2 Samuel 14:1-20; Acts 21:1-14; Mark 10:1-16

It was just a couple Saturdays ago, we were remembering the life of Dr. Suzan White at the Presbyterian Church in Ada.  During her career she was a child psychiatrist, but what brought me to Ada was that she was also the mother of Rev. Scott White, the pastor there.  At her service not surprisingly we read the words from Mark’s Gospel, Let the Little Children Come to me.

I talk routinely about the Bible as a story of upsidedown-ness.  Those of you who have been a part of Morning Reflections for a while have heard me say this a lot.  All throughout, we see God’s understanding of the world or God’s choices are opposite about what we might think – from God’s choosing of Jacob over Esau, Joseph over the other brothers, David over the other brothers, and on and on and on.  God’s ways are not always our ways.

God’s upsidedown world continues in the New Testament.  One could look no further than the selection of the disciples for that.  Fishermen and tax collectors.  Are you serious, Jesus?  Why not have some political strategists, man?  Some Doctors?  Lawyers?  People of influence and repute?  God says “I’ve got this” and makes some surprising choices.

Then we hit Mark’s 10th chapter.  “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”  Children, too, were pushed to the fringes of society in that time.  Jesus turned that around.  Certainly Suzan did in her life too.  And many of us in our work as well – teachers, parents, nurses, so many – giving voice to those who can’t.

And our job is also to approach faith like children too – courageous, free, uninhibited, carefree, extravagant.

In a culture convinced we can outthink God, we really need to hear these words.  Our intellectual pursuits are eclipsed by our financial obsessions and material hoardings.  We don’t just believe we can outthink God; we believe we can outdo God!

And God’s response?  Have faith like a child.  Return to simplicity and wonder. 

In the Old Testament it was “I do not delight anymore in your burnt offerings;” in the New Testament it is “I do not revel in your theological trickery.  Your obsession with the Law has brought you no closer to God!  Try the way of children and return to a simple faith: trust, sharing, and faith.”

Humans are always trying to draw lines in the sand.  We like to decide who is in and who is out, who is blessed by God and who is lacking.  And God continually surprises us by welcoming others in.

-Matt

2 Samuel 13:23-39; Acts 20:17-38; Mark 9:42-50

If you have ever made a recipe from scratch and forgot to add salt, you know how important salt as a flavor enhancer can be.  So many of our canned foods have so much salt, there are some recipes I don’t even add salt to anymore.  But true home-cookin’ without salt is one of the most bland experiences life can dole out.

In our lesson in Mark, there is talk of saltiness.  It is pretty evident that Mark has put together a series of detached sayings by Jesus all in one place, all relating to sin, temptation, and self-sacrifice.  He ends with “For everyone will be salted with fire.  Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

If you don’t believe the Bible is full of metaphors, today will be a struggle.  Jesus is not saying “Salt yourself” when he says “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace….”  Instead he is talking about being authentic.  Be who you were meant to be.  Live genuinely in relationships with one another.

Back in those days, salt wasn’t a food enhancer as much as it was a preservative.  No electricity – no refrigerators – a lot of hot weather.  If they didn’t have salt, there wasn’t going to be much storage of food.  Salt meant life, just like water meant life. 

Jesus wants us to be the best disciples we can be.  This means a life of self-sacrifice, and giving to others. That is what we are meant to be.  We are meant to serve in love, and not sugar coat things, but be genuinely loving people.  There is not pretending, or trying in Jesus’ world – there is radical transformation and a radical path of selflessness and joy and peace. 

-Matt

2 Samuel 12:1-14; Acts 19:21-41; Mark 9:14-29

If you are new to Morning Reflections, here is my routine: I generally get up and even before the first cup of coffee, I read through all the lectionary bible lessons for the day.  Then I enter into about 20 minutes of contemplative prayer.  In the course of that, it often becomes clear to me – usually through a word or phrase – what God is wanting to tell me that morning.  I rise from that silence and begin to write.  (OK, let’s admit…this is the point I go get a cup of coffee.)

Today I have found that routine disrupted today.  Not the coffee of course!  But being perplexed by the story in Mark made prayer time, well let’s say, strange.  No centeredness today.

Jesus heals the boy who cannot speak or hear.  Before he heals him he complains to the crowd: “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you?  How much longer must I put up with you?”  The disciples had tried to heal the boy, but were unsuccessful.  Afterward, in private, they ask him about this: “Why could we not cast it out?”  He said to them, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”

What is Jesus saying?  Is Jesus on “empty”?

It took me 15 minutes of contemplative prayer to center myself and move past this conundrum.  Sometimes it is easy to get entranced by the story, and forget the main character – God.  My first 15 minutes of prayer time were story-centered, not God-centered, just as the disciples were not prayerfully God-centered.

So often we try so hard.  The disciples certainly were trying hard, and were unsuccessful.  So too, until I was ready to rest in God, did the answer come.

Our goal isn’t to “figure it out” but to live in faith and hope.  That is easier said than done.

During my many years as a hospital chaplain, I would regularly encounter ministers who were completely untrained in how to deal with crisis, and in their own discomfort they would say the stupidest things, sometimes tormenting congregants with awful theology because they were anxiety-filled but felt the need to say something.  The worst of which was: “If you just would pray hard enough, your son would get better.”  It would make me wanna smack these ministers.  What a terrible thing to say in crisis!

This healing story is coming out of a tradition where this is how sickness was understood.  And Jesus was responding to something deeper – he was focused on selfishness versus Godly prayer.

Our goal was never to figure it out, but to live into hope.

-Matt

2 Samuel 11:1-27; Acts 19:11-20; Mark 9:2-13

This morning the sun shines, after another evening of rains and even a little thunder and lightening.

How ironic that the readings for this morning deal with the transfiguration – “seeing the light of the gospel” in a new way as Paul says in 2 Corinthians.  “‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Just as the gospels account the Transfiguration story where Jesus in shining splendor reveals himself to Peter, James and John, so too Paul speaks of the light and the veil.  The presence of Moses and Elijah confirm the Law and the Prophets foretell Jesus as the Messiah, and for a moment the veil is lifted and Peter, James, and John get a glimpse of the heavenly splendor of the fullness of God.

Paul speaks of this same veil, but in a different way – a different light (pun intended)  For Paul, the gospel is veiled, and it appears it is veiled by their ignorance, keeping them from seeing the light, the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

And so as I wait for the heaven to open and the light of the morning to break forth, I sit back and reflect on God’s light to me today.  It is bright and radiant – a splendor of grace and forgiveness.

Have you seen the vision of Christ in your life?  When has he been the brightest?  What has veiled his splendor for you and made the world seem dull and lifeless?  How has God transfigured for you over the years, perhaps from a childhood understanding of God to today?

-Matt

2 Samuel 9:1-13; Acts 19:1-10; Mark 8:34-9:1

Today in Acts we get an extraordinary vision of the church in action.  It speaks volumes about the character of the early church—and the DNA of its leaders.

Paul is passing through the region, and comes to Ephesus (which you will get to see if you come on my Mediterranean Cruise Journeys of Paul Tour through Italy, Greece, and Turkey!).  He finds there some disciples, and asks them if they have received the Holy Spirit.  They answer no, stating they were baptized into John’s baptism—a baptism of repentance and believing in the Messiah, the one to come, Jesus.

So Paul baptizes them in the name of the Lord Jesus, lays hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them.  Then they spoke in tongues, prophesied, and spent years preaching and arguing daily about the good news.  “This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.”

Despite this obvious exaggeration that all the residents of Asia heard the good news, this testifies to the importance of the Ephesian mission.  Paul is the single greatest shaper of our religion, with only one exception – Jesus Christ.  That’s how important he is to Christianity!

They move on, and he goes to the “lecture hall of Tyrannus”.  Most certainly this is a place of trade or philosophical instruction.  It is certainly not a religious institution.  God’s word is spilling out into places almost unthinkable, and Paul and the disciples at Ephesus are key to this.

How extraordinary!  How different we think of “church” in these days, with all our Sunday-only castles.  Back then it was on the move, elusive.  How do we recapture the vigor of Acts 19?  Where is the fire for the gospel?  Where is our bold speech?

I am not arguing that we should all cash in our chips, leave our families, and venture out into the streets of Asia, but what I am challenging us to consider is to take God’s Word out of our churches and transport them to our daily lives—to our work—to our rest—on our vacations.  We are called by God to share the good news of the gospel, not just come hear it on Sunday mornings, but to make it portable and accessible for 21^st Century ears.

How will we spread the good news in this day and age?

My first recommendation is for you to get energized!!!  Have the Bible come alive!

I would seriously encourage you to join me on the Oct 2018 Cruise.  That is the easiest way to make the Bible come alive!  Journeying where Paul journeyed is truly a life changing experience.

And aboard a luxury cruise ship.  How can you beat that!?  I will be joined by Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles, NT professor from Southern Methodist University, who will be the guest lecturer while we are at sea.

Think about it.  See more at: mattmeinke.com/trips

If you are interested in giving yourself the gift of one of my biblical tours, let’s talk.

-Matt

2 Samuel 7:18-29; Acts 18:12-28; Mark 8:22-33

I have often wondered what it must have been like to stand in Jesus’ presence and see the miracles he performed.  Or can you imagine being this blind man of our passage today in Mark, and seeing for the first time, after Jesus rubbed my eyes?

Have you ever thought about what would happen if Jesus showed up these days?  How much healing would need to be done?  Sometimes we are so blind—as a people, as a church, as individuals.  I look into our healthcare system and see a lack of compassion.  There are a lot of tests and procedures, but not a whole lot of face to face time with the doctor anymore.

I also see much of the Church that by and large has become silent or complacent to politicians who lie, who lack empathy, and who disrupt safety and security, trading in the nation’s security for their own self-interests.  When will we have the courage to see the truth and speak against the hypocrisy and stand up for principals of truth, justice, and freedom once again?

It all reminds me that we are a broken people, desperately in need of Jesus’ touch.

I sense that so many of us need Jesus’ touch in this time, not just to cure us from shadow governments and the Russian mafia, but we need him to come and heal our broken lives, broken relationships.  And like this blind man at Bethsaida, we need to muster the faith and courage to move forward, knowing that Christ will be there to continue the healing.

Part of this is having the courage to know we need healing.  We are a fractured people, who either don’t know the truth, or don’t even care what the truth is anymore.

The world looks so hazy.   “Can you see anything?” Jesus is asking us.

“Yes, we can see, but things are still fuzzy.”  I know we need that second touch, to be fully restored.

Are you one needing that second healing touch of Jesus?  Are you feeling broken?  Know that you are in the hands of the One who is in all and through all and for all.

He alone has the power to touch us and heal us.

-Matt

2 Samuel 7:1-17; Acts 18:1-11; Mark 8:11-21

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus warns of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.  He reflects back on the feeding of the five thousand, which many of us heard read yesterday in our churches.  Jesus appears to be reminding the disciples that faith and trust are key components to miraculous deeds.

We are not told what these “hardened hearts” of the disciples are all about.  But the Pharisees were demanding a sign and not getting it.  The disciples too were not seeing the sign for what it is.  It is clear that many do not understand what is going on.

The sign wrapped up in the Feeding of the Five Thousand is one of abundance irrespective of who you are.  It is simply abundance.  Period.

We see this at the Table as well – the miracle of the Lord’s Table – where our unequal world becomes a world of equality – all are fed and all are welcome.

We reside in a kingdom where there is no Temple in Jerusalem with some who have exclusive rights.  The Temple is Christ himself, and each time we gather, and break bread, and share of the kingdom feast which he has provided, we declare that building a new Temple is not the goal, but the feeding and care of God’s people.

This is the radical nature of the miracle.  There is only peace, welcome, and a hand out.  No application to fill out.  No litmus test.  No qualification for Medicaid or drug test to pass.  No abuse of power, where if you take the bread you owe allegiance to a new master.  No strings attached.  None.

This radical table welcomes all – women and men, young and old, gay and straight, rich and poor, and is filled with the wondrous variety of every ethnicity imaginable.  This is not diversity for diversity’s sake.  This is God welcoming all his children to come home.

God’s kingdom is a place where all are fed and all are cared for.  All.

And friends, that changes the equation.  Then and now.

-Matt