Amazing God, bless with showers of Your grace, the needs in the life of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Matthew 21: 23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" 24 Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, "From heaven,' he will say to us, "Why then did you not believe him?' 26 But if we say, "Of human origin,' we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 28 "What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, "Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 He answered, "I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, "I go, sir'; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him. (NRSV)
What authority do you let Jesus have in your life? Can He make you uncomfortable? I know we seek Him when we need comforting, why not when we need to be uncomfortable? Authority is permission with credentials, however we might define credentials. Jesus stepped on toes usually when doing supernatural things or very human things against humans. In this case, Jesus had spent time in the Temple upsetting the money-changer's cart. He drove them out call the Temple, "my Father's house," and saying things like, "this is supposed to be a house of prayer!" Whose authority do you suppose had given the money-changers entrance into the Temple to practice their wares? Uh huh. The chief priests and the elders. And this upset them as did the fact Jesus was doing some mighty amazing things that defied explanation. Who gave you that right? they demanded to know. Jesus throws it back to them: Who gave John the right to baptize? Heaven or Humans? They knew they could not answer that question without risking much difficulty. Then the story about the man who had two sons; one who said no, but did the work requested of him by the dad, and the other who said yes, but did not do the work. Who did the will of the Father?, Jesus wanted to know.
The religious people of Jesus' day sought to be comfortable. They had their revenue-generating schemes in place. They had fine clothing. They lived in nice homes within walking distance of their work. They were so comfortable they would work only with those who would come and spend time inside their domain. This meant the comfortable among the laity (non-clergy or nonprofessional religious types). They had not reached the tax collectors or prostitutes. John had. Jesus did. Who was doing the will of God?
Why not give Jesus power over your life to make you uncomfortable today? Cross the room or the street to talk to those who are not comfortable with the creature comforts of this life. Seek the ones no one is seeking. Find the ones which others care nothing about.
PRAYER: Loving God, I confess that I find great comfort in being comfortable. I confess that I also realize that being a Christian is not about seeking to be comfortable; I have to go beyond my comfort zone to reach others. Forgive me and empower me to be uncomfortable and to reach those who need Your touch. I ask this in the Name of He who came to show me that, Jesus my Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
