Opportunists

The moment comes.  It surprises you.  You didn't realize these possibilities could become reality, but here you are, on the cusp of dreams being turned into flesh and blood, dirt, air, grass.  Are you prepared to take advantage of what is before you?

Prayer

Gracious Lord Jesus, we confess that the crush of daily responsibilities keep us focused on survival and maintenance.  Help us make time to slow down long enough to look up and see visions of new reality, new life, and the opportunities to realize them by the grace you give.  May Your Kingdom come into our hearts and lives and into this grand creation you have made! 

Matthew 25

Comments

We are in the waning days of Advent, the season of waiting and preparing for Christmas and for the eventual return of Jesus our King who will judge the living and the dead and bring the fullness of his Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  That's why the text for today is particularly appropriate.  It deals with the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. 

There has been a great deal of conjecture about the last days of the world in the past few years.  Truthfully, though, humans have been obsessed with this topic since forever!  A classic Hollywood joke played out in movies and tv shows is the person wearing a billboard on the sidwalk which reads, "THE END IS NEAR!"  These projections about the end were especially prolific at the end of 1999 as the new millenium approached.  Earlier this year, a pastor projected that the end of the world and judgment day were to happen, but here we are.  Jesus has yet to return. 

So what does Jesus tell us in Matthew about his return and final judgment?  He tells us stories and gives us imprecise, spacious images filled with questions and mysteries to deal with.  Isn't Jesus great!?  He does enjoy leaving plenty of room for the mysteries of God to unfold in ways that don't fit in our boxes!  There are three things we can grab hold of about the end times, though.

First, Jesus affirms that no one knows when his return will be.  The bridesmaids didn't know when the groom would return to claim his bride.  The stewards didn't know what day or time the Master of the house would return for an accounting.  We don't know if Jesus will return on Tuesday or in the year 3,000, when we are asleep or caught doing something we shouldn't be doing.  Guessing when Jesus will return is clearly not something Jesus wants us to spend our time doing.  So, with due respect to my brothers and sisters who publish and preach about these things, I recommend we follow his lead and focus on number two.

The second thing Jesus tells about the end times is that we need to be prepared for them, whether he returns before dinner or in 32 years.  The bridesmaids who had the foresight to bring plenty of oil for their lamps in case the groom was delayed got to go into the wedding banquet and celebrate the marriage.  Those who weren't thinking ahead, made no plans, and just showed up got shut out of the party. 

Third, Jesus clarifies for us how we can be prepared.  The good stewards were found using their Master's things in ways that expanded the Master's resources.  They were prepared.  The bad steward did nothing with the Master's things.  He was unprepared.  The sheep in the last parable fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the imprisoned, and cared for the needy.  They were found using the time, energy, money, and personal resources helping the helpless, and so were prepared for the day of Jesus return and judgment. 

How shall we prepare for Christmas and the ultimate return of Jesus our King?  Don't waste time worrying about when he will come, and be ready by caring for the least, the last, and the lost of this world. 

Life Questions

1.  What part of our lives do we need to ask God for the grace to get ready for his return?
2.  In what ways can we serve the imprisoned, hungry, naked, and lost? In other words, how can we serve Jesus "in his most distressing disguise (Mother Theresa)?"

Prayer

Give us grace, dear Jesus, to turn our yearly holiday focus on helping others into a lifestyle that reflects your boundless love for the least, the last, and the lost of this world.  Enlarge our love and generosity by your grace, so that we grow to be more like you!  In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.

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Go Ahead, Be Judgmental

When asked what they think about Church and Christianity, many non-Christians levy this charge, "They are so judmental!"  On the one hand, they are right.  On the other hand, the alternative to making judgments about life is paralysis and indecision.  Every choice demands a judgment.  What are we to do?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we confess that we spend too much time criticizing others and not enough time criticizing ourselves.  It's less painful for us to point out others' faults than it is to own up to our own.  Give us grace to acknowledge and confess our own sins so that we might experience the joy of forgiveness and freedom.  Then give us grace to share your joy and freedom with all others who need it!

Matthew 7: 1-5

Comments

This reminds me of the phobia we Christians often have of being "judgmental." The truth is that we are all judgmental, not in the ugly sense we often use the word, but in the sense that we must make judgments about things and people and situations everyday in order to make choices. Every decision is between good and evil, right and wrong, good and great, not good and very bad. We must measure things to see how they stack up to what God's desires are.

Where judging goes wrong is when we are comparing ourselves to others. It is a good idea to judge others next to God in order to decide whether we will follow their example or leadership. If what they propose lines up well with God's ways, then our judgment should tell us to follow them. If what they propose is off of God's ways, then our judgment should tell us not to follow. The moment we place ourselves in God's shoes and judge others as though we were God is the moment we are in real trouble for the real root of sin is idolatry, our desire to be God. That's what got us in trouble in the garden of Eden in the first place.

We don't get to decide who gets in the Kingdom of Heaven and who stays out. We don't get to decide who God loves and who doesn't (for God loves everyone and everything God has made).  We don't get to decide who can come to church and who can't. Our real job is to point people to Jesus who is the measure of all that is good and life-giving. God will do the convicting and the heart and life-changing. After all, we should be so busy yanking planks from our eyes in the grace of Jesus that we don't have time to look for the faults of others.

Prayer

Give us the guts to see ourselves for the broken, angry, greedy, hurtful people that we sometimes are.  Forgive us, we pray.  Free us for joyful obedience to you, loving Jesus!  Then use us to point people to you so that they too may be judged by you and saved by your grace!  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.

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For Those That Need It

"I need help!"  It is so hard to say that sometimes.  That's like your tongue having an intense wrestling match with the words "I'm sorry" before they can be thrown out of the ring of your mouth!  We are taught to be self-sufficient in America.  Jesus teaches us that his grace is sufficient to give us the gift of life in his Kingdom.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, who humbled yourself on the cross in obedience to your Father's command to lovingly save us, give us the courage to be humble, to see ourselves clearly, to see our desparate need of your grace for our every moment!  We are too proud and hardened and much poorer for it.  Open our hearts to humility so that we can receive the life-giving flood of your saving grace!

Matthew 5: 3-6

Comments

It seems as though Jesus was contrasting the spiritual pride of many religious leaders around him with the spiritual hunger of regular people who knew they were weak and tired and needed God's help.  This contrast between the spiritually proud and the poor in spirit helps me see more clearly what Jesus meant. It's not that Jesus wants us to be spiritually poor. He is correcting a problem. Those whose spiritual lives have led them to believe they are self-sufficient and superior to others are those who cannot inherit the Kingdom way of life. Those who recognize they are in need of grace and are no better than others have the Kingdom open to them.

This reminds me of the old Smith Barney commercial during which an old scratchy person's voice says, "We make money the old-fashioned way, we eeeaaarrrnnnn it!" In the Kingdom, we can't earn it. We must humbly accept it as a gift. Life with God, the way God intended is a gift, not a right, not an accomplishment. It is a gift. All of our effort goes to remind us of our need for grace and to respond to that grace with our greatest effort to love God and others.

This past weekend we talked about the humility of Mary who came from a poor family in a "nowhere town" called Nazareth.  Why did God choose her to be the earthly mother of Jesus, to carry the King of Kings into the world through her body?  It's possible God did this because Mary's poverty meant that she knew her dependence on God and she would have had fewer dollars, social commitments, and important appearances to weigh down her commitment to do as her God asked her?  For those of us who have much, let us ask God to free us to be obedient no matter what it may mean we have to give up!

Life Questions

1.  What comforts, things, reputations, self-perceptions do we have that might be difficult to give up to

     follow where Jesus leads?

2.  Where does pride keep me from acknowledging my need for God?

Prayer

"Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free, tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, and when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'twill be in the valley of love and delight.  When true simplicity is gain'd, to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed, to turn, turn will be our delight, till by turning, turning we come out right ("Simple Gifts", Elder Joseph Brackett).  Thank you for calling us to the freedom of humility.  We need you, the grace you give, the Kingdom you offer.  In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen!"

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Justice, Really?

We like to think we want justice, but do we really?  When the same measuring stick we use to evaluate others is applied to us, do we still want justice to be done?  That's when we all recognize our need for grace!

Prayer

Generous God of overflowing grace, we thank you for giving us far more than we deserve!  Remind us that apart from the gifts of your hands we have nothing good, and we would have no hope of growing better.  Your grace sustains us, forgives us, makes right what we have done wrong, and brings peace and good living through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Thank you! Amen.

Matthew 20: 1-16

Comments

"That's not fair!"  How many times have we said that in our lives?  How many times as parents have we heard the words shoot out of our mouths like water out of a pressurized hose,"Who said life is fair?"  Yet, part of the reason we say that with such vigor is because deep down we want life to be fair and just and equitable.  When I became a teen ager, my mother confessed to me that she would buy an equal number of gifts for my sister and I at Christmas because she knew we would be counting them to see that we each had the same amount! 

But do we really want justice to reign supreme?  Do we really want everything to work according to the letter of the law?  That would be fine, I suppose, if we were perfect.  Then we wouldn't worry about the consequences of our bad behavior, and we would have the added benefit of being able to say to others who make mistakes, "Well, you got what you deserved."  But we aren't perfect.  We are flawed, every last one of us.  We just can't seem to get life entirely right.  Think about your day today thus far.  Hurt anyone's feelings yet?  Do anything you shouldn't have?  Think of anything you shouldn't have?  Hmmm...

Enter grace and our generous God to bring us great news that he gives us more than we deserve and even forgives us when we have broken the law and been unjust!  Jesus Christ, born into the world to save sinners like us! 

To be honest, the part of me that wants the world to be just doesn't like Jesus' parable today.  "What do you mean the landowner paid the people who worked only an hour the same as those who worked all day?!?  That's not right!"  And when Jesus says that in the Kingdom "the last will be first and the first will be last" I want to say, "What, that can't be!  We work hard to get first in line!' 

But then, I don't get on track with God everyday until late sometimes either, and in those moments I am grateful that God gives me way more than I deserve.  And after all, it's not like those who worked all day didn't get what they were promised.  God gives more to those who need it because he is generous, good, and merciful while not taking away from the needs of others.  In my bad moments, I am grateful that there is more to God than justice.  There is gift, grace, generosity.  How about you?

Prayer

Gracious Jesus by the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to be as generous and graceful to others who are flawed as you are to us.  Give us your strength and love to forgive as we are forgiven and to give to those in need as you have given to us on the cross.  All this so that the world may know of your goodness and give you praise!  In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen!

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