Preacher's Post

10/2: Jesus' Math Doesn't Add Up

So in what universe does this make sense?  We know that if you agree to work for eight hours at $20 per hour, the equation looks like this:  $20 x 8 = $160.  $20 x 4 = $160? But what if $20 x 1 = $160!  That’s not right, but in God’s universe that’s the kind of math we encounter.  It just doesn’t make sense and even strikes as flat out wrong.

Jesus was always trying to get the people to see things from a completely different perspective—to see life from God’s perspective.  The people of His day were no different that we are today in terms of how we calculate what is fair and how things should work.  There is right and there is wrong.  And it is just wrong for someone to get the same wage for one hour’s work as it is for someone who works a  full day.  Yet Jesus says, that’s what the kingdom of heaven is like. 

9/4: The King's Speech

Pride is a strange phenomenon that can really trip us up.  My experience is pride is the master of deception because it can come dressed up in so many disguises.  The kind of pride that is puffed up by an overestimation of one’s importance, ability, or station in life can clearly be identified as pride.  But pride can show up disguised as an underestimation of one’s ability and options.  If I am presented a challenge I am clearly not up to on my own, it is pride that will keep me from asking for help.  Pride is what keeps me stuck measuring all possibilities with my “me” ruler, when my “we” ruler offers the possibility of accomplishing together what you and I can’t do on our own.