How to Pass the Blame

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

   “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

   “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" - Matthew 23:29-39

This is the final chapter of the Woes Jesus gave to the religious leaders.  At first, when I read this, my mind told me it was just about the same basic principal that has been woven throughout Jesus words to them, "You say one thing, but do another."  But after reading it a few times, I was able to get out of my familiarity of being OK with blaming others as a natural human instinct, and noticed that was exactly what Jesus was pointing out to them that made them hypocrites!  These leaders, Pharisees, Scribes, Teachers of the Law, Priests, etc., kept telling people they weren't to blame for their forefathers' mistakes and sins; stoning prophets, arresting Christians, physically torturing believers.  Why do we constantly avoid our own imperfections in life by pointing out the sins of others and saying we are so much better than that?

The truth is, only by God's grace are we saved from the wrath of our sinful lives, and only through Him do we have the power to have victory over our temptations.  No one is exempt from them. 

OneTimeBlind does a skit, called "Not My Problem", portraying the picture of a couple people talking about not being comfortable helping homeless people or organizations raising money for causes, because they don't really know what their money is going to if they give it, nor are they willing to help in any other way, because there are so many other more important people with more power that could help.  Then the picture changes when a friend of theirs tells them about what happened to him a couple days before, when he saw a lady in labor, laying on the sidewalk, and a blind guy that tripped in a pot hole into oncoming traffic, and he did nothing to help, because he didn't know them, didn't want to get dirty, and could think of so many others that could have helped, but didn't.  It is a story that really puts light on the fact that there are opportunities all around us to spread God's Love.  Instead of serving others in a humble way, we spend our time pointing out how everyone else should do something about it, and how wrong they are if they don't.  The skit ends with the guys friends telling him he needs to make them his problem, and him saying, "Well, why should I make it my problem, if you won't make it yours?"

The world is a fallen place, full of selfish gain and ambitions, sickness and imperfection.  We are called to stand separate; members of the Body of Christ.  Jesus goes on to tell them that He is sending more prophets, speakers, and spiritual mentors, and because these hypocrites are so blind to their own brokenness, they will be the ones doing the stoning, flogging, and persecution.  We end up seeing that when they physically arrest Jesus, put Him on trial, come up with lies to accuse Him of wrongdoing, beating him to a pulp, flooding Him with mockery, and ultimately tying Him to a splintery wooden cross, brutally nailed to it by their metal stakes and hammers, leaving Him to die of asphyxiation and the loss of blood.  Our Lord, and Savior, has had victory over that death, and now lives to change our lives, and adopt us into His family!  So do we look back on that and say, "What a shame to treat a man like that, I would never do such a terrible thing", like even Jesus' own followers did before they disowned Him, and ran to hide so they wouldn't be caught when He was arrested?  Or will we encourage one another in our walk with God and say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"?

The sum of what Jesus had to say to these leaders still lives for us today.  Now we, as leaders, have the choice to make.  Will we lead in our own selfish desires, or keep the image of Christ pure by serving God and loving others? 

How to Wake the Dead

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." Matthew 23:27-28

In Jesus' days on earth, tombs would be marked during Passover week so those on their way to Jerusalem wouldn't accidentally defile themselves by touching a place where the dead have been buried.  If they were to touch one of the tombs, they would be cast out of society for 5 days until they were to be considered clean enough to enter society again.  Marking the tombs didn't change the fact that there were still rotting carcases in the inside of these mausoleums.

Jesus' message to the Pharisees is the same for us as well.  We can showcase the outsides of our bodies as a way of saying we're "Christians", but what if we do nothing to grow closer to God?  In our relationships with people, how long do our friendships stay strong the less time we spend with each other?  In this same way, if we don't continually seek Christ, our relationship with Him grows distant and decays.  We may tote around that "we're all good" by going to church and having once accepted Christ, but that doesn't mean our relationship with our Creator is healthy.

These teachers of the Law, God's Word, continually focused their lives on their leadership position of authority.  Instead of drawing closer to God, whom they proclaimed they served, they were too focused on how they looked to the people.

We all have areas of our life that, when we really take the time to look at it, separate us from our relationship to God.  Last night, I led the teens in a time of writing those barriers over to God and renewing their relationship to Him.  Each teen came up to the front and had their letters nailed to a makeshift cross we had built.  It's not only great to see people in action with their faith, it's also inspiring.  I hope to inspire others with my faith, but my main focus is on growing closer to God and not letting anything come between us.

How to Clean A Dirty Cup

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." Matthew 23:25-26

I love the imagery Jesus uses to get His point across!

Jesus compares the religious leaders lives to that of a cup that has been thoroughly cleaned on the outside, but the inside is filled with the mold and decay. These leaders are so eager to make sure they appear perfect on the outside, that they neglect the heart of the matter; the passion for God and His Church. 

Last night, I got a couple of coffee mugs together.  I washed one extremely well, inside and out, and the other one I lined the inside with chunky peanut butter, honey, chocolate cocoa, crushed oyster crackers, and coffee grounds, but kept the outside of it really clean.  I asked for as many volunteers that would to clean the inside of that cup out, eating whatever was in it, not telling them what it all consisted of until they had wiped it clean.  Why? 

• To show that some of what we put into our lives for our own personal pleasure and fun may not be the healthiest for our lives, and we won't know unless we care enough about our lives to keep what is in it clean.
• Also, because I just like to watch teens squirm, especially when one of them talks about how much that coffee mug looks like the one that's been sitting in her room since last year and is filled with dry, crusty, mold from the coffee that was left in it she keeps forgetting to clean out!  (If you let them, the students will teach the lesson for you in their own way)

Greed and self-indulgence.  These come from focusing way too much on ourselves.  Jesus came with a different message:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1

“Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35

and He did the unthinkable; He washed His disciples' feet. 

In those days, there were servants on hand for when you entered somewhere off the desert streets.  They would wash your feet of all the filth and grime because they walked everywhere on foot.  Jesus' disciples would have had clean feet when they were seated around the table, but by Him showing the willingness to do the same as the servants of the house, He was placing Himself at what was considered to be the lowest position of that time.  This was such a humbling example of how to humble our lives that His own disciples tried to resist letting Him wash their feet.

Last night, I felt led to do the same.  I had never done a foot washing ceremony before, so it was very new to me, but I wanted to be willing to show them that I 'm not there to just boss them around and tote around some "better-than-you" philosophy.  I am here to serve God in the Body of Christ.  If it means one more enjoying the Love I experience every day from God, I would lay down my life to see one saved.  Beyond that, Jesus shows us that we should accept everyone in whatever level they are in of their spiritual walk.  We all have room to grow closer to God, and every one of us plays a part in encouraging each other along the way.

I must make sure I don't spend all of my time making sure the outside of this vessel looks perfect, otherwise I may be neglecting where my heart is.  Keep the inside of the cup clean, and the outside will naturally be cleansed by the overflow of His grace.

How to Strain a Gnat and Eat a Camel

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel."  Matthew 23:23-24

Last night, I asked for a few volunteers, and the three teens that came up got to show everyone what Cheddar Cheese flavored Larvae tasted like. (I got them from Earthbound Trading Company if anyone is interested in trying some for yourself!)  Then I asked for another volunteer and that one got to eat a blueberry flavored succer with a real dried scorpion inside. (Don't worry, the pincher on the tail was removed and the venom was drained out...or so I've been told)  It was to lead us into this scripture where Jesus pointed out to the Teachers and Pharisees that they spent so much time consumed by the minute details of trying to live perfectly for God, that they overlooked the bigger picture; justice, mercy, and being faithful.  You see, in their time eating of certain animals was considered unclean and sinful, so these religious leaders would go as far as straining a bowl of soup to make sure they wouldn't accidentaly swallow tiny insects, like gnats.  Because they spent so much of their time concentrating on these tinier details, Jesus was saying they wouldn't even notice if the meat someone had preparred for them was from a larger "unclean" animal, like a camel.

How often do I get so caught up in thinking God is looming over me with a checkbox, marking off every tiny mistake I've made and every "i" that I haven't dotted, that actually living naturally for Him goes out the window?  We can be so afraid of not looking good in God's eyes that we forget there are others in this same journey, and we can help each other with encouragement and support.  I am an image of Jesus, but I am not Jesus.  Thankfully, the only one that has lived in complete perfection as a human is the one that chose to give His life for me, so that I could recieve eternity in the Kingdom of His Father, and all I'm asked to do is have a relationship with Him and be a part of His Family!

While in that Family, choosing to give tithe on even the tiniest blessing I recieve is a great way to show God He even matters in the smallest areas of my life, but I cannot let that get in the way of bigger picture by letting the "rules" of Christianity become the god that I serve.  The Creator of the Universe is so much bigger than that.

How to Make a Hypocritic Oath

I took a break from the Woes Jesus brought down on the religious leaders to concentrate on fasting and Lent. Now that I am getting back into it, I've had to take a step back to really think about who Jesus was speaking to, and this time He is not only pointing out to the teachers of the Law where they're slipping up, He is also speaking to us about promises.

"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.' You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.' You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it." (Matthew 23:16-22 NIV)

At first I thought this was more about Jesus pointing out how much value they were placing on material possessions, but this has more to do with the promise itself. We spend so much time deciding which promise or commitment is more important than the other, that in the tangled mess of it all we end up deciding a promise is only as good as how much we desire it. Our mindset has become, "if it doesn't benefit me, it's not important."

Last night I showed clips from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl. Captain Barbosa and his crew had become such thiefs that they stole a treasure with a rumored curse on it and they chose not to believe it for their own personal gain. After squandering the treasure away, they realized their consequence was they would live undead; never to live, never to die, never to feel even the slightest breeze across their cheek. In a word, their lives were now nothing but decay. In the end, once they had returned the very desire they were so selfish with and paid their debt in their own shedding of blood, they were more blessed by feeling a sword as it pierced their skin than when they could feel nothing at all.

When our entire focus is only on fulfilling our own desires, promises become meaningless, friendships become that which we squander, and trust becomes a fictional character. Sometimes fulfilling our promises are painful, but it helps to know the feeling is not hidden behind a blanket of numbness.

What is a promise? A vow? A covenant? A commitment? A swollen oath? What about the words we speak the very moment we open our mouth? If we expect people to believe us, are we not saying the words we speak are a commitment to trust? Jesus is not as concerned with what the teachers of this Law were telling people to make promises on, but that our very lives would stand behind the truth we proclaim. Are your promises only for your benefit, or are they more for the benefit of others? How many people in our lives think about how much they can trust our commitment before they ask us to make one? Do we make it easy for them to have faith in us?

I really can relate to how The Message bible translates this passage:

"You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, 'If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: 'If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless. "(Matthew 23:16-20 MSG)

How to Set the World On Fire

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:15 NIV)

One of my focus scriptures is "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8 NIV) Jerusalem was a town; we can consider that as local ministry. Jerusalem was located in the province of Judea, and Samaria was its neighboring province. This makes it easier to understand that God has called us to spread His Word in our local cities, then to the countries we live in and support, and finally spread around the world in some way. That encourages me to use technology and other means to be an open book about what God is doing in my life and being His hands by serving others.

Can we take it too far?

The religious leaders Jesus was talking to understood this mission, and they would travel on their missions trips telling people how lost they were and pointing out their flaws and failures, while showing them how they live "perfectly". Another scripture that can be painful to carry with us is this, "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:5 NIV) We have a huge responsibility on our shoulders! No matter where we are in life, as Christians we claim a leadership role; the world is constantly looking at us to see how we match up to the faults of these Pharisees. So how can I be a good leader, and truly show others what God's Love can do?
I need to first change my focus, and then try BLENDing instead of singling out:

1) Build my own relationship with God. If I'm not growing my relationship to God, how can I possibly be concerned about where I think others are in theirs?
2) Live out loud! Have no fear of what others judge me for as a Christian. How many of my friends am I embarrassed about? How much less should I be embarrassed to be in a relationship with the One who created me? Be excited about it!
3) Engage in the lives of others. Show an interest in what others are interested in and make a friend. Friends support each other and share concern for one another, naturally.
4) Never condemn, always offer encouragement. When others encourage me in the good I am doing, does it make me want to focus on what I am doing wrong, or continue to practice what I am doing right? Offer the same guidance for others, let God be the Judge that He is, and my encouragement for what my friend is doing right will naturally show why the sinful choices are so bitter.
5) Defend my friend's relationship to Christ. If I have offered to encourage someone in their faith, I need to be willing to lay my life on the line for them to protect them from sin and the judgement of others.

Always remember, I'm not the only one on this journey. While I do have a personal relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I also have the privilege of sharing it with other people. That gets me excited about sharing my worship with my church family and being a part of the Body of Christ!

How to Become Human Waste

A couple of weeks ago we started focusing on the message Jesus gave to the religious leaders about their hypocrisy. These Pharisees and teachers of the Law were given seven woes, each one showing us even more about what it truly means to be reflection of Christ.
Out first topic was on how easy it is to qualify people as human waste. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." (Matthew 23:13 NIV) The leaders were guilty of piling on rules and obligations to new believers and when they couldn't live up to them perfectly, they would point out how much closer to God they were and how condemned these new believers were for not being able to keep up. How many times have I been guilty of showing people how to be a Christian, and after show them how they're not living up to my standards?