Water, Humility and Authority

Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 78, Philippians 2:1-13, Matthew 21:23-32

There is a saying that you cannot get blood out of a stone. Maybe not but, as described in our reading from Exodus, you can get water out of a rock!

The people of Israel had a teeny tiny problem – they had no water to drink! When we have a problem or a tricky situation, it can be much easier to blame somebody else for the problem than it is to just carefully and spiritually think through the problem. And this is the case with most situations throughout the history of humanity. For example, if the children or the husband do something less than endearing or particularly silly and I ask them “Why did you do that?” the response I will get is “It’s <insert appropriate name here e.g. Joe’s> fault – if they behaved properly then I wouldn’t have”. Likewise, if they want something, say a drink, instead of thinking through the problem and asking for or making a drink they will say “it’s your fault, you didn’t make me one” or “you didn’t tell me to make one”. Or instead of finishing their homework they do something else and then run out of time. Yep, you’ve guessed it, their response is “It’s your fault for not putting enough time on the phone”.

It was the same with the Israelites. They are thirsty. They have no water. Instead of thinking this through, something like, “We are in a desert, deserts don’t have much water, we need to ask God to meet this need”, the Israelites jumped straight to; “It’s Moses’s fault! We must complain to and about Moses.”

Whilst the lack of water was not the fault of Moses, as leader of Israel he had to set the example to follow. He has to lead them to the answer and show them that the right way to deal with the situation is to give it to the Lord in prayer.

Moses knew the right response was to ask God. The people of Israel had been taught this over and over again. And in a similar way to us when we are asked the same thing over and over again by someone who still can’t get it right, eliciting the response from us of “And what are we going to do with you?”; Moses says to the Lord “What am I going to do with these people?”

God gave Moses specific instructions, including to take with him some of the Elders of Israel to be witnesses. God was going to prove to Israel yet again that He was, is and ever shall be with His people.

And so Moses struck the rock God had chosen with his staff and God made water spring forth to quench the people’s thirst. Moses named that place Massah and Meribah because of the complaints and doubts of the Israelite people.

This event and these places are mentioned several times in the Bible, an example of such is in John 7: 37-39: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” This living water Jesus spoke of is the Holy Spirit; it is no less a miracle for God to bring the love and power of the Holy Spirit out of our hearts than it is to bring water out of a rock. Our hearts can be just as hard!

Today’s Psalm (78) extols the marvellous things God does citing the way He looked after the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt; leading them as cloud and fire, dividing the Red Sea, providing food for them to eat and splitting the rock to produce water for them to drink.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians is giving a reminder to not do anything that is motivated out of selfish ambition or conceit, but instead in humility to regard others as better than ourselves. Putting the interests of others above our own. He is reminding us to have the mindset of Christ who, though He is God, became man, served, humbled Himself and was obedient to the point of death on the cross. All earth and heaven declares Jesus Christ is Lord; His name is above all names. We too must be obedient to God. It is God who is at work in us, enabling us to God’s will and to work to His own good pleasure.

We should not do things to boast of our own self-importance, rather we should view others as more important than ourselves, putting God and others first and in higher esteem that we place ourselves. Jesus’s example is the example we should be following.

Paul calls for love, humility and unity amongst believers. Everything we do should be out of love for God and our neighbours to glorify God and to serve Him with everything we have.

There is great consolation in Christ. There is great comfort in the love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection and mercy from God. Each of these are given to us directly from Jesus and from Jesus through His people. They are real and solid gifts for Christians to truly experience. Just like God was with His people in the desert, caring for, loving and providing for the Israelites, He is with us and doing the same for His people today, tomorrow and always.

Our reading from Matthew, like the Israelites complaining to and confronting Moses, details the Chief Priests confronting Jesus over His authority.

Jesus went back into the temple to teach. To put this passage into context, this is the day after Jesus had turned all the money-changers and merchants out of the temple. Whilst Jesus was mid-teaching, the Chief Priests challenged the authority Jesus had to do what He does.

Jesus answers their question by questioning their ability to judge, Jesus asks them where the authority of John the Baptist came from; knowing that the ability to judge John the Baptist and his ministry was a measure of their ability to judge Jesus. If the Chief Priests answer Jesus’s question and answer it correctly then they would have an answer to their own question as well.

The Chief Priests weighed up the potential outcomes of each answer. Their interest was in the opinions of the crowd and in trying to catch Jesus out. They couldn’t say, therefore, that the authority came from God because they were hypocrites and feared being asked why they did not believe. Likewise, they could not say from man because that would be going against the crowd who viewed John as a prophet from God. They resorted to “We don’t know” and as such they did not earn a response from Jesus in answer to their question.

Instead Jesus tells a parable about a man with two sons. He asks one of the sons to go and work in the vineyard and this son refuses. However, after thinking about it, this son then goes and does what his father asked him to do. Let’s call this son Xavier, who does precisely this. When we ask him to do something he will immediately reply “no” but a couple of minutes later, once he has thought about it and had time to process and understand the request, off he trots and does what he was asked to do.

The father goes and asks the other son to go and work in the vineyard and this son says “yes” but then does not do what he was asked. Let’s call this one Freddie, who agrees to do the task and when asked claims he has indeed done what was asked but who actually has not even started it. Jesus asks which son did his father’s will or bidding and the answer is Xavier (or the first son).

Many, including the Chief Priests in this passage, fall into the group of the second son. They admit God’s truth and the Word of God. They intend to get around to it ‘at some point’. They talk about doing the Father’s work and keep up appearances but their hearts are not right with God and they think words and promises are enough. The second son said he would go but didn’t, these people say they repent but have not. They speak of believing but don’t, they think about seeking the Lord and submitting to Him but they never get around to it. They are lying to the Holy Spirit despite knowing better.

What matters is living for God rather than saying the right words. The Chief Priests talked the talk but they didn’t walk the walk. Their lack of repentance meant that the truly repentant sinners would enter the kingdom of heaven before them. These proud Chief Priests should have been much more repentant having seen notorious sinners repent but they were not.

So let us move forward this week by walking the walk of Jesus, with the reassurances that God is with us, protecting us, guiding us and that we can bring to him all our hopes, fears and needs – for which He will provide.

Water from rock. (Photo by Marta Wave on Pexels.com)

Commit and Live

“A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known.
What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 10:24-39

The very first event recognizing fathers occurred on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia. Grace Golden Clayton organized a church service to honour 362 men who had died in the Monongah mining disaster a few months prior. Subsequently, after much lobbying, Father’s Day was created by Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, in 1910 to recognise her single Civil War veteran father who raised and cared for her and her five siblings after their mother died in childbirth.

On Father’s Day, we pause to honour the physical and spiritual fathers we have in our lives, which includes those who have to be both mother and father, and all that they have done. From Psalm 103 verse 13, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him”.

There are many aspects to the perceived role of fatherhood and there are different people who may fulfil this role for us. For some it is their Dad, for some their Mum, for some a Grandparent, for some a carer or a foster parent and for some a trusted mentor or friend. All these people are loved by those they love and care for and we thank God, our Almighty Father, for these people, for all they do and for the way they touch our lives.

Fear causes failure. Fear causes failure in discipleship.

Sometimes one of the harder jobs of a parental type role is having to tell us things that are tough to prepare us for what lies ahead.
Jesus is preparing His disciples for their mission and does not hide from them the threats they will come up against but He also explains why they must not let this fear control or hinder them.

The disciples are to undertake their mission in complete vulnerability and dependence on God; even though they will face arrests, beatings, opposition (including from family and friends), hatred and persecution.

Why tell the disciples the trials they will suffer? Wouldn’t this put them off the task assigned to them?

By warning them in advance, not only do the disciples have the opportunity to be prepared, but also saying aloud the suffering and trials to be faced is the first step to being freed from the grip of fear.

Jesus doesn’t just tell the disciples the worst case scenarios, He also gives reassurance and instructions to resist fear. The most important part of this reassurance is the relationship between the disciples and Jesus, and through Him God.

Jesus warns His disciples that the fate of the Master or Teacher also awaits their disciples and so the disciples should be ready to receive a similar response from the leaders of Israel that Jesus Himself receives and to have no fear of them.

Proclaiming and living the Gospel is the most powerful tool the disciples have against world powers.

Death threats can be a powerful way of controlling people through fear. Whilst humans try to use this power, Jesus reassures the disciples that humans only have power to destroy the body, not the whole person. Only God can destroy both soul and body. However, God is not like human rulers. God has ultimate power over our whole being and exercises this power with mercy and love.

The call to discipleship has priority and is above all other claims on identity, allegiance, family and friends.

To take up our cross aligns the discipleship mission and fate with that of Jesus which can include humiliation, suffering, shame, opposition and death. It implies identification with marginal people who do not “find their lives in this world”. But it comes with the promise from Jesus that anyone who loses their life for Him will “find it” whereas those “finding their life in the world” will lose it.

Jesus shows us that the answer to fear includes recognising and naming it. Fear of the unknown or unacknowledged is a far greater fear than the fear of the known and spoken.

We need to be honest and transparent in recognising the elements of human power including those rooted in the threat of death and suffering. We need to be aware of the conflict and division that proclaiming and living the Gospel inevitably produces. We need deep awareness and conviction of God’s presence in the world in love, mercy and compassion.

Today’s society is guilty of having a lack of commitment and has left its cross on the side of the road.

Every organisation that relies on regular and committed volunteers – churches, Girl Guiding, Scouts to name just a couple – all are having trouble finding people to take on running these groups, to take on responsibility for the different elements that need doing, to run and to support events. People don’t mind making use of these various groups when it suits them but they will not commit to regular attendance, regular giving or taking on responsibility.

There are all kinds of reasons used and excuses given to explain this such as working hours or childcare but, whilst that does affect some, it most certainly does not affect everyone. What about the childless? The unemployed? The retired? Those with compatible working hours or who work part time? Those who do have the talents and time to take an active part but who won’t? And so forth.

People today would rather keep their interpretation of freedom, stay at home watching the television or surf the internet. People think less about being or don’t want to be part of something whether that be a cause, a group or community of believers (in anything) and think more about individual pleasure and activities. And we are all guilty.

Today, people are told to just do what they can and this encourages people to not put the effort in.

Jesus does not say that to us. He did not say it to the disciples. Instead He told a group of scared men that it required commitment and was going to be very tough. He told them this in no uncertain terms.

Did they decline – No
Did they give up – No
Did they say actually Jesus I don’t really feel like doing that today – No

What they did do was to rise to the challenge in total commitment to Jesus.

People, regardless of age, will be what society expects them to be. If a child is told they can’t do something then they start to believe they can’t do it and won’t even try. If you tell a child they can’t behave they won’t even try and the more they don’t – whether that is leaving rubbish on the floor, not putting things away, being rude causing damage, shooting catapults or any action that the adult considers misbehaviour. If they are constantly told they can’t behave they don’t.

Likewise, the more people are told not to overdo it or to be careful because they are frail or that they don’t need to then the less they do and the more fearful and frail they become.

We must train ourselves to take a risk and be willing to commit and do.

Jesus told His disciples not to be afraid, that they would be guided and protected, that they were precious to God and that even if their bodies or feelings got hurt no harm would come to their souls.

God’s love and protection surrounds and insulates us from the worst human powers and earthly life can throw at us. We might suffer as all typical humans suffer but we are precious to God, He holds us in His hand and keeps our souls safe. We can and will endure.

In a society that encourages lazy, self indulgent life on the sidelines it can be difficult to be as committed and courageous as those first Christians.

We must not be complacent. As the world is, it is easy to become. We must be on our guard always to ensure that the world does not drain us of our commitment to others and to God. We must resist the temptation to be lazy and uninvolved.

Like those first disciples, as Jesus’s followers we are all involved with each other, with God’s will for the world, with His command to spread the word, and to bring in the kingdom; and we must not let the siren call of selfishness and lack of commitment prevent that purpose.

Pride and Humility

In Luke, chapter 14, verses 7 to 14, Jesus is teaching us about pride and humility.

Jesus was at the house of one of the pharisees to eat a meal. Jesus often had disputes with the pharisees but He still spent time with them; not as a pharisee Himself but being God’s Son on earth He was showing them God’s example and love. And whilst at this meal Jesus watched.

He watched and saw how the others at this meal behaved and how they strategically placed themselves to get the best seats in the house; that is the places which would grant them the most honour or, if you like, jostling for the Top Table.

In Jesus’s day, seating arrangements were very important in society as the most honoured person sat in a particular seat, then the next most honoured, then the next and so on. A wedding banquet was the most important occasion and where you got seated at such a party was indicative of your standing in the community. This made it the perfect example for Jesus to use to teach His lesson.

And, of course, if you were to take the most honoured place and the host wanted someone else to sit there you would be asked to move – which would be embarrassing and would make you feel great shame.

Not everyone has the same exact customs to denote social standing and highlight how important or honoured someone is. But, there are many occasions in modern life where one’s own sense of self importance, pride and high opinion of one’s self can be displayed.

Pride comes before a fall. Shame comes after self exaltation.

Instead of playing the self promotion game, work hard for the Lord and let God raise us up.

When sitting in that lower place we are not there to make ourselves noticed in order to try and get ourselves placed higher. Nor are we there to pout and show dissatisfaction with the aim to let others know we don’t belong there. On the contrary, there is something wonderful and joyful about being content in whatever place God allows us to have.

Joyfully embrace the lower place. If the Master moves us to a higher place think how much more satisfying it is to know that God has raised you up than if you raised yourself up.

When we seek to honour ourselves we will always be humbled.

Jesus was the perfect One to teach this lesson, because He fulfilled it perfectly. He (God’s Son incarnated as flesh) deserved the highest place but He took the lowest and was ‘granted’ the highest.

Jesus had also noticed that the pharisee had chosen guests from a sense of pride, lacking in love for others and only inviting those who could give something in return. So Jesus went on to warn the host about the danger of pride when choosing guests.

Jesus is not saying that we can never invite certain friends/relatives/associates. What He is saying is not to make a habit of only inviting the same clique of people all the time.

He is telling the pharisee, and us, not to only associate with people for what they can do for us. He is telling us not to put self at the centre of our lives. We are called to follow Jesus and His example was that of putting others in the centre of our living.

It is better to give than to receive.

It is a wonderful feeling to give a gift that can never be repaid. Such a feeling helps give us a small insight into the pleasure of God in giving the gift of His grace, mercy, salvation and blessing to His people.

We never lose out when we follow the pattern of God’s generosity. Jesus shows us that we need to live with an eternal perspective of life as He promises God provides us with full repayment at the resurrection of the righteous; when our lives are weighed up on the balance sheet and audited by He who knows our hearts and minds, our actions and our motivations.

So, in summary:

Practise and prioritise humility over pride in everything.

Our works should be for the glory of God not for the praise of others.

We should embrace a lifestyle of radical hospitality, welcoming all.

And we need to understand that God’s kingdom operates with a different set of values to the world’s values. It operates with God’s values.