The Israelites ate manna forty years until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

—Ex. 16:35

Hunger in the Wilderness

While he was there, Jesus fasted from eating, and at the end of the 40 days, he’s very hungry. His ancestors were also hungry when they were in the wilderness. Each morning they relied on God for their bread. Jesus empathizes, he symbolically aligns himself with his people, and he experiences the kind of temptations they experienced.

When the people of Israel left Egypt and entered the wilderness, the first major crisis revolved around what they would eat. Some grumbled and wished they were still in Egypt because they believed they would die from starvation. Moses brought their concerns to God and God met their needs with manna. This manna appeared every morning and there was just enough for each family. They had to rely on God daily for their food. Here we see Jesus hungry in the wilderness and he had the power to fulfill his own food needs. Instead of making bread for himself, he set aside that power and he stated his intention to rely on God. He walked in the footsteps of his ancestors and trusted God to sustain him. 

Worship in the Wilderness

In the second temptation, the tempter offered him the whole world if Jesus would just worship him. If true, this offer suggested there’s an easy shortcut to redemption. Whether the tempter had the power to offer that kind of dominion or not, it would destroy the integrity of God’s very place in the order of the universe. Jesus as a human knew this, but also experienced the lived reality of human frailty, emotions, and having to untangle the wordsmith temptations of the devil.

The Israelites also dealt with temptations around worship. When Moses went up the mountain to receive the law, he was gone longer than they expected. Assuming their leader was dead, the people panicked and turned to the gods they were raised with. It may not seem logical to us, but the golden calf probably brought comfort and a feeling of stability during that time of confusion. Jesus placed himself in a state of weakness and allowed himself to be tempted when he was susceptible to confusion. In that way, he walked the hard path of physically empathizing with his people. 

Faith in the Wilderness

At first look, this third temptation doesn’t seem to correspond with anything from the people of Israel wandering in the wilderness. The key here is in the response Jesus gave, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” This is a quote from Deuteronomy where Joshua instructed the Israelites before they entered Canaan. In this instruction, he told them not to put the Lord your God to the test, as your forefathers did at Massah. What happened at Massah?

This was where the people rose up against Moses because they wanted water. In this uprising, the people accused Moses of bringing them out of Egypt simply to let them die. This seemed reasonable since we all need water to survive, but this was considered a test of God’s power and provision. God had already provided water miraculously, and at this point, manna had also been provided miraculously. Not to mention the Exodus itself. This reversion to accusing Moses of letting them die is a way of expressing a lack of belief and demanding miracle after miracle to prove God’s provision.

This is where the temptation of Jesus ties in. The tempter is telling Jesus to demand proof of God’s love and protection by throwing himself off the cliff. It’s a different scenario, but Jesus was being tempted to trust God, only after receiving a miraculous sign. He’s being challenged to “test” God’s faithfulness and Jesus resisted that temptation to have his faith confirmed with miracles. 

Empathy in the Wilderness

Jesus walked a mile in the footsteps of his ancestors and in so doing, he empathized with them. He also gained an understanding of what they experienced in their humanity, in their hunger and thirst, in their frailty. This encounter in the wilderness was at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It added the kind of compassion that is only learned through experience. 

God’s love is thorough. Jesus not only offered grace and mercy, he made it his business to personally understand what we deal with. In this text, we see one specific example of this, and this intentionality shows us these temptations weren’t incidental, but exercises in trustworthiness. 

Jesus knows the difficult seasons you have experienced as well. Bring those to him in prayer, knowing he doesn’t just love you in the “mountaintop experiences”, but also in the wilderness.

Photo of stones credit: by Deniz Altindas on Unsplash

Photo of desert by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking about his exodus, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep, but as they awoke they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us set up three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not realizing what he was saying. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Luke 9:28-36

This story has an air of mystery that’s more than just, “you had to be there.” The disciples were there and they didn’t know what to think about it either. We see the way Peter just starts saying things because he doesn’t know what else to say. This wasn’t an everyday experience just because they had proximity to Jesus. It was extraordinary even for them.

Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus in this transfiguration experience. These were two great men from Israel’s history, but there’s more to why they’re present than just name recognition. The work of Jesus is similar to that of Moses and Elijah, but Jesus is doing something greater. 

Moses brings the people to freedom

Similar to Jesus, Moses was born within a context where he escaped execution at birth. Moses was saved from that decree by his family and he was raised by Egyptian royalty. He later led Israel’s exodus from Egypt. This is the great story of salvation, the rescue of God’s chosen people from oppression and enslavement. This story encourages us to remember that God sees our oppression, God’s cares, and is powerful to save. The annual Passover meal remembers and celebrates this Exodus. 

In preparation for the exodus, the people of Israel were to remain awake and alert. When it was time to leave they passed through the Red Sea into freedom. God performed miracles through Moses to lead the Israelites out of their oppression. This escape was something they weren’t capable of doing on their own.

The people traveled through the desert, and then Moses had the responsibility to teach them God’s law. This was another experience that took place on a mountain. Later Moses led them in building a tabernacle so that the people would have a place to worship God. When it was ready, the spirit of God’s presence would come down into the tabernacle when they worshiped. The faithfulness of Moses made it possible for the people to know what God wanted them to do.

The saving work of Jesus 

Moses is present in this transfiguration event. He’s talking to Jesus, who has come to do the redemptive work of God. Similar to the Egyptian enslavement, sin enslaves humanity. In a new kind of exodus, Jesus leads people out of the slavery of sin and death. He leads people home to their promised inheritance—the new, redeemed creation.

The sacrifice of Jesus brought the possibility of new life to humanity. In his work on the cross, Jesus defeats evil and offers us freedom that we receive by grace alone. We can’t become holy just by imitating the life of Jesus. Jesus saves us through his perfect life, his death, and resurrection. He creates a miraculous path to God that we could never walk on our own. 

Now instead of sending his spirit into a tabernacle, God sends his spirit to be with everyone who follows him. Instead of writing God’s law on stone, God writes his law on our hearts, through the transformative work of the spirit. 

Elijah opposed the powerful

Elijah was a prophet that lived at a time when the people were not following God. He spoke to the people about what God wanted and confronted people who were doing evil things. His life was often in danger because the king of Israel didn’t like Elijah’s message of repentance. 

We find one of the well known stories about Elijah in 1 Kings 18. In this text, Elijah challenges the prophets of Ba’al to see whose god is most powerful. After they try and fail, Elijah calls down fire from heaven to consume his offering for God. This story portrays God’s power and it left an impression on the people of Israel.

The belief about Elijah is that he was the one who would announce the coming of the Messiah. He would usher in the end of time when God brings peace to the earth. Elijah was the prophet who would one day turn people’s hearts back to God.

Jesus leads with mercy

Jesus acknowledged these understandings about Elijah and took it a step further when he compared John the Baptist to Elijah. John the Baptist proclaimed the ministry of Jesus and he was living a prophet’s life. This understanding of Elijah’s role was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist. Unlike the life and message of Elijah, the teachings of Jesus often speak of mercy, rather than the swift and lethal judgment that we see in Elijah’s confrontations. Over and over we see how the people following Jesus had a hard time grasping this message of mercy. 

In Luke 9:51-56, shortly after this transfiguration experience, James and John asked Jesus if they could call down fire from heaven. Maybe the disciples thought of this because they had just seen Elijah on the mountain. Maybe that experience reminded them of Elijah’s way of addressing opposition. They might have assumed Jesus was going to overturn their oppressive government in a similar way that Elijah opposed the government of his day. Jesus made it clear to James and John that they should not kill the people who oppose them. 

Meeting God on a mountain

Through the scriptures and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have more access to God than the prophets. Moses and Elijah both had experiences with God on a mountain. Moses asked to see God’s face when he was receiving the ten commandments. God told him no, nobody could see God’s face and live. But God did let Moses see a glimpse of his back. He passed by the rock where Moses was sitting while he waited for the commandments. This encounter had a physical effect on Moses. When he finally came down from the mountain, his face was shining so bright the people couldn’t look at him. 

After Elijah challenged the priests of Ba’al, he ran in fear and hid on a mountain. The king and queen were killing the prophets and now they were after him. Elijah was sure he was going to die and asked to hear from God. He waited and listened. God wasn’t in the storm, the earthquake, or the wind. Then there was a silence and that is when Elijah heard from God. 

In this story, the three disciples get to witness a conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. The three are transfigured before the disciple’s eyes and their appearance was dazzlingly bright. Peter starts to speak up out of fear, but God’s voice breaks through and says, “…this is my son, listen to him.” Peter didn’t know what to say, this whole experience was probably overwhelming.

Living in the presence of God

It can be easy to read this story and wish we had such an encounter. Maybe life’s difficulties would be easier to navigate if we could witness something so miraculous first-hand. We have to remember we have more than a first-hand experience. We have the benefit of reading these Gospels with more information about what’s going on. Through these scriptures, we get a more detailed message than Moses or Elijah had. More importantly, we have the Holy Spirit to counsel and guide us.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about how we have greater access to God. That should encourage us because God’s power and strength are as close as the Holy Spirit in our lives. Paul writes about this to encourage the church in Corinth.

Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses’ face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? 
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:7-8, 12-13, 17-18

Where is the ministry of Jesus surprising you today?

Photo credit: by Artem Sapegin on Unsplash

We don’t know what ‘behind the scenes’ injustices Jesus may have been addressing. This may be in response to the injustices that surface in every era. In this crowd, it’s likely that both classes of people are present. The rich and the poor are mingling and are a part of the same society. This means that there are people going hungry right in front of those who have more than enough. There is judgment for the callousness toward the neighbor, the hoarding of wealth, the apathy. 

The Future is Now

Both the passage in Matthew and in Luke can be mistaken for a pie-in-the-sky view of Christianity. Are we only looking forward to some future reward? This idea isn’t fully consistent with how the Gospels present the kingdom of heaven. The refrain we find is that the kingdom of heaven is among you, or is near. Jesus was ushering in the kingdom of heaven. So we should re-read passages like Luke 6  and Matthew 5  with a perspective of the “now and not yet”. The kingdom of heaven is near, even though it’s not yet complete. 

This text offers hope for the marginalized, not just for a distant future time, but also in the present. God sees you, loves you, and is giving honor to you. God is with you as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Everyone is invited to be still and to rest in God’s presence. The marginalized are closer to that rest because so much has already been stripped from them. The rich, on the other hand, may not even be looking for God’s rest, and so deprive themselves. The influential person who oppresses those beneath them, will need to deal with that before true peace is even possible. 

A Wake-up Call for the Influential 

This sermon is blunt and has an air of finality. However, we should remember that Luke also wrote about rich oppressors who found redemption. This Sermon on the Plain shines a light on oppression. Inequity was so rampant, it had become mundane. This isn’t a condemnation—it’s a wake-up call. Some who were complicit heard that wake-up call and followed.

Look around your context. What inequity or oppression has become commonplace and unquestioned? As you follow Jesus, ask yourself what needs your attention today. 

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It’s tempting to focus on the fact that Jesus is rejected by his hometown. These people knew him growing up and they’re having trouble seeing him as anything other than the carpenter’s son. This is a relatable experience. Many of us surpassed the expectations people had for us. Focusing on this part of the story is valid, but it’s low-hanging fruit. Surpassed expectations don’t cause a whole group of people to suddenly become so enraged that they try to throw one of their own off a cliff. There’s more to it than that. 

Jesus edits out vengeance

Jesus challenges their understanding of how God will deal with their enemies. We can see this in the text he chose and where he stops reading. The text he read continues on to say, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” Jesus, who was led by the Holy Spirit, stops reading mid-sentence before the text talks about God’s vengeance. This edit is an interesting commentary by itself. Not only were the scriptures full of vengeance against enemies, but the crowd Jesus was speaking to also had real enemies who were causing pain and suffering. People likely consoled themselves with the parts of Scripture that talk about vengeance. The way Jesus intentionally left this part out probably felt like a personal correction.

As people start to murmur and the conversation heats up, Jesus cuts to the point. He talks about events in their history when God helped people of other nations over their own. He mentions the healing of Naaman, a military official who had invaded Israel and took one of their women as his wife. Elisha healed this man instead of one of the many lepers in Israel. The underlying idea here is that God responds to everyone and is welcoming of everyone who calls out to God. People of all times and places have tried to gatekeep God’s acceptance, who can speak about God, or what those messages are supposed to say. Jesus uses their own history to illustrate the fact that God does not obey gatekeeping. God will do what God will do. 

Jesus and the gatekeepers

Jesus tells them his mission through his choice of Scripture. He reads a description of the messiah and what the messiah will do—prioritize the marginalized people. Marginalized people were not part of the hierarchical structure and they were not important. Some saw their marginalization as an indicator of sin–meaning their situation was their own fault. 

This crowd, probably every religious person at this time, had beliefs about who the messiah would be and what he would do. They probably assumed they knew who would be rewarded for their faith (them). Jesus claims to be the messiah and tells them who he is called to minister to (the poor and marginalized). Jesus is crushing beliefs that this crowd held dear. This is where the energy to throw him off a cliff is coming from. 

The gatekeepers have the power and influence to decide who’s in or out. You don’t need much power. Jesus isn’t talking to members of the Roman government here, this is just a group of men in his hometown. In that context, they were the people with power. The poor and the marginalized don’t have the power to change their place in society. They’re at the mercy of those in power. Jesus is called to minister to the marginalized, to the outsider, this is his priority. Structural power is diluted without helpless and voiceless people. 

Led by the Holy Spirit

This passage tells us that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. We have access to this same leading, guiding, counseling spirit as we go about our life and ministry. We don’t know if Jesus in his incarnational humanity needed the Spirit to connect him to God’s guidance, or whether he chose to do this to model it for us. Either way, we see hope and instruction here. Hope because there were gatekeepers trying to keep Jesus confined to their expectations. There’s instruction for us here as well. Jesus received his call to ministry when he received the Holy Spirit. We also need to maintain our relationship to God and the Spirit so that we have ears to hear God’s call in our lives, whether or not that call is within a paid ministry job. 

We also see here that God didn’t consult or abide by the gatekeeper’s rules. There might be gatekeepers who tell you your ministry isn’t valid even though you’re sure God has called you. Keep on cultivating that relationship with God and don’t let the gatekeepers deter you.

Who are the gatekeepers in your life? 
How do they wield their power and how does this affect you? 

Photo credit: by Kevin Lofthouse on Unsplash

Words fall flat in light of this reality. For the few people I know who do have loved ones fighting this virus, I listen more than I talk, and then I don’t offer advice. Then when I’m alone with my thoughts, I reflect on where I find God in all of this. Different days have different reflections, but today is Good Friday. Today I’m thinking about the loneliness Jesus experienced while he was dying.

The Crucifixion in the Gospels

I’ve read the accounts of the crucifixion from all four Gospels today. I looked at the kind of community Jesus had around him as he was dying. Luke and John include details about the few friends or family (mostly women) that stuck around until the end. Luke includes the interaction with the criminal’s belief that day. John includes the conversation where Jesus commissions John to be a son to Mary. Matthew and Mark focus more on the mocking and jeering crowd. These two writers don’t mention family or friends. In these accounts, Jesus even asks God why he’s been forsaken.

I believe dying is inherently lonely for most people. Who can truly know what a person is experiencing physically or emotionally at that point? I’m glad that we have the accounts from Matthew and Mark’s gospels. They make it impossible to focus on side conversations. They don’t allow us to turn away from the trauma.

What Jesus Experienced

There are theological reasons for the crucifixion, which I won’t dive into here. I‘m focusing on the way Jesus, the man, experienced death. As we worry about those we love who are vulnerable, or who may already have this coronavirus, we know that Jesus also cares deeply about them. When we read about the terror of those who are denied a ventilator because their chances of survival are worse than another person who needs that ventilator, we know that Jesus sees them and knows the turmoil they’re experiencing. As we hear about people who have died, we know that Jesus had compassion (suffered with) those people while they were dying.

Jesus was rejected and died alone on that cross. We don’t know what Jesus was experiencing when he asked God why he was forsaken. We know at the very least it was an expression of isolation that Jesus was feeling as he died. Death on a cross usually resulted in death by suffocation, either through the loss of oxygen or because the bodily position made it difficult to breathe. Our current pandemic is bringing people to a cruel end, and Jesus knows what these loved ones are experiencing. The comforter, the Holy Spirit, can meet them in their isolation with the true comfort of one who knows.

Jesus Knows

I hope and pray for a sudden decline in deaths from this virus. Or for the day we have a vaccine, or a greater amount of herd immunity, so that those who are sick can receive care. I look forward to the day when our health care workers can rest and are no longer fearful for their own safety. While we’re in the middle of this, and especially on Good Friday, I’m able to reflect more deeply on the agony of the cross, the hidden emotional aspects of the crucifixion. I’m also reminded that Jesus our savior, is also the God who knows—knows our pain, our fear, and our grief.

What are you experiencing right now? Where do you need comfort today?

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We don’t know much about the incident between the Galileans and Pilate. It would have been normal and common for Jewish people to offer sacrifices in the temple. Pilate had a history of oppression and disregard for their worship practices. He appropriated some of the temple money for his own projects and made sure the image of Caesar was prominent. This attack on the Galileans might have been unprovoked or Pilate may have feared an uprising.

Tragedy Isn’t God’s Judgment

When tragedy strikes, some people try to distance themselves outwardly or inwardly. I think we’re seeing both kinds of distancing here. The victims in this story are known as the Galileans. Rumor has it they may have done something displeasing to God.

In addressing this perspective, Jesus tells these people that God isn’t capriciously delivering tragedies to address sin. Not only that, he points out that everyone sins, so if God were doling out these kinds of punishments, nobody would be safe.

Desecrating the Image of God

Those who suffer are not worse sinners. Misfortune is not God’s wrath. This is the kind of thinking from which Job’s friends gave advice. People who assign this kind of blame are assuaging their own fear in the face of an uncertain world. They need to believe the mantra, we’re the good guys, they’re the bad guys. People want tangible evidence that bad things won’t happen to them.

There are still people today looking to moralize tragic situations. Aside from viewing natural disasters as God’s judgment, people also do this in response to oppression. There are border prisons holding more people than they were designed to hold. Within these overcrowded holding cells, our country has warehoused people of every age without proper food, shelter, or medical care…to name just the major grievances. Some of these people are asylum seekers, some are citizens, and some are undocumented. Some people in this country categorize these captives, and the worst is suspected. This is the same kind of distancing we read about in Luke’s story. These people detained at our border aren’t worse people, even if they are undocumented. If our government desecrates the image of God in these people for their own financial gain, that doesn’t mean God endorses those grievous acts.

Parable of the Fig Tree

In what sounds like the biggest non-sequitur, Jesus talks about a fig tree that is about to be cut down because it isn’t bearing fruit. At first, this sounds like he’s contradicting his original point. Is he saying if they don’t shape up they will also have tragedy? I don’t think so. I believe he’s talking about something less obvious but possibly more important.

A fruit tree has one job…to produce fruit. A fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit is as worthless as a burned-out lightbulb. Often the kind of people who assign “God’s judgment” to those who experience tragedy, feel like they’re safe because they’re good people. This kind of moral high ground is built on the belief that they’re doing exactly what God wants. Their evidence is that things are going well for them. However, riches, wealth, success, ease–none of these are how we measure our relationship with God.

In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he tells them how they can measure their relationship with God. Galatians 5:22-23  lists the “fruit of the spirit” as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” As we reflect on the parable of the fruitless fig tree, we should solemnly reflect on this list. This list in Galatians describes the “fruit” of a mature Christian life.

Judgment of Others

Jesus does warn the crowd that they too could suffer, but worse than that, they can lose touch with God. They may keep believing they’re the voice of God, but it may become obvious to everyone except them that they are hollow, fruitless, and irrelevant. This isn’t to say that everyone who agrees with me politically is bearing fruit and everyone who disagrees is fruitless. It’s more subtle than that.

In the parable, there is a gardener who wants to give the tree every possible chance. This is a tree on the owner’s property that should already have fruit on it. This doesn’t represent some “heathen” over there. Jesus is talking about the people whose lives should reflect the relationship with God that they supposedly had. This fig tree also represents present-day Christians whose lives don’t reflect the Spirit’s attributes that Paul describes in the letter to the Galatians.

Jesus is giving us an elaborate object lesson addressing anyone who casts shallow judgment on others. This “us vs. them” kind of thinking discounts the reality that God loves everyone. We have a way of identifying the people that are just beyond God’s love. Once we do that, we can find evidence to support our belief. This crowd found that distance in the untimely deaths of these Galileans. God’s mercy is for everyone. Jesus wants them to see the error in their thinking so they don’t become numb. Jesus asserts that there’s a timeline on helping this tree bear fruit. Let us read this parable Jesus tells and experience the sense of urgency.

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In Matthew 6:1-6, Jesus warns against two ways that hypocrisy manifests itself among religious people. The word “religious” often gets the automatic pushback, I’m not religious, I’m just a Jesus follower. This kind of unwillingness to assess our actions, practices, and motives, is a big open door through which hypocrisy enters. If you’re still reading this, I invite you to set aside any self-justifying, catch-phrases that pop into your head and consider that this could apply to you.

Unlike many illustrations in the gospels, giving financially and praying in public are two things religious people still do. Financial gifts and prayer were good then and they’re still good now. They are also both areas in our Christian life that can be a source of personal pride.

Keep Your Giving Secret

Tithes and offerings are a Christian practice of giving financially to the church. Tithing comes from the Jewish laws to support the temple priests. Now, this cherry-picked law is currently taught as a Christian duty. Paul tells us that financial gifts should be given from a desire to give. The topic of why this law is one of the only laws emphasized by church leaders as non-negotiable should be a whole different article. So, for the sake of this article, I will assume when you give to the church, it’s from a place of freedom and joy.

This first warning talks about people who let others know what they’re giving. This isn’t something I’ve witnessed firsthand. It seems like this would appear crass, but I have seen a kind of ownership after giving. This might play out in a church business meeting with an attitude of, we’re not getting rid of [cherished church item]—my tithes paid for that! That’s not bragging as much as it’s using gifts for leverage. It’s different, but that attitude seems just as unhealthy.

The instruction to not announce your gifts reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. In that text, Paul talks about practicing our faith with love. If we have motivations other than love, our good actions are worthless. Paul’s letter echoes what Jesus tells this audience in Matthew. If you’re giving gifts with the motivation of receiving approval, that approval is the only reward you will receive. The act of giving has lost any benefit for your spiritual growth.

Public Prayer

The second area Jesus addresses is: praying to be heard by others. This is something that I believe happens all the time–at least in American Christianity. Walk into a chain restaurant on any Sunday around 1 pm and you will probably see what I mean. Right after the food arrives, around the time the waitstaff is approaching to see if they need anything else, the table will close their eyes and “say grace” loud enough for all the nearby tables to hear. Sometimes the group holds hands. The waitstaff may seem unsure whether they should leave and come back or wait until the group is done praying. Often, saying grace out loud before a meal is expected by Christians. It may also be thought of as a “gospel witness” for anyone in the room who isn’t “saying grace.”

If you do this and you’re still reading, try to consider all the reasons you participate in this public show of prayer. Consider that saying grace is different than an actual opening prayer at the beginning of a worship service or public event. Saying grace in this way is making a personal prayer public. I personally find it awkward and sometimes manipulative. Even so, I believe it’s done out of a sense of duty, or even routine, but what would it look like to not say grace out loud in public?

Is There Any Hypocrisy In Me?

This might cause people to jump to the other end of the spectrum. You might think I’m suggesting people stop praying altogether. I’m not suggesting that. I’m asking what it would look like to follow the heart of Matthew 6:5-6  when you say grace in public. Obviously, you wouldn’t go find a closet to pray in, but you could thank God for your food silently, in your thoughts, and in such a way that doesn’t draw attention to yourself. Does that kind of prayer lose its appeal? A result of praying silently might be that other Christians assume you’re not praying at all. It’s in this moment of tension that you will learn a lot about your motives. Are you thanking God for the food, or are you praying for others to see? Are you meeting other people’s expectations of what Christians are supposed to do?

Try this experiment just to see what happens and what goes through your mind. If you find hypocrisy within yourself, this is the time to deal with it.

Misunderstood and Judged

If you pray silently, you might be judged. Your explanation might be ignored. Remember, I’m not saying to “not say grace”. I’m saying to not let other Christians “see that you’re saying grace” as a faith-building, and character-building, exercise. If you are misunderstood or judged, remember that Jesus was misunderstood and judged. Many people who don’t fit the American Christian status quo, for one reason or another, are misunderstood and judged. This could be a compassion-building experience.

Do you say grace in public places? Does it depend on who you’re with? How do you feel about trying this experiment as an act of discipleship? Let me know in the comments.

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Jesus delivers blessings to those in need and “woes” to those who have enough. Why? Why paint all of the rich and powerful with a broad brushstroke? Certainly, they’re not all bad people. What about the poor? Are they all good people? Why are they all given a blessing? Some of them are probably poor because they’re lazy. They might be earning six figures begging for alms. These poor people might be using those alms to buy wine.

This text is referred to as the Sermon on the Plain. In my experience, it hasn’t had nearly as much air-time as its more popular counterpart, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12). Could it be because this sermon goes a step further and includes “woes” that are directed toward the rich? In this context, the rich also happen to be religious leaders.

Difficult Words

I see other aspects in this text that make it more difficult to preach. The Sermon on the Mount focuses more on attitudes. Luke’s account sizes people up based solely on their need. These blessings and woes are the kinds of hot-takes you see in social media. They might not fit neatly into a three-point sermon without offending your financial “givers”. So, what is being conveyed in these verses about the rich and the poor?

Similar to the sermon in Matthew, these blessings and woes kick off a bigger talk that addresses other issues. This sermon follows two events where Jesus is questioned by the religious leaders. In one instance Jesus picks grain on the Sabbath because he and his disciples are hungry. In the second instance, he heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath. We can see that the way these religious laws are upheld creates an undue hardship for the poor and marginalized.

The Rich and Powerful Make the Rules

This imbalance of power is the bigger point. Often when there are rich and poor co-existing, the rich are the people in charge. Too often the rules protect the riches of the rich. This was happening in the first century and it still happens in the 21st century. As a “religious leader” who lives in a rich country, I sit up and take notice. These woes are written in the second person, plural. This means these woes are for the community of rich people, not individual rich people who are abusing their power. It’s not good enough to say not all men, not all police, not all churches, not all white people… If we are part of a category of people who are abusing power, it’s our obligation to do whatever we can to address or end that abuse.

The religious leaders, and the government of that day, chose to deal with the problem by saying there isn’t a problem. They focused their efforts on silencing Jesus.

I have so many concerns, I see so much inequity, I don’t know how to address it all. I don’t know if I’m speaking into the wind. Social media “whataboutism” makes addressing these concerns seem futile.

Two Places Where I See Inequity

We are wrong to make our comfort the higher priority over the welfare of immigrants and asylum seekers. I read an article by James Dobson where he purports to set the record straight. It read like a propaganda piece, naming good things the right has done and bad things the left has done. The bottom line was that the needs of immigrants would negatively impact our country. Dobson claims it’s a “wave of poverty that will take us down”. This justifies the squalor in which we’re imprisoning these people. In this situation, we are the rich and the immigrants are the poor–regardless of how your income compares to your neighbor’s.

Our mass incarceration practices have skyrocketed because we’re creating reasons to charge and imprison more people. These laws and sentencing are levied against the poor and people of color to the fullest extent. The rich or influential caucasian person receives a reduced sentence if any at all. In this situation, we are the rich and the imprisoned are the poor–regardless of how your income compares to your neighbor’s.

How Do We Respond?

These are just two of many issues in which people are oppressed and we as a country justify that oppression. We need to pause and take these words in Luke seriously. Over and over in the scriptures, God shows up as the defender of the poor and helpless.

These words in Luke were spoken to the community, not to individual abusers. Keep in mind the demographic “communities” to which you belong as you read these words.

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A Problem With the Analogy

The problem with turning this comment into theology is that it has been used poorly. I think this happens in part because of the way we fish today as compared to the way they fished then. I have fished using a lure, which looks like a bug or a smaller fish. I’ve also fished using bait–anything a fish would identify as food to cover up a hook. Modern fishing uses bait and trickery to snag a fish against its will to get it into our cooler. Much the same way, modern evangelism has used lure and often trickery to get people to come to a location where they will then be subjected to hearing a message they probably wouldn’t have opted in to attend if they had known.

In Peter’s day, fishing involved going to where the fish were and lowering a net. The idea was to pull the nets when a school was passing over them. The end result was the same, fish in a cooler, but rather than trickery, it involved paying attention to the fish and waiting. That’s still not how I want to interact with people and I’m glad this isn’t actually the point of this text. This is still just a comment to a fisherman as he’s asked to leave his job for a very different kind of life.

Intended For Peter

This was a message for Peter and it’s deeper than what we’ve turned it into. Peter was a skilled fisherman. When Jesus asked him for a lift in his boat onto the water so he could talk to the crowds of people, Peter had already been working all night. He’s cleaning his nets, and he’s tired.

After Jesus talks to the people, he tells Peter to let the nets down again. This is the last thing anyone would want to hear. It’s the end of his workday. Jesus isn’t a fisherman and doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It’s probably a little bit insulting or just ridiculous. Peter explains why this won’t work, but then humbly does what Jesus asks and is overwhelmed by the catch. It’s in this context that Jesus tells Peter that from now on Peter will catch people. It was a clever way to say, follow me.

Let’s follow Peter into this new call a bit to see how this plays out. The gospel features many interactions between Jesus and Peter. Many of Peter’s comments and actions are misguided and receive anything from a gentle to a sharp correction from Jesus. Preachers everywhere have a field day with Peter, he becomes the bumbling sitcom sidekick—the comic relief of many sermons because hindsight is 20 /20.

Peter was experienced in fishing, but now he’s talking to people, praying for people, answering trick questions from people who don’t like Jesus, witnessing miracles, not understanding the cryptic things Jesus is saying. He wants to save Jesus from execution as any follower would, he cuts off a soldier’s ear to prevent the arrest of Jesus. Later that night he denies Jesus. Either Peter is really out of his element, or there isn’t a person in all of history who would have looked competent standing next to Jesus.

Fishers of Men

Peter doesn’t suddenly get it after the resurrection either. In one gospel he doesn’t believe Mary’s account. In another gospel, he returns to fishing. He has lost whatever faith he had. Then he re-encounters the resurrected Jesus who hangs out for a few weeks teaching them before returning to heaven. At this point, the followers of Jesus gather and pray because they don’t know what else to do. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit rushes into their prayer meeting. Everyone leaves the meeting and rushes outdoors. After such a bad track record for saying everything wrong, Peter, full of the Spirit, preaches to a crowd, telling them everything Jesus has done. Four thousand people believe at that moment, even though many of them don’t even speak the same language.

This miracle on the day of Pentecost is a mirror image of the overwhelming catch of fish. Not only were Peter’s best efforts not good enough, he failed completely. When Peter is ready to pack it in, Jesus says, try it again. As Peter humbly responds to that call, listening to Jesus, listening to the Holy Spirit, responding to what God is doing in that moment, allowing himself to be a part of God’s work, he sees the result of that work, God’s results, God moving in the hearts and minds of the people present. He was a fisher of men, but not through trickery or coercion. Most of the people here are excited to hear what he has to say.

Your Call is Different

We are not Peter. Our work is different. The results may not even look impressive. Many faithful people didn’t see a massive response to their message. I don’t think we should have preconceived ideas of our role and our results, based on someone else’s role and results. What we should do is stay in communication with God. Honestly pray about your disappointment. We should live humbly and be thankful when our work produces good results.

Have you felt like your best efforts haven’t produced much? Have you ever experienced God working in your life when you felt depleted?

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This church in Corinth is on the verge of splitting into four churches because of their differences. When our priorities are misplaced, we’re often the last to know. Paul writes this section because they are missing the whole point.

Love > Acts of Devotion

This chapter starts out describing good deeds someone might do to show their devotion. Paul emphasizes the importance of doing our acts of devotion with love. He then moves on to describe perfect love. This could be a Ted Talk to encourage groups that are crumbling from division.

After each act of devotion, Paul sums up the action by saying, if it’s done without love, it is nothing. Paul does have a flair for drama, so, is he just making a point? Is it better to stop doing good things if we’re apathetic? Let’s think about what he’s saying. There will come a time when our good deeds and all of our impressive actions will come to an end. The underlying elements of faith, hope, and love will remain in the afterlife—the greatest of these being love.

So, if our impressive good deeds aren’t done with love, nothing about these deeds will survive. It is love that lasts. Love builds community, relationships, and people. Acting out of love allows us to be known just a little more and to see each other a little clearer.

Love Builds Community

The more we know a person, the harder it is to love them like this. As relationships deepen, we experience disappointment, disagreement, or simply misunderstanding. We focus on correct thinking at the expense of loving the other. These grate against our ability to love. This is where the rubber meets the road. When we persist in healthy love, our relationships become stronger. This kind of love is a response to many of the problems that plague this Corinthian community as well as our own.

Ultimately, this is describing the way God loves us—God’s unshakable love for us. When we receive this love that God has for us, we can then let God’s love flow through us to others. So let’s slow down and see the people around us as the beloved people that they are.

Do you find it easier to perform acts of devotion than to consider how to love others more genuinely?

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