The word mammon is money personified, you put your full trust in money, and it becomes your god. It is the opposite of what God intends. We desire to accumulate and acquire wealth that we become fuller and content in a god, that we neglect to recognize or help those who are less fortunate. God instead wants us to acquire more of Himself and to accumulate the blessing prepared for us in the next life.
Another busy week at Fox Street Church of God as we continue our plans leading up to Easter.
Today’s message from Jesus is kind the opposite of that. Jesus’ message is more like Herbie the Love Bug. Remember Herbie? A Volkswagen Bug, that unlike the care in Christine, had a quiet personality that nobody expected anything out of, yet he won many races with some comedy in-between. Or think of it this way. Remember the old story, the Tortoise and the Hare? Remember how braggadocios the Hare was? Yet the quiet tortoise wins the race. Jesus directs his audience on proper etiquette when is comes to religious fasting.
Many meetings this week . . . Shrove Tuesday and Easter are coming — and much more!!
The Gospel of Matthew paints the ministry of Jesus consistently, that Jesus is more focused on individual relationships more than corporate gatherings of people who may be:
As we go into the Winter Olympic Games and as we edge closer to the Super Bowl, I want us to pause for a moment as we watch these events. Every one of the athletes, both male and female, have prepared for years on end to be at the top of their field. And in the end, there is recognition, whether be a Lombardi Trophy or a medal. There will be those who will be the cover of Sports Illustrated or Time magazine. They will be all over every news outlet. Most of these athletes feel the weight of representing a city or a nation.
Stay tuned — exciting times coming!
So, Jesus makes this unpopular statement to a group of people who have very negative opinions about Rome, except the priests, of course.
Planning for an exciting 2022!
There are certain things that we never really grow out of. In many ways, many of our behaviors are childish. Now when Jesus states that we ought to be like little children, what I am about to say is not what Jesus meant. What I am talking about is the childish things we do that are not good behavior. I could have entitled this sermon “Oh Grow Up” but I decided to stick to the accurate understanding of Jesus’ position on the idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.