Get Naked - Mark 12:38-44

 

Mark 12:38-44 NIV

³⁸ As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁰ They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Get Naked

Jesus teaches with a heavenly vision. It seems to me that we don’t need all the stuff and baggage we carry around. We don’t need all the fancy clothes. Think about it, God created us naked. As mankind stood in the presence of God naked at the beginning of the world, we also stand before Jesus naked in life. Jesus sees right through all of our nonsense. Jesus teaches with a heavenly vision and Jesus teaches us to get naked.

In this scripture, we see how the scribes put on a show to gain man’s awe and favor. And they go on to consume and exploit poor widows.  Jesus silenced the scribes and revealed their unbelief. Jesus makes the scribes naked in their sinfulness.

Don’t get too haughty about all of this exposing the scribes. Jesus makes me and you naked in our sinfulness as well. I have done it, and I’m sure you have too. Done what?

When we focus on how great we are, that’s the very moment we lack greatness. How’s that? As we push our way to the front of thinking that we deserve the best in life, Jesus points us to the lack of love we have for our neighbor. In the push and shove of life towards personal greatness we just become naked.

How? To be great is not something we deserve because of our own effort. We only become great through serving. Look at Jesus. Did He seek greatness in power, money, or shoving to the front? Jesus’ service to God and man is the real stuff.

The scribes, as well as you and I, sometimes serve God in a phony way. We think we are the ones that have earned our way. We become self-righteous. When we are self-righteous, we really don’t love God or our neighbor. Rather, we love ourself and what we have done to be great. And it’s at this point that Jesus makes us naked in His presence.

When we are self-righteous, we tend to devour our neighbor for our own privilege. Look at what the scribes did. What was the cause of poor housing for the needy widows?

 Our privilege, even today, devours houses and yes, even homes. We think it’s fine to forget the needs of the suffering and the poor and the alien. We flaunt our own privilege of belonging in the face of our neighbors in need. We become self-righteous thinking that we earned all that we have and deserve to be greater than our neighbor. And it’s here, at this point, that Jesus undresses us in our sin to the point that we stand naked before Jesus.

Now that you and I and the scribes, stand naked in our sin before Jesus, the passage moves on to Jesus observing a widow, naked before Jesus as he watches on.

But first let me offer a visual. There may or may not have been a building labeled the “Treasury.” However, along the colonnade which surrounded what was referred to as the “Court of the Women,” were thirteen chests with trumpet shaped opening for the offerings of the worshippers at the Temple. These trumpet shaped openings would make a noise at each offering of coins.  So, when this poor widow gave, there would not have been much of a noise.

But here is the deal. The widow, unknowingly naked in the presence of Jesus, didn’t just give a small portion, no, she gave all she had. Really you could say, she gave herself.

Paul talks about this type of giving, from the churches of Macedonia giving to the Jerusalem church…

2 Corinthians 8:5 NIV

⁵ And they (the churches of Macedonia) exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

And Jesus speaks of this widow, also in the Gospel of Luke…

Luke 21:1-4 NIV

21 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

This particular tribute to the widow, was Jesus last act in the Temple. This tribute to the widow who gave all she had as an offering to God. Hmm… You see, Jesus never entered the Temple again after this.

Here, this widow, stands naked before Jesus. Here, we come to understand that God looks to the amount of love and self-sacrifice we have, not the amount of our own perceived self-righteousness. For, now we can see, that our righteousness only comes through God in Jesus, not something that we can conjure up for ourselves.

Here, as the woman stands naked before Jesus, Jesus’ comments on what the woman has done, but does not praise her for her actions. True giving is a sacrifice. The gift’s value is relative to the giver. The widow gave all!

This widow’s act is a free act of generosity.

And as this widow stands naked before Jesus, we see her giving a gift that counts. There it is again; giving is relative to what is left. It’s not the size of the gift.

When we see our sinfulness and reach the end of ourselves, standing naked in our sin before Jesus, it’s then that we see it, and it’s then that Jesus hears it.

As the widow gives her all, Jesus hears the “Greatest” gift go into that trumpet shaped offering vessel. It’s then that Jesus sees our heart. It’s then that Jesus sees that no gift of love is too small to count.

But wait! Isn’t this type of giving what the Father gave to us through Jesus serving to all mankind in His birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension?

There it is! Point to Jesus and see. Point to Jesus and follow. Point to Jesus and run in obedience. Perhaps this widow is a type of Jesus?

Don’t worry. All you have ever had from your nakedness in birth before God, has come from God. God provides even when you doubt your resources. It’s all a gift from God. Trust in God… not in man.

Yes, Lord Jesus of Heaven and Earth, I stand once again naked in your presence and I eagerly wait for you… today… tomorrow… and forever, as I follow you and Point to Jesus!

Thanks be to God!

I leave you with this YouTube Music Video of how Jesus and the Widow have given…

Withholding Nothing

Artwork … Lucas Cranach

Jesus Knows Heaven - Matthew 5:1-12

 

Matthew 5:1-12 NIV

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

He said:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus Knows Heaven

So, here we have it; the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus shows his disciples how to live. Jesus teaches us to live, not by rules, but by a change of heart. Jesus sets before His disciples’ impossible standards to meet through our own works and efforts. Yet, Jesus gives His disciples the power to live up to these standards, by turning this world upside down, in His grace and love. So, if you desire to follow Jesus, hear His words and commands.

Here, in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives His disciples a New Law. And this New Law is for those who inherit the Kingdom of God. Think about that… A New Law… for those who inherit. To inherit something, we don’t deserve it, or have worked for it. To inherit is to receive something free of any personal cost to ourselves.

Here in this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reinterprets the Old Law and offers a New Law. This is, in a way a contrast of the Future against the Present. And in this presentation of the New Law, we see the character of Jesus disciples taught of those who inherit the Kingdom. This teaching of Jesus’ is opposed to the world’s standards.

You must see and understand this, Jesus knows heaven. Jesus knows and teaches how life in heaven is infinitely greater than the earthly life with which we all are familiar with.  Jesus knows heaven and Jesus knows that to His disciples, heaven is a blessing. Jesus knows heaven and He knows that heaven is a true, loving gift from God to all mankind. Yes, Jesus knows heaven.

Jesus knows heaven is to be Christian life. And here Jesus teaches His disciples the heaven He knows. Heaven is blessings against the opposites of worldly life, where people rule over people. In heaven, this is not so, people do NOT rule over people. There is no need of this. You see, Jesus knows heaven.

Jesus teachings on the Sermon on the Mount are like laser lights in the darkness of this sinful world. And because Jesus knows heaven, He knows that only He can fulfill all of these directions and New Law, that He is now teaching His disciples.

So, let’s look at Jesus’ directions, best we can.

The location that Jesus gives His sermon to His disciples is on a mountain. How many times does God teach, and preach, and direct and lead from a mountain? Recall how God gave Moses the Law on a mountain. The Law was gifts to us, given to Moses while Moses was alone with God. And how could we fail to mention Jesus’ transfiguration before a few of His disciples on a mountain. And then, Jesus gives His disciples His last command on a mountain.

Matthew 28:16-20 NIV

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Wow! Those mountains! Thin places throughout time, when God seems and is so ever close to all those he loves. Don’t forget the mountains as you read and reflect on Scripture in your daily time.

Remember, Jesus knows heaven. Listen to Jesus. For Jesus’ teaching is what will happen as the rule of heaven is brought to earth.

Huh? Jesus knows heaven, and the Father sent Jesus to earth to show all mankind the way to heaven. Yes, the way to heaven is through Jesus. Jesus knows heaven after all, so listen to Him!

Here, on the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are descriptions of those who receive God’s promises. These people, you and me, and neighbor, are people who hand on to God in pure and simple trust. We can do nothing else!

Jesus expects His teachings to be put into practice. These Beatitudes are clear and concise instructions. Yet, we also learn here, that the righteousness of Jesus is so much more than anything we could do or accomplish on our own and with our own efforts.

Disciples, here, in these teachings, aren’t call to perfection. Rather, Jesus calls us to reformation. There’s that word and work from last week. Yes, a word and work that God does on all His disciples.  For Jesus’ disciples are reformed day after day through daily baptism of burial of our sins to forgiveness through Jesus, as the Holy Spirit is poured out on us richly because of God’s grace and love through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension. Remember? Jesus knows heaven!

The way to heaven is through heaven. What? Yes, Jesus comes down. Jesus pulls us into heaven, into Himself. From heaven to heaven. That’s the life of Jesus. God comes to us from heaven in Jesus, Jesus saves us from sin and death, through becoming our sin, and defeating the power of that sin in His death and resurrection. AND--- Jesus ascends back to heaven till the time that He WILL come again to take us with Him in our own resurrection. You see… Jesus knows heaven.

And here in Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount we learn of “Blessing.” The blessings Jesus speaks of here are the highest stage of happiness. How happy!

Jesus’ teaching in the Beatitudes is kind of like a poem. Just look at the form in which it is recorded in text. The first stanza is the rule of heaven. Jesus rights the wrongs to bring justice.

Why? God has not given up on us. Look at the first four…

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.

These are NOT rewards, rather they are reversals.

Then we have the second stanza…

⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

These are rewards for disciples that join Jesus in the comforting work for the suffering people of this world.

To break each “blessed” down takes a lifetime of each disciple.

Jesus knows heaven and He can sure teach heaven.

The way to heaven is through Jesus.

In the darkness of our mourning, we see the Light of Jesus in the heavens. Even if we think of mourning our sinfulness or our neighbors’ sins against us, we turn to see how Jesus forgives and likewise are taught here to forgive our neighbor.

What about the meek? The “meek” don’t seek pride, rather, the “meek” are happy to follow God.

And if we thirst for Jesus, that is where Joy is found. Why? Because as we thirst for Jesus, we no longer concentrate on ourselves. Our gaze is now on Jesus. So, all through life, as we gaze on Jesus, be sure that we “Point to Jesus.”

How about mercy and sacrifice? As we are aware of our own sins, we don’t have the time to judge our neighbor in their sins.

Oh, and the pure in heart. Purity led by the Holy Spirit consumes the heart and very being of each disciple. The Holy Spirit consumes us from baptism on and into eternity with a lifetime of gifts to use in the call of God in our lives. For in this life, we will see God! How great is that now and in eternity!

Remember that in your baptism, you were marked with the cross of Christ forever!

Revelation 22:4 NIV

⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

Face to face! Wow!

And so, now, we have peace. This is a peace that Jesus brings to mankind from God in love. A peace for God and neighbor.

The rule of God WILL come through Jesus, and peace, righteousness and mercy, WILL be realized.

These are the Real “Sons of God,” the Hebrews in the Old Testament and the People of God’s creation. That’s the creation that God has always and will always, love and care for, “Sons of God,” in Jesus disciples throughout time.

Yet, Jesus warns us as well.

As Jesus’ disciples, we expect to become one with those people in the poetic first stanza of reversals.

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.

All of this teaching of Jesus, in the Sermon of the Mount, is radical teaching to this sinful world. As we, Jesus’ disciples, live out our lives, walking in this teaching, we can expect worldly pushback and persecution. But you know what? That’s Okay! The outcome of it all is eternity with God. And the reward is unmeasurable salvation. Salvation out of size from any works we could muster up ourselves.

Rest assured, God, the Lamb, is at the Center of it all. We see Jesus as God and praise God together with ALL the Saints… today… tomorrow… and forever! – Thanks be to God!

How could I NOT leave you with this YouTube Music Video

For All the Saints

Truth - John 8:31-36 - Reformation

 

John 8:31-36 NIV

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Truth

Does Truth shake belief?

What is real?

What is false?

Is salvation given in relationship with Abraham, or only available through Jesus?

Just in a few short verses, and a question from Jews that believed in Jesus, many more questions arise, AND, Jesus teaches His followers Truth.

And here in these few words, I find, that when it is God that opens my eyes; He finds me! Sounds a little reversed doesn’t it. You would think that when God opens your eyes, you would see God and find Him. But, no! When God opens your eyes, sure, you see, but what you see, is that He found you.

Likewise, the believing Jews, of this passage, weren’t concerned that they needed freedom. As Abraham’s relatives they assumed they were free. Yet, when Jesus opens their eyes to Truth, they discover that God has found them through Jesus, not that they found God through Abraham.

The Truth we see of God in Jesus, does not bind or enslave any people. The Truth Jesus shows us sets us free. Truth that frees us, comes from God in Jesus.

How’s that?

The sadness of it all, today and in the past, is when people enter God’s Kingdom, or even enter God’s church, and settle in, BUT, don’t grow, yet remain crude underdeveloped children, you have made the Kingdom about yourself and won’t grow.

And again, “How’s that?”

I think of it this way…

Life with Jesus and growing as His disciple is like a hike in the Smoky Mountains. You travel from one peak to the next. You walk through unending peaks and valleys of growth, grace, understanding, and life lessons, following Jesus, IN, His Truth. You travel through life in the Church, and in the Kingdom of God, on a journey that sets you free, with Jesus, of one glorious view after another.

As we see, in this passage, Jesus moves to the outside.

And again, “How’s that?”

The believing Jews had an interpretation of family and loyalty to Abraham, their father in family. Yet, to show the believing Jews, AND us, that the REAL Truth exists in Jesus, not in a man, not even in a good man. Truth is God in Jesus, alone. Sure, Abraham was a good faithful man, a wonderful leader, yet still a sinner and a man, Abraham was not God. And Jesus was both man and God.

But you may say, just as the believing Jews said, “I am not a slave!”

Yes, you are! Open your eyes also to your sin with eyes wide open. See your sins of lust, power prestige, control, and all of the various idols you have formed in your life that you have made or trusted in, that replace God.

Yep! You ARE a slave!

Everyone who sins are a slave to sin, stuck in their own sinful messes.

All of us, are stuck in the stench of our own sins. Yes, we are humiliated and carried away by our sin. Just witness so many of the Old Testament patriarchs, including Abraham. Delve into the lives of people past and present and you will smell the stench of sin. Then, open your nostrils to your own life and smell that stench! Don’t deny it and try to pretend, all is okay, it was just what I couldn’t help myself to avoid!

And then, once you smell that sin, you can’t help yourself but to hate it and to resist it!

But… You can’t free yourself like you want to. That smell just hangs on and you go back to it!

Yet…

There’s another side of your sin.

If… Jesus frees you… You ARE free!

Hear and see the words of Paul to the Corinthians…

2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV

¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus alone, both God and man, makes you free from the power and death of sin.

Yes! Jesus takes us stinky, sinful, children and fashions us, reforms us, peak and valley by peak and valley, that we may stand free from the power and death of sin to LOOK God in the eyes and fall into the arms of Jesus, God in Jesus, makes you free from the power of sin and death. AND, if we stay in God’s Word, following and “Pointing to Jesus,” Jesus’ Truth will make us free.

You see, the slave does not continue in the House forever.

What House?

God’s House. Huh?

Why am I, as a sinner in God’s House, God’s Church, God’s Kingdom?

Well, I’m a descendant of sin. In God’s House, in God’s Church, in God’s Kingdom, I can’t rely on MY self, MY faith, even MY belief.

NO!

Rather, I am in God’s House, Church, Kingdom, to be freed from MY sin in the Truth that ONLY Jesus can set me free, from MY sin and deserved death, TO, live in God’s House, Church, and Kingdom forever.

Now that’s an amazing lifetime of Reformation, for me and you… today… tomorrow… and forever.

So, as a Lutheran layman, sure, I celebrate Reformation Sunday, but in my own personal reformation, I hear an eternal Gospel message, that causes me to still myself, and open my eyes to know God, the Great I AM, who finds me in my sin, to save me, to give me faith, to follow Jesus and to “Point to Jesus.”  Not by anything that I could do or ever do with works of my own, but by what God has already done, since the beginning of time through Jesus.

Thanks be to God.

How could I NOT leave you with this YouTube music video of Martin Luther’s

A Mighty Fortress… Enjoy

A Mighty Fortress IS Our God!