Do More for Jesus

The King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Matthew 25:40

Jesus makes this astonishing statement in the parable of the sheep and the goats. Yes, we minister to the needs of the lost as well so that we might lessen their suffering and have an opportunity to share the gospel with them, but it isn’t love for the lost that is our identifying mark as Christians. It’s our love for other believers. True sheep love other sheep. This reminds us of what Jesus says in John 13:34-35. 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

People should be able to look at us and judge our Christianity based on our love for other believers. And that’s exactly what Jesus does in this parable. He identifies His sheep by their love for other believers.

Now, this isn’t talking about earning salvation. We aren’t saved by loving believers. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. No, this is evidence of our salvation. When we are saved, we become a part of the family of God. And one of the marks that God places on us is our love for that family. Those who love Jesus, love His children. Thus, our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ marks us out and sets us apart as members of the family of God.

This a test of salvation that you can apply to your own life. Do you love God’s people? Do you love the church? Is their evidence of that love in your life? Are there any believers anywhere who are better provided for or ministered to because of you?

Find ways to love on Jesus by loving on and serving His people... His church. Give generously to your church. Invite the new person at church over to your house for a meal. Visit those who are homebound or in the hospital or in a nursing home. Take meals to the person who just had a surgery or a death in their family. Pray faithfully for them. Weep with them when they weep, and rejoice with them when they rejoice. 

When you do these kinds of things for other believers, Jesus takes that personally! He says, “whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do for me.” I want to encourage you to start thinking about it like that. When you minister to another believer or to the church, don’t think of it simply as doing something for them… train yourself to think of it as doing something for Jesus. Let's do more for Jesus!

Small Starts

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

Mark 4:30–32

‌

The Bible Knowledge Commentary* helpfully notes that it takes over 700 mustard seeds to weigh a gram (and there are 28 grams in a single ounce). So a mustard seed is pretty small and very light. Yet the shrub that grows from this seed becomes the largest of all garden plants in Palestine, reaching a height of 10–12 feet in a few weeks. The key point being that this mustard seed starts small but grows to be something very big.

Jesus is comparing His ministry and the kingdom He is planting to the mustard seed. He is saying that even though it looks small and insignificant right now, it would grow. In fact, this small movement would one day encircle the whole globe. 

‌‌This parable is a great reminder for us that God often starts great works in the smallest ways. An old Chinese proverb says “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” And that seems to capture how God often works in His children’s lives. Consider for example how God chose to create a people and a nation for His name. He didn’t go find a people already existing and adopt them as His own. No. He chose one man and his wife and asked them to go on a long journey to a place they had never been before. Imagine that! The beginnings of Israel, even the beginnings of the church. Abram I’ve got a plan, but first you need to go on a journey.

Yes, God has a habit of starting large undertakings in small ways. So, you have to learn not to despise small things and small beginnings in the Christian life. Advancing God’s kingdom in your life often starts with small things like choosing to obey. Praying and asking God for guidance and help. Or even inviting someone to church. Don’t underestimate these small steps of faith.‌

* John D. Grassmick, “Mark,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 121.

Choking

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

Mark 4:18-19

Some think this passage speaks about unsaved people, but I disagree. I believe that this piece of the Parable of the Sower speaks of believers who prove to be tragically unproductive in their faith. In fact, I fear that this may even be true of a majority of believers today. We should read this passage then as a solemn warning that if we are not careful our faith in Jesus will amount to nothing. 

The passage points out three things we ought to be especially careful to avoid. Three things that rob the Christian of his fruitfulness in the Lord: the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and desires for other things. Let's look at each briefly.

Have you ever considered that the worries of life, both big and small, might be distracting you from more important, eternal matters? Wouldn't it be a shame to get to Heaven only to realize that you never really lived for God because you were too busy fussing over earthly things of no eternal worth. What a shame it would be to squander your chance to store up treasure in Heaven because you were living instead for dirty laundry, accounts payable, sporting events, new cars, politics, and entertainment. Ruthlessly prioritize your life according to what matters most!

There is perhaps no greater or more effective deception in our world today than the lie that money will make you happy. We all claim to know this is a lie, but deep down inside most of us still believe that a little more money would somehow make us happy. It won't! Money won't solve your problems, and it won't fulfill you. Beware the love of money! Satan is skilled at using money to wage war against our souls. Both rich and poor alike must work hard to avoid being deceived by the lure of money. One of the best ways I have found to combat this is to regularly give my money to the Lord. This serves as a constant test and reminder of which one I love more. Sacrificial giving keeps love of money in check. 

Lastly, Jesus warns us that our desires can choke our fruitfulness. Luke's version of this parable refers to these desires as "the pleasures of life." We get used to having certain pleasures or comforts, don't we? I can say for certain that I tend to want life to become easier and more comfortable as I age.  If I'm not careful I quickly begin to see something that was once a nicety as a necessity in my life. Satan has plenty of shiny bobbles and trinkets to distract us with in this world. Be careful that you don't fall prey to a sales trick. Don't chase pleasure, chase the LORD!

Take a moment to walk through the fields of your life and check on your harvest. Is the bounty coming in or are there thorny weeds that you need to pull? 

The Only Retirement Plan Jesus Endorsed

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Luke 16:8-9

Here Jesus points out one area in which worldly men actually excel beyond the community of the redeemed. Their shrewdness in dealing with one another. They are practical, even artful in how they ingratiate people to themselves and by so doing, provide for their own future. Jesus says we should do the same. 

This is a tricky saying. In the context of the parable as a whole it could appear that Jesus is commending dishonesty and stealing. But if you read carefully, what Jesus is actually commending is how the dishonest manager used the wealth at his disposal to provide for his future. Jesus challenges us to do the same. But what does He mean?

Jesus is confronting us with our love of money (see verse 13) and He is accusing us of being unwise both in how we deal with other believers and in how we provide for our future. In short, Jesus is telling us to give generously to the needs of other believers. When we do, it accomplishes several things. 1) It fights against the love of money taking root in our hearts (as any sacrificial giving does). 2) It strengthens the community of faith by drawing us nearer to one another in friendship. 3) It is a way in which we can lay up treasure for ourselves in Heaven. In verses ten through twelve, Jesus discusses how God will reward those who prove faithful with their money. But if I understand Jesus correctly in verses eight and nine, He is actually suggesting that if you use your worldly wealth to provide for believers here on earth, then they might invite you over to their Heavenly pad in eternity and thank you there. What a thought! 

In case you aren't convinced yet, here's my argument: First, Jesus says that these friends we are supposed to make with our money will welcome us into eternal dwellings. Who could do that but believers? Second, notice that in verse eight Jesus explicitly compares how the people of this world deal with "their own kind" and how believers do. For the comparison to hold, Jesus must be talking about how believers deal with our own kind. Third, consider that the parable of the rich man and Lazarus follows hard on this parable's heels in the gospel of Luke. Much of the emphasis is the same. The rich man ought to have used his money to provide for Lazarus' needs on earth; but, as he did not, it reveals his true god to have been money and he was not welcomed into eternal dwellings but suffered in Hades. 

So how can we live this out? Simple. Check your bank and credit card statements. We all spend money on the people and things we love. Are you providing for the needs of poor and suffering believers both near and far? Are you giving to ministries who help lead the lost to salvation? Life experience teaches us that we can't hang onto our money forever, but we can use it to provide for our future. Be generous with your Christian family, they're the only ones who have an eternity to pay you back!

For further reading:

• Luke 16- Read the whole chapter.

Jesus: The Dividing Line

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Matthew 25:31-33

There will come a day when people are no longer separated along geopolitical lines, racial barriers, or income tiers; but rather by their response to Jesus. On that day every nation will be gathered before Him as He sits on His heavenly throne, and He will divide the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep being representative of those who placed their faith in Christ, the goats of those who rejected Him.

This is why your commitment to Christ must be primary. It must be your ultimate allegiance in life. It must be greater than your patriotism because Jesus won't judge you based on your national allegiance, but on your personal relationship to Him. It must be greater than your love for your family and even your own self-interest because Jesus said “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26).

Jesus must be your all in all, because He is what unites you to some and divides you from others. The Spirit of Christ unites all believers across every barrier and dividing line our evil world can create. Yet, Jesus told us that He would also bring division. He said, "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). So, you must understand that your allegiance to Christ will draw some nearer to you and some it will send running in the opposite direction. Christ will tell you to go to this person and to leave that one alone.

Therefore, it is imperative that we all make sure we are on the right side of this dividing line. How do we do that? In this passage, Jesus bases it on how we respond to the needs of other believers. When Jesus' brothers (i.e. believers) are hungry, thirsty, lacking shelter, in need of clothing, sick, or imprisoned; how do we respond? Do we meet their needs?

Now Jesus isn't espousing a works righteousness here but is showing that love for other believers is a proof of salvation. We see this in the earliest church in Acts 2. All those who repented and placed their faith in Christ, began selling off their possessions and giving to other believers as they had need (Acts 2:44-45). The Spirit of Christ so unites believers that love for one another is a sure sign of the family of faith.

So, are you on the right side of the dividing line? Have you placed your faith in Christ? Jesus was fond of saying that you will know a tree by its fruit (Luke 6:43-45), so what are you doing to meet the needs of other believers? If aren't doing anything, then what does that say about you?

Of Course it Isn't My Fault

This week while at camp with 3rd-6th graders I've been reminded how limited a child's perspective is. This isn't really their fault. This is one of the best groups I have ever taken to kids' camp. It's simply incredibly difficult for children to think of anyone other than themselves. Their perspective on life, their view of the world and all that goes on in it is completely locked in on themselves. Their feelings, their assumptions and their experience of any given situation govern how they view it. They are so trapped by their own perspective that it becomes the definitive measure of truth. It is unassailable, undoubted, and unquestioned. Their feelings and thoughts on the matter are their Truth.

While it is wholly understandable that children struggle with this, the sad truth is that many of us still struggle with it as adults. We get into a conflict with a co-worker or our spouse and we are trapped by our own perspective. We are unable or unwilling to see the conflict from their side. We get lost in sin and our lives begin to unravel in all the negative consequences, but we are unable to see the fallout as the result of our own decisions. We blame our families, the church, God, other people, anyone and everyone except ourselves. The Bible tells the story of a young man who was trapped by his perspective this way in Luke 15. Read these verses from the familiar story of the prodigal son.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father."

We don't know exactly who the prodigal son blamed for his plight. Maybe he blamed it on the famine (v. 14). It is hard to be certain, but we do know that it wasn't until he "came to his senses" that he was able to see the truth of his situation- that it was his own sin that landed him in this terrible spot and that the proper course was repentance.

The idea of being so locked in by my own perspective scares me. The thought that we could be so deluded, so self-deceived as to be totally blind to the fact that we are causing our own suffering is frightening. But the good news is that we serve a God who is in the business of bringing people to their senses. Will you ask God to open your eyes today, to bring you to your senses in any way you may need it so that you can see the true condition of your heart and life? Maybe in addition to that you also need to go to a spouse or a friend and ask them to openly and honestly share with you what sin they notice in your life. You might just be surprised what you find out about yourself.

For further reading...

• Read the whole story.- Luke 15.

Don't be afraid to give!

"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

"And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Luke 12:15-21 & 29-34

When this passage is considered in light of Matthew 6:19-24, it is clear that there are two ways money can be invested. Money can be stored up for yourself (in other words here on this earth) or it can be stored up in heaven. No single dollar can be stored up in both places. Sure you can hedge your bets and invest a percentage in either place, but no single dollar can be invested fully in this world and in the kingdom of God at the same time. We must choose. 

In the passage above the rich man is called a fool because he loses all of his profit windfall. He stored it up for himself out of a desire to take life easy, but he did so in a foolish way because he could not guarantee  he would live long enough to enjoy it. When his life ended sooner than he thought it would, he lost all the benefit of those funds. Had he given the windfall to the Lord in some way, perhaps to feed the poor or to support the temple or to support Jesus and His disciples' ministry, then it would have been stored up in treasure for him in heaven and he would have gained an eternal reward.

At this point in this post my well-conditioned American response of financial fear crops up. (Isn't it amazing that the residents of one of the wealthiest nations in recent history have been trained to live in constant fear of poverty and to make financial decisions based on this fear!?) At this point I begin to think "What if I give too much of my money away and then I need it? I won't have it then. I could be in big trouble." Of course, Jesus knows our hearts and in the next passage He immediately addresses this fear. He begins to speak of the ravens and the lilies of the field and how God cares for them even though they do not store up treasure for themselves. Jesus tells us to seek God's kingdom first and He promises that God will provide for our basic needs like food, drink, and clothing. Then He says, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor." For Christians giving is an act of faith. When we give sacrificially it shows that we believe God's promise to give us a kingdom inheritance in heaven. It shows that we believe God will take care of our basic needs here on earth. And lastly it shows that we are willing to stand on those promises. Subsequently, when we do not give sacrificially it reveals our lack of faith.

This passage calls Christians to give sacrificially- dare I say even dangerously by the world's standards- because of our great faith in our great God. Will you give? Do you trust God? If so, then I urge you to take Jesus' words seriously. Sell some of your possessions and give to the poor.

For further consideration...

• Proverbs 10:22, 13:22, 15:6- Some passages of Scripture teach that God will bless the righteous person with worldly wealth. How do we balance this with Jesus' words above? How much should we keep and how much should we give away? 
• Luke 12:13-34- Read the full passage in context. What do you think this has to say about retirement?
• Matthew 6:19-24- It is an either/or scenario. You either invest your money in the kingdom of God or in yourself. The same dollar can't be invested both places.

The Dragnet of God's Justice

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 13:47-50

Dragnet is one of the most well-known and endearing TV shows and radio programs in American history. Jack Webb (who also produced the program) was the star from start to finish as the very straight-laced and no-nonsense Sgt. Joe Friday. Webb’s character was so endearing and cast such a positive light on the Los Angeles Police Department that when he died of a sudden heart attack in 1982, the L.A.P.D. retired his badge number 714 and city offices flew their flags at half-staff. You may not know this but a dragnet is an actual police term. It is “any system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects. Examples are road barricades, traffic stops, DNA tests, and general increased police alertness.”* It seems that Sgt Friday wanted to cast his dragnet over the entire city of Los Angeles and (using whatever legal means possible) haul in all the criminals, suspects and vagrants and sort out just what justice demanded for them later. The parable of the dragnet shares more than just a phrase with the TV show. It tells of a time when God will cast His dragnet over not merely Los Angeles but over all of creation and haul everyone in. And at that time he will sort them all out according to what His justice demands be done for each one. 

Jesus refers to a type of fishing that was very familiar to his disciples many of whom were fisherman. This type of fishing used a net which might have been stretched between two boats and then drug through the water and up onto the shore. As the net was dragged through the water it gathered any and every fish in its path. The fishermen would then pull the net to shore and sort out their catch.** The Old Testament Jewish law had very specific ways of classifying fish as either clean (fish which the Jews could eat) (cf. Lev. 11:9) or unclean (fish which they could not eat) (cf. Lev. 11:10-12). The good fish were gathered in baskets while the bad fish were either thrown back in the water or cast onto the beach to rot and die. Jesus says that this is a picture of the final judgment. God’s angels will cast His dragnet over all creation and pull in the good with the bad. Then the wicked will be separated from the righteous to go to their just destination, a place Jesus calls the fiery furnace, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. A place we call Hell. 

In the wake of the bombing of the Boston Marathon earlier this week, this parable is a reminder for patience. Now in this world we must remember that we are not separate from the wicked. Evil has overrun this world and for now God has chosen in His goodness to cause his sun to rise on the righteous and the wicked alike (Matthew 5:43-48). There are times when like the psalmist Asaph we want to cry out and ask God why the wicked prosper (Psalm 73). Evil (whether it be impersonal forces or very personal people) will not be dealt with decisively until the judgment day. But even now as we suffer at the hands of wicked men and women and an imperfect world, we must remember that there will come a day when justice will be done. Until then we suffer patiently.

It also reminds us that it is only the Lord who has the right to sort or judge men. The parable presents God's angels performing this at His bidding, other places in Scripture clarify that Jesus Himself will sit in judgment. (Matt 25:31-46, Rom. 2:16, & II Tim. 4:1) The question the parable begs is this, "Will you be found to be wicked or righteous?" Most of us consider ourselves to be good, but then we think that God is going to rate us as good or wicked based on a comparison to other people. He is not. God will judge us based on how we compare to His own righteousness and goodness. If we are less righteous than He is then we will be cast into that place which was prepared for the devil and his demons (Matt 25:41). But the Bible also tells us that we all, everyone one of us without exception, are wicked (Romans 3:10 and 23). Only those who look to Jesus for salvation and who have been clothed in his righteousness are considered good. So what are you? If you haven’t surrendered your life to Jesus then you will be found to be wicked and will be cast into Hell. If this is you, then repent and believe in Jesus today! 

For further reading...

• Psalm 73- See what the Lord teaches Asaph when he almost began to envy the wicked.
• Matthew 5:43-48- Consider God's common grace.
• Matt 25:31-46, Rom. 2:16, & II Tim. 4:1- Jesus will be your judge.

*Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragnet_(series)

** I read about this in a number of biblical commentaries. All of which agreed on the basic details. 

Jesus the Robber?

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

Mark 3:22-30

In Romans 1:18-19 Paul tells us that what can be known about God is plain to us by His creation (and now by his revelation through Jesus and the Bible) but we have a tendency to "suppress the truth" about God. We willingly reject Him, because He doesn't conform to what we want Him to be. This is exactly what we find the teachers of the law doing in this passage. Jesus has been working miracles that clearly show His divine nature. He has regularly healed the sick and even now He is casting out demons, but they are set on rejecting Him. So they justify their rejection by claiming that Jesus is possessed by the Devil. More specifically they claim that it is the Devil in Jesus that is driving demons out of others.

Jesus responds with a simple parable. Can a house divided against itself stand? Certainly, many of us have experienced this ourselves. When spouses begin to make war with one another, more often than not, their marriage fails. When parents and children consistently tear one another down, the family falls apart. So too Jesus says, "Why would Satan attack his own strongholds?" Wouldn't it be great if Satan were to turn against his own kingdom and suddenly begin to set free all the people he has enslaved and deceived? But that isn't what is happening. In fact, Jesus seems to say that it is an absurd idea.

Then Jesus offers a true explanation of His ministry. His power is from the Lord, yet the works which He is working now (namely casting out demons) is not ultimately what He has come to do. It is simply the necessary prelude and preparation for His true ministry. His true ministry is to reclaim from the power of Satan all of creation along with those people in it who are willing to follow Him. This creation is currently under the control of Satan (Matthew 4:8-11 and I John 5:19) because humanity chose sin over obedience to God on that day in the Garden of Eden and every day since. We have all bowed the knee in service to the enemy. Since we have been given dominion over creation (Genesis 1:28-29) and we gave dominion of ourselves to the Devil (John 8:34 and Romans 6:16), He now has many strongholds in the world. So in preparation for His great reclamation and redemption of His creation, Jesus is first "binding the strong man." He is systematically showing His superiority over Satan and is breaking down his strongholds on the earth.

What parts of your life does the Devil still have dominion over? Is your heart a heart divided against itself? I know this pain. Rest assured that Jesus will set you free if you are willing. Certainly none of us experiences complete perfection right after salvation. Once we give our hearts to the Lord, He begins the slow process of working through all of the sin in them. Slowly tearing down stronghold after stronghold in our hearts. Conforming us more and more into the image of Christ, and setting us free from the power of sin a little more each day. But sometimes we stall this process out ourselves. We turn back to sin and begin to cling to it again. Work with the Lord today. Expose the sin and the strongholds in your heart to the Great Healer and Redeemer. Ask Him to bind the "strong man" in the darkest corners of your life.

For further reading...

• Matthew 4:8-11 and I John 5:19- The whole world is under Satan's control right now, but one day we know Jesus will return and then the kingdom of God will come in power! 
• Romans 1:18-32- We willfully reject God.
• Romans 6- A whole passage on slavery to sin and slavery to righteousness.

God Brings the Harvest

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.

Mark 4:26-29

There were many things a farmer in the first century could do to try to ensure a successful crop. He could prepare the earth to make it receptive to the seed. He could prevent weeds from invading the gardens and choking the seedlings. He could even fertilize his plants. But in the end, the farmer knew all too well that the success of his crop depended on many factors that were out of his control. He couldn't control the rain or the heat or the cool. He couldn't control whether bugs ruined the crop. In fact, he didn't even really know how seeds grew. He didn't have the science to know. He was painfully aware of the fact that the success of his harvest depended more on the kindness of God than on himself. He sowed the seed but God made it grow.

The same is true when it comes to sowing the seed of the kingdom. The seed is the word of God, the gospel. We do not know how God will use that word planted in people's hearts to bring them to salvation. And sometimes we look at the seed and we think, "This is just a small thing, it won't make a difference. How could it ever amount to something so big in their life?" But that is how the kingdom of God works. It starts small, but our God has a way of making it grow quickly in fertile soil.

Sow the seed and trust God for the results. I know that you are scared to talk to other people about Jesus, but it's okay to start small. Just try to work the name Jesus into your conversations. That is powerful. Or try to work some scriptural truth into your interactions. It may seem small and insignificant but throw it out there anyway. God will do with it what He pleases. If it should grow, He'll make it grow. Remember that if it is God's word then it will accomplish the purpose that God sent it out for. (Isaiah 55:10-11).

You are called to make disciples of the whole world (Matthew 28:19). That is your first calling, your number one job as a Christian. You may not be Billy Graham, and that's okay. God isn't asking you to save people. That is His job! All you have to do is scatter seed. Some people do not know that when the Great Commission says "Go therefore into all the world and make disciples," that it can actually be translated "as you go." I think that is a very helpful way of thinking about it. You don't have to be on a mission trip to share the gospel. As you go through life, wherever you find yourself, plant gospel seeds. If your attempts at sharing Christ seem small and like they won't amount to anything, take a minute to look at a mustard seed and remember that our God uses small beginnings to bring about big changes. God wants to use you to rescue souls from Hell and all you have to do is sow little seeds. So...sow!

For further consideration...

• This week instead of further reading, here are some ideas I have gathered from a number sources (some are even from teens) about ways that you can sow gospel seeds.
• Invite people to church.
• Speak the name of Jesus every chance you get. There is power in that name.
• Bring Scripture up in conversations by comparing real-life situations to stories found in Scripture.
• Put Bible verses up in your workspace, on your car, on your desktop, or on your stuff.
• Put Scripture up as your Facebook or Twitter status.
• Hand out gospel booklets that explain the plan of salvation.
• Write out a verse of Scripture on a 3x5 note cards and give them to cashiers whenever you pay for anything. 
• Do an Evange-letter. Take note of all of the addresses in your apartment complex or on your street. Develop a form letter that is personable and explains the gospel. Once a week, take five minutes and hand write one of these letters, pray over it, and mail it to one of your neighbors. You don't even have to know their name. All you need is their address.

Salt of the Earth

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Matthew 5:13

Though it may seem commonplace today, in the ancient world salt was a precious commodity. Its usefulness was owed to one particular aspect of its nature. It was not its color that made it useful. Plenty of things are white. Nor was its value tied to its texture. Sand is also coarse like salt. It was its saltiness that made it precious. It was useful for both seasoning and preserving food because of its saltiness. If that characteristic was lost, salt was not merely useless, it was a nuisance. Much of the salt in first century Palestine came from the Dead Sea. This was not a very high quality salt and if it got damp it could actually lose its saltiness. At which point it was no longer useful as a seasoning or a preservative. However, salt (even ruined salt) still kills vegetation. This ruined salt could not merely be thrown out, but had to be disposed of carefully in order to avoid harming food sources. Thus, it was often cast on a foot path where it would not harm vegetation but would be ground into the earth.

It is the same with Christians. Our value and effectiveness lies in those things which set us apart from the world. Scripture calls us to be holy like the God we serve is holy (I Peter 1:15). By living a life that is set apart and holy to the Lord, we serve the same purposes as salt. We season the world with our good deeds and we season the gospel of truth with our holy lives. We also preserve the world by our holy living. Our enemy advances like a spoiling mold across the flesh of all humanity tainting the image of God wherever he can. By God's grace and guidance, we fight his advances by shining the light of the truth of the gospel into our world. By Christ's gospel, God reclaims souls from the putrid grasp of the enemy's hand and sets them free to engage in holy living as well.

The application for us is clear. Like the salt of first century Palestine, if we lose that characteristic which sets us apart, we become worse than useless. If we fall back into worldly living and "trample the Son of God underfoot", ignoring the surpassing greatness of His sacrifice, then we became much worse than unusable: we actually bring shame to the cross of Christ (Hebrews 10:29). If we bear the title "Christian" and live like pagans, we only have potential to do damage to Christ's name and all that remains for us is judgment. We are called to be in the world but not of the world. This is no easy task. It is not for the faint of heart or for men pleasers. It is only by the power of God working in our lives that we can accomplish it (Hebrews 13:21). Check your saltiness. Are you living a life set apart for God or are you fading into the background of the world? Remember you serve a Savior who "is able to empathize with your weakness," so turn from sin and call to your Savior for help (Hebrews 4:15).

For further reading...

• John 17- In the world but not of it.
• Ephesians 1:4- Destined for holiness.
• Hebrews 10:10-14- Already perfect but not yet holy.

The Scandal of Grace

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius [which was a day's wage] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, "You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right." So they went.

He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, "Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?" "Because no one has hired us," they answered. He said to them, "You also go and work in my vineyard."

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, "Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first." The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. "These who were hired last worked only one hour," they said, "and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day."

But he answered one of them, "I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?"

So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

Matthew 20:1-16

I think that many of us are like moral accountants. We walk around day in and day out making little tick marks in our mind... keeping track of how good we are and how bad others are. We may not do it consciously, but most of us are constantly measuring ourselves against other people morally. And we get lost in this endless accounting of how good we are compared to how good they are. When we don't measure up we feel bad, but when we do measure up we feel pretty good about ourselves. And I think that is why many of us find ourselves sympathizing with the workers who worked all day in the above parable. Their logic seems solid to us moral accountants. It isn't fair that they should work hard all day and receive the same amount of money as those who had only worked one hour. Something deep down inside of us wants to scream, "That's not fair!"

You see, we like to think that we have been working hard all day like those early workers and that one day it will be time for us to get our reward. But in all our moral accounting, we have lost sight of our own sinfulness. It isn't as though God were cheating us any more than the landowner cheated those workers. He hasn't withheld anything from those who deserved it. Indeed, none of us deserve anything from God but wrath and punishment for "we all, like sheep, have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6). So it isn't that God has cheated anyone. On the contrary, He has been exorbitantly generous. It's His generosity that bothers us. It makes other people equal to us that we believe to be inferior. When God offers forgiveness to all, it renders our moral accounting useless. Now we all stand before Him on level ground. That is the scandal of grace. That is what makes God's grace so hard for us to accept. It requires us to let go of our perceived entitlement and come to God based not on our merits but on His generosity.

This aspect of grace came to the forefront of the Christian community a number of years ago in the person of Jeffrey Dahmer. Late in the winter of 1992, Dahmer was found guilty of murdering 15 men and boys and was sentenced to 957 years in prison. The shocking nature of his crimes made Jeffrey Dahmer one of the most infamous serial killers of all time. It isn't appropriate to go into detail here, but it is sufficient to say that his crimes were unspeakably gruesome. As Dahmer served his time at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, his father sent him Christian materials. In 1994 Jeffrey Dahmer accepted Christ as his personal Savior. He was baptized and met weekly with Reverend Roy Ratcliff until he was murdered by a fellow inmate later in that year.* As Dahmer's conversion became news and people began to debate whether it could be sincere, many Christians struggled with the thought that Dahmer could be equal to them in the eyes of God.

The truth is that your moral accounting is bankrupt. We all have a tendency to fudge the numbers in our favor so much so that we can't be trusted. We are all much more like those workers who only worked an hour than we would like to admit. None of us has earned a spot in heaven. No matter how good we may look by the measure of this world, we are all dependent on God's exorbitant grace. The true scandal of grace isn't that God is cheating those who deserve more from Him. It's that God would choose to love any of us at all...that He would choose to let any of us into His heaven. Don't stumble over the rock of offence (Romans 9:32-33). Fully embrace the good news that God has for your life and the lives of those around you. Embrace the magnificent unfairness of the gospel of Christ for it is only by it that you can be saved!

For further reading...

• Hosea- Much of this book is devoted to the scandal of grace. In it God commands His prophet (Hosea) to marry a prostitute (Gomer) as a metaphor for His love for unfaithful Israel. How scandalous. After Gomer leaves Hosea to return to her life of prostitution, God commands Hosea to take her back. He must purchase his own wife at a public auction as a slave! But the real scandal isn't that a prophet would marry a prostitute or that he would take her back after all she had done. It's that God would love Israel in spite of all her sin.

*See Wikipedia's entry on Jeffrey Dahmer and the following article: http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2006/11/Saving-Jeffrey-Dahmer.aspx.

Water Damage

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Matthew 7:24-27

In May of 2010, my hometown of Nashville, Tennessee experienced a flood so large that it is estimated to have done more than $1.5 billion in damage. In technical terms the flood was a 1,000 year flood, meaning that it is estimated that a flood this large would only strike once in a thousand years. Many homes and businesses that weren't even in the floodplain (and therefore did not have flood insurance) suffered significant damage. This has temporarily left its mark on the Nashville housing market. When people look at houses in certain parts of town they are careful to ask if the house was flooded. And you better believe that the next time I consider buying a house I will make sure it isn't in the floodplain. But this makes sense right? Now that we have seen with our own eyes how much damage a flood can do to your home, it makes sense that we would want to avoid it.

Christ plays on the same type of thought in today´s parable. He contrasts two different ways people build their homes and the different outcomes. The first way you can build is to dig down and build your house on a solid rock foundation. This will cause your house to be strong and it will be able to withstand all kinds of storms. It may take a little longer to build this way but it will last for a very long time. On the other hand, you could skip all that digging and simply build your house say, in the sand of an old washed out creek bed. Your house will certainly get built faster but it's only a matter of time before a strong enough storm blows through to destroy your home.

We understand that Christ is using a home as a metaphor for our lives. There are two ways to build (or live) your life. You can live your life based on Christ's teaching or you can live your own way. Christ says that if you build your life on His teaching, then your life will be safe and secure. It will weather many storms. It may not be the easiest route but it is the safest and most rewarding. But you could always live life your own way. The problem is that our way of living life doesn't bring the best results. The kind of lives that we build for oursleves have a nasty habit of crumbling around just when we need them most...when the storms of life are raging.

This is a parable that most everyone knows but we don't always think of it in its context. Christ places this parable right at the end of His Sermon on the Mount which sprawls from Matthew 5-7. So this parable is really like the conclusion to His sermon. He is essentially telling people, "Don't merely listen to the Word...do what it says" (James 1:22). So let's take a look at just a few of the themes in Christ's famous sermon. As we do, evaluate whether or not your life is on shaky ground....

• Are you a peacemaker? (Matthew 5:9)
• Do you have lustful eyes? (Matthew 5:27-30)
• Have you divorced your spouse wrongly? (Matthew 5:31-32)
• Are you loving your enemies? (Matthew 5:43-48)
• Do you love money? (Matthew 6:19-24)

Many Christians are building their lives on the sand. For some it is because they have never taken the time to read God's Word. They simply do not know His way of living. For others the problem isn't that they don't know God's Word but that they really don't believe it. They know it says "seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be added to you," but the kingdom still hasn't made it quite that far up their list (Mathew 6:33). I am sad to say that the majority of lives today are in shambles. People are clearly bearing the weight and the damage of their poor decisions and yet they refuse to change their lives.

How about you? If you are tired of watching everything in your life come tumbling down around you right at the worst possible time? If so, I have some good news for you. We serve a God of second chances. (Joel 2:12-14). It's not too late to begin acting like the wise man. Take a long hard look at God's master plan for your life and start renovating today. And if you need a place to start, try Matthew 5-7.

For further reading...

• Matthew 5-7- Check out the full sermon.

Eat the Wax Tadpole

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

Matthew 13:31-32 

We live in a global age. Nowadays most large companies have adjusted to this fact and are sensitive to cultural and linguistic differences that may arise in their marketing campaigns for markets abroad. This wasn't always the case though. Many companies made big mistakes when they first went abroad because they didn't pay attention to the little things. As the old adage goes, "The little things can make a big difference." Here's one example. When Coca-Cola first entered the Chinese market it chose a series of characters which rendered a sound similar to Coca-Cola. Literally it sounded like Ke-ke-ken-la. It wasn't until after they had already printed thousands of signs that the executives at Coke found out that the literal rendering of the characters meant "bite the wax tadpole" in one Chinese dialect. Needless to say this probably didn't help sales. Coke later changed it's Chinese brand name to Ko-kou-ko-le which means "happiness in the mouth."

Little things really do make a big difference sometimes, and I think that this pretty well sums up what Jesus meant by his parable of the mustard seed. It's easy for us to think about Christianity (or as Jesus liked to call it "the kingdom of God") from a 21st century perspective and forget that it was ever small. It's easy for us to forget that the kingdom may have seemed insignificant back then. It consisted of mainly a carpenter turned preacher and his ragtag goup of uneducated disciples, some fisherman and some traiterous tax collectors. We look back over the centuries and see the millions of believers, all the great thinkers and theologians, the famous sermons, and the great revivals. But Christ spoke these words sometime around 30AD. Christ is going around and teaching people that the kingdom of God is at hand. It could arrive anytime now. Be ready! Watch! But people expected a glorious king to arrive in pomp and splendor and by comparison Jesus may have seemed a little disappointing. He couldn't even keep all his followers (John 6:60-71).

Christ reminds his contemporaries about the properties of the mustard seed. Though it was the smallest of their seeds, when planted and given time it grew into a tree which was large enough for birds to nest in its branches. So too is the kingdom. God chose to start small but over time it has gown larger than anyone could have imagined. This is a helpful reminder for me because there are days when what I have to offer God doesn't seem much bigger than a mustard seed. There are days when the work I am doing for the kingdom seems insignificant. On those days, it is helpful to be reminded that we serve a God who uses the small things.  A God who oftentimes starts with what little we have to offer and then mulitplies it by the power of His Spirit to do great things. (John 6:1-15).

So if you are feeling like what you have to offer God is a little insignificant remember that we serve the guy who bragged on a widow for offering a mite! (Mark 12:41-44) So stop worrying about the fact that you aren't the next Billy Graham. Simply do what God has called and gifted you to do and trust Him to use it for His glory. If you work the security team at your church do it to His glory. If you keep babies in the nursery, do it for His glory. If you serve on the Finance Committee do it for His glory and trust Him to take your small offering and make a big impact. Don't use this as an excuse though. You may feel like you are insignificant in the kingdom because you legitmately aren't doing anything. You aren't serving the Lord in any way. You aren't speaking to your neighbors or your friends about salvation. You aren't serving your church or even going to church at all. If so, then remember that the small things make a big difference in your life too. Start doing the little things that you know you are supposed to be doing. Go to church. Pray. Tell someone else about Jesus; plant a seed in their life. Start small and surrender yourself to God to do the rest over time. Remember the kingdom starts small and small things can make a big difference. 

For further reading...

John 6 (especially 6:1-15 & 6:60-71) - Can you see the kingdom?

Mark 12:41-44 - The widow's mite.

Asking the Wrong Question

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Luke 10:25-37

"Like a good neighbor State Farm is there." Chances are (if you watch as much TV as I do) that you are not only familiar with this company's slogan but that you know the tune that it is sung to. State Farm has built their business on the idea that good neighbors help each other out when they are in need. They want to be viewed as one of those good neighbors. This of course stands in stark contrast to how insurance companies are normally viewed, as money hungry institutions that pay out the minimum that is required by your coverage. Generally speaking the question an insurance company asks itself when you call to file a claim is not "What would a good neighbor do?" but "What is the least I can do?"

That is the very same question we find a lawyer asking Christ in the above passage of Scripture. He has come to test Jesus regarding the law, but in wisdom Christ turns the question back on the lawyer who answers it correctly. The conversation would have ended there, with Jesus encouraging the lawyer to actually put his words into action, but the lawyer wanted to show himself to have already met the requirement so he asks Jesus a question. "And who is my neighbor?"

The more I think about this question the more I think that this lawyer thinks of his relationship with God in much the same way that we sometimes do. He thinks it is about rules and standards. He wants to know exactly what is required of him, and he wants to prove that he has already met that requirement. Jesus crafts His response to reveal to the lawyer and to us that the life He is calling us to is not about meeting the minimum but is about being so changed from within that good works overflow out of our lives. The lawyer is asking the wrong question! The question is not "What is the least I can do?" the question is "What does it mean for me to love?"

Now there is much more to say about this parable, but since this is a devotional, let me cut to the chase. The great surprise of this parable is that Christ chooses a Samaritan to hold out as the great example of love. Jews hated the Samaritans for a whole host of national, ethic, and religious reasons. A Jew in the first century would have taken it for granted that a Samaritan was far from God and certainly farther away from God than an expert in the religious law. But Christ does a surprising thing. He does not merely say that the lawyer should love the Samaritan; He casts the Samaritan as the hero of the story and tells the lawyer that he should love like the Samaritan. The lawyer is so sick he can't even bring himself to use the word Samaritan at the end of the parable. He refers to him as, "The one who had mercy."

It can be surprising and even painful when the true condition of our heart is revealed. Living the Christian life is not about conforming your outward behavior to some minimum requirement. It is about living a life that is totally at odds with this world. And the only way to do that is to be so transformed from within that these good works flow naturally out of your new heart. Ask the Lord to examine your heart today and surrender any nook or cranny where sin is found. Submit yourself to the Lord and ask the right question "What does it mean for me to love like Christ?" Ask the Lord to give you a new heart.

For further reading...

• Deuteronomy 30:6- A circumcised heart.
• Romans 12:1-2- Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
• II Corinthians 3:7-18- Into the image of Christ.
• Matthew 13:1-23- The battle for the kingdom is fought in the hearts of men. (See especially verse 19).

Hidden Treasure

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

Matthew 13:44

Banks are a great invention. They allow people to save money without fear. Can you imagine what you would do if there weren't any banks...if you had to keep all the money you owned at your house somewhere? Where would you put it? You might try to stuff it into a hole in your mattress. Or you might try to put it into an empty cookie jar. But eventually you would begin to fear that someone might try to take your money and or even kill you for it. Chances are that eventually you would do exactly what many people did when Jesus lived. They didn't have banks (just moneylenders) so many people buried their life savings somewhere on their property for safe keeping. It was a good solution, but every now and then someone would die suddenly without getting the chance to tell their family where the money was hidden or they would become senile and simply forget where they hid it. In a situation like this money could remain buried on someone's property for a long time.

In the above passage of Scripture Jesus tells a story of a man who finds money like this. It was buried in a field probably for the reasons stated above. This man was probably a servant working in the field. Perhaps he was tilling it to be planted or digging a well. Either way, somehow he found this money that had been hidden and then forgotten. Now this man is very shrewd because he didn't immediately lift the money out of the ground. Scripture says he hid the money again. Why did he do that? Well, first century law stated that once treasure like this was lifted from the earth it belonged to the landowner. The fact that this man was careful not to simply dig all the treasure up tells us that he was not the landowner. Instead he re-hides the treasure, goes home and sells everything he owns and purchases the field. The implication being of course that after he owned the field, he promptly went and dug up the treasure. Okay this is all well and good but what is Jesus trying to tell us?

This parable teaches us at least two things about God's kingdom. The first is fairly obvious. Admittance to the kingdom will cost you everything. Sometimes preachers talk about how salvation is free, and that is true. Christ paid the price for our sin. You and I cannot do anything to earn salvation, but this can be misleading. Just because you get a free puppy doesn't mean she won't cost you any money. Chances are that after you pay for shots and food and veterinary care you won't think that puppy was very free. The same goes for salvation. It is free but it is also very costly. In fact, salvation will cost you everything. Let me explain. Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." To confess Jesus as Lord means to confess him as Lord of your life. It means much more than merely saying "Jesus please forgive me." It means that you surrender your life to Christ fully. He becomes your Lord, your King. Your allegiance changes. At salvation you choose to no longer live your life for yourself or for the world, but to live your life for Christ.

The second thing this parable teaches is not explicitly stated but it is implied in such a way that I think it is undeniable. The man sells all that he has to buy the field because the treasure that he has found is worth far more than all he currently has. Applied to the kingdom of heaven, this tells us that although admittance to the kingdom will costs us everything, what we receive in return far outweighs what we give up. Yes, salvation will cost you everything, but what you receive in salvation is worth far, far more anyway. This has certainly proved true in my own life.

So let me ask you a question: Have you accepted Christ as Lord of your life? Maybe you asked Him to save you from Hell, but have you ever actually surrendered your life to Him? I believe that doing so is necessary to salvation. Matthew 7:21-23 says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" What a tragedy. I believe this passage speaks directly to those who pay lip service to being a Christian but who haven't actually surrendered their life to Christ. Is that you? If so, confess Jesus as Lord of your life today.

For further reading...

• Matthew 7:15-23- One of the saddest and scariest passages in all of Scripture. 
• James 2:14-26- Faith without works is dead.
• Romans 3:10, 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, & 10:9- The plan of salvation.