Journey to the Cross 2017, Day 13

Wednesday, Day 13:  Matthew 14             

Chapter 14 of Matthew is the chapter for today!

I had forgotten that Herod the tetrarch thought Jesus was John the Baptist . . . . We just learned in Chapter 11 that John was in prison – and doubting – and we heard Jesus’ affirmation of John. And now we hear the story of how ‘the greatest man ever born of a woman’ (as Jesus called John the Baptist) died . . . a horrible, unfair death.

A myriad of emotions well up in me while considering John the Baptist: grief over how he died; honor for how he lived; joy for what and whom he proclaimed; agony that he was a victim of a horrible crime – and that they ‘got away with it;’ vulnerability for feeling somehow at risk myself – for the reality of the unresolved that still needs clarity in far more minor situations of being called to speak truth, including speaking God’s truth – and feeling the message is rejected – and sometimes the messenger as well . . . . Been there. Done that. Yet I know that all I am called to do is be faithful. Still, I want the fairy tale ending. I want grateful appreciation and understanding, justice served, wrongs to be righted, God’s vindication to occur when appropriate. I want the prince on the white horse to gallop in at just the right moment and vanquish all foes. I’ve obviously watched Cinderella and Snow White at least one too many times.

In the real world, even when we are absolutely certain God has directed us to do something specific, the outcome is not always what we anticipated. My job is to be obedient, just like John the Baptist was – and if I have doubts, to go directly to the One who can quell them. To be faithful, and let all the rest be His responsibility to take care of. And to stay close to Him. Close through His Word, close through prayer, close in worship and Christian Fellowship. Like the fully human side of Jesus, I sometimes want to run off by myself to grapple with my pain.

What Jesus wanted after John the Baptist died was some time to be alone. What he got was a huge crowd to minister to – to heal their sick and at the end of the day, to feed them. He didn’t get what he wanted – but I think He got what He actually needed. He needed to minister. It was the ‘occupy until I come’ kind of model that we need for our lives.

The crowd included 5,000 men – then women and children were on top of that. When we hear about the ‘feeding of the 5,000’ in reality it was a much larger group, and at the end of the day – after their other needs had been met – they were hungry. Jesus told the disciples the people didn’t need to go away to the town to get food, that they were to feed them. So they went looking for resources, and they found one kid with a sack lunch – 5 little rolls and 2 small fish. Out of all of those people, only one little kid came with a lunch. (I can hear his mother: Yes, you can go – but don’t you leave this house without some food. You never know how long you will be gone so you better be prepared. Do you hear me? Grab some bread and fish before you walk out that door!)

I love that kid. He was God’s kid in God’s place at God’s time. Can you imagine how he might have felt when the disciples approached him and said, Hey, son, you’re the only one here with food. Could you come with us to Yeshua (Jesus)? He told us we have to feed all these people, and – well, it sounds a little crazy, but we were there when he turned water into wine at a wedding banquet, so just maybe . . . would you be willing to come with us to see if He can use what you have to feed all of these people? And the little boy went. Bless his heart. I want to meet that child in heaven and thank him for being faithful in that moment.   Totally unselfish!  Love him!

John the Baptist had just died. Jesus knew He was in the last months of his time on earth. He was fully human as well as fully divine. He was grieving. He was healing. He was multi-tasking! What a wonderful reminder that we must minister to others along the journey – wherever we are on that journey  – even when we are in pain. And out of the abundance of the heart  – those are not only words, but actions that prove His residency in us, with us, through us, among us.

At the north end of the Sea of Galilee there is a natural amphitheater where thousands could sit and still hear every word Jesus said. When I stood there I visualized this scene. Hordes of hungry people – hungry for truth, and literally hungry – having one of the biggest picnics imaginable – all from this one child’s lunch. And in the end, twelve baskets full of leftovers were gathered.

O K - I am taking a ‘human’ moment here! In the Bible it says basketfuls, but I think it has to be basketsful to be correct. It is the only typo I believe I have ever found in standard versions of the Bible – but I can’t help it, it just leaps out at me. I remember a teacher very clearly explaining to our class that it is spoonsful, not spoonfuls – and the same rule would apply . . . .  (I lament that repeated improper usage frequently becomes acceptable to the point of being included in dictionaries as a proper option….)

Now we come to one of my absolute favorite stories in the Bible. Peter is really why I am a Christian. You see, when I doubted God existed, and promised to recommit my life to Him if he would save my baby that I was pregnant with in the Fall of 1970, He ‘gave me’ Peter as my example. Impetuous Peter. Some people rank on Peter for taking his eyes off of Jesus and sinking – but most people would never have gotten out of the boat. This same Peter who walked on water, later faltered . . . but that’s a story for another day when we get there . . . . Anyway – Peter is very special to me. More to come . . . .

The Lord also says to me, “Take courage! Don’t be afraid.” Lord, may it be so . . . .

Humor for today:
Years ago, when I was worship leader one Sunday morning at Montesano Presbyterian Church, in Montesano, Washington, I was reading the prescribed portion of scripture during worship, and the passage included a statement about Jesus Christ. As soon as those words ‘Jesus Christ’ were spoken, a little boy in the back row said in a loud whisper to the lady who had brought him as a guest that day, “Can she say that in church?”

It was a very real moment – and obviously a teaching opportunity for the woman who brought the child to visit. It also served as a reminder that we get used to our church lingo – and that we need to be aware that not everyone who comes in understands what the words mean.

In fact, years later I was at a Women’s Spiritual retreat, and at our table we were talking about the topic of righteousness, and one lady said frankly, “I’ve been around church for a long time, and I’ve never known what that word means.” I told her that the easiest way to think of it is ‘right living by God’s standard’ not our own – that we have an idea of what living right would involve, but that God calls our righteousness ‘filthy rags’ – and that we have to learn how He wants us to live from His Word. She thanked me profusely – said she could understand that, and that no one had ever explained it before . . . .  

The reality is, that is only part of the truth of what righteousness is.  Later in life I learned the principle that righteousness is imputed to us by God at Salvation, and because He sees us through the filter of His Son He sees us as righteous – not because of anything we do – but because of what Jesus did. 

Now I see the two as Righteousness with a capital R and righteousness with a lower case r… the former is God’s Righteousness imputed to us, and the latter is what we do in response.  His Righteousness saves us, our intentionally trying to live up to the high standard He establishes in His Word (with the help of the Holy Spirit) is a reflection of our trying to honor what He has done in our lives.  There is an initial Salvation that gets us on the right road – but the working out of our salvation (aka sanctification) is a perpetual process. 

My pastor says this about that process, “God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way.”  - Pastor Peter

Thank you, Lord! 

Journey to the Cross, 2017: Second Sunday of Lent

The Second Sunday of Lent:  Matthew 11       

Because of his own deeply depressing, distressing, discouraging circumstances John the Baptist questioned whether Jesus was the One who was to come – or whether they should expect someone else. John’s followers had just made their report to John regarding all of the amazing miracles that were happening – a good report – and John’s response was, “Go ask him if he is the one who was to come, or if we should expect another?” I can barely believe that John had doubts. He was ‘the voice of one calling in the wilderness,’ preparing the way for the Lord. He is the one who said “One comes after me whose sandals I am not even worthy to untie.” John said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” John, in obedience, baptized Jesus in the river Jordan, and heard the voice of God saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” John’s whole life and whole purpose in life was linked to Jesus – and John doubted.

Permit me a bunny trail here. I am sooooooooo grateful that Matthew and Luke record this accurately. My husband is not a believer – and one of his beliefs is that ‘a bunch of people got together and wrote the Bible – made up a lot of stories – and that’s all it is – stories.’ I cannot be his Holy Spirit – but I certainly can contest that statement.  If the Bible is just a bunch of stories written to deceive people into believing in something that is not true, the writers of such fiction certainly wouldn’t have had one of the heroes doubting. What purpose would that have served in their narrative?

The bunny trail continues: Jesus calls John the Baptizer ‘the Elijah who was to come.’ Elijah is one of my favorite people, because his humanity is evident. He had some amazing successes – including the most salient one on Mt Carmel when he went head-to-head with the prophets of Baal in the ultimate contest of “My God is bigger than yours”.  Jehovah G-D of the Tetragrammaton, YHWH (which was absolutely an unspeakable word because it was held in such holy reverence), came with promised fire and burned up not only the sacrificial bulls, but the multiple buckets of water, the rocks, and even the very soil beneath the altar. As part of that event, Elijah sat back coolly, watching his foes, watching them cut themselves, watching them grow louder and louder calling on false gods, taunting them and needling them to further ‘devotion.’ Their gods didn’t show up, but his did - with a dramatic display of power! Justice was served. God won! Which meant Elijah won – and you know what he did right after the carnage on that hill was completed? He ran and hid in a cave, fearing for his life – and wanting to die . . . . But that wasn’t the end of Elijah’s story. Elijah got past that period with God’s help – and ultimately was caught up into heaven without dying . . . . His life story is amazing.

In a recent time of deep discouragement – not questioning my faith, but questioning God’s current purpose in my life and questioning where I belong, including literally feeling I don’t ‘belong’ anywhere – God ‘gave me’ Elijah for encouragement. It’s OK to be human. We can’t help it. But our answer is secure. And the end of Matthew 11 provides our solace: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I have an antique yoke. And I know how they were used. A stronger, older, wiser animal was often yoked with a younger animal who needed the elder for training. The younger animal learned to keep pace with the older stronger one, but the older one also shouldered more than its share of the burden. It makes ‘yoked together with Christ’ a beautiful graphic. I am never in the yoke alone. I am never the one carrying the greater portion of the burden. He is always there right beside me - pulling the greater part of the load. If I falter, He waits a moment for me to get back in step, and together we go forward.

Ahhhh. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!

Back to John . . . . Jesus’ response to John was not a litany enumerating past proofs as might have been warranted, but a directive pointing John to heed the miracles being presently performed. “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Their message to John was a repetition of what they had already reported to him, except for one final addition that Jesus added for John’s encouragement, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

John was discouraged enough to ‘fall away.’ John . . . . Elijah, too. But we have their stories and the model of their lives as encouragement. John had unmet expectations of how Jesus was to ‘be’ as the the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, and Jesus clearly was not performing according to the script John had in mind. I find myself in that spot more often than I like. I create expectations of how I think Jesus/ God should act – and I am disappointed. Often following a wonderful God-directed mountain top ‘success’ the proverbial rug is pulled out from beneath me and I plummet into the valley at the speed of the luge. But – and this is huge – I KNOW that my Redeemer lives. And that He has a plan. And that, like John, I am too immersed in being in the process to see the whole picture. Knowing that mighty men of God got discouraged gives them a human face – and gives me added comfort and hope.

As a reality check, I have had legitimate reasons for the discouragements –  but God’s word to me has consistently been ‘PERSEVERE’ and today is a day of HOPE. I’m excited to see what God is going to do – and I want to partner with Him in that, yet, at the same time, not get in his way by pre-supposing what that will be or how He will accomplish His will. I just want to be faithful – and I want to finish strong. I am grateful for God’s model heroes as reminders for hanging in there, staying strong, finishing the course . . . .

Lord, lead me. Show me clearly. Help me stay in step with You in the yoke.

(P S - - I LOVE this chapter!)

Humor for today:
A teacher was teaching her students about whales. She said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because, even though a whale is a very large mammal, its throat is too small.

A little girl in the class proclaimed, “Jonah was swallowed by a whale.”

The teacher reiterated, “That’s impossible.”

The little girl responded, “When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah.”

The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to hell?”

“Then you can ask him,” the little girl replied.

The Journey to the Cross 2017, Day 4

Saturday, Day 4:  Matthew 3                     

After providing only minimal information about Jesus’ early history – his conception and his escape into Egypt – Matthew jumps straight into telling us about Jesus and John the Baptist at the age of +-30.   John was just 6 months older than Jesus, and was the one selected to be Jesus’ forerunner – to prepare the way for Jesus’ entry into ministry – so perhaps John was 31 by then, but if so, barely. 

John fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, as Matthew reports in Matthew 3:3.  Letting us know the fulfillment of prophecies was obviously a big deal to Matthew.   He is like a lawyer laying out his case.

The description of John the Baptist creates a vivid visual.  John wore a garment of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  The honey sounds pretty good, but locusts sound disgusting, even if they are dried and covered in chocolate!  And I once had a camel hair coat.  It was beautiful, but rough and itchy!  I see him with a full beard and long, somewhat unkempt hair.  Bronzed by his outside living, burly, buff.  A man’s man to the nth degree.

Yet, he was the one chosen to preach about the One who was to come and prepare the way.  And preach he did!  He was very direct, and more than a little caustic in his presentation at times.  He called the religious leaders a brood of vipers.  But when Jesus came to him to be baptized he humbly replied, “I need to be baptized by you….” And he would not have consented, except that Jesus reminded him it must be so. 

Matthew 3:16 & 17 records, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” 

God has spoken those words to me on only one occasion, and it happened during a Singspiration I had worked very hard to prepare.  Out of a very large congregation, less than 10 people showed up to share in the joy of singing together; but during the service, after we had sung our songs of praise and worship and were having a quiet time of enjoying the palpable presence of the Lord that pervaded the room, God spoke to me and said “I am well pleased.”  It touched me to the core.   Our praise was not shared with many people, yet every person who was there came because they truly wanted to be there, and God showed up in quiet power, glory, and majesty, His presence filling the room and our hearts, and though we didn’t want the moment to end, we carried that presence with us as we went our separate ways.  It is one of my most memorable and unforgettable experiences.  It was a glimpse of what Heaven will feel like. 

Jesus’ baptism was Jesus’ inauguration into ministry:  the beginning of the three years he would walk on earth, teach, heal, interact, love and be loved in the flesh.   God with skin on! 

Humor for today:

Our youngest granddaughter is a hoot.  She has come up with some real choice bits of perspective, often leaving us in stitches. 

One such time was when she and her next-older sister stayed the night with us, and the girls slept in our walk-in closet so we’d be close by. 

In the morning – right after brushing his teeth & rinsing his mouth out with mouthwash  – my husband peeked in to see if they were awake yet, and the older of the two was, so he quietly knelt down beside her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  When he did, she commented, “Papa, your breath smells good.”

With that the youngest one popped her eyes open and said, “Let me smell.” So, he leaned over and blew a little puff of air her way, to which she replied, “You smell like cookieness.” 

LENT 2014 - DAY 1

Good morning, Lord.

Lent.  It is not something that I have practiced in the traditional sense - but I love the intentionality of looking forward to Your Resurrection - and going on the journey with You this year, a journey that will culminate in Victory!  I need this time of spiritual focus!  I need an infusion of Your Holy Spirit.  I come to you unworthy and undone, full of sadness - yet cautioned by hope.  Pervade not just my thoughts but my very life through this journey with You to and beyond the cross this year.

I am teary today - and have multiple reasons for that.

Sunday I learned of the death of my long-time friend.  When your friend died, even though You knew you were going to raise him from the dead, you wept.  Tears are O K....sometimes they wash away what prevents us from seeing clearly.

Monday I engaged in a conversation via email that left me confused and uneasy.  The clarity I got on that on Tuesday left me incredibly sad.  It is information that brings with it the intensely painful loss of an expectation I trusted to be true.  It means I will have to pray very carefully about God's present will for my life at this juncture.  

And today, I dropped my daughter's dog off at the vet for a second cancer surgery.  Any one of the tree are adequate reason for a few tears, but piled on top of each other they create a climate for emotions that tumble over each other.

I learned years ago that you can't trust emotions - so I won't.  They are my call to prayer.

Lord, I need wisdom.  You know my heart and the God-given desires You have planted within me.  I know this world is not my home - but I sure would like the journey to include a place of safety from the storms - and right now that just isn't the case.  I throw myself at Your feet....  Amen.


Sunday morning I had the joy of telling kids in Children's Church the story of John the Baptist being the forerunner of Jesus.  I always learn something prepping for talking to the kids, and preparing for that lesson was no exception.    I had never thought before about John being poor - but he lived a life of poverty.  His clothing was the least expensive available - made from camel's hair.  He lived a nomadic life in the wilderness, ate what was available - which the Bible tells us was locusts and wild honey - so by man's standard he was pretty low on the 'people we need to invite over soon for dinner' list.  But what man thought about John the Baptist was not what God thought of him.

The first record we have of John having a ministry was when he started warning the people of Israel to 'Prepare the way for the coming of the Lord' and they came out by the hundreds to hear him.  He baptized them with a baptism of repentance, confessing their sins.   He told them that there was one coming after him whose sandals he wasn't even worthy to unloose - One who would baptize them not with water, but with the Holy Spirit.  But what 'the One he spoke of' said about John was that he was the greatest man ever born of woman.  Wow!  Not one of the patriarchs, not one of the kings or priests or prophets of old.  John.

There had been no prophets in Israel since Malachi.  There was 400 years of silence from the Prophet Malachi to the time God spoke through John to His people.  After 400 years, and with the political mess their world was in, they were ready to hear the message.  Everything was timed precisely for Jesus' coming.  The timing of John's birth and his message were part of that.

John's ministry was very brief - His voice was cut very short when his head was severed for speaking the truth and being thrown in prison; and he was so hated by the woman he offended that when she had opportunity the one thing she wanted more than wealth or prestige of any other sort was John 's head brought to her on a platter.  He was about 31.

I really love John and the witness of John.  He wasn't a 'pie-in-the-sky- believer.  He was tested to the very limits of his ability to cope.  Even after the things he proclaimed about Jesus - declaring Jesus was 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world'  John's subsequent circumstance left him doubting.  He even sent a messenger to Jesus from prison asking, "Are you the One we've been expecting or should we look for another?"

As Godly and as chosen as John was, life wasn't going according to his script.   And he became discouraged.  God can handle our discouragement and despair....  In my past experience He doesn't abandon us there.

I am reminded to put on my armor:  Helmet of salvation, belt of Truth,  breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, sword of the Spirit (aka the Word of God) and put on my feet shoes of readiness to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.  'Tis the season, for the night is coming when no man can work.