Matthew 8:1-4

Matthew 8:1-4 
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  Vacations are great because they're a chance to relax, but so often you have to deal with the reality of coming home.  This may mean coming back to a sink of dirty dishes, or perhaps it's just the reality of standing outside waiting for the airport shuttle in shorts when it is 30 degrees and you forgot to pack a pair of pants.  Reality can hit pretty hard.
  The same is true of faith.  Our mountaintop experiences of faith are wonderful, but at some point, you have to come down off the mountain.  Sunday morning worship is wonderful, but you have to leave the church and go out into the world.
  We need to ensure that our mountaintop and worship experiences are meant to prepare us for everyday life and service.  Our faith should help us be salt and light for the world -- they strengthen and encourage us.  They help us take time and listen for how God wants us to act in the world.  They should help us cultivate kindness and selfless love, so that when we interact with the world, we are inviting them into our worship and mountaintop experiences, so they, too, can taste and see that the Lord is good.

Matthew 7:21-29

Matthew 7:21-29
English Standard Version (ESV)

  It's easy to hear the words of Jesus.  It's also easy to intend to do something about them.  We all do this all the time, and not just with church.  We intend to do something, to work on something.  I'll work out tomorrow.  I'll start eating better tomorrow.  I intend to get around to that... sometime.  Often, we never really get around to it.  We have the best of intentions, but our limited time gets in the way.
  Jesus is telling us to be careful -- if that's the attitude we take towards his teaching, we'll find ourselves without a foundation when the storms come.  If we don't do the work to secure our lives to Christ, we'll be lost when the winds rise and the waves threaten.  Intend to follow him, and then put those intentions into action -- that prayer habit you've been meaning to take up, that Scripture reading you're promised yourself you'll do, that service idea you've had in the back of your head for years.  Do it.  Discipline yourself, and you'll grow into mature discipleship, so you can withstand the storms that come and be securely anchored in Christ alone.

Matthew 7:15-20

Matthew 7:15-20 
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  Trees are made of wood.  That's about as far as my abilities go in distinguishing what kind of tree a certain tree may be.  I usually can't tell.  If it's fall, I can usually tell the maple trees apart, and I know what a dogwood looks like in bloom, but that's it.  With fruit trees, I need more help -- like pieces of fruit hanging from the branches.  Without this major hint, I am not going to guess correctly.  If there's an orange hanging from the branch, I can likely guess what kind of tree it is.
  People are similar.  From looking at a person, it's unlikely that I'll know what kind of person they are.  Sometimes, I can take a pretty good guess, but there's no guarantee I'll be right.  But when I can watch them and observe how they treat people, I can guess if they have high character or no character.  I can guess how they view others.  Their actions reveal what kind of person they are. 
  So what do your actions say about you?

Matthew 7:12-14

Matthew 7:12-14
 English Standard Version (ESV)

  Saturday, we took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt.  It was a typical March day in Columbus, with sunshine but temperatures in the 20s and a vicious wind.  The kids were cold.  The parents were cold.  The candy was cold.
  I took Danielle to the 3&4 year old section, which was covered in candy.  When it was (finally) time, she walked out into the area, picked up 4 or 5 pieces of candy, and then turned to me and said, "I'm cold."  She was ready to go home, leaving all that candy behind.  I didn't blame her one bit, and we hustled back to the car.
  Our lives are a lot like this -- God often spreads his grace and love around us, but we get caught up in focusing on something else.  Sometimes it's material or physical comfort, while other times we're just in the middle of something else and don't see what God is doing.  It's a hard road of discipleship to walk, and it takes daily dedication to grow and mature over a lifetime of following Christ.  Jesus challenges us to take up our cross daily, to not get distracted by everything else in our lives, but to make following Christ the central motivator in our life and to engage with everything else through the lens of Christ's selfless and inviting love.

Matthew 7:7-11

Matthew 7:7-11
English Standard Version (ESV)

  There are so many times when Rachel and I look at each other and realize we have no idea what we are doing as parents.  The kids don't come with manuals, and they surprise us -- sometimes in good ways, sometimes in less than pleasant ways.  We try and make it through, day by day, dealing with situations as they arise.  Fortunately, our kids have turned out okay so far.  They've got great family support and a church that loves them and schools that support and challenge them, and we try not to mess them up. 
  If we, who don't know what we are doing and aren't always sure of the answers, can turn out kids that are ok and safe and healthy, how much better is God at raising and nurturing us?  We should trust him entirely, because he is so much better than even the best parent on earth.  He'll care for us and nourish us and feed us and challenge us and support us beyond what we can imagine.  It doesn't mean it's always easy, but it does mean that his unconditional love will be there for us no matter what, and that he has our best interests in mind, and he's working to grow us into the people he wants us to be.
  Just as Rachel and I want nothing but the best but sometimes have to discipline our kids or watch them go through challenging times, God loves you and wants you to experience abundant life.  This doesn't mean your life will be easy or perfect, but it means that God's love is always near and he can be completely trusted.

Matthew 7:1-6

Matthew 7:1-6 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  It's so much easier to fix other people's problems.  Plus, you have the added benefit of being able to ignore your own problems while you're doing in -- you often even feel better about yourself once you've diagnosed everything that's wrong with another. 
  It's hard work to pay attention to your own problems.  Doing so requires introspection and humility, especially because we can rarely fix them on our own.  We might have to confess to a friend or neighbor, and we have to come before God and admit that we have failed.  This is hard because it often creates certain anxieties within us, as we fear that God might reject us due to our failures.  If we have failed in how we have treated our brother or sister, what will God do to us?
  The Good News of the Gospel offers redemption for our failures.  We confess our sins and our shortcomings, and the Gospel doesn't ignore our sin, but rather redeems our sin through Christ's actions on the cross.  His death cancels our bill, and as a result, we then receive the glory that is rightfully due to Him. 

Matthew 6:25-34

Matthew 6:25-34 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Someone once described worry to me as negative prayer.  I don't know that I've ever fully grasped what that concept means, but I like that it makes me think.  Worry is trying to take something back from God that doesn't belong to us.  Think about it -- we're worrying about some future event, which is probably unlikely anyway, and as a result we are depriving ourselves of enjoying this very moment.  Spiritually, we're not trusting God to provide for the future, because we're trying to figure out how to solve problems that may not actually exist, and as a result we miss out on what God is doing here and now.
  I've spent a lot of time meeting with counselors over the last 13 years.  I deal with all sorts of anxieties, most of which are much, much milder than they used to be.  It used to be somewhat crippling, as to now it's mostly mildly annoying.  The most helpful thing that anyone ever said to me (isn't this great -- you get the benefit of 13 years of therapy without the cost/time of 13 years!) is that to combat anxiety, just be grateful for this very moment.  So often, I'll be lying awake at 3 a.m., worried about the future (or the lack of a future), and I'll whisper, over and over again, "thank you, God, for this moment.  I am alive, here and now, and it's enough.  This moment is good."  Sounds simple, and it is in a way, but that relieves my anxieties better than anything else, and I've tried a lot of other things.  Gratitude for the moment is the best answer to anxieties about the future.  God will take care of the future, be it on this side of the veil or the other, and so we rest in the here and now.

Matthew 6:19-24

Matthew 6:19-24
English Standard Version (ESV)

  As I've been watching basketball over the past four days, there's been an ad I've consistently seen by Experian that is talking about how our identities are bought and sold on the 'Dark Web'.  They're using fear to try and motivate us -- and we usually react pretty strongly to this idea.  When we're afraid of losing money or status, it'll strongly move us to buy identity theft protection or make sure that everything is locked down securely.  Mostly, though, we worry.  We do things to secure ourselves, and yet we still worry, consistently.  We worry out of fear and anxiety and uncertainty.  If we're not careful, the worry can consume our lives.
  Jesus is teaching us that if our ultimate treasure is of this world, anxiety about losing it will demand our attention.  If, however, we put our treasure in heaven, we have no need to be concerned -- nothing can steal that from us, and we cannot lose it.  It is safe in heaven, and we are freed from anxiety and fear to live with joy and peace that passes all understanding. 
  We have to make the conscious choice, and we have to make it daily.  What's going to be the most compelling thing in your life today?  What will drive you, and what will inform your choices?  Picking money means not picking God -- we can't have both. 
  What changes need to be made in order to live into your choice?

Matthew 6:16-18

Matthew 6:16-18
English Standard Version (ESV)

  We spend a lot of time and energy clamoring for status.  We want to make sure we're noticed -- sometimes that is flaunting our wealth, other times it's doing whatever we can to make sure people realize we have a certain talent or that we're pursuing a certain hobby.  We want people to know the best things about us, because it gives us status.
  Jesus is telling us that our relationship with God isn't something to give us worldly status -- the rewards we get for selflessly following God aren't always realized in this world.  When we elevate our devotion so that others realize how devout we are, we're just utilizing religion to gain standing in the world.  When we are growing as disciples, we realize that it's not our standing in the world that matters, but rather the measure of our faithfulness.  Our lives exist to elevate Christ, and to the extent that we are able to make Christ known, then our lives are serving the Kingdom.  But if we're focused on making ourselves known, then we're just building a kingdom out of sand.  This will not stand, and if our religious life serves to make others think we are great people, then we're missing the point.  Our lives should have integrity and point to something greater than ourselves, something eternal, so that others desire Christ, not us!  We point beyond ourselves, trusting in the eternal love and wisdom of God to care for us, worrying not for our own fate but rather the fate of our brothers and sisters who have not yet heard the amazing news of the Gospel.

Matthew 6:5-15

Matthew 6:5-15
English Standard Version (ESV)

  In some ways, prayer is a bit like cooking -- you get out of it what you put into it.  When I was younger, I ate a lot of pasta.  It was quick and easy, and while it checked the box, I didn't get much nourishment out of it, no matter how much meat I mixed in with the tomato sauce.  After a while, I grew hungry for something a bit more polished, more complex.  I was ready for more, and over the years I developed a taste for more flavors, better understanding that the more effort I put into cooking a meal, the richer it would be.
  Similarly, prayer is a serious endeavor.  The more we pray, the deeper the relationship between us and God develops.  The more time we spend in prayer, the more we are fed -- we learn how to depend on God, how to listen, how to lament, how to praise.  Our prayers are not rushed, but they develop and take time, asking more of us and yet offering more in return -- more comfort, more challenge, more solace, more peace.  We grow, and the relationship grows, and we come to understand that prayer is a much more complex task than it was when we first started and thought we were just checking something off the list so we could hurry off to the next.

Matthew 6:1-4

Matthew 6:1-4 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Sometimes, we have to pay attention to the little words Jesus uses.  Notice how he talks about 'when' you give to the poor.  Not if.  When.  When you give to the needy.  He does the same thing when he talks about prayer -- 'When you pray...'. 
  There's a baseline assumption that we are praying, that we are giving to the needy.  If not, we need to get on board with that, and then we can start examining motives and deeper things at work, but making sure that we are meeting the baseline test is critical.  Once we're at work, then we can examine how we are at work.  The temptation is to sit back and think ourselves in circles before we ever get to work.  Let's make sure we are busy loving and serving first, and then we can have the deeper conversations.  'When you give...'

Matthew 5:43-48

Matthew 5:43-48
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Jesus says and does so much in the Gospels that is astounding, it's easy to forget how revolutionary some of his ideas are.  He goes against what is natural, what is easy, and challenges us to go beyond what any reasonable person might expect.  It's hard enough to love people who are neutral to me -- but to love my enemies?  That's tough.  How do you consistently pour out love upon someone who has only hatred for you?  And to spend time in prayer for that person? 
  But Jesus is calling us to witness to an alternative lifestyle, one that isn't defined by power over others, and one that isn't concerned with gaining in reputation or prestige.  Jesus is encouraging us to join the Father in holding up selfless love as the single most important trait to cultivate in ourselves, so that our very actions proclaim a Kingdom that is different than the Roman Empire or any other military kingdom.  Jesus live this out, and he calls us to join him -- he knows his Kingdom will be eternal, and we are invited to live into this reality now, to spend our lives practicing for what eternity will be like.

Matthew 5:38-42

Matthew 5:38-42 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  There was a rule at the time that a Roman soldier could commandeer you and have you carry his gear for a mile.  That'd be pretty inconvenient, right?  You had to drop whatever you were doing, carry something heavy for a mile, then turn around and walk a mile back to whatever you were in the middle of.
  Jesus said to walk two miles.
  Or picture someone suing you for your shirt.  You'd be upset and defensive, right?  Jesus says to give them the shirt, and then your jacket as well.  He doesn't even bother to get into the debate about who is in the right.  What if the other person doesn't deserve it?
  Jesus is teaching us about how we hold on to things -- our money, our time, our energy.  We often hoard these things.  We start to think they are ours, and pretty soon they are defining us, and not long after that they become the most dear things in the world to us.  We worry about anyone else taking them, and so we become defensive, to the point that we allow relationships to deteriorate over stuff.
  When we worship Jesus and recognize that all that we have belongs to him, we don't hold so tightly to our stuff.  We value relationships and people more than things and money.  We don't see the loss of time as an inconvenience, but an opportunity.  We look at the world and the people around us differently, and we are freed from fear of losing so that we can truly love and serve.  It's a different mindset, a different heartset, but Jesus is training us, teaching us, challenging us.

Matthew 5:33-37

Matthew 5:33-37 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  I make plans.  You make plans.  We do, and we have to.  It's critical for our lives to move forward to have plans, both specific plans for what we'll do today and general plans for what the future might look like.  It's hard to imagine telling my boss that I won't set up any meetings for next week because I don't really know what the future will be like.  He'd probably tell me that I will have lots of availability!
  What Jesus is reminding us here is that we can't guarantee anything.  When we make pledges or promises, we can't do so in God's name, because we can't be sure that what we promise will happen.  We may have the best of intentions, but only God can say things with certainty.  The rest of us rely upon God, so let's not put ourselves in God's place by promising on God's behalf that something will or will not happen.  We truly don't know, so we are right to humble ourselves and simply let our words stand on their own. We do the best we can with what we know, but the future is in God's hands, which is the best and safest place for it!

Matthew 5:27-32

Matthew 5:27-32 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  If I told you today that you would wake up tomorrow with your heart's greatest treasure having been granted to you, what would you have?  A big house?  A great marriage?  Eleven billion dollars?  World peace?  The Kingdom of God?
  Here, Jesus is teaching us to be careful what we desire.  It's easy to think that the desirous wanderings of our mind often have no real effect, but Jesus is warning us -- our mind can lead our heart places if we're not careful.  Spend enough time idly dreaming of something, and it'll train your heart to desire that thing, whether you mean for it to or not. 
  We also have to be careful how we treat one another.  We can treat each other within the letter of the Law without honoring them.  Jesus is teaching the crowd that the Law may permit divorce, but that to do so in that day and age left a woman perilously isolated and in danger of having to scrape out a meager existence, perhaps by illicit means.  Perhaps a divorce was permitted within the Law, but it didn't honor the other person.  Jesus calls us to consider whether our actions honor the other person to the highest degree possible.  Are your actions honoring the other person?  How do we root out every bit of selfishness in our actions?  This is one of the hardest challenges we have -- to do nothing selfishly, but to always think of the other.
 
  It's a high bar Jesus sets for us -- and this is the wonder of Christianity.  There is always more we can do.  We are always taking another step on the narrow way of discipleship.  We never make it to a point where we can coast -- we're always growing, always learning, always sinning and coming back for forgiveness, always finding grace and love and being re-energized to serve and to love.

Matthew 5:21-26

Matthew 5:21-26
English Standard Version (ESV)


Here's a link to the service I preached yesterday in Mt. Vernon, OH.

**
 
  I was preaching about this yesterday -- there is a vast gulf between following the letter of the Law and the spirit of the Law.  Toeing the line and doing only what the Law asks of us and expecting God to be pleased with that is not what we are called to -- the Law is intended to help us see how God wants us to treat one another, and then we're to take that expectation into the world, where we selflessly serve one another, based one what the Law teaches us.
  It's a hard thing.  Perfectly living into the expectations of the Law is impossible -- but that shouldn't stop us from trying.  We don't have to do it to earn God's love and favor -- Christ has achieved that for us.  We should seek to love and serve our community as the natural outflow of gratitude we have towards God.  We have been loved by God despite falling short.  And so, therefore, we should love one another as we have been loved, even when it is challenging.  Our natural instinct is to try and 'win' our interactions with one another.  What God teaches us is that we need to think about how to serve, rather than how to win.

Matthew 5:17-20

Matthew 5:17-20
English Standard Version (ESV)

  In Christ, we see the perfection of the Law -- he is the only one who can live with his entire life, both actions and his heart, centered around the glorification of Christ.  Everyone before him struggled to do this -- even if someone had been able to keep the Law perfectly in their actions, sin has such a fierce grip on our hearts that our thoughts and desires wander far from where God intends them to be.  In Christ, we see someone who is tempted as we are, yet is without sin -- by this we mean that even the inner most thoughts of his heart are based in selfless love and glorifying God. 
  So we have a choice to make.  The first option is to try and fulfill the Law perfectly.  If we can manage to do so, we'd be the first person who wasn't God to manage this feat.  I don't like my chances to do so.
  The second option is the one for me.  In this, I confess my sin and proclaim Christ as King, both of my heart and the world.  In bowing my knee before his throne, I receive the righteousness that is due to him.  He shares it with me out of generosity, and my destiny is no longer determined by sin, but rather by Christ's righteousness.  I am saved from the fate that was due to me, and I receive grace and eternal life, thanks to his selfless love.  He has fulfilled the Law on my behalf and given me the rewards that I would have received if I had fulfilled the Law. 
  We all have the same choice.  Will you bow before the Savior?  And, if so, how then will you live?  Will you attempt to then proclaim this truth in your life, using your words and actions to not only imitate Christ but also to invite others to do the same?

Matthew 5:13-16

Matthew 5:13-16
English Standard Version (ESV)

  We all have things we save for special occasions.  We buy nice things and then convince ourselves that we don't want to wear them out or waste them on everyday life, so we stick them in the back of a drawer or closet and wait for the right time.  On occasion, we discover them still in the back of the closet, still waiting for the perfect occasion, and we realize that we should have used them far more often. 
  What Jesus is warning us about here is the same concept.  So often, the temptation is to place our spirituality in the back of the closet and drag it out every Sunday morning, along with our 'going to church clothes'.  Then, once church is over, we put it back in the closet, where it is safe and protected, and leave it there until we go back to church.  It's a waste to live in such a way, Jesus teaches us.  A flashlight shining under a bucket all day doesn't do anyone any good, and your spirituality kept 'safe' and tucked away during the week doesn't help, either.  We're to take the grace and mercy and peace of Christ out into the world and share the Good News with the world -- we don't have to be afraid that we're going to run out or that there won't be enough.  Grace shared multiplies, and we revel together in the amazing love of God.