Day 038: Humility

"But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:11-12

These verses come after an explanation from Jesus about the order of things, but their order is a little difficult for us to understand, since they go against what we think about higher positions.

I think it is safe to say that some of the most powerful people in this country and in the world are the ones with the most money.  Praise be to God that we actually have some of these rich people who are philanthropists, who give so much of their wealth to those who are in dire situations.  But, at the same time, there are many of the wealthy who like to make sure that we all know that they are well off.  Even worse, still, is that we have many in our churches who hoard wealth and do the bare minimum for the less fortunate.

But Jesus shows us a different way of doing this, both in his words and in his actions.  He has shown that he, the greatest being ever to have walked on this earth, took the time to heal the sick, tend to the poor, and speak to the outcast.  Jesus has given us an example that we need to follow.  Alongside that, Jesus shows that it is not for our personal worth that we do these things, for if that's what we have in our heart - our pride, our position in the food chain - then we will be humiliated.

To follow this teaching means that we need to work.  We need to give not only our treasure, but our time and our talent as well.  It's one thing to write a small check and call it done.  We need to go out there, to volunteer, to teach, to evangelize, to help.  As Presiding Bishop Curry said, we are not called to stay in our place, but we are called to follow Jesus wherever he leads us.  And, as we approach Lent, it is time to prepare ourselves for the journey that leads us through the Passion of Jesus.  Let today be that preparation.

Day 037: Mob Mentality

"You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor join with them, so as to turn aside with the majority to pervert justice."  Exodus 23:2

The law sections in the Pentateuch paint a picture of life in the early days of the nation of Israel.  Sure, the prose of prohibitions and specifications can be quite dry and boring after a while (let's say three and a half books' worth), but they can also reveal what was going on.  As one of my teachers told me, referring to treatises of the 18th century, teachers have to write down their rules because people were already doing the things that were being written against.

This law here shows us that the mob mentality has been around for a long time, and it doesn't seem to get any better.  We can have so many political gatherings today, where people spew out so many messages about hate, and it seems that just because there are so many people there, that the people start to agree and subscribe to these messages.  Throughout modern history, we know that mobs can be powerfully destructive, such as the denunciation ceremonies in Maoist China, or the Nazi rallies.

In this chapter, the different laws circle around one idea: don't pervert justice. We can pervert justice not only with mobs, but with money or even intentional inaction.  I'm sure we can all relate to these issues today, where the poor get misrepresented in the justice system, or where the needs of those in distress are ignored by some of the richest and most powerful in the world.

So what are we supposed to do, if we don't have power over the masses?

We are called to circulate truth.  We are called to circulate the Gospel, the Good News, so that everyone may be saved.  We are being called to care for those around us, to understand those who are in difficult situations, to help those who don't have all that we have.  We are being called to love.

Will this be easy?  Of course not.  If it were easy, I'm sure it would already have been done after over 3,000 years of this having been written.  We need to face the mobs and continue to spread the truth, for that is what this world needs.  The world around us needs the love preached in the Gospel.  The world needs our good faith to God, to ourselves, and to our neighbors.

Day 036: Preparation

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.  So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless."  Matthew 22:11-12

This parable has given me some trouble in the past because of how it seems to be on the surface.  My reaction is usually: if the king invited all these people and the guest actually arrived, why is he being punished?  Didn't he come from the street anyways?

But, I have been thinking that this parable might be a bit more about preparation.  Indeed, at the very end, Jesus says, "For many are called, but few are chosen."  One thing is that the guest may have been called from the street, but he might have had time to go home in between walking around and arriving at the feast.  He could have gotten dressed by then.  Another thing is that maybe the king was not talking explicitly about the outward appearance of the outfit, speaking more about how well dressed the man was relative to his social stature - as in, he didn't care to give the slightest thought to the grandeur of the feast.

Whatever the case was, though, it ended with the same issue: the king asks, "Why?" and the guest is speechless.  This reminds me of the many times my mom has asked me about why I didn't do what I was supposed to do.  Why didn't I do my homework?  Why didn't I do the dishes?  Why did I lie?

We have so much of an opportunity to live life the way we want to.  I mean, we truly have an entire lifetime to live it, but we will face ultimate judgment after death.  Of course, there are also times when we will have God coming to us asking "Why?".  We can't be speechless at these times.  We need to be prepared for these moments.

God has reached out to us so many times and in so many ways.  God still reaches out to us every day. Sometimes, we decide to accept what God has.  Other times, not so much.  God reaches out to us with peace, love, glory, and eternal life.  But, we look at it in a way that is filled with so much pride - I can do so much better.  Sure, maybe the curtains in the banquet hall aren't the color that you like, or maybe they're serving a food that doesn't have the exact taste you're looking for, but the opportunity is there.  We are given so much, but we like to pick apart what we don't like, removing the whole intention from the action.

I find that the guest in the parable thought that he could do so much better.  The man, who seemingly had no power, dared to curse the invitation by going to the wedding without his wedding garments.  But, we find that the king didn't flinch at this.  He resolved to punish the man.  I pray that we may never have to deal with the harsh punishments for our moments of pride, but we need to take the example.  We will find so many opportunities, but it will be our mindset that will determine what happens with each one.

Day 035: Tests

So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  Matthew 21:27

This is one of those passages where I say to myself, Jesus was pretty sassy.  The neat thing, though, is that there is no malice behind what Jesus says or does here.  The leaders are trying to test him, and Jesus makes them think anew.

Today, we have an issue with our pride.  With the availability of so many resources, we start to appoint ourselves as great leaders.  Some of us will just go far enough to answer questions during lunch or during down time at work or even before or after the youth group meeting.  However, some will go as far as becoming self appointed/ordained ministers.  We will take all of the matters into our own hands.

Yet, things start to fall apart when times get tough.  Jesus is there to keep us in check when we are going crazy.  Jesus, the man with all the wisdom and the most impeccable timing as an orator, is speaking to us constantly, always to encourage us.  However, Jesus encourages us to go in his direction.  He has a ministry that he has established a long time ago, and he is calling all of us to join him.  Through his earthly ministry, he taught us all that we need to know in order to be initiated in this journey.  However, just as he described in the Gospels, sometimes the journey isn't exactly what we want it to be.

We want for things to go just our way.  We want to have our names in big letters, removing the cross or Christ from our storefronts or billboards.  We want all the credit to go to us.  But, then Jesus will ask us, "Is this your goal, or ours?"  Indeed, we can pursue whatever we want to, but if we are not doing what Jesus is calling us to do, we will end up destroying ourselves.

So, what's the best way to ensure that we know what we are doing during the test?  Study!  The issue with the leaders in the above passage is that they were asked a question where they could only answer "we don't know" so they could keep up with their own beliefs.  We have the textbook, we have the methods, and we definitely have the means to pass our spiritual tests.  We just need to keep in constant conversation with our instructor, Jesus Christ.

Day 034: Following

"So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him."  Matthew 20:34

Here's an example of where the blind were being led by one who is able to see.  However, after they are led, they also lead us, for they now see, and we, sometimes, are blind.

These two men called out to Jesus to have mercy, and Jesus had mercy.  But, the story doesn't end just there.  The men follow Jesus.  Jesus is working in our lives in so many different ways, but are we ready to follow him?

Probably something that we do is pray only whenever times seem to be very tough.  Sure, we do need God's grace to get us through difficult exams, tests, or events in our lives.  But, we are also supposed to praise God in our prayers and in our lives.  We need to give God credit.

Just think about the times that you've been at a restaurant.  The waiter is doing just what he needs to do, coming by to serve you, taking your order, giving you your food and drink.  Then, at the end, you find that the waiter wasn't anything super spectacular, but you still give him a 15% tip, since it is customary (if not impulsive because of their low wages).

Now think about God.  God has given you the job so that you can have money to spend at a restaurant.  God has given you the time to spend in that place.  God has even provided you with an environment where you can go anywhere with quite a degree of safety.  What does God get in return?

I know that I can't say that I give God everything.  I don't even think that I have enough to give God in return for all that God has done in my life.  Yet, I know that I need to follow.  Sure, God doesn't work as a worker for us, living on the wages that we give, but imagine this: if God can do so much for us when we are wandering away from God, how much more can God do when we are actively seeking God in all of our aspects of our lives?

God is the one who is walking by the streets, listening for our calls.  But, when God fulfills what we need, God continues to walk down the way to hear more of the cries.  Are we going to follow God along the way?  Are we going to serve God with our devotion to bringing God's kingdom on earth?

Day 033: Peace in War

"The Lord brings wars to nothing; the Lord is His name." Exodus 15:3

In the different songs of praise that we find in the bible, we find many different traits of God that help us understand God's grandeur.  I found this particular praise to be quite amazing, for it speaks to us just as loudly today as it probably did during the exodus from Egypt.

War brings about so much destruction.  It results in the loss of lives from all involved.  Some lives are terminated immediately on the battlefield, but others are terminated in terms of physical and mental injuries.  Whenever we use war as a metaphor for a process in our minds, we refer to ourselves as being in the middle of turmoil, where things just don't seem to make sense anymore.

But God brings about so much good change into our lives.  God ends the wars that are all around us, whether physical ones or mental ones.  God is a God of peace and of love.  We choose many times to hate one another, but God steps into our lives to bring about peace, for we can accomplish so much more whenever we are working together with all those around us.  Through a connection via prayer with God, we can achieve true peace of mind.

When the Israelites turned to God, they were delivered from all their hardships and troubles.  God provided for them every step of the way, even whenever they fell away and spoke out against God.  In the same way, God is reaching out a hand so that God can take us along the way.  God knows our struggles and can make them times when we witness the glory of God.  When we turn to God, God will end all the spiritual warfare that might be reaping ultimate destruction within our souls.  God will walk us down the paths that are eternally peaceful.

Today's Readings:
Exodus 15-16
Psalm 26:1-6 (27:1-6)
Matthew 20:1-28
Romans 5

 

Day 032: Signs

"And Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also."  Romans 4:11

One of the defense mechanisms that we have evolved to have is one of classification.  We can classify those who are with us and those who aren't in order to maintain our own safety.  However, we have allowed this classification to go too far, where we are considering other human beings, other people who are living the same life with all its challenges, to be the other.

Even worse so, we isolate people from our faith communities.  We turn our churches into social clubs, where people have to come in with a set of prerequisites in order to participate, but they can only participate with a certain set of ideas.

But Paul is telling us about something else.  Despite the fact that the Jews of the time discriminated against those men who were uncircumcised, calling them faithless or heathens, Paul says that the Gospel was not restricted by that specific ritual.  In fact, faith itself transcends all signs.  He states that there were those who were circumcised who were faithless and/or wicked.  In the same way, there are many out there today who are baptized who are wicked; and, there are those who are not baptized who are faithful.

God doesn't require signs from us.  God gave us these signs so that we would have something tangible to represent a difficult concept.  Faith is not that easy to grasp, but it is something that we can grow.  And what's the only way to grow a good plant than to take care of it?

We need to tend to our faith so that it may grow and prosper.  God calls us to live our faith, that all things we do are in good faith, living the Gospel at all times.  We need our faith to become something so great that we no longer need a sign to represent it.