A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Seventeen

Scripture Reading: Matthew 12:22-50 (NRSVUE)

We start with another miracle of Jesus restoring sight and speaking to a man.  The crowds begin to question whether Jesus was the Messiah (Son of David).  The Pharisees (whom Jesus has tweaked with his teaching) want to see the opposite.  They claim that Jesus is working with the devil.  

Jesus questions this strategy basically saying that this is a ludicrous idea as it would be very nonproductive of Satan.  It goes to show how we can get our minds set against people.  They couldn't even acknowledge a miracle when they saw it.

When they ask for a sign and Jesus cites the sign of Jonah, we see a foreshadowing of Jesus' death and resurrection.  But the sign of Jonah may also refer to their inability to go to the Gentiles just as Jonah was.  Rather than be happy with fulfilling the mission of God to be a light to the nations, Jonah sits on the hill and sulks that his enemies weren't vanquished.  This could be a nod to how the Pharisees felt about the Romans.  Jesus is beginning to push the boundaries of how his people would define themselves as the people of God - who will be included?

Outside of one's culture, the main way that people would define themselves was by their family.  I once heard of a seminarian talk about preaching this text of Jesus questioning his own mother and siblings on Mother's Day.  I'm not sure the wisdom of that!  But Jesus does push the boundaries again of who will be included in the reign of God.  

As we think about today's reading, Jesus starts with a miracle and seems to be frustrated with the needless critique.  Sometimes, people have trouble with accepting a good thing.

Sometimes we might curse the umbrella
instead of being thankful we have one!

What gifts or blessings have you received lately that you have questioned?  Do we sometimes neglect to give thanks because we are waiting for the other shoe to drop?  How might we appreciate things as they come more often?  I'm sure I've been the one to frustrate Jesus at times, but I would rather not do that!

Prayer for the day:

Lord of all mercy and goodness, suffer us not by any ingratitude or hardness of heart to forget the wonderful benefits that you have bestowed upon us this and every day; but grant that we may be mindful all the days of our life of the incomparable gifts which you ever give us through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Prayer is from an early Scottish source.

Photo by Ed Yourdon via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license. 

A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Sixteen

Today's Reading: Matthew 12:1-21 (NRSVUE)

We see a difference in interpretation between Jesus and the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath.  As we remember, the Pharisees were trying to hold onto their identity as God's people by a strict adherence to the Law of Moses.  There was a lot of Gentile intrusion into their society with the Roman occupation but also with trade that accompanied it.  The Pharisees may have seen strict obeyance as a way to measure one's faithfulness to God.

Are you willing to follow the Law to the letter?

Unfortunately, this can create definitive winners and losers.  Human beings become the judges as they can observe who is loyal to the Law and who is willing to let some of it slide.

Jesus shows us that not all of the Law is equal.  If there is a chance to help someone on the Sabbath, Jesus indicates that God would be pleased with this action.  It would supersede even the rest we are commanded to keep.

Some rules are for our own protection.

This may have been why John Wesley's General Rules of Do No Harm and Do Good come before the third rule of attending to the spiritual disciplines.  Wesley was trying to follow the example of his Lord.

Notice that Jesus chooses to quote from a passage from Isaiah that promotes justice among the Gentiles.  This would not be what the Pharisees would want to hear.  They would much rather cite passages that consider Gentiles unclean.  In their interpretation, the unclean nature of the Gentiles superseded the mercy that Jesus was willing to extend.

But Jesus informs us of God's priority when he reminds us that God promotes mercy over sacrifice.

Rules are important for the social fabric of any culture.  At the same time, rules are made for a reason.  When we promote the blind following of rules without considering the rationale for why we have them in the first place, we are in danger of becoming pharisaical.  All of us fall into this trap from time to time.

How do we remember that our Lord commands us to love first of all?

Think of a time when the rules you followed prevented you from helping someone.  How would it challenge you if you thought about an alternative way to behave the next time?

Maybe this would be a way to show that in Jesus' name, people still hope.

Prayer for the Day:

O God, who has bound us together in the bundle of life, give us grace to understand how our lives depend on the industry, the honesty and integrity of our peers; that we may be mindful of their needs, grateful for their faithfulness, and faithful in our responsibilities to them; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, Union Theological Seminary, 20th century

Photo by Dr. Zhivago via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license. 

A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Fifteen

Scripture Reading: Matthew 11:1-30 (NRSVUE)

We see Jesus preaching in the places where his disciples were raised.  This would make sense in that traveling rabbis would need a place to stay on the road and the disciples would have families that would accommodate them.

But it seems that not even this familiarity helped these towns to turn toward greater faithfulness.  We are reminded of the human condition - that it is often hard to get us off dead center.  We may find ourselves attracted to the flashy - such as the miraculous things Jesus was doing - but when it comes to actual change, we have difficulty letting the impressions lead us toward any significant repentance.

Evidently, people did take offense at Jesus and his teaching along his preaching tour.  We see the difference between the ministries of John the Baptizer and Jesus.  John was an ascetic living out in the wilderness who fasted regularly.  Jesus feasted regularly in the cities he visited.  The accusation of being a glutton and a drunkard would be more serious than it sounds at first glance.  The fate of this kind of son in Deuteronomy 21:20 was death by stoning.  

But we see that the real punishment comes to those who do take offense at Jesus or at a minimum, refuse to repent of their behavior.

Dogs are good at repairing relationships!

Fortunately, as we continue to be in relationship with Jesus, we find that he is not a harsh teacher.  It may be that we find that when we do repent - when we do follow in faithfulness - the behavior Jesus calls us to emulate brings us into the light. In the long run, it is easier to be in relationship with others if we are gentle and humble rather than self-centered.  

Maybe a little more gentleness and humility will keep us from taking offense at Jesus. 

Prayer for the day:

O Savior, meek and lowly of heart, let not our pride refuse your bidding, to become as little children, in joy and simplicity, in trustfulness one toward another, in lowliness of heart; and by this your own glory, bring us unto ours; for your majesty and your mercy's sake.  Amen.

Prayer by Eric Milner-White, Church of England, 20th Century

Photo by patchattack via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Fourteen

Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:1-42 (NRSVUE)

Jesus appears to be talking directly to the disciples of his day as his ministry and message were not without controversy.  But he also appears to be talking to future disciples through Matthew's voice.  In Jesus' time, his followers didn't go before governors and kings, but they would by the time Matthew put pen to paper.

When Jesus tells them not to go to gentiles, we may be taken aback.  We do see that their testimony will come later in verse 18.  Of course, the Jewish disciples of Jesus go to Jewish towns because these places should know the example of Abraham's hospitality.  The story of Sodom and Gomorrah occurs just following Abraham and Sarah hosting the three strangers.

What is Jesus really about?

We are to bring peace to a household when we enter it.

But Jesus also tells them that he isn't about peace but the sword.

This is a rather dramatic way of reminding the disciples that we must stay in our lane.  There will be those who seek to sway you from your course - to stay in unhealthy patterns of behavior.  We must remember what we are about and who Jesus is for us.  

Not everyone will agree with you
when you seek to bless with peace.

We return to righteousness and we remember that Jesus is talking about being as a parent or advocate for those who are outsiders in society.

As we continue our journey, who do you know who might need a cup of cold water?  How might you provide it?  Further, how do we bring peace upon the places we enter?  Do we wait until we have this peace in our own lives?  Sometimes, it is easier to model peace than to feel it.  Maybe the feeling comes after we model it on a regular basis.

Prayer for today:

O God, grant calmness and control of thought to those who are facing uncertainty and anxiety: let their hearts stand fast, believing in the Lord.  God, be all things to all people, knowing each one and each petition, each house and its need, for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Prayer from 6th Century Russian Liturgy

Photo by Luca Perino via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Thirteen

Scripture Reading: Matthew 9:1-38 (NRSVUE)

We've got a whole lot of healing going on here.

Earlier Jesus had told a man to pay what was appropriate to the Temple for his healing.  Now he forgives sins outside the authority of the Temple.  It was thought that one could only heal through God and if the man was healed, God must be blessing Jesus and approving of his teaching.

Jesus' open table fellowship would have been a real head-scratcher to the Pharisees whose very name comes from the word meaning "separate."  To eat with the unclean was to do more than associate with sinners - they saw it as a lowering of one's status to theirs.  And so, a Pharisee would avoid eating with tax collectors and sinners like the plague.

Jesus sees it as elevating them - the righteous need no elevation.  And Jesus doesn't see them as lowering his status no matter what polite society would say.

I bet Jesus would eat at the kid's table

The disciples of John the Baptizer were evidently ascetics - fasting in order to gain clarity.  The disciples of Jesus seem to prefer feasting to fasting - can the joy of fellowship with other people be a spiritual discipline?  Only, it seems, if you continue to widen your circle.

Jesus continues his mastery over the unclean - a woman who was bleeding should have separated herself from any type of crowds.  In her desperation, she touches Jesus.  It was thought that if one touched the fringe of the prayer shawl of the Messiah, one would be healed.  He applauds her faith rather than chastising her.  And to touch the dead was to make oneself unclean.  Jesus not only touches the dead girl but life flows into her from the touch.

The healing of the blind and the mute as we move into the need for laborers is a movement for Matthew as he places these stories in a certain sequence.  How often are we blind to the greater spiritual realities that God is trying to show us?  The blind could easily represent the Pharisees earlier in the chapter.  But then, how often are we witnesses to miraculous things that we refuse to speak of?

The harvest is plentiful, but it may be that we need to be willing to share life as we recognize that we've received it.  We may just find healing along the way.

Prayer for the day:

Lord, still me.
Let my mind be inquiring, searching.
Let my heart be open.
Save me from mental rust.
Deliver me from spiritual decay.
Keep me alive and alert.
Teach me, that I may teach them.  Amen.

Prayer by Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 20th Century

Photo by LeoLondon via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Twelve

Today's Reading: Matthew 8:1-34 (NRSVUE)

As Jesus returns to society after teaching, we see him put his sermon into action in chapter eight!

With the first person that Jesus encounters, his righteousness is put to the test.  Is Jesus willing to heal this man with the skin disease?  The disease would have made him unclean.  Technically, the diseased man should have kept his distance and cried out "Unclean, unclean" as a warning for people not to come near.  Contact with him would make others unclean.

Leviticus 5:3 clearly states, "Or when you touch human uncleanness—any uncleanness by which one can become unclean—and are unaware of it, when you come to know it, you shall be guilty."

The Law gives Jesus an out.  He doesn't have to deal with this man if he doesn't want to.

But Jesus is merciful - and blessed.

He stretches out his hand to touch the diseased man and heals him.  All the crowd would have seen it.

We may also remember that Jesus just lifted up the Golden Rule in this sermon and declared that giving ourselves the perspective of others is the Law and the Prophets.

When he tells the man to offer the gift to the priests that Moses proscribed in the Law, we see that Jesus is not coming to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.

We remember Jesus telling us to love our enemies when he's confronted by an occupying foreign officer who needs his help.  He could have easily told the Centurian that he had no power to help him.  But Jesus is willing to metaphorically carry his pack the extra mile.  When Jesus lives this out, he finds faith abounding in unlikely places which indicates to us how blessing works.

Sometimes we get stuck

When the winds and waves come to the disciples - just as they do to all of us, we remember the one who built his house on the rock.  The winds and waves did not wash it away.  

We recall the words of Jesus not to worry.  We trust that Jesus is there for us to calm the storms.

How does this work practically?

We do know that sometimes the storm takes lives.  And what if Jesus isn't in the bottom of our boat in the moment it does come?  We must remember the faith of the Centurion that reminds us that Jesus doesn't have to be physically present to instill life.  

How do we develop this kind of faith and trust as the rains beat down upon us?

Rather than look for these virtues to come to us immediately, they may come over time - maintaining our spiritual disciplines may give us strength in the long run that we may not recognize until after we have it.  Like a runner training for endurance, you may not find you have it until you need it.

Prayer for the day:

O Lord Jesus, who can love as you do?
Through your deeds and labor I have become as ripened fruit.
How blessed it is to share in your glory - eternally in your providence.
I am your treasure, product of your arduous labor.
Amen.

Prayer by Canon James Wong, Singapore, 20th Century

Photo by Charles via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license

A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Eleven

Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:13-29 (NRSVUE)

As we finish the Sermon on the Mount, I harken back for the words of Jesus when he tells us not to worry!  I recognize that on some days, my fruit tastes better than others.  The nervousness comes when we wonder, "What if I get judged when I'm having a bad day?"

Will I be the one crying out, "Lord, Lord!" only to have Jesus tell me, "I never knew you!"

So, we have to remember how this sermon starts - with the extolling of mercy and peacemaking.  It begins with righteousness or having higher regard for the outsider. 

May our life in Christ give us confidence
no matter what comes!

Jesus seems to be saying that if we don't develop these things for our lives, we may be washed away when the storms come.  Notice that he indicates that just because someone is faithful, doesn't mean the storm won't come for them as well.  It just means that they will be better prepared for it.

It could be that if I have made a practice of extending mercy to others, I might be better equipped to receive it when I need it.  And it may be that I need it when I'm having a bad fruit day!

The theology of Jesus in this sermon is a practical one.  It is not esoteric or abstract.  He lays out the life and expects his disciples to follow.  As we continue in the season of Lent, we seek to walk with Jesus.  These teachings may remind us that Jesus is seeking to walk with us.  When we can put them into practice or at least practice putting them into practice, we may find a greater depth to this practical theology.

As you think over these three chapters, which fruit will you commit to exhibiting today?  Jesus is telling us, "Be a doer, not just a hearer (or reader)."

Prayer for the day:

Inspire our actions, Lord, and accompany them with your help, so that our every word and action may always begin and end in you.  Amen.

Prayer from Roman Catholic tradition within the Liturgy of the Hours

Photo from Tom Clifton via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.