Gospel Journey: Part 10
My Gospel Journey continues through Matthew's gospel. Here are a few reflections.
You gotta give Joseph some credit. I think he's a little under appreciated. I admire two things about him. Matthew 1:19 says, "He had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream." Joseph had to make the same choice all of us are faced with: do I do what makes sense to me or do I do what I feel like God is calling me to do. I think all of us live with that tension. We have to choose between the best laid plans of man or the dreams of God. Joseph chooses to go with the dream. He was willing to change his mind after he made up his mind. That is spiritual plasticity. After thinking everything through he was willing to throw out his plan!
Matthew 1:25 says that Joseph and Mary were married "but he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son." Joseph and Mary showed tremendous sexual restraint. They were in love. They were married. But they choose to wait until Mary gave birth to consumate the marriage. Their hormones were submitted to God. Sometimes that is the toughest thing to submit. They sacrificed physical pleasure for a season until the miracle took place.
There is a little phrase in Matthew 2:13 that challenges me: "Stay there until I tell you." I think some of us are paralyzed by wondering what God wants us to do next instead of just doing what God told us to do last. Instead of second-guessing or triple-guessing ourselves, we need to do what God told us to do last. It reminds me of the way Peter Marshall discerned the will of God. He said that there were two keys: he had to feel called to something or somewhere but he also had to feel released from somewhere or something. At one juncture in his ministry, he felt called to New York Avenue Presbyterian, but he didn't feel released from his current pastorate. So he gave up his dream of pastoring in Washington and turned down the pastorate because he didn't feel released. A year he felt released and God re-opened the door of opportunity in DC. We need to feel called and released.
Sometimes we need to "stay put." I think a big part of discerning the will of God is understanding our spiritual temperament. Are you a risk-taker or over-analyzer? Are you a grace-giver or truth-teller? Do you love change or hate change? If you know your temperament it'll help you make wise choices. In the context of this passage, are you a "stay put" or "move on" kind of person. If you're always looking for what's next you might need to "stay put" for a while. If you're "stuck in the mud" it may be time to move on. Knowing your predisposition helps you get outside your comfort zone.
Matthew 3:17 is one of my favorite verses. At Jesus' baptism, the Father says, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." I would have put this passage at the end of his ministry. The Father says it before Jesus had really "accomplished" anything. He hadn't preached a sermon or performed a miracle yet. It's a reminder that God doesn't love us any more or any less based on what we do or don't do. It's not a performance-based love. Nothing you do will make God love you any less! It's impossible.
You gotta give Joseph some credit. I think he's a little under appreciated. I admire two things about him. Matthew 1:19 says, "He had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream." Joseph had to make the same choice all of us are faced with: do I do what makes sense to me or do I do what I feel like God is calling me to do. I think all of us live with that tension. We have to choose between the best laid plans of man or the dreams of God. Joseph chooses to go with the dream. He was willing to change his mind after he made up his mind. That is spiritual plasticity. After thinking everything through he was willing to throw out his plan!
Matthew 1:25 says that Joseph and Mary were married "but he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son." Joseph and Mary showed tremendous sexual restraint. They were in love. They were married. But they choose to wait until Mary gave birth to consumate the marriage. Their hormones were submitted to God. Sometimes that is the toughest thing to submit. They sacrificed physical pleasure for a season until the miracle took place.
There is a little phrase in Matthew 2:13 that challenges me: "Stay there until I tell you." I think some of us are paralyzed by wondering what God wants us to do next instead of just doing what God told us to do last. Instead of second-guessing or triple-guessing ourselves, we need to do what God told us to do last. It reminds me of the way Peter Marshall discerned the will of God. He said that there were two keys: he had to feel called to something or somewhere but he also had to feel released from somewhere or something. At one juncture in his ministry, he felt called to New York Avenue Presbyterian, but he didn't feel released from his current pastorate. So he gave up his dream of pastoring in Washington and turned down the pastorate because he didn't feel released. A year he felt released and God re-opened the door of opportunity in DC. We need to feel called and released.
Sometimes we need to "stay put." I think a big part of discerning the will of God is understanding our spiritual temperament. Are you a risk-taker or over-analyzer? Are you a grace-giver or truth-teller? Do you love change or hate change? If you know your temperament it'll help you make wise choices. In the context of this passage, are you a "stay put" or "move on" kind of person. If you're always looking for what's next you might need to "stay put" for a while. If you're "stuck in the mud" it may be time to move on. Knowing your predisposition helps you get outside your comfort zone.
Matthew 3:17 is one of my favorite verses. At Jesus' baptism, the Father says, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." I would have put this passage at the end of his ministry. The Father says it before Jesus had really "accomplished" anything. He hadn't preached a sermon or performed a miracle yet. It's a reminder that God doesn't love us any more or any less based on what we do or don't do. It's not a performance-based love. Nothing you do will make God love you any less! It's impossible.
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