Gospel for February 12, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 5:21-37
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Jesus continues to lay down the new “law” of the Kingdom of God in the Sermon on the Mount.  In a sense, this is a continuation of the tenth commandment of the Decalogue of Moses.  Here’s what I mean — covetousness covers the motivations behind many of the sins prohibited in the Ten Commandments.  It might be said that adultery and theft begin in the heart, with covetousness.

Jesus is expanding the logic of this concept — that all sin begins in the heart. As he says later, in chapter 15:

 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies (Matthew 15:18-19).

However, Jesus is also establishing his own unique authority as the giver of a New Covenant:

 You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times… But I say to you…

Jesus repeats this phrase six times, addressing murder/anger, adultery/lust, marriage/divorce, oaths, retaliation/mercy, and how to treat enemies.

The most serious example of a human sin against other humans is murder. The ancient law is established by the Law of Moses in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13).  Jesus delves beneath the surface of murder, and addresses the roots of murder — anger and dehumanization.

He recognizes that an attitude of hostility and dehumanization precedes violence.  Anger, insults, or calling someone fool — which is to say that someone is useless, stupid and godless — is extremely serious.  Those guilty of such attitudes are liable to judgment, and even the hell of fire.  They have cut themselves off from their brothers and sisters, and they have cut themselves off from God.

Jesus offers the solution to such a breach in relationship — seek reconciliation:

So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

An underlying message here has to do with worship.  Along with the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus understands that worship is not merely a matter of ritual. It is not enough for the worshiper to focus vertically, on his relationship with God; he must also be focused horizontally on his relationship with his brothers and sisters.

Jesus also addresses lawsuits as he stresses the importance of reconciliation.  He advocates settling with an accuser out of court, as it were, in order to avoid the risky uncertainty of an arbitrary judge.  Jesus is not only concerned with healing relationships — he is also very pragmatic and realistic about justice in an unjust world:

your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Jesus then takes up another key relational law from the Ten Commandments — adultery.  Again, he looks beneath the surface at the motivation of adultery:

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

As with anger, the seeds of the sin of lust are sown in the heart long before they are manifested in action.  Like anger, lust is dehumanizing and objectifying.

His advice concerning the eradication of lust is radical.  The eye and the hand are potential agents of lust, and he advises that the eye and the hand must be ripped out or cut off if they endanger the soul.  Better that:

than for your whole body to go into hell.

Jesus then departs from consideration of laws from the Ten Commandments, and addresses the issue of divorce.  He cites the law given by Moses that permits a man to divorce a woman, from Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  The grounds for divorce given by Moses were fairly light — she could be divorced if the husband found something objectionable about her, or if he merely disliked her.

Jesus has a much higher bar for divorce.  For the disciple, divorce is only permissible in the event of a wife’s unchastity.  Remarriage to a divorced woman was also regarded as adultery.

What this suggests is his high estimation of marriage.  Later in the Gospel of Matthew, the tension is building between Jesus and the Pharisees.  The Pharisees push him concerning his teaching on marriage, and his strict view of divorce, and they ask him if divorce is lawful for any cause.  In that highly patriarchal, male dominated culture, a man could divorce his wife if she displeased him in any way.  All of the power lay with the husband.

Jesus first defends the sacred nature of marriage.  First he quotes Genesis 1:27, which establishes the fundamental equality of men and women, who are both created in the image of God:

Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ (Matthew 19:4).

Note that he is citing their own Scriptures to establish this principle of equality between male and female.

Second, he cites Genesis 2:24 to demonstrate the unique sexual and emotional union that exists in a marriage between a man and a woman:

 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate (Matthew 19:5-6).

When he is challenged by the Pharisees, who cite Moses’ law permitting divorce, Jesus tells them that this law was a concession to their sinful natures:

It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so (Matthew 19:8).

Jesus makes it clear that true, inward holiness must exceed mere external observation.

Finally, Jesus addresses the issue of integrity in relationship to oaths and promises.  He cites the law from Numbers 30:2 concerning vows made before Yahweh.  He is criticizing a culture that has developed escalating levels of vows — by heaven, or earth, or Jerusalem.  These oaths are used in order to convince others of the oath-maker’s sincerity.  This would suggest a culture that has developed a lack of confidence in honesty.

Jesus insists that the disciple’s integrity shouldn’t be based on things that are beyond his or her control:

 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Instead, vows are based on the honesty of the individual:

 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Again, as with the other examples of righteousness, Jesus stresses the inward integrity of the disciple.

APPLY:  

In a culture like ours, these words of Jesus may be hard to hear.  We have become accustomed to excusing our weaknesses and failings.  Anger and name-calling have become political rallying cries.  Pornography and sensuality have become mainstream indulgences.  Divorce statistics suggest that Christian marriages are no more stable than non-Christian marriages — even among pastors and bishops. Promises are merely words — “alternative facts.”

The truth is, Jesus’ standards for righteousness are far higher than the Mosaic Law.  Christians have grown accustomed to “dumbing them down” or explaining them away.  But it is impossible to find any excuses in the teaching of Jesus, the Sinless One.

Except this. When Peter asks Jesus whether he should forgive his brother seven times, perhaps expecting to be praised for his mercy, Jesus says something very surprising:

I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22).

Jesus doesn’t mean that our forgiveness is limited to 490 times.  Seven is a number denoting perfection in Scripture.  Seventy times seven likely means that we are to forgive perfectly, even infinitely.  We are to forgive as we are forgiven. (See The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:12, 14-15.)

In other words, the only way that we can apply these teachings about anger, lust, divorce and marriage, and vows is through God’s grace revealed in Christ.  The standards of holiness and righteousness are not relaxed for the Christian — in fact, they are intense.  But they are also impossible …. unless …. we submit to Christ who has fulfilled the law and the prophets on our behalf, and then imputes and imparts his grace to us.  It is God’s Spirit, working in and through us, that empowers us to live the holy life that we are taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

I quote Paul, as I have so often before:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

What God commands us to do he will give us the grace and strength to obey.

RESPOND: 

The difficulty of living out the demands of the Gospel leads us so often to moral failure.

Are the expectations of Jesus impossible?  Yes, if we try to live them out in our own strength and according to our own standards.  But no, not if we surrender our lives and will to Christ and allow his Holy Spirit to work in and through us.  And if we remember that if and when we fall, we can turn to Christ for forgiveness.

Lord, your standards for righteousness are so high I cannot achieve them.  I get angry over silly things.  I find my eyes and my mind wandering in lust at times.  Although I’ve never been divorced, marriage has sometimes been tough.  Keeping my promises can be challenging.  Thank you for your mercy and forgiveness; and thank you that you call me to holiness, and that you are the one who makes that possible.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“You have heard it said…” is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for February 12, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul is very blunt with the young church at Corinth.  He tells them that they are still immature in their faith and understanding — they are babies in Christ.

He continues this metaphor, pointing out that when he taught them Christian doctrine he had to feed them milk, not meat.  Like babies, they weren’t ready to digest “solid” doctrine.

Paul then supplies evidence to prove that they were too immature for the deeper things of God, and are still too immature — they are fussing with one another!

For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?

The prime example of the factionalism at Corinth is their cliquishness and division into groups loyal to their favorite preachers — Paul and Apollos.

This gives Paul the opportunity to clarify the relationship of preachers to Christ:

 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him?

He also is able to explore the different roles of preachers and apostles in Christian ministry:

I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.

Paul is able to differentiate the stages of a vital ministry, and also anticipates the variety of spiritual gifts that he will describe later in this same letter:

There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord. There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all (1 Corinthians 12:5-7).

But ultimately, the focus is to be on God who works through his servants and who gives the increase:

So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

He also makes clear that there is no superiority or subordination of planter or waterer — they both receive a reward based on their work.

Finally, Paul returns to his agricultural metaphor, and adds a metaphor from the world of construction:

For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.

Paul makes it clear that he labors for the church because the church belongs to God, even if its members are still immature.  He is rooting for them to grow up into the church God intends them to become.

APPLY:  

One of the goals of the Christian life is growing up.  The Apostle Peter uses language very similar to Paul’s metaphor:

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation (1 Peter 2:2).

All Christians begin as spiritual babies who need to be nurtured carefully so they can grow up in faith.  Paul’s frustration is that the Corinthians are acting immaturely — fussing and fighting with one another instead of humbly admitting what they don’t know.  Such factionalism is a symptom of spiritual immaturity.

Paul makes it clear that the source of our Christian growth and maturity is not our favorite pastor, or some extraordinary preacher — the only task of a pastor, preacher, evangelist or teacher is to serve God, whether they are planting or watering in God’s garden.  God gives the growth.

The focus, both for the preacher and the people, is to make the “main thing the main thing” — the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

RESPOND: 

Over the years as a pastor, I have noted a long succession of plans and programs that were designed to “help the church grow.”  “Church growth” was the battle cry in my denomination, and we used various metrics to measure growth.

Some of these programs were actually helpful.  But over time it has become clear to me that the role of the pastor/preacher is not to “grow” the church.  The role of the pastor/preacher is to humbly serve God, preach the Gospel, and get out of the way!

We may plant.  We may water.  But it is God who gives the increase.  One layman in my congregation said something very wise that I never forgot — “What good does it do for the church numbers to grow if the church members don’t grow with it?”

Lord, you call us to grow in grace as individuals and as a church.  Help us to focus on your Gospel, and not pick sides on issues and personalities in the church, so that we may become what you mean for us to become.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"1 Corinthians 3 verse 6" used this photo:
"rice stages, seed germination" by IRRI Photos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for February 12, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 119:1-8
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 119 is an example of acrostic literature in the Hebrew Bible, which means in this case that each stanza begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Acrostic patterns also occur in four of the five songs of Lamentations, in Proverbs 31, and in Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 119, and 145.

What sets Psalm 119 apart is that it is the longest Psalm — and the longest book — in the entire Bible.  Psalm 119:1-8, our lectionary text, features the Hebrew letter Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet.

The central theme of Psalm 119 is the supreme value of the law.

The initial word of each of the first two lines sets the tone for the entire Psalm:

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to Yahweh’s law.
Blessed are those who keep his statutes,
who seek him with their whole heart.

The emphasis is on the practice of the law, not merely the knowledge of the law.  The blessed are those who walk according to Yahweh’s law, and who seek him with their whole heart.  This law is both external and internal. It is both lifestyle (walking) and attitude (whole heart).

The Psalmist continues to focus on the blamelessness that results from obedience to the law:

Yes, they do nothing wrong.
They walk in his ways.

The expectation, though, is complete obedience, which leads the Psalmist to pray that he might be steadfast to obey God’s statutes.  If so, he concludes he wouldn’t be disappointed in his ability to fulfill all God’s commandments.

This suggests a certain level of humility in the Psalmist, perhaps a little anxiety that he won’t measure up.  But then he confidently proclaims his gratitude that he has learned of God’s righteous judgments.

And so there is a kind of ‘covenant’ that the Psalmist seems to ask for: 

I will observe your statutes.
Don’t utterly forsake me.

The Psalmist’s prayer is that if he seeks to obey the commandments, Yahweh will do his part to sustain him.

APPLY:  

The Christian’s attitude toward the law is shaped by the New Testament.  Jesus affirms that he has come to fulfill the law — but he also distinguishes between the law revealed by God and the interpretations of the law in the traditions of religious leaders.  And the Apostle Paul also affirms the divine origins of the law:

Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good (Romans 7:12).

Paul also speaks of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). 

And both Jesus and Paul declare that the law is most perfectly fulfilled by love — love for God and love for neighbor.

All of this is a reminder that the law reveals the holy and righteous character of God, but it is also a means of strengthening relationship with God and neighbor.

This is why the second line of Psalm 119 is so important:

Blessed are those who keep his statutes,
who seek him with their whole heart.

Keeping the statutes of God is a means of seeking God with our whole heart.  The trick is to remember that the laws and statutes aren’t an end in themselves, they are a means to an end.  For example, Jesus tells the Pharisees:

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).

Likewise, the law wasn’t given by God to be an oppressive weight, but to be a spiritual and moral guide for human beings.

RESPOND: 

A truck driver in one of my Bible study groups used an analogy concerning the law that reflects the attitude that many people seem to have.  He pointed out that there are white speed limit signs and yellow speed limit signs on our roads.  The white signs are usually speed limits that policemen enforce.  The yellow signs, indicating safe speeds for driving on a curve, etc., are “suggestions.”

Many people seem to think of the laws and the commandments of God as the “yellow” signs that are mere suggestions.  Underlying the laws and the commandments are the law of love and of the Spirit.  If we are truly seeking God, we find ourselves living out his law of love and the law of the Spirit with our whole heart.

Our Lord, your law is holy, just and good.  Help me to obey your law not for the sake of my holiness but for the sake of my relationship with you. Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"Psalm 119_7" by Baptist Union of Great Britain is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for February 12, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Moses addresses the people of Israel with the “Second Law” (the literal meaning of Deuteronomy). This law is a copy of the original law delivered decades earlier at Sinai, with some augmentations.

We are reminded that the people of Israel have been a nomadic nation for forty years in the Wilderness of Sinai after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.  Now, they have fought their way through hostile nations to the east bank of the Jordan River, in the shadow of Mount Pisgah.  They are on the eve of entering into the promised land of Canaan.

The term “Deuteronomic Theology” is relevant to our lectionary passage.  Part of this theological understanding is that Israel has been chosen by Yahweh as his covenant people.  This covenant means that Yahweh will be their God, and they will be his people, and will keep his law and commandments.  Another aspect of this Deuteronomic Theology is the notion that if Israel faithfully obeys the law, they will be blessed; if they don’t, they will be cursed.

There is a polarizing, binary set of alternatives that are presented to Israel:

Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil.

The choice for life and prosperity requires this:

to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.

There are a series of interconnecting steps in this process toward blessing:

• Love Yahweh.
• How are they to love Yahweh? Walk in his ways.
• How are they to walk in his ways? Obey his law.
• What will result? Life, fertility, land and blessing.

On the other hand, if their heart turns away from loving Yahweh and walking in his ways, it seems presupposed that they will be worshiping something — and that something will be other gods.  The result will be the reverse of all the blessings that are promised — they will perish and their days will be short.

Moses is invoking heaven and earth as witnesses to this solemn covenant.  Heaven and earth signifies the complete realm of creation, visible and invisible, spiritual and material.  Moses implores his people:

Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants; to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

This covenant, and the possession of the land of Canaan, is the fulfillment of the ancient promises that Yahweh had originally made to Abraham some 600 years earlier (Genesis 12:7).

APPLY:  

God’s covenant with his people is peculiar.  God is almighty, and holds all the cards.  Human beings, and our very existence, are contingent upon God’s favor and mercy.

God owes us nothing; we owe God everything.  And yet, God condescends to make covenants with human beings, and makes promises that if we are faithful and obedient to him, we will be blessed.

And if we are disobedient to God, we will suffer the consequences.  Again, I think that this is not because God is a capricious, punitive dictator.  Rather, we are blessed — or cursed — because God knows what is best for us.

If we love God, and we choose to walk in his ways, our lifestyle conforms to what we might call God’s “best practices” for our lives.  Chances are very good that if our lifestyle is “Biblical,” we will be faithful in our relationships, honest, healthy, and good stewards of our resources.

Conversely, a life that resists God’s laws and commandments is far more likely to experience unfaithfulness in relationships, the fruits of dishonesty, and other serious consequences.

A life that is devoted to loving God, walking with God, and obeying his commandments is more likely to be more fulfilled and at peace, internally and externally.

RESPOND: 

One of the prayers from my own tradition is known as John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer.  This prayer is especially precious to me, and I repeat it often.

It is a reminder to me that God is holy, transcendent, and has absolute power; and that I am a sinner saved by grace, and that my very existence is contingent upon him.  So, in this prayer, I surrender completely to God, with the confidence that God loves me and cares for me.

This relationship between God and ourselves is at the heart of the concept of covenant.  I can think of no more appropriate closing prayer than Wesley’s prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

PHOTOS:
“John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer”

Gospel for February 12, 2017

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Matthew 5:21-37

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Jesus continues to lay down the new “law” of the Kingdom of God in the Sermon on the Mount.  In a sense, this is a continuation of the tenth commandment of the Decalogue of Moses.  Here’s what I mean — covetousness covers the motivations behind many of the sins prohibited in the Ten Commandments.  It might be said that adultery and theft begin in the heart, with covetousness.

Jesus is expanding the logic of this concept — that all sin begins in the heart. As he says later, in chapter 15:

 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies (Matthew 15:18-19).

However, Jesus is also establishing his own unique authority as the giver of a New Covenant:

 You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times …. But I say to you….

Jesus repeats this phrase six times, addressing murder/anger, adultery/lust, marriage/divorce, oaths, retaliation/mercy, and how to treat enemies.

The most serious example of a human sin against other humans is murder. The ancient law is established by the Law of Moses in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13).  Jesus delves beneath the surface of murder, and addresses the roots of murder — anger and dehumanization.

He recognizes that an attitude of hostility and dehumanization precedes violence.  Anger, insults,  or calling someone  fool — which is to say that someone is useless, stupid and godless — is extremely serious.  Those guilty of such attitudes are liable to judgment, and even the hell of fire.  They have cut themselves off from their brothers and sisters, and they have cut themselves off from God.

Jesus offers the solution to such a breach in relationship — seek reconciliation:

So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,  leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

An underlying message here has to do with worship.  Along with the prophets of the Old Testament, Jesus understands that worship is not merely a matter of ritual. It is not enough for the worshiper to focus vertically, on his relationship with God; he must also be focused horizontally on his relationship with his brothers and sisters.

Jesus also addresses lawsuits as he stresses the importance of reconciliation.  He advocates settling with an accuser out of court, as it were, in order to avoid the risky uncertainty of  an arbitrary judge.  Jesus is not only concerned with healing relationships — he is also very pragmatic and realistic about justice in an unjust world:

your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Jesus then takes up another key relational law from the Ten Commandments — adultery.  Again, he looks beneath the surface at the motivation of adultery:

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

As with anger, the seeds of the sin of lust are sown in the heart long before they are manifested in action.  Like anger, lust is dehumanizing and objectifying.

His advice concerning the eradication of lust is radical.  The eye and the hand are potential agents of lust, and he advises that the eye and the hand must be ripped out or cut off if they endanger the soul.  Better that:

than for your whole body to go into hell.

Jesus then departs from consideration of laws from the Ten Commandments, and addresses the issue of divorce.  He cites the law given by Moses that permits a man to divorce a woman, from Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  The grounds for divorce given by Moses were fairly light — she could be divorced if the husband found something objectionable about her, or if he merely disliked her.

Jesus has a much higher bar for divorce.  For the disciple, divorce is only permissible in the event of a wife’s unchastity.  Remarriage to a divorced woman was also regarded as adultery.

What this suggests is his high estimation of marriage.  Later in the Gospel of Matthew, the tension is building between Jesus and the Pharisees.  The Pharisees push him concerning his teaching on marriage, and his strict view of divorce, and they ask him if divorce is lawful for any cause.  In that highly patriarchal, male dominated culture, a man could divorce his wife if she displeased him in any way.  All of the power lay with the husband.

Jesus  first defends the sacred nature of marriage.  First he quotes Genesis 1:27, which establishes the fundamental equality of men and women, who are both created in the image of God:

Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ (Matthew 19:4).

Note that he is citing their own Scriptures to establish this principle of equality between male and female.

Second, he cites Genesis 2:24 to demonstrate the unique sexual and emotional union that exists in a marriage between a man and a woman:

 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate (Matthew 19:5-6).

When he is challenged by the Pharisees, who cite Moses’ law permitting divorce, Jesus tells them that this law was a concession to their sinful natures:

It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so (Matthew 19:8).

Jesus makes it clear that true, inward holiness must exceed mere external observation.

Finally, Jesus addresses the issue of integrity in relationship to oaths and promises.  He cites the law from Numbers 30:2 concerning vows made before Yahweh.  He is criticizing a culture that has developed escalating levels of vows — by heaven, or earth, or Jerusalem.  These oaths are used in order to convince others of the oath-makers’ sincerity.  This would suggest a culture that has developed a lack of confidence in honesty.

Jesus insists that the disciple’s integrity shouldn’t be based on things that are beyond his or her control:

 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Instead, vows are based on the honesty of the individual:

 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Again, as with the other examples of righteousness,  Jesus stresses the inward integrity of the disciple.

APPLY:  

In a culture like ours, these words of Jesus may be hard to hear.  We have become accustomed to excusing our weaknesses and failings.  Anger and name-calling have become political rallying cries.  Pornography and sensuality have become mainstream indulgences.  Divorce statistics suggest that Christian marriages are no more stable than non-Christian marriages — even among pastors and bishops. Promises are merely words — “alternative facts.”

The truth is, Jesus’ standards for righteousness are far higher than the Mosaic Law.  Christians have grown accustomed to “dumbing them down” or explaining them away.  But it is impossible to find any excuses in the teaching of Jesus, the Sinless One.

Except this. When Peter asks Jesus whether he should forgive his brother seven times, perhaps expecting to be praised for his mercy, Jesus says something very surprising:

I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22).

Jesus doesn’t mean that our forgiveness is limited to 490 times.  Seven is a number denoting perfection in Scripture.  Seventy times seven likely means that we are to forgive perfectly, even infinitely.  We are to forgive as we are forgiven. (See The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:12, 14-15.)

In other words, the only way that we can apply these teachings about anger, lust, divorce and marriage, and vows is through God’s grace revealed in Christ.  The standards of holiness and righteousness are not relaxed for the Christian —  in fact, they are intense.  But they are also impossible …. unless …. we submit to Christ who has fulfilled the law and the prophets on our behalf, and then imputes and imparts his grace to us.  It is God’s Spirit, working in and through us, that empowers us to live the holy life that we are taught in the Sermon on the Mount.

I quote Paul, as I have so often before:

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).

What God commands us to do he will give us the grace and strength to obey.

RESPOND: 

The difficulty of living out the demands of the Gospel lead us so often to moral failure.

Are the expectations of Jesus impossible?  Yes, if we try to live them out in our own strength and according to our own standards.  But no, not if we surrender our lives and will to Christ and allow his Holy Spirit to work in and through us.  And if we remember that if and when we fall, we can turn to Christ for forgiveness.

Lord, your standards for righteousness are so high I cannot achieve them.  I get angry over silly things.  I find my eyes and my mind wandering in lust at times.  Although I’ve never been divorced, marriage has sometimes been tough.  Keeping my promises can be challenging.  Thank you for your mercy and forgiveness; and thank you that you call me to holiness, and that you are the one who makes that possible.  Amen. 

PHOTO:
“You have heard it said…” is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Epistle for February 12, 2017

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul is very blunt with the young church at Corinth.  He tells them that they are still immature in their faith and understanding — they are babies in Christ.

He continues this metaphor, pointing out that when he taught them Christian doctrine he had to feed them milk, not meat.  Like babies, they weren’t ready to digest “solid” doctrine.

Paul then supplies evidence to prove that they were too immature for the deeper things of God, and are still too immature — they are fussing with one another!

For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?

The prime example of the factionalism at Corinth is their cliquishness and division into groups loyal to their favorite preachers — Paul and Apollos.

This gives Paul the opportunity to clarify the relationship of preachers to Christ:

 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him?

He also is able to explore the different roles of preachers and apostles in Christian ministry:

I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.

Paul is able to differentiate the stages of a vital ministry, and also anticipates the variety of spiritual gifts that he will describe later in this same letter:

There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord. There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all (1 Corinthians 12:5-7).

But ultimately, the focus is to be on God who works through his servants and who gives the increase:

So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

He also makes clear that there is no superiority or subordination of planter or waterer — they both receive a reward based on their work.

Finally, Paul returns to his agricultural metaphor, and adds a metaphor from the world of construction:

For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.

Paul makes it clear that he labors for the church because the church belongs to God, even if its members are still immature.  He is rooting for them to grow up into the church God intends them to become.

APPLY:  

One of the goals of the Christian life is growing up.  The Apostle Peter uses language very similar to Paul’s metaphor:

Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—(1 Peter 2:2).

All Christians begin as spiritual babies who need to be nurtured carefully so they can grow up in faith.  Paul’s frustration is that the Corinthians are acting immaturely — fussing and fighting with one another instead of humbly admitting what they don’t know.  Such factionalism is a symptom of  spiritual immaturity.

Paul makes it clear that the source of our Christian growth and maturity is not our favorite pastor, or some extraordinary preacher — the only task of a pastor, preacher, evangelist or teacher is to serve God, whether they are planting or watering in God’s garden .  God gives the growth.

The focus, both for the preacher and the people, is to make the “main thing the main thing” — the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

RESPOND: 

Over the years as a pastor, I have noted a long succession of plans and programs that were designed to “help the church grow.”  “Church growth” was the battle cry in my denomination, and we used various metrics to measure growth.

Some of these programs were actually helpful.  But over time it has become clear to me that the role of the pastor/preacher is not to “grow” the church.  The role of the pastor/preacher is to humbly serve God, preach the Gospel, and get out of the way!

We may plant.  We may water.  But it is God who gives the increase.  One layman in my congregation said something very wise that I never forgot — “What good does it do for the church numbers to grow if the church members don’t grow with it?”

Lord, you call us to grow in grace as individuals and as a church.  Help us to focus on your Gospel, and not pick sides on issues and personalities in the church, so that we may become what you mean for us to become.  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"1 Corinthians 3 verse 6" used this photo:
"rice stages, seed germination" by IRRI Photos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.

Psalm Reading for February 12, 2017

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Psalm 119:1-8

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Psalm 119 is an example of acrostic literature in the Hebrew Bible,  which means in this case that each stanza begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Acrostic patterns also occur in four of the five songs of Lamentations, in Proverbs 31, and in Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 119, and 145.

What sets Psalm 119 apart is that it is the longest Psalm — and the longest book — in the entire Bible.  Psalm 119:1-8, our lectionary text, features the Hebrew letter Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet.

The central theme of Psalm 119 is the supreme value of the law.

The initial word of each of the first two lines sets the tone for the entire Psalm:

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to Yahweh’s law.
Blessed are those who keep his statutes,
who seek him with their whole heart.

The emphasis is on the practice of the law, not merely the knowledge of the law.  The blessed are those who walk according to Yahweh’s law, and who seek him with their whole heart.  This law is both external and internal. It is both lifestyle (walking) and attitude (whole heart).

The Psalmist continues to focus on the blamelessness that results from obedience to the law:

Yes, they do nothing wrong.
They walk in his ways.

The expectation, though, is complete obedience, which leads the Psalmist to pray that he might be steadfast to obey God’s statutes.  If so, he concludes he wouldn’t be disappointed in his ability to fulfill all God’s commandments.

This suggests a certain level of humility in the Psalmist, perhaps a little anxiety that he won’t measure up.  But then he confidently proclaims his gratitude that he has learned of God’s righteous judgments.

And so there is a kind of ‘covenant’ that the Psalmist seems to ask for: 

I will observe your statutes.
Don’t utterly forsake me.

The Psalmist’s prayer is that if he seeks to obey the commandments, Yahweh will do his part to sustain him.

APPLY:  

The Christian’s attitude toward the law is shaped by the New Testament.  Jesus affirms that he has come to fulfill the law — but he also distinguishes between the law revealed by God and the interpretations of the law in the traditions of religious leaders.  And the Apostle Paul also affirms the divine origins of the law:

Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good (Romans 7:12).

Paul also speaks of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). 

And both Jesus and Paul declare that the law is most perfectly fulfilled by love — love for God and love for neighbor.

All of this is a reminder that the law reveals the holy and righteous character of God, but it is also a means of strengthening relationship with God and neighbor.

This is why the second line of Psalm 119 is so important:

Blessed are those who keep his statutes,
who seek him with their whole heart.

Keeping the statutes of God is a means of seeking God with our whole heart.  The trick is to remember that the laws and statutes aren’t an end in themselves, they are a means to an end.  For example, Jesus tells the Pharisees:

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).

Likewise, the law wasn’t given by God to be an oppressive weight, but to be a spiritual and moral guide for human beings.

RESPOND: 

A truck driver in one of my Bible study groups used an analogy concerning the law that reflects the attitude that many people seem to have.  He pointed out that there are white speed limit signs and yellow speed limit signs on our roads.  The white signs are usually speed limits that policemen enforce.  The yellow signs, indicating safe speeds for driving on a curve, etc.,  are “suggestions.”

Many people seem to think of the laws and the commandments of God as the “yellow” signs that are mere suggestions.  Underlying the laws and the commandments are the law of love and of the Spirit.  If we are truly seeking God, we find ourselves  living out his law of love and the law of the Spirit with our whole heart.

Our Lord, your law is holy, just and good.  Help me to obey your law not for the sake of my holiness but for the sake of my relationship with you. Amen. 

PHOTOS:
"Psalm 199:1-2" by Martin LaBar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for February 12, 2017

Start with Scripture:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Moses addresses the people of Israel with the “Second Law” (the literal meaning of Deuteronomy).  This law is a copy of the original law delivered decades earlier at Sinai, with some augmentations.

We are reminded that the people of Israel have been a nomadic nation for forty years in the Wilderness of Sinai after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.  Now, they have fought their way through hostile nations to the east bank of the Jordan River, in the shadow of Mount Pisgah.  They are on the eve of entering into the promised land of Canaan.

The term “Deuteronomic Theology” is relevant to our lectionary passage.  Part of this theological understanding is that Israel has been chosen by Yahweh as his covenant people.  This covenant means that Yahweh will be their God, and they will be his people, and will keep his law and commandments.  Another aspect of this Deuteronomic Theology is the notion that if Israel faithfully obeys the law, they will be blessed; if they don’t, they will be cursed.

There is a polarizing, binary set of alternatives that are presented to Israel:

Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil.

The choice for life and prosperity requires this:

to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.

There are a series of interconnecting steps in this process toward blessing:

• Love Yahweh.
• How are they to love Yahweh? walk in his ways.
• How are they to walk in his ways? Obey his law.
• What will result? Life, fertility, land and blessing.

On the other hand, if their heart turns away from loving Yahweh and walking in his ways, it seems presupposed that they will be worshiping something — and that something will be other gods.  The result will be the reverse of all the blessings that are promised — they will perish and their days will be short.

Moses is invoking heaven and earth as witnesses to this solemn covenant.  Heaven and earth signifies the complete realm of creation, visible and invisible, spiritual and material.  Moses implores his people:

Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants; to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

This covenant, and the possession of the land of Canaan, is the fulfillment of the ancient promises that Yahweh had originally made to Abraham some 600 years earlier (Genesis 12:7).

APPLY:  

God’s covenant with his people is peculiar.  God is almighty, and holds all the cards.  Human beings, and our very existence, are contingent upon God’s favor and mercy.

God owes us nothing; we owe God everything.  And yet, God condescends to make covenants with human beings, and makes promises that if we are faithful and obedient to him, we will be blessed.

And if we are disobedient to God, we will suffer the consequences.  Again, I think that this is not because God is a capricious, punitive dictator.  Rather, we are blessed — or cursed — because God knows what is best for us.

If we love God, and we choose to walk in his ways, our lifestyle conforms to what we might call God’s “best practices” for our lives.  Chances are very good that if our lifestyle is “Biblical,” we will be faithful in our relationships, honest, healthy, and good stewards of our resources.

Conversely, a life that resists God’s laws and commandments is far more likely to experience unfaithfulness in relationships, the fruits of dishonesty, and other serious consequences.

A life that is devoted to loving God, walking with God, and obeying his commandments is more likely be more fulfilled and at peace, internally and externally.

RESPOND: 

One of the prayers from my own tradition is known as John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer.  This prayer is especially precious to me, and I repeat it often.

It is a reminder to me that God is holy, transcendent and has absolute power, and that I am a sinner saved by grace, and that my very existence is contingent upon him.  So, in this prayer, I surrender completely to God, with the confidence that God loves me and cares for me.

This relationship between God and ourselves is at the heart of the concept of covenant.  I can think of no more appropriate closing prayer than Wesley’s prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

PHOTOS:
“John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer”