In Matthew's Steps: Correct Labeling

The First Steps: Read: Matthew 23

Focus Verse: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” Matt. 23:37

Meditation: Correct Labeling
Labels are important. Very important!

Take your average bottle of Dr. Pepper. If the bottle isn’t labeled right, if it says it’s Root Beer, than when you go to drink from the bottle, expecting one thing...you’ll be very surprised.

Or take your average can of green beans. If it’s labeled as green PEAS...you’re not going to be too happy opening it up.

Labels are important for it is only by the labels we read that we know what is inside the packages we buy. We don’t know the product without the label and incorrect labeling can be annoying, if not downright dangerous.

Today’s chapter of Matthew is all about incorrect labeling. People labeling that is. And it is something that gets Jesus pretty upset. In this case, Jesus focuses on incorrect religious labeling. Those who say they speak for God and for Moses, but whose actions are far from pleasing God.

Jesus begins by talking about the labels themselves. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat, “so you must obey them and do everything they tell you to.” They CLAIM to speak for God...but their actions are far from it. They claim to be authentic products of God. “Trust us...” they say. But the product they contain is all wrong.

For starters...they exalt themselves, loving the attention they get by their high position. Jesus says... “NO!”... “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” True leadership is found in servanthood, Jesus says, not in being the greatest in the assembly.

Then Jesus goes through their problems point by point. In a contrast to the beattitudes which list the eight groups of people blessed by God, these verses list seven woes, or mistakes the inauthentic product, makes.

The Inauthentic Word...
• ...Is an insider-only deal. Jesus says: “You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who try to.” Those who are “inside” don’t want the “outsider” in...and so close off the kingdom of God to those who really need it.
• ...Trusts only insiders... The Word of God opens us up to the world...it doesn’t close us off from others. Anything that attempts to separate you from those who need to hear the Word of God...making them outsiders even as you become an insider...isn’t to be trusted.
• ...Always makes exceptions to suit THEIR fancy...not others. Anytime we exclude ourselves from the picture or make exceptions that appeal to US...that’s when we’ve got to be wary. The authentic Word realizes that “...he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and the one who sits on it.”
• ...Doesn’t know what is more important...money or justice. This is a hard one, for we live in a world ruled by money, but in God’s eyes what matters most isn’t our money but “...the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy, and faithfulness.”
• ...Is too wrapped up in outward appearances. The inauthentic Word is caught up in what things look like, in the outside of the cup, instead of what is inside of a person.
• ...Doesn’t know themselves... The inauthentic Word is SO concerned with the sin of others that they cannot see the unrighteousness in themselves. They “...appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
• ...Separate themselves from the sin of their ancestors. Beware anytime a church or other organization does not acknowledge their own corporate guilt in the sins of the past. Such a separation is never healthy nor is it what God requires.

We, like the religious people of Jesus day, may find ourselves in one or many of these categories. We too may not be properly labeled. But there is hope. For after saying these things, Jesus speaks of mercy, compassion, and grace.

“I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers...” Christ comes, bringing with him apostles and disciples, prophets and wise men and women, whose job it is to stir in us the authentic product, the New Creation. Through these messengers, God works in our lives to “...gather us together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” Through the Word of God in with and under such ordinary and simple things, even bread, wine, and water, our insides are renewed so that our outside labels match what may be found within. Amen.

Questions to Ponder...
1) Look around your home. What things have a label? How much do you trust the label on the package?

2) How do you label yourself? How do others look to those labels for answers to who YOU are?

3) How might God renew your insides so that the label “Child of God” might apply to you more fully.

A Prayer to Pray...
Almighty God, your authentic Word, your beloved Son, comes to us with both law and gospel. May your Law convict us of our sin, that we might be drawn to your Gospel, the good news of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

In Matthew's Steps: Let's Party!

The First Steps: Read: Matthew 22

Focus Verse: “‘Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” Matthew 22:9-10

Meditation: You’re invited!

My kids have reminded me again and again how arranging a party is different when you’re young. In elementary school, invitations go out to...everyone! All the kids in the class get an invitation. Everyone the children knows(and the parents can stand) are invited. Parties of fifteen or twenty “good friends” are not uncommon.

As we grow older, our guest list changes. We invite those we know and those we like, those who we’re closest to and those we count as “good friends.” Very rarely will we invite EVERYONE to anything. Especially to something as important as a wedding where the number of invitations is closely monitored so we have just enough food to feed everyone.

The same party ediquette held true at Jesus time too. The host would invite his friends and neighbors. Those who were in. The host in Jesus’ parable does just that...only he has a problem. He has overestimated how much they like him. He assumed that everyone he invited would come. So when one invitation goes ignored he sends another. And when he hears back excuses he sends a third.

But the third invitation gets his guests mad. And they kill the messengers.

Frightfully upset, the host then sends his servants to invite “everyone you find on the streets.” The hobo drinking his wine, the unmarried mother of two, the gay and the straight, the “good and the bad” as the text says, everyone! Everyone is invited to the banquet. And they all come! The hall is packed.

But the host still knows this is a wedding party. And his guests aren’t dressed right for a wedding. So... he’s provided some clothes for them. A changing room is on the left with clothes in everyone’s size. And everyone is asked to change in order to be right for the party at hand. Right-ness is provided by the host. Just take off your old stinky clothes and wear the cool clean ones he has provided for you.

All is well at the party...except one thing. One of the guests hasn’t changed yet. One of them is still wearing his old stinky clothes. Smiling, the host approaches the man. “Friend, we have clothes for you to wear. How did you get this far without changing...”

The man is... speechless. Why? I’m not really sure. Maybe he didn’t think anything needed to change in him. Maybe he thought everyone else needed a makeover...but not him. Maybe he didn’t like it that the host was giving new clothes to “those people over there.” Or maybe he just didn’t like the clothes the host was providing.

But in any case...the man doesn’t say a word. And the host is forced to remove him from the wedding party. Why? Because they all need to look right. Because right-ness is provided by the host and if you’re not willing to take the free gift being offered, than what right do you have being there in the first place?

Jesus’ parable might be taken as a reference to Israel’s rejection of God and the ministry to the Gentiles...but I think there’s more to it than that. I think there’s something we can take from this parable...personally.

You see... we also have been invited into the banquet hall. Along with all the rest of creation, we’ve been invited to sit with our Lord as he makes the world new. We’ve been invited, along with the good AND THE BAD, together. We didn’t ask for the invitation. We didn’t somehow earn it. But...there it is in our hands.

And we, like others, have also been given a gift. The gift of righteousness, given freely in our Lord Jesus Christ. Like new wedding clothes, this righteousness makes us “look right” at the party. They too are a gift. Given freely without any merit or worthiness on our part.

But they’ve been given to more than just us. More than just our little family and friends. In fact, when we look closely at the redemption bought by Jesus Christ, we discover that those wedding clothes have been given to each and every person, living and dead, on the face of the earth. All have been invited. All are welcome. All have been clothed in Jesus Christ.

We needn’t worry about how Jesus will clothe anyone else. We need only worry about putting on the clothes ourselves. Realizing that there is nothing good and right and proper about the way we live. We aren’t any better than anyone else. The righteousness that is right for the party is the righteousness given to us by Jesus Christ our Lord. And that is a gift. Forever...to the end. Amen.

Questions to Ponder...
1) Think about the best party you’ve ever been to. What made it so great? What do you remember about the celebration?

2) How do you decide who to invite and who not to invite to things?

3) How would you feel if you were invited to this wedding banquet that Jesus throws?

A Prayer to Pray...Heavenly Father, you invite us to the wedding banquet of your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us the humility to repent, to take off our old stinky clothes, so we can put on your righteous robes. Amen.

In Matthew's Steps: When the Righteous are Wrong

The First Steps: Read: Matthew 21

Focus Verse: “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.” Matt. 21:43

Meditation: When the Righteous are Wrong
It doesn’t take long in a World History course to learn that religion has its dangers.

The media talks about the danger of fundamentalist Muslims, but throughout the centuries the religious from all faiths have proven themselves to be dangerous. Very dangerous.

Take the history of Christianity. A thousand years ago, a group of Christians thought they heard the call of God to cleanse the Holy Land of the Muslims living there. A couple hundred years later an Inquisition swept over the known world, killing thousands of innocent men and women in the hopes of purifying their society. A few years later, more religious wars swept Europe. On the heels of the Reformation, the Thirty Years War, pitting Protestants against Catholics, lasted thirty years and killed hundreds of thousands of people. In the New World, the conquistadors converted the masses by the sword, killing even those who adopted the faith. Up in the Americas, an idea known as Manifest Destiny gave Christians the license to kill the native populations there in the name of God. And in the last century good Christian men and women participated in the largest slaughter of human life in known history. An event called rightly “The Holocaust.”

Christians today get it wrong all the time. Hatred abounds on the Christian Broadcasting Stations against Muslims, Catholics, and Democrats. Denominations go against other denominations on trivial matters of doctrine and practice. Christians can’t even talk about their faith in the public square without being termed a radical, a fundamentalist, or one of those crazy religious types.

No wonder secularists accuse religion itself of polluting the world!

Of course this is nothing new. The same happened in Jesus’ own time. In this chapter of Matthew, Jesus lays out how the righteous get it wrong...a lot!

Triumphant Entry Into Jerusalem... At the beginning of this chapter we get the beloved Palm Sunday text. Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Jesus, riding in a donkey, enters Jerusalem with the crowds all in an uproar. Palm branches are waving. Cloaks are being laid before him. Everything looks great...except for one thing. There’s no religious people there. Read the story again for yourself. The disciples are there. The crowds are there. But where are the religious? They are strangely missing from the picture. The religious did NOT welcome Jesus into Jerusalem.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple... As if to amplify this point, Jesus moves into the temple where he drives out the money changers and throws out those who sell doves. The religious ones who make a profit off their faith. And who does he welcome? “The blind and lame came to him in the temple and he cured them...” Even little children(the lowest outcasts of society. No use in a child at this time). Even they sing Jesus’ praises. Of course the religious don’t approve. “...they became angry and said to him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’” The religious don’t approve...even of those who gather around Jesus.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree... Jesus moves, therefore, into a kind of living parable. Seeing a fig tree without fruit, Jesus curses it saying, “May no fruit ever come from you again...” Jesus uses it as an example of faith...but its also an analogy of the religious. For they who were suppose to produce fruit are not. The religious are the fruitless tree, standing with leaves and nothing else to show.

Jesus Authority Questioned... Now when religious people are challenged or upset what do they usually do? Traditionally they turn on their leaders. The authority of their leaders is questioned and probed. The offense is made known and the question of “Why” comes forward. The same happens to Jesus. Jesus’ authority is questioned because he is tredding upon sacred ground.

The Parables... of the two sons and the Wicked Tenants. Finally, at the end of this chapter, Jesus pronounces judgement on those who think they do God’s will but do not. The parables of the two sons and the wicked tenants are directed toward the religious people. Those who say they do God’s will...but doesn’t. Those who would care for God’s vineyard, but do not. Jesus makes it clear that those who care and do are not always those who are seen as religious. “...the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.”(vs. 31) Those who do God’s will are not always the religious. They are scattered throughout the kingdom of God...and are not just in one place.

I wonder what a difference we Christians would make in the world if we actually lived as Jesus lived. If we looked at Jesus life, and took his live as our cue. How would that change our political convictions? When the poor and the needy, the lame and the blind, and those who have nothing, are so important to Jesus? How would it change how we spent our resources, when we see Jesus giving to the poor and wanderer? How would it change the way we looked at the world if we really took Jesus at his word?

Christians face the same challenge that Jesus’ people did then. Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Bear fruit. Don’t just sit there eating up the soil. Do something good in the world. Don’t just talk about it. Don’t play lip service to it. Don’t say you’d like to do something... and then not do anything. That’s following the disobedient son’s path. Actually do something about it. Fix the problem as you can. Do your small part in the world to make the world a better place. It’s the least we religious Christians can do in response to Christ’s awesome love! Amen.

**Note: If you’d like to talk about real-life ways to make a difference, let’s talk. Email me and we’ll share some ways we can improve God’s world right here and right now. **

Questions to Ponder...
1) Do you consider yourself religious? Yes or no? If yes... why? If no... why not? What is your gut reaction when someone says they’re religious?

2) What are the needs in your own community and town? What ordinary ways can you improve someone else’s life?

3) Jesus saves you... now what? What do you answer when someone asks you that?

A Prayer to Pray...
Almighty God, forgive me. Forgive me for being a fruitless fig tree. Forgive me for playing lip service to your call. Forgive me for being one of the ones who killed you. Replant me. Support me. Encourage me in my community to reach out in love to your children, for Jesus sake. Amen.

In Matthew's Steps: Disappointed?

The First Steps: Read: Matthew 20

Focus Verse: "So the last will be first and the first will be last." Matthew 20:16

Meditation: Disappointed with God

We all have certain expectations that hold true no matter how old we are. Expectation like...

- God should reward the good. And punish the bad.
- Life is fair...or should be.
- Everyone should get what they earned. No more. No less.

These expectations affect everthing we do in life. From which denomination we attend to which political party we follow. Everything in life hinges upon these expectations. And anger comes when these expectations are broken. Disappointment sets in as the world turns completely on its head. And where disappointment is, hopelessness comes, followed by anger followed by violence. Find any one of these things and you can trace them down to one central disappointment.

Jesus today sets us up to have these expectations shattered. He begins with a story of a group of workers in a vineyard who don't get what they deserve...only what is promised. Those who work the whole day and those who work just a few minutes all get the same wage. Of course they don't like this arrangement and complain. And in typically Jesus fashion, the landowner says to them: "Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"(vs. 15)

What Jesus doesn't tell you in the parable itself is what the workers do to that landowner. That he says in the verses following this parable. "...the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death...to be mocked and crucified."

No one likes disappointment. And people are gonna be disappointed with Jesus. That disappointment will become hopelessness and anger and eventually violence. Jesus doesn't match their expectations. He doesn't fit the bill of any Messiah they would ever expect. And this, world-turning thing, only adds insult to injury.

But still Jesus doesn't relent. Not one bit. God is turning the tables on the world. He's not gonna give them what they earned. Not a single one of them. He's not gonna reward the good and punish the bad. He's gonna save them all. He's gonna give life, and grace, and salvation to all through the blood of his Son. He's gonna turn the world completely on its head. "Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be your slave."(vs. 26-27)

And it's not gonna be fair. Not in the slightest. When the least enter the kingdom of heaven before the great. When God stands with the sinner, the prostitute, the tax collector over the righteous. When the party becomes not for the good people but for all the bad ones who came home, It's just not fair. But that's what God is doing in Christ Jesus right here and right now.

And we are a part of that turnabout. We are all a part of God turning the
world on its head. And it affects our lives. It changes the way we see ourselves in our professions. It changes how we are at home. It alters all of life. So that now...

- The greatest person in the organization is not the CEO...but the mailcarrier who connects the company people together and lays his life down for others, even as Christ did for him.

- The greatest husband is not the one who is aloof over the family or inaccessible to them, but instead is the greatest servant in the family, the one who lays down his life for them, even as Christ did for him.

- The greatest pastor in the world isn't the one with the biggest church, the most staff, the best programs, the most books published, but is the one who lays down his or her life and service others, even as Christ served him.

Greatness itself has changed. Our world has been turned over. It's funny when you see how our definitions of greatness and fairness, what's right and wrong and who's better and worse, affect how we deal with other people. We are so much like the mother of the Zebedee boys who asks Jesus, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." We just don't get it. Ask anyone what their idea of success is...and you'll see this is true.

But God in his grace still holds us, still loves us. And even when we are as clueless as the disciples about how God is working in our world, God still takes care of us. Even when we're ready to crucify this God who brings change, God still loves us. Even as he welcomes the sinner and the tax collector and all the other outcasts into heaven, just as he welcomes us. Amen.

Questions to Ponder...
1) What are your expectations of God? Write them down. Are these realistic expectations?
2) How would you feel if you were one of the first people hired? How would you feel if you were one of the last? Does the landowner really treat them justly?
3) What do you wrestle with God about? What does that say about YOU?


A Prayer to Pray...
Almighty God, you have called us to work for you in the fields and has promised eternal life through the blood of your Son, Jesus. Help us trust your wisdom, your grace, and your compassion as we labor for you and with you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.