RSS

Category Archives: Matthew

Matthew 23:23-26

27 Aug

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!

25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

Matthew 23:23-26

Dear God, maybe I need to do a better job of cleaning the inside of my dish. It is so easy for me to read this passage and sit in judgment over the Pharisees. But is this for me this morning? Do I allow for external things to become my priority, but allow internal things to corrupt my heart? Am I majoring in the minors and ignoring the majors? Of course, the answer is yes.

It would be so much easier if I could just sit here and judge others, but that’s not your call on me. No, you want me to start with the inside of my cup and dish. How do I spend my time? On what things of this world do I let my heart dwell? What do I allow to cause me fear? I could go on and on with these questions this morning, and all of the answers will disappoint me–and you.

Father, I’m sorry for my sinful heart. I’m sorry for the selfishness I resort to when I get pressed. I had a frustrating day yesterday, and I could have responded to it much better. I’m sorry. Be with me today. Holy Spirit, guide me today. I have relatives and friends who are experiencing health crises. Heal. Comfort. Teach. Unite. Bring repentance to all of us through these difficult situations. Use the pain of each struggle in our lives to further mold us into your worshippers and lovers. I do love you, Lord.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 27, 2024 in Matthew

 

Matthew 19:27, 20:1-16

21 Aug

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

…

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.”

Dear God, the worst part about chapter and verse designations is that is accidentally cuts up stories and we forget to read them as one. In this case, the beginning of chapter 20 is actually the continuation of the rich young man asking what he has to do to be saved and then Peter trying to justify himself and the other eleven disciples by saying how much they gave up for you. That’s when you give him some insight into the future, but you also tell this parable. The message: “Stop trying to justify yourself. Stop trying to pretend you are worth your wages. The wages you are getting is a gift and you could never earn how wonderful it is.” That’s how I read this anyway.

I have to tell you, I kind of have the glums this morning. In fact, maybe I’m feeling them because I feel unworthy of my wages. I was looking through scrapbooks yesterday from the nonprofit where I work. I found news stories and things that were written from 30 years ago when the founder was first following your call to help people. She is certainly a worker who walked into the field at the beginning of the day. What a remarkable person she is. Just remarkable. And so we have built on what she started. But to see the energy and vision she had was intimidating. What surprised me the most, I suppose, was how big their vision was. Everything they wanted to accomplish. And, frankly, we’ve done a lot of that. And the way they were working was not sustainable. they were working too frantically and chaotically to keep it going. What we are doing now is more…I guess the word I’m looking for is “paced.” We are at a pace that is sustainable. It’s hard to explain here, but I think you get where I’m coming from and what I’m trying to say.

Father, I am not worthy of my wages. And when I say wages, I mean what you do for me now, and what you will give to me later. Even if I was the most amazing Christian, husband, father, manager, etc. now, I still wouldn’t be worthy. Your wages are too great to ever be earned. Help me to be at peace in that and simply sink into worshipping you and loving others. Mold me today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 21, 2024 in Matthew

 

Matthew 7:24-29

07 Aug

24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

Matthew 7:24-29

Dear God, so if I listen to your teaching and follow it then I will have a house that doesn’t have storms? No, that’s not what you said. You said that I will have storms, but the house will stand. My life will stand. I wonder how this might change how I pray for others who are going through storms. Should I focus more on their relationship with you and how they follow what Jesus taught in this sermon? I know a couple who is going through a difficult health situation for the wife. I’ve been praying for her. I’ve been praying for his strength as her caregiver. I’ve been praying for their peace. Should I also be focusing more on how this will drive them closer to you and following your teachings.

My wife and I have had some storms over the last 15 years. I’ve mentioned the constant sorrow in our lives. I think I can say that I am closer (although not as close as I want to be) to following your teaching now than I was 15 years ago. My foundation is closer to the bedrock. A lot of the sand has washed away. Maybe one of the things that the storms do is wash away the sand to reveal the rock. If there’s no rock there then the whole house comes tumbling down. But if there is rock beneath the sand then the act of the sand being washed away will be painful, but, like the chaff being burned out of my life or the dross being removed from my soul, it will leave something more pure and closer to you.

And then there is the life that is built completely on sand. The life that does not truly worship you or love its neighbors. The life that calls your Lord, but you do not know them. That life can look very messy–especially when the rains fall. I’ve seen a lot of those lives.

Father, help me to have a vision for how to continuously knock the sand away from my foundation. Help me have a life that is built completely on your rock. Help me to know how to love you, love my wife, love my children, love my family, love my friends, and love others. Help me to know how to represent you to the world. Help me to know exactly what you want me to do when you want me to do it. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear. And keep me mindful of what Jesus taught me. Let it ring in my ears. Continuously. Do it for your glory. Do it for your kingdom’s sake. Do it so that you might be able to use me in any way you see fit regardless of the storms life might bring.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 7, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

Tags:

Matthew 7:21-23

06 Aug

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Matthew 7:21-23

Dear God, again, I want to take a moment to consider the audience to which Jesus was speaking. He wasn’t speaking to me, although these words apply to me as well. He was coming to the end of his sermon. He was talking to a group of people who…well, I don’t know exactly how they felt, but it seems that they felt inferior to the Pharisees and other Temple leaders. And there were probably Pharisees and other Temple leaders in the crowd. Was the first group encouraged by the thought that they could have access to relationship with you? Were the Pharisees offended by the thought that their work my be for nothing?

As for me, what does it look like for me to do your will? Apparently miracles and casting out demons isn’t enough to make the cut. No, I think following your will starts with the great two commandments: Loving you with everything I have and loving others as myself. Worship and compassion. Repentance and perseverance. You see the state of my heart when I’m here. You know my motives. You know if I’m trying to impress others with miracles or simply praying for them because I care. You know if I’m trying to impress others with my performance or simply doing the best job I can so that you might be glorified. And I’ll confess that sometimes I cross that line into self-aggrandizement. Sometimes I want others to be impressed with me. I’m sorry for that.

Father, a simple little worship song comes to mind as I close this prayer: “Make me a servant, humble and meek. Lord, let me lift up those who are weak. And may the prayer of my heart always be, ‘Make me a servant, make me a servant, make me a servant today.'”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 6, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

Tags: ,

Matthew 7:15-20

05 Aug

15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Matthew 7:15-20

Dear God, it’s interesting that these are Jesus’s words in the middle of this sermon on how to act. He’s telling everyone what to do and how to do it in order to live an effective life, a peaceful life in your presence. But he takes a moment to tell them to stop and look at the people around them in their lives. Don’t convince yourself someone is good even though they are doing bad things. On the one hand, this advice seem obvious. But maybe there are times when I want to believe someone who is powerful is good so I overlook their faults so I can take advantage of them. I know it can happen in politics, but it can also happen within my immediate sphere of my world.

Then that leads me to my own heart and the fruit that I produce. How am I doing? Am I the kind of person people can trust to produce good fruit regardless of the situation? What am I doing to attach my branch to your vine so that my fruit my continue to grow in an unending supply? Am I loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, good, kind, gentle, faithful, and able to control myself? Or am I sexually immoral, impure and lustful? Am I idolatrous, hateful, argumentative, jealous, selfishly ambitious, rageful, divisive?

Father, grow good fruit in me. I have a heaviness in my heart this morning. It’s about work and some relationships among staff. I pray your Spirit over us all. I pray that this weekend might have brought some healing and joy. I pray that you will make the pain of the weekend count for everyone involved. Please be glorified in all of this. Glorify yourself through my life and through the lives of all who call you our God. Help me to do what you need me to do. Not do what you need me to not do. Bring healing and make us all stronger in you and in our faith in you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 5, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

Tags:

Matthew 7:13-14

04 Aug

13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

Dear God, I wanted to see what the commentary I normally use (The Communicator’s Commentary) had to say about this passage. For Matthew, the author, Myron Augsburger, made this statement that I liked: “Conversion to Christ is a change of direction from our way to His way, but following conversion or change of direction we still need to decide at which level we will live our lives [emphasis mine]. We will live either at a level of magnanimity or at a level of mediocrity.”

How many of us settle for mediocrity? How often do I settle for mediocrity? Over the years, how many times have I settled? I suppose the good news is that, for some reason, I always get pulled back to the narrow path. Maybe it’s conscience. Maybe it’s guilt. Maybe it’s hunger for you. Even now, as I sit here at 4:21 in the afternoon writing this prayer to you, I have chosen a pretty mediocre path for the most of this day. I’m quarantining since my wife has COVID, caring for her and being available to her, but I haven’t taken any person time with you until now. Any dedicated contemplative time until now. I’ve watched some Olympics. I’ve read some in the book I’m reading. I took the dog for a long walk. But other than that I haven’t done much.

Not that every day has to be everything. And I suppose I cannot always be operating at 100% effectiveness. There is a call for Sabbath, after all. But I could have been here earlier with you today. I could have worshipped you more.

Father, maybe I’m sad about some situations in my life. I know of some people who are experiencing strife with others. That breaks my heart. Please let there be peace there and let the pain they are experiencing count. Whether it’s marriages, friendships, or family relationships, please bring peace and growth through the pain. For those who are sick, including my wife, please bring healing. I’m also thinking of a couple of friends who are experiencing illness. One who is at the end of his long life as well. Bring the healing you have for all of them. Oh, Lord, bring your healing in me as well. Heal my soul. Forgive me of my sin. Heal my heart and the scars that have formed. Comfort me. Guide me. And help me to stay on this narrow path.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 4, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

Tags: , ,

Matthew 7:12

03 Aug

12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

Matthew 7:12

Dear God, this is a little like verse 6. It just feels a little thrown in there and incongruous with what comes before it or goes after it. It’s good. It’s important. It’s one of the core commandments we are supposed to follow. But it is preceded by you being a good father to us and then followed by the narrow gate. Maybe it fits more as the lead-in to the narrow gate story than it does as a closing to the part about you being a good father, even though the NIV actually puts verse 12 in the same paragraph as the father stuff (which is weird because the New American Standard 1995 and the New Living Translation give that verse its own paragraph.

So, do to others what I would have them do to me. That sums up the law? Let me just recap the Sermon up to this point and see how this command fits into each one:

  • Beatitudes: Yes, those are about showing mercy and being a peacemaker. That fits.
  • Salt and light: Yes, that fits.
  • “You have heard it said, but I say…”: Yes, all of those, from divorce to adultery to hate fit.
  • Turn the other cheek: That fits.
  • Love your enemies and pray for them: Check.
  • Give to others. Yep.
  • Be earnest in your love for God and don’t seek public acclaim: Okay. Kind of, but it doesn’t contradict it. In fact, I suppose if I follow this it, at the very least, makes me an easier person for my neighbors to be around.
  • Forgiveness critical part of the Lord’s Prayer: Yeah, that’s important for this all-encompassing commandment.
  • Money is a dangerous potential idol: That’s important when it comes to making money a priority over other things. This can fit.
  • Worry is a lack of faith: Kind of a fit, but maybe more of a way for me to evaluate how I am doing with you than how I am doing loving others.
  • Do not judge others: Obviously, this fits perfectly.
  • Bring requests to my good father: Well, not a perfect fit for this concept, but certainly part of worshipping you and developing my relationship with you.
  • The Narrow Gate: Yes, the narrow gate obviously calls me to follow this command.
  • The fruit of others: This helps me to know how to love them.
  • Wise and foolish builder: If I follow these things I will find myself at peace in the middle of the storm.

Father, I guess when we get so worked up about how hard it is to follow the Sermon on the Mount, we can just zero in on Jesus’s top-two commands: Love you with everything we have and love our neighbors. If in doubt, lean into that. Help me to do that today. Help me to do that tomorrow. Help me to do that in this moment.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 3, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

Tags:

Matthew 7:7-11

02 Aug

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
Matthew 7:7-11

Dear God, I was listening to a podcast this morning where the two men were discussing some of the things in the political news lately including the admonishment some people have felt about feeling judged for not having children or enough children. One of the arguments one of the men made for having children didn’t fit into the two main things we are being fed politically. His reasoning on the importance of having children is how it impacts us as parents. We understand love and sacrificial love in a new way when we are responsible for caring for a defenseless child. We also get a glimpse of how you feel about us in a new way.

I remember when my children were young and I first started to get that insight into how you must see me after realizing how much I loved my children. And, as Jesus says here, if I being sinful know how to love my children, how much more do you love me and want to give me the things that are good for me. Of course, you also want to withhold things that are bad for me. So this passage from Jesus isn’t a blank check you’ve given us to fill in. Jesus knows that if our child asked for a stone to eat we would deny their request and give them bread instead. And there are times when I am too ignorant to know what you are doing in a given situation so I will ask without demanding. I guess the other side of it is that sometimes I can ask too little because I do not want to be greedy or selfish.

Father, I want to show my children as much love as possible while not hurting them with the love I have for them by giving them the wrong things. I know you want to do the same for me. So help me to be exactly what you need me to be for them. And teach me how to be the man you need me to be through them. Mold me through them. Shape me. Convict me. Thank you for loving me.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 2, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

Tags:

Matthew 7:6

01 Aug

6 “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.

Matthew 7:6

Dear God, this verse almost feels like it is on an island in the middle of this sermon. It’s right after not judging people–this feels like judging–and right before ask, seek, and knock. I supposed I should point out that this is the New Living Translation. The NIV starts with, “Do not give dogs what is sacred.” The note in my NIV Study Bible for verse 6 says, “Teaching should be given in accordance with the spiritual capacity of the learners. dogs. The unclean dogs of the street were held in low esteem.”

Well, I don’t know exactly what to do with this verse. I suppose it might be easier if I were to think of living as your disciple in the midst of people who are hateful towards you. How would I respond to them? How did you respond to them? Would it be foolishness to try to share my faith with them because it would only inflame their anger and turn them more against you? Is it better that I just love them and then have them ask me about you through the relationship we build?

Frankly, I’ve always struggled with this one sentence. It just seems so incongruous with the rest of your teachings. It seems out of step even with the first five verses of this chapter. The Communicator’s Commentary – Matthew by Myron Augsburger even seems to struggle with this verse a little: “The word-pictures in verse 6 are not easy to interpret. They evidently mean that we should not handle the pearls of the Gospel carelessly or present truths of grace to persons who will only seek to destroy them…the early church used this verse to mean discrimination in the fellowship with respect to pseudobelievers and followers of the various religions of the Roman Empire…Basically the passage is a call for discernment in relating to others.”

Father, give me a lot of discernment today. I have some leading to do at my work through some tricky waters. Help me to be exactly what you need me to be for people whom you love and who love you. Be glorified in my life.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 1, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

Tags: ,

Matthew 7:1-5

31 Jul

7 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. 2 For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

3 “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? 4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

Dear God, one thing I’ll say for the struggles and sorrows in my life. If they’ve done nothing else, they have humbled me. Oh, how they have humbled me. Especially my failures in parenting. I know I tried, but I also know that in so many ways I experienced failure. So when I see other parents maybe doing something with which I disagree, I still have nothing but love for them. I can’t judge them.

But I still find plenty of ways to judge people. Lately, it feels like I am judging the judgers. I probably need to think about that a little.

When I think about judging I think about “the dart scene” in Ted Lasso when the main character, Ted, schools a bully on judging people before you know them.

It’s one of those scenes where it’s easy to sit there as Ted tells the bully to “be curious, not judgmental” and say, “Yeah, Rupert! Be curious, not judgmental.” But then aren’t we judging Rupert? Should we be more curious about him and why he is acting the way he acts? When I see the person who is displaying hateful attitudes or doing something that offends me, shouldn’t I be more curious and leave the judging of them to you?

Father, let these words ring in my ears today: “Be curious.” Help me to be curious and to not take anything–ANYTHING–at face value. Give me your eyes. Give me your ears. Give me your compassion. And give me your words.

I offer this to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 31, 2024 in Matthew, Sermon on the Mount

 

Tags: , ,

← Older posts
Newer posts →