Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

July 11, 2021

7/11/2021

Jesus Provides the "Real" Answer

        "Teacher," he declared, "all these things I have kept since I was a boy." Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said, "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Mark 10:20-22, NIV.

    Apparently not at all embarrassed by his claim, the young man confidently replies that he has kept all of the commands that Jesus had listed. He truly did seem to be a shining example of a certain type of moral person who prided himself in his obedience to God's stipulations. But he will soon discover that mere morality is not enough to gain entry into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus will probe a bit further, demonstrating that the individual's obedience was outward and legal rather than inward and spiritual.

    Before moving to that examination, we should note that Mark tells us that Jesus "loved him." Obviously He saw something special in the young ruler. Perhaps it was a heartfelt appreciation of his evident sincerity, fearlessness, and enthusiasm. Here was a person, Jesus may have thought, who could truly do something for the kingdom.

    It was at that point that He extended to the young man an invitation to become a disciple. "Come," He said, and "follow me."

    But there was a condition: "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor." With that unexpected command Jesus cut to the heart of the rich man's problem. Mark tells us that "he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property" (NASB). It would be just as true to say that his property owned him. The center of his life, his possessions were the one thing that he would not give up, even for the kingdom.

    One of the most persistent memories of my experience at Pacific Union College is of a large painting of Jesus and the rich young ruler that hung on the wall behind the pulpit in the chapel. In a meditative mood, the young man was deciding what was really of most value to him.

    We are each deciding that same question every day. Some of us, like the man confronted by Jesus, will opt to play church without total surrender and dedication. But Jesus is not interested in partial Christians. He desires all of me.

July 10, 2021

7/10/2021

Jesus Provides the "Correct" Answer

        "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"...Jesus answered,..."You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and your mother'." Mark 10:17-19, NIV.

    The rich young ruler expected a behavioral answer to his question about salvation, and Jesus gave him what he wanted, telling him that if he desired eternal life he should "keep the commandments" (Matt. 19:17). Then Jesus listed several of the Ten Commandments.

    The list itself helps us to understand the young man's problem. We should note at least four things about the list. First, the commandments cited all come from the second table of the law and deals with the way people treat others. That selection provides a hint that his problem probably centered on his relationship to other people rather than on his dedication to God.

    Second, Jesus lists the commandments in order: the sixth, seventh, eight, and ninth. But then, to our surprise, he lists the fifth after the ninth. Why? Undoubtedly to call attention to it. The rich young ruler may have been among those Jesus condemned in Mark 7:11-13 for using the human tradition of corban to avoid caring for his parents' material needs in their old age.

    Third, we find an injection that is not one of the Ten Commandments: "You shall not defraud." The term is used of keeping back wages from laborers. The implication is that he may have gained at least some of his wealth at the expense of the poor.

    Fourth, Jesus does not mention the tenth commandment (dealing with covetousness) at all. It will soon be evident that covetousness stands at the very center of the man's spiritual problem.

    In Matthew's account Jesus adds a quotation from Leviticus 19:18 ("love your neighbor as yourself" [RSV] to the commands that one should obey (Matt. 19:19, RSV). Once again, Jesus uses a text that was important in Judaism and at the core of the young man's problem.

    In closing our reading today, let us use our imagination. Picture yourself talking with Jesus about the Ten Commandments. How would He arrange them to meet your special "issues" as you deal with God and other individuals? Your honest answer will be revealing.

July 9, 2021

7/9/2021

A Man With the Right Question

        As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone." Mark 10:17, 18, NASB.

    The most remarkable thing about this individual is that he approached Jesus at all. Matthew tells us that he was young and rich (Matt. 19:20, 22, 23), while Luke says that he was a ruler (Luke 18:18). It is that very class that Jesus had the most difficult time with. The poor and the prostitutes and the tax collectors flocked Him, but not the Jewish aristocracy of either the religious or political realms.

    The man not only came, but he "ran." And not only that, he knelt before Jesus. Here was a person who defied his social class, someone willing to face the scorn of his peers. Now other rich men of the ruling class found themselves drawn to Jesus. One thinks of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. But they were discrete. Nicodemus, for example, came to Jesus secretly "by night" (John 3:2). And Joseph quietly went to Pilate to request permission to bury Him (Matt. 27:57, 58). One can hardly imagine running up to Jesus and publicly kneeling before Him in the dust. This young man had something special about him, a zeal that is refreshing.

    The aristocrat also had a concern, one that blinded him to everything else. He was in earnest about salvation. Addressing Jesus as "Good Teacher," he inquired what he had to "do" to inherit eternal life. Obviously he saw behavior as the key to religion.

    Before giving an answer, Jesus questioned him on why he had described Him as good. After all, Jesus noted, "no one is good except God alone." Apparently Jesus was seeking to get the young man to be explicit as to where he stood on His identity. Was He merely a teacher or was He God, as the use of the term good implied? The rich young ruler had undoubtedly heard Jesus before. But he was still in the valley of decision on his identity. Jesus' question was a gentle nudge to force him to come to grips with the issue.

    In the face of this remarkable young man I need to ask myself anew, "How is my enthusiasm quotient for Jesus?" And beyond that, "Is my interest in eternal life the dominating aspect of my life." Good questions to meditate upon today.

July 8, 2021

7/8/2021

Jesus on Marriage

        The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate. Matt. 19:3-6, NKJV.

    Two of the greatest sources of Jesus' teachings are His responses to the questions of Peter and those to the queries of the Jewish leaders. It is in the context of an attempt by the Jews to trap Him that Jesus provides us with five central ideas on marriage.

    First, God Himself designed marriage. It is a God-given institution, rather than a social contract. Second, marriage is an ordinance between the sexes. God "made them male and female." God's intention was not a unisex world. Michael Green notes that "there is a God-ordained difference and complimentary between the sexes. That is so obvious that it only needs to be stated in this late twentieth century when homosexuality has come to be seen as an equally valid alternative to marriage." Third, marriage is intended to be permanent: "the two shall become one flesh." The Creator never intended in His perfect creation that the marriage relationship should ever shatter. Unfortunately, in a less-than-perfect world every union does not fulfill God's goal. But divorce is never His ideal.

    Fourth, marriage is exclusive. The two--not three, four, or five--are to become one flesh. One man and one woman form a marriage. That ideal rules out the convenient "affairs" of so many people today and the polygamy of the ancients. Apparently, God's allowance for polygamy in the Old Testament was a less-than-ideal concession to entrenched custom and human weakness. Fifth, marriage creates a nuclear family unit. It includes both leaving one's parents and uniting with a spouse. Thus marriage becomes the strongest and most important of all human relationships.

    Today is a good moment to stop and thank God for marriage. It is also an excellent time for those who are married to renew their vows to each other and for those who are contemplating marriage to think seriously of the sacred implications of this divine gift. We have a God who desires to make good marriages even better, to heal broken relationships, and to forgive those who have fallen short of His ideal.

July 7, 2021

7/7/2021

The Limits of Forgiveness, Part 2 Yet Again

            When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailors, till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. Matt. 18:31-35, RSV.

    Scene three brings Jesus' answer to Peter on the limits of forgiveness to a climax. The moral of the story: we need to be just as forgiving to others as God has been to us (verse 33). The same lesson appears in the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus said, "If you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matt. 6:15, NIV).

    Many have attempted to moderate the parable or explain why its sharp contrast cannot be genuine. But it is those very contrasts that help us to understand not only the wideness of God's mercy but also the mercy He expects in us as Christians.

    The 10,000-talent debt is unbelievingly large. A talent equals 6,000 denarii. Thus the debt is 60,000,000 days' wages. One could work the 100-denarii debt off in 100 days, but it would take more than 164,383 years to erase the 10,000 talents if one labored seven days a week.

    Alternately, one could carry the 100-denarii debt in one pocket. But the 10,000-talent debt would require an army of approximately 8,6000 porters, each transporting a 60-pound bag of coins, forming a line five miles long if spaced a yard apart.

    William Barclay sums up the meaning of the contrast nicely when he pens that "the point is that nothing that men can do to us can in any way compare with what we have done to God; and if God has forgiven us the debt we owe Him, we must forgive our fellow-men the debts they owe us. Nothing that we have to forgive can even faintly or remotely compare with that which we have been forgiven."

    So Peter has the answer to his question regarding the limits of forgiveness. For both him and us today, the answer lies not in counting or in some sort of extreme moral exertion, but rather in tilting your head toward the cross and beholding the Christ who paid your debt that you might go free.

    Help me, Father, to have Your heart and Your love as I deal with others today.

July 6, 2021

7/6/2021

The Limits of Forgiveness, Part 2 Again

        But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, "Pay what you owe." So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you." He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. Matt. 18:28-30, RSV.

    Scene two in the parable moves the action from the divine-human perspective of scene one to that of the relationship between two human beings. And it is at this level that we Peters get into trouble.

    Let's catch the dynamics. Having just gotten off my knees and left my place of prayer, I am truly in a good mood in the full assurance of God's forgiveness. So far, so good.

    But 10 minutes later I run across a jerk who has been avoiding me for weeks. And for good reason. He owes me money, and I am the last person he wants to see.

    And it is no small amount. After all, 100 days' pay, approximately a third of a year's salary. Even at the modest minimum of $7.50 per hour for 100 eight-hour days the amount equals $6,000. That is a significant part of my yearly budget. I want my money, and I want it now. So I grab him by the throat and order him to pay up or else.

    And what is the response? A falling on the knees and a request to have patience and a promise to pay what he owes.

    That's not good enough for me. I have had to deal with this slick dude long enough. Now is the time for justice and to make things right. Gracious too long with this shifty character, I will give him exactly what he deserves.

    In act two of Christ's parable on forgiveness we find the human perspective. This person has used up the quota of forgiveness. Having reached the limits of forgiveness, I can at last cut loose with my righteous fury. It is time for me to hand out the legal punishment.

    Completely overlooked is the fact that his request for mercy from me almost exactly echoes my recent prayer to God on the same topic. Also, conveniently, I have "forgotten" that the money owed to me is really a part of my debt to God.

    But why remember such technicalities when I am right and others are wrong? It is only just that I give them what they deserve. Or is it?

July 5, 2021

7/5/2021

The Limits of Forgiveness, Part 2

        Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, "Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything." And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. Matt. 18:23-27, RSV.

    Jesus knew that Peter would not get the point of the 490 forgivenesses from a mere statement on the topic. As a result, part 2 of His reply to the apostle's question is a story that illustrates the point.

    The parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt. 18:23-35) has three main characters: the king (God), and servant forgiven an unbelievably large debt (you and I), and a servant (our neighbor, wife, husband, children, fellow church member) who owes the first servant (you and I) a manageable debt.

    The parable has three scenes. In scene number one the first servant is in the king's audience chamber, where the ruler forgives him a large debt. It was not merely large--it was a stupendous amount, a debt that could never be paid.

    Ten thousand talents doesn't mean much to me because I don't think in those terms. But the figure begins to be understandable when I realize that the combined annual budget for Idumea, Judea, and Samaria was only 600 talents. And the budget for the relatively prosperous Galilee was 300 talents.

    Thus when Jesus notes that "he could not pay," He was uttering a plain truth. No way an individual could even begin to pay such a 10,000-talent debt.

    At that point the parable moves into human logic--give the debtor what he deserves. But in the face of that just punishment the servant falls on his knees, praying for the king to allow him time and he would repay everything, an impossibility that must have been evident even to him.

    At that point in the parable divine logic takes over. The king forgives the penitent petitioner. Here is grace: giving people what they don't deserve, giving them what they need.

    We Peters have no problem with the story thus far. After all, we love God's grace when bestowed upon us. Sleeping better in the light of grace, we praise God every day for that special gift. And we should.

July 4, 2021

7/4/2021

The Limits of Forgiveness, Part 1

        Jesus replied, "I do not say seven times; I say seventy times seven." Matt. 18:22, NEB.

    Yesterday we began to examine Peter's question about the limits of forgiveness. The disciple, of course, had not only asked the question, but had supplied a rather generous answer. Seven forgivenesses is a lot of forgiving, especially in an area of sensitivity.

    Jesus answers Peter in two parts. First, He says, the correct number is not seven but "seventy times seven" NEB, RSV, NIV margin) or 490. Now that is a lot of forgiveness (even if it is a mere 77 times, as suggested by the NIV)--so much that a person would lose count before transgression number 491 (or even 78) had arrived. However, Jesus is not teaching a lesson on the arithmetic of forgiveness, but rather that forgiveness has no limit.

    That is not the answer Peter expected, for as we noted yesterday, Peter, like you and me, is really more interested in the limit of Christian love and forbearance than in its extent. After all, it is reassuring to know at what point I can stop loving my neighbor with a good conscience, to know when I have fulfilled my quota of love and forgiveness, so that I can as a "good Christian" let people have what they deserve.

    All too often I find myself standing with Peter and the all-too-human implication underlying his question: "When can I let go?" "When do I have a right to explode at these stupid yokels that I have to live with? work with? go to church with?"

    Here are some real questions of practicality for daily living. Especially since those other people really are disgusting--really are deserving of a bit of my wrath, a good tongue-lashing, a piece of my mind. And they are. I have been so patient with them, but they don't seem to get the point. So if forgiveness doesn't seem to solve the problem, perhaps a bit of attack will wake them up.

    That line of thought represents Peter's idea on the topic and mine also. But Jesus frustrates both of us by stating that there is no limit to forgiveness.

    That is not an answer that Peter can even begin to understand. So in the next few verses Jesus will illustrate His point.

    Lord, give me ears to hear as my Lord tells me something that I really need to understand.

July 3, 2021

7/3/2021

Peter's Try at Greatness

        Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Matt. 18:21.

    Now there is a practical question. One wonders why Peter even asked it. But, given the context, perhaps the reason is not difficult to discover. For one thing, Jesus had been speaking to the topic of problems between individuals. For another, the disciple had been hearing echoes of glory in his head ever since Jesus had commended him at Caesarea Philippi. And third, since that time all of the disciples had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.

    Peter was sure that it was him. And now he would demonstrate it before them all, including Jesus, who would undoubtedly have praise for his generosity.

    "How often am I to forgive my brother...? As many as seven times?" (Matt. 18:21, NEB). Peter had no doubt about the "greatness" of his statement. After all, seven forgivenesses is a lot, especially since the rabbis taught that one must not forgive more than three times.

    Thus Rabbi Jose ben Hanina claimed that "he who begs forgiveness from his neighbour must not do so more than three times." And Rabbi Jose ben Jehuda said, "If a man commits an offense once, they forgive him' if he commits an offense a second time, they forgive him; if he commits an offense a third time, they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive."

    The biblical base for that ruling appears in the opening chapters of Amos, from which the rabbis concluded from the oft-repeated "for three sins" of the various nations, "even for four," that the limit of God's forgiveness was three times. Thus Peter, in an act of exceptional generosity, doubled the accepted Jewish quota and added one for good measure. Not bad for a hard-fisted and probably short-tempered fisherman.

    But behind Peter's outward question lies one that interested him far more. Namely, when have I reached the limit of forgiveness? When with a clear conscience can I cut loose and let people have it? Or when, after I have filled the obligatory limit, may I be my real self and with clear conscience give people what they deserve?

    Those are questions all of us would like to have answered. Christ's disgusting response is "never."

July 2, 2021

7/2/2021

So You're Offended!

        If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. Matt. 18:15-17, RSV.

    How much misery we could avert if church members followed the counsel of Jesus set forth in these verses. All too often what happens is that individuals, whose overly sensitive selves think they have been offended, begin to shoot off their mouths to any who will listen. Possible reconciliation gets transformed into gossip and eventually the trash of bad feelings.

    In considering "our" feelings and "our" selves we trounce on other "selves," whom we may or may not have even understood.

    I remember as a pastor that people would come up to me and begin to complain about others in church. Of course, they expected me to "do something about it," or even have the church take action against them.

    My answer was always the same: "Why have you come to me?" Most of the time I was met with a blank stare. At that point I would open the Bible to Matthew 18:15.

    Jesus couldn't have said it more clearly. Don't make the problem public, but go to the person privately and keep it between the two of you if possible. It never helps to bring sin out in the open if we can solve the problem in private. Then again, in many cases we are dealing with misunderstanding rather than "sin" or true offense. Sometimes it is merely our own trumped-up vision of our own "dignity."

    Whatever the problem, Jesus makes it clear that the offended one should take the initiative--"go." That is a command to be like the God who sent His own Son to make reconciliation with those who had "spit in His face."

    If a personal conference doesn't solve the problem, invite a couple other mature Christians into the discussion to help bring in some objectivity. And, if that doesn't work, then, and only then, should you take the issue to the congregation.

    Bottom line: Here is a Christian grace I can start living today.