Seventeen82

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” — Matthew 9:37-38 Jesus calls us to participate in his mission to redeem sinners by prayer and action in Matthew 9:35-10:15. We are to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers, and we are to participate in the harvest. Notice the following four points about Jesus’ life, ministry, and expectations for his disciples in this passage. First, Jesus was actively involved in a ministry that demonstrated and exercised the power of his kingdom (9:35). He taught in the synagogues. He proclaimed the good news of his kingdom. And, he healed every disease and affliction. Second, Jesus had compassion on the crowds of people who had gathered around him because they were harassed and helpless (9:36). They were weary, tired, exhausted, exposed, and dejected. Their leaders, who were supposed to care for them, had aband...

Isaac Watts felt as if the Lord’s songbook was insufficient to teach young and old about the work of Jesus Christ, that they needed to be “updated” to get with the times. He is reported to have complained to his father on many occasions that the psalms were dull and lacked life, and it showed in how people sang them. In his estimation this was because they didn’t clearly enough proclaim Christ. To remedy this he set about writing new hymns and, again in his mind, updating the word of God to fit with the more full revelation of the New Testament.  Watts’ understanding of the psalms was, of course, hogwash , if not something even less pleasant.  This time of year likely his most well known composition is Joy to the World , a meditation on Psalm 98. It is mesmerizing to consider how daft Watts must have been not to see the fullness of Jesus Christ expressed in this portion of Holy Scripture. For centuries these series of psalms (96-98) were understood as speaking to the establish...

One of the most challenging stories for me in the Bible is the one is found in Luke 10:38-42.   In it, Luke tells us of an encounter with the three main characters: Mary, Martha, and Jesus.   Mary and Martha were sisters and the hostesses of a party. Jesus was the invited guest. Martha had a gift of service which she put to work. Mary did not have that same gift. She simply hung out at Jesus’s feet, learning from him. Martha was distracted with serving, and Mary was focused on Jesus, leaving Martha to complain to Jesus, for she needed and wanted Mary’s help.    Jesus’s response to her complaint was not what she wanted nor expected to hear. She wanted him to tell Mary to get up and help her. But, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (verse 41-42). I can imagine Martha saying, with jaw dropped, “What? I’m trying to serve you. Is t...

We are living in some wild and crazy times, and we all know it. I haven’t spoken with anyone in the last 6 months who thinks otherwise. It also seems that we are all asking the same question: How are we supposed to live with everything going on?    We have heard a load of answers to this question from all kinds of different voices. (Some are better than others.) As a Christian pastor, I am convinced, however, that the only voice Christians should listen to is that of God, which we find in the Bible.    The Apostle Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us some really helpful instruction in his first letter on how we are to live at all times, but especially during those times of great uncertainty and confusion. I have identified 7 particular things we should be doing right now. Here they are.    1.       Trust the Lord Jesus with Our Lives (1 Peter 1:3-12)  – The first and most important thing any Christi...

I want to begin this post with a confession: I struggle with self-centeredness occasionally. Ok, you got me, I struggle with it a lot. That should come as no surprise to you or anyone else reading this post. You know that I am no different than you. You are also well aware that we both struggle with self-centeredness. Like the Apostle Paul, we fight the fleshly temptation to honor ourselves rather than God (Rom. 7:15-19). This is true for us even after our hearts have been transformed by the gospel of grace in Christ. I don’t know about you, but my self-centeredness is periodically seen in my attitude before, during and after corporate worship. This was true before I became a pastor, and sadly it’s still true. (Shh, don’t tell anybody. Pastors are supposed to be super-spiritual.) There are times when I don’t want to get out of bed, don’t want to get dressed, don’t want be around people, don’t want to sing the selected songs, don’t want to lead the prayers, and certainly d...