Lam. 1:1-5(6-9)10-12; 1 Cor. 15:41-50; Matt. 11:25-30

I have been talking to a friend who is struggling with his call to ministry.  He seems burdened in a way that I have not seen before.  It is indeed difficult to hear God’s reassurance and comfort in the midst of distress – in the midst of difficult times.  There are times I struggle – I think every minister does.  And the current state of things doesn’t help.  We live in difficult times in the church – theologically, relationally, economically.

Today Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

While it is a beautiful invitation into letting go of burdens and resting in God alone, but it is also a continuation of Matthew’s theme of “turning from darkness.”

The themes of wisdom and turning from the darkness continue: the context of his words “Come to me” are said in the midst of Jesus explaining that God’s Word has been hidden from some, and that Wisdom resides with those who dwell in him, who dwells in the Father.  He is providing a picture of personified Wisdom.  This is a common biblical theme.

And then the powerful image: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”   This, too, is a common theme found elsewhere in scripture, and often used as a rabbinic metaphor to understand the difficulty in following Torah, but yet the great freedom that comes with it as well.

A yoke is a curious image, something that ties two beasts of burden together.  It is a symbol of work – hard work at that.  I’m not sure there is a field easy enough to plow that my thought would be, that yoke is easy and that burden sure was light!

The turning from darkness continues.  The irony of following God continues.  At the heart of much of what Jesus says is the conundrum You will lose your life in order to gain it.”

There is no where these ironies come into focus than at the Lord’s Supper.  At the table the mystery is complete, confounding those who do not understand.  This is part of the trajectory of Jesus’ teaching on wisdom – that of mystery.  He begins today’s passage with “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.”  It may seem strange to our Western ears to be giving thanks to God for NOT understanding, but that is precisely what Jesus does.

His ministry is not meant to be fully understood, but to be authentic to the mystery and awesomeness of God.  The cross and the table are two major conundrums that may never be fully understood.  So it is with God, who is holy, sacred, and whose greatness can never be matched or touched.  Jesus gives thanks for this, and declares that in him is rest from the conundrum.

-Matt

Jer. 44:1-14; 1 Cor. 15:30-41; Matt. 11:16-24

It has been a week of slow recovery.  Rarely do I get sick.  This last week has been one of the most brutal chest infections ever in my life.  I thought it was just a cold, but it kept getting worse and worse.  But when Sunday rolled around and I felt remarkably better, I pressed on to Duncan to preach.  It took a little more out of me than I counted on, and as the drive back to OKC wore on I thought maybe my decision-making was not up to snuff.

“Slow, Matt.  Rest.  Lots of fluids.  More rest.” I keep telling myself.  But do I listen?  Sometimes I’m like an obstinate little child who doesn’t even listen to reason.  And it’s my own reasoning!

When I opened up  the Jeremiah text, with people on the move, I almost got light-headed all over again.  Of course theirs is a completely different context.  Instead Jeremiah provides a lengthy sermon rebuking those Jews who fled to Egypt and left those in Israel high and dry.  And now Jerusalem has fallen, and he implicates everyone in the disaster.  He certainly was given harsh words to convey.

Firm, sometimes even harsh words are something that are common in the lies of youngsters, as they learn the boundaries of their lives (i.e. where they can and cannot go, what they can and cannot touch).  And so when I read Jeremiah sometimes I think he was dealing with a bunch of children.  And perhaps in many ways we all are.

We are all at the beginning of our faith, and in the eyes of God, we are probably like little children.  Luckily we have a God who has patience, and whose way is always mercy.

This we learn most clearly as we see the Old Testament stories unfold – time and time again the people are given other chances.  And they are given the voices of the prophets to reprove and correct them.

Glory be to God, for the gift of mercy, and at times, the gift of harsh words, which keep us on the straight and narrow.

In the meantime, I am going to ease into this week, and try to listen to God and my body a little better.

-Matt

Jer. 37:3-21; 1 Cor. 14:13-25; Matt. 10:24-33

I am back from a week-long conference.  The Mid Council Leaders Gathering was delightful time of connections and relationship-building.  Unfortunately I had limited internet and then came back with a nasty head cold.  It’s gonna be a rough day.

I turned to our scripture for today and that didn’t help my state of mind.  The readings are strange at best.  They speak of thoughts of the mind, speaking foreign languages, cutting old family ties, and the cost of discipleship.  Out of context they hardly make sense, and it is difficult to reflect on them in many ways.

Sometimes what is required is a step back from scripture.  One must see things in their context, or understand the underlying plot at hand.  Too often I see preachers zone in on a small slice of scripture and totally misrepresent it.  This can be almost universally experienced with television preachers.  There is sooo much bad preaching on TV!

What is required is critical thinkers for Christ.  We need deep thinkers, and people willing to spend a life-time reflecting on how these words are true.

That is, in many ways, what you are doing by enrolling in Morning Reflections!  You are committing yourself to daily scripture reading – to a broader understanding, a contextual understanding.  I am thankful to be able to share these random thoughts with you and engage in daily prayer and study with you.

Sometimes I think very intensely about these scripture.  Just not today.  My head hurts.

Today is a day to just let the texts wash over me.  Sometimes even that can be a comfort.

-Matt

2 Kings 23:4-25; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Matt. 9:18-26

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

I think back to the many times I have heard this passage read in worship, often during the commissioning of mission workers or Christian educators.

“To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing, to another working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discernment, to another various kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of tongues.”

Best Icebreaker: Have everyone take out a sheet of paper.  Give the instructions, “Best you can, rip it into a circle.”  Then say, “Each of you is your circle.  You have gifts.  You have strengths that I do not have, or the person next to you may not have.  Write down one or two of your greatest strengths…those gifts which you possess that may enrich our time together.”

Then, if it is a large room of people working in small groups, I simply ask the group to slide their circles into the middle of the table so all can see.

Say, “All of these are activated by one of the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

It is a wonderful way to start.  When I have done this, often participants almost immediately feel a sense of community – of working together toward a common goal.  I certainly did!  I felt invigorated, as if I was surrounded by many gifts, especially if it is a gathering that has been asked to share openly and freely, taking a covenant to respect diversity and awareness of gifts.  It is a wonderful way to value the expertise already in the room, build an attitude of collegiality immediately, and deflate any sense of “teacher – student” in the room.

Sometimes I have groups post all the circles on the window of the classroom, and periodically would draw from people’s strengths.  Or if names had been included on the circles, sometimes in the middle of a presentation, someone would get up an add a strength to another person’s circle – some spiritual gift they noticed about the person then and there.

I wonder if we shouldn’t do this at board meetings.

This passage strikes at the heart of who we are as the body of Christ – a covenanted community with a diversity of gifts – and in that diversity we find our unity, our strength, and our power.

-Matt

2 Kings 22:1-13; 1 Cor. 11:2,17-22; Matt. 9:1-8

This year marks 500 years since Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany.  Many of us “Protestants” as we have been called, are celebrating 500 years since the Reformation began.  The Church reformed and always reforming!

Those events all those years ago, and people like Martin Luther and John Calvin, gave us many gifts, helping the Church pivot to a more faithful following of Scripture, grace, even our understanding of God.

There is a flip side.  Protestants often do well talking about grace and faith, although sometimes it can come at the expense of not talking about “right action” much.  We can fall into the trap of believing in “faith without works” even though we know that is dead!

While the final arbitration on humanity is grace, the Bible has much in the way of right action.  North American Christianity has its share of “lazy Christians”.  The prophets spent generations trying to shape the people’s thoughts, minds, and actions in ways of right speech, right worship, and right action toward others and God.

Paul addresses abuses of the Lord’s Supper in today’s reading, and calls to task those who do not join genuine table fellowship.

In Matthew, Jesus heals a paralytic.  In the midst of it he gets questions about the fact he heals this man of his sin, and gives him a clean bill of health in body and in spirit.  The Pharisees will have none of it.  Jesus retorts, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?”

Jesus heals him.  And by doing so he declares that much of the required liberation for this world includes bodily needs.  He is not solely interested in people’s souls, but in daily bread and physical ailments.

This is quite a warning to those who think questions of health insurance are only matters of state and not matters of religion.  They hit right at the core of Jesus’ understanding of religion!  And if you think the racial tensions we have in this country have nothing to do with your faith, look again!  Jesus calls us to care for the body, mind, and spirit of others, and of ourselves.  This is a call not merely to right belief, but to right action.

-Matt

2 Kings 21:1-18; 1 Cor. 10:14-11:1; Matt. 8:28-34

Yesterday was our 1st Blessing of Animals!  And by so many measures it was a great success.  Connections were made with our Duncan community, and new relationships began to be formed.  Did you see the amazing coverage we got last night on Channel 7?  If you missed, it, full coverage is at www.kswo.com/story/36549287/families-get-their-pets-blessed-by-local-pastor

Please share that story on social media, even if you aren’t a social media fan.  It truly helps the church.  It’s your minute for evangelism for the day!

Well anyway, in the rush to get back home to watch some of the Packer game, I must have forgotten to wash my hands.  I got home and my little Pomeranian dog, Bentley, gave me a serious sniffing-over.  He would not stop, following me around, snorting and upset by the violations of my attention to other dogs!  He was determined to figure out all I had been up to.  When I opened up Matthew’s Gospel today and saw it was dealing with purification I thought of my doggy hands yesterday.  Pass the Purel!

Jesus heals the Gadarene demoniacs.  You know how this purification story goes, right?  It’s wacky.  The two possessed souls of Matthew’s gospel end up pure, and the demon begs to be sent into the herd of swine.  Jesus obliges.  The pigs then drown themselves.  How bizarre.

But Matthew is not so much concerned with purity, as he seems to be announcing a battle for power.  Jesus is named by the demons, an act of power, and one that is often viewed as the demons trying to gain the upper hand on their exorcist, because knowing the name of a person is to have power over them.

So perhaps the demons did not drown themselves, but Jesus maintained the power and forced the pigs to drown.

Either way, it is strange.  And the people in the town know this and want nothing to do with this man Jesus.  They want him to leave.

How true this often is in our world.  As a sinful people, we secretly like things the way they are and we don’t want change.  We secretly don’t want purity.  We don’t want unity.  We don’t want to be healed or truly experience the power of God.  Instead, we want to be in control! 

Ultimately, we don’t want change.  Change is stress.

There are ordination vows in the Presbyterian Church that all elders and ministers take.  One deals with Peace, Unity, and Purity.  It is seemingly an easy vow to take, but one that is hard to live up to.  And there are many in our church today who have become obsessed with breaking it – mainly the peace and unity part, instead liking to fight.

What does peace look like in our day?  Beyond the wars, beyond guns and racial tensions, I am talking about an inner peace.  To be called into a holy life with God means more than just praying or reading scripture, but to let go of the world and of control.  Submission and humility wrap themselves in this quest for purity, unity, and peace.

I think of those dogs who go to obedience school, and learn submission in the best way possible.  How can we give our lives over to the Master, knowing he will take care of all our needs?  I think of my little dog Bentley, who only truly calms down, who only knows true peace, when he has figured out who is Top Dog.  At the top is a picture of Bentley when he is not at peace!

What does unity look like?  How are we to live together in harmony with a variety of theological perspectives?  Paul and Peter struggled with unity.  But in the end they saw their unity in Christ and how to live as the body of Christ.  Instead of fragmenting and dissenting, we are called to live a life of togetherness.

And what does purity look like?  Certainly it is not as trite as “pass the Purel.”  And certainly it is not keeping Kosher.  This story blows that argument to pieces.  Instead, we are called to live a holy life, with Christ in control, guiding our thoughts and actions in love, and joy, and peace.

Only when we connect into Christ do we find that pure peace that transforms lives and brings pure joy.

-Matt

2 Kings 18:9-25; 1 Cor. 8:1-13; Matt. 7:13-21

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.  For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  So says Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount.

It is pretty clear that “bearing good fruit” is an essential in the kingdom.  Actions need to reflect one’s thoughts.  It is not good enough to just give things lip service.  Actions soothe deep pain and build hope.

Are you listening, America?

P.S. Prayer is a good start.  But prayer leads to action…when done right.  Ready…GO!