Woe Is Me

Focus verses: Matthew 23:1-39

Most people are familiar with the Beatitudes - you know, "the blessed are the meek" etc. Not many people remember the curses. But here they are.

He begins with a condemnation of self-righteousness. Smug, self-satisfied people are not those He wants in His kingdom. He prefers those who serve with humility and deference.

Then He really gets wound up with the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. He proclaims their short-comings publicly, and the consequences thereof are not pretty.

First on the block are the teachers of false religion. I take this to mean anyone who teaches anything not precisely taught by Jesus. If you are called to be a teacher, you must be doubly on your guard that no word escapes your lips that is not of God. When Jesus calls someone "a son of hell" it has dire implications.

Next He condemns legalism. The regulations of man are not superior to the edicts of God - nor should they replace the edicts of God as the guideposts of our lives. When we follow the traditions of man rather than the teachings of God, we have become blind and are stumbling in the dark.

He moves to injustice. He speaks against those who practice the letter of the law without practicing the spirit of the law - which is love for one's neighbor. That attitude leads to justice and mercy.

Hypocrisy is His next target. We have all known people who put on airs, dress well, act like butter wouldn't melt in their mouth. And these same people hide shameful sins, theft, violence, adultery, licentiousness, cruelty. Jesus sees the heart full of hypocrisy and wickedness. This is not a condition exclusive to the Pharisees. We all have that tendency.

Finally He winds up with persecution of the prophets. He calls these teachers and Pharisees a "brood of vipers." Have you ever seen a nest of snakes? They are so wound up with one another you can't tell where one ends and the other begins. The seem to flow freely between and among one another. But outsiders are in danger of snake bite. He reserves his direst imprecations for them.

After this climax, He mourns over Jerusalem. These very people to whom he has been directing these curses are the ones over whom He grieves that they will not learn, will not turn to Him.

He has been talking to the most egregious offenders against God, yet He mourns over them. This is a picture of true forgiveness. He has seen the offenses for what they are. He recognizes the offenders for what they have done. Yet He grieves over their demise and rejection of God. Moreover, He offers them a hope. They can yet return to God.

Father, God,

We thank You that the forgiveness you offer is not limited as to offense and offender. Help us to see that nothing we have done can keep us from repenting of our sins and turning our lives over to You. There is room in Your kingdom for even the vilest sinner who repents.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

The Time Is At Hand

Focus verses: Jeremiah 39:15 - 40:6

We have read the prophecies of woe and doom to the city of Jerusalem. Now that day has arrived. The leaders (most of them) have been summarily executed. Gedaliah has been appointed as sort of a territorial governor over the remnant left in Jerusalem. And Nebuchadnezzer has carried off the rest of the people to Babylon.

Make no mistake. What God says will happen does happen. It may not be exactly when you expect it, but it will come in God's own timing. When it happens, there is a way of escape for those who are faithful to the Lord.

Jeremiah 39:17-18 But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.

Salvation, however comes because of our trust in the Lord. This cannot be just a lip-service trust. If we say we trust in Him, but do not behave as if we trust in Him, we really do not trust Him.

Trust in the Lord appears as an unshakable faith when things go wrong. Trust makes no allowances for circumstance. Every circumstance in our lives is allowed by the Lord for a reason. We may not see the reason - nor understand it. But if we truly believe that God is sovereign and we trust Him implicitly, we can endure anything in obedience to His will.

We can be assured that no suffering is ever wasted. Whatever pain you may feel, God can use that to help someone else overcome similar pain. Whatever trials you may encounter can blaze a path through the jungle of despair for someone following after you.

We need not know nor understand His purposes. They will be clear to us in the hereafter. Our duty and privilege is to walk faithfully the path He has laid out for us. Keeping to His course for our lives will result in ultimate joy, eternal joy.

Father, God,

Help us to remain faithful, trusting in You, no matter what the world throws our way. We offer our obedience to Your will as our ultimate sacrifice of praise. For You are the Lord our God.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

God's Answer To Habakkuk

Focus verses: Habakkuk 1:12-2:17

Habakkuk was contemporary with Jeremiah. Certainly he had heard Jeremiah's prophesies. He questions the Lord's using the unrighteous nations to discipline the chosen people. This passage is his question and the Lord's answer.

The first thing God tells him is to write this answer down so that it can be disseminated throughout the land. And a written prophesy is more permanent that a spoken one. People hear and forget. People can read and re-read what is written.

It is written so that we may be reading it now. What was true for Israel in that time is still true for us. Evil will not go forever unpunished. Injustice will be corrected. Wrongs will be righted.

Woe to the greedy. Woe to the power-mongers. Woe to the violent. Woe to the licentious. Woe is me!

Look at what is going on in our own country. Greed, usury, violence, licentiousness are rampant in our society. We idolize celebrity and follow gossip as if it were gospel. We indulge ourselves with leisure, entertainment, food and drink until we are insatiable, over weight and out of shape. The consequences of our self indulgence are upon us physically and morally.

We need to look at God's answer to Habakkuk and change our course.

Father, God,

Help us to see evil as You see it. Let us recognize it for what it is and do all in our power to change it. Keep us ever faithful to You that we may not be led astray into evil doing.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Sin Paraded

Focus verses: Isaiah 3:8-15

Unacknowledged and unrepented sin is fatal. When a people will not acknowledge its sins as sin and will not repent of it, they have marked themselves for destruction.

I read this verse and shuddered: "They parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves."

As a nation, we, too, parade our sins like Sodom. We parade the sin of sodomy and give it place in our world by trying to legitimize it.

We make laws that put innocence in danger and justify expediency over righteousness.

We reward those who manipulate and scheme and commit fraud.

Our legal system has been skewed to favor the powerful over the just; it has overstepped its boundaries at the behest of the powerful.

As a nation, we are in terrible shape. We have committed every sin in the book. We have earned all the reprisals listed in the book.

God is just and merciful to those who acknowledge their sin and repent. But God is also righteous, and those who flout their sin proudly will not receive mercy.

As individuals, let us examine our hearts to root out and repent of our personal sins. As a nation, let us work to return our country to the righteousness of the Lord.

Father, God,

Shine the light of Your love into our hearts to show us our sins that we may repent of them. Give us the discernment to see those who would lead us astray, and let us have the courage not to elect leaders who will pull us down that path.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.