In Matthew's Steps: Ordinary Made Extraordinary

The First Steps: Read Matthew 4

Focus Verse: “They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.” Matthew 4:18-20

Meditation: Ordinary Made Extraordinary

“Why did you become a pastor? What made you decide to go into the ministry?”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked this question. By young Confirmation students and older people, by church people and secular people. There is a unique curiosity around the calling to ministry.

My answer has always been the same. I was called. Pure and simple. My first recollection of this was in Confirmation when an old, retired pastor told me I’d make a great pastor someday. I later learned that this wasn’t the first time I had expressed interest in the ministry. I was four years old when I declared to my mother that I’d like to be a priest someday. (That didn’t sit well with her, if you know what I mean...).

Still everyone wants to know the time...the moment...the event that shaped your life and changed its very direction. I’m sure it happens in a flash for some people...but for me...it’s more complicated than that. For me pastoral ministry is a right expression of the gifts God has given me and the way that I have chosen to use those gifts. There was a calling, for sure, but not an audible one. As I’ve grown older too I’ve learned the skills I bring are suited for ministry...and little else. I wouldn’t make a good doctor, lawyer, or any number of other professionals. My passion lies here in the pastoral ministry of God’s people.

Pastoral ministry may be right for me...but might not be for you. And that’s okay. For too long we’ve been told by the church that the only “holy” professions are those who work for and with the church. Everyone else is below them in rank. That is NOT true in the slightest! In fact, Christ calls each of us to a profession, a vocation, and sanctifies that profession and makes it holy. Christ helps us see what we’re doing in a new and different light.

That’s what he does for Andrew and Peter, for James and John. These fisher boys never had a clue what Jesus was calling them to. “Come and follow me,” Jesus says. “I will make you fish for men!” What power there is in that voice. It is a call to holiness in the workplace, a call to a new vocation, one that takes their skills seriously and understands that every profession is a profession given by God. Every job is a job of the Kingdom. Everything we do every day can reflect Christ within us.

Jesus calls them with these words and immediately they leave their nets. Immediately they follow Jesus as he goes “...throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” (Matt. 4:23). Immediately they are taken into a whole new way of seeing and living and becoming!

The same thing can happen for us too! Except that we don’t need to leave our jobs and our families and our homes. We can follow Christ right there and now. We needn’t go traveling about the country. God has planted us here for a reason. We can, though, witness and reach out, being fishers of men and women right here in our own communities. We can be disciples of Jesus Christ in whatever we do using the gifts and grace that the Holy Spirit has lent us. We can do it!

And we are doing it! Right now in Greeley, Colorado a surgeon lives who prays before every surgery...with the family most times. It all started one day as he was going to check in on a patient and he overheard the hospital chaplain praying with one of the patients. Usually he kept his distance for such things, but this time he listened in. The chaplain prayed for the doctors and nurses, for their work of their hands as they healed this patient. That prayer struck him. Slowly he emerged from the other side of the curtain and today this doctor is one who will actively pray with his patients and the chaplain before surgery. God’s Spirit is at work in his hands and in his heart as he heals the sick in Jesus name.

I know of another man whose passion was driving truck! He was good at it and loved his work. His only concern was how does he drive truck and do God’s work. Easy, he thought. Many truck stops have little chapels in them. In his off-time, on Sunday mornings, he’d take to going to such chapels. Sometimes to talk and preach. Other times just to be present and worship. And his passion has changed lives. More than we realize.

What would that look like if we all did the same? What does a Christian truck driver look like? Or a Christian rancher and farmer? How about a Christian software engineer? How would he do his jo? What does a Christian waitress, CNA, hotel worker, gas attendant, mechanic, bank teller, teacher, counselor, principal, politician or any other kind of professional look like? How do Christians work differently at their jobs than non-Christians do?

I believe that God calls us into our passions. If we have a passion for something, God gives us strength to continue and work into that passion. Where is Christ Jesus calling you? And what will be your response to his voice? Amen!

Questions to Answer
1) Think of a time you’ve been drawn to do or say something. Describe the passion, energy, and purpose you had in completing your task.

2) Add Christ to your job. What would that look like? Where is he calling you to do? Where is he calling you from?

3) Is God calling you away from your expectations? Have you put off doing something you’re being called to simply because it is too hard?

A Prayer to Pray
Christ Jesus, as you called your disciples on the lake to enter deeper into the ministry of fishing, so we too hear you calling us into service to you wherever we are. Open our eyes by your Spirit that we may see the ways we may be Christ to our neighbor in whatever we do. In your most Holy Name we Pray. Amen.

In Matthew's Steps: A God for the godless

The First Step: Read Matthew 3
Focus Verse: “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadduccees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (3:7-8)

The Meditation: A God for the godless

I once asked a friend of mine who worked at a coffee shop what was the worst day he had to work.

“Sundays...” he said in a huff.

“Sundays, really?” I asked. “Is it because you can’t get to church and worship yourself?”

“Oh no,” he said. “I’ve just found the rudest people always come into the shop on Sundays.”

“Before church?” I asked. “Or during?”

“Neither,” he said. “After. After church, people come dressed up all nice like they’ve been to church and come in and treat me terribly. They’re rude and obnoxious and insist on getting their own way. No, of all the days I work, Sundays are the worst.”

I don’t know what to think of this. On the one hand, I want to say, “Of course church people act that way. We’re a hospital for sinners, not a country club for saints. There’s no perfect people within our walls. Only imperfect people struggling with their imperfections.”

On the other hand I know that religious people should know better. We should know how to behave and how to act. We should know that our every action reflects upon Christ. What we say and how we say it attracts or repels people from Christ. We should know that.

And we should know better too. Scripture is full of direction on how to act toward our fellow human beings. Paul says: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:5). Yet how often are Christians known for their judgement...not their gentleness. By James we are told, “...faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”(James 2:17) And yet, right out of church, we pass by those in need, whispering excuses to ourselves, blaming them for their own misfortune. We know we shouldn’t put anything above our worship. After all, Jesus himself says: “You cannot be a slave of two masters...”... but how often do we “miss” church because we think ‘there’s nothing in it for me.’ Or ‘my kids have gone through Sunday School. I don’t need to be there anymore...’ How often have we said we are sinful and need repentance in church but done the very thing we repented of outside the church doors?

Maybe that’s what John the Baptist was thinking too as he watched the religious people of his day come down to the river to be baptized. Maybe that’s why he reserved his harshest words in Matthew for the Sadducees and Pharisees. Those super-religious people coming down for baptism. Maybe that’s why he said what he did...

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fuit in keeping with repentance. And do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (vs. 7-10)

John is blunt to say the least...and harsh and judgmental! And to the religious people at that! Bear fruit worthy of repentance. What is John talking about? I don’t need repentance! I don’t need change. What is he implying? That I’m flawed? How dare he! How dare John talk to us, good righteous people like that. How dare he suggest that we’re not living out what we preach and teach and believe! Doesn’t he know who we are? Doesn’t he realize who we are and who we’re related to? Our great-great-grandfather founded this church! Our father helped build the new addition we’re sitting in! We ourselves have served on council ten years running. Who does John think he is?

If John’s words get under our skin, maybe that’s our cue to listen. We too have gone “down to the river” for repentance, only to return and live our lives in exactly the same way as before. We have stood up for confession and forgiveness at church, only to go home and gossip about our neighbor that very night. We’ve gone down to the altar to give our lives to Christ only to return and beat our spouses and children up with our words and deeds.

We are the religious that John is ranting about.

And the criticism will not stop with John. Over and over again, Jesus will take up this theme in Matthew, commenting and interpreting the Torah, encouraging new ways to participate religiously. Jesus will criticize fasting and prayer, giving to the needy and the oaths we make. He will alter the meanings of laws. He will set the bar at an incredible height. He will demand perfection. “Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect...”

Jesus will, in effect, blow the religious world apart. Those who think they’re secure in their own righteousness will find the rug pulled up on them. Those who are confident that they have the answers, will find themselves sadly mistaken. Jesus will take up repentance and demand that everything is laid at God’s feet. Everything!

This Christmas, amid all the many things we’ve determined to give God, may the Holy Spirit help us give our hearts to God. May He open our eyes to the avenues of repentance he is calling us to. And may He enable us to make meaningful changes to our lives, becoming fruitful trees of righteousness for the world to taste and see Christ. Amen.

Questions to ponder...
1) Think of your experience with religious people. Were those experiences good or bad? What stuck out in your mind about your experiences?

2) Would you consider yourself a religious person? Why or why not? How do you take John’s words if you are? Do they apply to you?

3) If you were approached this way, would you change your life? What brings people to truly change how they live?

A Prayer to Pray...
Almighty God, your servant and prophet, John the Baptist, crying out on the banks of the River Jordan still calls us to repentance and change to preparing for your coming. Inspire and enable true repentance in us, that what we say and do might reflect the love of Christ within us, in whose name we live and die and pray, Amen.

In Matthew's Steps: Born into danger

The First Steps:Read Matthew 2

Focus Verse: “[Herod] sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and make careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.’” Matthew 2:10

Meditation: Born into danger!

Like it or not... we live in a dangerous world. Every day the media bombards with reminders of that danger. Families brutally assaulted and shot in their own homes. Children carrying guns (and using them!) at school. Mothers drowning their own children! Genocide in Africa. Suicide bombers in Afghanistan.

Just last week I heard of a terrible crime! In the middle of this season of giving, where happiness and the best of the human spirit are celebrated, a couple women were robbed right after they had stashed their Christmas presents in their car and went to another store! Coming out of their cars they discovered that everything they had bought at the previous store was gone from the trunk of their car!

We live in a dangerous world. And our children, like it or not, are born into that world! For most of the world, a child’s very survival is in jeopardy until they reach the age of 2. Diseases rip many infants away from their families before they can reach that age. Those that do make it face violence at every turn throughout their lives. From the wars raging on within our own bodies to the wars outside of us! No wonder we long for peace on earth this time of year.

The Gospel of Matthew throws Jesus into the middle of this mess. Unlike Luke who announces Jesus’ birth with pretty angels in the sky and meek shepherds keeping watch in their field, the Gospel of Matthew has none of that! All we have of Jesus actual birth in this gospel is at the end of the previous chapter. “...she gave birth to a son. And [Joseph] gave him the name Jesus.” (Vs. 25). That’s it! That’s all the birth. It’s as if Matthew is saying: “Yes, Christ is born...but more importantly he’s born into a world of violence!”

Matthew starts chapter two by telling us when this Jesus is born. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod...” (vs. 1) The very mention of Herod, king of Judea, should invoke fear. Herod is, as history tells us, a violent man. Herod rose to power in the Roman empire through his own cunning and he himself was killed by his own son shortly after meeting the Magi. Herod is scary! For now, though, Herod is consumed with fear. Fear of losing his power his own lust for power and craves to keep his throne and position. That is why, when approached by foreign Magi from the east, Herod pretends to go along with them, asking for the location of the child so he may go and worship. Talk about political intrigue at its very best! This has the makings of a good Tom Clancy novel!

Only the foreign Magi do not agree. In a dramatic turn of events, after visiting the child, the Magi go home a different way, leaving Herod angry. But does the story stop there? Not at all! Instead, we are told Joseph whisks Mary and baby Jesus away while Herod, “realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi...gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time learned from the Magi.” (vs. 16).

Christ is born into a world of violence! Infanticide! Deceit! Political unrest! A world of escaping refugees! Of political criminals. Of seekers and liars! Christ is born a wanderer. A nomad. Born into a world of power and corruption. Where the people, even the religious ones, haven’t a clue what is happening under their very nose.

It’s all there. Right from the beginning of Christ’s life in Matthew. Christ is born into a world of violence.

And that violence is with us today. Nothing has changed. I'm always amazed when people say how much people have evolved. We haven't evolved! Watch television sometime! We live in the same world as Herod and Joseph did. In our world, families are torn apart by politics and politicians and rent asunder by conflicts from within. We live in a world where children are killed by hunger and greed and in anger. A world where the most dangerous people we know are the people in our own families! Where men and women kill themselves for their faith. It’s a world of bullying and hatred, where a few words sent over an electronic media can end of the life of another person. And a world where we really don’t care as we sit all apart, with illusions of our self-sufficiency in our big warm homes.

That's the world today. And it was the world then. And that is the world Christ comes to. That is the world that needs saving.

Let’s not forget that this season of Christmas, as we hear our beloved carols call us around the fire with family and friends. As we participate in the celebration of the season by the giving and receiving of gifts. As we extend ourselves out to the needy and the poor, the broken and the abandoned. Let us not forget the world that still needs Christ. Still needs that little baby born in a manger, born into danger, to save it. And may we remember that Christ has come, not to ignore the problem or dismiss it, but to transform it through his own death and resurrection. That in his death on the cross, all the world may die with him. And in his rising from the grave, the whole world might rise to new life again. Amen.

Questions to ponder...
1) Take a look at today’s headlines. What jumps out at you? How would you characterize the world today?

2) Why do you think its important for Matthew that we are told the true state of the world when Christ was born? Why is this significant do you think?

3) What areas of your life need saving for you? Where do you find Christ coming to redeem you?

A Prayer to Pray...
Lord Jesus, we live in a dangerous world full of robberies and violence, where men commit terrible crimes against one another. And yet you loved us enough to enter in, to face the danger, the grief, the turmoil, the hatred, and the shame and to die with it and for it. Help us turn to face the dangerous world around us with your presence in our lives and your love in our hearts. Amen.