Matthew 13-14 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Matthew 13:1-14:36.

“He put another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?” He said to them, “An enemy has done this.” So the servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he said, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’ ” ‘ ” (Matthew 13:24-30).

I think there is something here I need to learn. I recognize that I’ve spent too much time trying to do what God says even the angels shouldn’t. I recognize of course that there is a biblical principle which Christians and churches must uphold regarding discipline within the local body of Christ (cf. I Corinthians 5:1-13). Yet, too often I’ve seen it as my personal mission to clean up God’s church. It is too easy to go on a witch hunt of McCarthy proportions (is that too cliché to say?). Too often I see it as my job to hunt down all the weeds that have somehow made their way into the church and root them out.

Perhaps this parable teaches something different. Certainly, I am to teach the truth. Certainly, congregational discipline must be practiced. Certainly, I must not equivocate on the teaching of Christ. But, is it really my job to try to figure out who all isn’t completely toeing the line? Is it really my job to try to ferret out every potential error someone, somewhere might have? Is it really my job to figure out who all the weeds are and try to get rid of them? The Master said to back off and let Him deal with it at the end.

I admit, I’m not sure where the boundaries of congregational discipline are valid versus this witch-hunt mentality, but I see that somewhere I have to back off and say that it’s just not my job to figure out who all the weeds are and instead, just get busy planting more seeds.

What do you think?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click the following link to add your input: Post a Comment.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is Luke 13:1-14:35.

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit int he lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you” (Luke 14:8-10).

Do I actually need to even comment on this? Part of me simply wants to say, “‘Nuff said.”

We must not jockey for position. This isn’t a competition. If we treat it as such, the only outcome will be our own shame. However, when we, with love and without manipulation, put others ahead of ourselves, then we will begin to have the joy that comes with honor.

Today, I need to figure out who I can honor. Not just as a manipulation to receive greater honor for me, but because I need to practice some humility today. How about you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 19:1-20:47.

What was wrong with the third servant in Luke 19:20-21. “Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.”

Fear.

He was a afraid of failure. He was afraid of His master. He was afraid of the unknown. He allowed his fears to cripple him. He was so afraid that he wouldn’t be successful and therefore that his master would punish him, that he didn’t do anything.

Here is what amazes me. He allowed his fear of punishment to so cripple him that he incurred punishment. The very thing he was so desperately trying to avoid, he caused.

That is exactly what I do sometimes. I get so wrapped up in my fears and I try to make sure my fears don’t happen, then I actually cause them to come true.

What did the servant need to do? First, he needed to get into reality. Instead of living in the fantasy of his fears of what the master might do if some unknown thing happened in some unknown future, he needed to live in the reality of the day. Second, if he was ignorant of how to use the mina, perhaps he could have asked the servant that was producing ten minas or the servant that was producing five. Instead of living in the shame that he didn’t already know how to do what they were doing, he could have simply spent some time with them and learned from them. Third, he could have at least done something. Instead of living in the fear that it would be the wrong thing and that would cause the end of the world, he could have done something and if it was a mistake, learn from it to do better before the master returns. Let’s face it, do we honestly think the 10 and 5 mina producers only had success the whole time the master was gone? Of course not. That just isn’t the way life works. They made some minas and lost some minas and when the master returned they returned what they had netted.

Wow! That is exactly what I need to do today. I need to quit living in the fantasy of my fears about some potential future that hasn’t even happened yet. I need to spend time with people who have what I want and learn how they are getting it. Instead of being paralyzed by the fear that I’ll do the wrong thing, I just need to do something. If I don’t take these approaches, I will likely cause the very punishment I’m trying to avoid in the end.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Matthew 25:1-26:75.

Well, my fall schedule is keeping me hopping and making it hard to get to the computer to post about each day’s reading. I hope you are keeping up with the reading in your Bible even if there haven’t been regular posts to keep up with here. What God says is definitely more important than what I say. However, I do think it helps for us to discuss these things. Therefore, I’m back.

The wise virgins of Matthew 25:1-13 really caught my attention today. They had purchased extra oil in case the bridegroom didn’t show up quickly. The foolish only bought enough for the moment they bought some. They didn’t plan for difficulties. Then the bridegroom was on his way and the foolish virgins realized they didn’t have enough oil. They asked the wise for some, but the wise said, “If we do that, there won’t be enough for both of us. Hasten to the market and purchase some for yourselves.”

This refusal always gives me pause. Aren’t we supposed to sacrifice for others? Were the wise virgins being greedy? What might the foolish virgins think of them if they refused?

This little tidbit reminds me that I don’t need to be codependent. That is, my emotional well-being does not need to be governed by the emotional responses of others. The wise virgins looked at what was right and wrong, not what everyone else would think of their actions. How easy it might have been for the foolish virgins to manipulate the wise. “I can’t believe you won’t help me in my need. That’s just not very Christlike. How stingy.” How easy it would have been for the wise to get caught up in playing emotional games, “I know if I give some of this oil I won’t have enough either, but what will they think of me. I don’t want them to resent me. I definitely don’t want them thinking that I’m not very spiritual or sacrificing.” 

They didn’t have to do any of that. They had done what was right. To give away their oil would have impacted their relationship with the bridegroom. They didn’t have to cave to any of the emotional manipulation and pressure of the foolish virgins.

Should we be people who sacrifice and serve others? Absolutely. However, that doesn’t mean caving to emotional manipulation. That doesn’t mean walking a line defined by the overbearing expectations of others, especially of others who are placing this burden on us because of their own wrongs. 

The first question we need to ask is what draws us closer to the bridegroom. We need to do that no matter what others think about us or say about us. If what we have done is right and brings us closer to Jesus, then it doesn’t matter if others think we are bad. We’re not. If, on the other hand, what we have done is wrong and takes us away from Jesus, then it doesn’t matter if we have convinced everyone in the world that we are spiritually great; we aren’t. 

That is the key to why these virgins were wise. Not only did they prepare so they could be close to the bridegroom and be ready. They did not allow the emotional manipulations of others to overtake their desire to be with the bridegroom. They didn’t allow their desire to impress others to overtake their desire to be with the bridegroom. They didn’t allow their fears of hurting their relationships with other people to overtake their desire to be with the bridegroom. When the bridegroom came, they were ready.

***Question: How do you keep your relationships with others from hindering your relationship with Jesus?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

I’m back. Sorry for the break. I had a great little vacation with the family in Crossville, TN last week, but our apartment did not have internet access. I hope you kept up with your reading even if you weren’t able to discuss it here. Let’s get back into the swing of things here.

Matthew 13 has a collection of kingdom parables. Of course, there is the parable of the sower. But then there are five parables, which all set forth similes about the kingdom.

1. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.
2. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.
3. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.
4. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of a fine pearl.
5. The kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net which gathers every kind of fish.

The first and last parables seem to make the same point. Not everyone who is “in the kingdom” is of the kingdom. Satan, sadly, influences some who have entered the kingdom and on the day of judgment, they will be sifted out and cast into the torment of fire. This encourages us to make sure we are not submitting to the influence of the Satan and simply thinking “going to church” means all that other stuff we do doesn’t matter.

The second parable of the mustard seed is pretty easily understood. The kingdom of heaven began extremely small, but it would grow to be huge. That is exactly what happened. Prior to pentecost, the seed for the kingdom was only 120. But on Pentecost, it immediately grew to about 3000 (still not a very large number in comparison to the world population). In time, however it grew and grew and grew. Multitudes and multitudes entered. This all happened despite constant warring against Christ’s kingdom.

It is the other two parables that give me a bit of trouble. I know that may sound odd because they seem so easy to grasp. On the surface, most just view them as repetitions of the same point. The kingdom is worth so much we should sell everything. But these connected parables always give me some trouble. The parable of the hidden treasure I get. The man, seeing the field and finding the hidden treasure sold everything he had because that was the purchase price of the land. However, upon gaining the land, he actually had something more valuable than all his earlier possessions. That is the kingdom of heaven. We should be willing to give up everything because when we gain Christ’s kingdom, we gain it all.

Perhaps the parable to the pearl of great price is making the same point and I’m just thinking too hard. But this parable always causes me a problem because once the guy gets the pearl, the only way it will be of any real benefit to him is to sell it again. Otherwise he has a very costly trinket and that is it. Some suggest this is because he knew he could turn around and sell it again for even more than he paid. I guess that might be right, but then that leaves us buying the kingdom and selling it to get the value. Maybe I’m over analyzing, but, I just don’t think this is the point.

A brother once pointed out to me a major difference in these two parables. In the parable of the treasure, the kingdom is compared to the treasure. However, in the parable of the pearl, the kingdom is not compared to the pearl but to the merchant. When that very simple point was made, the parable suddenly was turned on its head. The parable of the treasure is about how I should value the kingdom. The parable of the pearl, however, is making the opposite point.

The kingdom is a merchant in search of valuable pearls. The picture is about Christ and his looking for the lost sheep. We are the pearl. Christ, in His kingdom, valued us so much He gave up everything to purchase us. He gave up the glories of heaven, the fellowship with the Father and then even gave up His life so I might be in His kingdom. WOW! How powerful is that.

If Jesus and His kingdom valued me that much, how much more should I value Jesus and His kingdom? It truly is a treasure. I guess it’s time for me to start selling things.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC