Baa, Howl, Hiss, Coo

This Sunday I'll be preaching on Matthew 10:16-25 in which Jesus goes on a metaphor spree. In verse 16 he uses two sentences to share three metaphors invoking four different animals in just twenty words. It's hard to imagine three more different animals than a sheep, a snake and a dove, but what they have in common is that none of them are animals known for their power, strength, or boldness. They are not the sort of animals with which one might hope to conquer the world. You do not post sheep, snakes or doves around the perimeter of your territory to ward off intruders. You don't sic doves on your enemies, or ask a snake to stand up to anyone, or impress the wolves with the strength of the sheep.
When I was a kid I hated those times when we were lined up, captains were chosen and the captains took turns selecting their teams. But the worst thing wasn't being chosen to be on the team without any of my friends, or even being chosen last. The worst thing was when my team captain volunteered for his team to be skins. "Panic" is not too strong a word to describe my reaction at that point.
I think the disciples might have felt something like this when Jesus, the team captain, said "we'll be sheep, snakes and doves." They'd signed up to be lions!
But there's a reason for all this. Jesus isn't setting us up for failure. But he is aiming for a different kind of victory, the sort in which we prevail while being outscored, the one where we win by being arrested, hated, persecuted and by fleeing (all words from this passage).
Our resilience wears the world down. The world is powerless to take from the snakes their shrewdness or to make the dove unkind. When we prove that the world can make the sheep into dinner, but can not make them into wolves, we demonstrate that He who is in us is greater than he that is in the world.
Oh, the irresistible power of sheep who act the part!


Call to Repentance
Hebrews 10:26-27, 31 (page 1874)

Call to Worship
Psalm 138 (page 973)

OT Reading
Jeremiah 50:17-20 (page 1262)

NT Reading
1 Peter 2:18-25 (page 1889)

Message
Enough to Be Like Him
Matthew 10:16-25 (page 1511)

Readings for Sunday, the 22nd of June

This Sunday I'm going to be preaching on the first portion of Matthew Chapter 10, dealing with the sending out of the twelve. There's a lot there! I'll be preaching on the 10th chapter of this Gospel for the next several weeks.

Call to Repentance
2 Chronicles 7:14 (page 685)

Call to Worship
Psalm 121 (page 965)

OT Reading
Genesis 12:1-9 (page 17)

NT Reading
Acts 8:1-8 (page 1704)

Message
Road Rules
Matthew 10:1-15 (page 1510)

And here's a hymn I wrote while reflecting on this passage this week (while cleaning lockers.)

Your love's displayed in this:

You still reach out to me,

Though I resist, forsaking bliss,

And choosing enmity.

Your messengers don't cease;

They still proclaim Your word,

When I, though offered truth and peace,

Am yet by lies allured.

They come prepared to heal

And drive the virus out;

This leprous malady I feel

Of flaking sin and doubt.

They come prepared to give

Correction to the soul;

Reproach to make the contrite live,

Hard words to make them whole.

Lord help me to reply

With grace I don't possess,

And then to prove that grace when I

Your servants richly bless.

Lord never let it be

That in the end they must

Stop wasting precious pearls on me

And shake away my dust.

Reading for Father's Day

This Sunday is Father's Day and I'm preaching on Psalm 68:4-6, which I think is an important passage about the nature of God with critical implications for how we as the people of God go about our business.
I don't want to tip my hand too much, but the fact that God is a Father to the fatherless and that He puts the solitary in families needs to shape our approach to the evangelization and discipleship of young people in our community. The conventional approach to winning and converting young people reflects a modern, American mindset, more than it does a biblical worldview. And the statistics I shared last week about the moral convictions of young "born-again" believers illustrate that if that approach is not counterproductive, it is at least unproductive.
There are an incredible number of people in our community who desperately need to experience the grace available to them through Jesus Christ, and among them the young seem more urgently needy and more earnestly open. It is right that we should feel a burden for their salvation. But the best approach to securing a faith that will persevere and transform is not easy, safe or comfortable. It will ask a lot of us and our families.
But I praise God for that. To think that, after everything, He still thinks enough of us to ask a lot of us!


Call to Repentance
Romans 12:1-2 (page 1763)

Call to Worship
Psalm 67 (page 902)

OT Reading
Isaiah 57:6-12 (page 1153)

NT Reading
Ephesians 3:14-21 (page 1820)

Message
Juvenile Redemption Centers
Psalm 68:4-6 (page 902)

Readings for Sunday

It's time for a new approach to evangelism. What Paul did in Athens was simply radical, and what we need to do today in Central Vermont to express the gospel to a new generation is no less radical (although it's nothing really new).

Call to Repentance
Matthew 3:7-8 (page 1499)

Call to Worship
Psalm 146 (page 980)

OT Reading
Psalm 72 (page 908)

NT Reading
1 Corinthians 9:16-23 (page 1781)

Message
A Mars' Hill For This Generation
Acts 17:19-34 (page 1723)