Randy Wray's Blog

We are not exactly located in Southern California but one could certainly get the idea that it hardly ever rains here.

Seriously, it may have rained twice this year.

It rained yesterday and it was a delight (must be my Oregon blood).

No major thunderstorm like we would get in Arlington but a good rain nevertheless.

One day of rain and a friend here mentioned “man isn’t it depressing when it rains?”

He’d better stay here and not move to the Northwest.

(Today’s post includes a musical selection to accentuate and enhance your reading experience.  Push the PLAY button to continue – if the play button does not appear in your browser click here)

Beth has been in Arkansas (hence the musical selection) this week attending a regional meeting.

Trips like this seem to accentuate the rural part of her job.

With a full schedule of school, sports and that thing we call work there never seems to be enough time to squeeze everything.

I empathize with single parents.  It’s hard work accomplishing all that needs to be done by yourself.

You get it done, you do the best you can, and squeeze the most out of the day.

Feel free to hang around (even if you’re done reading) and let the music move you.

Have you ever tried to guess the occupation of a person solely based on their manner of dress and way they carry themselves?

Obviously this diversionary pastime has become increasingly difficult with the change of “out in public” manner of dress but I can’t think it would have been any easier back in the days of wearing a suit everywhere (even to a baseball game).

Still it’s a fun element to add to any people watching session.

In a meeting yesterday, participants were asked to go around the room and share 30 seconds about themselves.  In that 30 seconds you were asked to tell the group your major field of study in college.

When a particular young man began talking I looked at him and immediately thought “his major was English Literature.”

I smiled the smile of satisfaction when he shared his major field of study.  What can I say?  It’s a gift!

I thought about our blog community and wondered if we were in a room of strangers if anyone could guess our occupations by our appearance?

Granted, with his pale, pasty, cool to the touch skin . . . his black overcoat, skull and crossbones, silver tipped cane . . . and that vulture perched on his shoulder like a proud pirate’s parrot (say that three times fast) who would hesitate to peg Greg as a death broker?

With Matthew 5:20 as the backdrop we’ll explore the six examples Jesus gives of how he came not to destroy the law of Moses but to bring about what God intended.

The first example focuses on anger.

Matthew 5:21-26  (NCV) “You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, ‘You must not murder anyone.  Anyone who murders another will be judged.’ But I tell you, if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be judged. If you say bad things to a brother or sister, you will be judged by the council. And if you call someone a fool, you will be in danger of the fire of hell. “So when you offer your gift to God at the altar, and you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there at the altar. Go and make peace with that person, and then come and offer your gift.  “If your enemy is taking you to court, become friends quickly, before you go to court. Otherwise, your enemy might turn you over to the judge, and the judge might give you to a guard to put you in jail.  I tell you the truth, you will not leave there until you have paid everything you owe.”

The first concept that intrigues me about this passage is becoming friends quickly with an enemy prior to going to court.  So I become friends with my enemy not because I want to be friends but simply so I can avoid jail time?

I wonder if there is a connection between this train of thought and the parable of the shrewd manager?

We survived the message regarding the law and the prophet (at least I think we survived).

I agree with Brady (that must be a first) that verse 20 is of great importance. And while I was tempted to just start at verse 20 I realized that 17 through 19 could be understood (and were also important) through the lens of 20. (All the verse references are still from Matthew 5).

Since I’m always concerned about the element of time in the deliver of a message I hit (as quickly and extensively as possible) some major areas. Here are the highlights.

THESE WORDS OF JESUS

Here I addressed the question posed by Thurman8er and concluded that Jesus was talking to the crowds (that were following), he was talking to his disciples (who had just started following), he was talking to the readers of Matthew’s gospel (who had been following) and he’s talking to us (who are and who would follow).

It’s important to make a distinction between followers of Jesus and disciples of Jesus. Followers were along for the ride while disciples were along for the life. In an age (today) where the word disciples carries some baggage we are more comfortable with the word followers. That’s fine. But we must understand that anyone who wants to be part of the kingdom must follow Jesus as a disciple.

LEAST IMPORTANT AND MOST IMPORTANT

l.marie.d gets the shout out on this one and her observation about being least in the kingdom but not absent from the kingdom.

I talked about Jesus’ use of metaphor in 13-16 and explored the idea if Jesus was using hyperbole. By the way, I love the definition of hyperbole (extravagant exaggeration). What other kind of exaggeration is there?

Notice how the subject of this discussion regards the commands of God. Jesus talks about the smallest letter of the alphabet and the smallest mark in the alphabet being important carrying the idea that what seems insignificant is actually important.

It was the Pharisees who were devoted to the minutiae of the law at the expense of the greater demands of the law (specifically a greater righteousness). Think of Matthew 23:23!

Also what must be considered are the thoughts of Jesus regarding greatness in the kingdom (Matthew 20:25-28).

I think these words are in direct response to the Pharisees who considered themselves great in the kingdom and there is this suggestion by Jesus that they are not even in the kingdom.

JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW

The idea here is that Jesus came specifically to bring the law to it’s intended goal. This is not just that Jesus came to accomplish everything the law and prophets said about him – he came to convey what God intended to accomplish through the law.

THE PURPOSE & ESSENCE OF THE LAW

The purpose of the law and the prophets: To show us our sin and show us our savior. (Romans 3:19-26)

The essence of the law: How you treat other people is important to God. (Matthew 7:12)

This is what Jesus came to tell us and what so many spice tithing legalists fail to see.

Jesus came to make sure we understood (and heard correctly) what God has been saying through the law, the prophets and the other writings.

Jesus came to make sure we made the connection between what was communicated and what was intended.

His teaching in the sermon on the mount, (through the use of six specific examples) was designed to give us insight and understanding into the heart of God and his will for his people. Specifically:

This is what God said (and wanted you to do).
This is what you heard (and chose to do).
This is what God meant (and still wants you to do).

This is what Jesus came to do, to bridge the disconnect between what God said, what we heard and what God meant.

What I failed to fully address because of time constraints was how are “New Testament” Christians supposed to relate to an “Old Testament” mandate.

But that gives us something else to talk about.

Meowmix is anxious to know if the goatee is back.

I did grow it back but have encountered some other issues as the picture below will show.

you know how sometimes the cure is worse than the illness?

Thanks for the input and the questions on the Matthew text I do appreciate your insights, observations and questions (well most of them anyway)!

I’m going to experiment with once a week posting my intended text for Sunday delivery.

I want to make sure that I’m connecting where people are and that I’m learning from the collective wisdom of the group.

I’ll respond after I’ve finished working through the ideas and hope the conversation yields more effective results.

Speaking of more effective results, it’s official, we passed our final inspection on the house yesterday.

“Wait a minute” you ask, “I thought you guys were done?”

With the big stuff, yes, but we had some smaller things to take care of – like the hole in the garage fire wall that we had to cut to get the beam up into the attic.

It wasn’t a particularly hard thing to fix, just one of those nagging details to finish.

So, I finally worked on it for a couple of hours last week – finished it all up – called for the final inspection and the inspector never even went into the garage!

He did find a correction that needed to be made under the island sink that required removing all the plumbing, hardware and sink.

I made the correction and he signed off on it yesterday.

Here’s my text for Sunday:

Matthew 5:17-19 (NCV) “Don’t think that I have come to destroy the law of Moses or the teaching of the prophets. I have not come to destroy them but to bring about what they said.  I tell you the truth, nothing will disappear from the law until heaven and earth are gone. Not even the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will be lost until everything has happened.  Whoever refuses to obey any command and teaches other people not to obey that command will be the least important in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys the commands and teaches other people to obey them will be great in the kingdom of heaven.

Any questions you want me to address in the message?

Any comments or insight I should include in the message?

The results of the “should I or should I not use the hemorrhoid metaphor”  were 50% in favor and 50% not in favor.

Obviously a clear and definite mandate to use my own judgment.

What a scary thought!

Here are some of the other mixed metaphors I used:

We have to get all our ducks on the same page.

I hope he gets his curve ball straightened out.

It’s time to step up to the plate and lay your cards on the table.

I’m sweating like a bullet.

I wouldn’t be caught dead there with a ten-foot pole. 

It’s time to grab the bull by the tail and look him in the eye.

He’s a wolf in cheap clothing.

We could stand here and talk until the cows turn blue.

From now on, I’m watching everything you do with a fine-tuned comb.

I like the wolf in cheap clothing – especially when you consider that when said with the right accent the person might actually have said sheep.

Remember when there were strict rules as to which words could not be uttered on television?

Yes, kids, right before the switch from black and white to amazing technicolor “word spotters” were very zealous in blocking certain words.

Today there are still words that can’t be said on television but these words are so vulgar and profane they are reserved for the darkest corners of the golf course.

Every once in a while (sing along if you know it) I’ll come across a particular phrase, anecdote, bumper sticker or pithy statement that I consider using as an example or illustration in a message.

The problem is there might be a particular word, theme or subject not considered appropriate for Sunday morning “from the pulpit.”

My rule of thumb up to this point, in the pursuit of discernment, has been “if I have to ask Beth if this is an appropriate thing to say then it probably isn’t appropriate.”

Of course this means I just quit asking her.

This Sunday I’ll be working through two metaphors Jesus uses to describe his followers.  In the introduction to the message I will talk about metaphors and give some examples of some mixed metaphors.

For example:  We could stand here and talk until the cows turn blue.

There is a particular metaphor that I’m considering how appropriate it would be to use.  So, it’s your lucky day and time for another poll.  (By the way, guess which new cool widget Randy discovered this week?)

Here’s the mixed metaphor:  These hemorrhoids are a real pain in the neck.

Here’s the poll question:  Should Randy reference the hemorrhoid metaphor as a message illustration?

The polls are open.