Clean on the Inside

Take a few minutes and ponder the above image…

Seriously, go ahead. I’ll wait. 

I’ve been reading/studying the Gospel of Matthew a fair bit these past couple of weeks. As someone who has grown up in a Christian church, I have both heard and read this Gospel more times than I can count. A fact which, when compared to the reality that there are still places that have never heard the name of Jesus, astounds me. Why does this astound me? Simply put, every time I actually give my attention to the scriptures, not just read or listen to them passively, but actively engage with and allow the scriptures, through the Holy Spirit, to engage me, God faithfully reveals something new, exposes area’s in my thinking/feeling that need to change, clarifies who Jesus truly is… on and on the list could go. 

This week I was struck by Jesus words of “woes” to the religious leaders of his day. The religious leaders, and much of society, cared very deeply about the appearances of things; often more than they cared about what took place in private or secret. This is, in part, tied to a vast social system of honor and shame, and at a more base level I’d argue simply a part of our fallen human nature. Jesus’ judgements against the religious leaders are preceded by some very hard teachings earlier in the Gospel where Jesus calls out what true discipleship requires: laying down ones own life and fully taking up the cross of Christ. Jesus’ disciples heard some hard words from Jesus, take a quick look at Mt. 10:16-39 if you don’t believe me, and now they are present while He speaks even harder words to the religious leaders. I imagine, hope, that if I were present, I would be paying very close attention to Jesus’ words. Even reading them now, so far removed from the first century, I can feel the judgment and inherent warning deep in my soul. Whereas these words enraged the religious leaders and stirred murder in their hearts, they drive me to knees asking God to deal with the places in me that look more like the religious leaders of Jesus day than a true disciple who has forsaken all for the sake of Christ. 

Jesus rebukes the religious leaders for, metaphorically, only cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside remained filthy. Anyone who has ever washed dishes knows that as you scrub the inside that soapy water is going to pour out over the outside as well. (Yes, I still use the cloth to wipe the outside as well for those who are wondering). 

What pierced my heart as I pondered Jesus rebuke, and the inherent warning to all the others present (including us today), was how often I view my own discipleship as a tightrope walk rather than a journey with my Savior. It is so easy to get caught up in the balancing act, intently focusing on not tipping too far to one side or the other. “Am I doing enough?” “How do others view me?” “Was that good enough?” “Is my heart in the right place?” On and on it goes. Jesus’ description of a true disciple can easily feel like an unattainable ideal. 

On our own we can never meet the “ideal” of true discipleship. The hope of the Gospel, as Oswald Chambers describes it, is that Jesus puts “something into you that will make the ideal and the actual one. Without Jesus Christ there is an unbridgeable gap between the ideal and actual; the only way out is a personal relationship to Him. The salvation of God not only saves us from hell, but alters out actual lives.” (pg. 83 Studies in the Sermon on the Mount)

If like me, you have at times felt like you are walking a tightrope rather than walking hand in hand with your savior, take a moment to first ask God to forgive you for trying to do things on your own. Then ask God to give you a new picture of what it looks like to walk as a disciple of Christ, with Christ, and through Christ. For that is only way for the “cup” to truly become clean; inside and out. 

 A light Burden?

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burdenis light”

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Mt. 11:28-30

Photo Credit: Fishywrighter Lyrics: “Fly From the Inside: By: Shinedown.                 

This image sums up so much of what it is like to live life on this earth with all of its fallenness. So many are struggling. So many dealing with depression, loneliness, anxiety, fear… the list goes on and on. All the promises of “modern convenience” and “technological advances” and yet as we walk down the aisles of the supermarket or pump gas into our vehicles do the people around us look full of joy? Do they look well rested and at peace? Do we?

I am not a natural smiler. I mean this seriously. I have often been told I have a very “intense” face and even look angry or like I am about to hurt someone. Usually this is not the case. I am often so deep in thought trying to untangle complex matters in my mind that what people are actually seeing is my “thinking face” 

A couple years ago I worked nights at a local grocery store, the 6pm-12/2am shift. It’s an interesting group of people that come to the supermarket during those later hours. Some were people who just worked late and that was the easiest time to shop. Others looked like a parent who had finally gotten all the kids to bed and were shopping while their spouse held down the fort. But then, as the hours drew on, the people that came in were often those who wouldn’t want to come in during the daylight hours when the store was filled with your ‘everyday’ kind of people. These people looked “heavy”, it was like I could see the burden resting on their shoulders and the pain and emptiness in their eyes broke my heart. One night I clearly heard God tell me I needed to smile at every person I encountered while at work, whether employee or customer, I was to look people in the eyes, acknowledge them, and with my full heart and presence of mind, smile. It was as if God was saying “empty smiles” were not allowed. You know those kind of smiles, the ones that never reach the eyes and are obviously forced. Usually, people can sense, feel, a genuine smile. I noticed a few things after obediently, intentionally, smiling at each person I encountered. First I was drawn to pray for those whom I could see were heavily burdened. Second, it really threw people off balance. Like really off balance. Some looked at me at first with suspicion, then with recognition. Some diverted their eyes unable to accept “being seen”. For others it opened up conversations, some even sharing their “burdens” with me. More than once people, customers and employees, let me pray for them right there in the store and thanked me with tear-stained cheeks. 

I was in awe!

In the beginning I felt silly. I had to intentionally smile. By the time I got in my car to drive home my cheeks would literally be in pain. But it was worth it. 

The world is full of people who are “weary and burdened”. They are carrying a yoke so heavy their muscles shake and their feet stagger. These are the ones Jesus calls. Yet, if we read the whole of the gospel of Matthew it becomes very clear that what Jesus requires is not easy: Turn the other cheek, anger in the heart is equal to murder, lust is equal to adultery, love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you, be perfect! The list goes on and can easily feel both exhausting and impossible. Christ’s yoke doesn’t sound any easier or lighter than the ‘yoke of the world’. 

Oswald Chambers, in his “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount”, says that “Unless Jesus Christ can remake us within, His teaching is the biggest mockery human ears ever heard. (P.46). If we think we can simply carry the yoke of Christ on our own we will likely struggle even more than we did before coming to Christ. So how can Jesus call His yoke easy and His burden light? Craig Keener, in his commentary “The Gospel of Matthew”, gives us the simplest of answers: “Jesus’ yoke is not lighter because he demands less, but because he bears more of the load with the burdened (p.348). A yoke requires two parties. Two oxen are yoked together, and combined they are able to accomplish far more than either could do on their own. When we yoke ourselves with Christ, it is not just that the load  is equally distributed, but that Christ bears all that we cannot while at the same time remaking us from the inside so that we are able to carry the load required of us. If that sounds like work, it’s because it is. BUT the promise is that when we yoke ourselves to Christ, He gives us what need to live out what He has called us to and in the process we will finally find true, real, and lasting rest for our tired, weary souls!

 

"No one is born pure; purity is the 

outcome of conflict 

-Oswald Chambers 

We know her as the “woman with the issue of blood”, thanks to many of our modern bible translations titling of this section of Matthew’s gospel. Jesus, however, knew her as “daughter” (Mt. 9:22”) 

I have always felt a strong connection with this woman. In Matthew’s gospel she appears almost as an interruption to the story. A synagogue official, read: very important person, has come to Jesus asking for help. Given the cultural context, this was a big deal. If we think on human terms, this is one of those events that could have the potential to really “launch” Jesus ministry and protect him from those who were skeptical of the validity of this questionable jew from Nazareth. Jesus responds by getting up to go with this official to attend to his daughter. And here is where it gets interesting. There is another person in the immediate crowd who is also desperate. A woman, who Matthew tells us has been suffering with some kind of hemorrhage for twelve years, is in the crowd and she also has faith that within Jesus is the power to heal. While the synagogue official came to Jesus right out in the open to ask for help, his status possibly offering him that freedom, this woman desires only to touch His garment, as if in secret, to acquire her miracle. 

During this time, women were not meant to operate in the public sphere. Female interactions with men were also tricky according to cultural customs. To “up the anti” so to speak, according to Jewish law any bleeding ailment meant a person was considered “unclean”, and all those who came into contact with such a person was also ceremonially unclean for a time and had to perform certain acts to become clean, or shall we say pure, again. In Matthews telling, everything is stacked against this woman. So far Matthew has told us a daughter has died and an unclean woman is in need of healing. 

I can only imagine the synagogue official, the father’s, anguish when Jesus, on the way to heal his daughter, stops to address this woman crawling on the ground, while his precious daughter lay dead. 

We all have “issues”… 

One of the main reasons this story always hits me hard is due to my own life-long physical issues. I have endured 27 years with what turned out to be a neurological disorder. The pain began when I was around 12 years old and there were many times it was debilitating. I have seen more doctors than I could list, had so many different scans, tests, prodding, even shocking, then I care to mention. I can feel, down to the deepest fiber of my being, this woman’s desperate desire to simply touch the garment flowing from Jesus body. Her faith was equal to that of the synagogue official who was also reaching out to Jesus for help. 

Both touching the dead and touching, or being touched by, someone with an issue of blood would make any person ceremonially unclean. Jesus however, got up to go and lay hands on the dead girl and was un-phased by the touch from an unclean woman. Oswald Chambers, in his Studies on the Sermon on the Mount,  states that “No one is born pure; purity is the outcome of conflict. (p.22) Chambers describes purity not as simply doing what is right but by being right, internally. This is only possible through Christ. The power of the Gospel, the good news of Christ, is that we are given the disposition of Christ- we are made whole and pure. 

Jesus’ power and authority are proven as he heals both the woman and the officials daughter. They  are made whole and well. Yet, possibly even more striking is that Jesus, in a very real sense, changes the very disposition of this woman. She is called daughter. The woman who was unclean, separated from society, alone, likely having no family, and unable to interact with society on the most basic of levels, is called daughter. Two daughters were healed that day by the compassionate and powerful touch of Jesus.

Circumstances often put us to the test, yet it is in the testing that our new identity, as a pure son or daughter of Christ, has the potential to be revealed. 

Taken from Matthew 9:18-22

“While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live. Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples. And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “if I only touch His garment, I will get well.” But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.” 

The Humble Power of Salt... 

I grew up in a rough neighborhood, in a small city, on the East Coast. We never had a garden, canned our own food, baked bread, hunted for meat or any of the other numerous things that have become a daily part of my life. That’s what I get for marrying a country boy. Now, I live on a couple acres outside of town in the Midwest, raise ducks and chickens for meat and eggs, and help my husband process the animals he hunts to stock the freezer for our family. Every year I plant and labor over a large garden, well large for me at around 40x60 feet, we add trees to our small orchard, and I have had to learn how to preserve the food that we grow. In addition to these skills I had to teach myself how to bake and cook (thank you Martha Stewart and PBS for the free lessons). I was the kid who built ramps and had bike jumping contests and played basketball in the driveway until it was too dark to see. I did not bake. Yet here I was, all grown up and trying to learn new skills. Given my history, it is fair to say I had no knowledge of ‘food science’ or the different roles that each ingredient played in a dish coming together. But I was determined to learn!

Enter baking… 

The smell of fresh baked bread is like no other and the taste of a well-risen batch of homemade bread, fresh from the oven and slathered with butter is one of the most comforting things I can think of! Over the years, through trial and much error, baking has become a true joy in my life… and my kids are pretty happy about that as well. Recently I was talking with a young girl who had stayed up late working on a project for school. This teenager had taken the time to make her own sourdough starter from scratch, with the intent of baking a loaf of sourdough bread as part of her class project. However, she made one simple mistake, she forgot to add salt when mixing the dough. As you can probably guess, the bread did not turn out as she intended. Salt plays so many roles in the bread baking process. Salt prevents the yeast from running wild and over fermenting, which can cause the bread to rise too quickly while proofing but then fall when baking. Salt also affects the structure of the bread as it strengthens and tightens the strands of gluten. Without salt, the bread dough will be weak and will struggle to hold its shape. More importantly, to my tastebuds at least, is the flavor that salt imparts to the bread. If you have ever forgotten to add salt to bread, sweet baked goods like cookies, or even savory soups, you immediately notice something important is missing. 

While my family loves, even cherishes, our homemade bread, in the 1st Ct., bread was not simply a treat but a necessary staple of the Israelite diet. Contrary to our modern, and rather varied, western diet, during the time Jesus walked on the earth food options were limited, and for the majority of people somewhat scarce. Bread was often eaten at every meal. Given the important role of bread in daily life, Jesus’ words to his disciples (and the crowds) in Matthew 5:13 would have stood out. After telling His disciples that they are the “Salt of the earth…” our bibles often translate Jesus as saying “but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again?”. Jesus then goes on to state what everyone there knows, “tasteless” salt is worthless and must be thrown out. Unfortunately, in this case many Bible translations lack the full meaning of Jesus’ words. What we have translated as “tasteless”, actually refers not just to loss of taste but also lacking strength. It is as if Jesus is saying that if salt looses the basic essence of what it is and does, loosing its saltiness, it proves itself to be useless and worthy of disposal. Ouch! Let us remember Jesus is speaking these words to His disciples, giving them both an encouragement and a warning. The encouragement: “You are the salt of the earth”, you keep the “yeast” in check so it doesn’t run wild and outside of it’s time, you provide strength and structure so things don’t just fall apart but are held together, and you impart “flavor” that gratifies the tastebuds. The warning: if you loose the essence of your God-created nature (their saltiness), what good are you as a disciple and minister in the kingdom of God? You are of no benefit to yourself or to others. So how does a disciple remain “salty”? Oswald Chambers, in his Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, answers this very question: “How are we to maintain the healthy, salty tang of saintliness? By keeping our right relationship to God through Jesus Christ. (pg. 16). 

Jeannine K. Brown, in her commentary on Matthew, enhances our understanding of Jesus’ salt metaphor by calling to mind Leviticus 2:13. Chapter 2 of Leviticus is focused on the grain offerings Israel was to present before the Lord and God tells Moses that every grain offering must be seasoned with salt “so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering” (Lev. 2:13). The ‘covenant of salt’ is also mentioned in Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5. Brown understands Jesus’ salt metaphor as calling upon both Israel’s covenant with God and Israels missional role among the nations. (Brown p. 55). Jesus both informed and reminded His disciples that they are salt. The disciples keep their saltiness by remaining in relationship with Jesus, just as Israel maintained their saltiness by remaining in covenant relationship with God. That same principal holds true for all disciples of Jesus. You, I, as believers and followers of Jesus, are the salt of the earth. Let us not become weak and tasteless but remain in Christ so that we can be true to our nature, not worthless but useful disciples so that others will be drawn into the kingdom of God. So go ahead, fellow believers, Be Salty.