Story tellers

 
Bard. +3 to hit vs goblins.

“What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons of from others?” And when Simon said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.” (Matthew 17: 25-26)

We are God’s children, and that makes us free.  We don’t have to pay or do anything for God to accept us as his children.  Jesus uses the example of how Kings wouldn’t tax their own children, but instead taxes others.

The reason I picked this verse to write about, though, was because of the context in which Jesus is speaking.  A tax collector asks Simon if they plan to pay the tax or not, and Jesus overhears. Jesus uses the opportunity to teach a little lesson, which I think is pretty cool.  Jesus was always looking for good ways to teach a lesson or tell a meaningful story.  We need to get better at that.

It’s kind of a lost art, story telling.  You think of people like Homer and Virgil, composing and passing down 15,000-line epic stories, only by mouth.  We have trouble describing what we had for breakfast without 15,000 “likes” and “ums.”

Jesus told powerful stories – ones that survived verbally and in memory until being recorded in the Gospels.  We should take a lesson from that.

Don’t be ashamed

 

Restaurant Chartier in Paris. Google search for “crowded restaurant” brought this up and I recognized it. I ate a small steak and some “pomme frites” here on my honeymoon. Had to share a table, it was so crowded.

“For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)

Remind me never to be ashamed of Jesus.  I do not want to be on the wrong side of his Father’s glory…

Except, what does it even look like to be ashamed of Jesus?  How about:

 

1. Making  up excuses about why you can’t stay out late on Saturday night, when the real reason is you have church in the morning.
2. Shelving your Bible(s) when people come over, or even putting it away in a drawer.
3. Mumbling through or skipping “grace” at a crowded restaurant.
4. Blashpheming to fit in with people.

How do I know?  I’ve done them all.  The past is what it is, though I’m still a bit ashamed of that list.  But I’d rather be ashamed of that than Jesus.  You?

 

A little leaven

 
Don’t act like you’ve never eaten a trash-can muffin before.

Jesus said to them, ” Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  (Matthew 15:6)

“Leaven” is yeast, and in this case, Jesus is refering to the teachings of the Pharisees.  Consider that yeast carried imagery of both voracious additive and contaminant to the Jews.  When likened to Pharasitical teachings, yeast refers to both of these concepts:

1) A little bit of human wisdom can go a long way in messing up someones’ understanding of the gospel.

2) A little bit of human tradition can go a long way in undermining the faithful observance of many.

Think back to yesterday’s post – traditions have a nasty way of pushing aside God’s commands. Be careful of what you let in your life, and be even more careful about what you share with others. Don’t be the yeast on passover.

Setting Aside

You skip once and it’s all over…

“When you cling blindly to your own traditions, you completely miss God’s command. Then, indeed, you have perfected setting aside God’s commands for the sake of your tradition.” (Mark 7:8-9)

There’s a subtle different between missing something and setting it aside.  “Missing” something, as in letting traditions crowd out God’s commands, is a passive act.  “Setting aside” something is a conscious act – something we know we’re doing.  You might miss a day or two of “devotionals,” or whatever you want to call it, due to innocent oversight, but that can rapidly lead to a “skipping” devotionals, which is a different thing altogether.

The lesson is that we need to watch what we’re vigilant about.  If you find yourself missing the important stuff, you may not be far off from skipping it altogether.

Stick to the plan

No more scraps for you, fatty!

“It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said. “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. (Matthew 15:26-28)

This has always been a bit of a toughie for me, but I’m going to give it a shot.  

A Canaanite woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter, but he is silent, even though his disciples urge him to react.  (Although, to be honest, they seem to be complaining about her more than imploring on her behalf.)  Anyway, Jesus says that he was sent only for the lost sheep of the house is Israel, and then the difficult exchange I quoted above takes place.

Is Jesus calling the woman a dog because she’s not an Israelite?  I know I’m not the only person that’s ever wondered what the deal is. 

Here’s my take.  Jesus was sent for a mission – to reconcile mankind with God, starting with God’s chosen people.  Just healing people randomly wasn’t part of Jesus’ mission. We see Jesus heal without salvation, as with all the folks who just grab at his garments, but they were presumably Israelites.  In this case, it’s a Canaanite asking for healing, and Jesus is saying that it isn’t right to treat healing as extra food to be thrown around when there’s still work to be done with those sitting at the table.  He heals the daughter, though, when the woman displays great faith.

2 things:

1) Jesus was on a specific mission.  He was fulfilling prophesy, and bringing about the completion of God’s redemptive plan.  Miracles were performed to make God’s glory manifest – to display and prove Jesus as the messiah.  The Jews had to believe in him as the messiah more than non-Jews needed to be healed.

2) Jesus is in control.  He clearly states that healing the woman’s daughter isn’t really part of his mission, but when he sees her great faith, he does it anyway.  Maybe it’s a reward for her faith, maybe he felt compassion, or maybe he just changed the rules a little.  I don’t really know.  What I do know is that when your heart is in tune with God’s, you can react accordingly and not be worried about falling out of his will.  Jesus did that.  He has a bit of an advantage, being God and all, but we can still learn from the example.

So, remember to stick to the work at hand when there’s a job to do, but also remember that being in tune with God gives us freedom to think and act without fear of straying from the plan.

Be drawn

Mustaches can’t fight the attraction.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  And I will raise him up on the last day.“  (John 6:44)

 No one blindly stumbles into Jesus.  It might seem that way to them, but that’s simply not the way it works.  God draws people to  him, so when someone encounters him, it’s not by chance.  We need to remember that when we’re sharing our own faith.  People don’t show up to church on accident; conversations don’t happen without purpose; encounters are never random. 

If you’re not a believer, but keep bumping into Jesus, fight the urge to dismiss it as chance.  He’s calling you, and the planet earth doesn’t, in fact, turn slowly. Reach out to him while there’s still time.

Snap judgements

Take that, IRS.

But the people did not receive Jesus, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?  But Jesus turned and rebuked them. (Luke 9:53-55)

What a strange passage.  Sometimes the disciples leave you scratching your head, right?

Well…

Yeah maybe their response seems a little weird, but think twice about it.  Have you ever felt wronged or slighted, treated unfairly or without respect?  I have, and I’m a little ashamed to admit that there have been times I’ve wished bad bad things onto the perpetrator.   But we see Jesus rebuke the diciples for doing that very thing; I’m sure he’s rebuked me too, although in my anger I was probably too hard-headed to hear it.

So, two things:

1) Don’t snap to judge the disciples.  In the least, search them hard for traces of yourself, and learn from their words and actions.

2) If Jesus, being worthy of ultimate respect, let the Samaritans’ slight go, how much more so should we?   Pray for those who wrong you, and let God handle the heaping coals.

Eyes to see

A sign.

“Why does this generation ask for a sign? Believe me when I say that you will not see one.” (Mark 8: 12)

This is going to be a short one.  Jesus was always talking about having eyes to see and ears to hear, because the signs and proof we look for in matters of faith are aften all around us.  Focusing too much on seeing “a sign” can cause the worst sort of tunnel vision.  Jesus knew that performing tricks and signs for the Pharisees wouldn’t do anything to change their hearts – if that was going to happen, it already would have. 

Let’s be sure that we have eyes to see and ears to hear – God has given us enough to take in as it is.

Plans on hold

Heal my purse – I’m a poor poor man.

When Jesus learned what had happened, he got on a boat and went away to spend some time in a private place. The crowds, of course, followed Jesus on foot from their cities.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, and he healed the sick. (Matthew 14:13-14)

This scene takes place after Jesus learns that John the Baptist has been executed.  He’s understandably grieving, and wants to be alone to pray.  John was, after all, the one who “made straight the way” for Jesus, and has a special place in history.

The people seeking healing from Jesus weren’t particularly concerned with Jesus’ grief, however.  They weren’t thinking about what his will was at that moment; they had needs and they sought to have them met.  Jesus, being gracious and compassionate, put his plans on hold to attend to the people, in the midst of his grief.

Are we capable of doing this?  We ought to be.  People are going to be insensitive of our needs, our schedules, and our grief.  But we have to decide if we’re going to respond like Jesus (with compassion) or like man (with selfishness).  It’s one of those things you may not be ready for until it happens.  And, as they say: when it rains it pours.  Be proactive, and get ready for the times when your compassion will be stretched.

Now, don’t be sneaky; leave a comment.

The right words

This guy’s got all the right words.

“When this happens, don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. The words you should speak will be given to you.  For at that moment, it will not be you speaking; it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10: 19-20)

Has this ever happened to you?  You’re on the spot, and you say things you never would  have thought possible?  You’re quoting scripture, you’re having the perfect examples from your life, you’re getting through to someone.  It’s pretty awesome, and I wouldn’t have believed it possible if it hadn’t happened to me - many times.

It happened this afternoon, in fact, when I was talking to someone after church.  This person is a fighter, and goes out of their way to say controversial things and get a rise out of people.  I don’t even think he knows he does it.  It’s exactly the kind of conversation I usually walk right away from, but for some reason I stayed.  Maybe I got through to him; maybe not.  I felt mighty as I spoke though – as if words were being put in my mouth.  It bolstered my faith - made me more confident for future encouters.

If you’ve never felt this way before, it might be because you’re never putting yourself on the spot.  It’s important to take some risks and put yourself out on the line.  This usually doesn’t happen with a group or with same-old-same-old conversations.  You need to be brave, and you need to be deliberate.  Pray for the words, and they’ll come.