Grains of Sand

Reading: Matthew 17-20 Many mothers are ambitious for their children—sometimes to a fault. My own personal hot button is Toddlers and Tiaras , a TV “reality” show that comes pretty close to child abuse in my book. Wanting your kids to succeed in life isn’t necessarily a bad thing, nor is it uncommon. Take the case of James and John’s mother in Matthew 19, 20. Jesus opened the door to the discussion in Matthew 19. Peter commented that the disciples had given up everything to follow their Rabbi and he wondered what was “in it” for them as a reward for their sacrifice. Jesus answered: “ I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel ” (19:28, NIV). Mother heard this, or the boys reported Jesus’ comments to her and she followed up. If her boys were to sit on thrones, they should sit on the thrones closest to the Lord, shouldn’t they? S...

Reading: Hebrews 5 I tripped over a little phrase this morning. The bulk of the chapters assigned were from Isaiah (49-51) but one chapter from Hebrews was also on my morning agenda. From Isaiah 40 on the Scripture tells us a lot about the “Suffering Servant” so it was appropriate to read something similar from Hebrews. Then I tripped. Here’s the verse that caused the stumble in its immediate context: “ During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and once made perfect , he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him… ” (Hebrews 5:7-9, NIV). It was the “ once made perfect ” that gave me pause. Jesus was always perfect. He had to be perfect if His sacrifice was to have any meaning at all. Only a perfect sacrifice could satisfy the righte...

“ Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it’ ” –Matthew 16:24, 25, NIV. The Lord Jesus has just finished calling Peter a “ stumbling block .” That was the politer of the phrases Christ used to describe His passionate but mistaken disciple. The Lord was getting into a habit of announcing His coming death and Peter couldn’t stand the negative talk any longer and took it upon himself to “correct” the Lord of the universe. After the stinging rebuke, Jesus turns to all His disciples with this word. Basically if they are serious about following Him, their path must take them all the way to the cross. They will need to sacrifice everything for Him just as He is sacrificing everything for them. This is not: “I just want you to be willing to do it. I really won’t ask you to carry out your promise.” This is for s...

Tucked away in the heart of an "Easter" kind of message about sacrifices and salvation comes this little Christmas gem: " Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings your were not pleased. Then I said, Here I am–it is written about me in the scroll–I have come to do your will, O God' " –Hebrews 10:5-7, NIV. The writer imagines the heavenly conversation; Jesus assuring his Father that their wills were in perfect harmony, that he was about to take on a baby's soft and vulnerable skin to set aside the old system of continual and ineffectual sacrifices in favour of what is described just a few words later as: " And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all " –Hebrews 10:10, NIV. God prepared the body of that child. Jesus put aside the rights and privileges of the ...

" Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and prove what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will " —Romans 12:1, 2 How does worship express itself? If you pay any attention to the so-called "worship wars" (though that term seems like an oxymoron to me), many people define worship in terms of forms and traditions. Worship, writes Paul, is a personal sacrificial act of complete commitment to God. I chuckle at the order of Paul's words as he explains what he means. " Offer your bodies ", he writes, putting to death the idea that I can preserve my spiritual integrity (my mind and my soul) even when my body is somewhere it shouldn't be, doing something it might be better off not do...

" My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command " —John 15:12-14. Perfect. Amen. Hallelujah. I'll be happy to die for the sake of a friend. Easy to say when I am almost sure no one is ever going to ask me to make that ultimate sacrifice. But ask me to offer to take a neighbour on her weekly grocery run, babysit someone else's kids, spend time helping out at a homeless shelter, offer myself for that needy ministry in my church, entertain visiting missionaries, accept an exchange student for the purpose of doing some cross-cultural evangelism, fix an elder lady's broken faucet or cut her grass; well, that's another story. The possibility of dying is easier than the certainly of living out the reality of my commitment to Christ in my daily life. And the commitment IS to Christ. I read this verse as it relates to human friends, but th...

Visions of fame and fortune danced in my head. Well, maybe not fame and fortune, but certainly a cross was not what I pictured this morning when I read: " Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will me. My Father will honor the one who serves me " —John 12:26. By itself, the whole experience sounds quite palatable. I serve God, I seek to live at the center of His will. He will honor me for my service. I can expect His "well done" but He always seems to come up with other fringe benefits to obedience. Sounds good to me. Then I read the context of the verse (23-28). Jesus is talking about the cross, about His death, about the ultimate submission of everything to God, even life itself. The Lord then asks the question: " …what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name! " —John 12:27-28. The most amazing thing happens at that moment. A voice fr...

Every instinct cries out against it. It's not normal or natural—not to this body of flesh. I resist. Surely the stupidest sheep doesn't choose to go to the slaughter? I said that I wanted to be like Jesus. I know that is God's highest, and best, plan for my life. But not this. " Whoever wants to be first must be slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many " —Mark 10:44, 45. No matter how much I rationalize, there is no escape. I have to put myself on the altar: Every ambition, every desire, every possession, every relationship, every piece of who and what I am. To be like Jesus means there is no expectation of a last minute rescue, no army of ten thousand angels to whisk me off the altar at the last minute. It's all the way. It's more than willingness. That would only take me to foot of the altar. It's movement, It's climbing up. It's exposing my breast to the knife if...