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Author Archives: John D. Willome

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About John D. Willome

I post a blog of daily devotions that are my prayer journals based on scripture.

Parable of the Marriage Feast (Matthew 22:1-14)

10 Oct

22 Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

4 “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

7 “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ 10 So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 22:1-14

Dear God, there isn’t much way around the idea that Jesus makes pretty clear in this passage: there will be a sorting of good and evil people at some point. I would rather think of you as having one big tent and that Jesus’s sacrifice is for everyone, but it’s hard to make that case in each of the stories Jesus tells that begin with, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” I mean, I would think that this story would end with the King bringing everyone in and there being wonderful feast. The point of the story being that the Gentiles are here when the Israelites chose not to be. Nice story. The end. But no, that ‘s not where Jesus stopped it. He included the part about the commoner who was invited, but did not respect the invitation.

So what’s my role? It’s a big world. There are a lot of people in it. What’s my role in it as your ambassador? Is it to evangelize more. Is it to help disciple more people? Is it to spend more time with you myself? Should I use these things you are revealing to me and allow the fear of it to motivate me to call more people into relationship with you?

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I’m working all of this out very slowly. I hope that doing this slowly is making it more thorough and better. More impactful for me. Help me to be your ambassador today. Love through me today. I have some friends who need healing. Please heal them. Please comfort them. My wife is about to go to a funeral. Please comfort the widow and her family. I’m about to have lunch with a family member. Please love through me. “Oh Lord, Oh Lord, I know you hear my cry. Your love is lifting me above all the lies. No matter what I face, this I know in time. You’ll take all that is wrong and make it right.” (Lauren Daigle – “O’ Lord”) Make it right, Lord, and use me however you want to accomplish your will.

I pray all of this through the mercy and reality of who Jesus is, your son,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 10, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 

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Parable of the Tenant Farmers (Matthew 21:33-46)

09 Oct

33 “Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 34 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. 35 But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.

37 “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’

38 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 39 So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

40 “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

41 The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”

42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?

‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see.’

43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. 44 Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

45 When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet.

Matthew 21:33-46

Dear God, once again, it is important to read this parable in context. It all starts with the “triumphant entry” at the beginning of the chapter (and the Pharisees being jealous and also fearful that this could cause problems with Rome), the clearing of the Temple (which made them indignant and defensive), Jesus spending the night in Bethany, and then coming back in the morning to experience the Pharisees’ indignation and “by what authority do you do this?!?” questions. Then he tells the “Parable of the Two Sons,” followed immediately with, “Now listen to another story.”

As I think about you and who you are in this story and try to do my best to see what I can learn about you and your nature, it makes me think about an interview I listened to this morning The Holy Post did with Jemar Tisby. Here’s a link:

I thought about the Christian leaders, university administrators, etc. who were afraid of his message about race in America and the Christian church, and they started to definitely look like Pharisees to me. The thing about you in the person of Jesus and also the person of the Holy Spirit is that you have incredible empathy for us. You have empathy because you came down here and you lived it. You lived in poverty. You lived as a minority immigrant as a small child. You lived an oppressed life without political freedom. You lived with people you might have grown up admiring letting you down and turning on you. You lived with rejection. You lived with betrayal. You have empathy for the human experience that, frankly, I don’t have because I have lived a pretty privileged life.

Father, I have a song going in my head right now by Brandon Heath called “Give Me Your Eyes.” The words I’m thinking about are, “Give me your eyes for just one second. Give me your eyes so I can see everything I’ve been missing. Give me your eyes for humanity. Give me your arms for the broken-hearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me your heart for the ones forgotten. Give me your eyes so I can see.” That is my prayer this morning. I’m as majority in America as it gets. I’m a big, tall, white male. There is so much about the American experience I don’t understand. Give me your eyes, and give me the humility to see what you need me to see.

I pray all of this under the power of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 9, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 

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Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:23-32)

08 Oct

23 When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

24 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. 25 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask us why we didn’t believe John. 26 But if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed because the people believe John was a prophet.” 27 So they finally replied, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.

28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.

31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?”

They replied, “The first.”

Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. 32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.

Dear God, I want to take this really slowly because there’s some stuff here I’ve never noticed before. I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again. We really do lose something in our reading of scripture when we allow chapter breaks and section headings get in the way. This story of Jesus telling the parable of the two sons in a continuation of what happened the day before when he came into Jerusalem for Passover and cleared the Temple in Matthew 21:12-17. But we get the fig tree story after that and so it gets separated from the rest a section heading that says, “The Curses of the Fig Tree,” “The Authority of Jesus Challenged,” and “Parable of the Two Sons.” So my temptation this morning was to start with verse 28 where the parable starts because that’s where the publishers of this particular Bible suggested I start for this parable. But as I read for context I realized I needed to go back to what the Pharisees asked Jesus that brought out this parable. Then I saw verse 23, which started this whole confrontation: 23 When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” So it starts with them demanding to know by what authority Jesus did these things.

These guys were probably stewing all night after their confrontation with Jesus at the clearing of the Temple the previous day. I’m sure they met and talked about it. I’ll bet they got into their echo chamber and were saying things like, “What gives him the right to come in here, do that, and talk to us like that?” and, “Who does he think he is? God?!?” So when Jesus tells this story, of the two sons, what he’s addressing is their hypocrisy. It’s also what I believe to be part of his plan to make sure he enflamed them enough to crucify him later in the week.

Of course, like most arguments that I go over in my head and play out before I actually get into it, this one didn’t go like they thought it would. They were ready, but then he threw them a curve ball with his question about John’s baptism and the authority he had.

Now, on to the parable. It’s interesting that it pretty much has the same lesson as the “Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard: It’s not when you show up, it’s that you show up. And then he adds to it with the idea that you can lose your place in line by what you do after you get there.

So in the spirit of who are you telling me you are through these parables Jesus told, I think the main message again is that you are not to be mocked. You just want us to love. You don’t want us to be the purity police of the world. You don’t want us to be the legalistic police of the church. You want us to repent of the corruption in our own hearts. Well, let me start over. You want me to recognize and consider the corruption in my heart, repent, and then love others.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, help me. Help me to avoid hypocrisy. Reveal the hypocrisy I have in my heart to me. Show me how I don’t love the way you want me to love–both you and others. I want to live a life that delights you regardless of what it costs me. I don’t know that I really mean those words, but I know I want to mean those words.

I pray all of this as your grateful child.

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 8, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 

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Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 19:16-30, 20:1-16)

07 Oct

20 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.

3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5 So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’

8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

Matthew 20:1-16

Dear God, as I look to parables and try to determine what you are revealing to us (me) about who you are and your character through what you told us about you, this one is one that definitely fits that mold. Anything that starts with, “The Kingdom Heaven is like…,” is teeing that concept up.

I think I just saw something new here that I’ve never seen before. I don’t know that I’ve ever really sat in your place and read this story. I’ve always read it from the laborers’ perspective. But I’m trying to learn something about you here.

What I just saw is that your original plan was for us to work all day: “Adam and Eve. Here you go. You’re hired. Go work. Live. Live with me. Commune with me.” And some did. Some work. But for the rest who rebel, you are having to make accommodations. Sacrifices (literally).

I heard someone recently talk about the pain in the Old Testament and the sometimes questionable calls you made with the Israelites pre-Jesus earthly birth. They said that none of this was your ideal and that you are spending much of the Old Testament triaging the situation and finding a path forward for them.

That’s what you do. You have spent human history pivoting to try to accommodate our foolishness and mercifully “hire” us into your family. You would just as soon have hired us at the beginning of the day. But some of us weren’t there. Some of us weren’t ready. We didn’t set our alarm to get there on time. We decided to run a few selfish errands first.

Interestingly, this parable is actually a continuation of a story from chapter 19. It’s unfortunate there is a chapter break here because Matthew tells us this parable in conjunction with Matthew 19:16-30:

16 Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher,[f] what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

17 “Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep[g] the commandments.”

18 “Which ones?” the man asked.

And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. 19 Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’[h]”

20 “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”

21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

25 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.

26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

27 Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?”

28 Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new[i] and the Son of Man[j] sits upon his glorious throne, you who have been my followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.[

So the context of this parable isn’t that it’s easy to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. The context is the statement by Jesus that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.” That seems to be the opposite except for how Jesus answers their question, “Then who in the world can be saved?” He says, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Then he goes into all of the throne stuff and judging the twelve tribes of Israel. He mentions the honoring of those who sacrifice even family for you, and then concludes with the “least important now will be the greatest then.” And then he starts the parable with, “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner…”

This describes you as being…well, incomprehensible. I almost said, “nuanced,” but that word seemed to simple. All I can really tell from this is that you are absolutely evaluating each person differently than I evaluate them. You are always waiting for that person who is ready to come to you and establish relationship with you. Even if I leave the field in the middle of the day, there is a pretty good chance you’ll hire me with the last shift.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I am so grateful for the mystery that is you. I’m so glad you don’t play by my rules. I’m glad you don’t have history unfold the way I would have it unfold. I’m sorry you are still having to triage our world. I’m sorry I didn’t hire on at the beginning of the day to serve you longer. I’m sorry that sometimes I wander off the job. Thank you for the grace you show me.

I pray all of this in the name of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 7, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 

Disquieted Soul

05 Oct

Dear God, my soul is disquieted this morning. It’s over the LGTBQ+ issue and your feelings about it. But I have to tell you, even now as I sit here in your presence and talk to you about this, I can feel the disquietedness dripping away. I can feel your peace rising up in me.

It started this morning with a video I was watching by two Christian men talking about a conference a Christian mega church did largely for parents and pastors knowing how to respond to LGTBQ+ children/youth. I didn’t so much disagree with them in principle as I wondered how I should feel about my family, friends, and others in my sphere of influence who identify in some non-traditional way. I also wonder one key question. Why? There are reasons for your laws. There are reasons you want us to avoid drunkeness, murder, gluttony, lying, stealing, etc. There is harm for us in these things.

Then I ask myself, how many of those who are hyper-focused on this issue are obese, look at pornography, lie regularly, etc. And what about me? What is the unconfessed sin in my life that I’m not aware of because I don’t think it’s a sin. I’ve had a vasectomy. Some Christians would call that sin. Do you call it sin? Is it something on the f*** you list you have for me that, thankfully, you cannot see because of Jesus’s blood?

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I think all of us have sin in our lives that we do not recognize as sin. The obese Christian (and I’m not too thin, so I’ll throw myself in this category) who gives in to gluttony. The alcoholic Christian who continues to drink to excess. I’m not here to label what is sin and what isn’t. I’m too ignorant to know. But I do know that you want your best for me, and I can only figure out what that is through moments like this. I can only figure it out as I work out my faith with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). My goal for any friend/family member, whether they be straight, LGTBQ+, gluttonous, an adulterer, a liar, a thief, etc., is that we would all take you seriously, accept the grace Jesus provides through his amazing sacrifice and the power exhibited in him as part of my Triune God, and then work to cultivate our hearts to clear the rocks and the thorns (Matthew 13:1-23) so that we can provide you good soil in which you can grow and exhibit your fruits in our lives.

I pray all of this under your authority and grace,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 5, 2023 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

Weeding my Soil

04 Oct

Dear God, I was working on the Sunday school lesson I’m going to teach this weekend this morning, and It occurred to me (Holy Spirit, is that you?) that I haven’t prayed about the lesson this morning. I haven’t brought myself before you, submitted myself to you, cleansed my heart of the cares of this world and the lure of wealth (Matthew 13:22), and just worshipped you. I’ve been trying to listen to you all week in terms of the topic for the Sunday school lesson and where you might have me go with this class for whom I am substituting, and I think I have some good direction. But as I sat here this morning, I realized I am trying to put this together with my own “wisdom” and “intellect.” That’s so foolish and stupid. I am nothing, and I know nothing without you. If I try to do this without you and if it goes well then my temptation will be to take the credit for it. But Holy Spirit, I need you this morning. I need to attach my branch to your vine. I need to confess to you that I have sinned and I continue to sin. In what I have done and what I have failed to do. I need the mercy afforded to me by the generous–well, generous isn’t even a big enough word–sacrifice of Jesus. It’s the only way I can be here right now praying to you. The list of things the God of the universe, my Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit, is long and growing every day. But the miracle is that you cannot see my list because of Jesus. So I sit here now, doing what I can to connect with you and to allow your Spirit to grow within me. To allow you to grow within me.

I have these different songs going in my head right now. A hymn: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” Then there’s “Nobody” by Casting Crowns: “I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody who saved my soul. Ever since you rescued me, you gave my heart a song to sing. I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus.” These are my songs to you this morning. I want to turn my eyes upon you and have that amazing experience of the things of earth growing strangely dim. I want to just be nobody telling the world about the somebody who saved my soul.

I offer this to you through your mercy,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 4, 2023 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35)

01 Oct

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

Matthew 18:23-35

Dear God, my temptation is to focus on the unforgiveness of the servant, but this is about learning more about what this parable tells me about you than about the person with unforgiveness in their heart. It’s more about what do I see in you than what do I see in me. So what decisions do I see you making in this story?

  • There will be a day when my account has to be settled with you.
  • You are willing to extend me mercy out of your pure compassion for me.
  • You care about my heart and what kind of compassion I am willing to show others.
  • It is possible for me to evoke your wrath against me.

One thing that becomes clear as I go through these parables is that you are not to be taken lightly (it seems like there’s a better phrase that I just can’t come up with right now). You are not to be mocked (that’s the phrase). You are not to be disrespected. Jesus makes it very clear that there is a limit to your mercy. You will throw the weeds in the fire. You will separate us from yourself. Frankly, I like to think that there is no limit to your grace and that Jesus’s sacrifice gives all of us a “Get out of Jail Free Card.” But that is not the picture Jesus paints at all. Is there some squishiness around the edges of your law? Probably. But anyone who openly mocks you is probably not in good shape eternally.

My wife played something for me yesterday with a priest talking about Catholic theology around loving you. During the talk, he used an example of a woman who had said (paraphrasing), “Even if I saw God Himself in the east, as high as Mount Everest, I would not serve him.” It made me think of Milton in Paradise Lost quoting Satan saying, “It is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.” Some people just feel that way. They are incapable of coming to the end of themselves. And when we come to the end of ourselves and start to climb the ladder of faith and getting refined by you, we find mercy for others, even in extreme circumstances, becomes easier because we become more like you. It doesn’t mean we don’t put boundaries on those relationships that are harmful, but it does mean we don’t have to carry around bitterness and our right to bitterness in our heart.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, walk with me this morning. Walk with me in mercy. Walk with me in joy. Walk with me in peace. I sang this song while I was in the shower this morning by Keith Green that I want to close with here: “Oh, Lord, you’re beautiful! Your face is all I seek. For when your eyes are on this child your grace abounds to me.”

I pray all of this under the grace of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 1, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 

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Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:1-14)

27 Sep

18 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. 6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

7 “What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. 8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.

12 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.

Matthew 18:1-14

Dear God, I was once one of the little ones. I was once that humble child. Am I humble now? Am I making myself like that child now?

Once again, this includes some hard teaching from Jesus about being separated from you. It’s always a good reminder that you are not to be mocked. You are holy, righteous, just, and loving. You get frustrated with us and angry with us as well. A holy anger. But you also “go out and search” for us when we are lost. If I am going through these parables so that I can know you better, then I need to understand this about you. All of this about you.

I have to admit that I don’t like the idea of you being so harsh for those who don’t believe or become like a child because there are some people I love dearly who have not accepted your call to love you and build a relationship with you. That scares me. It also scares me that I am part of your plan A for searching for them. I am in the search party you are using to find those who are lost. Frankly, I don’t think I’m a very good searcher.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, open my eyes so I can see how to better search. Well, first, help me to humble myself into this childlike state Jesus is describing here. Help me to embrace it as your child. And then help me to take it and bring others into faith with you. Into discipleship. Into relationship. For their sake, and for your glory, oh Lord!

I pray this through the grace, life, blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 27, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 

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Genesis 12:10-16

26 Sep

10 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11 As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ 13 So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”

14 And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai’s beauty. 15 When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace. 16 Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

Genesis 12:10-16

Dear God, this is such a hard story if we stop and spend time with it. It’s easy to kind of read past, but it’s a hard story. First, you have Sarai being offered as a sacrifice by Abram so that his life might be saved. In a relationship where Abram should be her protector, he made her his protector. I cannot imagine what this must have been like for her from a trauma standpoint. It’s tragic.

Then there are the male and female servants that had no agency in the situation. They were given in exchange for this one woman to go to Pharoah. Later we will learn about an Egyptian servant of Abram’s named Hagar. Could this be how she came to be in their possession? All of this so that a man could save his own life at the expense of others.

So instead of me sitting here wondering about how Abram could possibly do this and judging him for it, I need to ask myself if I do this with my wife and children in any way. Have I put my own selfishness above them? I think at least one of my children would accuse me of putting my marriage to their mother before them. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I don’t think I agree, but it’s certainly how they feel. Is there any truth to it? Do I do anything to leave my wife vulnerable and at-risk? Am I the husband you need me to be for her? That she feels like is there to meet the needs she has for love, security, and encouragement?

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I really want to carry you into this day with me. Walk with me with my staff. Walk with me with our volunteer. Walk with me with our donors. Walk with me with our patients. Walk with me with my wife. Oh, Lord, walk with me today. Make me the man you need me to be.

I pray this through Jesus’s name, life, death, and resurrection,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 26, 2023 in Genesis, Uncategorized

 

Parable of the Heart of Man (Matthew 15:1-20, Mark 7:1-23)

24 Sep

15 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

8 ‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
9 Their worship is a farce,
    for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’”

10 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”

13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

15 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Explain to us the parable that says people aren’t defiled by what they eat.”

16 “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. 17 “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”

Matthew 15:1-20

7 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. 3 (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands,[a] as required by their ancient traditions. 4 Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)

5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship is a farce,
    for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

9 Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. 10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ 12 In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

14 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. 18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Mark 7:1-23

Dear God, I was talking yesterday with an old friend and his wife (a very Godly couple who loves you so much, and whom I admire!) about the mistakes in our theology and biblical knowledge. In what we think we know about you. Our hearts justify errant thinking because we are often selfish and hypocritical. And sometimes we are just the victims of bad teaching that has been handed down generation to generation. There are just so many things about you that I do not know, and so many more that I think I know that are wrong. The example I used yesterday in our discussion was where Jesus was born. I don’t know when this tradition started to be taught, but I have always been taught he was born in a stable/barn/cave where they kept animals–some sort of a livestock area. I’ve also always been given the impression that Mary had Jesus as they rode into town (with her riding a donkey) and they couldn’t find a hotel room (this mistake is probably the reason it was so easy to come up with the “barn” part of the story. So why am I saying this is incorrect? Because in Luke 2:4-8 (NASB 1995 translation) it says, “4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she“ wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a [d]manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” [the footnote before “manger” says, “or feeding trough”] So it occurred to me one day that it doesn’t describe Mary riding a donkey or her coming into town fresh off the long journey and needing a quick hotel room to give birth. No, what it says is, “While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.” So how long had they been there? A week? A month? Three months? Did they get there, do their registration duty, and then decide they needed to stay because she was too far along to travel? The text doesn’t say, but what it does indicate is that they had been there for more than just a night or two. So if they were there for a certain period of time, where were they staying? In a tent in a field? Were there camps that had been set up for people like them? If so, maybe, just maybe, she had the baby in the tent, and then when they needed a makeshift crib, Joseph was able to go get a food trough from a local stable/barn/cave and use it for Jesus.

I really got off on a tangent there, but it goes with these passages from Matthew and Mark about the “heart of man” because everyone involved was a victim of errant teaching. And I don’t necessarily blame the Pharisees who were hassling Jesus. I honestly can’t say that I would have done any differently if I were them. They were taught how to be Pharisees by those that came before them, and they were passing it down. I’m sure I’ve done the same thing in my life. I’m sure I do it every day. There might even be part of what I’m doing right now that is doing the same thing.

As I try to take the lesson from the passage, I think the core of it is the reference Jesus gave from Isaiah 29:13, which both Matthew and Mark (Peter?) recorded:

‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship is a farce,
    for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I really do not want my heart to be far from you. That’s what this is about. I don’t want my worship to be a farce. I don’t want to just teach man-made ideas as commands from you. No, I want to be completely yours. I want to be able to hear your still small voice speak to me. I want to learn what you want me to learn, and then pass on what you are teaching me to others so that they might be drawn closer to you. make me your vessel, oh Lord. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me, and then disperse me to your people.

I pray all of this in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Amen

P.S. I couldn’t help but notice that both of these versions end with Jesus describing what Paul describe in Galatians 5 and what I referenced yesterday as the deeds of the heart/desires of sinful nature. And again, Jesus’s lead-off hitter is sexual immorality. Hmm. I probably should look into this more.

 
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Posted by on September 24, 2023 in Jesus's Parables, Mark, Matthew, Parables of the Bible

 
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