Author: MASadmin

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 5:21-37.

In our gospel reading today, we’re still in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Last week, we heard the first twelve verses from that sermon. Today, we’re hearing the next 8. For Matthew, being a follower of Jesus Christ means we are students. Being with God involves regular learning, study, and education. Jesus, as he begins this sermon, is with his disciples. They are gathered around him and Jesus begins to teach. Jesus should teach because he is a rabbi and that’s what teachers do. The disciples, as followers, are called to learn and grow from what their teacher tells them. Being a disciple is more than just doing what we’re told. As a student, the more we learn, the more we are changed. As we study with God through scripture, worship, and prayer, we are transformed. Jesus isn’t just giving his disciples knowledge. Through their learning and education, the disciples are being changed into who God wants them to be.

But, according to Matthew, learning about God is not enough. In verse 20, we hear that our “righteousness” needs to exceed the righteousness of “the scribes and the Pharisees.” As Christians, we’re used to belittling the scribes and Pharisees. We paint these two groups as people who just don’t “get it.” We claim that their religious devotion and education blinded them to what God was doing in Jesus. If they stopped trying to learn about God and just see God, they would have recognized Jesus.

But these arguments are not Matthew’s arguments. Matthew isn’t against learning because that’s one of the ways we live as followers of Jesus. In Jesus’ day, education was something very few had access too. The scribes and Pharisees were as educated as someone could get. They could read, write, and study God’s word fro themselves. Their communities took care of them while they studied and learned. If anyone in Jesus’ world had the time, energy, and resources to learn about God, it was the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus’ demand to his followers in verse 20 is a heavy one. They are to know God more than anyone. How can they? Because, as disciples, God changes who they are. They are not only disciples. They are salt and light. They are more than who they were before and they called to live that identity out in all that they say and do.

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for 2/19/2017.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 5:21-37.

In our gospel reading today, we’re still in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Last week, we heard the first twelve verses from that sermon. Today, we’re hearing the next 8. For Matthew, being a follower of Jesus Christ means we are students. Being with God involves regular learning, study, and education. Jesus, as he begins this sermon, is with his disciples. They are gathered around him and Jesus begins to teach. Jesus should teach because he is a rabbi and that’s what teachers do. The disciples, as followers, are called to learn and grow from what their teacher tells them. Being a disciple is more than just doing what we’re told. As a student, the more we learn, the more we are changed. As we study with God through scripture, worship, and prayer, we are transformed. Jesus isn’t just giving his disciples knowledge. Through their learning and education, the disciples are being changed into who God wants them to be.

But, according to Matthew, learning about God is not enough. In verse 20, we hear that our “righteousness” needs to exceed the righteousness of “the scribes and the Pharisees.” As Christians, we’re used to belittling the scribes and Pharisees. We paint these two groups as people who just don’t “get it.” We claim that their religious devotion and education blinded them to what God was doing in Jesus. If they stopped trying to learn about God and just see God, they would have recognized Jesus.

But these arguments are not Matthew’s arguments. Matthew isn’t against learning because that’s one of the ways we live as followers of Jesus. In Jesus’ day, education was something very few had access too. The scribes and Pharisees were as educated as someone could get. They could read, write, and study God’s word fro themselves. Their communities took care of them while they studied and learned. If anyone in Jesus’ world had the time, energy, and resources to learn about God, it was the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus’ demand to his followers in verse 20 is a heavy one. They are to know God more than anyone. How can they? Because, as disciples, God changes who they are. They are not only disciples. They are salt and light. They are more than who they were before and they called to live that identity out in all that they say and do.

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for 2/12/2017.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 5:13-20.

In our gospel reading today, we’re still in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Last week, we heard the first twelve verses from that sermon. Today, we’re hearing the next 8. For Matthew, being a follower of Jesus Christ means we are students. Being with God involves regular learning, study, and education. Jesus, as he begins this sermon, is with his disciples. They are gathered around him and Jesus begins to teach. Jesus should teach because he is a rabbi and that’s what teachers do. The disciples, as followers, are called to learn and grow from what their teacher tells them. Being a disciple is more than just doing what we’re told. As a student, the more we learn, the more we are changed. As we study with God through scripture, worship, and prayer, we are transformed. Jesus isn’t just giving his disciples knowledge. Through their learning and education, the disciples are being changed into who God wants them to be.

But, according to Matthew, learning about God is not enough. In verse 20, we hear that our “righteousness” needs to exceed the righteousness of “the scribes and the Pharisees.” As Christians, we’re used to belittling the scribes and Pharisees. We paint these two groups as people who just don’t “get it.” We claim that their religious devotion and education blinded them to what God was doing in Jesus. If they stopped trying to learn about God and just see God, they would have recognized Jesus.

But these arguments are not Matthew’s arguments. Matthew isn’t against learning because that’s one of the ways we live as followers of Jesus. In Jesus’ day, education was something very few had access too. The scribes and Pharisees were as educated as someone could get. They could read, write, and study God’s word fro themselves. Their communities took care of them while they studied and learned. If anyone in Jesus’ world had the time, energy, and resources to learn about God, it was the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus’ demand to his followers in verse 20 is a heavy one. They are to know God more than anyone. How can they? Because, as disciples, God changes who they are. They are not only disciples. They are salt and light. They are more than who they were before and they called to live that identity out in all that they say and do.

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for 2/5/2017.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 5:1-12.

What was the first thing you did when you first publicly met Jesus? For me, I probably giggled, laughed, and spit up since I was a baby who was just baptized. In our baptism, we are washed with water united in God’s promises. We are sealed with the cross of Christ. In our baptism, we meet Christ in a very public way. So, as a baby, my first act after meeting Jesus wasn’t probably the most dignified action. But it was at least authentically me.

Today’s reading from Matthew is Jesus’ first detailed public act of ministry. Matthew tells us how Jesus traveled around Galilee, preaching, teaching, and healing others. Word soon spreads and crowds start to gather around Jesus. As the numbers grow, Jesus escapes up a mountain. His disciples follow. Jesus stops escaping and settles in with his disciples, offering his long Sermon on the Mount. Rev. Karoline Lewis writes in Working Preacher that Matthews takes Jesus’ teaching ministry and discipleship seriously. The first public act of Jesus’ ministry in each gospel helps to illustrate what part of Jesus each gospel writer felt inspired to share. For Matthew, a disciple follows Jesus by being “the consummate student, a learner.”

Discipleship is more than believing in Jesus. Discipleship involves learning. Jesus invites us to be life-long learners. This, at first glance, sounds like an obvious thing to say. But in practical terms, being a life-long learner with Jesus is hard to do. Most of us are over busy. Our schedules can barely fit all the things we need to do. It seems impossible to add one more thing to our days. How can Jesus ask us to add one more thing to our already overloaded to-do list?

But maybe we shouldn’t look at this learning as just one more thing to do. What Jesus is bringing is an opportunity. A relationship with Jesus is something we can never exhaust. We can never fully cross Jesus off our to-do list because Jesus never crosses us off of his. Through the gift of faith, we are connected to to the creator of the universe who is the source of everything. And that God has decided that you matter and you have value. To learn with Jesus is to learn how God sees us and how we can see the world like God does. And to see how God sees is to be just the kind of disciple this world needs.

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for 1/29/2017.

The Gospel Reading is Matthew 4:12-23.

Did you notice something familiar but different about today’s gospel reading? We heard John’s version (John 1:29-42) of the same story last week. Today’s reading from Matthew describes Jesus calling his first disciples. Last week’s reading from John told the same story. There are, however, differences. In John’s version, Andrew is a disciple of John the Baptist. Andrew follows Jesus after John the Baptist declares Jesus to be “the One.” After spending time with Jesus, Andrew finds his brother Simon (aka Peter) and brings Simon to Jesus. Today’s reading from mentions the same brothers but tells a different story. Andrew and Simon are fishing when they both encounter Jesus. Jesus tells them to “follow me” and they do. The two brothers drop everything to follow Jesus. Both stories overlap but I’m wondering what to do with two different stories of the same event.

One thing we can try is mix these stories together. This is what we do with Jesus’ birth (i.e. the magi and shepherds are not in every gospel). We could say Matthew’s account is a “big-picture” approach while John’s account has more details. Andrew fishes for a living and is also a disciple of John the Baptist. In Jesus’ conversation with Andrew and the unnamed person, the words about being “fishers of people” comes up. Andrew finds Simon and brings him to Jesus. Both abandon their professions to follow Jesus full time.

The mixing approach can help add details to Jesus’ story but I’m not sure this approach works today. When we mix the stories together, we lose the details that make these call stories life giving. In John’s version, John the Baptist connects Jesus to his Jewish history. Without that connection, we could ignore the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) and focus only on the New. We could forget that Jesus lived in a specific time and in a specific place. The connection with John the Baptist requires us to tie Jesus’ story (and our story) with the story of Israel. God’s activity in history becomes part of our story and our history. Matthew, however, is less concerned with that connection because the Gospel according to Matthew spends a lot of time showing how Jewish Jesus is. From the birth story through the resurrection, Jesus and his family are connected to their Jewish identity. What matters to him is how Jesus’ calling interrupts the priorities we set in our lives. When Jesus tells us to “follow him,” we are his, forever.

When it comes to the Bible, conflicting stories are not problems that need to be mixed and fixed. Conflicting stories show how Jesus’ ministry impacted many different kinds of people in many different ways. Just like the early followers of Jesus reflected on how Jesus made a difference to them, we are invited to do the same. After all, the Holy Spirit gave us four books about Jesus because we need more than one story to see just how God loves the entire world.

Each week, I write a reflection on one of our scripture readings for the week. This is from Christ Lutheran Church’s Worship Bulletin for 1/22/2017.