On the Way to Wonder

It is not until Matthew 13 that Matthew goes from miracles of Jesus to some of his famous parables.  The Parable of the Sower tells of a farmer tossing out seeds to plant and the type of soil they land on.  Some fall on hard ground, some on rocky, some on thorny and some fall into good soil and flourish.  The seed we understand to be the word of God and the type of soil can be seen as different types of listeners or our different responses when we hear the word of God.  I’m sure the pastor would be happy if the congregation went home every Sunday taking the sermon to heart but we know that just doesn’t happen.  Sometimes we are sleepy, sometimes distracted, and sometimes we even disagree with the sower.

“13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matthew 13:1-9)”

         My thought, as I write this, is that we are encouraged to be Christ-like in our lives.  If so, then what kind of seeds to we sow as we go through our day.  Do we sow seeds of doubt, of greed, of lust, or of doubt as we encounter others.  Few of us go around quoting Scripture to our friends but we are capable of planting seeds of encouragement, of hope, and of love.  Wednesday will be Ash Wednesday when we face our mortality.  Part of being human is our proneness to wander.  Tuesday is known as Fat Tuesday when refrigerators are emptied of food that might tempt whatever our Lenten discipline is.  Perhaps Monday we might check out what type of seeds we are sewing to those we encounter daily!  Blessings.

Tomorrow is Transfiguration Sunday when Peter, James and John accompany Jesus as he climbs a mountain and for a moment Jesus steps into eternity and talks with Moses and Elijah.  I like to think that those saints came to encourage Jesus as he now chooses to turn to Jerusalem and the cross he knows awaits him.  This week has been a heavy week with the earthquake in the Syrian area and the rising number of people who died.  Our readings talk about a father who came to Jesus because his daughter had died, a woman who desperately tries to touch his hem to cure her bleeding of 12 years, and two blind men who seek vision.  During desperate times we can point fingers and accuse of blame but comfort comes as we turn to our God who turned to Calvary for us.  He understands the parent’s heart, the women’s last-ditch effort and the blindness we all struggle with.  It seems appropriate to listen to this hymn this morning as we bring to God the things we want him to see and heal in his wisdom. We need him to be our vision when our eyes are clouded with tears!  Blessings as you pray.

         Matthew next shares with us that after healing the young girl that had died; two blind men approach Jesus.  These two men could not see Jesus any more than we can.  They could only hear the testimony of others, just like us.  Also they did not really fully understand the whole “salvation” prayer that we talk about.  They simply called out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”  Jesus did not sort out their theology.  He simply asks, “Do you believe I can do it?”

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”  ²⁸ When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  “Yes, Lord,” they replied.  ²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; ³⁰ and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region. (Matthew 9:27-31)

         In so many ways we are blind too.  We can’t see the whole picture.  We do not know the factor driving that other who is the focus in our prayer.  We do not know the skeletons in their closet and the wounds the other carries that affect their behavior.  They do not know all the skeletons we carry around that give us trigger spots.  I love the songs that pray, “Open my eyes Lord and help me to see.”  Let us pray today for God to open our eyes that we might see more clearly, that we might love more dearly, and we might follow him more nearly.  Lord, have mercy on our blindness!

            As Jesus draws the disciples into pondering about fasting, a religious leader kneels before Jesus and asks for Jesus to extend his hands to his daughter, not his son, who has just died.  On the way to the house a different woman reasons that if she could just extend her hand and touch Jesus she could be healed.  Other Gospels tell us the little girl that needed touch was 12 and that the woman who braved touching Jesus had been bleeding for 12 years and was “untouchable, unclean.”  Both were women in a male dominated culture.  Jesus touches and is touched.  We might say in our colloquial language that Jesus’ heart was “touched” by the plight of these females.

^“18 While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰ Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹ She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”  ²² Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

²³ When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house and saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes, ²⁴ he said, “Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News of this spread through all that region. (Matthew 9: 18-26)”

         So what touches your heart today?  41,000 have died in the Syrian earthquake.  How many have died in Ukraine and Russia conflict?  Perhaps you grieve for the children lost seeking refugee in the U.K.  Then again the statistics on drug deaths in the US is staggering.  That is only the evening news tonight!  For most of us those numbers are incomprehensible!  Our hearts are touched as we pray about our children, grandchildren, and neighbors and perhaps spouse.  Jesus saw individuals as they called out for healing.  It did not matter that they were women that he was already dealing with someone else, or the status of the person requesting.  Jesus reached out and touched the little girl with his hand.  Jesus healed the woman.  He cares about our concerns as we kneel at his feet with the burdens of our heart today.  We have the power too to offer hugs and touch to lonely people.  Let us spend a few minutes praying about the places we need God’s touch today and where we can be his touch to another.  Blessings.

         Remember those tests that involved reasoning skills.  The test would ask 1:2 as 3:? Read “One is to two as three is to what? How are things related and could we see the reason for the sequence and what the next number would be.  The text today shares that John’s disciples ask Jesus about the spiritual discipline of fasting.  Jesus, as usual, challenges our reasoning and does not give a direct answer that defines fasting and that would then probably result in a New Testament law about how and when to do….anything.  He reflects a scenario back to the disciples that forces them to think about context and motives and what their real question is.

         A wedding is not the time to fast but to celebrate.  He equates himself to the bridegroom, an image that is used elsewhere in the gospels.  He did not negate fasting but delved into context.  It would appear he is not talking about dieting!!  We might explain it as fasting is for developing or deepening relationship, not for celebrating relationship. 

         Next Jesus compares fasting with patching a torn cloth with new, unshrunk material.  Perhaps Jesus is asking if our motive for fasting is like trying to fix an issue with fasting, just finding a solution.  A patch may cover a hole or a tear and helps us extend the life of the cloth but it does not change the problem.  Fasting is not to cover up a problem or perhaps trying to make something work that is torn and ruined.

            The third comparison is to wineskins.  Perhaps this might be using fasting to find a new solution to an old question.  I think I might fail the reasoning test here.  In any case I would suggest that Jesus does not give a rule about fasting, deny the value of fasting.  He gives us picture to think about.

^“14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ ¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. ¹⁷ Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’ (Matthew 9:14-17)”

         As you think about the spiritual disciplines that you might use and those you could use but aren’t, perhaps you might sense a challenge.  Fasting from watching TV to the wee hours but rather spending time in prayer before bed?  Fasting from that last cup of coffee to help you get through the day?  Be creative about where you might put in a little extra time focusing on your relationship with God as we come into Lent next week.  Blessings.

            I just realized that the author of Matthew is now telling his story, his testimony, of how he came to be a follower of Jesus.  He was not a fisherman like Peter.  He was a hated tax collector. He worked for the “feds.”  Perhaps today it would be like being a policeman, not oh so popular by many.  And he probably worked for the Romans, the oppressors, the “other” tribe.  There is probably a sermon right here! Jesus called Matthew to cross many social barriers to follow and Matthew did.

^“9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. ¹⁰ While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  ¹² On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:9-13)”

         Matthew invites Jesus into his home to have a meal with his friends.  Matthew and Jesus are criticized for the guests.  Not only does Matthew come from the wrong side of the tracks but so do his friends.  Jesus defends Matthew but in so doing calls Matthew one of the “sick” who needs a doctor.  Ouch. 

         Matthew is very upfront about the importance of Jesus reaching into his life and calling him, a sick person.  The Apostle Paul also is one of the people who is able to talk about his sorted past killing Christians before Jesus reached into his life.  Not all of us have a colorful testimony of a conversion experience but being able to express the difference Jesus has made in our lives helps us get a handle on how to explain God’s role in our life also.  We might say

• I was sick and needed a doctor
• I was a murderer and needed a compassionate judge
• I was shy and needed courage
• I was lost and needed direction

How would you describe the difference Jesus has made in your life?  Let’s take a minute and thank God for the transformation faith has brought into our life stories.

            We will continue in the gospel of Matthew this week looking at how Jesus “walked the talk” of the Sermon on the Mount in his everyday life.  He read how he crossed the Sea of Galilee at the end of last week and healed two demon-possessed men.  The people of the area asked him to leave.  They did not want what he was living.  He left.  He did not insist they follow him.  He returned to Galilee and met a paralyzed man being carried by friends.  Again we see the faith of some and the skepticism of others.  The man being carried by friends is physically paralyzed but the scribes watching are spiritually paralyzed and doubt the man’s healing.

      Jesus asks a question of the scribes that always confronts us, the reader, as well as the people in the text.  Is it easier to forgive sin or to do a miracle of healing? Jesus is able to heal our soul and our body if we allow him.

^“1 And after getting into a boat he crossed the water and came to his own town.² And just then some people were carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’ ³ Then some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ ⁴ But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he then said to the paralytic—‘Stand up, take your bed and go to your home.’ ⁷ And he stood up and went to his home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings. (Matthew 9:1-8)”

         Many things paralyze us, not just disease.  We can be paralyzed by fear, by guilt, or by hate.  What threatens to paralyze you today?  Perhaps the problem is too big like wars and earthquakes and you feel so small.  Perhaps the issue is too personal like the pain of separation from loved ones by family rifts, divorce, or distance.  Perhaps the pain is too humiliating like rape.  Of course there is disease.  Jesus has the authority and power to speak into our dilemmas.  He wants us to stand up and walk.

         Perhaps you are the friend who in faith carried the paralyzed person to Jesus.  That role is crucial here.  Jesus saw “their faith”, the faith of the friends.  May we not tire of carrying the issues we care about and our issues to God in our prayers.  Jesus sees our hearts and cares.  Blessings.

Don Moen is an artist I have become more familiar with the last couple months.  He has ministered to my heart. He wrote a song, “God Will Find a Way,” that is so encouraging.  But our devotions this week have focused on people coming to Jesus for healing.  Their situations appeared hopeless.  One had leprosy.  One, a Roman Centurion, had a sick servant who was not even present!  Two men were demon possessed.  Jesus met each situation and brought health.  I do not know what illness weighs on you today.  Perhaps you are just discouraged.  I offer this video and invite you to sit back and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you.  Blessings.

            Some people are what I call “water shed people.”  They have very strong personalities and people will either tolerate the person’s idiosyncrasies and love them or people will respond against them. “Please leave me alone,” might as well be written on their T-shirt.  The demons in our text today immediately recognize Jesus and accurately assess their demise.  They are doomed.  Unlike the disciples caught in the storm crossing the sea who woke Jesus asking for help, these demons bargain.  They do not ask for forgiveness.  Knowing they were caught with their hand in the cookie jar, they shift the focus from the two men they had possessed to a herd of swine.  Jesus sends them into the swine and the swine run into the lake and perish.  We do not know what happened to the demons but we know they did not harrass the two men any more.

         The town’s people hear the report and they must now make a choice too.  Will they become followers of Jesus or will they avoid him.  They ask Jesus to leave.  Jesus will not force us to be his followers or trust him.  The proof of who he is shows in is life, but it is our choice whether we allow him in our lives or not.

^“28 When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ Suddenly they shouted, ‘What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’ ³⁰ Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ The demons begged him, ‘If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.’ ³² And he said to them, ‘Go!’ So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and perished in the water. ³³ The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. ³⁴ Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighbourhood. (Matthew 8: 28-34)”

         Daily we make choices between God’s rule and the world’s ideals.  We must decide whom we are going to trust, not just because we think the result will be to our benefit and our profit.  Perhaps the demon’s fate was sealed but the town’s people could choose.  They asked Jesus to leave.  Let us take a moment to survey our lives and ask the Holy Spirit if there is some way we are asking God to “please leave” that aspect of my life alone.  We might think it is just our private little sin but God knows. Lord, help me to submit to your authority in all areas of my life!  Blessings.

Surviving storms might be a big topic on our hearts tonight as we watch the evening news.  12,000 plus men, women and children died in the earthquake in Syria/Iraq this week.  Workers are digging through the rubble to find more bodies.  Families have been destroyed and rearranged.  Our hearts cry out for the grieving, the suffering, the exhausted, and the lost.

         Some might ask why God allowed such a catastrophe.  It does not appear that God chose to stop the havoc nature can explode into our lives.  Hurricane Ian struck Florida and lives were impacted.  Coved claimed on million lives in the last two years.  We can name some of the factors like building codes, ignoring masking, and refusing to evacuate but the results of the catastrophe still changes our lives.  Evil does not care who gets hurt.  It happens to all of us at one time or another.

         I find comfort in the passage knowing that Jesus is asleep in the boat with the disciples.  God is with them.  Jesus stands and calms the storm.  He had the power to prevent it and to stop it.  But he does not always choose to do what we think ought to be done but that does not mean he has turned his back and is absent or up in the skies watching.  He is in the boat with his disciples.  He asks a question that resonates with me as I struggle with fear, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?”

^“23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ A gale arose on the lake, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him up, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ ²⁶ And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. ²⁷ They were amazed, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?’  (Matthew 8:23-27)”

         I cannot explain undeserved evil anymore than Job could when his world collapsed around him in the Old Testament.  But I do know that our lives are in God’s hands, he is present, and he cares.  So let us ponder the storm that is causing us anxiety today.  Let us do an acrostic on the word “care.”  C is for _______, A is for ________, R is for _______, and E is for ______.

 “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”

(1 Peter 5:7)