Month: June 2023

FELLOWSHIP FIGHTS

Luke 9:46-50 NET.

⁴⁶ Now an argument started among the disciples as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷ But when Jesus discerned their innermost thoughts, he took a child, had him stand by his side, ⁴⁸ and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, for the one who is least among you all is the one who is great.” ⁴⁹ John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he is not a disciple along with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Today’s passage begins by stating that an argument started among the disciples and that statement introduces today’s topic. Arguments keep starting among the disciples even after all these centuries. We were called together to follow Christ together, but things keep separating us and causing fights among the fellowship. Today’s passage identifies some of the things that tend to cause these fellowship fights. It is important for us to realize that Jesus not only knows about what causes fellowship fights, but he has also given us instruction that can help us prevent them. Let’s examine today’s text to see why fights happen among us, and what we can do about it.

First, fights develop among us because Pride turns fellowship into a hierarchy (46).

We read that the disciples were arguing among themselves because they wanted to establish who was the greatest. Why would the disciples choose to start fighting over that issue? It probably happened at that point because Jesus had recently taken three disciples onto a mountain, and they got to witness his transfiguration and hear the voice of God tell them to listen to him. When they came down from the mountain, the other disciples probably wondered why those three had been chosen to witness that miracle, and the rest had not been chosen. That question became an issue, and that issue became a controversy, and that controversy became an argument.

Jesus had wanted three disciples with him on the mountain because they needed to learn that God wanted all of them to focus on Christ. But the argument developed because the disciples took their eyes off Jesus and started asking who was greatest among themselves. History has shown that this same mistake happens repeatedly in the church. If two or three gather in Jesus’ name, before long they decide who is going to be their leader. They must set up a separate caste: a priest, an elder, a pastor.

It is human nature to organize and seek leadership. But it is also a problem in the church because who leads us is something that we are inclined to argue about. Jesus wanted to address that problem. He knew that whenever the issue of greatness enters the picture, pride comes with it. You cannot convince anyone that you are better than he is without boasting about yourself. The Bible tells us that God hates arrogant pride (Proverbs 8:13). It says that pride leads to disgrace (Proverbs 11:2). It leads to contention (Proverbs 13:10). It leads to destruction (Proverbs 16:18). It brings people down (Proverbs 29:23).

Jesus taught his disciples to humble themselves on several occasions. Once, he noted a Pharisee’s prayer – full of self-congratulations. He compared that prayer with that of a tax collector, who “stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’” (Luke 18:14. Jesus said it was that humbled tax collector went down to his home justified – not the Pharisee. He said that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.

On this occasion, Jesus used a mere child as an illustration. He had that child stand by his side in the position of honor. His point was that greatness in his kingdom is not measured the same way greatness in the world is. I wish that the church would get that point. But we are constantly forming hierarchies within our fellowships. The reformers criticized the Catholics for doing that, then they turned around and did the same thing. The Bible says that in Christ there “is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female — for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). He breaks down all the ethnic, socio-economic and gender distinctions. Everyone of us who is in Christ is like that little child – exalted to the right hand of the Savior by his grace alone. If we want to stop arguing in our fellowships, we need to humble ourselves.

Second, Jealousy turns fellowship into a competition (47-48).

Pride says I am greater than you, and you must acknowledge my greatness. Jealousy says you are greater than me and am determined to climb the ladder higher than you. It makes church fellowship a competition to see who can get higher up the food chain. Jesus recognized this tendency among his followers, so he showed them that Christian fellowship is not about that. He did it by showing them that child and telling them that their goal was to welcome him. That child was a nobody and that was the point. Church fellowship is not a competition in which we climb the ladder. It’s an opportunity to welcome all believers into the same body. We are all sheep in the same flock. We are all members of the same family. We don’t compete for our identity in Christ. We don’t earn it. We are chosen by grace.

To fully realize this fact is to stop trying to measure up to someone else’s status. It is to stop trying to gain a higher rank so that all the plebes under you will have to do what you want them to do. Jesus did not intend for Christian fellowship to be a competition. He gives us our one rank at the beginning of our Christian life, and we never outgrow that rank. Our salvation comes free and our status as children of God comes with it.

Another reason we should avoid jealousy and the competition mindset is that we don’t really know each other’s heart. We have had some heroes in our culture in the past few decades that have turned out to be less than admirable. People patterned themselves after those heroes and then were devastated when they discovered that their heroes had serious hidden flaws.

Finally, Intolerance turns fellowship into a cult (49-50).

In the last part of today’s text, the disciple John told Jesus that they had seen someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name and the tried to stop him. This was a manifestation of the final stage of fellowship fighting. When you declare that someone is not a Christian because that person does not do things the same way you do, you have ceased to be Christian yourself.  It is the cults who declare that every other person claiming to be a Christian is unsaved. That is intolerance, and Jesus warned his disciples not to be that way.

We have quite a few churches in the Delco area, and I have no doubt that that there are true believers in every one of them. No one must be just like us. We are not Christians because we follow a pattern.  We are Christians because we follow Christ. He did not choose twelve disciples who we just like each other. The twelve were remarkably different from each other.

Saying that, however, we must admit that we do need some work in this area. There are probably some people in our community who feel out of place in our churches and sometimes that is caused by our tendency to make judgments based on external things. The Bible does not say you have to be perfect to join a church, but we sometimes give people that impression. One of the purposes of the church is for us to help one another grow in grace. But we have been guilty in the past of not inviting people to church because we would be embarrassed to be seen with them.

A real Christian fellowship invites all because all need Jesus. Anyone who has repented of their sins and seeks to follow Jesus is welcome here. Each of us has some areas in his life that need work. The Holy Spirit is working on us all. But the temptation to turn people away because their experience with Christ is not the same as ours needs to be avoided.

There are lots of things that are worth fighting for as Christians. The Lordship of Christ is one of them. The authority of God’s word is another. Salvation by grace is another. But fellowship fights tend to break out among us for far lesser reasons. We need to learn the wisdom to avoid fighting over differences that do not ultimately matter. We need to stop being jealous of one another and welcome each other as equals in the same family. We need to humble ourselves and stop letting pride destroy our witness.

FATHER’S DAY JOY

Proverbs 23:22-25 NET.

²² Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old. ²³ Acquire truth and do not sell it — wisdom, and discipline, and understanding. ²⁴ The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him. ²⁵ May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.

I wanted to talk about Father’s Day from a biblical perspective today, so I naturally went to the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs serves as an instruction manual for raising kids in God’s way. If we neglect the biblical wisdom literature, we are missing out on how to make decisions that reflect God’s plan for our life choices.

Today’s culture talks a lot about making personal life choices, but it does not emphasize the fact that God has given us revelation so that we can make the right choices. We talk about people’s right to choose, but we turn a blind eye when they make choices that bring suffering on them, their parents, and God himself.

We cannot avoid all suffering in life because some suffering will not be our fault. We learn that lesson from the book of Job. But we can avoid much suffering in life by following the wisdom guidelines that God gave us in the book of Proverbs.

All parents and children have a choice (22).

Children can choose to listen to their parent’s instruction and advice, or they can choose to despise their parents and disregard their advice. Parents can choose to speak into the lives of their children, or they can choose to let someone else take control of their education and their training. Both parents and children must make the right choice or else wisdom is not going to be passed on. 

To put it another way, both parents and children can undermine the wisdom education process. Children can choose not to listen, and parents can choose not to speak. By making those choices, we render null and void the promises of scripture regarding the benefits of wisdom.

The book of Proverbs urges us to “Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother. For they will be like an elegant garland on your head, and like pendants around your neck” (1:8-9). We can choose to walk through life without that adornment if we want to, but if we make that choice, everything else we choose is going to be influenced. If we choose to be stupid, we will probably gain stupid friends. We will marry stupidly and raise our children in stupidity and do our jobs without wisdom and vote without wisdom and make thousands of wrong choices.

The fact that both parents and children must be involved in the wisdom education process means that bad choices will most likely produce more bad choices in the next generation. Wisdom is passed on but so is the lack of wisdom. That means that every person must come to grips with his or her own situation. Each person must ask whether he or she has learned wisdom, and if the answer to that question is no, then he or she must come to the scriptures to get it.

You don’t necessarily get this wisdom from Sunday School, and you don’t get it from Bible college or church camp or even listening to a preacher. God gave us his wisdom in his word, and we all must get it from there. But some children are very fortunate because their parents learn God’s wisdom from his word and choose to pass it on to their children. Those children are more likely to pass that wisdom on to their children, but not necessarily so. That’s why today’s text encourages children to listen and assumes that parents will be saying something worth listening to.

Father’s Day is not the same as Christmas Day. On Christmas day, we get our joy by seeing what our loved ones have given to us, as a sign of their appreciation. We may get gifts on Father’s Day too, but the joy that this passage speaks of is not the joy of gifts received.

Father’s Day joy comes from giving, not getting (23-24).

The command of today’s text is for the children to acquire something. Fathers will experience joy not when they acquire a new tie or handkerchief, but when their children acquire what they have passed on. No gift can take the place of a life molded and shaped.

Parents get joy when children get truth (23).

Our culture wants our children to learn all the facts. They want them to fill their minds with data and know history, math, and science and to learn all this knowledge. But modern society is afraid of that word truth. The word truth suggests that some things are true, and by admitting that these things are true then we are denying the truth of other things. Our culture wants us to affirm everyone’s beliefs as equal. We cannot allow our children to fall for that because it is a denial of truth.

We can teach our children to respect other people’s belief. We can even teach them the value of tolerating other people’s backgrounds and values and differences. But we cannot allow our children to be taught that truth is relative. We want our children to be able to make value judgments based on things that are surely true. We want them to acquire truth. There is no such thing as my truth and your truth. There is only God’s truth. He is the standard of what is true and what is false.

Ultimately, there is a standard of truth, and the Bible tells us who that standard is. Jesus Christ said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to Father except by me.” Anyone can speak the truth, but only Jesus is the Truth. Anyone can lead us the right way, but only Jesus is the Way. Anyone can enhance our life, but only Jesus Christ is the Life.

Parents get joy when children get wisdom (23).

Wisdom is not the same thing as knowledge. You know something when you can express a fact. But you are wise when can make the right choice. Wisdom is knowledge applied to a moral situation. Wisdom is the ability to look at a case study and determine what choices you should make ifd you are presented with a moral problem.

In Proverbs, we find that a wise person avoids taking advantage of others. A wise person stays away from sexual temptation. A wise person works hard and gains money honestly. A wise person stays committed even when it gets hard to be faithful.

When our children manifest this kind of moral integrity in their personal lives, that’s when we rejoice on Father’s Day and every day. We are proud of the choices they are making. We are not just proud because they look like us. We are proud because they make choices that reflect our commitment to doing God’s will.

Parents get joy when children get discipline (23).

Proverbs tells us “My child, do not despise discipline from the LORD, and do not loathe his rebuke. For the LORD disciplines those he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights” (3:11-12). Discipline is corrective. It comes from a heart of love that does not want harmful acts to become ingrained and produce failure in life.

It is gratitude that says “I used to act this way, but my parents taught me not to, and I love them for it. Sometimes it is the grace of God that we can point to as the reason we have not wasted our lives. Sometimes it is the love of faithful parents who would not tolerate our foolishness.

Parents get joy when children get understanding (23).

The Hebrew word בִּינָה means insight. It is understanding gained by obedience. Discipline is how you learn to not be disobedient. Understanding is how you learn to be obedient by discovering its benefits. Parents do not want to be harsh to their children. It gives them the most joy when their children willingly obey their instructions.

Parents get joy when children get righteousness (24).

In this context, a righteous person is a son or daughter who has learned to live right and have right relationships with others. Such a person is a joy to his or her parents.

But sometimes the Bible uses this word for the righteousness that is imputed to us by God’s grace when we put our faith in Christ. Truly wise parents will seek to impart righteous behavior to their children. But they will not stop there. Because all our righteousness is not enough in God’s sight. Even our attempts at being good are evil compared to God’s standard of holiness. That is why we all need Jesus Christ. If we really want to give our parents joy, we will accept God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. A wise choice like that brings joy not just to our earthly fathers, but to our heavenly Father as well.

FIRST FISH

Matthew 17:24-27 NET

²⁴ After they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” ²⁵ He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes — from their sons or from foreigners?” ²⁶ After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. ²⁷ But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

The first verse of today’s text is a good example of how hard it is to translate scripture. Translators want to convey the meaning of the text as they understand it, so they are often tempted to add words that are not in the original text, but they think those words are necessary to explain it.

For example, here is my more literal translation of verse 24:

Matthew 17:24 When they came to Capernaum, the double drachma collectors went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the double drachma?”

When Matthew wrote those words, everyone who read them knew that the double drachma (Greek δίδραχμα) was a toll levied on every Jewish male twenty years or older for the maintenance of the temple in Jerusalem. Matthew did not need to add the word temple or the word tax.

But our modern-day translators struggle with a dilemma. If they leave words like that out of their translation, they run the risk of not saying enough to convey the meaning intended by the original authors of scripture. But if they add too many words of explanation, they could be accused of not being true to what is there.

Since my translation is for my own personal enrichment, I don’t have to worry about adding words to it. I figure that the place to add words is in the exposition of the text, not the translation itself. I am telling you this because this kind of thing – the adding of words to the text to explain the meaning – is a characteristic of every Bible translation – even the ancient ones.

And that is not the only problem you will encounter as you read the text of an English translation. Sometimes you will encounter a word that claims to be a translation of a biblical word, but it is an interpretation – and possibly a wrong interpretation.

The fewer people we have in our churches that are trained in biblical languages, the more this is going to be a problem. Back when our denomination had bible colleges, our clergy had at least an introduction to Hebrew and Greek. That is not the case anymore.

The apostle Paul encouraged his trainee Timothy to make every effort to present himself before God as a proven worker who does not need to be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately (2 Timothy 2:15). We owe it to the next generation to give them preachers and teachers who can do that.

Now, let’s look at the message of today’s passage. The first thing we see is that Peter is certain that Jesus agreed with paying the temple tax (24-25a).

When the collectors asked Peter whether Jesus was for the tax, Peter immediately answered in the affirmative. This was, after all, the temple of God. Jesus had called God his Father. There was no doubt in Peter’s mind that Jesus was pro-God and therefore pro-temple. The temple tax was a duty that dated back to the Old Testament. Exodus 30:13-16 prescribes this tax as a ransom for each male Israelite and a memorial to make atonement for each life. A rich man was not to pay any more, and a poor man was not to pay any less. Peter had every reason to believe that Jesus intended to pay the double drachma and to affirm that he would.

But when Peter got back to his house and discussed his conversation, Jesus asked him to think about something. Jesus challenged Peter to think about who his master is (25b-26).

Jesus asked Peter whether earthly kings collect taxes from their own sons. Peter hadn’t been thinking in those terms. He was thinking that since Jesus was a Jewish male and a believer in God, he would most certainly want to contribute to the upkeep of the temple by paying the tax.

It was true that Jesus was a human being, born of the house of Israel, and that he was a believer in God. But Peter had been learning that Jesus was a lot more than that. Peter watched as Jesus performed miracles that no man had ever done. He had seen Jesus heal the sick, walk on water, multiply the bread and fish. He had witnessed Jesus raise the dead.

In fact, this chapter begins with the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus brought Peter – along with two other disciples – up to a high mountain and there the three of them saw a vision in which Jesus “was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him.”

Peter – being Peter – immediately got the wrong idea. He thought that the three disciples were there because God wanted them to build three shelters so that they could listen to these three great heroes of the faith. They could take turns going from shelter to shelter to listen to what God wanted to reveal through these three heroes.

Suddenly, a cloud of bright light surrounded them, and they heard the voice of God in the cloud. God did not say “You’re right, Peter, each of these heroes of the faith are equal, and you should pay attention to each of them equally. No, God said “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!”

The message was clear. Jesus is unique among all the people who have ever lived because all other men are God’s servants, but Jesus is God’s one dear Son.

Now, notice how the question that Jesus asked Peter in today’s text relates to that event and that revelation. If the sons of the earthly kings are exempt from their taxes, how much more would God’s one dear Son be exempt from the taxes imposed for the sake of his temple.

What Jesus is establishing is that He had the right to exempt himself from the double drachma, and by extension, he had the right to exclude his disciples from that tax as well. The servants are obligated but the sons are free.

Now, notice something else very important is happening here. After establishing the justification for exempting himself and Peter from the tax, Jesus turns around and commands Peter to pay it.

Peter should pay the tax to not offend the collectors (27a).

The word offend is σκανδαλίζω – to put a trap in the way of someone. If people saw Jesus avoiding the double drachma tax it might lead them to think that the temple was unimportant. That might lead them to think that other things concerning God were unimportant as well. Even though he was free as the Son of God he submitted to God’s plan not to save himself but to save us.

So, having established that Peter should pay the tax, Jesus now commanded that he do so in an unusual miraculous way. He told Peter to go fishing – not with a net but with a hook.

Jesus told Peter the first fish would have the payment (27b).

He said “Go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

Note how many miracles would have to happen for Peter to obey that command. Somebody had to lose a coin in the lake. That coin would have to be the exact denomination needed to pay the tax for two people. A fish had to catch that coin in his mouth, but not swallow it. The fish with the coin would have to go to the edge of the beach at the same time Peter went there to catch him. Peter would have to cast the hook in at just the right time to catch that fish. That fish would have to bite that hook at that instant.

Behind all these miracles is another miracle. Jesus had the supernatural omniscience to know that Peter would do all these things and catch that fish to pay that fee.

Matthew only tells this part of the story. We can only assume that Peter was obedient to his master and that all these miracles took place. Some have suggested that he didn’t do it, so the miracle didn’t happen. Some have suggested that the whole story is made up. But I submit to you that the same God who caused a great fish to swallow Jonah would have no problem causing a lesser fish to swallow a coin. There is a lesson here about who Jesus is and I think that lesson is obvious.

But there is also a lesson about who we are. Jesus had previously told his disciples that they needed to deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow him. Today’s story gives Peter an opportunity to do that. He could have told the tax collectors that he was a disciple of the Son of God, so they could go to someone else for their double drachma. But, instead, he submitted to the tax. Because Peter was obedient to Christ, Christ miraculously provided what he needed to pay the tax.

One implication from this story is that when you and I choose to be obedient to Christ, we open the door to his miraculous provision as well. Our master is watching to see if we are heading to the shed to get our fishing poles. He is watching to see if we will obey his commands in our everyday life. If we choose to disobey him, we have no reason to expect anything from him. But if we dare to obey him, we have every reason to expect miracles to happen.