Matthew 7:3-5

Have you ever considered that Jesus calls the one sin a plank and the other a speck of saw dust, not because the plank is the more egregious sin but because the eradication of the plank from the one has the greater potential to build the Church? You can't build a house with saw dust but you can create quite a structure with planks.

This text is found in Matthew 7:3-5. Now read it in conjunction with Matthew 16:17-18. He's building...the question is, are we supplying the planks He desires to build His Church?

Pastor Fred

Privately

In Matthew 24:3, Mark 9:28, Mark 13:3, and Luke 10:23 we are compelled to ask ourselves if we are close enough to Jesus to have private conversations.

Think of all the people you know. How many of them are casual acquaintances vs. close personal friends? How awkward would you feel to ask a casual acquaintance for a private conversation? Which is Jesus for us? If we feel awkward having a private, intimate conversation with Jesus, it is a sure sign our life with Him needs to move into the arena of friendship (John 15:14-15).

Let's go deeper in love with Him together!

Pastor Fred

What Are You Wearing?

Matthew 22:1-14 is one of those parables that if we are not attentive, not prayerful, not inquisitive, we will not only miss the truth God intended for us to have, but also, embrace a false truth that will be damaging.

A cursory glance at this text leaves us feeling as though God is unfair, lacks compassion, is compulsory, impulsive, egotistical, legalistic...a very dangerous path of interpretation. We see the judgment toward those who reject the king as being fair and righteous; however, his judgment towards the one who came, who accepted, who abandoned his other pursuits to be with the king but is "simply" wearing the wrong clothes appears to be treated unnecessarily harshly, cruelly.

Let's look more closely at those who didn't come. If we dig a little, this too seems a little unfair. In what way? Well, to include the three noted in the same list. Doesn't it seem unfair to list a person who simply returned to work, another who returned to the farm with the one who mistreated innocent people and in a fit of rage, murdered them? Really? Jesus is teaching us something deep...that the sin is in the rejection of God, not in the alternative choice. How are you rejecting Him today?

As we continue, we come to the wrongly dressed guest. How could his situation warrant such a brutal response from the king? Because in the parable, the king is God and coming to Him, choosing Him is not enough. We must come to Him on His terms. Clothing in this parable represents righteousness and the clothing being worn by the guest, self-righteousness.

Read Isaiah 64:6, that all our righteous acts are like filthy rags or as one translation puts it, polluted garments. Just because we are at church does not mean we have fully chosen Him! May we be ever mindful that being present is not fully choosing the King. We must answer His call AND embrace His ways!

Pastor Fred