All Stirred Up

Luke 11:53-12:12
Imagine the stress that Jesus was forced to live under. Luke offers us a glimpse in our reading from today. “When (Jesus) went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say. Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy’” (Luke 11:53-12:1).

Jesus’ enemies were trying to trap him, the crowds were climbing over one another to reach him, and the disciples needed almost constant instruction. The gospel message is one of good news, certainly, but it is nonetheless full of agitation and upheaval. But what would you expect? In Jesus Christ God was not only reconciling the world to God’s self, but was transforming the world, reshaping it into what God had intended. The minute things begin to change, the minute old institutions and old ideas are set aside, turmoil erupts. We see it in our lives and throughout our culture. Even positive change is met with resistance. As Newton’s Third Law of Motion tells us, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” According to Luke, Jesus encountered this phenomenon even as he went about doing the will of God.

We may turn to Jesus Christ as a source of peace, but until we are ready to let go of everything in our lives that we value more highly than our relationship with God we, too, will experience turmoil and confusion. Nor may we simply point to others and blame them. This is as true for you and me as anyone. Even as Jesus seeks to change us, the sinfulness inherent in our nature pushes back. It is only by grace that God is able to move us to the place where we need to be. Thanks be to God for the willingness to stand firm in the midst of turmoil and to lead us—kicking and screaming if need be—toward the coming reign of God.

Prayer: Lord, help us to let go of everything that stands between us and your will for our lives, and help us to willingly accept what you are doing in our midst. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

On Not Understanding What You Understand

John 9:18-41

According to John’s gospel, Jesus’ words drew an interesting response from some of the religious leaders. “Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, ‘Surely we are not blind, are we?’” (John 9:39-40). These unnamed religious folks get the point that Jesus is making, but not really. They recognize what he is saying and that he is saying it about them. But they don’t believe it and they certainly aren’t willing to accept it as true.

What was Jesus saying about the Pharisees? He was holding them up to judgment, he was pointing out that while they had every opportunity to grasp the will of God and to follow it they had instead turned in another direction, one of their own choosing. Now, even though their eyes were open and their minds were free to function, they had become hostile to the truth of Jesus’ message. “Surely we are not blind, are we?” they asked him. So these leaders recognized the claim that Jesus was making, but they were unwilling to accept him and the good news he offered. They understood, they just didn’t get it.

I wonder how much I understand but don’t “get,” how much I believe about God but am unwilling to put into practice. I’m a minister, I study scripture, and I am charged with certain religious responsibilities, all of which sets me very close to the position that the Pharisees held in their day. Do I hear the words of Jesus and then go on about my business, following a path of my own creation? Am I vulnerable to judgment for my spiritual blindness or hardness of heart? I certainly hope not, but all of us must remain prayerfully attentive to what Jesus is saying, must open our hearts and our minds with humility, so that we do not miss the true message of the gospel. We must also resist the temptation to assert our own perspective as the only valid one, for it is at that very moment that we become most prone to misunderstanding.

Live today with hearts and minds open to God. Live today with the confidence that in turning to Jesus Christ you may be guided along God’s way and not down a path of your own choosing where blindness will lead you to stumble and fall.

Prayer: Loving God, grant us the humility we need to live as your people and to follow your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pot Roast and Clean Hands

Nancy Taylor

Mark 7: 1-4

1Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)

Washing our hands is important today. As pastors, we are instructed to wash our hands, or use the antibacterial gel every time we enter a patient’s room and especially when we hold hands with them to pray. I know a nurse who insists that the doctors, nurses, etc. who care for her or her loved ones always wash their hands in her presence. She knows how easily disease can spread.

Washing hands was important in the Jewish tradition in Jesus’ time, too. Perhaps it is possible that leaders knew intuitively that somehow washing their hands and striving for cleanliness was valuable in the preservation of their people. The only problem is that tradition became concrete irrefutable law.

You might have heard the story of the granddaughter who wanted to cook her grandma’s famous pot roast. When she asked her mom how to make it, her mom replied that the first thing she must do is cut 2” off both ends of the roast. The granddaughter asked her mom why she must do that and the mom replied that she didn’t know why, it was just the way grandma, and grandma’s mother before her had done it. It was the way it was supposed to be done. A few weeks later she was talking to her grandma and asked her why she always cut the 2” off. And grandma said, no reason, except that she inherited her mom’s roasting pot and since it is small, she always cut off about 2” of the roast to make it fit. A good idea had become concrete irrefutable law.

I have a hunch that Jesus wasn’t about wasting 2” of a perfectly good roast. After all, he wasn’t about washing hands if it was just to abide by an ancient ritual that had become law. Jesus wanted us to think about our spiritual lives. He wanted us to clean up our insides; that part of us that hates, gets angry, is unforgiving, petty, greedy and disrespectful. If we don’t get rid of the bad stuff, there won’t be room for the good stuff.

Now, there are lots of corporate types who may think that the bad stuff isn’t so bad. But you and I know better. You and I know that when we are clean on the inside, something is right that isn’t right when we have dark, dirty thoughts and actions invading our soul. The Lenten season gives us an opportunity to cleanse our lives of the things that clog and keep us separated for God. A colleague of mine tells this story: “I ran across a friend at church who asked me how I was doing and I said, ‘Actually, pretty good.’ And he said, ‘I know, I can tell by your bright eyes. You have clean windows!’”

This spring, clean your windows, you will see so much better!

Prayer: Dear God, cleanse my spirit that I might draw ever closer to you. Amen.

Nancy Taylor is a Presbyterian minister in northern Arkansas. You can follow her delightful blog “Hmmmm…” here.

What Were They Thinking?

Matthew 16:1-12

At this point in the gospel of Matthew the disciples have witnessed Jesus miraculously feed a multitude of people not once, but twice. And in each case there were leftovers. And yet, “When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread” (Matthew 16:5). What were they thinking? What made them forget to bring food with them on a journey? We might say that the disciples’ eyes were so filled with heavenly visions that they simply had no time for the mundane things of life. We might say that these followers of Jesus were completely out of their element and easily distracted which made it natural to forget bread. Or we could say that the poor dears just weren’t very smart. Frankly I have no idea. It may be none of these, or maybe all of them together. The point is that when they should have had bread on their minds they did not, and when Jesus tried to use the incident as a teaching moment they still didn’t get it.

Jesus’ point seems to have been that bread is only so important, but that a right relationship with God is essential. No bread? Too bad, yet life goes on. Being led astray by the Pharisees? Now you have BIG trouble. Pay attention, Jesus is saying, and don’t lose sight of the vital issues or of the really important aspects of life and faith. But mostly Jesus is saying, stick with me. I’ve fed multitudes with food left over, I’m capable of feeding you, too.

Prayer: Lord help us to focus on the proper issues of our lives and to listen for your guidance, for it is in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.