Little ones…

“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” (Matthew 10:40-42, NRSV)

In this passage we see the end of the missionary discourse where Jesus is sending the disciples out.

So Jesus is telling them, and us, whoever welcomes you welcomes me and when they welcome me they welcome the father…

And whoever gives a little one a cup of cold water will not lose their reward.

But who is the little ones?

James chapter 2 tells us to not show partiality. To not show favoritism. We should not treat a well dressed man any differently than a poorly dressed man in our midst. We can not judge by appearances, or give people special treatment. We need to treat all people the same.

The little ones are the people who can not stand up for themselves…

The widow. The Orphan. The outcast. The poor. The last, lost, least, and little. Those who do not have a leg up or an advocate to speak for them.

So do not be like this picture and only show your kindness to some, but look out for who is the little one in your place and time and be an advocate for them. Not because of the reward, but because you might just be welcoming Jesus and by welcoming Jesus, the Father.

I will praise!

But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge. I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my honor, and comfort me once again. I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued. All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help, for those who tried to do me harm have been put to shame, and disgraced. (Psalm 71:14-24, NRSV)

All the things the Lord has done for me are in the past, they are a memory, yet they make me want to sing His praises!

I want to sing of the praises of His righteousness!

Of how I was taught by Him in my youth to follow and adore!

How in my gray hairs I am still able to proclaim His wonders and love in the world I am in.

I remember how in my troubles and calamities He walked by my side and let me fall, but never out of His reach! He was always there to catch me and keep me going.

He brought me out of the depths and gave me life and love when I did not deserve them.

Oh How the love of the Lord for me makes me want to shout it from the roof tops and sing it to all the world!

put to shame

But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” (Romans 10:8-11, NRSV)

We believe all kinds of things in our hearts that we will never speak in the daylight…

Why is that?

Some of the things we believe would be seen as crazy by some of our friends. How do you think the early adapters to The Way felt… They were following this new thing and everyone around them would think they are crazy…

When you really believe something in your heart though you have to talk about it. Confess it!

We have to give a word and life to the things we hold inside.

That is why we believe with our hearts and we are justified. We have the knowledge in us that brings us to that relationship, and then we speak it into existence…

We say the words that Jesus Christ is Lord! And so we are brought fully into that relationship. Not because of anything we have done, but because of everything God has done for us. And because of what He has done we will not be put to shame!

holy calling

Called equippedfor God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, (2 Timothy 1:7-11, NRSV)

God gave us a spirit of power and love to go out into the world and show the world His grace and mercy.

We are to give to the world as we have freely received.

And you see, God is not like the kids on the playground, who watch for the skills needed for the game. And then they pick all of the kids with skills first, leaving those of us who really want to play just standing there waiting…

God does not make sure the people he calls have wicked skills, and mad talent. That they will be able to go out into the world all on their own and do what needs to be done…

No He calls who will follow His own purpose and grace. He doesn’t pick you because you can do it on your own. He picks you to follow Him and allow Him to work through you.

God does not call the equipped… He equips the called! He loves you enough that He wants you to go out into the world and share His Love!

So Go, knowing He’s got your back!

pruned

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. (John 15:1-8, NRSV)

Jesus is the vine and the Father is the vine grower…

That is all well and good, but all of us will face the sheers…

You see in order to grow grapes, or any fruit for that matter, you have to tend the vine or tree. And when you tend the tree, there is pruning. Even on branches that are producing. Even on fruitful branches there is cutting. This is to help them to keep growing fruit and producing a good crop.

So when you abide in Jesus and His word you will produce fruit, but He is going to cut off the parts that are getting in the way of you being as fruity as He can make you!

So allow Him the space in your life to prune away the stuff that is in the way and allow Him to make you a spiritual fruit that will go into the world and show them the love He has for all of us!

cost of discipleship

Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. “Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” (Luke 14:25-35, NRSV)

If you do not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be His disciple. Some have said to me how can I hate my family?

Well I can tell you there was a time I hated one of my family members, from my paternal family…

They had done all kind of evil things to us, and took things that were not theirs… I really hated them. But I love them as a family member, but I hated the actions they took against the family and myself.

I think that is what Jesus means. Or as I stated this past Sunday, we have to give up what we fear to lose. We have to love Jesus more than these, and have Him first. So that if these things around us go a different direction we will not follow because we love them more than God, but we will stay with God.

Do you dare to let go of everything and cling only to Him?

Proper place

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (Matthew 16:21-26, NRSV)

I love this verse!

Jesus said to Peter, “ὀπίσω μου,” Which is get behind me…

But do you realize that Jesus said this same phrase to at least 4 men earlier in the gospel of Matthew?

“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”” (Matthew 4:19)

The call of the disciples which is seen as a nice gesture of invitation to follow Jesus or walk along side Him is actually the same words used when Jesus rebukes Peter for not understanding his place…

You see with Jesus it really is God’s way or the highway, and you can not have it your way… Jesus is not Burger King.

And that is what being a disciple is all about. Following Jesus. If you can’t see the back of Jesus’ head, you are in the wrong place! It is about knowing our place, and that is not leader, but follower. If we do not understand, that is fine, but we still need to do as God is telling us. We are not in control and our way is not better.

So know your place, but know when you are there that Jesus loves you and walks with you through everything we will face.

Fear

“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 him 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. “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, NRSV)

Fear is sometimes a good motivator…

We will do things out of fear of being punished.

We follow the rules so we do not have to face a penalty of breaking them.

We stay inline and do what is expected even when it is not what we want to do.

Fear is a great motivator…

We can see this in the “turn or burn” evangelism some denominations talk about. As if we are ever completely right with God. We are only brought into the  space of relationship with God through the faith and grace of Jesus Christ. It is not because of anything we have done, but our relationship with Jesus. So our turning, only helps to get us the relationship. Only through Jesus do we get the out on the burn part…

You see though Fear will only motivate so far. We will be dutiful followers for a while if it is about fear, but we will not last. Our own nature will take over and we will fall back to our old ways. Fear is not the answer.

But we fear every day.

And fear is the thing that leads us to do things that are sometimes pure evil… (as the famous Yoda quote goes, “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering…”)

We fear what is different. We fear what we do not know.

But as the quote of Yoda here says, “we must let go of everything we fear to lose.” If we let go of all things except Jesus, there is nothing to fear. Even what we do not know will not hurt us, because Jesus will always be with us.

That is why in the above verses where Jesus discusses the cost of being a disciple, He says do not fear twice in the 16 verses. Actually it has been said that the Bible has the phrase do not fear 365 times. Once for every day of the year. Coincidence? I think that is a God-incidence!

We are not to fear anything but let go of everything and follow after Him, the one thing we should never let go of.

Praise the Lord!

Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host! Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. He established them forever and ever; he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed. Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and women alike, old and young together! Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD!(Psalm 148, NRSV)

Praise the Lord from where ever you are!

Because not only do we praise Him, but all of creation praises Him!

The sun and moon praise Him!

The stars praise Him, especially the shining ones (maybe that is why they shine!)

The waters above the Heavens praise Him (that would be the rain and the snow and all that precipitation stuff…)

The sea monsters and fire and hail, snow and frost, wind and mountains and hills, fruit trees and all peoples everything praises Him!

So Praise the Lord, for he commended and all was created!

You are here because of Him, so give Him praise!

who gets the glory?

In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man sprang up and began to walk. When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice. When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all the nations to follow their own ways; yet he has not left himself without a witness in doing good—giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. But Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. (Acts 14:8-20, NRSV)

Paul and Barnabas were called gods!

The priests of the temple of the gods they were named brought sacrifices and offered them…

It would have been real easy for them to just soak up the rays of glory and feed the people what they wanted to hear…

Yet Paul and Barnabas knew the real story, or the rest of the story.

They knew and had to share the creation of all things by the one true God who loves us and gives us the power to do the things we do.

It is not of us. It is of God and therefore give God the glory and the credit. He is the one who created all things and works in and through all things. He alone deserves the glory!