on public radio: A Prairie Home Companion.  It’s called Lake Wobegon, “where all the men are strong, all the women are good looking and all the children are above average.”  When I was raising children, I think I would have moved if I could have found such a place.

Of course, the world doesn’t work like that, does it? There really is no such place. If people are there, it is an imperfect environment. That’s because people are masters of the imperfect. We have noble ambitions. We mean well. But mostly, we look just like the field that Jesus talks about in Matthew 13.

In the Parable of the Weeds, the enemy comes into our midst and surrounds us with seedy ideas, low thoughts, disloyalty. The enemy is the devil, and yes, he will come right into a field planted by Jesus himself. The world we live in is nothing like our fictional Lake Wobegon.  It is littered with weeds and thorns and thistles. It is an unsafe place, this world we live in.

We marry. We bear children. We shower them with love and affection. We dare to hope for them, to dream with them. We march them off to school with knapsacks full of paper and pencils and sandwiches, all packed with love. Before long, the world we have so carefully kept from them comes creeping, then galloping into view.   There is prejudice and deceit. There is incompetence. There are rules which seem to separate our children from the very beliefs that we have worked so hard to instill in them.

So we seek refuge in the church. Yet many churches, many church leaders, seem to lack direction, to sway in conviction. Churches worry about membership, about attendance. Church leaders debate about programming. How will they compete with other events? How will they compete with each other?

Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven with a man who sowed good seed in his field. In spite of all his preparation, the presence of evil could not be kept out of the field. Jesus says the weeds were so prevalent, so intermixed, that to try to deal with the weeds before the harvest would jeopardize the harvest itself. Jesus said that the field is the world and that the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. But there are also weeds. According to Jesus, they are sown just like the good seed is sown. Weeds in this parable are intentional. Our own sinful nature can account for quite a lot of weeds in the garden of life, but in this passage, the devil himself is the architect of the weeds with which the sons and daughters of God must co-exist.

This parable reminds us that as children of God, we will never be cultivated without the presence of weeds. Temptation and idleness and unbelief lie right in our midst and challenge us for the very ground in which we try to grow. The harvest to which Jesus refers is not until the end of the age. In other words, the harvest is not until the end of time. As long as there is life here on earth, there will be this integration of good and evil, of believers and unbelievers, sharing the same ground, the same neighborhoods, the same schools, even the same churches.

Yes, I did say churches. If the field in the Parable of the Weeds is the world, then the church is exposed just as much as any other institution. Only the harvest can separate the good seed and the harvest is on judgment day. Then, the angels of God will cull good from bad, weed from crop. But today, what do we have to keep us from choking?

One of the things we must learn from this parable is that there is no sanctuary from the world itself. It is sown with good and evil, pretty and ugly, sin and redemption. The question is not where or how to hide, but rather how to live with the sin which surrounds us without becoming part of it. It is no easy task. When we look at the analogy of the crop, we can see the difficulty. In Jesus’ time, wheat was sown in Palestine. There was a weed called bearded darnel. In its early stages, it was impossible to distinguish from the wheat. Only when the crop had headed could one see the difference. By that time, the roots had become so intertwined that the poisonous weed had to be separated by hand.

The church today is surrounded by the weeds of other belief systems, by the worship of idols of every sort, kind and description, by the lure of pleasure over duty, of selfishness over selflessness. Even within the church itself, we find ourselves dealing with budgets and programming rather than kingdom work. We tinker with worship services to make them more entertaining. We worry about time slots and staying contemporary. We debate style points like when to baptize and free will over predestination. Meanwhile, the weeds grow thick among us as we lose ground to the enemy. The bookshelves are full of new theories and so-called interpretations of Scripture and denominational meetings are making headlines for their liberal agendas.

We know from the Parable of the Weeds that such intermingling is part of life. We must also take note that while it is inevitable, it is also subject to judgment. Just as surely as we must live among the weeds of sin, we will be held accountable for the choices we make, both as individuals and as the church.

How do we live among the weeds? How do we grow until we are separated? The Word of God is full of answers and guidance to those questions. One such answer is found in the words of Paul to the Christians in Rome. He calls us to hold fast to what is good, to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, constant in prayer, to live in harmony with one another, to associate with the lowly, never repay evil with evil, to leave vengeance to God (Rom 12: 9-19).

Even though we must live in the weeds, that is, even though the world in which we live is choking on the weeds of sin, we still have choices. We are called to live in the world, but not to be of the world. We do not have to do this alone. We are also called to community, to become part of the body of Christ. When we choose God, we become surrounded by that priesthood of believers, that holy nation that is the church. For all the impurity within its individual parts, the body of Christ is still pure. It is our community. It is our sanctuary. It is the star to which we can hitch our wagons and ride out the perils of life until God calls us to his harvest.

When I was looking up some information on Garrison Keillor, I ran across a quote he once said. I thought it profound. So let me share  his thoughts with you as a benediction to this examination of the Parable of the Weeds.

To know and to serve God, of course, is why we're here, a clear

truth, that, like the nose on your face, is near at hand and easily  discernible but can make you dizzy if you try to focus on it hard.

But a little faith will see you through. What else will do except

faith in such a cynical, corrupt time? When the country goes temporarily to the dogs, cats must learn to be circumspect, walk

on fences, sleep in trees, and have faith that all this woofing is

not the last word. What is the last word, then? Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling,

making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music and books, raising kids — all the places

where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through. Even in a

time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far

to see the campfires of gentle people.”

And Jesus said: “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Paths, Rocks, Thorns and Topsoil

                                           Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

 

 

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the crowd a parable. It is called the Parable of the Sower, though it might be more accurate to call it the Parable of the Seeds, for the parable tells a story about seeds and how they fare in the climates in which they find themselves.

Big farms today do little by hand. There are machines to turn the soil, to sow, to weed, to harvest. It wasn’t long ago that such was not the case. Even now, small farms still exist. Even today, on those farms, mules do the work of tractors and tractors do the work of combines. Especially in this community, we are not that far removed from the farm and from that special connection to the soil and weather and climate that brings us the fruit of the ground.

Jesus wasn’t a farmer, but he understood the ways of agriculture. He often drew on that knowledge to both explain what he wanted to say and to withhold knowledge from those who were not meant or were not ready to understand. Parables were used both to reveal and to hold back knowledge. If you wanted to understand Jesus, you had to be ready for his message. The same reasoning applies today.

The Gospel of Matthew is generally thought to contain five separate discourses of Jesus, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount as his call to righteousness and ending with his prophesies concerning judgment. Today’s passage is the beginning of the Messiah’s 3^rd Discourse, concerning his teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. When we read this parable, it will help to realize that Jesus is using a number of parables, this one included, to talk about the kingdom of God. It is the only discourse in Matthew that is addressed to the crowds in general.

Jesus went out of the house where he was staying. He went down to the sea. It didn’t take long for crowds to form. They followed him everywhere. Some believed, but many didn’t. They followed him for many reasons, not the least of which was that he had healed people. He had done miracles. He had fed multitudes with nothing. People wanted to be there when he did something again.

So Jesus decided to teach. His ministry was all about teaching. He was often called “Teacher.” Jesus had largely been going from synagogue to synagogue. Now we find him at the shore. His synagogue ministry had fallen on deaf ears and was shutting him out. So he went another way.  But the crowd was too big and people kept closing in on him and trying to touch him. So he got into a boat. He sat down in the boat just offshore and out of the reach of the multitude and he talked to the people.  He talked to them in parables. Everything Jesus told the people was in parables. Matthew’s gospel records five different parables told that day.

A farmer sows his seed, probably by hand, although he might have put a sack on a mule and torn a hole in the corner of the sack and led the mule up and down the rows until the seed bag was empty. The seed falls in the furrows meant for it. This is good soil. But the seed also falls on the path made by the farmer or his mule. The path is not only a walkway for the farmer but also a right of way for passersby. It is as hard as asphalt. On the day he sows, there is a breeze. The farmer is happy for this little relief from the heat, but the breeze carries some of the seeds into other places where the ground has not been prepared for cultivation. Birds also carry the seeds to other places. So the seeds end up in thorns and thistles and on shallow ground covering the many limestone beds of the area. The seeds have taken up residence in different environments, and those environments will impact the lives of those seeds.

Later, Jesus explains the parable. The path represents barren ground. The seeds never have a chance. The surface is too hard for them to take root and the birds and insects will feast on the exposed seeds. Rocky soil is that which appears okay, but actually is shallow and only a thin covering for the limestone rock inches below. The seeds falling here will put down shallow roots, and the summer sun will bake them dry as the limestone reflects the sun’s heat back into the plant. Thorns are perhaps the worst enemy of all, as the seeds will germinate, even put down roots, only to be choked by the thorns and thistles among them.

There is, of course, the good soil, the soil which was prepared by the farmer. It has been turned over, sifted, prepared for the task ahead. It will receive the seeds and provide them a good and rich and healthy environment for them to grow. They are safe in this soil. They can put down roots and get ready for real growth. They are still subject to weather, to wind and hail and heat. But they also can prepare for the rain that will surely come. There will be a harvest. For some it will be a hundredfold, for some, sixty, for some, thirty. But the harvest will come and it will be good.

If Jesus is speaking of the kingdom of God, and if there is a lesson to learn from the fate of these seeds, then what does Jesus teach us? Even his explanation needs some explaining, but that is sometimes the nature of learning about our place in the kingdom. What would Jesus and Matthew have us see about the kingdom of heaven?

 Some people are hard and unreachable, just like the path that the farmer trods. I don’t know why. God made all of us for his kingdom, but all of us are not destined to reach it. The lesson for me is to try very hard not to drop my seeds on any barren paths. I want them to have a chance to grow.

Some people are like rocky soil. They hear, they want, they sort of see the light, but when the going gets tough, they just fall away. I think of them as needing a break. Maybe, just maybe, someone will come along and transplant them or water them. Their chances are poor, but at least they are not closed down to the possibilities. If only they could get some legs, some roots, on their faith!

I know all about thorns. I’ve been laboring most of my adult life in the thorns of business and ambition and chasing financial security, paying lip service to Christianity. It’s so hard not to let your faith become another item on your “to do” list. Go to work. Pick up the children. Get to PTA or the ball game or to practice or to that meeting. Oh yes, and say a prayer.  Check it off your list and go to tomorrow. Thorns. They will choke out your heart and leave you with only the details of religion instead of faith itself. If you never let God’s message control your actions, you cannot mature and you cannot hope to bear God’s fruit.

There is a lesson here too for the seeds planted in the good soil. They produce at different levels. Why will some produce a hundredfold while others only thirty? We can perhaps draw some understanding from the farmer. He does all he can. The seeds are in good soil. But what about the rain? Will there be enough? Too much? Too soon? Too late? Are the seeds deep enough but not too deep? What about wind? A late freeze? All these things are out of the farmer’s control. But they are not out of God’s control.

My wife has two plants in pots in front of the carport twenty feet apart. The pots are the same. The soil is the same. She waters them the same, sprays them the same. They get the same sunlight. One of them is healthy and beautiful. The other is eaten up with insects. One seed has flourished. The other has fallen on hard times. Why are the results so different in the same environment? Perhaps the answer is that are not at all in the same environment. Perhaps they only appear to be. 

In our parable today, we have looked at different kinds of environments for seeds…and for people. Some of us are blooming while many of us struggle to hear God and to understand his will for us. The kingdom of God is for those who come to him making all the room he requires. We do not have to come at all, but if we do, we must come believing that he is in charge, that we must turn everything over to him in order to hear him. He will make us bear his fruit, but only if we have turned the garden over to him. We need not be concerned about the variation of the yield or the abundance of a good harvest. If some yield more than others, it is to God’s glory.

The Parable of the Sower was a story told to a crowd at the seashore. But there is a story within the story for those of us who have heard the word of God and understand, for those of us who are already his disciples. We are like the farmer in the parable, the sower. We sow. We do our best to plow the ground, to prepare the soil, to make it a rich and healthy environment for growth. We broadcast the seed with care to reach the place where we intend it. We plant our seeds in bedtime stories and church choirs and ballgames. Whatever happens after that is up to God. We don’t need to worry about the result. He is the rain for which we wait, the reaper for whom we long. It is our job to sow. We may not even live to see the harvest, but harvest there will be.

And Jesus said: “He who has ears, let him hear.”

                             Wisdom Does

                                                Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30

 

 

          Ever been around a spoiled child? I have been blessed to never have had spoiled children, but I have certainly been around them. They are rude. They don’t share. They are bossy and demanding and always want to be first. When an adult asks them something, they ignore him. If you say no to them, then it’s on. You will be greeted with howling and crying and stomping. You know what I mean. There is no pleasing a spoiled child. It wants what isn’t there.

          In the eleventh chapter of Matthew’s gospel, it seems as though Jesus has encountered another version of spoiled children, only they aren’t children at all. Earlier in this chapter, Jesus has been speaking to the crowds concerning John the Baptist, who is now in prison. Jesus has called him the greatest among those born of women, some very high praise for the Baptist. We know that Jesus does not include himself in that number. Jesus is unique. He is the Son of God. But then, Jesus points out that the least of those in God’s kingdom are better than the likes of even John the Baptist.

          Then, Jesus takes a look at the current generation.  The context surrounding his remarks tells us that he is focusing upon the religious leaders of the time. He compares them to spoiled children. They don’t like the Baptist because he dresses funny and lives in the desert. He has no sense of humor. He doesn’t drink and he eats weird stuff. They don’t like Jesus either, though he has a great sense of humor and spends time around people, eating and drinking with them. There is no pleasing the religious leaders of the time. They have devised a set of rules that practically no one can keep. Of course they don’t like John the Baptist or Jesus, because they won’t play by the existing rules. If the rules don’t make sense, then they just ignore them. The scribes and Pharisees have a lot invested in these traditions. They are angered by anyone who would presume to challenge their authority. They take their pleasure in their rules and in the criticism that they level at those who can’t or won’t live by those rules. They remind Jesus more of spoiled children than men of wisdom. They are bossy and demanding and always want to be the most important.

          Jesus says that “wisdom is justified by her deeds.” Wisdom is justified by her deeds. What does that mean? The Greek word for justified is the same one used to say “made righteous.” Paul uses that word a lot to help us understand how the sacrifice of Jesus works for us. It allows us to be made righteous. So we might say that righteousness is the doing of wisdom. Normally we might think of wisdom as an attribute, something like a personality trait. We think of certain people as “wise,” because of what they say or sometimes because of what they refrain from saying. Wisdom is something said, like a phrase from Abe Lincoln or Mark Twain.  For instance, the lyrics of the great Beatles song Let It Be talk of Mother Mary speaking words of wisdom. They allude to the whisper or speech of wisdom, as do many places in literature.

But that doesn’t appear to be what Jesus is saying.  Jesus seems to be equating the state of wisdom with some sort of action,  rather than a state of being or an utterance. What a curious turn! Jesus says wisdom is justified by her deeds. Put into context, all the rules and regulations and laws of the religious leaders do not amount to wisdom. Jesus tells us that wisdom is lived out in the hands and feet of disciples. The evidence of wisdom is the deeds we do, the actions we take. Until we act on our intentions, they are just so many more words. They can serve as a call to action, but at the end of the day, it is the action we take by which we will be measured. Wisdom does.

          After a declaration of woe issued to certain cities because they won’t turn away from sin, Jesus then turns back to the crowds. He tells them three things and they are worth our attention. First, Jesus thanks God for the revelation sent to those whom God has willed to receive it. Those who are busy being spoiled and running things do not receive the revelation. Rather, it is those who receive the gospel in simple, believing faith to whom it is revealed. God’s Word is complex and sometimes just plain difficult, but God’s message is simple.

Next, Jesus announces that all authority under heaven has been given to him. The authority comes from the Father, but it has been given to Jesus. Jesus is free to give it out to those whom he chooses. This is a revolutionary announcement. Jesus is claiming to be the Son of God and claiming that he has the authority of God to do all things. This announcement surely sent those spoiled children, the scribes and Pharisees, into a rage, for they would see such an announcement as blasphemy. The blasphemy was there all right, but it belonged to the scribes and Pharisees for their rejection of the Son of God.

It’s curious in this day and time that it has not occurred to some leaders of our very own denomination that blasphemy is not an outmoded idea. It can still be committed and it still will face dire consequences from our heavenly Father. Jesus in this very passage warned that the city of Capernaum would fare worse than Sodom for its refusal to act in Christian witness. Twenty first century religion in America, in its unquenchable thirst for relativity and its drive toward equality at any cost, now faces the wrath of the God whom it claims to serve. Instead of working to change the culture, some of our leaders would have us water down the message until the culture has changed the message. It won’t work. It never has. Those of real faith will perceive that Christian soldiering is far from a thing of the past.

Finally and thankfully, Jesus turns from his condemnation of those who would deflect the real values of the kingdom. He directs his attention to those whose eyes and ears have been opened to receive the good news. To them he issues an invitation. “Come to me”, he says. Are you laboring under all the rules and regulations? Come to me, believe in me. That’s enough. “I will give you rest”, he says. “Learn from me”, he says. My yoke won’t break you down; it’s easy. My burden won’t put you on your knees; it’s light. Don’t worry about the rule book. Just obey the Golden Rule. Jesus promises us that he is gentle, that he is humble. He promises us that a life of servant hood, the practice of humility, living unselfishly and in community, will bring rest to our souls.

You know, it seems to me that our Savior in these verses has shown us not only the way to live, but the way home as well. He is revealed to the body of believers. He has authority over all. He invites us to come. He shows us the way. He shows us that some rules are made to be broken, and perhaps more importantly, that even if the rule is made by church leaders, it is still subject to the authority of the living God and the scrutiny of his disciples. 

It would be unwise to ignore the teaching of Jesus, for that, too, is an act. His teaching is alive and it is clear. Wisdom does, but so does foolishness. When we do nothing, when we ignore, we are doing the deeds of inaction and disobedience.  If wisdom is action and deeds, then let our actions be in obedience to his invitation. “Come unto me…learn from me…you will find rest for your souls.” And that is wisdom.

NO FEAR

                                                Matthew 10: 24-33

 

 

 

          In the 1990’s a small clothing apparel company sprang up in the Midwest. Its owners hoped to capitalize on the motocross extreme sports image. The name of the company was “No Fear.” The website shows a motocross biker high in the air about to vault a rock formation and the saying reads: “This is my comfort zone.” It looks really cool and really dangerous. The idea is that living on the edge and doing the extreme can get you high on life, that fear can hold you back from experiencing life.

          That’s one marketing jingle that is right on point. Fear can hold you back. But fear comes in an assorted package and everyone has some. Christians have certainly had their share. It’s hard to believe that there was a time when vaulting rock formations on a motorcycle was like a walk in the park compared to witnessing the gospel to a group gathered by the city gate, but it’s true. In Matthew, Jesus assembles his apostles to give them authority over unclean spirits. First, they are sent to their own people, the nation of Israel. Later there will be a much bigger commission, but for now, Jesus starts them out in more familiar territory.

          Even in this friendly arena, Jesus warns his disciples of the persecution that is to come. Jesus warns of bad religious leadership and uncaring, de-sensitized politicians. Sound familiar? He warns further that even families will be split, that the followers of Jesus will be hated for their message. They will have to flee for their very lives from village to village, all because they follow Jesus.

          “Have no fear of them,” says Jesus to his disciples. There was much to fear, but Jesus wasn’t talking about whether there was reason to fear. He was talking about what to do with it. Suspicion and misinformation ran so deep that Jesus had actually been accused of being Satan because of his power to perform mighty acts. Jesus pointed out to his followers that if it’s possible to get that far removed from the truth when in the presence of Jesus himself, how much more easy will it be to confuse the message of the disciples! They should expect no less than Jesus himself was accused of. Jesus was warning his followers of the cost of discipleship. He was persecuted and killed and his disciples suffered the same fate. The danger was real.

          But that was then and this is now. Surely in the 21^st century, there is really nothing to fear from practicing Christianity, right?  Wrong. In Minya, Egypt, the Bishop Mousa Coptic Church was destroyed by pro-Morsi supporters who blamed Christians for his overthrow. In Cirebeum, Indonesia, a Christian church was bulldozed by state authorities. North Korea has Christian labor camps. In fact, the World Watch List, an organization dedicated to tracking the abuse of Christians, reports that over sixty countries actively persecute Christians. One watch group has reported that a Christian is killed every eleven minutes for practicing his faith in Christ. Persecution of Christians is alive and well, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, China, North Korea and parts of India.

          But Jesus said to have no fear. What did he mean? Jesus was talking about why it was important to control the fear. In the tenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives his disciples several reasons why they should not let their fear control their actions. First, Jesus says, the truth will out. No matter what is covered or veiled now, the time will come when the real truth of the matter will come to light.

Secondly, Jesus reminds us of the value of comparison shopping. It’s bad to die, but it’s even worse to die on the wrong side of history and salvation. I saw a saying on a soccer shirt once that read something like “He who dies with the most toys, still dies.” I’ll leave it for you to work out what meaning that may convey to you, but for me, it’s a practical reminder that there is only one way out of this place. Jesus reminds us that when judgment day comes, there will be a resurrection for all of us, regardless of our beliefs. We are all accountable, and the wages of unredeemed lives and unforgiven sin will be paid. So it would seem that one of the things that Jesus reminds us through his disciples is that while death is unattractive, it is also inevitable, and a believer’s death reaps a great reward. Not so for the selfish. Not so for those who compromised their way out of the truth.

Last, and my personal favorite, is this. Jesus reminds us that the very hairs of our heads are numbered and identifiable to God. He says that not even a sparrow will fall to the ground unbeknownst to God. Jesus is saying that the providence of God extends not only to the big picture, but also to the very smallest details of each and every life he creates. God’s providence, his care and concern for all his creation, is as personal and all-encompassing as it is worldly.

So Jesus says to those who would follow him: Have no fear of those who would do you harm, of those who would lie about you and slander you. The truth will come out. Don’t fear death for the cause of Christ, for it is only the body that man can touch. God is the owner of the soul and it is immortal. And remember, God knows where you are, whom you’re with, whose side you’re on and he cares about you, right down to the toothpaste you use.

Even in this land of religious freedom, there are decisions to make for God every day. How will we be known? Where will we draw the line? There are truths contained within the Word of God, immutable truths that cannot and should not be compromised. The laws of the state are just that. They have a different design, a different purpose. The law of God and his design of the Church are precious jewels of truth to be protected, cherished and preserved. In these days of modern persecution of the church, we in the West can be lulled into a false sense of security, of entitlement. But we too should understand that our desire to be popular cannot govern our duty to be obedient to God. We cannot be all things to all people.We must be on our guard to see that we do not implode from our desire to be inclusive and tolerant. Such characteristics are admirable, even virtuous, but they are not now and have never been substitutes for the truths our Savior taught us. Religious freedom does not give us license to re-write the Word of God in the name of social change. There are truths contained within God’s Word that will never be subject to change and cannot be “interpreted” away.

Sometimes it is easier to deal with the enemy when he shows his face and takes aim directly at you. Then you are sure of where you stand. But sometimes the enemy is barely recognizable. He is disguised as inevitability or progress or even tolerance. Remember what Jesus taught the disciples. The truth will come out. Make sure you are on its side and not that of some fad or social movement.

 Are you standing up for the Church? Are you controlling the fear or is it controlling you? Is your silence an act of courage or an act of acquiescence? The price of discipleship is high and the standard of vigilance is as well. Our Savior calls upon us to protect his bride.  We cannot deny him. If we do, he will deny us. So have no fear. His truth is worth any price to protect.  Amen.

         Commissioning

                                   Matthew 28: 16-20

 

 

          When we think of vacations or great escapes, we usually think of either the beach or the mountains. Maybe that’s because at either location, we stand in the presence of more natural beauty and raw power that we are used to seeing in more civilized areas.  The oceans and the mountains have an untamed taste to them that makes us more aware of our limitations, more attuned, perhaps, to the fact that there really is a big picture and that we are not completely in control of our destinies after all.

          Jesus had a thing for the beach and the mountains himself. They were two of his favorite venues for preaching, for praying, even for promising. He picked up several of his disciples on a stroll down the beach one day. Later, we see him doing everything from preaching in a boat to calming the sea in a tempest. After his resurrection, he even made breakfast on the beach for seven of the disciples.

          As for the mountains, there are at least five mountaintop appearances by Jesus, and one more that is promised. More about that one later. Jesus came up from the desert during his temptation and met Satan on a mountaintop where they could see for miles. He preached to the people on a mountaintop in Galilee. He met with Moses and Elijah on a high mountaintop for the Transfiguration. In Jerusalem he climbed a hill carrying a cross to a place called Mount Calvary. The last time was after the resurrection. Jesus directed his disciples to come to a mountain in Galilee. We know that event as the Great Commission, but that’s really only half the story. It could also be known as the Great Promise, for indeed our Savior gave us that in addition to a commissioning.

          To receive a commission is to be granted certain powers or maybe to authorize a group to undertake a certain task. For instance, I was commissioned as a U.S. Naval officer. My ship was as new as I was and it was commissioned a U.S. Naval vessel at a big ceremony. Even my current job operates through a commission. I am commissioned as the pastor of this church to do all those things that pastors do, but I am to do them only at this church because that’s the way my commission is defined. Jesus did that in Matthew 28. He called his disciples together and he defined their commission. They were to go, to make disciples, to baptize and to teach. They were to do so pursuant to the authority given them by Jesus. Their commission was not limited by geography, but it was limited in its application. They were to do these things in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit. They were not to create their own agenda, but rather to work within the scope of their commission.

          So the eleven disciples come to the mountain at Jesus’ invitation. By this time, Jesus has made at least two other post-resurrection appearances to them. When they see him again, they worship him. And yet, Matthew tells us that some doubted. Some who? Some of the eleven? Some of the other, unnamed disciples? Who is it that doubted him? Bible scholars will argue about who they were, but the text of Matthew is pretty plain. It says that the eleven disciples went to the mountain and some doubted. To me, this means that some of the eleven disciples doubted. This in spite of the fact that they had already seen the risen Christ! Now what’s that all about?  It could be a number of things. Maybe they doubted what good they could do now. The Jesus movement was apparently over.  There was to be no overthrow of the Roman government.  The Messiah was not going to save his people. Or maybe they just still doubted who or what they saw. Was it really Jesus? Was he really alive?  It was a lot to take in. Maybe they were just paralyzed by being in the presence of a supernatural, totally holy being. They still didn’t know what to do or even what Jesus wanted them to do.

          So he told them. I have the authority, he said. I have it in heaven and I have it here on earth, he said. Go, he said, meaning: don’t stay home. Instead, he meant get off this mountain. Leave the upper room and Go. Make disciples, he said.  Here, the mission of all followers of Jesus becomes clear. It is now a global commission. Jesus wants to make disciples of all nations. No more Jews or Greeks or Samaritans or hippies or strangers or any other man made classes.  Just Christians. Baptize, he said, referring not so much to the physical act as to the spiritual conversion of people to the gospel message. It is a baptism that clearly mentions the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, though the word itself is not used. Teach, he said, and he meant everyone. He wanted them to tell others of all his teachings, all his commands.

          Then there was the promise, and what a promise it was! Jesus said to his followers: “Ánd behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  Look at Jesus’ promise. After he commissions us to do the work of evangelism, he gives us all the motivation…and all the support, we should ever need. Jesus, the risen Christ, the Son of God, will be with us. He will be at our side. No days off. He will be with us always. Always means all the time for all time. It was and is, the Great Promise from the Master. I’ve got your back…all the time.

          I mentioned earlier that the New Testament contains at least one more promised mountaintop appearance. In the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, the Lamb of God stands with a godly army on Mount Zion, God’s holy hill in heaven. God’s heavenly choir sings a new song. Only the redeemed can sing this new song. This is our promise as God’s people that one day, the Lamb of God will return from Mount Zion to claim those of us who have been redeemed. Just like the Great Promise in Matthew, we have this vision of God’s promise for the end of the age.

          It’s a great thing to be a disciple of Jesus. Being a disciple means first that we follow him. But it doesn’t stop there. He has led us, taught us, convicted us for a reason. We are his arms and legs, his hands and feet…yes, even his spokespersons. We are the church, the gathering of God’s people. As surely as we gather here for worship and fellowship, we must disperse to our homes and schools and neighborhoods and places of work as disciples commissioned to make disciples, to make known the Savior who has made himself known to us. Yes, we too may doubt. We may doubt our ability or our conviction or our readiness. When we do, we are in good company, for Matthew reminds us that even Jesus’ handpicked disciples shared such doubts. But we are armed…armed with the written Word of God, and with the Great Promise of Jesus himself. “And behold, I am with you always…”

       The Breath of Life

                                        John 20: 19-23

 

 

          I sat in the hospital room and watched. When she was semi-awake, I just stole glances at her because I didn’t want to make her nervous. After all, her parents were right there. She was lying in the hospital bed sprawled across her mother’s arm and her dad sat in the rocker only a couple feet away. Her hand was bandaged in an attempt to keep her from pulling out the IV line bringing nourishment and antibiotics to her eighteen month old body.

          No matter how necessary hospitals are to our society, they are nevertheless disconcerting, and when the patient is so young, it is even more true. The rhythm of normal life is interrupted by tests and needles and gowns with no backs. Our normal pace is replaced by the sounds of diagnostic machines and stethoscopes and doctors in white gowns who never seem to get to us soon enough.

          I watched as the medicine began to do its work…as her troubled face began to relax. Her fitful attempt at sleep became effortless as she sighed and slipped into a comfortable rest. Her mother lovingly tidied her matted hair and she sighed and slept, her breath coming easily now. As she began to rest, I could even see a more rested look on the faces of her parents.

          Breath. We take it for granted until it is in short supply. Whenever we swim and test the limits of our lungs, we long for the luxury of one simple breath. When respiratory problems affect our health, we would give anything for one long, deep breath. I can still remember the first deep breaths I was able to take when I quit smoking.  Breath. It seems almost like it is the source of life. Maybe that’s because in a very real sense, it is.

          In Genesis 2, we are told that God formed man from the dust of the ground and that he breathed the breath of life into his nostrils.  In Ezekiel 37, God invokes the four winds to come and breathe on the slain nation of Israel and a valley of dry bones takes life from dust in Ezekiel’s vision.  Today, we look at the gospel of John, at the appearance of the resurrected Jesus in the upper room, and we see yet another example of the breath of life that comes only from God.

          The Greeks called it pneuma. We translate it as breath, but it can also mean spirit or soul. Perhaps the best translation is the combinations of breath and spirit. That might come out as breath of life. Look at our three examples. In Genesis the breath comes from God. In Ezekiel, God calls the winds of the earth to do his bidding. In John, it is the risen Jesus who breathes life into the inhabitants of the upper room. In every case, new life is the outcome. In every case, that which did not exist or had expired is brought to new life.

          You might say that is not the case in John. Everyone was already alive. Were they? Certainly they were not dead, but they were hiding in that room in fear of their lives. They were paralyzed into inaction. Then Jesus came and everything changed.

          It was the evening of the day of the resurrection. Jesus was missing from the tomb. He had already appeared to Mary Magdalene and she had told the disciples, but what did a hysterical woman know? Now it was late in the day and the disciples were gathered behind locked doors. Three days before, an angry mob had called for the death of Jesus and it had gotten its wish. Now Jesus’ body was missing and the religious leaders were going to be in a foul mood. The disciples had good reason to stay behind locked doors. They could most certainly be next. They were scared for their lives.

          Then Jesus is standing among them. No door has been unlocked, but there he is in the flesh. As they gasp in disbelief, he shows them the nail holes in his hands and the sword wound in his side. Twice he says “Peace be with you.” William Barclay translates the phrase as: “May God give you every good thing.”

          What follows is nothing less than the commission of the Church. Jesus said: “As the Father is sending me, even so I am sending you.” It was the marching orders of the Church, orders for which the Church has never been de-commissioned. When Jesus had said this, John’s gospel tells us that “he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

          We know that the event that we now call Pentecost was about fifty days after the resurrection. We associate that event with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon those disciples present. This event takes place the day of Christ’s resurrection, long before Pentecost. Though this narrative is focused on resurrection appearances, nevertheless here is Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. We are not given any specifics of what actions the disciples took. That is not John’s focus.

          Is there conflict between John’s account and Luke’s account in Acts? I don’t see any. It was the initial announcement from our risen Savior. The events surrounding Pentecost were to give life to this announcement. Besides, I can look to my own life and to those of others and I see various deposits of the Holy Spirit at different times in different degrees in different places. Sometimes it has come with the fire of Pentecost into my heart and other times it has come with a whisper not unlike the easy breathing of that little girl in the hospital bed. No matter how it comes, it is always profound and it is always life changing. The Holy Spirit is God’s breath and it is the breath of life.

          Each of us has or will experience our “Aha” moments with our Savior. All of us can relate those moments when something changed, when we knew that we were in one of those “thin” places where we were closer to God than usual. For Christians, it is our lot that such moments must remain both lost and found until our sanctification, our walk with God in this time and place, is complete. But when we want to get closer, we have the written revelation at our fingertips. Paul reminds us in 1Timothy that all Scripture is “God-breathed.” We have but to open God’s Word to find the breath we are seeking, the new life that is promised us.

          Jesus comes to us. He comes to us even behind locked doors and penetrates our hearts and he breathes the breath of life right into us. All we have to do is believe…and receive. So…inhale… and receive the blessing!