Tag: Yeshua

One Master

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology1 Comment

The Song of the Mountains – Verse 44  

A Crescendo. 

Yeshua/Jesus has asked us where our treasure is, what sort of treasure it is, and He has instructed us regarding how that treasure causes us to experience the world around us. He now brings this section of the Sermon on the Mount to a crescendo – causing us to ask ourselves, “just who are we serving?”

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:24). 

The underlying meaning of this verse speaks to an ethic of worship – who are we serving, who are we trusting, and at who’s command do we respond? 

No other.

If you recall the language of the second commandment, “You are to have no other gods before me. You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline. You are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord you God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my commandments” (Ex. 20:3-6). 

The second commandment directs the people of God to exclusive worship, based upon His act of salvation referenced in the first commandment. Still, the allure of money, possessions, and the power it seems to bring is always tempting. 

The wallet. 

John Wesley famously remarked that the last part of a person to be converted is his wallet. I can attest from many years of preaching, that few things that I have taught on, in dozens of congregations, causes people to shift in their seats like the mention of money. It might surprise you to learn that regarding the subject of faith, the Apostolic Scriptures has about 500 verses. On the subject of prayer, also, about 500 verses. On the subject of money, however, we find an astounding 2,350 verses, approximately 29% of the Apostolic Scriptures. 

Why would this be? For many of us, money is intimately connected to our understanding of survival, of comfort, and is a direct representation of the fruit of our labor. Keeping all this in mind, unfortunately, we can see that our faith and our finances are closely linked together – undoubtedly warring in our heart. Paul warns us that, “The Love of money is a root for all kinds of evil.” Therefore, money can, if we are not cautious, harden our hearts to the needs of others.

What Yeshua taught. 

Yeshua often spoke of money, and its various applications, in the form of parables. He spoke of investments (Matt. 13:44-45), of savings (Matt. 13:52), of debt (Matt. 18:23-35), of earning wages (Matt. 20:1-16), of capital and interest (Matt. 25:14-30), money lending (Lk. 7:41-43), of inheritance (Lk. 15:11-32), and of the contrast between the rich and poor (Lk. 16:19-31). 

As I have addressed in previous articles on the Sermon on the Mount, earthly treasure does influence how we see and experience this world; and as we walk this life in faith with Messiah, we must be cautious to yield ourselves to the Lord God, and not to the powerful influence of money. 

Life lesson.

On my first trip to Kenya, East Africa, I became aware of a need of particular importance. My host was speaking to a gentleman that I had traveled with about a situation regarding a young man was now orphaned, and the primary provider for his four (4) younger siblings. The family had been fishermen on Lake Victoria, and both of this young man’s parents died within weeks of each other. “Steven,” who had wanted to become a teacher, then took on the burden of the family business, but was soon overwhelmed by it and he turned to drugs and alcohol. 

Having reached the bottom, he had heard of my friend Pastor Peter, who frequently took in orphans, and walked the fifty (50) miles to his house barefoot. After a time, Peter found a sponsor so that he could go to a local teachers college, and I enter the picture after the boy finished his first year, and lost his sponsor.

I had spent a considerable amount of time with “Steven,” and after I learned of his situation I pledged that I would find the money for his second year of college.  

As the Lord would have it, I was preaching at a conference on the compound of the school he attended for a week. I had met the overseer of the school and went to speak with him. He informed me that “Steven” could not return until his fee was paid, but when I guaranteed it, he admitted him marked paid in full – the money was quickly dispatched after I returned home, as my home congregation sponsored the remainder of his education.

“Steven” finished school, found a work-study position to finish a third year qualification to be licensed to teach in any Kenyan school; and when I returned in 2014, he immediately found me and before anything else, brought me to his apartment to introduce me to his wife (he married a young widow with a small daughter), and his new baby. “Steven” not only supported his wife and children, but he paid the school fees for all of his siblings. 

With a little generosity of spirit, lives were changed and bettered. 

Dear reader, individually we are not called to change the world, that is the position of Messiah, but we are called to share joyfully of what we have – and this is not limited to money – and we do this because we love the Lord more than our earthly treasures.

The longer we live in this life of faith, the more that we discover that money makes the same exclusive demands as the Lord; but while one takes of us, the other gives to us. The Lord loves a cheerful giver – one giving freely – because it is a demonstration, of not only our love for our fellow man, but also our love for Him.

Be well. Shalom.  

The Feather

On By Bp. Justin ElwellIn Applied Theology1 Comment

The leper. 

Matthew 8:1-3, “After Yeshua had come down from the hill, large crowds followed him. Then a man afflicted with leprosy came, kneeled down in front of him and said, ‘Sir, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Yeshua reached out his hand, touched him and said, ‘I am willing! Be cleansed!’”

Feathers.

Imagine standing on a hill on a windy day with a fluffy feather pillow in your hands. As the wind continues to blow, you open the pillow, and empty its feathery contents into the wind. As you stand and watch, imagine attempting to retrieve each of those feathers. As you focus to pick up just one or two, the wind continues to blow feathers a greater and wider distance from you. It would seem a hopeless task. When speaking of gossip, and the effects of gossip in rabbinic literature, it is often compared to emptying a feather pillow into the wind. While it seemed only a small thing, it very quickly grew beyond control or repair.

The touch.    

After Messiah Yeshua/Jesus speaks the Sermon on the Mount, he is approached by a man afflicted by leprosy (Matt. 8:1-4). According to Jewish law a leper was not to touch, speak, or otherwise interact with a ritually clean individual. On this occasion, as we note in several instances in the Gospels, a leper approached Yeshua to be healed. Why was this man so moved that he risked social scorn, ridicule, or even threats of violence to ask Messiah to heal him? And why did Yeshua touch this man, rather than simply speak healing to him? 

The disease. 

The rabbinic sages have concluded that leprosy, detailed in Leviticus 13 and 14, was the result of the sin of gossip or slander. The Torah directs the people of God to “love your neighbor as yourselves” (Lev. 19:18), and to treat others, including an enemy, favorably (Ex. 23:4). Gossip, while seeming to be a small matter, destroys lives. Even after forgiveness is sought and received, the reputation of the individual affected many never be completely recovered. The gossip, should he remain unrepentant, is physically afflicted. As he was not careful to guard his words, he would sit, reflect and seek healing from the Lord. His words to the general public are limited to two, “Unclean! Unclean!” (Lev. 13:45). By such a declaration, people would know his sin. His sin of speech. He will now live alone; separated from society, outside the camp (Lev. 13:46). 

The apostle James writes, “Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing” (James 1:26). Sobering words for sure. Additionally, Messiah Yeshua said, “The good person produces good things from the store of good in his heart, while the evil person produces evil things from the store of his heart. For his mouth speaks what overflows from his heart” (Lk. 6:45).

The diagnosis. 

Gossip, then, should not be a quality, or gifting named among disciples of Messiah. Gossip is not just the repeating of something that is not true, it also shares truth to which the hearer is not entitled. Leviticus 19:16 warns, “You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord” (cf. Deut. 27:24). Go “about as a talebearer” translates more precisely, “go up and down as a pedlar,” meaning to go about gathering and disseminating gossip about others. The second clause of Leviticus 19:16 concerns the life of an individual, but coupled with the pedlar of gossip, the Lord is revealing that such activity is destroying the neighbor with the tongue, the results of which the victim may never recover. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and in this instance, the tongue choose death (Pro. 18:21; cf. Ps. 34:13-14). 

Its treatment. 

Gossip damages covenant community, and causes bitter division between brethren. Messiah provides avenues of reconciliation for those damaged by gossip, or other sinful actions. In Matthew 5:23-24 (cf. Matt. 18:15-17) Yeshua speaks of an issue of unresolved, and unidentified tension. In this text, set against the backdrop of worship before the Altar in the Holy Temple, Yeshua places greater emphasis on reconciliation than sacrifice in this instance. The sacrifice people would bring to the Altar was costly, and it represented an act of obedience and deep devotion to the covenant Lord. However, Yeshua says, first go “make peace,” then “offer your gift” to the Lord. 

The damage. 

Gossip poisons language. It takes that which can bring together, and tears apart. It is deadlier than a weapon, as the damage caused can never be fully repaired, or washed away. While the Lord created with language, gossip destroys creation. We must never, therefore, take language lightly. To do so will shreds the social fabric of the human community.

Why the touch?     

In the Sermon on the Mount, Messiah speaks of the effects of faith on the life of those following Him – the inner transformation in faith effecting the wider community by action. The leper, by speaking to Messiah, was confessing his condition with faith that Yeshua could make him well, “if you are willing,” not “if you can.” Messiah responds, “I am willing,” touching him, and healing him. As followers of Messiah we are called to humble servanthood. We are called to give people good news, not scandalize or ruin them. 

The healing. 

Messiah touched this leper to remind all of us that no matter how defiled we, or another, may be, His touch cleanses and restores. 

Shalom. Be well.