This is what I love about people in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament: They’re brutally honest with God. I think there are too many times we try to hold back with God. We try to give Him an “out.” Like He’s amazingly fragile and we have to protect Him from what we really think. How are we supposed to have a close friendship with the One who loved us first if we keep thinking we have to be fake around Him?

Of course, we do have to remember that saying these honest things like “I don’t see where you’re showing up here, God, and You promised You would,” have to be said within the context of relationship. And it’s also important to remember that God’s going to be brutally honest in His answer, too. And that might not be a pleasant thing.

Well…OK…you might not feel like you have to be fake for God. But I do. More often than I’d like to admit. I’m working on taking off those masks I try to put up in front of God so He doesn’t see the real me. Not sure how I can have an authentic friendship with Him if I keep trying to be fake around Him.

Why is it easier to talk around an issue instead of address it? Why is it easier to talk about someone who has wronged you instead of talking to that person directly? I’ve heard excuses like, “Well we don’t want to hurt people’s feelings.” You know what? Spreading gossip is about the most hurtful thing you can do (even if there’s truth to the gossip). It’s destructive. It’s divisive. Its soul-sucking. That’s why Jesus says we need to deal with things head-on instead of allowing them to fester and destroy His community of faith.

I wonder if Jesus meant what everyone thinks he meant when he said to treat them as you would a tax collector. Many people think that means to ostracize them. But…that’s not what Jesus did. He welcomed them and loved them into a changed life.

Update (1/28/2012)
The story of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35) follows right on the heels of this section where Jesus talks about how we should handle people who sin against us. The Unmerciful Servant puts things in a much larger context: We have been forgiven much. We should forgive much, too.

Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. All of them met their wives because through experiences at the well. Interesting. While I understand the necessity of having water and how getting water can be a social experience, I never realized the well was also the eHarmony of the day in the Ancient Near East.

Exodus 3:12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”

See what God did there? He tells Moses the sign of His activity will happen after he’s already brought the people out of Egypt. Sometimes things are the most clear when you look back. And you can’t help but see God’s activity throughout your entire story.

But we don’t like it like that, do we? We want to see every thing lined up for us. We want to see the whole path. We want to know what God’s going to do and exactly how He’s going to do it. Oh – and if at all possible, we’d prefer it to be pretty easy for us. No need for times to get tough. No need to feel like things are unpredictable. Just a nice, easy life, thankyouverymuch. Well….at least that’s what I’d prefer, anyway. I don’t know about you.

But that’s not how God works. He invites us to follow Him in faith and that means we aren’t going to know every little step along the way. But we’ll see, looking back, that He brought us exactly where He said He would.

What happens when God reveals His whole plan?
We don’t get it. After all, Jesus said exactly what was going to happen to him in today’s reading from Matthew. How did the disciples react?

“And the disciples were filled with grief.” No wonder He only reveals His plan to us one step at a time.

Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good.

I think this is my favorite phrase in Scripture. If I was brave enough, I would have titled a sermon “God’s Big But” at some point in my career (shoot – I still might do that someday). Because that one little but changes everything. Every time I see that phrase, “but God…” I circle it, highlight it, do whatever I can to call my attention to it because things are about to get turned upside down.

“The waters flooded the earth for 150 days. But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals.” Genesis 7:24-8:1 (NIV)

“…but God intended it for good.” (see above)

“After Jesus had been put to death, he was taken down from the crosst and placed in a tomb. But God raised him from death!” Acts 13:29-30

“… we were helpless and sinful… But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful.” Romans 5: 6 & 8

Life is full of surprises. Things can be uncertain and unpredictable. The whole world can be falling apart around me.

but

God

He will not leave me. He will not forsake me. He will not forget me. He will continue to show me His love even (maybe especially) in the midst of life’s most painful moments.

It’s such a tiny word. But God has an awful big but.

Really needed to read that today. The disciples were thinking with their stomachs. They could only see the problem that was directly in front of them. When that happens, you lose sight of how faithful God really is. I once had a friend tell me that “Obstacles are what we see when we take our eyes off the goal.” It’s been easy for me to take my eyes off the goal today, focusing on the needs that are right in front of my face (e.g., some issues with the kids’ school, the interview I have tomorrow, etc.) and worrying about those things. It can be easy to merely listen to my “stomach” growl and think that’s the only thing that matters. In cases like that, I can totally miss what God is trying to show me.

God has been faithful. He has shown up in miraculous ways. Why do I think today or the next day or the next day (and so on…) will be any different? It won’t. Because God is faithful.

Ouch.

Matthew 15:18 But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God.19 Out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, vulgar deeds, stealing, telling lies, and insulting others.20 These are what make you unclean. Eating without washing your hands will not make you unfit to worship God.

We have somehow watered this down to the seven dirty words you can’t say on television. But then again, we shouldn’t be surprised. We have a tendency to water down a lot of what Jesus says.

The Canaanite Woman
I must say, this pericope still bothers me. A lot. I remember Steve Wyatt explaining once that he can hear a slight playfulness in Jesus’ voice when he implies she’s a dog – mocking the general mindset about foreigners and their “unholiness.” But I’m not sure I see that here in the text. Any insight here would be greatly appreciated.

Psalm 19
So we read in the Gospel reading today about how our words show our hearts – and they usually declare that we’re unclean. Then you read about how the heavens display the wonders of God, declaring His goodness without even saying a word! 

Talk is cheap.

The people following Jesus were desperate to get close to Him. So desperate that merely touching His clothes was life-changing. How many times have I begged Him to draw me closer to Him? How many times do I try to keep Jesus at arm’s distance? After all, it’s much easier to keep Him at that distance. That way I don’t really have to change things in my life. Of course, it also means I’m less likely to experience His power the way these people did.

So…which do I want? Comfort from a distance? Or life-changing, soul-cleansing, healing power that only comes from drawing close to Jesus?

Genesis 42:38

All he has left? He has ten other sons! And he’s willing to let one of them rot in jail (sidenote: How long did Simeon have to stay in Egypt? Does anyone know?). Having grown up in a family where his father played favorites, you’d think that maybe he’d be a little bit more intentional about loving all his sons, not just the ones borne by his favorite wife. But Jacob isn’t. He passes along the toxic relationship that encouraged him to take advantage of his brother and deceive his dying father by playing favorites. But he merely passed on what he had already learned, continuing the legacy established by his grandfather, Abraham (who favored Isaac over Ishmael).

Makes me wonder what I’ve been passing along to my children? Have I been teaching my son the right way to love his wife? Have I been showing favoritism among my children? What legacy am I leaving with them? What traits will they carry with them and pass on to their children and their children’s children?

We have a sign posted in our house that’s similar to the one above. Am I really displaying those qualities with my kids and Christy (aside from doing loud really well – that’s a given)?  Or am I teaching them habits and encouraging character traits that I’d really rather not see as part of my legacy?

Man, it was so much easier to sit and point out Jacob’s flaws. Stinks when I point the mirror back at myself…

Yeah - this kind of illustrates what their entire season looked like.

Genesis 41:31 ”This famine will be so severe that even the memory of the good years will be erased.”

Yep. Sounds like exactly what’s going on in Colts land, except it didn’t take seven years. It only took one horribly bad season. Unfortunately.

OK, I’m kidding.

Kind of.

This is a good reminder that you can’t rely on past success. We have to keep moving forward and allow God to continue to shape us.

On a completely different note…

Matthew 13:30 ”Leave the weeds alone until harvest time. Then I’ll tell my workers to gather the weeds and tie them up and burn them. But I’ll have them store the wheat in my barn.”

I have asked myself countless times over the last few years why God has allowed certain people into my life. It could very well be that He has kept them in my life because removing them would do more damage to me and my spiritual development. Just a thought.

In a similar way, I wonder if that’s why God allows “churches” that do nothing but destroy hurting people to continue to exist is because if that “church” were to die, these people who spew nothing but venom behind their veiled religiosity would spread that poison to other churches in the Kingdom. At least this way it’s concentrated in just one area. Maybe allowing them to remain there, like the weeds in the field, does less harm to the wheat that’s trying to grow.

I’m not entirely sold on that thought, but it’s definitely one that I’ve been considering. And it isn’t too far of a stretch to apply this to the weeds and the wheat, is it?

Of course, I could be completely off. It wouldn’t be the first time. Probably not the last, either.

Of course, I’m not sure where else the story should be placed in the grand scheme of things. The story of Judah and Tamar does tell what Judah’s life was like after selling his brother into slavery (and before reuniting with him, I assume). And Judah’s reaction to sexual temptation (he thought Tamar was a prostitute) stands in stark contrast to the younger brother that he and his other brothers hated so much (as seen in today’s reading). Judah was found to be the father of Tamar’s child because of the items he left with her. Interestingly enough, Joseph was thrown into prison for evidence that was planted by his accuser.

Like I said before, the placement of the Judah and Tamar story feels like an abrupt shift in the story. But the more I think about it, it makes a great deal of sense for this story to be told here within the larger context of the account of the sons of Jacob.

Genesis 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love.
In the midst of life’s most difficult circumstances (e.g. imprisonment for a crime you didn’t commit), we cannot forget that God continues to remain faithful – even when “friends” forget you (like the cup-bearer did).

And Now, a Musical Interlude
Of course, I can’t read the story of Joseph and Pharaoh without thinking of this musical…

(you’re welcome)