Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Day 360: Sometimes I Forget

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

The reading for today is Revelation 16:1-17:6 if you want to get technical. If reading about the Seven Bowls of Wrath is your mood today, by all means, give it a go. I don’t mean to trivialize this passage, but today I hope you will allow me to write more from the heart.

On Christmas Eve my family journeyed to Bender Terrace Nursing Home in Lubbock, Texas to visit a few folks. Those of you that read this blog with regularity (Bob has assured me that you exist) know that my Grandmother passed away the night before Thanksgiving this year. She lived her last few months at Bender Terrace and we were so grateful for the care and love she received from the residents there. Gigi (as she was lovingly called) was very fortunate to have family close that would come spend time with her on a daily basis. She knew that she wasn’t forgotten. She knew she was loved.

Driving home from her funeral I had an idea. Day before yesterday that idea became a reality. At 3:30PM on Christmas Eve, my entire family (parents, sisters, brother-in-laws, nephews, daughters) showed up with handmade gifts from the kids. We walked every hallway. We went into every room. We hugged. We listened. We smiled. We laughed. We sang for two dining halls. Every person there was given a gift of love. When we left, we all agreed that there was no greater gift than the feeling of sharing the love of Christ with people who feel forgotten.

Sometimes I forget that being a Christian is far more than mere believing. It is living that belief. 2 Corinthians 9:7

May God bless you and keep you!
Matt Wilson

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Day 284: Isaiah 9:8-11:16; Ephesians 1:15-2:13 — The Gathering

Monday, October 11th, 2010

When I was a child my extended family was quite large. My father, at the greatest count, had nine brothers and sisters. That made for a lot of uncles and aunts and cousins. In Kansas City, Mo., once a year, as many as were living and could make it would gather, with my grandmother in the middle of them all. That was so much fun, and so much family, and a great trip to anticipate — a kind of pilgrimage every year to remind us of our heritage and what family means. As the years passed, relationships changed, older ones continued to pass away, the gatherings faded into my childhood memories. My father has had the wisdom to teach us always that our true, first, and best family is the church. In my wanderings and “staying-puts” the gathering of the church has always been my family, my place to be, my true, first, and best heritage, our several gatherings each week a pilgrimage. My greatest joys and greatest heartaches come from the victories and suffering of my earthly family, and that of my spiritual family, the church.

During the days of that wicked and faithless king, Ahaz, God promised Judah that He would severely prune them back to a stump so that a holy shoot, a branch, “netzer,” could come up. That branch would be the start of a holy, righteous kingdom to which all Judah and Ephraim — the rest of Israel — could gather. A kingdom so grand, so powerful, so peaceful that even the wild animals would live in harmony with man and each other. God’s promises through Isaiah weave together such beautiful themes of return of the exiled ones, the remnant theme, and the greater promise of a greater gathering into an eternal kingdom. The Holy Spirit guiding him, Matthew sees the prophets calling Jesus the NAZerene, the NETZer, the branch shooting off the holy roots of the great promises of God (Matthew 2:23). Through Paul the Spirit reminds the Christians in Ephesus of the horrible, castaway life they led, but now they are family, they are alive, they call God, the True Creator of heaven and earth, their own Father. They have been gathered into the family of God.

My family of flesh and blood I love; yet the older ones are fading, the younger ones seem to fan out away. I thank God that many of my earthly family are in the kingdom and family of God. My family in Christ grows, vibrant, brilliant, ever renewing. The ones I do not see any more only wait behind the veil of tears for the brightest promise of all, the true, last, and greatest gathering.

Holy, Righteous Father: May we live in this day with renewed vigor for Your glory, and with great expectation of that great gathering to which Jesus will escort us. Thank You, in Jesus name, amen.

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Day 240: Romans 12:3-21 — Sober judgment and one body

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. Romans 12:3-6

This chapter very much reminds me of 2 other passages in the Bible, and I see definite parallels between the three. Consider Colossians 3:1-2:

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Just as these verses and the remainder of Colossians 3 give us some guides on proper Christian behavior and setting ourselves apart from the world, Romans 12 teaches us how to act within the body of Christ. The idea in both chapters is to think of others above ourselves, just as Jesus would.

Which brings us to the second parallel I see to Romans 12:

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! 9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:1-11

I think I’ll just let these 3 snippets from the Holy Spirit speak for themselves.

Do you have the mind of Christ?

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Day 115 Luke 12:41-59 A List of Reasons

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

My dear Mother instilled in us something that stayed with me to this day. She would always say to me and my sisters – “To whom much is given…” anytime we objected to pretty much anything. For years I either a.) didn’t understand it or, b.) chose not to understand it. How in the world could a family of very modest means ever be able to say, “To whom much is given…”? When I looked around my house back then, it sure didn’t make sense.

Turn with me to Luke 12:42-48 and read along. Jesus is making some very pointed comments and he wasn’t mincing words. I know that you are all smart enough to know what he is talking about. But for me, as a kid, I only understood this in terms of monetary value. I knew we lived in a modest home. I knew that our cars were always a liability. I knew that Christmas meant to just be thankful for what we had. I knew that picking up beer cans along country back roads and selling them for cash wasn’t just for recreation.

However, as I look back on my childhood, Momma was right. We had been given so much. We were expected to do something with it.

  1. We had two loving parents that did all they could for us. Now I understand how fortunate I was to have that. I realize how many children have no one to call Momma and Daddy. I cannot and will not ever turn away from needy children.
  2. My sisters and I were blessed with no shortage of physical and mental talents. All three of my sisters are incredibly intelligent, savvy, loving, considerate, athletic, beautiful and Godly women. I am ugly but strong. So thankful for football scholarships!
  3. My parents made our home a Christian home. The greatest blessing my parents would ever bring to our home. I have never known what it was like to not have God in my life.

That is just a very short list of reasons I now know to be why my Mother would say, “To whom much is given…” It had absolutely nothing to do with money. It had everything to do with my spirit, my mind and my body. I am expected to give all of them to the Lord and use them to glorify Him.

God bless you and keep you this week and beyond…

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Day 94: Luke 4:14-30 — The Hometown Boy

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

I am writing this blog today from my Mom and Dad’s dining room table. Today I drove around my hometown for a bit and saw how different it is from when I was a young man driving my old beat up pickup truck around and looking for trouble. Most of the shops on the main square are closed and my favorite pizza joint is boarded up. Ran into a old friend from high school tonight and we talked about the good old days a bit. Where ol’ so-and-so ended up or who ol’ so-and-so is married to now. I think back to when I took Leah for our first dinner date to a steak joint on the main drag that now looks like this west wind we had today will knock it over soon. Yes, it sure seems this old town has sure changed since I left 14 years ago.

But no matter what I do, everywhere I go in this town the old people remember me as “Eddie and Jayellen’s boy…you know, the football player.”

Pick up your Bible with me and read along about Jesus coming back to his hometown. By no means am I comparing myself to Jesus, but I bet he had some of the same feelings I had today. Jesus was about my age when we pick up this scripture today. I’m sure Nazareth had changed some. I’m sure that Jesus saw people that he had grown up with. But, no matter what he had done in his life, Jesus was still known as “Joseph and Mary’s boy…you know, the carpenter.” When people know you since you were a little boy, it’s hard to change their perception from a little boy to a grown man with something to offer the world. I’m 32 years old and the people at 13th and K Church of Christ still see me as a little boy that would cry every time I led songs in church (and I can’t blame them for that).

Jesus comes home to Nazareth and heads to the synagogue. Luke 4:16-22. He reads from the scrolls and everyone is happy. Yes, that’s Joseph and Mary’s boy! How nice. Oh, it’s good to have him home. However, something happens in the next couple of verses that has his hometown so upset that not only did they run him out of town, they want to see him dead. What happened? Simple – he told them he was indeed the Messiah. How could this guy be the Messiah? We’ve seen him grow up! He can’t be the Messiah! Jesus knew that they would want proof. Instead, read Luke 4:23-27. Jesus tells the hometown crowd that the Jews didn’t accept Elijah or Elisha in their day either. In the same way, he was saying they wouldn’t accept him. By suggesting that the prophets helped the Gentiles instead of them, he really struck a nerve with the audience — so much so that they wanted to kill him. The problem is that Jesus wasn’t who they expected nor did he do what they expected.

How does that apply to us today? You and I will encounter people throughout our lives that don’t get what they want or expect from God. Maybe it’s someone that had a loved one die unexpectedly. Maybe they prayed and prayed for a loved one to recover from an illness only to have that person pass. When that happens, it can create a very dangerous situation. Sometimes those people reject God. We must be ready at all times to comfort those people and pray for God’s peace.

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Day 91: Luke 2:41-52 — Would you want your child to be like Jesus?

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

childrenIn Luke 2:46, Jesus has been separated from his parents and is in the temple courts talking to teachers, listening, and asking questions. I have read this story hundreds of time, but this time, I was caught with a thought, would we want our children to be like Jesus? I think we would all want our kids to be like Jesus. We would want them to be at church, talking to the teachers, listening and asking questions. I think we would like Luke 2:51 especially. Can you imagine a twelve year old that obeyed his/her parents?

This whole story sounds like an April Fools joke. Then again, our modern world says that church is boring and that kids don’t like it. If you think church is boring, do you think sitting at the feet of Rabbis in the temple beats alcohol, drugs, texting, skipping school, video games, sex, etc.? You think Jesus’ Gentile contemporaries didn’t know how to have fun in the Greek world? Yet, Jesus is in the temple studying. I wonder why? Could it be because his parents took him there in the first place? Could it be that they trained him that way? I can hear it now, Randy is just an old fuddy duddy. However, I’d much rather read about Jesus in the temple than about the twelve year-old on drugs, or the ones that killed themselves, or the one who killed an older adult to get a few dollars, or the one that is pregnant — I could go on and on. I may be a fuddy duddy but you can’t tell me there is not something wrong with our families and society.

I think it is time that we teach our children to be like Jesus and to take up their cross and follow Him. Parents, it starts with us teaching through our lives, at our homes, getting involved ourselves at church, and bringing them.

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Posted in Discipleship, Family, Jesus, Luke, Worship | 1 Comment »

Day 57: Mark 3:13-35 — Family

Friday, February 26th, 2010

familyI didn’t have a traditional family life. I joke about my Dad seeing me when I was born and left. I say that just to cover the pain of being abandoned. I read this passage in Mark 3:21 and I see that Jesus has a family that cares enough to try to intervene. They think Jesus is “out of his mind.” Jesus is on a collision course with confrontation that will lead to the cross. Jesus knows it, His family knows it, and we all know it. However, it does not alter Jesus in anyway. In fact, it intensifies. Jesus in Mark 3:31-35 redefines family. This does not mean that Jesus does not love His physical family but He reframes it and re-prioritizes it. Family is important but the family that follows the will of God is paramount.

The struggle of my family life has been a blessing in that it has helped me to see the truth Jesus proclaims about the priority of the spiritual family of God. It has allowed me to embrace the church and with all our faults find a family that goes beyond the physical to the eternal. However, I am curious about those who have close families and the struggle that this passage may create. I have known those who have been ostracized from their family because of their desire to follow God’s will. Discipleship is difficult because even though we may love our families, there is still the uncomfortable call that to follow Jesus, our families must come second. This is easy for me but for others I see the cost of discipleship is great. May God bless those of you who struggle today with the call of Christ and an unbelieving family.

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Day 25: Genesis 48:1-50:14; Matthew 15:21-16:4

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Not a particularly savory subject, but, have you thought about your last words on earth? The physical existence of this body from inception has one destination, the grave. As one person often reminds me, “Time will pass; it is what you do during that time that matters.” Our Old Testament reading for the day recounts the last day and hours of the life of the patriarch Jacob. As we look at his blessings we can see three wonders of life.

1. The importance of family. Jacob has his sons and little ones gathered around him. The cumulative respect, work, and love of a lifetime surrounded him. They had always “been there”  in life, but as life goes on sometimes we do not see the true importance and precious relationships around us. I do not know any more of what Jacob was thinking than what our text says; I do not know any more of what the sons thought than what our text says. Their presence speaks loudly that they were together in life and to the end. Yes a time of “blessing”, the inheritance to come. but they had to be together, as long as possible; they were family. No doubt all of the “what if’s” and “I wish I had done’s” ran through them, and we can see those things haunting the boys later. In and for our families, let us look for those brief, fleeting, chance times to do rather than wish later, be a blessing now to those we love.

2. Heritage. What a scene–imperfect people, at time scoundrels, at times patriots, but always a people bound for an ultimate blessing in the plan of God as they followed His will. Notice that Jacob did not idealize or excuse his sons. He spoke plainly, telling them what was ahead based on their own attitudes, lives, and principles. Jacob made sure that they knew what to look for, sometimes many generations ahead. What a great, sacred, and terrifying trust he illustrates for us. We inherit, choose, and pass down life to the next generations. We parents spend time berating ourselves for mistakes, and if we didn’t we likely would not be “normal” and caring parents. The idea here is that we both receive from past generations and send on to the next one or even several generations principles, values, lifestyles, patterns, stories, and, yes, those dreaded genetic traits, by which we proudly or mournfully say, “he/she is just like me!” Some things are chosen for us, others we choose. Choose what you pass on to the next generation. Pass on faith, confidence in the “the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day.” (Genesis 48:15)

3. Reflection. What do I want on my tombstone? I have chisel in hand and have been carving away at it each day of my life. I really want it to speak of “the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day.”  When you look back over your life, what do you want to say it has been about? That, friend, you create today. Later in his life, Solomon will say that the greatest pursuit is to fear God and keep his commandments, Ecclesiastes 12:13. Jesus does not hesitate to let us know that life is not about the things, it is about the life we give back to the God who gave Himself for us, Luke 12:15-21.

Question: What will you do today so that your last words and memories on this earth may be sweet?

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