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Emails to God – Lowly and Gentle, Riding the Foal of a Donkey (Matthew 21:1-5)

28 Mar

1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

Dear God, forget the miracle of finding a donkey with her colt for a while. I want to focus on the idea that you wanted this to play out in a humble way. You wanted to paint a picture. Matthew just finished telling us in the previous chapter that the last shall be first. Now, we see that you wanted to give us the image of our God and our king coming to us gently, riding on the foal of a donkey. Where’s the God of the Old Testament that shows and reveals his power and his might? Where is the vengeful God of whom David asks the favor of cursing his enemies in the Psalms? I looked up Zechariah 9:9 (the passage from verse 5), and, even though this is the same translation (NIV), it uses the word “lowly” instead of “gentle” to describe our king. Our king is gentle/lowly, riding on the foal of a donkey. Incredible.

I am having a board meeting today for our organization. My 15 bosses will gather around the table and hear committee reports and a report from me regarding how our organization is doing. I have to admit that one of the things I do on board meeting day I choose my clothes a little more carefully. I want to project an image of confidence and power. I also have to fight the urge to toot my own horn and brag about our accomplishments while I simultaneously minimize our shortcomings. Frankly, I think I am pretty good about deflecting praise to you and to the staff, and I try to never hide the problems about which they need to know, but I feel that temptation.

Father, I’m not saying that I am the king that is coming, but surely my king is my example. You want me, too, to be gentle and lowly. You want me to be a servant. You want me to be loving and nurturing. You want me to not esteem myself, but esteem you through my life and in my words. I hope that I am able to do that to at least some extent. When people think of me, I want them to think of you and your grace.

 
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Posted by on March 28, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – The Courage to be Bold (Matthew 20:29-34)

27 Mar

29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

33 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”

34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Dear God, I’ve never understood why the crowd rebuked the two men. Were they embarrassed by them? Isn’t that why they were there—to have Jesus do something special for them too? Why try to shut these men up?

What these men realized is that they had hit the lottery and they were going to cash in their tickets. Of all the blind people born in all of the world in all of history, these two were in the right place at the right time. They are part of a select group that actually saw you, incarnate, walk by. They had a chance to talk to you and ask for your mercy in person. They were not going to let it pass.

Sometimes life takes courage. There are opportunities that come up that I am too often too intimidated or reluctant to take advantage of. One of my biggest weaknesses as a manager is that I avoid confrontation when an employee is doing something wrong. I try to coax and maneuver them into the behavior I desire, but sometimes there is a place for bluntness. I almost fired someone yesterday because something got to the point with them where their behavior was crossing a line. I had talked to them about it before, and they said they understood, but yesterday I was in a position where I was able to leave no doubt  about what I expect. My regret is that I let it fester as long as I did. Frankly, it wasn’t fair to this employee that I hadn’t.

Father, there is an old hymn, “Spirit of the Living God, Fall Fresh on Me,” that ask you to, “Break me, mold me, fill me, use me…” I think I am good at breaking myself through my mistakes and failures. I pray that you will take the broken parts, mold me into your image, fill me with your Spirit, and use me however you will.

 
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Posted by on March 27, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – The Last Shall Be First (Matthew 20:17-28)

26 Mar

17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

A Mother’s Request

20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

21 “What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

22 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Dear God, I wonder how much the story of Jesus telling the disciples about his death and this story of James’ and John’s mother coming to Jesus go together. I tend to forget that this was all written as one document—without chapter breaks, verses, and even subheadings like “A Mother’s Request”. But if I imagine reading this without the subheadings, then I see that verse 20 starts with the word “Then”. It implies that this happened right after Jesus stopped speaking. I think Matthew wanted us to get that these things were related.

So, if this is true, what were James and John thinking at this point? What was their mother thinking? Did they go and tell their mom what Jesus had said? Did they or she figure their time was running out to make this request so they had better hurry?

Of course, the overall lesson here is about leadership. What do you expect of me as a leader? What do you want me to do to support those who lead me? Also, what is the difference between leadership at work and out in the world and leadership with my children? How much more responsibility do I have to not only serve my children, but to expect more of them too? Where do I draw that line?

Father, I suppose I am grateful for the impertinence of James’ and John’s mother because it gave Jesus a chance to say that words he spoke here. Help me to lead at work and at home. Help me to understand what leadership, especially at home, should look like and to follow it. I need you as my leader and I submit myself to your leadership. Be glorified through me in all areas of my life and watch over my children. Watch over my wife. Watch over me as well. Please bind us all together and help us to recognize Satan’s attacks and respond to them with your cleansing power.

 
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Posted by on March 26, 2012 in Matthew

 

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26 Mar
 
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Posted by on March 26, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

Emails to God – God’s Wonderful Injustice (Matthew 20:1-16)

24 Mar

1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Dear God, I just saw something in this that I’ve never seen before. The workers who worked all day did, indeed, get something that the others didn’t get. They got an extra measure of peace in knowing that they had a job that day and money coming in. The others, while they sat around without work for at least part of the day, had those moments of wondering how they would earn money.

I was unemployed for six months in 2003 and again in 2005. It was really hard. Frankly, you ended up providing for us almost as well as if I had had a job the whole time, but there was a stress that we experienced that I would gladly have traded away for a full day’s work.

Now, this parable is really supposed to be about those who come to faith and are loyal to you early in life versus those who come to you later. We all get the same reward and you love us all the same. While that’s true, there is a distinct advantage of coming to you earlier in my life—you help me to avoid a lot of the bad decisions that could otherwise wreck my life, and your presence fills me with peace while those who have not yet submitted to you don’t have the pleasure of your presence.

Father, I really don’t begrudge the idea that you love the deathbed confession person as much as you love me. As Rich Mullins said one time, “We all have it better than we deserve.” Your wages are too high, and your requirements are too low. You are too good and I am grateful for all that you do.

 
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Posted by on March 24, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Mission IMPOSSIBLE (Matthew 19:16-30)

23 Mar

16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

18 “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

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

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter thekingdom ofGod.”

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Dear God, verse 26 makes me think of a line I read in a book yesterday. It basically said that the God of Judaism and Christianity (you) is the only God who loves sinners. All other false gods that men make up hate sinners, but the true God loves sinners and made a way to connect with us by reaching out to us. When the disciples asked in verse 25, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus basically answered them that no one can be saved by their own merit—you have to do it for them.

I also like how Peter totally missed the meaning of verse 26 and goes back to a performance-based system in verse 27: “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” It’s like a little kid trying to know how impressed you are with him and what he gets as his reward.

I once had a man work for me who was pretty insecure. He was always comparing himself with coworkers and trying to show how he was superior to them in how he did his job. It was hard to watch, but then when I stop and wonder how much of that I do myself I get a little humbled. I love for people to be impressed with me. I love it when I get glory and rewards. I’m better about it and less needy than I used to be, but it is still an issue.

Father, help me to embrace verse 26. Help me to embrace and absorb the idea that “impossible” means “IMPOSSIBLE”. It doesn’t mean “REALLY HARD”. It’s not like the show “Mission Impossible” where it really possible if you are smart enough, brave enough, and fortunate enough to pull it off—it is truly IMPOSSIBLE to be saved by my own ability or actions. It’s too late. That ship has sailed. I cannot save myself. I need YOU to make it POSSIBLE, which of course you already have. I just need to remember it and BELIEVE it.

 
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Posted by on March 23, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Salvation, Grace, and Sex Ed

23 Mar

When one of my children prayed to accept Christ, I found myself at a little bit of a loss. The child was an early teen and, having once been an early teen who foolishly felt compelled to go through the process of salvation over and over again because I felt like it didn’t take the previous 20 times, I felt a huge burden to plant initial seeds that would sustain them regardless of what their spiritual path would hold.

How does sex education fit into this? The best marriage book I ever read was Sacred Marriage by a guy named Gary Thomas. The subtitle of the book describes his thesis: What if God designed marriage to make us Holy more than to make us happy? I went through this book with a men’s group, and Mr. Thomas wisely left the chapter about sex close to the end because I think that’s why most of us in the group were reading the book. In fact, I think we stopped reading it after we got to that chapter. But in that chapter he had a unique point. He said, paraphrasing, that most of us (especially men) have a warped sense of sex as adults because the first time we were ever exposed to the concept of sex was through a worldly, non-Biblical lens. Perhaps it was pornography, or other kids talking at school. Maybe it was something in a movie or on TV. But what would it be like if our FIRST exposure to sex was in the framework within which God intended it to be? Would that impact how we experience it as adults?

My wife and I decided to take this challenge and “beat the world to the punch” when it came to our kids learning about sex. We went to the local Christian bookstore and found a book we felt comfortable sharing with our five-year-old son (and later with our daughter when she was about five). It was designed to specifically discuss sex in a way that God intended it for our lives (in an age-appropriate way). While I will probably never know for sure, in just observing my children, it feels like they are free from at least of a few of the hangups that have haunted me.

That brings me to my child’s salvation experience. I have this young, 13-year-old child who has just made the most important decision of their life. If I can only give them one lesson, what will it be? I went to the bookshelf in our study for some help. What I found was Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel. I decided that the most important message I could share with my child was that God’s grace, love, and acceptance is not about our effort, but His. He loves us radically, and there is nothing we can do to change it.

Not wanting to intimidate my child with a Christian self-help book on their first day as a new Christian, I decided to make up a “Cliff’s Notes” kind of version of the first chapter. If they liked it I would do more. So I put three Bible passages together with 19 bullet points from a 20-page chapter onto two pieces of paper and gave it to them. My prayer is to thank God for bringing my child to faith and ask that He will use the foundation of a strong understanding of His grace to build the rest of their relationship with Him.

If any of you have suggestions about other things parents can do to help their children lay a good foundation and nurture further growth, please feel free to share them here.

 
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Posted by on March 23, 2012 in Musings and Stories

 

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21 Mar

This is from my wife’s blog, which is always good and sometimes brilliant. This particular post is about a unique perspective on Jesus’ “trial” and death sentence.

 
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Posted by on March 21, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

Emails to God – Was Jesus Good With Kids? (Matthew 19:13-15)

20 Mar

13 Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.

14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

Dear God, I wonder if Jesus was good with children. We always get this picture that artists have rendered of Jesus sitting under a tree with children in his lap and him smiling at or laughing with them. But would that really have been the case? Maybe. But, as a father who is trying to make his way through parenting teens, I would love to have seen Jesus in action as a father of a teen. What would Jesus’ son have looked like? What about his daughter? How would they have acted and responded to his authority. More importantly, how would he have imposed his authority upon them?

I suppose the best example of this that we have is the idea of you as our father and how you respond to us. The problem I have with this is that I think you give us too little structure and too much freedom. I can see that model working if my kids are adults and gone and having to live on their own. But right now, by your power and grace, I am trying to raise them and train them into adults who will be able to live successful lives that are willingly submitted to you. Basically, I don’t believe I can give them the freedom as children that you give us as adults, and if I can’t give them that freedom then where do I draw the line?

Father, being a parent is the hardest thing I have ever done, bar none. Nothing has been more complicated and challenging. I really thought I would be better at it, but you have seemingly used it to humble me and bring me to my knees before you. I was in church Sunday and I missed the first half of the service. I was just praying. I was asking for parental unity between my wife and me. I was asking for you to raise up voices in my children’s lives that will draw them into you. I was asking that you give me wisdom as I raise them. I was asking that you parent them through me. I was asking that you continue to purge any of the sin in my own life that might be impacting them and their lives. Those were my prayers then and they are my prayers now. Please do this. I cannot do it on my own. I need to rely on and rest in you.

 
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Posted by on March 20, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Marriage, Divorce, & Celibacy (Matthew 19:1-12)

19 Mar

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

Dear God, there is so much here. I’m not even sure where to begin. I guess I’ll just do it from my perspective which nullifies the idea that I can be alone. One, I have already married a woman (for nearly 20 years), and I know I wasn’t designed to be one “who can accept” the idea of being alone. So taking that off of the table, and the debate over whether or not priests can marry and if this is something that this passage suggests, I want to go back to the part about divorce.

I am the product of a second marriage, for which I am grateful. Frankly, I have learned something about the Catholic process of annulment, and it seems to me that my mother’s first marriage would pretty easily qualify. I know that my dad has always struggled with these verses and the idea that he married a divorced woman, but the circumstances under which my mother was divorced were unique and I think okay from that perspective (I’ll keep her personal life her own and not share any details on the blog here).

I happened to sit through a session this year on Catholic annulment, and while some Protestants might think of it as a loophole through which Catholics jump to “legalize” a divorce, I came to appreciate it as more than that. I heard the testimony of a couple of people who have been through or are going through the process, and they say that it is gut-wrenching. The Church will tell you that it is about establishing whether or not the original vows were legitimate because they were or were not fully understood by both parties taking them. My opinion came to be that if divorce is the process of man separating what you have joined together, then annulment is the process of you separating it.

Father, I have to say, I knew what my vows were and what my commitment was. I have no regrets. Is it hard? Sure. Do we disagree sometimes? Yes. But I truly love her and I want the best for her. I am committed to being your best for her regardless of what that costs me. Lately, I think we have both been frustrated over a couple of issues, and with each other in the process. But you are among us and we trust you to guide us through it. I simply pray that you will unite us together and protect us from influences that might conspire to try and tear us apart.

 
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Posted by on March 19, 2012 in Matthew

 

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