Read Matthew 10 (click here for link)

“I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.” Jesus seems to have some harsh things to say in chapter ten. He does not come to bring peace but the sword. I suppose, on the one hand, this passage is a little frightening. We ask: Does following Jesus mean that I must give up my family? Well, hopefully not, but it could come to that. If they turn you away because of your faith, then you must go. You must choose Jesus even over your family.

However, it is not so often like this for us today. Our choices are much more subtle. Our battles are cloaked in the mundane, the day-to-day. We all have those members of our family that are outside the faith. We want nothing more than to reveal to them the light of Christ, but we don’t want to drive them away. Yet, no matter how much we love them, there are always those little reminders of just how divided they are from you—each time you fold your hands to say a prayer before a meal; every Sunday morning when you get ready for church; small talk at a family reunion. But don’t just give them up. Remember, that the sword of Jesus Christ is his gospel. You have that sword in your hand. It is sharp enough to cut away even unbelief. Use the sword even on those you love. Never allow the line of separation to be blurred. Oh... and pray about it whenever you can.

In addition, this chapter, as negative as it might seem, is a good reminder to give thanks to God for a godly family. It is also a good time to re-evaluate your role as a godly parent. Am I bringing up my children to be in the faith or am I allowing them to grow to be my enemies?

Wield Jesus’ sword liberally in all that you do.
Pastor Aaron

Read Matthew 9 (click here for link)

Today Jesus says that new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins nor can you patch old garments with a new piece of cloth. Jesus is responding to some of John the Baptist’s disciples, who have come to him wondering why Jesus and his disciples don’t do the things that all other rabbis and great teachers do. Indeed, Jesus must have seemed a strange bird. Not only are his amazing miracles enough to set him apart from all other teachers, but also this man can forgive sins with authority and doesn’t abide by all the old Mosaic Law code of the Jews. Oh yeah… he also eats with sinners!!!

However, Jesus warning is true. There is a danger in taking something new—Jesus—and simply adding him or stitching him into our old way of life. Jesus cannot be a “patch,” something that simply repairs the old. Jesus comes to make all things new.

So what happens when the new intersects with the old? The old is burst apart. Each day you and I face the maker of new wine. Our lives—our old and sinful skins—try to “deal” with Jesus. We try to incorporate him into our old lives—patching things up. But Jesus is utterly new and he comes to burst our old lives and make us new in his name. Perhaps this sounds a bit heady or theological, but think about it this way: That sin you committed yesterday; that thing which has you so guilt racked; that thing which has so hurt your loved ones; Jesus has come to make that new!

In the name of Jesus the old is gone and his word creates you new. Your sins are forgiven you in the name of Jesus. Whatever the old has touched, it can now be healed with the new. It won’t be easy, but then again, destroying old wineskins never is easy. Bring Jesus into that part of your life and see the power of his name.

I pray God's blessings for each of you as you join with family to celebrate and enjoy with thanksgiving the gift of life in Jesus,

Pastor Aaron

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

No post today. Enjoy your time with family and friends. See you tomorrow.

Read Matthew 8 (click here for link)

What sort of man is this? It is amazing how quickly the modern reader reads right through the astounding things that this man, Jesus, does in chapter 8. How often have we read accounts of Jesus calming the storm, of his healing the sick, exorcising demons? We know exactly what kind of man this is—but do we, really?

Now… I hate being critical, but it seems to me that we sometimes read this more like a comforting parable than as bona fide history. However, Matthew is clearly determined to show us that this is no mere parable that Jesus told in general about the power of good over evil or faith over doubt. This really happened! Jesus really calmed a violent storm and the disciples didn’t know what to think about it—they were shocked, scared. Yet, too many times I have heard this text applied to the modern Christian life in an allegorical way. The allegory usually plays out like this: We are the disciples and we face our own storms in life and Jesus is the one who calms the storms. Does this sound familiar? Yet, something has always rubbed me the wrong way about this application. It is too easy. Where is the shock and the awe? Where is the exclamation point? To simply make the quick generalization that Jesus does the same thing in our lives grossly misses the point.

In fact, despite its familiarity, this account of Jesus calming the storm is actually one of the hardest things for us to swallow. After all — be honest — how many times has Jesus actually calmed a violent, thunder and lightning storm in your life? It has more often been my experience that in the storms of life Jesus has been strangely absent and has not always protected me—at least, not like he does in this text. Here, Jesus makes the danger go away, completely. But He does not always do that today, nor will he always do so for the disciples. They will go on to face many storms and dangers in the coming years. Indeed, even Jesus will not be spared in the end, when he submits to his Father’s will and dies on a cross. Therefore, to make such a general application of this text that Jesus will always calm the rocking boat of life, I believe, might insult the true experience of many Christians who today bear patiently with faith the burden of discipleship, despite the storms that rage around them. In fact, this is the persistent difficulty with the Christian message for so many, we follow a Lord who has the full ability to calm chaos with a word, but sometimes remains silent.


Of course, this is not to say that miracles never happen today. Nor is it to imply that God will not hear us when we turn to him in our fear in the face of the storm and cry, “Lord, save us!” Indeed, He has promised to be with us: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) But we must remember that the entirety of Jesus’ work here on earth during his life and ministry was a first fruits work of God—a sign and promise of what is to come. Notice, that in the account of Jesus meeting the two demoniacs in the region of the Gadarenes, the demons ask Jesus, “Have you come to torment us before the appointed time?” They are shocked to see God at work so powerfully before the last day.

Some two thousand years ago, the world groaned as with the pains of birth. Something had to happen. And so, at the right time, God broke into history, as he had so many times before (as testified in the Old Testament). However, this time, he did something that shocked everyone who encountered this miracle—even demons. God stepped into the flesh. Jesus Christ truly was “God with us.” Who is this man? Well… the winds and waves obey him! Sickness departs at his touch! Demons flee before him! This man rose from the dead. Whatever the plan of God may be for this groaning world, Jesus is the key to that plan. He is the Savior—the maker of heaven and earth. But our Lord is not always where we expect him to be. When the women came to the empty tomb on that dark Easter morning, the angel told them, “He is risen. He is not here.” Indeed, he is not here — not in the flesh! He has risen. He is sitting on his throne as Lord of heaven and earth.

Thus we walk now by faith whereas the disciples walked by sight. Faith is no easy thing; by its very definition it believes in something that cannot be proven or seen. But he has promised to return — at an appointed time — and he will bring all of heaven with him. Of course, this is a difficult hope to cling to when the dark storm clouds gather, but what else can we do but follow him as the disciples did — even to death. But this we know for sure: there is real hope now — even in the storms of life. Not even death can kill our hope, for it could not kill Him. We wait for the day when this God in the flesh returns to speak calm into the chaos, once and for all.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Pastor Aaron

Read Matthew 7 (click here for a link)

In the middle the reading this morning, Jesus gives us assurance concerning our prayers. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” This seems easy enough, yet why is it that we always stop at the first step—with the “asking”?

What about “seeking” and “knocking”? How often do we ask and ask and ask, and when we don’t receive, we give up? Prayer is not a static one way conversation. In fact, Jesus goes on to compare it to the relationship between a father and son. Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? But God has more to say to us than simply “Yes,” “No,” or “Not yet.” He does not simply spoil us by giving us everything we want. Rather he seeks to shape us into his children through His own son, Jesus. This means dying to who we have been and living as new people—as sons and daughters of God.

However, living as a child of God is no easy task. For though the reality is that God has adopted me and claimed me absolutely in Jesus, how comfortable am I with that claim? How often do I live my life expecting bread, but everything I give and do for others is stones? I may pray for a blessed marriage, but I avoid my spouse by busying myself with work. I may pray for godly children, but I have no patience for teaching them how to behave. I may pray for the money to buy something new, but I have yet to pay for the things I already own. I may be asking like a good child, but am I living that way?

Don’t too quickly assume that it simply must not be the will of God for you have that for which you ask. Perhaps God’s not giving to you immediately is his way of saying, “Seek.” In other words, if God has not given you what you have asked for, then find out the reason why. Don’t just give up. Ask yourself: Am I right with my husband? Have I been reconciled to my wife? Have I been a good parent? Am I living as a good steward of my money?

Get out there! “Seek” and “knock.” Find the answer. God has much to teach his children. He will show you the way.

Have a great day.
Pastor Aaron

November 23, 2009

Read Matthew 6 (click here for link)

It is amazing how the darkness scares us, even long after we are grown-up. Although we have outgrown the need for night-lights and teddies, we are still terrified when we cannot see because of the darkness in life. What will happen tomorrow? What if I don’t do this now? Who is going to take charge of that? The answers to these questions and more are usually in the dark. We can’t see them and that scares us. But what does Jesus say?

“My word is lamp unto your feet and light unto your path.” (Psalm 119:105)”

Today our Lord admonishes us not to worry. Be like the lilies or birds, he says. They really don’t do much of anything except live and God takes care of them. Then Jesus points the finger at us. “You of little faith…,” he says, “What is your problem? Why can’t you just trust me like one of these little flowers?”

Yesterday, Pam and I had the opportunity to catch up with a dear friend of ours. She is an example of one of those rare Christians whose faith and clarity for living according to God’s direction is enough to make me covet. But it is inspiring to hear her story. Even from the beginning she possessed faith enough to listen to God when many of us would have balked. God had made it certain to her as a young girl that she was to leave her family in China and move to America so that she could study at a Christian school. Of course, doing this meant being disowned by her pagan family. She ended up studying at Concordia University in Austin, Texas. She graduated with an education degree. She moved to Hawaii to begin teaching in a struggling Lutheran School. Over the years we lost touch with her. However, yesterday, Pam received a phone call from Cynthia. The two friends rejoiced at hearing each other’s voices again.

We were surprised to learn she had quit her job a while ago and gone through a missionary school and had recently returned from a long trip to Africa. Her mission there was among some of the poorest and most pitiful people on that continent—to feed and care for those who were in hospice, dying from the AIDS virus. Many of these were children—rounded up from the streets; their parents dead from the disease and themselves also infected. These children (although still healthy in appearance) where told that they would soon die and therefore were placed in hospice by the government. But food is always in short supply there and a place like hospice (a place for the living dead) is the first to be denied. Cynthia told us how she watched in horror as one little boy peed on the ground to make some mud. Then stooping down, he formed that mud into a little pie, set it to the side to dry, and then returned to eat it. He had no other food for that day!

But Cynthia continued to probe the darkness for the Savior’s voice. She told us of the amazing ways that God worked through her and her missionary friends. Her stories can only be described as miracles—real miracles! She told us how before she and her friends left for Africa they had decided not to get any vaccinations because they were expensive and without them there would be more money for buying food to feed those dying children. To their surprise, (but not the Lord’s) not a single one of those missionaries came back with even a simple cold or flu virus. Cynthia told us how she was caring for one elderly lady, who the doctors informed her would be dying soon. But one day Cynthia told us that God told her to go over to that woman and ask her to walk. Cynthia, in her trusting way, obeyed, and soon the two of them were walking hand-in-hand down the hospice hallway. That dying woman was released from hospice a week later, healthy.

So what do we make of stories like these? I’ll admit my western, logical, take control, map-it-out, no nonsense approach to life has a hard time dealing with the simple trust Cynthia had that God would make things right. Certainly, I am not advocating that we should forgo vaccinations or make a mass exodus to Africa; rather, I am pretty sure that God wants us to put down roots just where we are. But what are we rooted in? Every future moment is a moment of darkness. Are you walking forward trusting in God or trusting in yourself? One thing is certain. If you continually seek to cover all your bases, then don’t always expect God to work for you, because you are doing God’s job for Him. Perhaps it is not so much as we normally think: that God helps those who help themselves; He helps those who need his help! Whose help are you going to seek when you are afraid of the dark?

In Christ,
Pastor Aaron

Read Matthew 5 (click here for link)

Wow!!! How does a person sum up one of the most quoted chapters of Scripture in one little blog post? It would seem that doing so is about as hard as actually living out the text in our lives! How do you do these things? Cut off your right hand… Turn the other cheek… Remain pure in messy marital situations… Love your enemies… Be perfect as God is perfect…????

You would have to be Jesus to be able to do all of this. But maybe that is the point! In Galatians 2:20 the apostle Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Paul seems to be echoing Jesus words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” In fact, it is exactly this conclusion that one comes to (at least I do!) as one reads the Sermon on the Mount—you realize just how spiritually poor you really are because we all fail at pretty much everything Jesus mentions. Of course, we could try harder! Do better! Make better decisions! But the more I study the scriptures the more I realize that our Lord Jesus never really trusted our ability to decide anything (just remember where decisions landed Peter). So Jesus never really asks us to decide at all, but to yield to Him. These are absolutely very different things. When we hear the instructions from the Sermon on the Mount, the spiritually poor man or woman can see no alternative but to fall at Jesus feet. Furthermore, Paul makes it clear that as long as we have even a kernel of self-motivation or ambition that we can do it alone, we can never enter the kingdom of heaven. So it is that I must be crucified with Christ.

So, put that into practice in your life. Uhhh… well, that is not such an easy thing to do, because the Sermon on the Mount is not some practice of religion, it is a declaration of what will become of me when Jesus Christ has altered me and made me like himself. Jesus Christ is the only One who can fulfill the Sermon on the Mount. These words of Jesus are for the heart and not the head. If you try to understand them with your head you will only get a headache, and understanding them with your heart will always mean heartache (which is the law crushing us). That is what it means to be crucified with Christ.

So, what do I do about the man I saw yesterday holding the cardboard sign, whom I drove right by?

Well…

I guess I still have some struggling to do with these words. I plead the cross. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

Lord, help me be poor in spirit. Amen.

Pastor Aaron

P.S. Thank you guys for your comments the other day. Remember, comments will always appear when the next day's devotion is posted. Also, remember that today is Friday, so no devotions until Monday (sorry... Pastors tend to be especially busy on weekends!).

Read Matthew 4 (Click here for link)

Yesterday a friend of mine sent me an email with a remarkable story attached. It is a report from CNN chronicling the humanitarian work of one man, Brad Blauser, who has given up almost everything to dedicate his full time to providing wheel chairs for handicapped children in that war torn nation of Iraq. The full story can be found here.

I kept thinking of this story as I read our text for this morning. Too often I think we read this familiar account about the temptation of Jesus and sort of just make assumptions about its application. Perhaps the most common assumption is that what Jesus does in this text provides us an example for how we can combat our own temptations in life. But how exactly does that work? How exactly is that going for you? How often do you find yourself winning the way Jesus wins that satanic encounter?

In fact, all too often, I fear that this is the way we read Scripture, as if it is an instruction manual for life and all I have to do is follow directions. However, if God intended his Word to be used as the great, cosmic how-to manual, then boy are we are in big trouble; because I think we have all been down that road a few times, and even though we may not always be the best at following instructions, Satan seems to have his way with us all too frequently. And since this is so often the case, I guess it must mean 1 of 2 things: God’s instructions aren’t working or we are just too dumb to follow them; either way, it doesn’t save anybody.

No, rather I see Matthew 4 as important for struggling Christians not so much for the example that Jesus set for our lives, but for the actual work that he accomplishes through this encounter. Jesus actually defeats Satan! John the Baptist had been preaching this all along, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We discover today that Jesus preaches the same message. A new kingdom is at hand, the reign of God is at work in a world dominated by a satanic kingdom and devilish rule. However the Prince of the new kingdom—God’s kingdom—is defeating the old satanic kingdom wherever he goes. Chapter 4 is sandwiched in this way. At the beginning of chapter 4 Jesus defeats Satan, himself, and then goes out into the world healing sickness and disease which are of Satan’s kingdom. And what does Jesus do in the middle of it all? He calls people to follow him. He calls people to come and do the work of the kingdom—people like the disciples and people like Brad Blauser!

Yes, Jesus' kingdom is about more than just forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is where the kingdom starts. Christ’s work has saved you. You are in the kingdom. But God is concerned with this world, too—the physical, everyday aspects of this life—and defeating Satan in every way that he reigns here in the world. The conflict between two kingdoms is all around us. In the midst of this war members of our church gathered this week in the sanctuary to sort and deliver food for the hungry of Houston, and the kingdom of heaven was advanced. A few days ago my wife bought some clothes for a widow in our congregation who was in the nursing home and didn’t have anything to wear, and the kingdom of heaven was advanced. This morning, members of Epiphany’s prayer chain are waking up and kneeling and praying for the many lonely, sick, and scared in our extended church family, and the kingdom of heaven is being advanced. And thousands of miles away a little Iraqi girl is receiving the greatest gift in the world—her ability to smile as she moves with freedom for the first time in her new wheelchair and the kingdom of heaven is advanced.

Be bold today as you bring the kingdom to bear on this world.

Pastor Aaron

Read Matthew 3 (Click here for link)

Repent!!! This is always a word used in the active sense in the Greek Scriptures—never the passive. It literally means “change one’s mind.” Yet, maybe I have always had it all wrong! I’ve always thought of my repentance as a reminder of my sins, my past life—a heaping upon myself of guilt and shame for things done wrong. But repentance doesn’t point us to that sin; it points us, instead, to our utter unworthiness and helplessness before God for the future. It is a changing of one’s mind; a welcoming of Jesus into every part of us that is unclean where before we welcomed him not at all. It is not dwelling on the unclean acts, themselves, but trusting and welcoming the one who comes to make all things new—even in me, a sinner. Repentance then is forward thinking.

And, for sure, that is what John the Baptist is preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” He says, “Hurry! God is acting now! Change your mind before it is too late.” John preaches a repentance that is radically different than what was taught in his day—and perhaps in our day, too. The Baptist calls people to turn from being unfruitful trees that will be chopped down and cast into the fire into fruitful trees. John saw disaster in the making—a people who were like sheep gone astray. John did not see repentance as a daily activity that somehow was required in order for people to stay in covenant with God; rather, it signaled for him a changing of future status—changing from goats into sheep, from chaff for the fire into grain for the bakery.

So we come to that key verse, Matthew 3:11-12—John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." John would seem again to be emphasizing the future—a future that is still to come.

The “kingdom of God” is still near. The last days are at hand. John’s baptism was indeed for repentance—a changing of status. So is ours! Therefore we should not be too hasty to compare our baptism to the baptism of Holy Spirit and of fire by the Mighty One. That will come one day soon, when the Mighty One returns with is winnowing fork in his hand. But for now we live in repentance, a repentance/changing that was given us in our baptism. In this way baptism assures us of salvation on that future day. This baptism was a seal of Spirit—God’s own promise in His name— keeping us until that future baptism of fire and Spirit, when our mortal bodies will be transformed in a twinkling and we will be given “Spiritual” bodies at the coming of the King and his kingdom (see Romans 15). So we pray “Thy Kingdom come…” Yet we know that even now Jesus is at work in the world making old things new.

Wherever it is that He comes to you, are you prepared for Him to drag into the light every wrong thing you have done? For it is precisely there that He comes. Yet, ironically, it is this exposure that repentance welcomes. Wherever I know I am unclean, He will bring his fire; wherever I think I am clean, He will withdraw it. Whenever we dwell upon ourselves—either our badness or our goodness—we get in the way of the King. Instead, we repent—we change “forwardly”—because we are helpless on our own. We trust not in ourselves but in the coming King.

Have a great day of repentence, or should I say future joy realized now?

Pastor Aaron

P.S. I know some of you have asked about the ability to comment on various postings. After numerous difficulites, I want to say thanks to Nick for helping out. Feel free to post a comment. I will moderate them and make sure they are posted as soon as possible for everyone to read. Thanks for your patience.

Tuesday, November 17th

Today’s Reading: Matthew 2 (Click here for a link to the text)

I am not really sure what it is about this text that strikes me as odd this morning as I sit down to write. Maybe it is just the calendar distance from Christmas. Maybe it is the fact that I now have children of my own who are both under the age of two. But this morning I can’t get that mournful cry of Rachel out of my Head.

After all, this is supposed to be a Christmas text—happy and joyous and tingly. Normally, we just sort of skip past Herod’s horrible atrocity and concentrate on the quaint Christmas idea of chubby little angel messengers flitting around warning not-so-wise Wisemen and the new daddy, Joseph. But today, all I can think about is that needless slaughter of so many innocents. So… (even though it is only my second post, and perhaps a little too early for something so serious) this morning, I want all of you to slow down with me for a second. Don’t jump too quickly to that Christmas euphoria (besides, it is not even Thanksgiving yet!). I want to point out that haunting passage from verse 18:

A voice is heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great morning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.

There it is, a few simple lines; almost poetic in their beauty, if it wasn’t for the fact that they describe something so terrible. Yes, this passage does indeed provoke a few questions and concerns (no matter what time of the year we read it—Christmas or otherwise). After all, King Herod does something horrendous: He flippantly murders no telling how many innocent children in and around the town of Bethlehem. But, like I said earlier, we know that already; we are familiar with the text, and certainly, we’ve all learned long ago that the Bible simply has some gruesome details like this and we just need to keep reading—because it will all be ok in the end anyway. Right? But does that really silence the questions? Because, I don’t know about you, but I can’t get that image out of my head: That poor woman, Rachel, just weeping, weeping for something she couldn’t possibly understand or come to terms with. Her children are no more! Yet, here is the real kicker: Matthew says all of this happened to fulfill the words of Jeremiah. FULFILL!!! That means God knew this was going to happen. In fact, he prophesied it through the prophet Jeremiah some 600 years before! Matthew is, in a sense, saying this had to happen in order for Jesus to be the fulfillment of Scripture.

Now, my dear friends in blogger land, we have a real dilemma. After all, it is one thing to read the nativity story and hear about how God provides for the holy family a narrow escape out of the evil clutches of King Herod. But just how do we justify the needless slaughter of so many innocents? Couldn’t the angel have made a few more stops that evening? Couldn’t he have warned a few more fathers and poor mothers, like Rachel, along the way to Joseph’s house? By this I mean, you can hardly read this text without feeling more than a little desperation. Certain questions begin to loom large:

How can such evil herald such good?

How can the birth of the Savior of the world be the cause of the death of so many little babies?

Where is the salvation?

Where is the Gospel?

These questions, once asked, can’t just be pushed aside so easily. They beg—as we beg when we behold terrible things in our lives—for an answer. But are there any good answers out there?

A couple of weeks ago we heard about the tragic shooting in Fort Hood. “Why,” we asked as ran to our computers and turned on the televisions to catch the latest headlines. Here at Epiphany things are no different. It seems like almost every week, I grieve with some member of our church family who has just received that dreadful phone call from the Doctor, who says, “I am sorry, but your test results are back, it seems you have….” Every time I get that email, or talk to that teary eyed, scared but brave person, I relive the time when my own family members were diagnosed with… well… I guess the word can only be “EVIL.”

Now, I know I am digging myself a hole that I might not be able to crawl out off, especially in a blog post. (Maybe a good sermon on this subject is in order? Actually… count on it!) But isn’t that how we feel so often when we come face to face with real and genuine, up-close-and-personal evil? And I know what you are all tempted to say right now to provide the quick and easy remedy… but resist that temptation… don’t blurt something out prematurely… don’t any of you sit there in front of your computers and throw out the word “JESUS.” Not like that! Not in the face of poor weeping Rachel. If Jesus is the savior of the world, then why didn’t He save her little baby? To throw His name out there like that, at a time like that, just seems empty and generic. I mean… really… think about it… you put down the phone and turn to look into the eyes of your best friend in the whole world—your loving wife or husband—and you have to repeat to them the horrible words that were just told you, “honey, I am sick. It does not look good.” And in that moment, when all the world seems turned up-side down, when you feel weak and sick in your stomach, when anger and rage well up inside of you… in “that” moment your loved one says to you, “Don’t worry, Jesus loves you.” Well… it just sounds pretty insultingly generic, if you ask me. I think poor weeping Rachel would have agreed. I think the families of Ft. Hood might also agree.

Of course don’t get me wrong, Jesus certainly is an answer for evil, yes. In the abstract, general sense, we know that he came to die for sin, to redeem the world from evil. We know this abstractly, but what about personally? What about when king Herod comes knocking on your door, wanting to drag your children out into the night? How is Jesus the answer in that moment?

Well… friends, sermon or no sermon, there are some questions that can’t wait to be answered. This is an old, old problem—a very well worn question. But this I know for sure: In the midst of a world filled with evil things—in a little town at the mercy of merciless king--Mathew beholds something new!

What Matthew sees in these events described in Chapter 2 is not just an answer to the questions that are prompted in us when we see evil at work in the world. Rather what Mathew beholds in an answerer. This baby born to Mary and Joseph is not just some variable to balance the cosmic equation, as if God were x and evil were y and we needed a solution. There is no solution to evil, for evil was never intended by an all-powerful and good God. Sin, rebellion, and stubbornness on the part of man perverted the good God had made. So, God did a new thing—Jesus. Matthew sees this, and by his testimony, we too, can see that all of Scripture and history points to this. In our text alone, Matthew quotes three OT passages to prove it.

Later, this baby will grow into a man and will call out to Matthew, as he stands at his tax-collecting booth. Jesus will say, “Follow me.” Matthew, without understanding any of it, will recognize him as a man with an answer. Matthew will leave his booth and follow Jesus. But he will follow not because he has some abstract sense that Jesus is the counter balance or solution to evil. No, Matthew will behold a man, a man who has a purpose and a plan for the future. You see, for Matthew, it won’t be about the “why” but the “where.” Not about why (theologically speaking) he follows Jesus, but a much more important question: “Where is Jesus going?”

Jesus goes to face evil, and he says, “Follow me, I have a plan.” Jesus experiences evil in no less, and much more, ways than we can know. He dies for us on the cross. But this is not the end, for if it was, then Evil would win and Jesus would have no answers to give because he would be dead. No… Jesus lives despite the evil he experience—even death. HE LIVES!!! If there is an answer to the question of how a truly good God deals with evil, than Jesus must be the one who can give that answer. Evil couldn’t stop him!

So we too follow Jesus to the cross, not to lament but to remember that here is one who has faced evil and come out the other side with an answer. And he invites us to come with him. “Follow me,” he says. We now share the road with Jesus. He invites us to share his road, and we can be certain that he shares our road in life. No matter the evil we encounter. My mother knows this; and though her faith has certainly wavered in the face of such evil as Multiple Sclerosis, she knows that her Lord shares the road with her. He knows the answer, and he invites her to come along with him to discover that answer. Yes, indeed, we all will! Even old Jeremiah foresaw the day the answer would be made known. He prophesied of a day when all evil will cease and God will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. Jesus will wipe the tears from Rachel’s eyes, from all our eyes. He is the one who can answer. He is the one who has conquered. To whom else would we go?

I will see you all tomorrow.

Until then… Peace as you walk the road with Him.
Pastor Aaron

Today’s Reading: Matthew 1

Good morning everyone! Are you ready for this new venture—reading through the very word of God? Actually, this will be an “ad”-venture. Perhaps you have never thought much about this word, adventure. What exactly is adventure? When I was in college, me and some buddies of mine would periodically go on what we called “adventures”—road trips to Destine, Florida; Lake City, Colorado; Grand Canyon, Arizona; Rachel (Area 51) Nevada; and San Diego, California. For us, these trips were meant to be exciting and thrilling, leaving the boring humdrum of college life behind and driving off into the sunset. We would take turns driving through the night, always determined to make the next horizon. However, for our parents and girlfriends, our running off like that on “adventure” more likely worried them half to death. The truth is, adventure is always a mixed bag of emotions. Its technical meaning implies both thrill and hazard.

So here we find ourselves this morning beginning a new adventure. However, it is more than just a read through the New Testament (which, I admit, doesn’t make for much of an “adventure”). No… rather, today we read of God’s great adventure. How He took an incredible risk sending his Son into this world, into the flesh, to save you and me. We see the very history of the ancestry of Jesus; a history of real people, some of whom were a far cry from the holiness or righteousness that we would expect of the ancestors of God’s Son. In Mathew’s genealogy of Jesus we see prostitutes, liars, adulterers and more. However, the fulfilled prophecy in this list of names reminds us that God keeps His Word, even when it seems unlikely that he will do so. He promised that Christ would come, and He did!

It happened again in a small town in Palestine. A young couple committed to marriage suddenly finds themselves in an adventure not of their own making. No doubt the righteous individuals of Nazareth thought this to be just another example of ungodliness. Mary and Joseph face disgrace and shame. But true righteousness prevailed. Despite how it may have looked, Joseph took Mary home to be his wife and she gave birth to a son and he was given the name Jesus. Who would have thought that God’s adventure had been working all this time, even in the lives of such unlikely people?

… but the rest is history!

The adventure goes on and we are a part of it. It certainly is easy to look around today and wonder about God. Where is He? Why is he allowing such evil things to happen? However, we can read Matthew chapter 1 as an answer to these questions. God is not absent. He is working to bring about his promise—the coming of his Savior/Son, Jesus. God will work salvation today, tomorrow, and for all time—even in the most unlikely situations—even in the lives of you and me. And on some future day you and I will be able to look back, as we have today through the genealogy of Jesus, and see God’s adventure written across the pages of time.
I pray God blesses your day today as you live out your adventure in Christ.

Pastor Aaron