Category Archives: Matthew

²³ “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. ²⁴ Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

Matthew 23:23-26

Dear God, it feels like there are things that so many people neglect, including me. I think our media (whether liberal or conservative) has taken the place of your voice within our churches. I met a young woman recently who was looking for a church. She wanted one that would be tolerant of LGBTQ+ people. I told her of a couple of local churches that would be more tolerant than others, but then I also recommended a church that I appreciate because it is probably the most diverse church in town regarding age, gender, and race. It happens to be Assemblies of God, but I encouraged her to check it out. One thing I told her was that she won’t agree with everything there, but there is probably no church where she will agree with everything. I don’t agree with everything from any denomination. And that doesn’t make me right and them wrong. I could very well be wrong. So I encouraged her to find a group of believers who worshipped you and then go from there.

Too many of us are more influenced by the news we read from our “trusted” news source than we are by your still small voice, the voices of your ministers on this earth, or even the teachings of Jesus or from the Bible. The news has told us how to feel, so there are some churches that have decided that part of the virtue signaling as to whether or not we are in line with that church’s ideology is whether or not we believe in climate change. Or whether healthcare in our country should be reformed. Really? Those are the things that are non-negotiable? Or we’ve been told that we have to be tolerant of every life style and never say anything judgmental. And while I do believe in what Paul says in Romans 14 about accepting someone who is weak in faith and giving them some latitude to figure out the path that you have for them, I think there is also a role for relationship and you using us in each other’s lives to guide all of us, including me, to the narrow path.

Father, my point in all of this is that the Pharisees Jesus is addressing had lost their vision of what it means to love and serve you and their neighbors. They were so focused on the dos and don’ts that they lost track of the get tos and opportunities to love and serve. Help me to see the get tos and the opportunities to love and serve today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

²¹ Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” ²³ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

Matthew 15:21-28

Dear God, this was the New Testament reading in church today. The first thing I noticed that I don’t think I have before is that the woman was a Canaanite. It made me think back to Genesis 9:25 when Noah cursed Ham’s youngest son Canaan because of what Ham did to him when he was passed out drunk:

²⁵ So he said, “Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants
He shall be to his brothers.”

It was a few years ago that I noticed how weird it was that Noah took his anger out on Ham by attacking his youngest son with a curse. So not, here we are, thousands and thousands of years later. Is this woman truly a descendant of Canaan or is that just what Jewish people called Gentiles? This is from the New American Standard (1995). The New Living Translation just calls her a Gentile. Maybe that’s why I haven’t noticed it before. Because of all of the kingdoms that had come and gone over the millennia since Noah, I’m assuming there was not real blood line back to Canaan for this woman. I looked it up and I could not really find a definitive answer, so I’m just going to go with the idea that she was not just a Gentile but a racially profiled despised Gentile.

What was Jesus doing here. Was he testing her only or was there any part of him learning in this process? That sounds like heresy to even ask that question. Like I might get struck down. Of course, the teaching would be that he was just testing her faith. As if to say, “Don’t just come here to use me for your daughter. I’m not just a miracle man. I’m someone you need to worship.” And that’s what I’m going with.

Interruption: I just looked it up a little further. In Mark 7, we get the same story. She’s described as a Syrophoenician, a woman from the Syrian coastal region of the Roman Empire (in this case, in Tyre). So she was definitely looked down upon and there was definite prejudice against her. Of course, Jesus wouldn’t have prejudice, but he would want to make sure her heart was pure. He would also want all of the prejudiced people around her to see her heart.

All of this is to say that I work with and am friends with people who are racially profiled every day, and it breaks my heart. I wish I knew what to do. Would that I could shield them with my big, tall, male whiteness! If only I could have them stand behind me all the time and shield them from the racism they experience. I have Hispanic friends who are citizens who experience bigotry on an almost daily basis. We have clients at are clinic who do not feel safe in their own homes, vehicles, or anywhere in the community. What am I to do?

Father, I’m really asking the question. What am I to do? Help me know what to do. Help me know what to do if I encounter racism, cruelty, and injustice directly. Help me to know how to address it abstractly and through advocacy. Help me to use prayer, service, persuasion, and suffering to move this needle on behalf of my friends and neighbors. Grant me the serenity, the courage, and the wisdom.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

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, when I first read this passage this morning, it made me wonder where this question came from. Why did they ask about a heavenly pecking order?

I went back to chapter 17 and found that this story was preceded by the Transfiguration as well as the church leaders challenging Peter about Jesus paying the church tax. I wonder if this story has more to do with the Transfiguration. Were they wondering why it was Moses and Elijah and not Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David, Isaiah, etc.? I mean, Moses and Elijah are as big as it gets, I suppose, but Elisha was pretty great too and seemingly had less failures. I guess they were trying to make sense of it all.

Then there’s the way Jesus turns this question away from who is greatest and starts focusing on the treachery of causing others to sin–especially children. By teaching bad things. Offering bad options. Luring into bad actions. Then he makes this odd connection between the angels of the children and your presence.

Father, help me to be a source of truth and wholesomeness to the children in m life. Help me to teach well about your and who you are. Help me to respect all. When I’m sharing tonight with the men from Christian Men’s Life Skills, I pray that you will be with each of us. Guide us. Love us. Draw each of us closer to yourself.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

²⁴ Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. ²⁵ But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. ²⁶ When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.

²⁷ “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’

²⁸ “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.

“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

²⁹ “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

³⁶ Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷ Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. ³⁹ The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.

⁴⁰ “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

Matthew 13:24-29, 36-43

Dear God, I did a journal on this parable a couple of weeks ago, but it has stuck with me. Second chances.

I was just at a prayer meeting or two of our local schools. I feel badly about not continuing on to two more. I don’t have a good excuse except I didn’t want to. That’s really bad. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can be so lazy and selfish. Tonight, I was hot and tired and I just didn’t want to persevere. There’s really no excuse. I pray that my lack of participation will not impact the high school and middle school, which were the two stops I missed. I guess I feel like Peter. Always getting out of the boat, but going down immediately.

I was thinking about this passage as I sat down to pray because one of the things that kept coming to me while I was at the elementary school and alternative high school was the idea of how so many of the children are walking in every day with difficult circumstances. They might be living with alternative relatives because their parents are not available for one reason or another. They migh be living among drugs and alcohol abuse. They might be struggling with drugs and alcohol abuse. There might be domestic violence. Homelessness. The list goes beyond what I could spend two hours typing here. It’s tragic. And then they are expected to come to school, behave, and learn. And the staff is expected to take the students and expertly deal with every scenario they face. I think about the school voucher program and how, in the end, it will take the kids out of the school with solid families and backgrounds and, ultimately, make the school a worse place for everyone and leave those with atypical background farther behind.

Where does this parable come in. Because these kids can be considered the wheat. Let me rephrase. They might look like wheat today, but they can still grow up to be wheat in your kingdom. There’s no way we can know now. The temptation is to cast them and their families aside. Throw them into the fire now. But we can’t know what they will be and how they will turn out. We can’t know who is going to overcome their circumstances and which seeds that might look like wheat now will actually turn out to be weeds. No, we won’t know until the harvest. Until then, we must do our best to nourish everyone and see how it all comes out.

Father, again, I repent for leaving not continuing on with the last two prayer meetings at the middle and high schools. I should have pressed on and gone. I have not excuse. Please don’t let it in any way diminish the power you will exhibit in the lives of the children and staff at the schools. And I pray for your Spirit to move through the schools. Love the children. Give them light. Give them hope. Inspire the youth ministers and children’s ministers to know how to reach out. Young Life. FCA. Head pastors. Help us know how to help the parents/guardians too. Let us come together as a Christian community and know how to love our children into being incredible wheat for your Kingdom.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

²¹ Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.”

²³ But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”

²⁵ But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷ She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.”

²⁸ “Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.

Matthew 15:21-28

Dear God, I was talking a day or two ago about how not everyone in the Bible, including Jesus, was always presenting the absolute truth. For example, Jesus deceiving his brothers about going to the Festival of Tabernacles, or Jesus hiding his identity from the two disciples on their way home to Emmaus after the resurrection. This story feels like another example. He knew he wasn’t just there for the children of Israel. He’d said as much. Was he just testing her? Was he trying to make sure she was there for the Jewish Messiah and not just a miracle worker? I don’t know why, exactly, he picked this path, but it makes for a great story that Matthew recorded for us here.

And then there is the woman. She was a mom with a sick daughter. But you used this pain in her life and made it count. She’d have never gone to Jesus or believed in Jesus otherwise. Her daughter’s illness was probably one of the low points of her life, but you didn’t let it be wasted. You used it to drive her into Jesus’s presence. And maybe you used it to show Jesus in a little bit deeper of a way how Gentiles were part of this too (although I think he already knew that).

Father, there is pain in my life. There is pain in the lives of friends and relatives right now. Some of it has been addressed. Some of it is being addressed. And some of it is being shoved away and ignored in hopes that it will go away on its own. For the relative in rehab, I pray that this pain will be counting for their sake and the sake of their relationship with you. For the friends who are pregnant, I pray that they will find themselves worshipping you in a new way. I pray for the relatives who are estranged from other relatives, I pray that you will shed your light on their situations and you will bring healing through your grace. I pray that this pain will be the catalyst to bring them closer to you. For every struggle today, Father, don’t let them be wasted.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen