What is the “stink eye”? (See below) enough said. The better question is: What is the stink eye effect? It’s the sum product of you giving the stink eye to people for no reason other than to let them know that you’re not feeling “important enough.” Let me restate that– it’s being bratty! Now, kids give stink eyes all the time when they feel like they deserve something they didn’t get. Fine, you can live with a little bratty kids. But what happens when adults start giving you the stink eye? That’s right, you get annoyed and start stink eyeing them back. Am I right? The culmination of all said stink eyes is bitterness and resentment. That means you will have that many more broken relationships (and most likely, that many more hours of therapy). This conclusion brings us to Matthew 20:16. “So the last will be first, and the first last.” – Matthew 20:16 In context of this verse, the passage was referring to people who were jealous that people who worked less than they did received the same amount of money that they received. As a result, these people went to the owner and gave him the stink-eye, which in turn, elicited that response from the owner of the vineyard. If I were one of the first to be hired, I would be stink eyeing everybody too. Don’t lie, so would you. I mean, how unfair is it to be hired first that the person hired last, and doing the least amount of work, receives the same pay as somebody who broke their hump for twelve hours in the heat of the autumn harvest? That’s right, you would want to stink eye all over. But there are two points to this story– first, you get what you negotiate for, the person who was hired first and stink-eyed, got what he asked for. Secondly, and more importantly, be grateful because you didn’t have to be hired in the first place. Likewise, what does it matter that people who are seemingly less deserving got a reward equal to your own? You also got rewarded. Let me boil down today’s quiet time moment for you in this verse: the nature of the stink eye is envy which is displeased at the good of others and desires for their hurt. We have no claim to any reward without the grace of God bestowing that to us. So, if in our heads we think we were first, that’s wrong, we’re actually last. Likewise, if we thought we were last, we’ll be made first. This is in terms of our sense of ourselves– our pride, claim and deservedness of salvation. We have no reason to stink eye and it’s effects should not be present in our lives. We need to praise and rejoice that God, by His mercy gave to us as He gave to others a chance at eternal life.

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV) The Apostle Paul says to “pursue love” and that some tools that can be useful in that pursuit of love are “spiritual gifts.” Of those spiritual gifts, Paul articulates that “prophesy” is something to be especially desired. Therefore we must ask ourselves, what exactly is meant by what Paul says. Prophesy isn’t predicting the future, so let’s get that out of our collective heads. I’m not saying that some Biblical prophesy didn’t predict the future; but I am saying that traditionally, the meaning of “prophesy” or “prophesying” encompasses much more than a fortune telling. In fact, prophesying has more to do with the equipping, encouraging and admonishing of people in your community. Especially, when done in the name of love, it is a powerful gift from God that allows people to systematically share and live lovingly within a framework of culture that often times is unloving. Here’s what I mean by that from verse 3 of this passage: “On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.” Every time we prophesy in love and in the name of God, we help people grow. We also help encourage them and provide comfort for their weariness. That is prophecy at its finest. Best of all, it’s not limited to only the professionally religious. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit to all of us if we ask for it. Prophesy is simply being a reflection of God’s wisdom into people’s lives in a meaningful way. Prophecy is revealing what God reveals lovingly. The strangeness is that we’d rather not be an instrument of development, encouragement and comfort. We’d rather just rip on people. I know what goes through our heads when we do this; we’re thinking one of two things: either that we’re better than the other person who just doesn’t get it; or we’re totally forgotten on the goodness other people’s prophesy had for us. Get this straight: prophesy is not a tool to tear down, it is for building up. It’s about time we hone ourselves to reveal God for this purpose. It’s time that all of us begin speaking prophesies into other people’s lives.

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. (Galatians 2:11 ESV) I know nobody that actually reads this quiet time has ever been part of a group think dumbing, but as believers in Christ, we need to actively stand against it. If we don’t actively oppose it, we become part of the group think machine that will eventually be the ruin of us all. Here’s what I mean by that: last week, two political parties, and as a result, the masses of Americans out there began to group themselves into two parties (whom by the way, are not so disparagingly divergent in their moralized truth philosophies) and blow trumpets of ridicule and annoyingly unsound banter for and against the other political party’s candidate. Mostly, I stay out of the political commentary because it’s worthless rhetoric, and today I am just using it as an example of what happens when group-think becomes an accepted part of your ideology. That is to say that when are not vehemently opposing group think (questioning it) we allow ourselves become the manipulated tools and consumers of bad reasoning. Peter (also known as Cephas) was victim to that same frame of reference. He allowed himself get caught up into group-think and betrayed what he really believed for groupthink peer pressure against an exploited people group. He had forgotten that his people were exploited and ruled over by the same thought and logic the Jews were ridiculed by. (In the first century Roman Empire, the Jewish religion was considered barbaric and lowly– mostly because the monotheism). Peter was disassociating himself with his Greek Christian brothers because what they ate! Paul, stood against Peter. He stood against Peter not only out of principle; but because God, in the form of Christ, came to radically alter how people live. He took conformity to the culture and power of this world and broke the hold it had on our individual lives. Peter knew this. Paul knew Peter knew this. Let’s fast forward to our lives: are we allowing other people’s thoughts conform us away from the radical love and grace of Jesus? Are we simply “Republican” or “Democrat” because categories say we are? Aren’t we freed by Christ, first and foremost? If the answer is “yes,” then why are we simply falling in line with group think and not opposing it? Doesn’t our salvation warrant a response against how things operate in this world? Paul thought so, and I’m sure Peter remembered again after Paul’s pep talk.

What if I told you that your experience in the here and now, is nothing compared to what you can imagine in your wildest dreams, would you believe me? You most likely would believe me. In fact, not only would you believe me, you would also say that if your imaginations were to come true, reality would be a lot better off than it is now. I mean, just imagine it. But what if I told you that your experience in reality is part of the greatest, most imaginative reality possible? Would you believe me? Would you believe that this imagination would serve to be the greatest possible good for all people on the earth? Probably not? Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21 Here’s what I’m getting at: God’s intention is to reconcile the world into his plan for salvation. Therefore everything that occurs in our lives was imagined to be an act of reconciliation– to bring one more soul, one more person to God’s infinite grace, love and mercy, so that a perspective of eternity can be seen and imagined for all individuals. This reality supercedes the imagination of any single human being and additionally any reality that an individual can dream for himself or herself– God’s reality is of a greater imagination than any we can ever fathom. So that should nudge us toward reimagining our duties and obligations within God’s framework and His imagination. What does that “reimagining” of our duties and obligations look like then? First, it looks like the “fullness of God.” Secondly, it looks like the glorification of Jesus in and through our actions that has lasting impacts from here into eternity. More concretely the “fullness of God” is a love that is inclusive, inexhaustible, and self-sacrificing. This, in turn, climaxes into a gracious reconcilliation of people to God that defines brand new relationships between God and His people. Our duties and obligations in a reimagined reality of God, which is simply our current reality but seen through a new lens focused from the perspective of heaven, can then be described as a reliance on God to do, within us, more than we imagined ourselves being capable of doing. Further, from that reliance on God to do more than we realized to do for ourselves, what stems is a radical change in our being and focus to do something completely uncharactistic– something godly, in the image of God, as we were created to be and thus we become greater than we could have ever imagined. If you can’t imagine what that would look like for you, then this is what you want, even if you can’t imagine it. There is a greater imagination awaiting us, if we want it as our reality.

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” (Acts 20:35 ESV) I know there are days when you look around and ask yourself, “Why do I toil so hard when everybody else gets to ‘coast’ along in life?” To that question, there rarely seems to be an answer. But that is neither here nor there. More pertinent questions are: “Who is weak?” and “What does it mean to work hard to help them?” So allow me to address those issues this morning. Jesus, in his sermon from the mount, describes the “weak” as the type of people that will inherit the kingdom of heaven. For all that abstraction, because anybody willing to lose themselves for something greater than the egotistical “I” is, in effect, “weak,” we must conclude that the “weak” are simply those whom you influence and have an opportunity to share the gospel with. This includes acquaintances, friends, family, bosses and even strangers that come into contact with you. Upon careful consideration, we understand that there are lots of “weak” people in our lives. Not necessarily “weak” in physical or mental capacities; but “weak” in the ego. In fact, we are “weak” in ego. We, as believers and followers of a risen Jesus, give our rights up to take a chance and rely on his sonship and sacrificial atonement before God because we know we can never, ever be atoned by anything we do on our own. Don’t think I am bashing on people I deem “weak” because I, myself, am amongst their numbers. Therefore, we must “work hard.” I am saying, rather the Apostle Paul is saying, we must always strive to having the ability to help others and not only ensure that our needs are met; but, more importantly, that we can meet others’ needs. These needs include, but are not limited to, mental, emotional, monetary, and spiritual needs. The Apostle Paul, in his last face-to-face address to the people of Ephesus, implores the believers there to work hard to help the weak. He explains that although his vocation was that of a religious teacher, he didn’t take his pay as traditional religious teachers did; instead, he worked to take care of himself and leverage any other money to take care of people who just couldn’t fend for themselves. If we are challenged to give more of ourselves to “weak” people within our circles of influence, then what types of blessings are we missing out on because we’re too shortsighted to “work hard and help the weak?” More importantly, what are we failing to believe about Jesus’ model for us as believers? Today we must work hard to help the weak.

But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man! (Job 11:12) Zophar, one of Job’s closest friends, says in most poetic fashion– “Job, you deserve worse than your predicament.” he says this to a man that lost it all– his children, wealth and his health. In fact, his wife had to sell her hair to food. That’s how dire the situation was for Job and his wife. They had nothing left, so it’s understandable why Job couldn’t see the bright side of things; why there was little to no reason for optimism. Let’s really get to the bottom line of what Zophar was saying — he was saying that God can do whatever He well feels like and would be justified in doing exactly that. He continues to say that if people would feel otherwise, then do something about it and tritely says, “oh yeah, you can’t, so God’s justified and you’re stupid if you think otherwise.” (Nice friend to have right?) Job didn’t understand why his tragedy was happening to him. There was no reason he could think of for a natural disaster to hit his entire family and for a band of thieves to murder and steal his possessions and his employees. I’m sure however; he isn’t the only one who felt like things that were happening in life were a senseless at best. Just think about your circumstances or your situation– doesn’t it almost always feel unfair? For some of us, our circumstances and situation may have been the root cause for leaving the church or ceasing to believe that God truly loves us. I totally get it. Job, totally understands it. He could have easily cursed God and died after everything he been through. But he doesn’t curse God, nor does he die. Zophar tells Job that “stupidity” is not accepting the situation as it is and then sulking over it. He says “stupid people” who cannot accept God for God and their situation as it is will never gain “understanding,” that is wisdom. He says that people who cannot let go of gripe from the situation and circumstances they face are as likely to find the bigger picture as a donkey being born into a person– in other words, “when hell freezes over.” If “stupidity” is not being able to accept God and the circumstances we are placed in by the will of God (assuming we believe God is sovereign), then we must try to be wise. Wisdom, as Zophar says it, is simply to let things go and not dwell on things that happened which we have no control over. He says to prepare our hearts to reach out to God because that is where we can look to find hope, to find security and to rest because you will be in the hands of a God who is in control. This is wisdom and that is how we are to view the circumstances and situation we are engulfed in. Be wise.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5 ESV)

If you spent any time in Sunday School or did time in Vacation Bible School, you probably know the tune and the dance that accompanies this passage. But have you ever thought of the song’s significance?

It’s not just to encourage small people (aka kids) to take the initiative to do what is necessary to glimpse of Jesus. Rather, it’s about a disposition of heart that even us “big people” can relate to and need in order to have Jesus invite himself into your house (figuratively).

Zacchaeus was the equivalent of a modern day traitor. He was a tax collector and he was a corrupt tax collector at that. But the reason I call him a modern day traitor is because tax collectors basically were a franchise owner for the people who oppresses you. Let me explain, if you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about and haven’t heard my tirade on this on any given Sunday.

The Roman empire would franchise out its tax collecting duties to people in the localities that they conquered so that the garrison and/or military forces employed by Rome can be paid to keep Roman control in that land and territory by the very people they conquered. It’s an ingenious system if you ask me. So what you have are people that serve as tax collectors that are taking money from their own people so that a foreign nation can rule over them on their dime. Zacchaeus was, therefore a traitor; and like most traitors, he was also corrupt, he levied higher than normal taxes so that he could gain wealth.

What this story in Luke teaches us is that Zacchaeus was willing to climb up a tree to get a glimpse at something that he wasn’t primed to get a glimpse at. Jesus, being a religious leader, was not the type of person that would be found associating himself with a morally broken traitor and Zacchaeus knew it. But despite that, Zacchaeus had to see for himself, who this Jesus was. Jesus then surprised Zacchaeus by reaching out to him.

On a normal day, God would have no business meeting with us. He is after all, holy, perfect and eternal, whereas we are the opposite. But like Zacchaeus, if we are willing to catch a glimpse of God, He will turn around and surprise us each and every time by inviting himself into our life and associating with us. It’s really beautiful.

Every single time we take the initiative to get a glimpse of God passing us by, He will always say, “hurry up and come down.” Some of us will not respond to that invitation to “hurry up and come down.”

Others of us will cling harder to the tree we climbed up to get a glimpse; but both are incorrect responses. Jesus must stay at your house (your heart) today, but you must hurry up and come down to accept his invitation.

Recently I have felt the pinch of having no money. In a gaffe of mis-budgeting, and a sudden loss of income compounded by a series of unforeseeable emergencies; I went from having just enough, to barely scrapping by on a week to week basis. If you ever lost a job or found yourself with large bills or even if you blew your money at some point, you understand what I’m talking about. At the same time, when you’re barely scrapping along, you understand that there are certain things that must be paid regardless– you know, the essentials like rent or mortgage, the utilities, etc. What we often forget about is our giving. We stop giving– I’m guilty of this too. I mean, the very last thing I’m thinking about when I’m scrapping by is not how much I can afford to give; but rather, where am I going to get money to become whole. This quiet time is not about money, it’s about giving sacrificially. That is to see your ability to give as more than the dollars and cents in your wallet and offer something much more valuable. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:3, 4 ESV) Jesus says to the Pharisees that were giving nearly 40% of their wealth to the needy and to the church that they need to have a heart of generosity. This ultimately means that giving for the sake of giving is worthless. Let me phrase that better– giving without pain is not as worthwhile as giving despite the pain. I know I’m going to get a few frowns for writing this, like I’m discoursing financial support (which I want you to do and generously support with your dollars); but giving what you have little of is much more a worthwhile investment than any dollar. So for you people who have little money but lots of time– give your little money and use that time to find a job that pays some money. Likewise, you people with no time and lots of money, give that money and dedicate your remaining time to God. Finally, for those of us with no time and equally no money to show for it, sacrifice it all for God and see what your sacrificial investment yields. I dare you to try it.

So I got tired of listening to those pastors that tell everybody to be a delight to God without ever telling people how. It drives me up the wall. In fact, it should drive you up the wall– to be told to live your life in a way that God can take pleasure in without knowing exactly how. Better yet, it should make us mad to hear such heavy words without knowing if God takes pleasure in rule followers or rule breakers.

… but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. (Psalm 147:11 ESV) To be God’s delight means two things: first, a fear of God; and secondly, a hope or belief in His love for us. Let me explain all of that, before you start conjuring wild and unrealistic fantasies. Starting with the phrase, “fear of God,” I know you heard this curious phrase before, we will define that as an attitude of reverence in knowing where God is on the grand totem pole of things. Better defined, if that was too rough and cursory, the phrase means that we, if we have a “fear of God” treat God with the respect that He deserves from the out flowing of his love for us– that is understanding that our experience is tempered by God’s grace on our lives and therefore, our grateful response to Him. This is hard for many of us who have been hurt or badly injured by people who were supposed to be the model of God’s love and so, I would like you to see past your consequences and look toward future intentions of God, because like a loving parent, God intends good things for us, His children. So God delights in you when you delight in Him. Secondly, God finds pleasure in us when we hope He comes through for us in the best way. Not necessarily in our way, but in the way that maximizes the good in our lives. When we hope, that is to trust in God’s “steadfast love” we are actually committing ourselves to God. Simply put, God loves it when we trust Him by committing to Him. I want to remind us that in no way does this psalm indicate that God “delights” in straight arrows, or in some type of moralistic perfection. God enjoys people who freely, and willingly trust Him for who He is. What I am saying is that delighting God is not an impossibility of actions. It is rather, an attitude and mindset of intentions toward Him. We delight God by accepting God in our lives to be exactly who He says He is, and then by trusting in that. My question to us: do we delight in God so that He can delight in us? Or are we trying in vain to impress Him with unwarranted actions?

The dilemma presented by believing or not believing something you can’t see lies in whether or not you trust the source of information. Let’s look at this story from Jesus’ life about that exact problem. One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (Luke 20:1-8 ESV) The way Jesus leaves the chief priests, elders and scribes hanging is quite interesting. It implies that all is a waste of time if you don’t know what you’re beliefs are. Secondly, Jesus tells them that if they don’t know, he’s not going to continue to confuse them anymore. Yet, he has no problem leaving them to stew in a dilemma they created for themselves by not picking something to believe in– that is to say, these people didn’t really believe in anything and they tended to flip and flop according to public opinion because they didn’t want to look bad for their beliefs and yet didn’t want to appear faithless. For us, it is a question of whether we are willing to keep our faith somewhere hap-hazardously between believing and not believing. Moreover, do we want to live our lives that way? Believing is a commitment and if we don’t commit, where does that leave us? Are we going to allow other people decide what we should or should not believe in for our livelihood? Jesus knew exactly what these people were doing– they were trying to force him into a position of disbelief that they were trapped in. People still do that– trying to trap us into group think and bully us with unsound reasoning to aimlessly question our faith with meandering. Jesus was teaching people the good news of God, these naysayers wanted Jesus and everybody else who needed hope, to question that hope because they don’t want a hopeful people. We fall to that trap every single time. Believing is having “hope” and that hope is what gives us strengths through difficult times, when things are uncertain, when believing is difficult. President Snow from the Hunger Games says it best, “Hope, it is the only thing stronger than fear.” Therefore, our dilemma is choosing to believe because we are afraid of where it may take us. Other people are afraid for us and they try to put us in a square. Jesus says otherwise. He wants us to believe because of the convictions we hold from the experience we had. He wants us to believe in him and have hope because it is stronger than the fear that holds us in a perpetual dilemma.