Matthew 11:27 - Come to me all who labor and are burdened and i will refresh you.
I like the idea of refreshment here rather than rest. Because we refresh ourselves in different ways. Today is the first day of Advent and refreshment is essential to our celebrating this season. The day of hope - the hope that refreshes and restores us. The hope that makes us new is here, Jesus is coming and our hope is in Jesus refreshments. The living water is the water that refreshes and never runs dry.
B
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
Wisdom and simplicity
Matthew 11:25-6 - Then Jesus said, "I thank you Father that you have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to the foolish for such was your will."
This makes me think about parables and Jesus' use of them. He used them knowing that those he was talking with would get them, if they opened the ears of their heart. If you overthink a parable, it becomes mush and can tell the opposite story. The people who thought themselves wise did not like what Jesus had to say. It was the simple that Jesus lifted up. Not because they were simple but because their faith was not mixed up with their education.
So, what message can this possibly have for us today? there is a strong suspicion in some circles in the US against education. As if education is a bad thing. Today, we need a little education to understand Jesus' parables simply because we live in a vastly different culture and time. We need to learn about Jesus' time and then translate the message, right?
I think we need to have a healthy discernment about wisdom and education and faith. Our lives will be an ever turning pendulum, swinging too far in either direction. Imaged this way, the goal can be to reduce the swing - to be able to discern when we need to be wise and when we need to listen to the heart's wisdom.
Grant us wisdom to know when to speak, when to be silent, when to accept, and when to have the courage to change what we can.
B
This makes me think about parables and Jesus' use of them. He used them knowing that those he was talking with would get them, if they opened the ears of their heart. If you overthink a parable, it becomes mush and can tell the opposite story. The people who thought themselves wise did not like what Jesus had to say. It was the simple that Jesus lifted up. Not because they were simple but because their faith was not mixed up with their education.
So, what message can this possibly have for us today? there is a strong suspicion in some circles in the US against education. As if education is a bad thing. Today, we need a little education to understand Jesus' parables simply because we live in a vastly different culture and time. We need to learn about Jesus' time and then translate the message, right?
I think we need to have a healthy discernment about wisdom and education and faith. Our lives will be an ever turning pendulum, swinging too far in either direction. Imaged this way, the goal can be to reduce the swing - to be able to discern when we need to be wise and when we need to listen to the heart's wisdom.
Grant us wisdom to know when to speak, when to be silent, when to accept, and when to have the courage to change what we can.
B
Monday, November 16, 2015
Satisfaction
Matthew 11:18-19 - For John came not eating or drinking and you say, "He has a demon." And the Son of Man came eating and drinking and you say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard and friend of tax collectors and sinners." Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.
We are never satisfied. It is difficult to express the mindset of one such depicted here. We look to others to make our lives complete or to feel okay. And they have their own agenda! So we are never satisfied because we refuse to look at our center. What in our life gives us stability? It cannot come from another - it must come from within. And the people arguing about Starbucks cups are missing the point: that Jesus came to teach us to love others and to show us how hard that truly is to do. Yet it is the only way of peace.
I think about DJ and France and Beirut this week. France has already retaliated against ISIS. I'm certain there will be retaliation for DJ and Beirut as well. Because we are not satisfied. We step on others to get what we want and when they cry foul we ignore them. When they use violence to get our attention, we fight back. We fight even when violence was not used. And so we miss Jesus' point: Only love can conquer hate. Only forgiveness can get us past violence. Only peace within ourselves can lead to peace with others.
Lord, forgive us. We truly do not know what we do.
Amen
We are never satisfied. It is difficult to express the mindset of one such depicted here. We look to others to make our lives complete or to feel okay. And they have their own agenda! So we are never satisfied because we refuse to look at our center. What in our life gives us stability? It cannot come from another - it must come from within. And the people arguing about Starbucks cups are missing the point: that Jesus came to teach us to love others and to show us how hard that truly is to do. Yet it is the only way of peace.
I think about DJ and France and Beirut this week. France has already retaliated against ISIS. I'm certain there will be retaliation for DJ and Beirut as well. Because we are not satisfied. We step on others to get what we want and when they cry foul we ignore them. When they use violence to get our attention, we fight back. We fight even when violence was not used. And so we miss Jesus' point: Only love can conquer hate. Only forgiveness can get us past violence. Only peace within ourselves can lead to peace with others.
Lord, forgive us. We truly do not know what we do.
Amen
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Control
Matthew 11:16-17 - For what shall I compare this generation to? It is like children that call to other children in the marketplace, saying, "We piped for you and you did not dance. We wept and you did not mourn."
We want our way! Boy do we. We will always find something to criticize about others. This makes me think of Fox News and their random critiques that have less than zero substance behind them. They are distractions from the true issues. Like kids who want to control how the game is played.
The Republican candidates for president are like this as well. Pandering to what is lowest and basest in human nature - self- centeredness, greed, avarice. Policing others' bodies while considering themselves as above the law. Controlling others will not fix America's problems, which are legion and getting worse because there is lack of compromise in Congress.
It is worse when they complain about the victims of violence and oppression. Living in Chicago, we get used to hearing about shootings on a daily basis. Yet, here in Rogers Park, we had one yesterday and it is suddenly too real. Women looking for their kids, people crying, anger, sadness, disruption in the community all for a feud that in the end will not matter to more than a handful of people and maybe not even then. There will be a retaliation. The only questions are when and who. When will it happen? and Who will be shot? Will it be an innocent bystander or not? Will it be a child? By the police harrassing black people rather than policing them like the rest of us, they have unleashed on Chicago and other places a terrorism that is growing rather than diminishing. Their actions feed the actions of gangs. By trying to control black people, they have created terrorists, just as the US has done with other countries.
Lord, forgive us. We do not know what we do. Open our eyes to see the beauty and wonder of your creation that includes others who are not like us. Help us to welcome them, their cultures, and their traditions as you would. Change our focus from the petty to the deep and meaningful, from wishful thinking to facts, from hatred to love.
B
We want our way! Boy do we. We will always find something to criticize about others. This makes me think of Fox News and their random critiques that have less than zero substance behind them. They are distractions from the true issues. Like kids who want to control how the game is played.
The Republican candidates for president are like this as well. Pandering to what is lowest and basest in human nature - self- centeredness, greed, avarice. Policing others' bodies while considering themselves as above the law. Controlling others will not fix America's problems, which are legion and getting worse because there is lack of compromise in Congress.
It is worse when they complain about the victims of violence and oppression. Living in Chicago, we get used to hearing about shootings on a daily basis. Yet, here in Rogers Park, we had one yesterday and it is suddenly too real. Women looking for their kids, people crying, anger, sadness, disruption in the community all for a feud that in the end will not matter to more than a handful of people and maybe not even then. There will be a retaliation. The only questions are when and who. When will it happen? and Who will be shot? Will it be an innocent bystander or not? Will it be a child? By the police harrassing black people rather than policing them like the rest of us, they have unleashed on Chicago and other places a terrorism that is growing rather than diminishing. Their actions feed the actions of gangs. By trying to control black people, they have created terrorists, just as the US has done with other countries.
Lord, forgive us. We do not know what we do. Open our eyes to see the beauty and wonder of your creation that includes others who are not like us. Help us to welcome them, their cultures, and their traditions as you would. Change our focus from the petty to the deep and meaningful, from wishful thinking to facts, from hatred to love.
B
Friday, November 13, 2015
Violence
Matthew 11:12 - From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and violent people take it by force.
Yeah. Ok. This is a weird one. How exactly does one do violence to the kingdom of heaven and how would one going about taking it by force? And, since they are still in the days of John the Baptist (technically) how recent is this idea? Is this one line that was added later?
Possibly inflicting violence on its prophets? Such as John the Baptist as well as Jesus himself? Taking it by force - could that be the rulers who collaborated with the Romans while running the temple?
More importantly, what does this phrase mean to me today? If I speak against God (kingdom of Heaven), does God suffer violence or are we talking about harsh words or actions? Hmm
I feel as though I'm missing something!
B
Yeah. Ok. This is a weird one. How exactly does one do violence to the kingdom of heaven and how would one going about taking it by force? And, since they are still in the days of John the Baptist (technically) how recent is this idea? Is this one line that was added later?
Possibly inflicting violence on its prophets? Such as John the Baptist as well as Jesus himself? Taking it by force - could that be the rulers who collaborated with the Romans while running the temple?
More importantly, what does this phrase mean to me today? If I speak against God (kingdom of Heaven), does God suffer violence or are we talking about harsh words or actions? Hmm
I feel as though I'm missing something!
B
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Upside down values
Matthew 11:11 - No one born from a woman is greater than John the Baptist. Yet the littlest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
So the least of these is greater in God's eyes than those who have power now. Those who seek glory, power, and money will lose their sense of self - and we are seeing this with the Republican Party in a big way. They will lose their way. The previous verse talks about making God's way straight - rather than the crooked ways of greed and power.
So, I must ask myself daily - what are my values today? Am I truly valuing the things that God values or am I trying for success in America's terms?
B
So the least of these is greater in God's eyes than those who have power now. Those who seek glory, power, and money will lose their sense of self - and we are seeing this with the Republican Party in a big way. They will lose their way. The previous verse talks about making God's way straight - rather than the crooked ways of greed and power.
So, I must ask myself daily - what are my values today? Am I truly valuing the things that God values or am I trying for success in America's terms?
B
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Seeking
Matthew 11:8-9 - Why then did you go out? To see men in fine robes? Men in fine robes live in palaces? To see a prophet? Yes, and more than a prophet.
The people are seeking something that the Jewish priests are not providing. They are seeking after every new thing that comes along and lucky for them, this time they hit pay dirt.
This speaks to our own seeking. What are we seeking? Are we trying to find answers that comfort rather than challenge us? Are we trying to find a god or spiritual discipline that makes us feel good - or even better than others?
God and Jesus call us back to our center. To the core of what we know is true. Seeking in all these places means we will never find what we are looking for. We must seek within ourselves first. To know who and what we are. Then God will find us - however we picture God.
God is not in books, or consumer goods, or fine clothes, or nice houses, or sports, or academia, or in any hobby we give significance in our lives. They are only empty shells - empty idols. We will know the real thing when we find it.
B
The people are seeking something that the Jewish priests are not providing. They are seeking after every new thing that comes along and lucky for them, this time they hit pay dirt.
This speaks to our own seeking. What are we seeking? Are we trying to find answers that comfort rather than challenge us? Are we trying to find a god or spiritual discipline that makes us feel good - or even better than others?
God and Jesus call us back to our center. To the core of what we know is true. Seeking in all these places means we will never find what we are looking for. We must seek within ourselves first. To know who and what we are. Then God will find us - however we picture God.
God is not in books, or consumer goods, or fine clothes, or nice houses, or sports, or academia, or in any hobby we give significance in our lives. They are only empty shells - empty idols. We will know the real thing when we find it.
B
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Use your head
Matthew 11:4-6 - Jesus said to them "Go and tell John what you see: the blind receive their sight, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf receive hearing, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them."
John wants a definitive answer. Jesus rarely gives definitive answers, choosing instead to give us something to think about and struggle with. Here, he tells the facts that John has presumably already heard - and implies that he must use his own judgment to determine whether Christ is the one or not.
So must we use our heads.
B
John wants a definitive answer. Jesus rarely gives definitive answers, choosing instead to give us something to think about and struggle with. Here, he tells the facts that John has presumably already heard - and implies that he must use his own judgment to determine whether Christ is the one or not.
So must we use our heads.
B
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