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Emails to God – Fathers and Children (Matthew 10:21-23)

07 Jan

21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Dear God, I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I’m willing to pay this price. I don’t want my brother, father, or children to betray me. I don’t want to have to feel persecution in one place. I know this was said to the disciples, but I think, at least at some level, this is meant for me too.

I’m at a men’s retreat right now, and men’s retreats inevitably end up centering around the idea of fathers and children. I was in a small group yesterday where we were each to tell a story about our father. Some were great: “I grew up in the Cleaver home.” And some where awful: “I always hated guys like you because of your fathers.” At one point in the day, we were also asked what our greatest sorrow is and also our greatest fear. My greatest sorrow was hard. I have had sorrows in my life, but, thankfully, nothing too debilitating. But my greatest fear was easy: Am I failing my children spiritually? In essence, am I failing you and them as their father?

I always start my last paragraph of every one of these emails by addressing you as “Father.” Well, Father, I don’t know what my future holds in terms of my relationships with my children, but let me say this: I offer my relationships with my children to you. Do with it what you will. I adore both of them and I commit to you that I am willing to pay whatever price it takes, personally, in order for them to lead lives that are joyful and peaceful through submission to you. I don’t know what price you will ask of me, but I tell you now that I will pay it. You have put me on this earth, first and foremost, to be my wife’s husband, and then to be their father. Help me to be the best one that I can be for their sakes and your glory’s sake.

 
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Posted by on January 7, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16-20)

06 Jan

16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Dear God, okay, these folks must have been absolutely Spirit-filled at the time if they followed through with this. Otherwise, how could anyone be excited to go out and get ready to be arrested, flogged in the synagogues (church of all places, meaning their message will be considered heresy to most—especially the Jews, the people Jesus is specifically sending them to), brought before governors and kings (how often does it work out well for the common person to be brought before a governor or king?), etc.

But verse 19 says that they shouldn’t worry because they will be given what to say. I think that is the part of this I want to grab onto today. I want to have the peace to know that, when I face trials of different sorts that I shouldn’t worry because you will provide for me in those situations. I am thinking of our building situation right now. We had more developments this week that made me start to feel overwhelmed again. This mountain seems so big to me. What are we to do next?

Father, give me the words to say and the actions to take. Let it be you and the Holy Spirit that speak and move through me, and not me. Let this process ultimately be a blessing to everyone involved. Draw each person closer to yourself and give them your peace and presence. From our board, to our staff, to our patients, to our volunteers, to our contractors, to the people who originally built the building, be glorified in each life and make this process a peaceful as possible.

 
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Posted by on January 6, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Empowered by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 10:9-15)

05 Jan

9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Dear God, I don’t think I would have liked this assignment. In fact, I would really have had to have been filled with the Holy Spirit to do it. I don’t like the idea of going out with no money, extra clothes, etc. Heck, I am leaving for a retreat today at a nice place, and I am still going to pack a fair amount of clothes to take with me. Then I would have to find someone to put me up. Yeah. Good luck with that.

I think there are times when you call us to do extraordinary things like this, but I also think that the Holy Spirit empowers us when those times come. I can think of brave things I have done in the past, and I can tell you that each time I found that I had the peace of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit with me. I am thinking of the time my wife and I helped a homeless woman and her daughter in an extraordinary way. Or when I left a secure job to embark on the unknown. Or when I took a job that I wasn’t sure could support us. You prepared me for each of these little assignments, and, while they were difficult, I found them to be doable.

Then there are the times my fear and/or apathy left me sitting inactive instead of following your call. These examples are too numerous to count.

Father, I pray that you will prepare my heart, mind, soul, and body for whatever call you have for me. I pray that same thing for my children and my wife. Help us to all represent you well and to give you the glory for the things you are doing in our lives. Love others richly through us and be glorified in everything that we do.

 
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Posted by on January 5, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Sending the Disciples to Harvest (Matthew 10:1-8)

04 Jan

1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

Dear God, it is interesting that Jesus specifically sent them to the what was probably the tougher audience—the churched. He had worked so hard to keep his power a secret, but now he had empowered his disciples and told them to go to the people who were more likely to reject them. He told them to do it freely so that a lot of people would see your power. Was he hoping that the Jews would one day become missionaries to the Gentiles and Samaritans? Was he trying to build a base from which he could launch faith?

So who am I? I suppose that I am part of the base that now is supposed to go out and share you with others. Although I am a Gentile, after two millennia of the Christian faith, I would say that the term Gentile no longer applies to me. I was raised to believe in you from birth, so I have different responsibilities than someone who doesn’t know you or comes to faith in you later in life.

Father, much like my question yesterday about what kind of harvester should I be, today’s question is, What are my responsibilities since you have given me so much? Back then you saw the needs of the people and that you needed harvesters so you empowered your disciples and told them to go out and harvest. I think you are calling us to harvest too. So teach me to harvest. Teach me to love others. Teach me to be the servant you need me to be.

 
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Posted by on January 4, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – What does a harvester look like? (Matthew 9:35-38)

03 Jan

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Dear God, this description paints an interesting picture. Jesus, openly performing miracles from town to town is starting to attract a lot of desperate people. I would imagine that people in one town would find him and then follow him to the next so that the crowd became quite large. Such a crowd would require some logistical support. They would need food, places to sleep and bathe, etc. I wonder if city officials would get wary when they heard that Jesus was coming to their town.

I would also imagine that the people Jesus saw in the crowd were not the wealthy or even middle class (if such a thing existed in that area at that time). They would have been the “harassed and helpless”. They would have been the desperate and disenfranchised. They would have been the sick and hurting. They would have been those who were broken and ready to stop. I wonder what kind of harvest Jesus envisioned for them. If there were plenty of “workers” to work the harvest, how would things have been different? Would fewer people have been following Jesus because fewer people would have been desperate?

I guess the question I ask myself is, What kind of worker are you looking for and how can I help? If the harvest is all around me, then how would you have me work it? Is there something I should be doing that I am not? Is there a need I am missing? Should I be more evangelical, generous, service-oriented? What does your harvest need? Those are the questions that roll around in my head.

Father, teach me to be a harvester. I need to understand what that looks like and, if I am not doing it, learn to do it in a way that will enable you to work your will through me. Be glorified in my life, and help me to see your vision for how I should live my life.

 
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Posted by on January 3, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – How Much Should I Advertise It? (Matthew 9:27-34)

01 Jan

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

34 But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”

Dear God, I find it interesting that Jesus ignored the blind men until he got inside. He was really trying to keep the range of his power under wraps. I guess I can see a few reasons for this. First, he probably knew that the crowds would go nuts if they saw it and try to point his ministry in a direction in which he didn’t want to go. Second, he was probably trying to avoid a run-in with the Pharisees just yet, although they were about to see the exorcism and not like that either.

One of the thing that each Christian has to deal with is how publicly should we live our lives as Christians. Should we be more like Tim Tebow and talk about our faith at every opportunity? Should we be more like RG3 and mention our faith and that it is important to us, but not talk about it all of the time? Or should we be private to the point where people are not sure what we believe in, if anything at all? I think option #3 is definitely out, but the answer probably lies somewhere between Tebow and RG3.

In my own life, it can be hard to find the balance. I want to let people see you through me to the point where they are drawn to you and want you for themselves. On the other hand, I don’t want to be oppressive about my faith to the point where people are turned off and see a relationship with you as unappealing. It is a hard line to walk, and I fear I fall off of it more than I stay on it.

Father, help me to represent you well, starting with my children and wife. Help me to be your humble representative. Help me to lead them into your presence and foster and environment that is conducive to them accepting you and seeking you out. Love them through me. Love friends and neighbors through me. Be glorified through me so that others might be drawn to you and not pushed away from you.

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2012 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – Riding Jesus’ Coat Tails (Matthew 9:18-26)

27 Dec

18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

23 When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, 24 he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through all that region.

Dear God, this is almost the Cliff’s Notes version of these two stories. Matthew streamlines them for us. He doesn’t go through the whole process of Jesus asking who touched him to be healed. He doesn’t tell us about the little girl’s mourners who try to get rid of him. He just gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ power, and how it is related to the involved people’s respective faith. Mark gives us more detail, but Matthew gives us the basics. I am glad we have access to both.

In this case, Matthew is showing us a man who is, indeed, the Messiah. He is showing us the raw power that flowed through Jesus’ human frame. He (Matthew) remembers it as being one of the first things that happened when he joined the group. That must have been amazing for Matthew. I can imagine that he would have felt excited about his decision to leave his tax collection business and join Jesus’ entourage.

Of course, there will come a time when Matthew will wonder if he had made the biggest mistake of his life—namely the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. But for now, this is exciting stuff. Jesus is obviously special, and Matthew gets to ride the wave a little.

Father, remind me of how special you are. Yes, there are times of struggle, and each day has a little bit of struggle for me now, but for the most part, this is a time when I can look at just about every area of my life and see your blessings. So help me to remember that. Help me to feel your smile and live into the love that you have for me today. Help me to worship you the way you deserve to be worshipped.

 
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Posted by on December 27, 2011 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – “You may now dismiss your servant in peace.” (Luke 2:28-32)

26 Dec

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel

Dear God, I am going to break with the normal routine of going through Matthew and use http://www.biblegateway.com for the verse of the day. I wonder what it would be like to perceivably reach the end of my life and be ready to go. Since I have had this job I have gotten more used to the idea of my own death because I see so many memorial donations come through for loved ones who have died. I can see that it truly happens to everyone—none of us are going to get out of life alive.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with my wife’s 97-(soon to be 98-)year-old grandmother. It was a nice visit with her, and I think she is doing remarkably well. It was our last conversation right before we left that struck me. I think she is feeling her time ending. She told me that my wife and I need to be thinking about what we will want to say at her memorial service. She talked for a few minutes about the end and how her doctor told her he was trying to get her to 100, and she said that she didn’t really want that. I think she is about to the point where she is physically done. She is emotionally spend after having lost her daughter (my wife’s mother). She is even getting mentally spent.

Father, my prayer for her is that she will get to Simeon’s point of peace. That is the only thing that was missing from our conversation yesterday. She is tired, and she is girding herself for death, but she is not yet at peace with the idea. Help her, regardless of how many days, months, or even years she has left, to be at peace. Administer your peace through her remaining daughter. Administer your peace through her sons-in-law. Administer peace through her grandchildren, great grandchildren, and friends. Administer your peace through your spirit as she sits alone and ponders all that you are, all that you have been, and all that you will be to her.

 

 
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Posted by on December 26, 2011 in Luke

 

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Emails to God – A Time for Everything (Matthew 9:14-17)

25 Dec

14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Dear God, it seems to me that the message of this story is that there is a time and a place for everything. I Googled the scientific results of putting new wine in old wineskins and came across a couple of commentaries where people weren’t seeing the connection between the matter at hand (fasting while Jesus was among the disciples) and unshrunk cloth patching old garments and new wine being put in old wine skins. What is the connection? Well, the connection for me is that there is a time and a place for everything.

So, what are some of the areas where that applies to my life today? What kinds of things is there a time and a place for?

I have been visiting a Catholic church lately, and one of the results of that is that I am not allowed to take communion there since I am not Catholic. They believe in transubstantiation (the literal changing of the wine and the bread into the blood and body of Jesus) and I do not so it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to partake while I am there. I’ve been okay with that. Right now, my wife and I are exploring our faith for this segment of our life, and what that might mean. But last night we went to an evangelical church for a Christmas Eve service, and it was the first time I have had communion in about 6 months. Frankly, the day had been a little rough for me, and I felt a little beaten up at that moment, so when I went up for communion I had to keep myself from literally breaking down and crying right there. I had tears in my eyes as I returned to my seat, and I sat there a while and had to regain my composure. I found that I have really missed communion. I have missed feeling like I am truly a part of the believers with whom I am worshipping. I have missed not feeling like someone on the outside looking in.

But again, there is a time and a place for everything, and it appears that this time in my life is not for belonging. It is for supporting my wife through her quest and for learning to love you through this time. I will say, however, it has really made me appreciate worshipping with like-minded people more than I thought it would, and it certainly made communion mean more to me than it probably has in a long time.

Father, help me to take this experience and build off of it. Help me to guide my children through this time. I pray that last night’s service was meaningful to them, even as we all explore our faith individually and as a family. Please touch our home. Please make us one as a family, and that starts with making my wife and me one. Please make us one, father, in every way. Give us one soul, heart, mind, and body. Parent our children through us and through others. Be glorified in our lives.

 
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Posted by on December 25, 2011 in Matthew

 

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Emails to God – “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:9-13)

24 Dec

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Dear God, I feel like I should “go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” The quote is from Hosea 6, and section is titled, “Israel Unrepentant,” in the NIV. It is the word “unrepentant” that helps me link the passage to the Pharisees and the tax collectors. I think that Jesus was appreciating the fact that he was with people who were at least willing to consider repentance, if not yet fully repentant, as opposed to being with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, who were a little more proud and self-righteous. Jesus was saying to the Pharisees, “You need to be on my page. You need to be showing everyone some mercy.”

Am I willing to be repentant? Am I willing to show mercy? I hope the answer to both of these is yes.

Today is Christmas Eve. As I sit here in my comfortable home, heated to 68 degrees, about to spend time with family, get gifts that I desire but don’t “need”, I think about those who are struggling through life. Yesterday, while I was driving to my office I saw an older woman walking down the street. It was cold and she was bundled up, and I think she was walking from a convenience store to an apartment complex nearby. I got to thinking about her life struggles. What is her life like now? Is she widowed? Is she sad? Does she wonder how she will pay her bills? Then, for some reason, I thought about her dead husband (remember, my imagination was going off by now, and I had him dead and one in my head) and how it would probably break his heart to see her struggling just to walk from the convenience store to her apartment in the cold. Then I thought about how I would feel if that were my wife one day, and I were looking down from heaven. It made me sad. So then I thought about stopping and at least offering her a ride, but I figured it would probably scare her to be offered a ride from a strange man, so I drove on. But I vowed in my heart that I would think about her the rest of the day and not let her memory slip past me too quickly.

Father, help me to desire mercy from myself and to offer it readily to others. Love others through me. As I see family over the next couple of days, use me as an instrument of your peace. Help me to parent my kids over the next couple of days. Help me to husband my wife. Help me to love my siblings, parents, in-laws, nieces, and nephew. Help me to not seek anything for myself, but to give of myself for others.

 
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Posted by on December 24, 2011 in Matthew

 

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