On the Way to Wonder

We all want to be on the winning team.  When the crowds saw Jesus heal lepers, heal foreigners from a distance, and cast out demons, they wanted to join his group.  Life under the Romans was hard and tortuous.  Following a leader who could turn pain into joy sounded good.  How often do we when we are experiencing a spiritual high want to stay there forever.   The return to everyday life can be very discouraging.  The leper was cured of his leprosy but now he had to reintegrate into society and find a place to live and work.  I suspect, like people coming out of prison, the transition is hard.  The Centurion’s servant was healed of his illness but had to return to being a servant.  Answers to prayer do not make our lives suddenly easy!

            ^“18 Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. ¹⁹ A scribe then approached and said, ‘ Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ ²⁰ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ ²¹ Another of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ ²² But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead. (Matthew 8:18-22)”

         Jesus makes two points to people who want to be his disciples.  Once we open our hearts to the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of this World will never be our home again.  Life will seem like we are homeless.  And once we choose to follow Jesus, our priorities will be reorganized as we learn to live by kingdom values.  I do not hearing him say, “Try it, you’ll like it,” to these people seeking to follow him.  Jesus is very transparent that there is a price to pay for the decisions we make and the alliances we honor.

         So perhaps this text challenges me to ponder where I am in my life.  Perhaps life does does not feel like home and I bemoan that I just don’t fit in.  Let us hope that is because our hearts are grounded in God’s kingdom and our relationship with him.  We do have a home but just like people on a trip, the hotel is a second best for a good night’s sleep in our own bed.  And perhaps we might scan our memories and make sure our values are reflecting kingdom values.  Is there some tweaking that needs to be done?  Jesus ends by saying, “follow me,” and don’t worry.  He has our back!  Blessings.

Matthew’s third scenario of Jesus “walking the talk” after he came down from the Sermon on the Mount has to do again with people coming to him for healing.  He cured the untouchable leper first and then the Centurion’s servant who was not even present.  If he can cure without seeing the patient, maybe he could also deal with the unseen spirit world.  For us modern, Western thinking, scientific people conversations about the demonic are very uncomfortable.  Many just do not talk in those terms.  But in places I have been, demonic possession is the way the unexplainable to talked about.  Evil takes many forms and disguises and those who suffer under its curse cry out for help.

         I have no need to dispute Scripture that says that Jesus healed “many who were possessed by demons, and cast out the spirits with a word.”  When life does not make sense to us or to modern science, we have a God who understands what is going on and in fact is more powerful.  Not all people were cured and faith is not a magic way to get around the ugliness of life.  At the least the passage tells me God is greater than anything that is defeating me, be it physical, emotional or spiritual.

            ^“14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; ¹⁵ he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and   she got up and began to serve him. ¹⁶ That evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and cured all who were sick. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah, ‘He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.’ (Matthew 8: 14-17)”

         Many of the problems we face today seem so big and we feel so small.  The pandemic, the wars around the globe, environmental chaos, finance and probably the future are huge.  Whether we credit evil or systems that are man made, life can lead us to feel defeated.  The text tells us that Jesus was able to deal with situations with a word.

         Perhaps there is a problem that is challenging you or perhaps you would like to just bring one of the world problems into prayer with God now.  He is listening and he cares what you care about and he can help.  Blessings as you seek his face.

The stories Matthew begins to tell of Jesus, after teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, now “walking the talk” is truly amazing.  Jesus comes down the mountain and first heals an untouchable.  He reaches out to those of us trapped in our ugliness to bring life.  He enters the hospital units culture avoids!  Next a foreigner approaches him, a Roman Centurion, and asks for healing not for himself but for his servant!  Not only is there a world of difference between Jesus and Roman but also the patient, the Centurion’s servant, is not even present.  The nature of the disease does not seem to be an issue to Jesus!  Nor is Jesus concerned that he cannot see the patient. And certainly is not concerned about ethnicity factors.  What touches Jesus’ heart is the deep understanding of authority by the Centurion.

         The Centurion knows that he has responsibilities and his decisions have repercussions that ripple down his command.  He realizes that same dimension in the character of God.  We want God to do what we want but God sees the ripple affect of authority and decisions he makes.  The Centurion goes one step further.  He realizes the decision that will be made is made for the love of all involved.  Jesus cared about his disciples learning, the crowd watching, the sick servant and the Centurion.  Jesus called it faith.

             ¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, ‘Go; let it be done for you   according to your faith.’ And the servant was healed in that hour.     (Matthew 8:5-13)”

         Let us just spend a moment thinking about the trickle down affect of our decision to eat breakfast today.  We eat and that gives us energy for activity.  It helped the farmer and storeowner of products.  It allows us to touch other lives.  And so on.  God knows all this, knows our needs, and responds – even when we are sick and can’t see him.  Thank you Lord.

Tuesday we looked at Matthew 7:7-11.  Often we quibble over how literally we can take the offer by Jesus to “ask, seek, and knock,” and we miss that it is an awesome invitation into relationship.  We are not ordered to just worship a distant god who is “the boss.”  We are invited into dialogue and discussion with God who walks with us.  Let us listen to this old worship song from the 70s and meditate on the words of invitation and not on our wish list.  Blessings as you accept his invitation!

“⁷ ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹ Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? ¹⁰ Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? ¹¹ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

(Matthew 7:7-11)

“8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; ² and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ ³ He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’

(Matthew 8:1-4)”

         The Gospel of Matthew reports that as Jesus came down from the Sermon on the Mount that opened his ministry, he met a crowd of people wanting his help.  Among them was a leper, an untouchable.  Today we have hospitals and homes where we put people that we believe have communicable diseases like Coved or people who are hard to “touch” like people with dementia, mental illness or addiction.  We have halfway homes, group homes, and detox places.  Perhaps “leprosy” is not the disease that strikes fear into our heart and scares us away from social interaction but we have our own forms of leprous people we avoid.

         Many of us also have a skeleton in our closet or a past experience we would just as soon others not know about for fear of rejection.  We might call it leprosy of the soul.  It is that guilt over deeds in the past that eats away at our self-esteem.  The man turned to Jesus – and this is before anyone truly understood the deity of Christ.  I’m sure the man had tried home remedies and finally had to admit his problem.  He is untouchable. But then Jesus arrives in his neighborhood. 

         Interestingly the man approaches Jesus and says, “If you choose.”  He did not ask, “Can you.”?  He appealed to God’s will.  He asked to be clean.  The topic of healing is a bit touchy as it seems God chooses to heal some by various means in addition to miracles and others seems to spend their lifetime battling their disease.  God is always willing to forgive the leprosy of the soul, the guilt that eats away at us and makes us think we are untouchable.  That is the promise of the cross.  Are we willing to turn to Jesus and humble ourselves before him and seek his forgiveness?  Jesus later says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’”  That is an invitation we can keep in our pocket today for those moments when we feel untouchable.  Blessings.

^“24 ‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. ²⁵ The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. ²⁶ And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’

²⁸ Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, ²⁹ for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. ( Matthew 7:24-28)”

         Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount with several contrasts between the wise and the foolish, true and false prophets and true and false disciples.  How do we tell the genuine from the knock off?  The Internet gives us eight criteria:  “unreal discounts, flimsy packaging, grammatical & spelling mistakes, fake websites, poor quality of products, omissions & mismatch, flawed fonts, and logos and no contact details.”  Whew, people go to a lot of work to deceive.

         Jesus’ criteria for the phony is not dissimilar.  Knock offs lack integrity and consistency.  Their teachings or promises just don’t hold up.  Good fruit comes from good trees.  Likewise, the advertisement, what people say, should match people’s actions and the way they live.  Ultimately we must ask ourselves if we are building our lives on rock or sand, on that which is solid and long term or are we building on the temporary.  God’s word and God’s promises stand the test of time and experience.  I love the saying by G. K. Chesterton,  “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”

         Think of a person whom you admire and whom you would say has modeled to you building their life on a rock.  Name a couple characteristics that you admire about the person and then ponder how you might deepen those habits within yourself.  Blessings.

Yesterday was a rough day visiting my husband in memory care so today I am going to turn to a psalm, the psalm for this Sunday.  Sermons often focus on the Gospel text, the words of Jesus, and the psalm that is read, often responsively involving the congregation, before the Gospel is our way of preparing our hearts for what Jesus is going to say.  This Sunday we ponder Jesus saying we are “the salt of the earth,” “the light of the world.”

         Psalm 112 is a companion psalm that follows Psalm 111, both being Wisdom psalms.  Both are acrostis built on the Hebrew alphabet and both have strong similarities.  Both open with, “Praise the Lord” or “hallelujah!”  Psalm 111 focuses on the works of God that we see around us and 112 focuses on the word of God that works within us producing a righteous life that becomes salt and light to our world.  The psalmist ends with the demise of the wicked, those who do not “cherish God’s commandments.”  Let’s just soak in the promises this morning.  May it be so Lord!

 ¹Hallelujah! Happy are they who fear the Lord
  and have great delight in God’s commandments!
 ²Their descendants will be mighty in the land;
  the generation of the upright will be blessed.
 ³Wealth and riches will be in their house,
  and their righteousness will last forever.
 ⁴Light shines in the darkness for the upright;
  the righteous are merciful and full of compassion.
 ⁵It is good for them to be generous in lending
  and to manage their affairs with justice.
 ⁶For they will never be shaken;
  the righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance.
 ⁷They will not be afraid of any evil rumors;
  their heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
 ⁸Their heart is established and will not shrink,
  until they see their desire upon their enemies.
 ⁹They have given freely to the poor, and their righteousness stands fast          forever; they will hold up their head with honor.
 ¹⁰The wicked will see it and be angry; they will gnash their teeth   and pine away;
  the desires of the wicked will perish.