Giving Ourselves to God

Giving Ourselves to God (Matthew 22:15-22)

In our Gospel reading today, we find Jesus being set up for treason by the religious crew with the bad rap, the Pharisees (22:15).  After establishing the sincerity, orthodoxy, and impartiality of our Lord and Savior, the Pharisees asked Jesus a deceptively simple question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes, or not?” (22:16-17).  On the surface this is a simple question about money.  The Emperor demanded money from the Jews in the form of taxes, and of course the Jews would rather keep their money in their own pockets.

Now, if you were to ask Benjamin Franklin this same question about money, we know what his answer would be from one of his most famous quotes, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.”  But Jesus Christ, much wiser than Benjamin Franklin, explains in no uncertain terms that our greatest obligation has nothing to do with money.  In fact, it’s not about money at all.  For those of us who think that we can give our way into the kingdom of heaven, for those of us who think that we can give our way into God’s favor, for those of us who think that we can give our way into real relationships with real people in real need, Jesus says to us the same thing that he said to the Pharisees, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites” (22:18).  Verse 18 says Jesus was aware of their malice and Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  So, when it comes to our giving today, Jesus is aware of our malice, Jesus is aware of our hypocrisy, Jesus is aware of our pride.  Jesus is aware that it’s not about money.

Now, if anyone had an actual God-given right to a title of royalty, it was Jesus Christ.  In our reading of Paul’s epistle, we heard in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 that Jesus Christ was sent from heaven to rescue us from the wrath that is coming.  In the Gospel of John, we learn that Jesus was God, wrapped in flesh, given for us and for our salvation.  But instead of demanding the respect he certainly deserved, back in Matthew 22:19, Jesus simply asked “Show me the coin used for the tax.”  In other words, Jesus was saying, “Show me the money!”

Now, it’s easy for anyone to get up in front of a crowd and spout off how we should give ourselves to God.  But Jesus didn’t just talk about it, Jesus practiced what he preached.  You see, Jesus’ teaching about giving the government what belongs to the government and giving to God what belongs to God could still be misconstrued as a lesson about taxes or financial giving.  So, to clarify exactly what Jesus meant when we are told to give to God what belongs to God, the translators of Matthew’s gospel use a very specific Greek word in verse 20: “Whose head is this, and whose title?”  Loosely translated, that phrase “head” in the Greek is icon or image.  The New International Version of Matthew 22:20 asks the question this way, “Whose image is this?”  Whose image is this dollar bill made in?  It’s made in the image of a man!  But whose image are you made in?  More importantly, and this is what we long-time Christians fail to remember, whose image was Christ made in?  Whose image was Christ made in?

The King James Version of Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus was “the brightness of [God’s] glory, and the express image of [God’s] person.”  Jesus was the icon of God, Jesus was the likeness of God, and Jesus was the exact imprint, the express image of God.  But what did Jesus do with that image?  Did Jesus lift up that image to be worshiped and adored?  No, instead that image was lifted up to be crucified on an old rugged cross because of the sins of the world.  That image was scarred beyond recognition because of our savagery and cruelty.  But ultimately, Jesus took that image and gave it back to God.  Luke 23:46 says this: “Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, he breathed his last.”  From the moment of his birth to his final breath, Jesus gave to God what belonged to God.  What about us?

Now, don’t get me wrong, Christ is pleased when we pay our taxes, and give out of our finances to the work of the Church and the thousands of other charitable organizations that serve the least of these.  But as I close, allow me to share my journey of faith with you for just a moment.  Currently, I am a postulant considering religious life within the Anglican Order of Preachers, a Dominican community within the Episcopal Church with Roman Catholic roots stretching back over 800 years of preaching for the salvation of souls.  In one of our assigned readings, there was a fantastic quote given in response to why a particular Dominican preacher was so effective in reaching unchurched people.  His name was Jordan of Saxony and he said, “when they are offered the words of Christ or his disciples in a Sunday sermon or on a feast day, they fall victim at once to the intoxication of the Holy Spirit’s wine, and hand over to God not only their goods but themselves” (Murray, p. 137, emphasis added).  As we partake of Christ’s Body and Blood today and as we live as Christ’s Body every day, let us give ourselves to God.

References

Murray, P.  (2006).  The new wine of Dominican spirituality: A drink called happiness.  New York, NY: Burns and Oates, 137.

Strength to Endure

“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.  Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles.  When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:16-22).

This week at the Lord’s Table, our Gospel reading comes from Matthew chapter 10, verses 16 through 22 where Jesus has just granted the Twelve apostles their initial commission to the Jews.  The Twelve were to go out and preach the good news of Jesus Christ the Anointed One and how he came to save us all, first the Jewish people and then the world.  By now, the apostles have not only been commissioned to preach by Jesus but the Twelve have spent countless evenings in table fellowship with Jesus.  1 Corinthians 10:16 speaks of this when the apostle Paul writes “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?”  For those of us who partake of the Eucharist or Holy Communion every week, we know the joy of drinking regularly from the cup of blessing.  We know the strength that is drawn from this cup of blessing, week by week.  But there the cup is not only a cup of blessing as we so often wish it was, no the cup from which Christ expects all baptized believers to drink from is not only a cup of blessing but it also a cup of suffering.

Now, suffering is not something we like to talk about but keeping quiet about something has never made it any less real.  Not talking about suffering cannot make it just go away.  No, for the Christian who is committed to truly be a Christian, Jesus informs us from the start that salvation, suffering, and persecution are a package deal.  The cup of blessing is also the cup of suffering.  And just like any other cup filled with something bitter, the cup of suffering is hard to shallow.  It takes endurance to drink from a bitter cup.  When the doctor hands us a prescription and says take two of these pills or dissolve this medicine in hot water, we may think to ourselves, God I don’t want to drink from this bitter cup.  But we know that we are sick, we are ill, and we must drink from this cup or not only will we remain sick but we might infect everyone around us.  So although it doesn’t taste good, we drink from the cup.  Although it doesn’t smell good, we drink from the cup.  Although, the side effects don’t feel good, we drink from the cup.  We endure the bad taste, we endure the bad smell, we endure the side effects and the bad feelings because we don’t want to be sick and we don’t want to infect others.

Now, I get it.  As reasonable and responsible adults, we understand the need to take our medicine, no that’s not the problem.  No, the real problem is not when we have to suffer and endure persecution.  It’s when that suffering and persecution come from those whom we love the most.  The family and friends who betray us are the ones who hurt us the most.  If you don’t believe me, just ask Jesus.  Before Jesus was betrayed by his own disciple Judas Iscariot, Christ prophesied in Matthew 10 beginning at the 21^st verse, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against [their] parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name.”  See if you are satisfied just being a closet Christian, you don’t have to worry about much.  But the Bible says, only if you suffer with Christ then you get to reign with Christ.  Being a true Christian takes great strength, the kind we can only possess through Christ himself.  It takes strength to stand against heresy, to stand against idolatry, to stand against the lusts of our own flesh.  2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  And here in Matthew chapter 10, Jesus is warning us that persecution will often come from our brothers, our sisters, our parents, and our children.  But in classic Jesus fashion, Christ does not leave us on a note of doom and gloom, without hope of redemption.  Jesus says at the conclusion of Matthew 10, verse 22, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”  In the original Greek language of the New Testament, that word “saved” is loaded with far more meaning than just making it to heaven.  The fullness of what Jesus is saying here is that for those who endure the suffering and persecution that comes with being a genuine disciple of Christ is that despite the suffering, you will be preserved, you will do well, and you will be made whole.

Salvation is the free gift of God but discipleship will cost you everything.  Conflict is the cost of discipleship.  As Jesus followed the mandates of his Father and taught others to do the same, Jesus’ own discipleship and that of his earliest followers put them in all in conflict that ultimately cost them their lives.  As you begin your small group discussion today, know that Christ calls us to drink the cup of suffering with him in opposition to the evils of Satan, sin, and the world, but as Christ has called us to stand, by his Spirit so Christ has given us strength to endure.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Be Healed

“Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God.  And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.” (Luke 6:12-19).

This week at the Lord’s Table, our Gospel reading comes from Luke chapter 6, verses 12-19 where Jesus has just chosen 12 of his followers to become the first apostles, the human founders of the divine church.  At first glance, this passage begins with nothing more than a list of names.  But upon a closer examination, there are two seemingly unrelated concepts here that beg for our earnest attention.  Being chosen and being healed.  The passage begins with Jesus prayerfully choosing the apostles in verse 13, and it ends with the healing of all in verse 19.  What’s the relationship with being chosen and being healed?

Well first, we must ponder what it means to not be chosen.  To not be chosen, is to be rejected, to be abandoned, to be forgotten.  Jesus understood rejection all too well.  Not only was he rejected but in a sick twist when he was finally chosen it was not as Lord and King, no, Jesus was chosen for execution for crimes he had not committed.  The people Jesus came to save were the same people who crucified him.  And those people he came to save, well they understood rejection too.  The history of the Jews was filled with stories of rejection, exploitation, and slavery.  The God of Scripture declared that they were his people, but the Jews felt anything except chosen.  What about you?  Do you feel chosen or do you feel rejected?  If you answered no, you are not alone.  Many of us often feel rejected, at the cross, Jesus Christ himself cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Now you may have been great at sports growing up as a kid, but that’s not my testimony.  I was never very good at sports.  And I was always reminded about my lack of ability by the fact that when the team captains were making their picks for who they wanted on their team, I was never chosen.  No matter how great at sports you might be good at today, the truth is far too often we are not chosen.  We are not chosen for that job.  We are not chosen by that woman or man of our dreams.  We are not chosen as the prize winner, not chosen as the number one this or that, not chosen but rejected.  And the truth is no matter how tough you might be, not being chosen hurts.  Not being chosen leaves us in need of healing.  But there is One who has chosen us.  Regardless of our ability or lack thereof, regardless of our net worth, our looks, or even the horrible things we have done, God has chosen us.  As you begin your small group discussion today, know that God has chosen you in Christ and in Christ you can be healed.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Finish Your College Degree with Pastor Abe (Course ID: 25024)

In His Hands

“The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things.  The one who comes from heaven is above all.  He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony.  Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true.  He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.  The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands” (John 3:31-35).

This week at the Lord’s Table, our Gospel reading comes from John 3, verses 31-35 where Jesus is teaching his disciples about the beautiful relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  Jesus begins as if to say, make no mistake about it, I am from above and the heavenly teaching that I declare to you is not merely from me but God the Father.  He says that to accept that God is true, one must accept God’s own testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world.  Conversely, to accept that Jesus is the Christ is to accept that God is true.  The logic is simple yet how often do we argue with what God has decreed?

God says as the Father loves the Son so does God the Father love us and yet we are consumed with feelings of worthlessness.  God says we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who not only loved us but gave himself for us and yet we are constantly defeated.  God says I will never leave you nor forsake you and yet we are overwhelmed with a debilitating sense of loneliness.  We feel as if we are reaching out in desperation but there is no hand to put our hand, no hand to place our trust.

So many of the relationships we see are broken, and we are often at odds with those whom we love the most, but there is an example of love, respect, and trust from which we may learn from and strive for.  The triune bond that has existed from eternity past between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit challenges us, inspires us, and provokes us to good works.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can trust God the Father because Christ the Son trusts God the Father.  With God the Father, we too can trust Christ the Son.  God the Father trusts Christ the Son so much that Jesus said this in John 3, verse 35, “The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands.”  As you begin your small group discussion today, remember God the Father has placed all things in Jesus’ hands and that includes you!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Love That Brings Healing: Thirsty No More

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“A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’

The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty…” (John 4:7-15a)

It Is the Lord

“After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” (John 21:1-7a NRSV).

Now we’ve all heard the saying, it’s the little things that count.  A husband might buy his wife everything she asks for but it’s the priceless moments in time that she craves the most.  A long-time employee might come to work to keep receiving their paycheck but the truth is they are just one insult away from quitting their job.  An absentee parent may send their child gifts after gift after gift when all that child really wants is to see the parent they love and miss so much.  Don’t get me wrong, everybody loves a grand gesture every now and then.  But it’s the little things that count.  Going to work every day, even when you don’t enjoy your job.  Showing up for church every week, even when the music isn’t quite right.  Taking out the trash, doing the dishes, and even cleaning the toilet at home.  They’re all little things that make a big difference.

Perhaps no one understood this principle better than the resurrected Jesus.  Sure, we all know that eventually Jesus would ascend to heaven as we read in the first chapter of Acts.  And I’m sure that was quite the grand gesture to behold.  But before the ascension, Jesus had one signature move that when executed, would instantly prove his identity as the risen Savior.  Jesus would invite his disciples to sit and eat.  It’s a little thing that makes a big difference.

The disciples had become so accustomed to Jesus’ dinner habits that even the way he caught fish reminded them of Jesus and revealed to them when God was in their midst.  Jesus is doing the same thing with us every day.  Every day we wake up, Jesus is showing us the mercy and grace of God.  Every day, Jesus is showing God’s love to us through others, whether they be human or animal, friend or stranger.  Every day, Jesus is inviting you to recognize God’s presence among us, and every day Jesus is inviting you to sit, eat, and fellowship with the resurrected Savior of the world.  As you begin your small group discussion today, remember each of those little things that make a big difference is not just a coincidence, “It is the Lord!”

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

Something Greater

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.’ But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here! The queen of the South will rise up at the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!” (Matthew 12:38-42)

This week at the Lord’s Table, our Gospel reading comes from Matthew 12, verses 38-42 where Jesus had once again faithfully prophesied his own resurrection from the dead.  Now as miraculous as that is, the Jewish people were no strangers to miracles, signs, and wonders.  In fact, Jesus reminds them about the sign of the prophet Jonah.  Many of us know the story.  A reluctant preacher is called by God to declare God’s offer of mercy to a people that Jonah himself couldn’t stand to think of human.

It would be like God asking an 1800 Black pastor to march into an all-White town of slave owners and preach about how much Jesus loves every racist soul.  It would be true, it would be right, but it would be difficult and it would be deadly.  Both Jonah and Jesus faced the same difficult and deadly choices.  And while Jonah had his temper tantrum and even Jesus experienced a moment of human weakness in the Garden of Gethsemane, both Jonah and Jesus obediently pronounced the divine judgement and proclaimed the saving grace of loving God.

Now in the case of Jonah, it took three days in the belly of a whale for him to make up his mind to stop disobeying the word of God.  What’s it going to take for us?  Does God have to use a washed-up preacher on the run from his calling to get us to repent?  Something greater has happened here.  Does God have to raise up a little snot-nosed kid to become the wisest man the world has ever known to get us to pay attention?  Something greater has happened here!

Solomon might have been a great teacher, and Jonah might have been a great preacher, but Jesus didn’t just swim in from the seashore, Jesus rose from the dead!  Something greater has happened here!  As you begin your small group discussion today, remember we have a choice whether to live in sin and shame or to live like we serve a risen Savior but for those of us who are in Christ, God has something greater!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.

As He Said: The Meaning of Easter

“After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him” (Matthew 28:1-9 NRSV).

You know, one of the hardest commandments to keep in all of Scripture just might be, “Thou shalt not lie.”  It’s so easy to lie.  Now, traditionally a lie is limited to any attempt to intentionally distort the truth.  But as my wife likes to remind me, if you tell me you’re going to do something for me, and you failed to do it, you lied to me!  Now the simplest way around unintentionally lying to someone we love, is to never make a promise that you can’t keep.  But we don’t do that, do we?  No, you and I are constantly making promises that we simply can’t keep.

We promise we’ll always be there for our friends, we promise to make every sports game, we promise to make every dance recital, we promise to never get angry again, we promise to never hurt our loved ones again.  Yet, over and over, we let our friends down when they need us the most, over and over we miss a child’s special event because of work, we yell at our significant others, and we say things that often will haunt them for the rest of their lives.  If only somebody, anybody, could do what they said they would do!

Enter Jesus Christ, Son of Man, and Son of God!  All week long, the threat of execution on a Roman cross had been looming heavily over every meal, every conversation, even, every prayer.  All week long the death of Jesus Christ was eminent.  All week long, Jesus had been reminding the disciples and all those who had so faithfully followed his life and ministry, “I must be lifted up, I must go to the cross.”  But in the midst of the doom and gloom, in the shadow of death, facing unspeakable betrayal, a farce of a legal trail that was rigged to begin with, and a Friday evening execution that was certain to lead to a shameful end, Jesus made a promise.

You see, in John 2:19, Jesus said, “‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’”  And so it happened one day on Good Friday, Jesus sacrificed his life for you and for me on the cross of Calvary.  Two days come Holy Saturday, Jesus’ body was laid up in the tomb.  But my Lord, and my God, three days later on Easter Sunday, Jesus kept his promise.  Many of us are still waiting for Jesus to keep some of the promises he’s made us.  Maybe you’re still waiting for an emotional or physical healing, maybe you’re waiting for a husband or a wife, maybe you’re waiting for a career or a ministry, or more importantly maybe you’re waiting for Jesus to save your loved one.

For every promise Jesus has made you, God’s Word declares in Matthew 28:5, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.”  As you begin your small group discussion today, remember that the meaning of Easter is that not even death can stop Jesus from keeping his promises.  Jesus said he would rise from the dead, and Jesus said he will come again, and Jesus will do…as he said!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.