“Making God My Auto-Pilot”

I want to share with you another mystery of the Kingdom of God: In the Old Testament, kings believed that God gave them direction in dreams. If they wanted to know what they were supposed to do as a king, they would try to dream to receive direct word from God.

If they weren’t getting any messages in their dreams while lying in their beds at the palace then they would sleep in the temple, believing that it would work better there. This is the origin of the time-honored tradition of sleeping in church.

Did you hear about the pastor, who had a self-esteem problem, who went to see a Psychiatrist. One of the questions he was asked was if he ever talked in his sleep. “Oh no,” he answered, “But I do talk while others sleep,”

Or did you hear that a man asked his doctor if there was anything that could be done for his snoring. The doctor asked if it disturbed his wife. The man answered, “No, just the rest of the congregation!”

Finally, did you hear about the person whose insomnia was so bad he couldn’t even sleep in church?

The Apostle Paul addressed the issues of Christians and sleeping.

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. 

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near.

Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.  Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13: 8-14, NRSV)

The Greek word used in this passage for sleep is “hypnos,” and can be defined as to “slumber as if asleep.” It is the root word for hypnosis and Paul is using it to mean a state of spiritual conformation to worldly ideas/ideals that humanity needs to wake-up from.

 Paul is saying that people need to come fully aware from being in a state of “not awareness” of what is going on around us.

Each of us works hard to automate our physical bodies and mental processes as much as possible to avoid over stimulation and repetitive tasks.How many of you remember getting dressed, combing your hair, driving to church this morning? Trivial details, right?

If you think about how many autonomous systems and processes, like breathing (approximately 17,000-23,000 per day), eye-blinking (about 16,000 per day), eating, driving, seeing and other things that our bodies do each minute of the day it’s not too hard to think that the human mind and body tries to put other things (thinking?) on automatic pilot as much as possible.

Doing things in the command center of your brain is much too boring. It’s why we sometimes have to do a double-take, or we are misled by our brains constantly filling in details by guessing because we’re too busy or lazy to actually see for ourselves.

Don’t believe me, but have you ever been frustrated by one of those hidden picture challenges where you never see the image other people see? Your brain is too busy telling your eyes that that hidden object isn’t really there because it doesn’t belong there, so it really isn’t there.

What do you think Paul is telling humanity to wake-up and do? Paul is saying we need to fully come to realize the need to make Jesus, God, and our salvation the very center and core of our being. He is saying that everything we do needs to be done from a believer’s perspective. Serving and following God is a conscious and constant choice.

As humans who put stuff on human auto-pilot we aren’t quick enough to get ahead of the consequences of our behavior. Let me give you an example probably none of you wants to hear – “the ALS ice bucket challenge.” It has raised $ 100 million in the last 3 months.

ALS is a terrible disease with a horrible outcome. In our compassion it makes sense that we would want to help find a cure. Things like this challenge makes each of us feel like kids on the schoolyard playing daring games and “can you top this?" It’s just plain fun and it becomes very pleasurable. Everybody’s doing it. What delightful temptation.

But as Christians are you aware that the majority of the money raised has been going into “embryonic stem cell research,” that capitalizes on aborted fetuses? Hmmm, so much for our commitment to the sacredness of life as created by God. Whoops, now we’re supporting something we’re against, aren’t we? Also at least 21% of your donation goes for administrative overhead.

Now sure you can always ask the ALS foundation not to use your donation that way – but how many people remember to do so? Will the ALS Foundation prove they did so? I’m not saying don’t take the challenge – but be more deliberate as followers of Christ not to rush into something just because everybody else is doing it.

Generally, any activity that takes the culture by storm has a cloud somewhere in that glittery and appealing outer wrapper. Don’t they say, “The Devil’s in the details?”

It’s just another way Christians get overtaken by culture and compromised by the evil among us masquerading as light. As Christians we have to learn to walk softly and slowly among the culture and society we live.

Let me give you another example. So many Christians brag about Joel Osteen and his wife and how positive and upbeat they are. Just last week Mrs. Victoria Osteen, in the weekly church service she leads, said that God’s big purpose was for you to be happy.

If fact, she went on, that if you aren’t happy then God isn’t happy either. Wow, the average Christian doesn’t even recognize what heresy that is. Listen to what she actually said:

“So, I want you to know this morning — Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. . . . When you come to church, when you worship him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?”

Friends we aren’t here to be pleased and catered to by God, we are here to honor, praise, and Worship Him. But sadly, I can see why the majority of churchgoers would yell amen to her words as they snore along. People do feel good when they think they do good.

False teachers like the Osteen’s would have been stoned in Jesus’ time. We need to see that many are being led astray as they slumber. I think we ought to flee from them.

Meanwhile our society gets worse. James Engel summarized the belief system and the presuppositions that commonly prevail among what he calls the society of modern man:

“God, if He exists at all, is just an impersonal moral force. Man basically has the capacity within himself to improve morally and make the right choices. Happiness consists of unlimited material acquisition. There really is no objective basis for right and wrong. The supernatural is just a figment of someone's imagination. If a person lives a "good life," the eternal destiny is assured. The Bible is nothing other than a book written by man.”

This is the belief system and automatic mindset Paul calls us to awaken from. Our schools, newspapers, magazines, media outlets, social organizations, even churches reinforce and set this agenda in almost every avenue of life.

One could even say the current status of American government, from the presidency to congress, is sleepwalking or perhaps golfing, thru life.

 

Sadly the only aspect of our government that is awake is our court system, which is bound and determined to destroy our laws, overturn legal protections, and impose the tyranny of the few on the many.

Christians for the most part, swim against this strong current that labels non-conformists as politically incorrect, haters, and old fashioned extremists who are out of touch. In some countries Christians are considered highly dangerous.

Did you know that Scotland’s provisional constitution, on hold pending a vote for independence, requires children to be taken from parents holding “extreme  views?”

“Life, liberty, and the right to be free from religion?” That’s not freedom of religion that’s freedom from religion that many “religious free government” lobbyist organizations could get behind.

What Paul is calling us to is discernment. Discernment is simply defined as to perceive by sight or other senses, leading to a mental recognition that there is a difference between choices such as right from wrong. The Greeks had a word for it, “genosco,” which means learning by a combination of education, experience, and faith and hope in the future.

Discernment in Scripture is the skill that enables us to differentiate. It is the ability to see issues clearly. We desperately need to cultivate this spiritual skill that will enable us to know right from wrong, what we ought to do and we ought not do.

We must be prepared to distinguish light from darkness, truth from error, best from better, righteousness from unrighteousness, purity from defilement, theoretical theology from practical theology, and have an answer in season or out. 

Friends, the easy road is always found in Satan’s words to Eve, “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3: 1).

The hard work is always in responding in a way that uplifts and honors God’s Word and Work. Of course to answer that way we have to immerse ourselves in the Bible and stay on the believers’ path to Heaven.

Make God first in all things. Let Him be the Auto-Pilot of your life. Amen.

JESUS CALL A STAFF MEETING

Matthew 16: 21-28 (NRSV)

How do you know our country is making progress: Last week I heard a Senator from California say that our greatest need is an investigating committee to investigate an investigating committee.

I’ve never been big on committee meetings because I’ve seen what one or two people can accomplish when put up against the productivity of a committee of 7; it often takes too much time laying the groundwork and getting coffee then it does to do the actual job. Committees have their place in doing work that isn’t critical.

I’ve also seen the ability one person has to cause conflict and render any action of a group of people useless. It reminds us that there are some tasks and activities that aren’t right to be handled by a committee. Worship, and issues of faith among others, is one of them.

The great Reformed Pastor Campbell Morgan, while he always kept abreast of the activities of the church, detested committee work. He once told a friend, "I would prefer to preach three sermons a day rather than spend half an hour at a deacon's meeting discussing where to keep the keys to the door."  I agree.

The next time you hear about a committee being appointed and the committee then names several task forces to do its job, think of this story:

To hype up its annual Labor Day picnic one year, a Boston based company rented two racing skulls and challenged a rival company to a boat race. The rival company accepted.

On the day of the picnic, everyone entered into the spirit of the event and went retro. Women wore colorful summer dresses and big, floppy hats. Men wore straw skimmers and white pants. Bands played, banners waved. Finally the race began.

To the great surprise of the host company, the rival team immediately moved to the front and was never overtaken. It went on to win by 11 lengths.

The management of the company was embarrassed by its showing and appointed a committee to place responsibility for the failure and make recommendations to improve the host team's chances in a rematch the following year.

The committee appointed several task forces to study various aspects of the race. They met for three months and issued a preliminary report. In essence, the report said that the rival crew used unfair tactics in the race.

"They had eight people rowing and one person steering and shouting out the rhythm," the report said. "We had one person rowing and eight shouting orders."

The chairman of the board thanked the committee and sent it away to study the matter further and make recommendations for the rematch. Four months later the committee came back with a recommendation. "Our guy has to row faster," it said. 

Sadly, this is a true story and so is our Gospel Lesson from Matthew 16: 21-28. Let’s let Jesus set the stage for our discussion of today’s lesson:

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

"For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

What will you give to save your life? I know Jesus wouldn’t want a committee making that decision for you. Even His disciples, Peter in this case, aren’t thinking straight in the midst of this staff meeting. But let’s think for a second.

Many people, including Peter, can’t answer that question because they are too busy trying not to lose it or further complicate it by adding more responsibilities or hassles to it. Life shouldn’t be complicated they say. And I think Jesus would agree, up to a point.

Today’s Christian lives this. They don’t want long sermons and biblical teaching that makes them think too much or makes them uncomfortably aware that they will need to change their behavior or thinking.

People want humor and sermon topics that are safe – after all we’re not actually going to change things, are we? People really don’t want personal religion or faith – they want assurances of salvation by anonyous committee confession – they want their attendance, membership, and offerings to show evidence of good works and good intention.

The church has developed into a place where people can sit in an anonymous pew for 59 minutes and 59 seconds and participate in committee work for the week. Occasionally they may be asked to vote on this or spending money on that, or responding to things some people don’t think are right or may intrude on their concept of faith or tradition.

I think a lot of our current church problems and social problems have come from the overarching attitudes and teachings of evolution and particularly the concept of the “survival of the fittest among the herd of the human race.” There is a belief that enough will survive and flourish that life will go on. This has encouraged life by committee and that’s the problem.

Look around, we are living life by committee in our society and we didn’t nominate those in charge to make the changes that are happening.

There’s an old joke that says: “For God so loved the world He didn’t send a committee.” God is personal and He wants a personal relationship with us. But does that mean that God is different for each one of us?

If you took a representative sample of people from the churches in the Clear Spring Area, put them together, and asked them Jesus’ question “What do you need to do to get to heaven?” what would the answer be? Would they even be able to answer? Some would be outraged at just being asked.

Would the answer be biblical or represent the national doctrine and polity of their denominations? At worse, would anyone care what the answer was?

You see we operate with human interest and desires and sins in our hearts, minds, and hands. Our intentions and efforts may appear blameless and altruistic but we still have blind spots and are easily lead astray by evil. Only Jesus and God have pure and loving intentions and we need to be careful never to reject them.

In Psalm 107: 23-32, as we read in unison today, we find some sailors in a dire situation. We are told they “were at their wits’ end.” Finally, the staggering sailors realized that they were at the mercy of Almighty God and “they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” (verse. 28). The storm ended, and the sailors found safety.

Mark this down: the Lord hears and answers the cries of desperate people.

When will we be at our wits end? When will our country be at its wit’s end?

Over and over again in the Bible, people are needy and God is ready to deliver at their word. Some were in trouble because of their sin, others because of natural disaster, others were enslaved by evil men, but they all equally felt their need of God. 

But generally God hears individual prayers and may bless individually or a group of people He favors, but it starts with a single person praying first, and then joining others. Repentance and getting to Heaven is usually not a spectator sport.

Remember that when you come to your wits’ end, remember that you are not at God’s. He is not reeling, and He has not left you alone in the dark stormy night. Cry out to Him.

Jesus has been there too, coming before his Father without worldly hope or a way out of the pain. He wept in the garden, and will wipe your tears. He felt the pangs of affliction, and He’ll calm your fears. When your portion is the darkness of death, He has been there already. He suffered alone, so that you never have to.

Peter tried to tell Jesus that day, as he was in the meeting with his disciples, that the end would not be worth it. Peter, in his narrow human view, wanted God to forbid such sacrifice. Peter wanted to tell God what to do. Not an uncommon thought for a person hiding in the middle of a group of people.

You see my friends, God relates to us as individuals first, and looks at the called out body of believers called the church, not as committees, but as doers of the Word. He’s already given us the rules, the goals, and the mission. It’s up to us to go and do, or as Jesus says:

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

One last thought – did you know that the German Reformed Church had no system of government or organization when it came to America? Is was only after the church began to get involved in community affairs and public education that the church had to borrow the Presbyterian system which they called “a consistory” to serve as focal points between other Reformed Churches. The church had had no need for committees up to that point. Amen.

“GOD’s ROCKS”

Matthew 16: 13-20 NRSV

A preacher’s kid, after his father give sermons on “justification,” “sanctification,” and a whole bunch of “other –ations,” was ready when the Sunday School teacher asked if anybody knew what “procrastination” meant. The boy said, “I’m not sure what it means, but I know our church believes in it!”

An atheist was spending a quiet day fishing when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. In one easy flip, the beast tossed him and the boat into the air. Then it opened its mouth to swallow both him and the boat.

As the man sailed head over heels, he cried out, “Oh, my God! Help me!”

At once the ferocious attack scene froze in place, and as the atheist hung in midair, a booming voice came down from the clouds, “I thought you didn’t believe in me!”

“Come on God, give me a break!” the man pleaded, “Two minutes ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster either!”

Today we’re going to talk about faith and its importance to the church. Let’s hear the Gospel lesson from Matthew 16: 13-20:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

This passage tells us that Peter has a “pebble” sized faith that can be used to build the church, which will require strong (cliff boulder sized) rocks of faith to build on.

Jesus goes on to say that no one will destroy the faith of those who believe.

Too much has been made of Peter as the church head and founder. Peter had an important part in the development of the early church, but the role of the Head of the Church clearly is a function of Christ himself.

We make jokes about Peter sitting outside the Pearly Gates serving as a sort of “Heavenly Bouncer.” But what if he’s more like “the Celestial Greeter” who shares the joy of God’s grace with those, who like he did, recognized Jesus as Messiah.

It could help us understand that the concept of church is meaningless unless we  view it in matter of faith rather than as a human institution measuring human standards, goals, and values, run by humans for humans.

A very religious man was shipwrecked on a small island in the Pacific ocean. After a few years a passing ship noticed smoke and chanced closer and rescued the man. As the rescue boat was leaving they noticed three huts had been built on the island and asked the man why he needed three huts since he was alone.

“Oh,” he said, “I lived in the first hut and went to church in the second hut.” “But what about the third hut,” they asked. “Oh that,” he replied, “That’s where I used to go to church.”

If we look at this passage reminding us of God’s role in the church, it emphasizes this passage as being about faith and trust in Jesus and in God, first individually, then as the manifestation of the universal church.

Jesus knows we’ll have a long way to go and we need to take every situation to learn and every opportunity to grow and nurture our faith, yet the Holy Spirit is present to help us along on the journey.

Peter’s confession serves as an example for us in what the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven are. This confession is not worldly. It has nothing to do with human experience and tradition but everything to do with Godly revelation and grace. It makes each and every one of us answer the question: “Who do you say I am.”

That question can be answered one of two ways: Either Jesus is just a man, a really good man, who sacrificed himself for his beliefs or He was truly the Son of God. There’s no gray area between even though we try to make it so.

This confession requires/declares a personal trust in Jesus. There is only one true confession and that is in Christ alone. This confession is the foundation for and of the church. It creates a great obligation/responsibility to the church which must be understood personally before being shared by/with others.

This question requires us to either become strong like rocks in our faith, or create paper mache imitations that look good but have no substance.

Think about the church we are called to be by Christ: “Ekklesia,” the Greek word for church means “to call out a gathering, an assembly from the world.” We are to be separate from the world. It is Jesus who calls, not man.

God has promised us that He dwells within the very presence of believers when they gather.

God calls us to gather for two purposes: Worship and mission. God is the object of worship, and His mission alone becomes the objective of the church. What this means is that God’s Church, the local assembly, gathers together to worship and pool its resources in order to carry out the mission of God Himself.

Where the church in today’s world has gone wrong is in forgetting that God’s Mission is spiritual and not material. We are called to teach and reach out to others so that they come to know God, not that they may practice immoral sexual activities, abort babies, elect the politically correct person to office, and promote reparations for every minority that considers itself abused.

Peter, in response to Jesus’ pronouncement of his right answer of faith, never claimed any power or authority beyond preaching the gospel or opening the door of the Kingdom of Heaven for unbelievers. He never claimed the power to forgive sins on God’s behalf.

If there is a tradition here for pastors/teachers to learn then this is it: Pastors and teachers of God’s word have the ability to open the door to the Kingdom or not. It is God, through the Holy Spirit, who will lead others in.

I am going to tell you a secret about me – and why I’m still here at this church in Western Maryland, and not somewhere else.

Dr. Mark Hatfield tells of touring Calcutta with Mother Teresa and visiting the so-called "House of Dying," where sick children are cared for in their last days, and the dispensary, where the poor line up by the hundreds to receive medical attention.

As he watched Mother Teresa minister to the people, feeding and nursing those left by others to die, Hatfield was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the suffering she and her co-workers face daily.

"How can you bear the load without being crushed by it?" he asked.

Mother Teresa replied, "My dear Senator, I am not called to be successful, I am called to be faithful."

Too many times church people want their pastors to be successful church growers, public relations experts, CEO’s, and charismatic community leaders. Jesus just wants them to be faithful. He wants them to be the rock-solid pillars of faith in a community often mired in dissension, turmoil, and human free-for-alls.

In a few minutes we’ve going to be celebrating a baptism. Please note that the parents and sponsors are never asked or told to raise the child to be successful in computers, business, sports, fishing, or hunting. We’re talking about creating an environment of faith nurturing so that the child will have the doors of God’s Kingdom opened wide for him.

Peter’s confession of Jesus as Messiah is meant to show us that, once we realize who Jesus is our lives and faith will change. We will become the rocks of the faithful foundation of God’s Kingdom. Amen.

“YOU CALLING ME A DOG, JESUS?”

Matthew 15: 10-28

Why don't blind people like to sky dive? Because it scares the dog! 

Most of us love dogs and other animals we have as pets. Pets are family, companions, comforters, lap animals that are sources of great comfort. The ability for some animals and humans to form a bond is a tremendous gift given to us by our creator.

But the strong bond between dogs and humans we see today didn’t exist in the days of Jesus. Families didn’t take their pets to vets to get their teeth brushed and cleaned, nails clipped, or fur groomed. Some people buy dog “health” insurance. No dog food existed and usually only dogs who were useful to a farmer or herder were tolerated around the hose.

Dogs in the days of Jesus were unclean animals and considered for the most part to be scavengers, often living in packs. They were seldom kept as household pets as they are today. The Jews of Jesus day also considered Gentiles to be "dogs," just like scavengers and wild beasts.

The term “dog,” Greek word “kuon,” was often used in two ways. The first was literal, the second was meant to describe a person who was unfit for the kingdom of God. Sometimes the word “kunarion” is used to mean a puppy, a little dog, or one being trained.

Did you know that a story about dogs is an important part of God’s story regarding how salvation and reconciliation and grace is granted to the entire human race? It is as simple as Jesus calling a woman a dog.

Let’s hear our Gospel lesson for today:

Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: ¹¹it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”

¹²Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” ¹³He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.

¹⁹For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²²Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” ²³But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly

In this passage it helps to know the play on words that take place between Jesus and the Canaanite woman. Jesus uses the word “dog” as meaning “someone who isn’t fit to enter the Kingdom of God,” while the woman replies using the word for “puppy.”

She recognizes that she must submit herself to Jesus’ mercy and compassion. That is something that a person unfit for God’s kingdom will never do. This incident is a beautiful illustration of the teaching Jesus has just made. Jesus is concerned with the heart.

Outwardly, this woman has nothing about her that is "clean,” in Jewish custom. But she has three things in her heart that make her right with God:

Her unwavering, nagging, persistent care for her daughter; and, her unwavering, nagging, persistent faith that Jesus can cure her daughter. Jesus’ desire to reach out to His creation in compassion and love.

These three things seem to cause Jesus to expand His mercy to someone He is not supposed to have compassion and mercy for. Gentiles.

As non-Jewish believers this passage is a great revelation to us. While Jesus was sent to heal and restore God’s chosen people of Israel, even we will receive the benefit of Jesus’ sacrifice. All because of a turn of a phrase having to do with dogs!

What Jesus has done for us Gentiles through His sacrifice is almost beyond our belief. Realize that Jesus has brought us from being "dogs" to becoming the adopted sons and daughters of the Living God.

I have a dog, and when we eat she always sits there waiting patiently, under the table, waiting for a scrap or two from one of us to accidently fall. We are messy eaters. She knows she will get it, but she also knows she has to wait patiently for it while sitting there rolling her big black eyes acting as if she really doesn't care.

 
In reading the above verses, it was very striking to me as I thought of what it would be like to be her, waiting for some man to give me a scrap or two of food. My father-in-law "leaves" cherios scattered all around for her to scavenge.

Sometimes when we’re being clean eaters and she waits too long, she sort of shuffles around a little bit and moves an inch or two closer just so we won't forget she is there, patiently waiting. Who could resist giving her what she wants? I know my father-in-law can’t and it only takes one.

Now think about how we as Gentiles were considered dogs at one time, but now as believers, we are considered differently: Ephesians 2:12 says, “That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

Jesus has extended salvation, the Greek word “soteria,” to us even though we are not members of God’s chosen people – the Jewish people of the indwelling nation of Israel.

Throughout our lives of “tarraso,” (troubles), our faith and experiences yield “genosco,” (trust), which leads us to “soteria,” (confessing our sins and professing Christ as Savior), which yields “aionious,” (eternal life in God’s Kingdom.)

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba. One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, wanted to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders. But she refused to sell him any.

Roosevelt was perplexed. His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds. When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, "Colonel, just ask for it!" A smile broke over Roosevelt's face. Now he understood--the provisions were not for sale.

All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely

Lord Kenneth Clark, internationally know for his television series Civilization, lived and died without faith in Jesus Christ. He admitted in his autobiography that while visiting a beautiful church he had what he believed to be an overwhelming religious experience.

"My whole being," Clark wrote, "was irradiated by a kind of heavenly joy far more intense than anything I had known before." But the "gloom of grace," as he described it, created a problem. If he allowed himself to be influenced by it, he knew he would have to change, his family might think he had lost his mind, and maybe that intense joy would prove to be an illusion. So he concluded, "I was too deeply embedded in the world to change course."

God Grace is free but does cost something.  You have to ask – and asking is impossible for some people.

 
Three elements of personality are involved in making a decision to become a Christian, or in making any significant decision for that matter. They are the emotions, the intellect, and the will.

For example, a young man meets a young woman. They are immediately attracted to one another. They both say to themselves, "Now there is someone I'd like to marry." At that point, if the emotions had their way, there would be a wedding.

But the intellect intervenes, questioning the impulsive emotional response. Would we be compatible? What is she really like? Can I afford to support her? Both conclude it would be better to take some more time and answer a few questions before they proceed.

So the two begin spending more time with each other. He eventually concludes that she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Now his intellect has sided with the emotions on the idea of marriage.

But the final and heaviest vote remains to be cast -- that of the will. It stops the march toward the altar with the questions, "Am I willing to give up this lifestyle for another? What about my freedom -- is it worth the trade? Am I willing to assume the added responsibility?"

 

The marriage will occur only when the will finally agrees with the emotions and the intellect. And so it is in coming to Christ.

Your heart has to be right and you have to admit you are not worthy of the Grace given to you. Yet Jesus is always ready and waiting to receive us in Love. Amen.

LIKE A ROCK
Matthew 14: 22-33

I was on my first trip to Germany on a Lufthansa flight in 2001 when I had a remarkable experience.

I had been lucky enough to have been bumped up to Business Class and was sitting in a window seat next to a man in a suit and tie. The airline attendant asked him if he wanted a cocktail and he said he would like a Martini.

Taking one look at me and the Bible I was reading she asked me if I wanted some fruit juice. I thought to myself about what other book there is that can change a martini into an apple juice?

Changing one substance into another or performing an impossible task or deed is often viewed as a miracle. I remember a Catholic Priest who was a Navy Chaplain, tell us what the definition of a miracle was one Sunday morning:

A little nun was on a much desired mission trip to the Apache Indians. She was so excited to almost be at her destination that she drove by the last gas station before the reservation without noticing she needed gas.

She ran out of gas about a mile past the station and had to walk back to get some gas. The attendant told her that he would like to help her but he had no container that would hold gas.

Thinking quickly and wanting to help, the attendant said that he would search the garage and outbuildings for a workable container. The only container he found was an old dented bedpan. The grateful nun said that the bedpan would work just fine and had it filled with gasoline.

She carried it back to her car careful not to drop an ounce of fluid. When she got to the car she carefully poured the contents of the bedpan into the car.

A truck driver pulled alongside the car as she was just finishing emptying the contents into her gas tank. He rolled down his window and yelled to her, “I wish I had your faith, Sister!”

The question we ask about miracles is, “Do they happen because God acts or is it because a person has sufficient faith in God’s power to accomplish something extraordinary?”  The Biblical Dictionary defines it as: “a special intervention by God on behalf of humankind.”

The dialogue regarding miracles is further muddied because God’s power and activities are not limited as humans are and may not be fully discerned by humans. Remember that Jesus has already reminded us that we have trouble with earthly things, let alone heavenly ones?

John 3: 11-12: Jesus replied, “I assure you:  We speak what We know and and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of Heaven?”

In fact most of the miracles ascribed to God and Jesus are actions consistent with all powerful, all knowing, and creative beings responsible for the so called “laws of nature” and the entire universe. They can do what they want because it’s their creation.

Yet God often chooses to act without miracles as well. C. S. Lewis once wrote: “God seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures. He commands us to do slowly and blunderingly what He could do perfectly and in the twinkling of an eye.”

We think they have to operate within the rules they have created for us. And Jesus, being fully human, does limit his physical aspects to human limits while exercising His spiritual aspects as a God would do. Unlike some biblical scholars, I don’t have a problem with that.

But let’s look at what the miracle actually is as we consider what is happening. Listen to the story of one of Jesus’ miracles from Matthew 14: 22-33:

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from land, for the wind was against them.  And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea.

But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.”

So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus.

But when he noticed the strong wind, be became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Okay – is it any wonder that later on Jesus calls Peter a rock – after seeing how fast he sinks in water!

A priest, an evangelist, and a minister were in a row boat in the middle of a lake fishing. None of them had caught anything all morning but were out of bait. The evangelist stands up and says he needs to go get more bait, so he climbs out of the boat and walks on the water to shore. He comes back ten minutes later the same way. 

Then the minister decides he needs to go get something to drink, so he climbs out of the boat and walks on the water to shore. He, too, comes back the same way ten minutes later. 
       
The priest looks at both of them and decides that his faith is just as strong as his fishing buddies and that he can walk on water, too. He stands up and excuses himself. As he steps out, he makes a big splash down into the water. The evangelist looks at the minister and says, "I suppose we should have told him where the rocks were."

We humans are always looking for a way to “explain” how Jesus walked on the water and not just accepting the fact that He could when it was necessary to show the Disciples who He was.

Miracles that happen around us today (and they do happen) continue to display His presence and desire to extend His grace to all.

Those people who fail to see God’s miracles aren’t looking. Just in the last few weeks Israeli forces are talking about demonstrated Hamas rocket flight paths that deviated away from population centers at the last minute with no apparent cause and the location of sudden fogs that hid IDF movements from enemy actions and the like.

We continue to ask God for miracles and either don’t recognize them when they come or just outright disbelieve that they happened. It’s when (like Peter) we think we have a part in them that we fail utterly.

Jesus’ disciples are experiencing a storm at sea which can be a very frightening experience. I’ve been in 35 foot sea swells on a ship and it ain’t a fun experience.

Jesus comes to them and calms the seas and gives them peace. He goes on to change these bunch of people into the strongest, most effective disciples and missionaries the world has ever seen.

Isn’t that the greatest miracle Jesus can give us, that when we were sinners He died for us, to give us eternal life?

All we need, as Jesus tells Peter, is faith that will remove doubt.

Friends, look around in faith and see those miracles around us. It will change your life. Amen.

WISDOM FOR THE AGES
Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52

Do you remember these great commercial tag lines of the past?

"The king of beers." (Budweiser)

"M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand." (M&M candies)

"Don't leave home without it." (American Express)

"Reach out and touch someone" (AT&T)

"Takes a licking and keeps on ticking." (Timex)

“Hey Mikey…He Likes It!” (Life Cereal)

 

Here are the top ten all time according to Ad Magazine:

1. Diamonds are forever (DeBeers)

2. Just do it (Nike)

3. The pause that refreshes (Coca-Cola)

4. Tastes great, less filling (Miller Lite)

5. We try harder (Avis)

6. Good to the last drop (Maxwell House)

7. Breakfast of champions (Wheaties)

8. Does she ... or doesn't she? (Clairol)

9. When it rains it pours (Morton Salt)

10. Where's the beef? (Wendy's)

 

 “Oh, you’ll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with _____.”  Sometimes you can’t stop – it’s like singing TV theme songs (try “Green Acres” or “The Beverly Hillbillies.” There are even Patriotic/political ones: “Uncle Sam wants ____!” or “I like Ike,” or “All the Way with LBJ.”

 

But if you don’t have the cultural reference points to understand these sayings you won’t get it and the words sound pretty stupid, perhaps even insulting.

 

Words and messages like these are designed to both catch your attention and teach you a message. Jesus’ parables are designed the same way. They take something from Jesus’ culture and Jewish heritage and relate it to God’s coming Kingdom so that hearers of Jesus could understand Him and God’s nature better.

 

They also were designed to blister and baffle the ears of those who weren’t in on the message. We have a common heritage in our Judeo-Christian culture that allows us to understand and hear Jesus’ words in a way that we can still understand even 2000 years later.

 

In the passage I will read shortly Jesus talks about the smallest seed imaginable to humans having the greatest growth potential of all plants.

Jesus goes on talk about yeast as a catalyst for growth, comparing yeast to what faith can do in a life, and talks about earthly versus heavenly wealth. Listen to Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52:

 

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; ³²it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

 

³³He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

 

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

 

⁴⁵“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; ⁴⁶on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

 

⁴⁷“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; ⁴⁸when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. ⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age.

 

The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁵¹“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.”

 

 ⁵²And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

 

Jesus’ disciples had to take a minute when they were alone with Jesus to ask, “What’s up with all the parables?” He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never under-standing; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!"

In plain words, parables are used to help some people understand and make it impossible for others to understand. Some people will always mishear, over interpret, or make an error of reference in trying to understand. People around us do this to us everyday – why would Jesus think people were any different from today?

Let me give you an example of messing with the minds Jesus did with a parable. Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

 

To us it seems fairly obvious what this parable is trying to convey. A small amount of yeast added to the dough makes an enormous difference to what type of bread you get. It must be well mixed in or the bread will be uneven and lumpy.

 

But to Jesus’ listeners there is a very surprising element to this parable. Yeast was normally associated with evil in Jewish culture. Later Jesus would say to his disciples, "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

 

In the Book of Exodus, the Jews are taught to bake unleavened bread – bread without yeast, as they celebrate the Feasts of God. You can imagine the reaction – “What! The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast?”

 

Jesus would not have got the same reaction if he had said “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the drop of olive oil that a woman put on her bread.” Although the spiritual lesson would be similar, the impact would be completely lost. You wouldn’t react, so the saying would not be memorable.

 

Jesus is using the contrast to encourage His followers to get “outside the box” of their “Jewishness,” to understand new concepts. Yeast becomes a metaphor for the working of the Holy Spirit as it nurtures and increases the faith of the believer, a faith that nurtures even the tiniest of seeds into huge trees.

 

The Kingdom of Heaven and Faith in Jesus is not something to be mastered – it is a mystery of Love, sacrifice, and Grace. It must be lived, not practiced and then put on a shelf to be admired as Jewish orthodoxy became.

 

Just like the Bible, which has a beginning and an end, so too is the life of the seed of faith. It is planted, watered, germinates, grows, and will be harvested in season.

But Jesus also reminds us of the price of not hearing and listening: “But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolators, and all liars – their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”  (Revelation 21: 8).

 

Jesus tells us allegorically that Hell will be full of two types of people:  those who will do anything, and those who will not do anything.

 

It’s why we have the vision of the street corner prophet with the sign, “Repent, the end is near!” It never hurts for us to remember that someday soon Jesus will be returning to claim His harvest and destroy the weeds and tares among the good seed. Amen.