Lenten Devotions - Day 14
“Jesus asked, ‘What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come and kill those renters and let someone else have his vineyard. You surely know that the Scriptures say, “The stone that the builders tossed aside is now the most important stone of all. This is something Yahweh has done, and it is amazing to us.”’” Mark 12:9-11
When Jesus’ words sound harsh, they seem directed not at unbelievers, but at those who call themselves God's people. They are the ones he criticized most strongly. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and other religious leaders were too comfortable with their standing before God. In hanging onto those things they held dear, they were forgetting about serving God according to God’s plans. They were overly focused on being right, on belonging, on holding onto a tradition, heritage, and promise.
Jesus did not mince words. He painted a bleak picture of those self-righteous religious leaders. It was not that they didn't have a good set of answers. It was not that they didn't hold to a good tradition. It was not that they didn't claim the promises of God through the prophets. It was not any failure to offer sacrifice, worship as prescribed, or study and memorize God’s revealed word. It was that they did all these things to serve themselves, rather than God or those in need of God's message.
Their focus was not on God, despite their loud claims. They focused on themselves—their heritage, traditions, beliefs, doctrine, and patterns of living. It was the continual establishment problem. A younger generation desires to correct the excesses of the generation before. It builds new structures then shift focus to preserving the new or improved institution.
As a generation tackles error and excess, it creates excesses of its own. Once again we need reform. Reformation is a continual struggle. Each generation must face its own context, issues, excesses, and errors. It must battle the consistently inward turning of religious structures. It must train its eyes once more toward God and God's will for a people. It must look long and hard look at its constant bent toward personal issues at the expense of God's.
We must assume that our own generation faces the same issues. It is too easy to look across the breadth of church history to find its errors and excesses in the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the selling of indulgences, the church's attempts to wield political power, and attempting to silence Galileo and Copernicus' claims that the earth was not the center of the universe. We see the problems of the religious leaders in Jesus' day, but too often ignore our own complicity.
Where is it that we use religious experience, expression, tradition, and heritage to serve our own interests instead of God's? Are we too attached to our traditions, heritage, or the institutions we have built or inherited to look beyond them to serving the mission and purposes of God?
Look again at the purposes of God in Christ—to reconcile the world in forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Repent of your actions which promote personal interests above the interests and purposes of Christ Jesus. Determine how you will shift the direction of your life focus to the purpose of reconciling the world to God. For Jesus, it is a very serious issue.
“Lord, show me where my life strays from your purposes. Grant me the courage to allow you to alter my course.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
When Jesus’ words sound harsh, they seem directed not at unbelievers, but at those who call themselves God's people. They are the ones he criticized most strongly. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and other religious leaders were too comfortable with their standing before God. In hanging onto those things they held dear, they were forgetting about serving God according to God’s plans. They were overly focused on being right, on belonging, on holding onto a tradition, heritage, and promise.
Jesus did not mince words. He painted a bleak picture of those self-righteous religious leaders. It was not that they didn't have a good set of answers. It was not that they didn't hold to a good tradition. It was not that they didn't claim the promises of God through the prophets. It was not any failure to offer sacrifice, worship as prescribed, or study and memorize God’s revealed word. It was that they did all these things to serve themselves, rather than God or those in need of God's message.
Their focus was not on God, despite their loud claims. They focused on themselves—their heritage, traditions, beliefs, doctrine, and patterns of living. It was the continual establishment problem. A younger generation desires to correct the excesses of the generation before. It builds new structures then shift focus to preserving the new or improved institution.
As a generation tackles error and excess, it creates excesses of its own. Once again we need reform. Reformation is a continual struggle. Each generation must face its own context, issues, excesses, and errors. It must battle the consistently inward turning of religious structures. It must train its eyes once more toward God and God's will for a people. It must look long and hard look at its constant bent toward personal issues at the expense of God's.
We must assume that our own generation faces the same issues. It is too easy to look across the breadth of church history to find its errors and excesses in the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the selling of indulgences, the church's attempts to wield political power, and attempting to silence Galileo and Copernicus' claims that the earth was not the center of the universe. We see the problems of the religious leaders in Jesus' day, but too often ignore our own complicity.
Where is it that we use religious experience, expression, tradition, and heritage to serve our own interests instead of God's? Are we too attached to our traditions, heritage, or the institutions we have built or inherited to look beyond them to serving the mission and purposes of God?
Look again at the purposes of God in Christ—to reconcile the world in forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Repent of your actions which promote personal interests above the interests and purposes of Christ Jesus. Determine how you will shift the direction of your life focus to the purpose of reconciling the world to God. For Jesus, it is a very serious issue.
“Lord, show me where my life strays from your purposes. Grant me the courage to allow you to alter my course.”
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
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