Day 30 - Game Over

Day 30: Matthew 28

GAME OVER

Read Matthew 28 here first

 

There's a preacher I love called Tony Campolo. I once heard him speak at a youth meeting. His time was up, and the venue we were in was needed for another meeting. As he told us this, thousands of young people protested, saying we wanted to hear more. The next meeting was moved, and we stayed listening to Tony for 2 hours. Now a 2 hour preach might not be something that sounds appealing, but he talked about the kingdom of God in such a way that made you desperate to be close to God and hungry for more.

One of Tony Campolo's most famous messages is called 'It's Friday, but Sunday's coming'. If you haven't heard it, it's well worth looking up on the internet. He gets it from a preacher in his church who talks about the darkness of Good Friday. He talks about the abuse, the persecution, the scattered church. He talks about the cross, and the death of Jesus. As he talks about this, he keeps telling the congregation that Sunday's coming.

He goes on to explain that on Sunday, the grave is empty. Jesus has triumphed over death, hell and sin. Everything has changed. As Jesus rises from the dead, the age of grace begins. An undeserved grace can come to everyone who turns to Jesus and chooses to follow him. We live in this age of grace. We so often take grace so much for granted. We readily accept forgiveness, forgetting just what the price of that forgiveness really was.

So we live in this period after Easter Sunday. Evil has not won, but has been soundly defeated by Jesus. It may not always feel this way, but sin has no stranglehold over us anymore. That doesn't mean that we live easy lives free from temptation, weakness, or sickness. We live in the period between Easter Sunday and the time that Jesus returns. On that glorious day when we are caught up with him, we will be free from pain and fear. There will be no more insecurity, no more sin, and no more failures.

Until then, God has sent the Holy Spirit to us, to fill us, strengthen us, guide and convict us. As Jesus leaves the disciples, he does so knowing there is hope, knowing the Holy Spirit will transform their lives so they are able to live out the message of Jesus in the face of trials and even death.

We may or may not face similar trials in our lifetime for Jesus, but the commission given to the disciples here applies as much now as it did then. As we have looked through the book of Matthew, we have seen and heard many things. We have been shown what matters to God. We have been shown how he would have us live. We have been shown the holiness of God. We have been loved in the greatest way imaginable.

The challenge now comes to us to tell the story. There is a world out there who knows nothing about the truth of the gospel. For too long, all people have heard from Christians has come from the people who make the news for picketing funerals or proclaiming the end of the world. It falls to us to tell this story.

It’s the story of our history, of how a selfish people walked away from their creator, thinking they knew better. The story of a loving God who so wanted them back that he was tortured to bring them home and call them His people.

The responsibility of telling our friends, colleagues, families falls to no-one except us. There is no other plan. If the people of God fail, God has no plan B. His plan is that an ordinary people would be filled with His Spirit and would shout the story of love, hope and redemption to a hurting world, living selfless lives, daring to love when it hurts, and ultimately trusting in the One who makes all things new.

We have been privileged to hear of the greatest story. Not only that, we are a key part of that, being the people who have been rescued by Jesus. We now have a role to play in declaring that hope to others, pouring our lives out in service of a King over and over again until that day we are called home. It is a tough call, but it is the only one that truly matters in this world.

Day 29 - My Sacrifice

Day 29: Matthew 27

MY SACRIFICE (26:57 – 27:64)

Read Matthew 26:57-27:64 here first

 

I have no stupid stories to talk about for these verses. I have no poor attempts at humour to open this day up. These verses are simply too big, too raw. In one sense, these are some of the greatest verses written in the Bible, showing the greatness of God's love, showing the heart of the One who would go through all of this for us. In another sense, these are verses that make me bow my head in shame. As I look at the treatment of Jesus, the treatment he receives is uncomfortable to read.

One of the overriding feelings I get as I read this is an overriding sense of injustice, of how unfair all of this is. I read verses 67-68 and I get angry at humanity, of how we mock God at the time of his greatest act of love. I read verse 69-75 and hate that one of the main leaders of the church denies Jesus just as he is giving his life for all of mankind. I read verses 11-26 and wonder why we would be so stupid to request a criminal to be released above the only sinless man who ever lived. I read verses 27-31 and verses 39-44 and am stunned by the disgusting abuse that takes place.

As we read these verses, we need to take our time on them. We need to be upset by the mocking, the abuse, and the hatred that Jesus took. We also need to love his reaction. When the people he came to save spat in his face, he said nothing. When the people he loved knelt before him in fake worship, he said nothing. When people he was dying for jeered him and told him to come off the cross, he said nothing.

These verses make me wonder about how God felt. These things that seem unjust and painful to me must have been like a giant tear through his heart. As the Father watched the Son go through this, I can't grasp how he could still have loved us. As the one he sent to show us the heart of God is abused and beaten, I don't get how God doesn't just end everything there and decide that we're not worth it. As mankind pours out hatred on the Son of God, as the leaders of the church to come are scattered and afraid, this is probably as dark a time as there has ever been on earth.

Yet through it all, God's love never gives up on us. Somehow God doesn't just decide that we're not worth it. God watches the most painful things, and knows that this is how much His people are worth to Him. In the midst of the ultimate pain, God makes the greatest declaration of our value that will ever be made.

As Jesus hung on the cross, one of the final acts in the greatest love story ever told is coming to an end. Jesus is nailed to a cross, separated from the Father, with all of our sin and shame heaped upon him. There’s a story about a Chinese Christian who was getting baptised and was asked if she affirmed that when Jesus died on the cross, he had no sin. “No”, she disagreed, “He had mine”.

That’s true. Jesus was indeed sinless as he lived, but as we see him on the cross, we must acknowledge that it was our sin that put him there. Our selfish living had taken us away from God and Jesus was paying the ultimate price so that we could return.

The words I write can never do this chapter justice. Nothing I will ever say or write can. A few times in these devotionals we have talked about God's grace being outrageous. Right here, we see why it is so. In this chapter there is something so unjust, and yet so beautiful. There is something so painful, and yet so loving. This is a chapter that should stir up emotions in us as we try to grasp the size of what we are reading.

Let us read these verses slowly and carefully, taking in just what it means. As we read these words, let's allow ourselves to be humbled, realising just how great God is, and try to comprehend just a glimpse of what His love for us cost.

As we do this, I pray that we will find ourselves face down in worship. We can know all about the cross and what Jesus has done for us, but as we look at the reality in these verses, I hope that something in our hearts cries out in praise.

Day 28 - In the Shadow of the Cross

Day 28: Matthew 26

IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS (26:1-54)

Read Matthew 26:1-54

 

Matthew 26 and 27 are heavy passages. As we read these, we should read them slowly and carefully, trying to grasp the weight of what Jesus went through. Here, Jesus is preparing for the last supper. This would be the last time he spent with the disciples before the crucifixion. I have no doubt that the events to come would have been weighing heavily on his mind. He would be saying goodbye to the people he had walked with, and was about to willingly be tortured and killed.

Even at this stage, the disciples are still struggling to quite get it. As Jesus is anointed with oil before his burial, the disciples are still questioning things. These are still not perfect guys, with questions and uncertainties, even as we come to the end of Jesus' ministry. Not only are they still struggling to understand things, Jesus sits at the meal knowing that it is one of those present who will betray him, and possibly the closest one to him will deny him as he's giving his life.

It's not recorded here in Matthew, but John records that Jesus begins the meal by washing the disciples' feet. Here is Jesus, with the prospect of abandonment and death hanging over him, and he gets down and washes the disciples' feet. He takes the lowest job, getting in amongst all the dirt and filth that's been accumulated. For me, this is so significant as Jesus is actively taking charge of cleansing the disciples. He knows what needs to be done, and isn't afraid to be humbled, dealing with the stench and the dirt. As he does this knowing that many in the room will soon scatter and abandon him, he cleanses the unworthy. This is a crucial picture to have in mind at the start of the last supper. As Jesus tells the disciples to remember his body and his blood, we remember what Jesus went through to cleanse us all. We remember the pain he was to suffer. We remember the injustice he went through. We remember that we are unworthy, and we are reminded of how outrageous God's love is.

As we then move into Gethsemane, we see that Jesus' death is more than just an inevitable part of what he had to do. When I was younger I figured Jesus knew he had to die, that was the deal and he just accepted it. I think it's easy to lose sight of how horrible it must be to know that you are about to be abused, abandoned, beaten, and killed. I can't imagine how awful that must be even if you deserve it, but to go through that when you are blameless must be awful. To go through it at the hands of the very people you have come to show love to must be close to overwhelming.

We see that in Gethsemane. We see the potential of the cross weighing heavily on Jesus. We see him 'overwhelmed with sorrow', asking for disciples to stay and pray with him. He wants the people who mean most to him to be with him in this darkest of times. As Jesus prays, we get a sense of the intensity of the situation. Jesus is torn. He clearly doesn't want to go through what he is facing, he knows the scale of what is about to happen. As he wrestles with the pain which is to come, Jesus comes to the place where he asks God if there is any way it can be removed. I'm sure Jesus knows that there isn't, but this shows us how intense the feelings are.

As Jesus is wrestling with this, the people he trusts most are asleep. As Jesus goes through the intense sorrow, he must be feeling let down by those who are closest to him. This is similar to other times in his ministry, where people walk away from him, where people are healed and seemingly just disappear. Jesus must have felt disappointment so often as he dealt with people. However, as always, Jesus' love for people and his focus on what he must do are more important than the disappointment. Jesus goes back, and determines that he is ready to face what it is to come.

Take some time out today, just to appreciate Jesus. As we look at this, we know it's not a mindless, easy thing he did. It was a painful, conscious choice. He knew the cost, and was willing to go through with it for the sake of a flawed people. He is that great, and deserves our worship.

Day 27 - Hidden Treasures

Day 27: Matthew 25

HIDDEN TREASURE

Read Matthew 25 here first

 

When we look at this parable, we see a king who has given his servants money and tells them to do something with it. When we look at this, I believe we need to take a good look at everything that God has given us. In the parable, the worst reaction here is the servant who did nothing, who sat on what he had.

There are probably two reasons that we aren't very proactive in making sure we make the most of what God has given us. Firstly, and primarily, I think we're afraid to fail. Society places a high value on 'success' and sometimes it's safer to not try things than to try and potentially fail. Secondly, we often sit back and take things easy. I don't know about you, but so often I need a bit of a shove to get myself going, either from God or from someone else. As we look at this parable, I'd like us to look at 3 areas where we can look at what is in our hand that can be used for God's glory; our finances, our time, and our gifting or skills.

Finances

We've talked about finances a lot already. That's because Jesus has a lot to say about it. We can look at our lives and think we've got less than we really have. As we look at verse 34 onwards, we see the challenge laid down to us in terms of reaching out to others. Jesus calls us to look at what we can do for the homeless, the hungry, the thirsty, the sick and imprisoned.

We live in an unbalanced world, where society would tell us to buy as much nice stuff as we can. I believe Jesus would call us to a radical way of living, taking an honest, painful look at what we do for the 'least' in our world. I know that's not popular, but I believe that's the way Jesus would have us spend our money. It'll be painful, and sacrificial, and I almost certainly will fail to live up to it, but I desperately want to live my life trying to do it.

Time

So often, quiet times, or church ministry, or time spent with people can be the first thing that we let drop when we feel tired or busy. I don’t know about you, but I never feel too tired to watch TV or sit on the laptop. We’ve seen previously that Jesus always had time for people. On an average week, we probably have about 110-120 hours awake. God wants to be central to all parts of those, but often we squeeze him out.

God wants us to live in constant relationship with Him, but I believe that as part of that, it’s important for us to sacrifice our time for things. That will mean something different for us all, but it’s important that we get out of our own homes and interact with people in some way.

As we think about how we can use our time better, and what we can do to serve God with the hours we have, it’s important to figure out what we’re passionate about, and what skills or gifting we feel God has given us.

Gifting

I believe it's important that we look at the different abilities and attributes that God has created us with, to see if we are really using those. I recently heard someone say that most Christians don’t get to use their main talents on a regular basis.

If you're not sure what you're good at ask someone what they think. I know it feels arrogant, but try to work it out. You could think of practical skills that you might have, or emotional attributes. List a couple of things that you come up with, and then try to see how these are currently being used in your life. If you feel they're not being used, then commit them to God, asking what He can do with them, how they can be used.

I would urge you to sit down and write some of this stuff out. If you're anything like me, you'll think about some of this stuff, and it'll drift out of your mind and you forget about it. As you commit things to paper, they can seem a bit more permanent and it just might help you take them seriously. As we sit and work out our passions, our skills, we may find people who care about similar things and out of that God may birth new ideas which change lives.

Day 26 - Back to the Future

Day 26: Matthew 24

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Read Matthew 24 here first

 

When I read this passage, I'm reminded of a couple of friends, who will remain nameless, that believed that Australians lived in the future. They didn't think they just lived in a different time zone, they genuinely believed that they found out about world events first. The second coming of Jesus was one of these. They couldn't quite grasp how everyone would see Jesus at the same time, as Australians would clearly be the first to spot him. It's at those times that words fail me.

Anyway, in Matthew 24, Jesus talks about his return and the end of the world. I flick over this chapter often. If I'm being honest, I flicked ahead and wrote the entry for chapter 25 before doing this one, as I didn't quite know how to face it. I then came back, because I didn't want this chapter to be the final one I wrote. The second coming of Jesus is a difficult topic for me. It's quite often something that depends on people's theological interpretation, and before long it can develop into more a contest of who thinks they know the most, and I tend to zone out of those discussions. My ex-housemate will hate me for saying this, but in my eyes there are educated people on both sides of the fence, each thinking they're right, and I think a lot of our theology around it is educated guessing. Therefore I'm happy to leave the details alone.

However, what I do think is important is that we don't just bury our heads in the sand and ignore the potential return of Jesus completely. We live in these 'end times', where Jesus has gone up to heaven and we await his return. The longer that time goes on, I guess the harder it is to live in that expectation. I guess the early church must have thought he would come back very soon, in their lifetimes, but he didn't. So far, he hasn't returned in our lifetime either, but he might. It's a tough way to live, thinking that Jesus could return at any point. In a way, it's not possible to live our lives completely with this expectation, as then we wouldn't do things like go to university or plan for anything in the future, as there would be no point.

Jesus' return has been used to pressurise or guilt-trip people in the past. I know someone who was told as a kid that if Jesus came back and he was in the cinema, Jesus wouldn't take him back to heaven. That's not helpful. It's about as helpful as T-shirts which say 'Jesus is coming, look busy'.

Jesus' return is not something that's held over us to make sure we're all always doing good, just in case he comes back and catches us out and we won't get into heaven. That's just threats wrapped up in superstition. Religious weird talk with no benefit to anyone. Rather, the knowledge that Jesus is returning is something that should stirs us in a few ways. It should spur us on in the realisation that we don't know how long we have left. If we are to believe that the only way to eternal life is to have a relationship with Jesus, then this should spur us to be open about our lives following him, inviting others to know God for themselves.

Also, it reminds us that God is so much greater than anything else. He is beyond death, he is all powerful, and ultimately victorious. Just as the Bible is a book about Jesus, about this God who is so holy and above us, and yet so loving, passages like this point us to our ultimate destination if we know Him. As CS Lewis famously said, “If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that I was made for another world.”

It's tough to have in our minds every day, but ultimately we were made for another world. We weren't made to simply be content with what we have here. Jesus is returning. It may be in our lives, it may not. We still make plans for the future, but we must try to live in the knowledge that there is so much more to come, and a God who will ultimately call an end to this earth and be united with His people for eternity.

As we do that, it helps us keep life in perspective and focus on what matters. It helps us to take our eyes of ourselves, and look to Him, the only constant that there is.

Day 25 - In the Spotlight

 

Day 25: Matthew 23

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Read Matthew 23 here first 

I have an issue with showing off and pride. I guess I always have. Bizarrely, I have this mix of showing off and getting proud, but at the same time being insecure and feeling like a failure. It's a bad mix, and it's a real character flaw that I'm trying to remove from my life, but it's tough. I guess deep down I know that I'm not very good at life, and feel that I have to show that I'm good or prove myself so that people may think I'm good.

When I speak anywhere publicly, I have this battle. All I want is that my words matter to someone, that they would be used to help people get closer to God. Before I speak, I just stand there praying that I don't mess it all up. The other side of it is that part of me wants people to think I'm good, that I've done well, that I'm funny or wise or 'spiritual'. I hate that battle, but it's something I wrestle with often. The thing is that this often masks an insecurity. When I've finished, I'm always disappointed that I've not done well enough.

Just recently, I told God straight after I’d finished a sermon that I'd had enough of failing, and that I'd love it if He could get someone else in. As the night unfolded, there were healings, salvation and real intimacy. As I sat back and watched the night unfold, I knew that God isn't interested with how 'well' I think I've done. He longs to meet people, turn their lives around and somehow He can even use my words to do it.

Maybe the Pharisees had something similar, but it had spiralled out of control. Maybe instead of drawing their affirmation from a close, loving relationship with God himself, they substituted it for the feeling that they were 'good' because they could follow a set of rules better than anyone else. Maybe they'd got lost, seeing their position as who they were, and were putting themselves above people as a way to make themselves feel worthwhile. Maybe I'm being too generous to them.

Regardless, they'd lost their way. They were supposed to guide the nation, teach them about God and drawing people back to Him, whereas they were seemingly more concerned with status. As Jesus says in verse 23, 'You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness.' The Pharisees could follow the rules, and do what the law said, but they'd missed the point. They'd missed the heart of the King because they were focused on measuring their obedience. They were judgemental and oppressive, and Jesus uses some harsh words, describing them as dead inside and snakes.

We look at the Pharisees and can almost get proud that we're not like them. However, it is so easy to become judgemental with people based on what they watch, or listen to, the way they speak, the things they struggle with. We can hold our habits up as badges of honour, showing how well we're doing, making people feel rubbish about themselves. Even if we don't do that, we can often slip into the trap of living lop-sided lives. Recently in our life group, we considered some important principles and elements to living out a life of following Jesus. This list contained the following:

Bible study, prayer, fasting, using finance as God would, sharing the gospel, helping the poor, service, carrying each other's burdens, being still.

As we looked at the list, we discussed areas we felt we'd let slip, as individuals and a life group. From this, we determined that we would be more accountable to each other in terms of fasting to draw nearer to God. We also looked at what we could do to reach the poor, and hopefully this will lead to vision being formed which could lead to lives being touched by God in the future.

We may not be Pharisees, but take a look at the list. Maybe make one of your own. What areas do you skim over or neglect? Determine to put things in place that you don't miss out on what God would have us do, so that we're not stuck in a routine but missing the heart of God himself.

Day 24 - Nice Day for a White Wedding

 

Day 24: Matthew 22

NICE DAY FOR A WHITE WEDDING (22:1-14)

Read Matthew 22 here first

 

We have a handful of really big days in our lives, days where we want to gather round us the people who matter the most. If I was to think of the big days in my life, I would say that these include my 18th and 21st birthdays, my baptism, the first sermon I preached in Grimsby, the night of my engagement and my graduation from university. However, none of these come anywhere near my wedding day. Your own wedding day is a great thing. As a 29 year old Christian, it feels like I've been to a million weddings, including 16 in one year, which is enough to give you wedding fatigue.

Your own wedding is so different though. Everything matters. You plan the clothes, the songs, the location, the venue, the food, the entertainment. Like everyone, we carefully planned the event. You want everything to be perfect, but that doesn't always happen. For example, we spent a whole day making invites which had the date missing from them and I under-ordered the number of chairs needed, meaning that one table had to sit on garden chairs.

As you go through the planning, you realise it's not about everything being perfect, it's about celebrating the day with the people who matter most to you. Weddings are big deals. Jesus talks about the Kingdom of heaven being like a wedding, giving us a picture of celebration. Revelation 21 paints the amazing picture of the church being the bride of Christ, being dressed in white despite all our blemishes. It's a great picture as we will be united with God forever, with no tears or pain, as He always intended us to be.

The Israelite people had been waiting for the Messiah to come and fulfil the prophecies. Jesus has come to do this, but the many of the Jewish people (especially the leaders) don't want to know. They don't recognise Jesus as the son of God and don't want to be part of his invitation. This parable talks about the fact that ultimately those who refuse the invitation to the wedding won't be there. Whilst this initially is referring to the Israelite people, it can applied to everyone. We live in a time where the message of Jesus has been around for thousands of years. Jesus is clear in the gospels that the only way to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven is to accept his invitation. If not, the alternative is a lifetime without God, or goodness. Sadly, that means hell. It's a hard truth, but it's important that we don't shy away from it.

As we've looked at these devotionals, we've seen a lot about how great grace is, how huge God's love is, and the challenging lifestyle that Jesus calls us to lead. It's also crucial that we recognise that Jesus has come to lay his life down for us, and only through a relationship with him can we gain access to the wedding feast.

So as we look at this parable, the doors have been flung wide open. Jesus again shows us that to be God's people is not reserved exclusively for the people of Israel any longer, but is for all of us. As in Matthew 21, the walls are broken down and we're all invited. Again, this isn't something we take for granted. If we look at verse 13, we see a man rolling up without proper wedding dress, who then gets lobbed out. On the face of it, this seems harsh.

I'm no theologian, but from what I gather, this is saying that we can't just get to the gates of heaven because we were invited. Instead, we need to respond to the invitation by following Jesus and letting it change our lives. As we do this, we will be able to trade our filthy rags for his righteousness, and then we will truly be clothed in white on that day where we come together as the bride of Christ.

In Shakespearean times, it was said that plays could be split into 2; comedies (with a good ending) and tragedies (with a bad ending). It was said that comedies ended with a wedding, and tragedies ended with a funeral. It's great that our story can end with a wedding, but it's up to us to decide whether we want to be part of it.