Mission Faithwalk

                 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (I Corinthians 13:4-5) Ah, love, as I said yesterday, not a definition, but a description, and at least in today’s description, it’s mostly about what love doesn’t do. It begins with being patient, which for some of us is a negative word. It means that it doesn’t give up on its object, but gives its object time to do whatever the lover wants. There are times in disagreements with others when they say they’re done or that they won't answer my question. They are taking command and ending the discussion because I’m not worth their effort, and they’ve run out of patience. Sometimes, that’s the answer I get as soon as I disagree with them. Since I wasn’t seeking their love, that’s OK. It just occurred to me that this is what’s going...

                 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (I Corinthians 13:1-3) This is a tough one, because people are divided, and both sides have far to many people who claim to be Christians, but who read this verse and effectively say, “Yeah, you worthless piece of roadkill that claims to be a Christian, you talk big but where’s your love?” So, I’m going to begin with a clear statement: I am nothing. I will probably always be nothing. I will gain nothing. Because I can probably guarantee that you’ll decide that I don’t love unless I live according to your dictates. If I d...

                 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”   He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. (Matthew 12:9-14) We tend to think that Jesus didn’t minister to the Scribes and Pharisees and that He disapproved of them. After all, His words sound (to put it mildly) negative. But the first point is that the Scribes and Pharisees considere...

              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...