Mission Faithwalk

              While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50) Jesus was creating a stir. The authorities weren’t happy with Him, and His family decided to step in to fix things. I wonder what Mary thought of this intervention. Maybe, as with the wedding at Cana, she thought a little push might produce some good results. Maybe she thought He was stepping on too many toes and needed a vacation and some advice to complete His mission. Maybe she was trying to convince His siblings that they needed to back off and came along ...

                 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness . (Matthew 10:1) Oh, that would be the life… to have God call me and tell me, “Go here, do this marvelous thing in the following manner” (not included above). What we likely would find coolest about it is the authority. But God had reasons for doing things that way at that time. He has reasons for doing things differently now. There are, however, two things are clear. The first is that He sent them to minister to people, and not just people, but people who were the last sort of people they (or we) are likely to have wanted to visit: the possessed, the broken, and the sick. This wasn’t about their classification. It was about their need and about the disciples' comfort zone. They were, in short, to be Good Samaritans who didn’t need an innkeeper to help them. And again, I struggle ...

  Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.   Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.   Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:35-38) Have you ever tried to point out a bird or other small object to someone? Or looked at an optical illusion and tried to explain to someone what you see, and they don’t? Being able to point helps, but this is the problem Jesus saw as He went through the land. The Pharisees, Sadducees, Romans, and even His disciples seemed to see the virtual people who weren’t what they wanted. When Jesus saw the crowd, He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. Not a flock of sheep, which would be the coll...

              Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”   Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?    Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”   Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man . (Matthew 9:1-8) Take a deep breath and relax. I’m not going...

                 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm . The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27) The first point of interest this morning is that when the disciples got scared, they went to Jesus. Hurrah! How many of us get upset about something and try to solve it ourselves, seek social or governmental intervention, or otherwise look to someone or something other than God?  They had enough faith in Him to get them that far. Jesus chastised them for their lack of faith. What lack of faith...

                 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said (Matthew 5:2-3) And what He said is well known to us all as The Sermon on the Mount. Ministry involves communication. There are ways our ability to speak to others can be improved, but mostly, it involves two things. Love and practice. The love part includes caring enough to have something to say that will help them. Sometimes, we confuse helping them with making ourselves feel superior. They aren’t the same. In this sermon, Jesus doesn’t single out anyone. He’s talking to people, but He’s not exactly talking about people. He’s talking more about human conditions. This doesn’t mean that He never takes anyone to task, but more often than not, He acts as a teacher, not a judge. There are consequences to not correcting an error, but there is time in which to do so. That time is a...