Questions for Jesus: "Why Does Jesus Eat with Sinners?", part 2

This is a continuation of the previous entry, taken from Matthew 9:9-13

Answer #2: "Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'"

Jesus was quoting Scripture here, from the Old Testament prophet Hosea. Hosea was warning God's people that their sacrifices were useless, because their "love" (worship) of God does not last. They offer sacrifices, but then leave the temple to exploit the poor.

So what does this have to do with the Pharisees' question? I think Jesus was telling them that they are missing the point of worship (sacrifice) and what it means to be holy.

Believers have always struggled with two aspects of the calling of God that can be in tension with one another: holiness and mission. Holiness calls us to distinguish ourselves from the world and mission calls us to love the world.

Some withdraw from the world in the name of holiness. A Fundamentalist newspaper that comes to our church likes to quote the Scripture "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" as a reason to never cooperate with anyone who does not line up doctrinally, top to bottom. They see it as obedience to the call from Revelation 18:4: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues."

But total separation from the world -- and certainly not condemning and abandoning the world -- is not what holiness is. Jesus was absolutely holy, and yet we find him here among "sinners." So holiness must mean something other than removing oneself from the world.

Questions for Jesus: "Why Does Jesus Eat with Sinners?", part 1

Since most people are busy Wednesday nights in the children's ministry, I decided to transfer the Wednesday night Bible study into a blog, particularly during this "Questions for Jesus" series.

Today's question appears in all three "Synoptic" Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), and, except for one sentence, the accounts are nearly identical.  The extra sentence appears in Matthew, so that's the account we'll be studying today.

Matthew 9:9-13

Matthew was a tax collector, which meant that he was considered a traitor and a crook by his fellow Jews.  With that perception for all tax collectors, there was not much incentive to be the "odd" honest tax collector, so most lived up to the reputation, getting rich by extorting more taxes out of people than they actually owed.

So when Jesus called Matthew to be his disciple, it was a radical change for him to leave a life of dishonest riches behind to follow Christ.  But before he left this life behind to travel with Jesus, he wanted to introduce his friends to Jesus.  So he had a banquet, inviting his old friends to meet his new friend, Jesus.

Church Words: Mercy and Grace

I am going to try to start writing (blogging) more, and one of my thoughts on how to do some short but meaningful posts is to pause every now and then and define some "church words" that are used often in church but whose meaning is not often clear.

Suggestions of "church words" you would like to see defined are welcome.

We are going to start with "mercy" and "grace" together, because they are often used interchangeably but actually have different meanings.

How Can We Get Enough?

The church is called to a great task... impossible, really. Whether in ministry, personal problems, or in everyday life, we are often paralyzed by the huge tasks that lie in front of us. They intimidate us into inaction. The disciples fe...lt that way when confronted with thousands of hungry people and a command from Jesus: "You give them something to eat." From that command comes our second question we are considering in our series that Jesus answered: "How can we get enough?" Jesus answered in three ways...

 

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Questions for Jesus: What Is the Kingdom of God Like?

Jesus started his ministry telling people to "Repent, for the kingdom of God is near." What he meant was that God's new life was invading this world enslaved to death, and we have a chance to turn aside, abandon our deadly ways, and receive God's abundant, benevolent provision.

That's a little hard to understand.

So the question came, "What is the Kingdom of God like?" Jesus gave his answer in various parables. Today we begin our "Questions for Jesus" series with this fundamental question of Christian life: "How does it work?" "What is it like?"

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How to Take the STEW Out of Stewardship

William Jaques from the Arkansas Baptist State Convention did a great job on January 13th teaching us about managing the resources God gives us: money, in particular, but also time, energy and everything else that we are.

The conference was given in three sessions.  Below are links to each of the sessions.  Click on the links to listen.  Bro. William showed a video in two of the sessions.  The video from session two is shown below as well.

Click to listen...

Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Let's Go "Up the Mountain" with Jesus this Year!

I've been on a spiritual retreat this week to try to apply this message. This was a special message for the beginning of this year for our church. My prayer for our church - and you as you listen - is that we together "wake up" and accept the invitation up the mountain to see and live in God's kingdom.

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