Mar 30

Why was Jesus mad in the Temple?

Matthew 21:1-17

This week is Palm Sunday.  Often we are caught up in the children waving palm fronds, the singing and praises that welcome Jesus into Jerusalem on the first day of Holy Week.  He goes into the Temple to cleanse it.  Though many Christians are confused about that, we kind-of agree that what the money changers were doing was wrong.  Yet, I think we often miss the significance of how Matthew comments on this event.  Our favorite passage on this event is Mark’s account, because it is so simple and doesn’t challenge us to think.

Matthew’s account is replete with Scriptural references, but that makes us look in the margins of our study Bibles and find that passage in Isaiah or Jeremiah or Psalms or Zephaniah or Zechariah (yes those are two different Bible books!)  Matthew wants us to understand the greater context of these passages and then relate them to all that he is saying about Jesus, the Son of God in his Gospel.  Then we have to take each passage in its social context and the seek points of contact with our social environment.  Of course instead of all that, we could just like Mark, sing with the kids program, and wonder what happened to the little donkey.
If we want to be thoughtful Christians that are able to discern what is expected of us as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to notice the implications.  Because it is only then will we be able to embrace a Christian Social agenda that reflects the character of our Redeemer.

One brief reference that fascinated me, especially in relation to the “Trans-Acceptance Day” promoted by our denomination, was a combination in verse 13.  This is a reference from Isaiah 56:7.  Within the context of Isaiah 56, the vision of God’s coming Kingdom will include foreigners (non-jews) and eunuchs.  We are having to speak to the inclusion of these groups.  We assume eunuchs are all castrated males, but it is far more extensive than that.  Jesus expanded our thoughts of eunuchs in Matt 19:12.  There are many individuals that do not fit into the “traditional” experience of a male and female marriage.  And in Isaiah these individuals are accepted, these individuals are part of the family, and these individuals have full access to the Lord’s House and the Lord’s blessings.
One of challenges that we confront in Palm Sunday is the acceptance and welcome we give to those who are different from us.

Pastor Greg

Mar 21

When Did I see You, Jesus?

Matthew 25:31-46

These verses conclude Jesus’ public teaching in the Gospel of Matthew.  In some ways it is showing us what is about to happen.  On his way to the cross Jesus is thirsty, he is stripped and his clothes, and he was afflicted and no one offered him compassion.  His word of judgment will echo soon, “You did not do it to me.”

Usually, when we read this passage, we can get a romantic view of what it means to work with the poor and needy.  I heard a minister that served in an internship in Boston say, “You can find Christ among the poor; but he poor are not very Christ-like.”  When I was in high school, my pastor told the story of a family he was struggling to get groceries for.  He ended up give of his own limited budget to feed this family stuck in a motel room.  When he delivered the groceries, they did not stop watching TV to help him bring in the bags, and then they looked through the bags and said, “We prefer Maxwell House Coffee.”  He no longer had joy in serving.

In all of the churches I’ve served in, there are many people who are jaundiced in their view of helping others because of experiences like my previous pastor.  And we hear the words of the Savior here then we can understand the confusion of the righteous, “When did we see you?”  Because many of those given clothes, food, money for housing, etc. are not grateful.  Does that mean they were not Jesus?  No, it just means that often we are not thanked and rewarded until we stand before the Savior. 

I see this going back to the fulfillment of the Law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Very simply, I am to make sure my neighbor is OK.  I do not work at the community meal, the food bank, or the prison ministry so that I can rack up hours or brownie points that will get me on Christ’s right hand.  I do it because loving God is so inexorably linked to loving my neighbor.  Out of that heart of Love, I naturally make sure that my neighbor, the stranger, and the foreigner are doing OK while I am taking care of myself.

Pastor Greg

Mar 17

Wise or Foolish?

Matthew 25:1-13

We presume that we have all the time in the world to tend to certain matters. So, we put off dealing with broken relationships, offering a needed word of gratitude or encouragement, learning a skill, replacing a bad habit with a good one, changing careers, deepening our relationship with God, spending time with a child, or faithfully following Christ. There seems to be so many other things that crowd into our time and push out what we say is important to us.

In our parable from Matthew 25, we have some young women who want to be part of a joyous celebration, yet they don’t make it because they were not prepared or ready. Disappointment and shame were their experience. All because the young women did not bring extra oil.

In this allegorical parable Jesus categorizes the women waiting for the celebration to begin as either wise or foolish. We often think that it is sin that keeps us from the celebration of God, but here it is not being wise.

This entire section of Matthew is driving home the point for us to be ready. The day or the hour we do not know when, but we need to be prepared. We will be startled by the shout, but we need to be watchful. This parable also reminds us of what are the consequences of not being ready for the great celebration. Simply put, will the Lord’s appearing find you wise or unwise, prepared or scrambling to get things together?

Mar 10

Social Event of All Eternity

Matthew 22:1-14

Human society is consumed with the “Who’s Who” of entertainment, wealth, trend setters, even our social clique, and the most coveted thing is the invite to the party. In our parable this Sunday, there is the Social Event of the decade, the Royal Wedding. The invitations are sent out, but when the time comes for the R.S.V.P. there is nothing but regrets or even ignoring of the invitation.

The invited become the disinvited. Yet, the King wants his banquet filled! So the unpopular, the losers, the outcast, and the undeserving are brought into the banquet hall to the joy of the King.

Yes, as you read the text, this is a complicated parable (the simpler version is in Luke 14.) But the surprising event in the parable is that people ignore the great invitation. This is the response that we often see to the Good News God is offering. People’s lives are filled with property, careers, entertainment that they just ignore God’s gracious invitation. The challenge of this parable, and especially Matthew 22’s record of it is: “Do we take the invitation of God seriously?” Not only the invitation to experience the forgiveness and grace through Christ, but even the daily invitation to walk with God, to be in the presence of God, and to have God in our lives. We often ignore that invitation.

That is what Lent is for, the putting aside, at least for a short period of time, the things that crowd our lives and take up the room for God. The honor it is to be invited to the Royal Wedding should signify to us the desire that God has to be in fellowship with us, to be at a party with us.