Blessed Are…

May 26, 2009 Leave a Comment

Mike Foster over at the Deadly Viper Character Assassins blog wrote a post about the ongoing drama associated with the popular reality TV show “Jon & Kate Plus 8″. I don’t watch this show, in fact I rarely watch any TV but Mike’s post tied in to the passage in Matthew I have been ruminating over.

The show Jon & Kate Plus 8 follows this family in their daily lives. Typical reality show fare. The controversy is over allegations of infidelity and to most it appears that their marriage is imploding on national TV and in the tabloids. Not pretty. Mike puts it this way:

I watched Jon and Kate Plus 8 last night and it broke my heart. America watched last night as a marriage and family began to fall apart…Each of them seemed terribly unhappy though outwardly they had everything a person could want. Big house, fame, the love of America, book deal, Jon in a 300Z, Kate getting attention and a hit reality show, and yet all of it falls short. None of it truly satisfies.

On his Twitter post Mike called it a “train wreck”. That about sums it up.

I’ve been in Matthew 5 for the past few days. The most prominent section of Matthew 5, verses 2-12 is what is referred to as The Beatitudes.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. – Matthew 5:2-12 ESV

What I find interesting is that the characteristics Jesus says is “blessed” in each one of these is not something that most people aspire to. Being poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, etc. is not something you are likely to see folks put on their resume. None of these characteristics are going get you a reality TV show. Also, none of those things that Mike described as “everything a person could want” are listed in Jesus’ discourse.

Why is that? Why are our appetites so oriented towards these earthly things when Jesus points to the things that are the real source of happiness? The Beatitudes themselves point to a contrast between the things that are important in God’s kingdom with what we get all worked up over.

Maybe Jon and Kate would be better off if they focused more on God’s kingdom things and a little less on those other things. I know the rest of us could learn that lesson too and we wouldn’t even need a TV show to figure it out.

Shalom.

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Almost

May 22, 2009 Leave a Comment

I’ve been continuing my journey through Matthew’s Gospel. I’ve spent the past couple of days ruminating on Matthew 4. This is the part where Jesus heads out in the wilderness to be tempted/tested for 40 days. While people often refer to it as “the temptation of Jesus” the Greek word used for tempted also can mean “testing” and this may be a better word. It would be out of character for God to tempt us to do evil, as that would make Him a partner in that evil. It’s probably more in line with his accurate to say he tests us to determine our obedience or what we’re made of.

I found something interesting in the interchange between Jesus and Satan.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Matthew 4:5-6 ESV

Satan did something interesting here. He misused this passage from Psalm 91 to attempt to convince Jesus to do something that was not in God’s plan for Jesus. The thing that I have been dwelling on is how Satan used the almost legitimate to tempt Jesus.

How often do we settle for something that’s almost legitimate? We know that God’s plan for marriage is for one man and one woman to marry for life. Yet, some of us will leave our spouse for someone else or we’ll dispense with marriage altogether and just live together without the bond of matrimony. After all, it’s almost like being monogamous or almost like being married.

How many other things do we fall for that are almost legitimate? Racking up credit card debt is almost like being wealthy, putting our faith in a politician to fix everything is almost like trusting our Saviour, self medication with drugs, alcohol or by overeating is almost as good as working to feel better about ourselves. In then end all these things prove to be almost, but not quite good enough.

What are you falling for that is only almost legitimate?

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Of Bugs And Honey

May 20, 2009 Leave a Comment

What would you endure to live the life God would have you live? I have some friends who lived in Africa with their children in a very poor country. Things we take for granted were not so common there. When you or I turn on the light switch in our home we expect the lights to come on. In fact we are quite taken aback if for some reason the bulb does not light. My friends in Africa have light switches too. However, when they flip the switch, maybe the lights come on, maybe they don’t. They lived in Africa, and now in Asia because they believe God wants them there to tell others about His Son.

In Matthew 3 we see another who was living the life God wanted for him. His sacrifice involved living the life of a poor desert nomad. John The Baptist was described wearing the garments and eating the food of a poor person of his day. His mission was described in Matthew’s Gospel as:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:1-2 ESV

Even by the standards of his day, John lived an austere life to further God’s plan for him. He gave up even the most basic comforts in order to serve God. Is God calling you to sacrifice to further His plan for your life? Maybe it’s not things but it’s your pride. Maybe it’s to give up your will in order to make His will a priority. What would God have you to do? Are you willing?

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From Compassion to Depravity

May 19, 2009 Leave a Comment

Previously I marveled at the compassion of Joseph found in Matthew 1. Today I turn to the account of Herod The Great found in Matthew 2. None of Joseph’s compassion was found there. In fact I found someone so depraved that he would slaughter toddlers to attempt to thwart a prophecy of one who would come and rule Herod’s people one day.

Matthew’s account puts it this way:

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Matthew 2:16 ESV

What kind of man would do this?

A man who feared becoming irrelevant. A man who feared losing his position. A man who feared losing his possessions. A man who was selfish. A man not unlike you or I.

Writing about another Holocaust in more recent memory, Jewish historian Saul Friedlander writes:

“Not one social group, not one religious community, not one scholarly institution or professional association in Germany and throughout Europe declared its solidarity with the Jews.”

Friedlander and other historians argue that it wasn’t monsters or sociopaths who perpetrated the Nazi Holocaust but ordinary Germans. People a lot like you and me.

The common thread between us and them is our sin nature. We are as equally capable of depravity as Herod or a Nazi concentration camp guard. All it takes is for us to minimize how our sin is an affront to a holy and just God. To justify those things that God hates. To say to ourselves “surely my sin isn’t that bad, is it?”

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Thoughts on Matthew 1:19

May 18, 2009 Leave a Comment

For many years it has been my habit to read through the Bible from cover to cover every year. Recently, I decided to do something different. I decided I was going to really dig deep into the four Gospels and Acts every day no matter how long it takes to get through them. I am thinking maybe it will take me six months to a year to cover them adequately.

I started this yesterday and read some introductory materials and started chapter one of Matthew’s Gospel. After the geneology part, Matthew turns to a description of Mary and Joseph’s situation. The Bible says they were betrothed which in their day and culture was a little more than engaged but not quite married. While many of the same Jewish cultural prohibitions of marriage applied such as sexual relations outside the betrothal being considered adultery, they did not enjoy the benefit of full marriage in that they were prohibited married sexual relations. In other words, not only could they not have their cake, they couldn’t eat it either.

I find Matthew’s narrative is a bit thin when it covers the part where Mary is found to be pregnant. Matthew puts it like this:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18 ESV

Mary who for several months has been considered almost married to Joseph is “found” to be knocked up. That one verse in Matthew carried a whole lot of drama. Joseph darn sure knew it wasn’t his doing. Imagine what Mary’s parents thought? Imagine what Joseph’s family thought? What kind of woman is my son betrothed too? Matthew’s single verse is loaded with conflict and pain and heartache even if Matthew is a bit short on the description. I would have imagined it more like this:

Mary: “Joseph, I have something to tell you…I’m pregnant.”

Joseph: “You’re what?! Who is the father?”

Mary: “Joseph, it was the Holy Spirit. God got me pregnant.”

Joseph: “You’re telling me you got pregnant by God. He’s the father of your baby? You are a nut job and the sooner the rocks start flying, the better off I’ll be.”

Now, verse 18 wasn’t what really struck me, that was what came after verse 18.

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. Matthew 1:19 ESV

What kind of man is this who after having his heart ripped out “resolves” to divorce her quietly? Sexual relations outside the betrothal during this betrothal period were considered adultery. Adultery carried a death sentence in that culture. Joseph would have been considered to have been within his rights to stand up in the streets, denounce Mary and watch her be dragged outside the town and stoned to death. But he didn’t and this was even before God sent an angel to fill him in on all the details.

The text says that Jospeh was a “just man”. He had his pride, wounded now as it was. But even so he couldn’t bring himself to harm Mary. A.T. Robertson puts it this way:

“One is obliged to respect and sympathize with the motives of Joseph for he evidently loved Mary and was appalled to find her untrue to him as he supposed…Joseph had “a short but tragic struggle between his legal conscience and his love”"

Joseph will dissappear from the Gospel narratives shortly after this episode plays out. It’s assumed that by the time Jesus goes to the cross Joseph has died and left Mary widowed. At least in this brief episode we get an idea what he was like, a just man, yet unwilling to shame one who had apparently wronged him.

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Changes

May 17, 2009 2 Comments

It’s time for a change. After five years of working in a large Sunday School class at our church my wife and I decided we needed a change. The people are great and the teaching is good. There’s nothing wrong but we feel we need a break. A sabbatical from serving if you will.

Today was our last day. In spite of the fact that I have been looking forward to losing the responsibilities that came with serving in that class, it was hard to leave today. We’ve all had those moments where we knew leaving something was the right thing to do but were torn about actually leaving and walking out that door.

I’m also making another change on a more personal level. For close to 10 years I’ve had the habit if reading the Bible through cover to cover each year. It takes me about 15 to 25 minutes of daily reading to cover the entire Bible in 365 days. Today I am going make another change. I’ll keep my daily Bible habit but this time I’m going to drink deep at the well of God’s word.

My goal is to truly study the four Gospels and Acts for however long it takes. With the Bible in one hand, a stack of commentaries in the other I am going to see where it leads me. Right now I am thinking it may take the next six months to a year or so to really do those five books justice.

I’ve got my ESV Study Bible which is one great resource for this quest. I’ve also got bookshelves full of reference materials both in print and in electronic form. It’s been years since I last did something like this. In fact, the last time was when I took some seminary courses. In fact, I spent one entire semester on the Gospel of John doing that before. I learned a bunch about John’s Gospel from that course.

For those of you who were in Sunday School with us, we’ll miss you. If you don’t see or hear from us it probably won’t be because we’ve fallen off the edge of the earth.

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Hey, You Didn’t Bother To Crash My Party

May 10, 2009 5 Comments

The Washington Post has an article in their Religion section stating that Focus On The Family head, Dr. James Dobson was “disappointed” that there was no White House Representative at the National Day Of Prayer event organized by Dobson and his wife Shirley. Well, maybe this will help Dr. Dobson figure out why they weren’t there:

However, a White House source with direct knowledge of the situation, said event organizers placed restrictions on potential speakers saying that they had to be “pro-life” and the only person officially invited from the administration was Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a Republican. Source: Washington Post

That’s probably a pretty good reason why they didn’t come. They apparently weren’t invited.

This brings up my biggest gripe. This event has been largely co-opted by people with a specific political agenda. Maybe it’s time to bring the event back to it’s origins. While the National Day of Prayer has been around since George Washington, it was solidified into the specific observance on a specific day by President Harry S. Truman, a Democrat, in 1952. It’s probably time to kick the Republican kingmaker Dobson out and bring a less partisan leader to the fore if they really want this event to be bipartisan.

As it stands, complaining that someone you didn’t invite didn’t come to your party sounds a lot like political grandstanding. Maybe they ought to change their name to Focus On The Republican Family.

James Gilmore over at the Matthew 25 Network also has a good piece on this controversy.

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We’re Here, We’re Queer And We’re Married

May 7, 2009 Leave a Comment

There is an interesting article over at Relevant Magazine on the Christian response to gay marriage. In the article, they write:

Eric Bryant, author of the book Peppermint-Filled Piñatas, echoes Merritt’s call to love our gay neighbors. “Christians are known for who we hate rather than how we love,” he writes in his blog. “This moves us out of the conversation and polarizes those involved so quickly, no progress can be made.” Bryant says that it’s crucial for Christians to love people we disagree with, and to discuss the gay marriage issue with civility. “We cannot influence others we have pushed away,” he writes. “This includes those who are struggling to figure out what to do with their sexual desires while growing up.” Source: Relevant Magazine

With more and more states legalizing gay marriage it’s only a matter of time before Christians are confronted with this issue in their community. It’s probably a good time to think about how should you react to it as a follower of Jesus. What will you say to your kids when they see a gay family at their school? How will you react at the company picnic when your co-worker introduces their gay spouse? Last time I checked Jesus died for sinners just like you and me.

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Hoist A Pint With Jesus

May 6, 2009 Leave a Comment

Leadership Journal.net has an interesting article on the debate in Christian circles over the drinking of alcohol. I came from a denomination that was famous for it’s prohibition on drinking alcohol.

A friend related a story about a seminary classmate of his who applied to the missions board of that denomination. When the staffer looked over the application and saw the answer he gave on the last time he drank an alcoholic beverage, she told him that they would not take him as a missionary. He then pointed out that their policy would even prohibit Jesus from being a missionary. Kind of ironic in an organization who’s stated goal is to teach others about that very same Jesus. 

The Bible is clear on it’s prohibition of drunkenness. It’s also clear that we are to be sensitive to those who might be weak in that area. I’m not sure that an extra-biblical prohibition on drinking in moderation is going to do anything to help us relate to a lost and dying world that might occasionally drink. It’s also pretty funny that the denomination with the strict prohibition was surveyed and nearly half admitted to drinking alcohol. This blatant hypocrisy is very off putting to the lost who desperately need Jesus.

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock 
and plants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth food from the earth 
and wine to gladden the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine 
and bread to strengthen man’s heart. – Psalm 104:14-15 ESV

The Psalmist says it’s God who gives us wine to gladden our hearts. I think I’ll crack open a cold one and thank Him for it. 

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