Progressive Regression

It’s a guy thing. We don’t cry as often as women do. I know I don’t cry as often as my wife. Like her, I cry differently for different things. There are sad movies and comic relief times that draw a few tears. I even admit to bumping my leg recently with such force that it brought me to the ground and I shed a tear or two in pain. When I am sorry and feel bad for something I have done, sometimes I cry.

In this passage we see yet another kind of crying—weeping bitterly. Peter felt such deep remorse for his behavior that he cried a broken-hearted cry. What happened to him that crushed his spirit so completely?

I call it progressive regression. Peter did not see that he was falling away from Jesus. It happened so subtly and gradually that he did not notice. Denial, denial with an oath, denial with cursing and swearing was his step-by-step regression. That is the way sin works in my life, too. So gradually and subtly that it takes outside intervention of some kind to set me back on course.

It took the crow of a rooster to awaken Peter to the error of his ways. Later accounts of his life show he learned from this experience. Where are the quiet inroads of sin in my life that are causing me to slip away from my savior? Like Peter, I need a “rooster’s crow” to shake me up. My “rooster” often comes in words from my wife or friends. Sometimes words from reading the Bible or a sermon or a song or a sunrise offer the shake up I need to restore my relationship with God.

Steve Louden

Where Am I?

Matthew 26:47-68

Where would I have been on this brutal day of suffering? Would I be among the disciples who “deserted him and fled”? Would I be with Peter, following safely “far behind” and then sitting on the sidelines, waiting “to see what was going to happen”? How would I respond, watching those who spit in His face and hit Him and shouted, “Guilty!”? Would I trust His silence? Would I be wishing for a miraculous deliverance, proving to everyone that He is Messiah?

Where am I on this bloody, brutal day of persecution and suffering for following Jesus? For what price would I sell out my Friend? Under what threat would I turn my back and pretend I never knew Him? At what point would I demand a miracle, a proof to me that He is the Messiah?

Lord Jesus, I want to say, "Never!" but I know my fainting heart...

Beyond Betrayal

Friday, February 9th - Matthew 26:14-46

Judas' betrayal of Jesus is a key thread throughout today's reading. I've heard theories as to why Judas was willing to betray Jesus. Some suggest he was greedy; even John's Gospel tells us that he stole from the treasury he managed. Others suggest he was a zealot, that he just believed so strongly in the need for a political hero, that he became disillusioned with Jesus. Luke and John tell us that Satan entered Judas, so there was clearly some spiritual deception, as well. Each of these may have played a part, but I'm not sure any of them tell the whole story. Judas is a man who confuses me.

However, as confusing as it may be to me, the other disciples didn't seem to think betrayal was so impossible. When Jesus announced that one of them would betray him, they each were greatly distressed and asked, "I'm not the one... Am I?" As the reading progresses, we see even these faithful disciples fail to stand by Jesus, overcome by sleep as he implores them to pray with him. (Unfortunately that's not an experience completely unfamiliar to me.) He tells them they will all desert him that night, and we will soon read that his prediction came true.

And as they chose sleep over prayer, while Judas led the mob to Gethsemane, Jesus' determination to sacrifice himself for sinners became resolute. What a Savior! As the mob approached who would arrest and abuse him, he said, “Father, your will be done.” When his friends fell asleep with no real understanding of what he was going through, he committed to this plan of salvation. “Look, the time has come. I, the Son of Man, am betrayed into the hands of sinners.” And as we scatter, deny him, or try imperfectly to follow, his mission is unshaken. He has come to reconcile us to God, to pay our ransom with his life, to move beyond our betrayal to miraculous restoration.

2 Timothy 2:11-13:
This is a trustworthy saying:

If we die with him,
we will also live with him.

If we endure hardship,
we will reign with him.

If we deny him,
he will deny us.

If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny who he is.

Sheep and Goats and Perfume

Thursday, February 8 - Matthew 25:31 - 26:13

I used to think I understood the message about the sheep and the goats. It seemed clear that those who do what's right are the ones who will win God's favor. And my mind was full of messages urging me to be that kind of "good" person. Lots of "shoulds" and "oughts" with a heavy dose of "don't you dare!" I was the person with the proverbial carrot - a golden one - hanging before me. I never could reach it - the promise of entering God's kingdom. How do you know when you've done enough? What do you do with a voice in your head that says, "Shame on you"?

Now I know that Jesus died in my place so that I might be reconciled to God. And now I find this passage about the sheep and goats more difficult to comprehend. Who exactly are the "righteous" to whom Jesus promises eternal life in 25:46? It sure sounds as though Jesus is
implying that good works will get a person into heaven.

Ponder with me -- We saw how Jesus told his opponents that "whatever is in your heart determines what you say" (Matthew 12:34). I think Jesus would also tell us that what is in our heart determines what we do or fail to do. Jesus came to fulfill the Law, to institute a new covenant (solemn agreement) as he prepared to die. The prophet Jeremiah foresaw that very time, when God would make the old covenant obsolete: "The Lord [says] I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts" (Hebrews 8:10). Followers of Jesus are given that new heart, one that loves Him and therefore loves others.

If this is so, then I think the goats are those who have rejected Jesus. They don't know his forgiveness. Maybe don't realize they need it. Remember back in Matthew 9:12,13 - "Healthy people don't need a doctor - sick people do . . . I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

On the other hand, we see sheep. Those whose love is an outpouring of gratitude for what Jesus has done for them. Do you see a problem? What about those people we know who feed the hungry and visit the sick, but don't have a desire to follow Jesus? I don't think Jesus addresses that question here. We are looking at (listening to) a parable, not an allegory. An allegory is an extended metaphore, where each character or happening stands for something else. In a parable, that is not the case. The symbolism is limited. There is usually one main point. Here, I think, it's a point about forgiveness.

To try to understand that point, move ahead with me to chapter 26. Here we learn of a dinner party that gets interrupted when a woman anoints Jesus with expensive perfume. Does she have any idea what her burial oil means to Jesus? As he faces his death, he knows her heart, and receives the "beautiful thing" she has done. A similar incident is found in Luke's gospel. There, Jesus teaches that when we are aware of our sinfulness, and of the wonder of having a huge debt canceled, knowing we are forgiven will result in an outpouring of love.

Back to the sheep. They belong to Jesus. He knows them better than they know themselves. Forgiven, their new life becomes less self-centered and reflects their gratitude for what he has done. And knowing that, Jesus receives their kind deeds as a thank offering.

I saw it on a Christmas card: He came to pay a debt he didn't owe, because we owed a debt we couldn't pay. Lord, please give me the gift of a grateful heart.

Deetje Wildes

Danger in Delay

Notice the emphasis on His Coming again.  Consider: the Danger of Delay.  It has been said there are 8 days in a week, not just 7.  The 8^th day is referring to that “some day” that doesn’t seem to come!  (Such as “someday I’ll become a Christian”.  Someday I’ll do this-or-that”.)  Consider: the reward for Faithful service is Fellowship with the Master!”

 

 

This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.   The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.  

They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.          Lamentations 3:21-23

 

Matthew 24:29-51

Greetings,

 

The end times used to fascinate me to no end.  Now I jokingly describe my position on the end times as a “pantheist – it will all pan out in the end.”  My focus shifted from the details to the broad picture that in the end God wins and that we are to be ready.  Yes, there will be an end to all things and we won’t know when it will be.  Sometimes in my life I don’t want this world to end because I have so many hopes and dreams and things I enjoy in this world (although I know eternity with God will be infinitely greater).  But sometimes in my life I long for the end of this world and ache for the return of Jesus.  As soon as we are born, we start dying.  Lives all around us are messed up by sin.  We talk about the big three: Satan, the world, and our own sinful nature causing pain, destruction, and all evils.  We’d like to think that there is some temporary solution to these problems (Coke?), but there isn’t.  The only solution is that in the end God wins and will restore all things and that in heaven He will wipe away every tear, there will be no longer any death, there will be no longer any mourning, or crying, or pain.  Behold, God is making all things new! (Rev 21)

 

The fact that Jesus is returning begs us to ask these question, “Am I ready?”  “Am I right with God?”  “Am I trusting Jesus today?”  “Do I count myself dead to sin but alive in Jesus?”  “Am I presenting myself as a living sacrifice?”  “Have I accepted Jesus?”  For all you grammar lovers what word is the subject of these questions?  “I” is.  We ask the question, “Have I accepted Jesus?” but the first question we need to ask is “Has Jesus accepted me?”  See the difference?  God/Jesus is the subject of these questions.  “Does God love me?”  “Has God forgiven my sins because of what Jesus has done for me on the cross?”  We always let God have the first word.  So we place the “I” questions after we answer (or rather God answers in His Word) the God questions.  Yes God loves you!  Yes God has forgiven your sins for Christ’s sake.  THEREFORE IN VIEW OF GOD’S MERCY offer your bodies as living sacrifices.  Therefore, because of what Christ has done for me, I am ready for His return and will live my life to serve Him.  Therefore, because in baptism I have been buried with Christ and raised to live a new life with Him (Rom 6) I daily confess my sins, putting to death my old sinful nature and clinging to Christ for this new life He has given to me. 

 

Jesus is coming back and I am ready because of what Jesus has given me!  Praise God.

 

Pastor Adam

 

 

The End is Dear

Monday, February 5 - Matthew 24:1-28

Good Cold Day, Everyone!

I hope many of you are enjoying a day with kids home from school, hot chocolate, etc. I couldn't help but post this appropriate "Children's Letters to God" entry (thanks to Kent & Deedee for reminding me of it!). However, not only appropriate to the cold day and season, this letter also in a way connects with some general disdain for God's timing, a timing that is the topic of our Daily Life text today.

It is best estimated that this Matthew 24 teaching occurs on Tuesday of holy week. Jesus is within 72 hours of making the greatest act of compassion in the history of humanity. Along the way, certainly welling with this compassion, he takes some time leaving the temple area to teach and prepare his followers for the hard realities that will preclude the end of days. "The end is near" is his summary warning at the conclusion of today's reading (v.28).

Of course, Jesus' certain prediction that the last days will include war, famine, earthquakes, persecution, spiritual mutiny, deception, sacrilege, panic and calamity -- is plainly unpleasant. But are his words / is his message "the end is near" also un-compassionate?! Or rather, is it not precisely compassion that urges Jesus to warn us and all humanity of these certainties to come, and by faith in him be prepared to avoid? Is there not also hope held out: (v.13) "the one who endures to the end will be saved"? (It is my sense that these words both urge on present believers to stay true in difficult times now, and also urge those who will believe after Jesus' rapture to cling to him during the much darker days of tribulation.)

But the point I am attempting to make, and felt much as I read and discussed this scripture with my family this morning, is that it is the love of Jesus that says to us and all, "the end is near". Many who reject him hear these words hatefully. And too often, some in the Church have spoken them hatefully. I can't get out of my mind the two-way derision I've witnessed mulitiple times at the tail end of the Rose Bowl parade. First, there were several purporting to represent God and his Word, wearing sandwich signs declaring on one side a "the end is near" kind of message, and on the other side a "God hates the sinner"-toned message. The demeanor and voice of the messenger confirmed this, spewing anger if not hatred. And, many in the crowd were only too pleased to reply in derisive kind, shouting down the 'prophet', mocking and tossing parade trash in their direction. I can yet picture parents not restraining their children from chasing after these men, the kids with their cans of "Silly String" bought for parade revelry now turned into a kind of modern form of 'tar & feathering' of these ones who thought themselves representing God with "the end is near" message.

I was clunked on the worldview-head yesterday while watching the Superbowl commercials (and occassionally the game!), to see how POORLY God's people must have portrayed the heart of "the end is near" message! Did you notice the Coke commercial where the nasty SIM character drinks a Coke, and then transformed goes about changing all that's bad to good in his world (see at http://motionographer.com/media/coke_nexus.mov)? He walks down the street correcting wrongs, rescueing a woman from a purse-snatcher, giving his coat to a homeless man, etc. And, then toward the end of the commercial, he encounters people wearing the sandwich sign "the end is near", and he twirls around their signs (and ostensibly their minds), and when they stop spinning, their signs now read not the line from Matthew but from the preferred (Bay City Rollers?) prophets: "give a little love"!

Is that what people hear us saying?!! To them, is "the end is near" a message of hate, and anything but hope and compassion? Does the world perceive we think we're simply right while they are damned? Have they missed / have we missed conveying that the love of Jesus moves us to care for them and to warn them from death and guide them toward life?

Does the world need to know the heart of "the end is near", or does the world just need a Coke?

PPaul

Blind Guides - Matt 23:13-39 - Sunday

What a picture in the verse, "You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a gnat; then you swallow a camel! (vs 24)" Jesus was after the Pharisees today. The odd thing is His audience seems to be the crowds and the disciples (vs 1). There were most likely some Pharisees in the crowd, but there seems to be a truth here for all.

Who to follow - Jesus tells the people to practice what the Pharisees say, but don't follow the example (vs 3). They can practice what the Pharisees say because they were interpreting scripture (vs 2). Jesus points us as His people back to the absolute truth of the scripture. We have a way to know if what we are learning from others is right and holy. We have a way to know how to live each day. We must evaluate everything we are being taught against the Word of God.

How to lead - Everything the Pharisees are accused of are possible snares for us as well. Personally, I can worry more about appearances than what's inside my heart. I can think about some minute detail while missing the big picture. I can make up rules that seem to present me as holier if I follow them. In all of this I am setting a false example for other believers as to what this walk with Christ looks like. All of us that follow Christ are an example of Him to everyone around us. By His grace we will be right followers of Him, not hypocrites as the Pharisees.