Homeboy

It's so funny to me when I have the chance to go back to my hometown in Covington, VA and talk to people. When my mom still lived there, we would travel back a couple of times a year to see her, and meet up with some of my childhood friends. Often, my pastor would let me do the Sunday morning service as well. Here I was, 15 years after I had left the town. I had been a pastor for over a decade at that time, had a Master's degree in ministry, had served in Chicago, and had spoke hundreds of times. But whenever I stepped in that pulpit in Covington, I became something else. I would pray, and deliver the message as best I could, and once it was over, everyone wanted to discuss one thing: my bike. They wanted to talk about how I was always doing tricks on my bmx bike as a kid, how I was in the paper, did I still ride my bike, how funny it was to watch me ride my bike, etc. I never got past being the 16 year old bmx guy from Covington. I just learned to laugh with them, and understand that it was part of the deal.

Then I read in Matthew 13 where the people in Jesus' hometown admit that He has great wisdom and miraculous powers. They saw the proof, the credentials. But they couldn't get past the fact that He had grown up there, they knew Him as a kid. His mom and family still lived there, for Pete's sake. They were offended that He had the audacity to come in and teach them anything.

I've always commiserated with Jesus, and felt like I understood on a very, very small level how He felt. But reading it today, it hit me that I am more like the crowd in this story than Jesus. Yeah, people in my hometown didn't take me seriously. But who can blame them? After all, it's me we're talking about. But how often do I take Jesus for granted? I see the miracles in my life and in others. I hear Him talk to me, I feel His peace; yet I still blow Him off from time to time. It's just Jesus, after all. I can do what I want here, He'll be okay with it.

But He's King. He's the King OF Kings, actually. And He's the Creator of everything. Everything. He's not someone casual I can dismiss when He makes me uncomfortable. He's the One. The Way.

He's definitely not some kid who we watched grow up. And He's never ridden a bmx bike.

At least not as far as I know...

Grow. Or else!

Jesus really cracks me up in a creepy sort of way. In Matthew 13:24-33, He's telling stories. He tells one about a farmer sowing seeds for a wheat crop, and then an enemy sowing weeds in to ruin the field. They wait until the harvest to pull the weeds and save the crop.

Now, reading it, I'm like "ok, the seeds are God's truth, and I am the field, and I need to beware of the weeds Satan sows in my life to ruin me". It sounds great, but it's almost totally wrong.

Jesus explains in 37-43 that He is the farmer (check), Satan is the enemy (check), and the field is the kingdom of God. The good seed are followers of Jesus, the weeds are people who don't follow Jesus. They are both sown, and both grow. The only way to tell them apart is at harvest time, when wheat will grow, well, uh... wheat, and the weeds won't. Jesus even says if you try to pull them apart before then, you'll confuse the two and pull good out with the bad.

So, what Jesus is saying is the only way to tell a follower from someone who doesn't is what their life produces. It's not about whether the plant claims to be wheat or not. It's what shows up in their life. And at the end, we'll be saved or not based on that.

That's a bit rough in the face of a nice, solid five point Calvinism; or the idea that if we say a prayer, we're in. Our faith will lead to a life that proves we love Jesus, or we're toast. (wheat toast?)

Why is Jesus so much more deliberately obnoxious about the truth than I am? Why does He tell such sobering stories, and I don't? Actually, those are dumb questions. The question is, why am I not telling this side of the truth to students all the time? What is wrong with me?

I'll just have to change that.

Grow

The parable of the sower has gotten a lot of attention from pastors over the years. We read it in Matthew 13. Jesus tells about the farmer sowing seed all over the place. He's scattering it everywhere. That alone is a bit crazy. When you're poor, and only have a little seed, you only sow it where you KNOW it will grow. This farmer in the story is so rich He can afford to throw seed everywhere. So he does. Some gets carried off, some grows and dies, some grows but never produces anything, and some does exactly what it's supposed to do, produce fruit and more seeds.

Jesus tells us point blank what the seed story is all about. God is the farmer. The seed is our lives, and the impact of the gospel in it. Often we think we are the soil, but Jesus tells us in verses 18-23 that we are actually the seed. Do we grow and produce fruit? It all comes down to our humility, and how soft we are to what God has for us. If we're really resistant to God, nothing grows. If we are little open to God, we will get interested in Him, but that faith will die quickly. Maybe we really want God's life, and our faith grows up tall. But worries about life and stuff take over, and kill our faith. Or, we can give everything to growing our faith, and it will produce great things!

What matters most to you? Is it being productive for the Kingdom, seeing God use you no matter what? Or is it defending your pride, your stuff, protecting your fears, be in charge?

There's only one way to grow.

That's Not True!

Wow! Jesus lets it fly in Matthew 12:22-36. He heals a guy who is possessed. Everyone is shocked, as they should be. The religious guys say that Jesus did because He is in league with Satan. And Jesus lets loose on them in a big smack down of painful truth.

He shows them how stupid it is to claim He is casting out demons in Satan's power. It's a definitive sign that God's Kingdom is here. Then He goes on and talks about how anyone who takes God's miraculous work and says it's not God, but Satan, has moved so far from God that they might not come back. And finally, He calls the religious leaders the ones who are following Satan, and that their words prove it.

Sometimes God just has to be honest with us. Bluntly honest. We hear something that we don't like at all, from someone who we know we can trust. And we deny it. We run from it. But God won't let us. The truth can be overpowering sometimes.

Are you running, in denial, from God in some part of your life?

Keep It Quiet

Matthew 12:15-21 is a tough section. In this section Jesus has a lot of people following Him, and He heals everyone in the crowd who was sick. It's one of the few places where it says He heals everyone. Often it is He heals "many", but here it's everyone. It's one of His bigger miracles. But He tells all of them to keep it quiet. This is so NOT how we would think to do it. We'd call for press conferences, and tweet about it, and post pics of everyone on Facebook and start a fan page. He tells them to keep it quiet. Why?

Because God had predicted in Isaiah 42:1-4 that the Messiah would be humble. He wouldn't fight or be obnoxious, he would be gentle and calm, until the day that He conquered. This is the side of God that is so hard for me to understand. Why is God like this? He is SO strong and amazing, but He values humility, peace, and softness. As a guy, this is tough for me to handle. I want to be big and tough. God says be big and humble. Be a peacemaker. Don't cause a scene, just do what is right in quiet and move on.

This whole thing is just who God is. He isn't acting a certain way, it's who He is at His core. And He wants us to be like Him. We can fight this side of Him. We can set ourselves up as impressive, and spread the word about how amazing we are. But everytime we do, we are denying who God is and who we are meant to be.

And when Jesus has lived a life like this, the promise is that "In His name the nations will put their hope". There is justice, but it's for God, not for us. Its tough to trust that sometimes.

Jesus Math

The religious leaders in Matthew 12 get all over Jesus for healing a guy on the Day of Rest. He's not supposed to work on that day. God said so. Healing is work. So, Jesus shouldn't heal. Jesus doesn't care, and He heals the guy, on purpose, in church, on the Day of Rest, in front of them to tick them off. It works, and they decide the best answer to this is to kill the One who Heals.

Dumb story. The religious leaders are so stupid to kill Jesus for healing someone, aren't they?!

So I read this story in verses 1-14 for like the 83rd time in my life, and I ask God, "Where am I in this story." Unfortunately, God takes me seriously, and shows me exactly where I am in this. I wouldn't get mad at Jesus for healing a guy on a Sunday. I think it would be cool. That's not the issue for me. But the question comes to the surface, what would I get mad at Him for? What do I believe about God, that I can't do, that would upset me? You see, the Pharisees never get accused of healing anyone. They know God can do it, but He doesn't seem to do it through them. If they were going to heal someone, they can only assume it must be hard work. I mean, they work harder than anyone to be holy, and they can't heal. It must be CRAZY hard!

So, they take their understanding of God ("don't work on the Day of Rest") + their limits ("I can't heal") = no healing on the Day of Rest. And when God shows up and challenges that, their only solution is to kill off this God in their face. Okay, THAT I do all the time. I take some understanding of God and put my limits on it, and then assume that I have God's truth. But He is constantly challenging me to see the world through His eyes. What if healing isn't hard work, but is actually a joy filled experience? Then it would be something that exactly fits in with the Day of Rest idea. Here is one of my messed up God equations: "God wants to help people in need" + "I don't have enough time to help everyone" = "I can ignore THAT person's needs". But God comes in and tells me to ask for help, to encourage others to get involved, to spend time training other people how to reach out and help. Ohhhh, THAT'S how it works.

Or what about this screwed up Jesus math: "God wants us to tell people the truth" + "If I tell them THAT piece of information, it will hurt them" = "I'll ignore God and keep my mouth shut". That one is really stupid, and that's why I do it alot. I completely kill off God, not giving Him any credit that the honest hurt it brings might be what heals the person.

You get the idea.

But I'm Not Like Them!

At the end of Matthew 11, there is this super famous passage that is a quote of Jesus. He says "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."

This comes after Jesus jumps all over three of the towns in which He had done a ton of miracles, and they didn't repent. (verses 20-24). Then He talks about how the wise and educated aren't getting it, but the uneducated people are trusting Him. It seems that Jesus frustration and hurt at people who are self-sufficient leads Him to this statement of compassion for the broken and hurting.

But what is it about the ones who reject Him that puts them at odds with Jesus? They are well educated. This isn't about whether or not you have a college degree. It's about what people rely on to get them through. The folks He is upset with believe they are smart enough to take care of themselves. They have developed a system that protects them, and keeps other people out, giving them power. They designed a religion, based on God's teachings, that gives them control and power.

What I think we all need to realize is that anyone with enough technology to read this can do those things. What do I rely on? My system, my control, my designs, my words, my influence, my .....?

Or am I like the other people in the story. They were so beaten down they had given up. They had no power, and knew it. They had no way out, and didn't deny it. They knew if they had to depend on themselves, they were done.

This is where it hits me hard. It's not about the religious parts of the Pharisees, necessarily. I don't worry about how many extra buttons my coat has when I wear it on Sunday. That doesn't mean I'm off the hook. It's about how independent of God I want to be. That rating can get pretty high sometimes. I begin to realize that if I have to depend on God and not myself, I might not be able to make it. I'm so stubborn, selfish, and prideful. I like things my way, all the time. I'm not sure of how to get out of it. I'm stuck.

And God whispers, "That's where I want you. You can't make it. You need me. So Jason, come to ME with this tiring and heavy load of selfishness, I'll give you a rest. Your pride and self-sufficiency is killing you. Try out my way of living, it's a lot lighter. Be like me, I'm gentle and humble. When you live My way, you soul won't run itself to death. Trust me. It works."

And really, what do I have to lose?