Matthew 8:10-12 - And Jesus said, "Nowhere else in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you that people shall come from the east and west to eat in the kingdom of heaven but the heirs to the kingdom will be sent into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
In other words, the Jewish people had no faith and would be outside of God's kingdom. What an indictment. Of Israel yes, but also of Christians today. We might consider ourselves heirs of the kingdom, yet we, too sometimes stand on our laurels. We forget that following Christ means doing as he did; loving and accepting everyone. Time and again he is shown interacting with society's worst (then) and finding something redeemable in all of them. Each and every one. It is my goal to have that same love for others. I think I especially need it for Peter today. I made it a little rough yesterday.
Thank God he continues to give us grace anyway! Else I would have none.
B
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Monday, July 6, 2015
Authority
Matthew 8:9 - For I am a man with authority with soldiers under me. I say to this one, "Go" and he goes. And to that one, "Come" and he comes or to my servant, "Do this" and he does it.
Authority. Jesus had authority over sickness, demons, sin and ultimately death. Jesus the Christ, still has authority over these things. The centurion recognizes authority in others and thus he has faith that Jesus can heal his servant.
As I am in a hotel room on the way to Cleveland I will think today about what I give Jesus authority over in my life today. Is there something I need to let go of? Something that he can heal but that I am still holding on to? I will be aware of what I am holding back today.
B
Authority. Jesus had authority over sickness, demons, sin and ultimately death. Jesus the Christ, still has authority over these things. The centurion recognizes authority in others and thus he has faith that Jesus can heal his servant.
As I am in a hotel room on the way to Cleveland I will think today about what I give Jesus authority over in my life today. Is there something I need to let go of? Something that he can heal but that I am still holding on to? I will be aware of what I am holding back today.
B
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Healing and worthiness
Matthew 8:5-8 - When he entered Capernaum, a Centurion came to him pleading and said, "Lord, my servant/child is laid up at home, paralyzed and in great torment. And he answered him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. Only say a word and my servant/child shall be healed."
The centurion speaks for us all! None of us are worthy to have God come under our roofs. And he comes anyway. We are not worthy of her grace, and she gives it to us anyway. We crucify Christ, we hurt each other, we are greedy, lustful, slothful, jealous creatures. Yet God gives us grace anyway.
Because that is not all that we are! We were made in God's image - which means that we are God's representatives here on earth. We suck at it, but that is what we are. We are capable of so much more than being greedy, lustful, slothful, jealous creatures. WE are also faithful, loving, simple, productive creatures. That is the paradox of what it means to be human.
Lord, we are not worthy to have you come under our roofs. Yet you come anyway; bringing healing and love and comfort and joy and grace because you love us. Help us today to be grateful.
B
The centurion speaks for us all! None of us are worthy to have God come under our roofs. And he comes anyway. We are not worthy of her grace, and she gives it to us anyway. We crucify Christ, we hurt each other, we are greedy, lustful, slothful, jealous creatures. Yet God gives us grace anyway.
Because that is not all that we are! We were made in God's image - which means that we are God's representatives here on earth. We suck at it, but that is what we are. We are capable of so much more than being greedy, lustful, slothful, jealous creatures. WE are also faithful, loving, simple, productive creatures. That is the paradox of what it means to be human.
Lord, we are not worthy to have you come under our roofs. Yet you come anyway; bringing healing and love and comfort and joy and grace because you love us. Help us today to be grateful.
B
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Gratitude
Matthew 8:4 - And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone. Rather go and show yourself to the priests and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony/witness to them.
Gratitude. When we receive healing we are to show gratitude to the healer and to witness/share our story with others.
It so happens that I have a healing story this morning. I emailed Eric Thursday night saying that I would no longer be coming because I was feeling controlled, manipulated and coerced. It was making me very uncomfortable. I talked with Peter about it a lot. Yesterday I talked with Maria as well. I shared with her how it felt like I was possibly overdoing it. I also shared that I thought perhaps the initial letter to Eric was unclear in that I focused on the assigning of teams and not on the entire process. And yet I knew I had done what I needed to do for me.
In my email to Eric, I made it plain that I would be available after Peter and I returned from Cleveland. Last night, just as Peter and I were going on our walk, he phoned. Of course I didn't answer and he had left a message. I did not listen to it right away. Instead I told Peter a little more about Dave because I wanted him to have that extra context. Peter is a rock! He grasped what I was saying immediately. He realized the two situations were similar and he realized that Eric had overstepped the boundary I laid down.
When we got closer to the lake, we sat down and listened to the message. I have already deleted it but I remember the part about how he, Eric, did not see the letter as coercive. That was when I deleted it. I asked Peter if he saw what was wrong with that. He said, it's not about him. I love that man! :) So I shared a similar situation with Dave - his claiming that he wanted to come pick some stuff up, but really just wanting to see me - and how I handled that.
Eric had called Peter as well asking how he felt about it. To his credit, Peter said nothing about wanting to call Eric back. Finally, Eric emailed about two hours after he had called. I put a filter on my account that will send him to the trash and blocked him from my phone. If he tries calling or emailing again, I will not see it.
I felt truly supported and affirmed that my decision was the correct one. And I did not have to wait for things to escalate before I took care of myself. That is the healing - that I did what I knew I had to do and took care of myself rather than trying to make everyone happy with my decision. I am the only one I need to please here. I do have some work to do around this - I need to be able to deal with manipulative people at some point in my career - yet I can see that I did the right thing.
So, now to express my gratitude, I promise myself that when I catch myself thinking about this while I'm on break, I will stop and refocus on God and what the next right step is. I refuse to let this situation get in the way of Peter and I having a good time.
B
Gratitude. When we receive healing we are to show gratitude to the healer and to witness/share our story with others.
It so happens that I have a healing story this morning. I emailed Eric Thursday night saying that I would no longer be coming because I was feeling controlled, manipulated and coerced. It was making me very uncomfortable. I talked with Peter about it a lot. Yesterday I talked with Maria as well. I shared with her how it felt like I was possibly overdoing it. I also shared that I thought perhaps the initial letter to Eric was unclear in that I focused on the assigning of teams and not on the entire process. And yet I knew I had done what I needed to do for me.
In my email to Eric, I made it plain that I would be available after Peter and I returned from Cleveland. Last night, just as Peter and I were going on our walk, he phoned. Of course I didn't answer and he had left a message. I did not listen to it right away. Instead I told Peter a little more about Dave because I wanted him to have that extra context. Peter is a rock! He grasped what I was saying immediately. He realized the two situations were similar and he realized that Eric had overstepped the boundary I laid down.
When we got closer to the lake, we sat down and listened to the message. I have already deleted it but I remember the part about how he, Eric, did not see the letter as coercive. That was when I deleted it. I asked Peter if he saw what was wrong with that. He said, it's not about him. I love that man! :) So I shared a similar situation with Dave - his claiming that he wanted to come pick some stuff up, but really just wanting to see me - and how I handled that.
Eric had called Peter as well asking how he felt about it. To his credit, Peter said nothing about wanting to call Eric back. Finally, Eric emailed about two hours after he had called. I put a filter on my account that will send him to the trash and blocked him from my phone. If he tries calling or emailing again, I will not see it.
I felt truly supported and affirmed that my decision was the correct one. And I did not have to wait for things to escalate before I took care of myself. That is the healing - that I did what I knew I had to do and took care of myself rather than trying to make everyone happy with my decision. I am the only one I need to please here. I do have some work to do around this - I need to be able to deal with manipulative people at some point in my career - yet I can see that I did the right thing.
So, now to express my gratitude, I promise myself that when I catch myself thinking about this while I'm on break, I will stop and refocus on God and what the next right step is. I refuse to let this situation get in the way of Peter and I having a good time.
B
Friday, July 3, 2015
Healing
Matthew 8:1-3 - When he came down from the mountain, a great crowd followed him. Look! a leper came and knelt before him saying, "Lord, if you wish, you can make be clean." And having stretched forth his hand, he touched him saying, "I do wish. Be made clean." And immediately, his leprosy was cleansed.
Healing and God's wish. God wishes to heal us. But so often we forget to ask. If we wish, we can be made clean. The thing I'd like to keep in my mind both today and during the next week is that God wishes to heal both Peter and me. This week will give us time away from our respective challenges and give us space to enjoy each others company.
I wrote Eric a letter yesterday telling him to take my name off the team. I forwarded my original letter just in case he had not yet seen it. I explained that I was no longer going to be a regular worshiper at RPPC. I acknowledged the crappy timing. And requested that if he wanted to discuss it, I would be available after the 13th. So, I do not have that on my mind. At least much. I bring this up because I see healing in this. I see myself taking care of myself. I see myself acknowledging a painful reality. And I see myself not giving in to the voice inside my head that tells me I am being selfish or childish. I need healing when I go to worship - not a lecture no how things are going to be different. I need to hear how God cares and heals and how she is helping our church. But for the last six months all we've gotten has been warnings and lectures about the change. And each time, I feel a little worse.
I do not intend to tell Eric this, but I want to reinforce it for myself. God wants us all to heal and right now I can see that my healing needs to be done elsewhere.
I see God working to heal Peter as well. The situation at work looks grim, but it is a golden opportunity for them to really look at their policies and structures. I hope they are able to do so.
B
Healing and God's wish. God wishes to heal us. But so often we forget to ask. If we wish, we can be made clean. The thing I'd like to keep in my mind both today and during the next week is that God wishes to heal both Peter and me. This week will give us time away from our respective challenges and give us space to enjoy each others company.
I wrote Eric a letter yesterday telling him to take my name off the team. I forwarded my original letter just in case he had not yet seen it. I explained that I was no longer going to be a regular worshiper at RPPC. I acknowledged the crappy timing. And requested that if he wanted to discuss it, I would be available after the 13th. So, I do not have that on my mind. At least much. I bring this up because I see healing in this. I see myself taking care of myself. I see myself acknowledging a painful reality. And I see myself not giving in to the voice inside my head that tells me I am being selfish or childish. I need healing when I go to worship - not a lecture no how things are going to be different. I need to hear how God cares and heals and how she is helping our church. But for the last six months all we've gotten has been warnings and lectures about the change. And each time, I feel a little worse.
I do not intend to tell Eric this, but I want to reinforce it for myself. God wants us all to heal and right now I can see that my healing needs to be done elsewhere.
I see God working to heal Peter as well. The situation at work looks grim, but it is a golden opportunity for them to really look at their policies and structures. I hope they are able to do so.
B
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Authority
Matthew 7:27-8 - And when he finished these sayings, the crowd was astonished at his teaching, for he taught (or his teaching was) as of one having authority. and not as that of the scribes.
So my question is: Was it the words of the scribes that lacked authority or their manner? I suspect it was the teaching itself. So, what did the scribes then teach? Clearly, Jesus' teaching was radical and astonishing. It does not seem that way to many of us because we have incorporated these ideas into our civilization and culture. Yet they were fairly new to the Jewish people hearing them at this time. Or at least the author of Matthew wanted his audience to think so.
I'll have to think about this more ...
B
So my question is: Was it the words of the scribes that lacked authority or their manner? I suspect it was the teaching itself. So, what did the scribes then teach? Clearly, Jesus' teaching was radical and astonishing. It does not seem that way to many of us because we have incorporated these ideas into our civilization and culture. Yet they were fairly new to the Jewish people hearing them at this time. Or at least the author of Matthew wanted his audience to think so.
I'll have to think about this more ...
B
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Foolish Foundation
Matthew 7:26-7 - But the one who listens to my words and does not do them is like a foolish man, who built his house on sand. Then the rains fell, the floods came, the wind blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was its fall.
So foundation is important. Love of God is our foundation. At least the foundation on living rock.
"Great was its fall." This intrigues me. Does it mean that losing the house was a great calamity - which it surely was? Does it mean the house was large and therefore its fall is large? Our houses are generally our biggest investment. They cost more than other things we own. The same was true then. The impact would have been tremendous to the owner. The time and money poured into building the house would have been enormous. Even if it was a small house.
Or, does it mean its fall was complete? There was not salvaging any of it? This seems likely. It at least has possibilities. So, the foundation of our plans is the key to their execution. If the premise is wrong, the argument falls flat. If our thinking is faulty, our actions will be faulty as well. If our hearts are not on God, are not centered on God, our actions will not be fruitful - well, they will not produce good fruit. Loving actions add love to the world, hateful actions add hate.
What is our/my foundation?
B
So foundation is important. Love of God is our foundation. At least the foundation on living rock.
"Great was its fall." This intrigues me. Does it mean that losing the house was a great calamity - which it surely was? Does it mean the house was large and therefore its fall is large? Our houses are generally our biggest investment. They cost more than other things we own. The same was true then. The impact would have been tremendous to the owner. The time and money poured into building the house would have been enormous. Even if it was a small house.
Or, does it mean its fall was complete? There was not salvaging any of it? This seems likely. It at least has possibilities. So, the foundation of our plans is the key to their execution. If the premise is wrong, the argument falls flat. If our thinking is faulty, our actions will be faulty as well. If our hearts are not on God, are not centered on God, our actions will not be fruitful - well, they will not produce good fruit. Loving actions add love to the world, hateful actions add hate.
What is our/my foundation?
B
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