Deception's Farce

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.  They asked him, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition?  For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”  Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?  For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’  But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you.  For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’  In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents.  And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.  You hypocrites!  Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,  ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’”  Matthew 15:1-9

If your first thought after reading this exchange between Jesus and his detractors was how Jesus never answered their question, you may have the same problem they did.  The Pharisees and Scribes were nitpickers, focusing like a laser-rocket on tiny details, rather than the larger picture.  But that was not their main problem; secretly, they were more committed to their agenda than getting at the truth.  Jesus had been teaching people how to love and honor God.  The critical committee was “concerned” the disciples might have a germ on their hands when eating.  To the uninformed listener, or someone who bought-into the Pharisees’ authority and credentials, it may have sounded like high-holy righteousness.  However, Jesus saw through their deceit; they were trying to find enough fault to pick him and his teachings apart.  Jesus rebuked them by showing their hypocrisy.

There is a particularly ludicrous form of that deceptive hypocrisy in the culture of the 21^st century.  It is the nit-picking (so-called) “spirituality” of those who have never truly knelt at the foot of the cross and experienced the forgiveness of Christ’s love.  Among the leaders of such are those who came close to the faith, but turned and walked-away.  Having a glimpse of salvation’s glory (and cost), they must self-validate their empty decision to reject the Lord of Glory by tearing his followers apart.  I have seen it too many times to miss this…the most vehement of those who would destroy the Kingdom’s grace in others are those who would never kneel to the Lordship of He who came to forgive and save.  Like the Pharisees, they say they serve the cause of good, but their hearts have fingers crossed behind their backs.

For You Today 

If you have recognized yourself in this, from either side of being guilty, or the target of the guilty, there is only one response…forgiveness.  Offer forgiveness freely if you’ve been attacked; pray for forgiveness if you’ve blundered enough to be the attacker.  Living a life of eternal truth is to destroy every last bit of hypocrisy that wants to eat your soul alive.  Anything less is a deceptive farce; it certainly isn’t worship!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

No Help!

Thursday, October 5, 2023

You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world.  So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as,  “Don’t handle!  Don’t taste!  Don’t touch!”?  Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.  These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline.  But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.  

Colossians 2:20-23

Every rule created by humankind has helped and hurt!  This is true in businesses, communities, families, and any other kind of human interaction, particularly in government!  Rules are mostly created to limit bad results.  On the highways, properly signaling you’re about to make a turn is intended to help the other cars refrain from plowing into your car.  If you forget to signal, it creates confusion; worse, if you signal the opposite of what you’re going to do, signaling a right turn, and then you hang a sharp a left…well, the consequences could have mortal impact.  The rule against making noise in the library is meant to make concentrating on reading easier.  However, the rule should be loudly-violated if the library is on fire!  The rule in business of the customer is always right makes for a pleasant shopping experience…except if the customer pulls out a .45 caliber pistol and demands all the money. 

Properly-observed, rules serve a purpose, but only so far.  When they become bludgeons to manipulate others, it’s time to “rule-out” the rules, go back to square-one, and be ruled by a higher purpose.  This is Paul’s meaning about the world’s rules.  When Christ sets a soul free, to be guided by the higher bar of love, legalistic rule-following never measures-up!

Legalism in the Christian often manifests itself as ugly, cold-hearted cruelty.  You can’t touch that…don’t go there…and, for Heaven’s sake do not drink THAT! These probably have their origin in some higher purpose, but eventually must be put aside if they become idols, compelling us to rely on our personal self-denial, discipline, and skills.  When we worship what we do as being acceptable to God, we have lost all sense of what God really asks of us.  And what is that, which he requires?  Check out what Scripture says:

Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul.”  Joshua 22:5b

This is a Christian’s principle.  Serving God with all your heart and soul is looking beyond rules to the heart of God’s love and mercy.  This was what was wrong with the Pharisees.  In Matthew’s Gospel we find the Pharisees judging Jesus and his disciples for breaking rules; they were walking through a wheat field on a Sabbath day and were hungry.  They broke off some of the stems to nibble, and the Pharisees read them the riot act because they were breaking the Sabbath rules by “harvesting” wheat on the holy day.  Jesus told them:

But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’  Matthew 12:7

Paul educated the church folks at Rome to be this way:

Let love be genuine.  Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  Romans 12:9

For You Today 

So the principle comes down to this…don’t be a phony, breaking rules that are sensible commands of love that resonate with the heart of God, or by trying to manipulate others with rules that give you an edge.  Instead, let love be your rule…doing the best to others, for God.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image(s) courtesy of Pixabay.com                   

Images without citation are in public domain.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Leadership 101

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

“Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.  He is my Beloved, who pleases me.  I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public.  He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.  Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.  And his name will be the hope of all the world.”  

Matthew 12:18-21  

The religious rulers (Pharisees) were concocting a plot to kill Jesus because he did such horrible things, like heal a crippled man on the Sabbath.  Well, that was the premise – the real reason was Jesus’ popularity with the masses, and the resultant diminishing power of the Pharisees.  Becoming a Pharisee gave one power over others, and there are few who give-up that kind of power once they have it!  (The insurrection of January 6, 2021 ought to be viewed in that light!)

By contrast, Matthew, the former tax collector, holding riches and a fair amount of power over his countrymen, was now a disciple of Jesus.  He looked at the unfolding drama of Pharisees vs. the upstart preacher, and immediately recalled Isaiah’s prophecy.  The ancient prophet said God’s chosen Messiah would not be a power-monger, shouting orders and brawling; he would be the victorious hope of the entire world, in the gentlest of ways[1].  This is one of the most startling, counter-cultural statements one finds in Scripture about true leadership.

By nature, counter-cultural movements are defined by confrontation.  Truth confronts lies.  Darkness confronts light.  Hope confronts despair.  So, wherever counter-culture and presiding-culture intersect, you will also find confrontation.  In the realm of good and evil, it is a spiritual war, fought in the recesses of the mind, and evidenced in behavior we accept, or would even die-for.  In the penultimate war between Heaven and hell, eternity’s finest leader set the pattern for all leaders…meekly hanging on a cross, for the souls of all humankind.

What Jesus enacted on the cross was the shedding of blood for the remission of sins[2], for the whole of humanity, for all eternity.  A side benefit of seeing how he did this, humbly, the quiet sacrifical lamb, offering himself for our lives, is to see the quintessence of true leadership.  It is the embodiment of what God told the prophet Zechariah about the way Zerubbabel would cut a path to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple:

It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies…. Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin,  Zechariah 4:6b, 10

The work of Christ on the cross for us was (in the eyes of Rome’s Caesar, and even the apostles, and much of the world today) a small beginning.  And it’s a reasonable thought – one man’s death is hardly noticed by the world.  But the death of one, inhabited and led by the Spirit of God, to do the works of the Father, is that which brings rejoicing in Heaven.

For You Today 

You may consider yourself inconsequential in the grand scheme of world history.  You may imagine your footprint will be washed-away with the next tide when you draw your last breath.  But, if the Psalmist is right, that thought cannot be right.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.  Psalm 116:15

Lest we forget that the Lord rejoices over the smallest of beginnings in His service;  whatever you have done, led by His Spirit, done in righteousness for His name, will live on as the holy Temple built without human hands.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Isaiah 42:1-4

[2] Hebrews 9:22

 

The Lynch Mob

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple.  A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them.  As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.  They put her in front of the crowd.  “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  The law of Moses says to stone her.  What do you say?”  They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.  They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”  Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.  When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.  Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers?  Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”  “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I.  Go and sin no more.”  John 8:1-11

The Pharisees, judgmental, aristocratic, and obnoxious, a blight on any religious professional’s public image, are always portrayed as the bad guys.  They are the loathsome and outraged townsfolk of any Grade-B Western movie, ready to hang the innocent.  The focus on this account is usually the lack of compassion the mob had for the woman, coupled with the forgiveness of Jesus.  Rightly so!  Less in focus is the complexity of the Pharisees’ committee work…looking for a way to trap Jesus into taking sides.  He didn’t, you know. 

And, depending on which side you might favor:

       A.     She was a sinner, and she was about to get what she deserved

       B.    Jesus always forgives…don’t be a hater

       C.    What’s the big deal?  Nobody’s perfect.

Well, there you go, taking sides.

There’s plenty of thought (from a bystander’s perspective) to go around.  One I hadn’t considered before is the makeup of a lynch mob.  The mob may appear to be an evil and colossal meteor hurtling towards crowd justice, rolling over whatever has the misfortune to be in its’ pathway.  But groups of people, no matter how large, or in charge, are not monolithic in purpose or thought.  The Pharisees were no exception.  Among them dwelt as many different motives driving their actions, as there were individuals. 

Certainly (because Scripture says it plainly) there were those self-righteous leaders, hell-bent on destroying Jesus’ work, or the woman they despised, acting from an evil motive of preserving their power.  Some of them had little power, and were hoping to accrue some access to the big show…gaining a stake in the power structure, by going along with the majority.  Undoubtedly there were some who had their doubts…curious, but not necessarily committed to a lynching.  And there were those who were secretly rooting for the underdog; Nicodemus may have been among that lot.  And there were some, I’m certain, who were just like some of us…confused, pushed by the crowd, just trying to not be different.

For You Today 

If you found yourself in any of that description of the mob, consider the alternative, swimming upstream, resisting, forgiving, being different.  It won’t ever be easy…but there’s never a wrong time to do right!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:  Go, and Sin No More  or  Catch and Release  or  The Woman Who Sinned    

Title Image: via Pixabay.com    Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

 

All God's Children?

Thursday, December 15, 2022

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  Galatians 3:26-27

A mixed message is where two or more ideas which contradict each other are both deemed to be valid.  If I tell you my team won the game, even though the other team scored more points, that is a mixed message.  Some mixed messages have greater impact than others.  If I tell you there are about 80,000 spiders on the acre on which your house sits, it could be a relatively interesting bit of trivia.  If I tell you not to worry about those 80,000 arachnoids who can eat 10% of their body weight daily, and that means if you weigh around 175lbs, all the spiders could only eat about half of your arm while you sleep tonight…that might be a mildly-concerning mixed message. 

One of the deadliest mixed messages is to hear:  We’re all God’s children.  There is some truth in the statement.  God created humans, and in that sense, we are all His offspring in the biological meaning.  However, the confusion of spiritual and biological convergence can have eternal significance far-beyond whether spiders will be chewing on you tonight.

When the Pharisees were looking for a way to convict Jesus of some offense to get rid of him, they claimed their biological heritage as descendants of Abraham as evidence that they were children of God.  Jesus disagreed and said so, plainly, that they were children of hell:

Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God.  I am not here on my own, but he sent me.  Why can’t you understand what I am saying?  It’s because you can’t even hear me!  For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does.  He was a murderer from the beginning.  He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:42-44

Jesus also told the Pharisees they would not enter God’s presence, despite their biological pedigree, unless they repented of sins and trusted in Him:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me.  John 14:6

Apostle Paul picked up on this and restated it so that we would have no mixed message about what it means to be a child of God:

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)  Romans 8:9

So the antidote for the mixed spiritual message sent by the statement “we’re all children of God” is to rephrase:  You’re a child of God if Christ lives in you.

For You Today  

The companion question about being God’s child is always on the table for any of us:  Have you accepted Christ?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

   Inclusive and Diverse - and Dying

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

When the Plot Thickens

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices.  He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”  After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him.  But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.  

Luke 19:45-48

Those of us who were brought up in western culture, where a settled and revered (almost hallowed) fact of governance is the separation of not only powers, but of religion from government, may find it a bit cumbersome to wrap our thinking around government as a working arm of religion.  This was the conglomeration of Scribes, Pharisees, Levites, and other (lesser) rulers.  It was difficult to see where a secular decision left off from the Scriptural interpretation.  Yet, this is what Jesus faced in Jerusalem.  The Word of God was their law; the religious leaders were charged with governing the people theocratically, with benevolence, and strict adherence to God’s message of fairness and kindness to all neighbors.

In centuries of men getting accustomed to power, and lusting for even more control, obedience to the Word of God faded, and the will of corrupt men became law.  Godlessness infiltrated Israel – to the point of placing the system ahead of everything God had commanded.  Even worship at the temple became a business to line the pockets of the strong rulers.

Fast-forward (or rewind) to any point in history, and the story is the same; if you have a system, those without a conscience, or fear of God, will tweak the system to favor what pleases them.  Religious or secular, the story is the same.

We are all somewhat bewildered by what happens in Washington.  Whatever party is in power persecutes the last administration to some degree.  Elections are dirty business.  Those of us in the Methodist tribe are watching another political tug-of-war between traditional and progressive factions on the religious scene.   Race, gender, age, socio-economic strata, sexual identification, and many other sociologically-labed causes are plotted battle lines drawn with blood.  To quote Dorothy:  Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

The point, more succinctly, is:  We were never in Kansas, or Mayberry, or Eden.  We live in the sin-sick stew of humanity, populated by beings created with the image of God stamped on our souls, but that image incredibly darkened by our own lust for control and self-determination.

It was to this world Jesus came, to bring holy light on that image of God we’d lost to our spiritual blindness.  And darkness refused; the plot thickened, and Jesus died for us anyway.  And now we are offered the gift of eternal life with the light we crucified.

For You Today

When the plot thickens in Washington, or some bomb blast in another country, or your denomination, or your local city council meeting, and you sense that something terrible is in the works…be of good courage; Jesus overcame the darkness with His blood; there is nothing to fear!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these:  What Made Them So Angry? and Offended Pharisees      

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

The Problem with Pharisees

 

Thursday, March 24, 2022

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you.  Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”  Psalm 32:8-9

If you check out the Gospels of the New Testament[1] just about every interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees didn’t end pretty.  In fact, Jesus was harder on this bunch than any criminal or outcast.  Setting that track record against all the smarmy stuff that’s said or written about how Jesus was soft and acccepting to all people, we get a sense that something needs explanation.  For that, the common mule will do.  More about the mule in a moment.

Pharisees were religious lawyers.  They had the task of leading Israel to live godly lives, worshipping and serving God like the holy nation God wanted.  That meant interpreting the words of Moses in the books of the law[2] into everyday lessons for living.  What they ended up doing was taking the 10 Commandments, which were principles to be applied to decision-making, and turning them into over 600 rules to be memorized. 

The Psalmist said that was like putting a bit and bridle on a mule.  A mule is smart enough to be stubbornly-independent, wanting to go where he wants to go.  But to fulfill that for which he was created, he needs to be led.  Forcing an animal to comply to a task’s purpose may get the task done, but it makes no friends.  Nor does it make the doing of the task easier or more rewarding.

The Lord’s advice to us is to choose better than being forced into doing His bidding.  He offers us a light to see the best pathway through life, one where we can complete His will, and enjoy doing it.

The difference between mule-compliance, and man-cooperation, is what we call the Surrendered Life.  We surrender to God’s will, because He is a gracious God who would rather have our friendship and love, than a stable full of mules who have to be turned this way or that by a bit and bridle.

The problem with Pharisees and mules is it’s hard to see past the choice of our will or God’s will.  We want what we want, and often it’s what’s right in front of us.  Like Eve wanted what the serpent pointed out, we prefer to make our own decisions, rather than trust God to lead us into to a better life. 

For You Today

Humans are presented with a choice every day…my way or His way.  Pharisees and mules need bits and bridles of rules that command do it this way, not that way.  A disciple has a friend who walks with you on the best path and sticks closer than a brother[3].

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

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[1] Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

[2] The first five books of Holy Scripture (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)

[3] See Proverbs 18:24