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““Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It is interesting that one of the concerns during Jesus’ time was spiritual contaminations or in other words, being ritually unclean. Jesus eating with someone like Levi was a bit of a taboo because Levi would have been seen as a sinner contaminating the righteous. Yet Jesus didn’t just eat with Levi, he ate with all of Levi’s friends. Jesus wasn’t concerned about ritual cleanliness. He was concerned with bringing the people to righteousness.

The other group of people in this story is the Pharisees. The Pharisees were concerned with maintaining their righteousness not about bringing people to God’s righteousness. Yet Jesus also recognizes that the Pharisees are as spiritually unclean as the tax collectors. And Jesus was around both of them. The ritual uncleanliness and the spiritual depravity were not too much for Jesus.

Neither group stopped Jesus, the sinfulness of both did not overwhelm Jesus’ righteousness or slow the love of God that calls to the sinful hearts and invites them to receive grace and forgiveness. Now the big question is this, why do we think that our problems are too big for the grace of Jesus?

Receive His grace and blessing and live in the that is freed from the limitations of sin, as the tax collectors were invited to do and as the Pharisees were challenged to see.

“crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let us pray.

Lord we come to You knowing that You hear our every prayer. Lord we cry out for mercy. We are but clay pots shattered in the face of devastations. Lord we lift up to You the thousands of people who have died in Syria and Turkey because of the earthquake that has ravished those two countries. Our hearts cry out for mercy and comfort in the face of such tragedy. The collective hurt of those who have died, those who live with the scars both of body and soul, those who are living with unsaid words, unshared love, unspoken good-byes, no last kiss, no final embrace. Lord have mercy.

Lord we lift up to You also the families and friends of those who have had to live through the trauma of the recent car accidents. We recognize how fragile we really are in the face of all the tragedies we face. Lord bring comfort and healing to those who have suffered, families living with worry, hearts that have been broken by loss and their grief is flowing over the edges of their lives. Lord have mercy.

Lord we lift up to You those who aren’t sure how to face each day. The weight of these tragedies and the troubles around the world make them wonder why they should continue on. Lord of life and Lord of eternal life bring peace to the torrid thoughts of many questioning hearts and minds and help them to see beauty and hope in life and not just the yelling of the hurt and pain of so many. Help them to bring the light of Your hope into the struggles of others so that we all may work for peace, healing, and life in community. Lord we pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

How do we see ourselves? When we look at the tax collector Levi, he was a man that was looked down upon but had wealth and freedom. However he was willing to leave everything to follow Jesus. While this would have been a great privilege, it is also hard to leave the safety and security of his present life to enter into the unknown even though his culture held disciples in high regard. Yet Levi wasn’t bound by the his culture, he would have been seen as a cultural and religious sell out for working for the Roman occupation.

So why does a person like Levi get up and follow Jesus leaving everything he has?

The simple answer would be that Jesus called him, and I believe that this is the case but I also believe that we need to recognize what this means. At the very least we know that Jesus was a popular teacher that people wanted to come and listen to, but as I mentioned before this would not have been a strong enough draw for Levi who by some perspectives had left this custom behind.

What kind of weight does the calling of Jesus have on a person’s life?

As Peter put it in the scripture above, Jesus is calling Levi from darkness into light. Jesus is reaching down into who Levi really is, he is not a tax collector, collecting taxes is what he does. Levi is a child of God. He was born into the saving promise of God, and when Jesus called him, or more accurately said, “Come and follow me.” Levi is hearing the voice of the promise being renewed in his very soul. This promise is by far more powerful than any wealth because the promise cannot be stolen or lost, yes we can seem to forget it. However, the voice of Jesus resonates in Levi’s soul renewing a hope that had been dormant, being reminded of the truth of who he really was.

As Jesus said in the Gospel of John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Levi had probably never met Jesus before, but the voice he heard that day was familiar. It was God calling to him through the noise of wealth, greed, fear, worthlessness, the words of those who constantly belittled him, and the religion that cast him to the side and was welcomed back into the promise of God.

Jesus is calling each of us to follow Him. Not just so He will have a following but because He wants to give us the renewed heart and life of the promise of God. May we have the ears to hear and eyes to see Jesus calling to us through the joys of this world, through the stress and anxieties and into the treasure of life with Jesus.

““See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭23‬:‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let us pray.

Lord of the journey of life be with those who are tired of the daily grind, the swerving agendas, the sick attitudes.
Lord of life, whose very breath has given us the opportunity to live and breathe, to see beauty, and hear the chorus of creation praising You.
Lord of the downtrodden and fearful help them to see more in life then just the problems that are weighing them down.
Lord of knowledge, of wisdom, of learning be with those who seek to learn but are filled with distractions drawing their hearts away from that which You are placing before them.
Lord of love and anger teach us how to live with people who practise the spectrum of emotions even when we struggle to understand how to feel.
Lord of the sick, be their comfort in the struggles that they face.
Lord of healing surround all Your people who are hurting this day. Whether they are recovering from surgeries, or going to treatments. Whether their bodies are bleeding or their minds are running in all directions. Whether they are dealing with anxiety or don’t know how to be joyful anymore. Comfort us Your people.
Lord of the journey of life, grant us rest and renewal so that we might continue on with You.
We pray this in Jesus’ name, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.

“Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus we are not worthy to witness Your glory.
In our listlessness we strive to appease You.
We yearn to walk with You but struggle to quash our sinful desires.
Our waking thoughts too often are focused on our comfort.
Yet You have not condemned us for our negligence.
You have not cast us away or forgotten about us.
In Your loving kindness, You have revealed Yourself to us.
Your word and Your Holy Spirit help us to see a glimpse of Your glory,
Even with our dim sight, we are exposed to Your truth.
Help us Lord to recognize You.
To recognize what You are truly doing in the pain and struggles we are living through.
To recognize You in the times of joy and accomplishment.
To recognize that You have invited us into the miracle of Your heavenly kingdom,
Not condemning us into eternal suffering or to a life of emptiness.
Even in the mundane, Your miraculous grace is dancing in people’s hearts.
Lord gives us eyes to see and ears to hear You.
We pray this in Your Holy name. Amen.

“One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This might seem like a benign verse, obvious is that we don’t have a deep theological truth that is going to rock our socks off. What is going to shock us is the simple realization that that people had the time to listen to the word of God. It wasn’t the normal place, it was the normal time but people had the time to come out and hear Jesus speak and teach.

In today’s day and age we strive to be busy. Busy with work, busy with family, busy with play, busy with rest, but are we so busy that we don’t have time to hear Jesus. People gathered from the area to hear Jesus. Yes they lived in a different culture, a different society with different time constraints and expectations but they still chose to go and listen.

Is our busyness the problem? Maybe for some. Is the cultural expectations the problem? At one time in many Eurocentric countries it was expected that you would be in church, but this is not so everywhere and definitely not today. But we have to remember that this verse is not about the sabbath, this is about the word of God. Have we made the word of God so convoluted, watered down, complicated, that people don’t expect to meet with Jesus ever? Have we lost the logical mystery of faith that called so many into a life saving relationship with Jesus? Have we tried to explain away the divine to elevate our mundane, normal lives to godhood? It could be all of the above and more.

People thought it was important to come and hear Jesus. It is still important to come and hear Jesus. Whether it is at church, in your home, at work, in the park, on a park bench, in the stands, in the grocery store and yes even in the schools. We can make many excuses but when it comes down to it, we need to make time to come and hear Jesus.

For some it will be about the logic, some it will be the stories and understanding that they need to confront that next step of life and faith. But many of us will need to hear Jesus confronting our fear and sin, saying “Don’t be afraid.” You are forgiven, you are worthy, you are loved, you have a purpose.

Make time to meet with Jesus.

10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (‭‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

When we are waiting on the Lord, sometimes we are focused more on ourselves and the blessing that Jesus might be giving. Yet the blessing is never just for one person. When we are blessed it is always to be shared. It is always to lift up others and to be passed on, and multiplied.

Waiting on the Lord is not just about our lives being changed by Jesus’ presence, about His words of grace that disarms the power that sin has over us. Peter was living out a faithful live that was interrupted by the opportunity to walk by faith, not just in the comfortable ways that He was used to but to walk with the Lord through the complexities of earthly life. It was in his openness to hear, to follow once he overcame his fear of his own sin, that we have had the opportunity to learn more about Jesus. Peter’s message of that has been passed down from Jesus to family, to friends, to people like us.

We need to live out our faith even in the mundane but we shouldn’t let the mundane lull us into not being ready to meet with Jesus, to receive the blessing that He has for us and to be ready to share it. What are you going to do with the blessing that Jesus has given to you today?

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭27‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Waiting for the Lord means that we are open to His leading. Waiting for Him means that there is the real possibility that He will reveal Himself to those who wait upon Him. Waiting doesn’t just mean sitting still but living towards Jesus, not just living from day to day, going about our own business.

People of faith can live out their faith in many different ways, whether it is trusting God for favourable weather, living with faithful integrity in the service of others, trusting God for the providence that is needed to go about our work and sometimes our play. What is striking is that while this is a faithful life we may become like the elder brother in the story of the Prodigal Son who did everything his father asked but really didn’t know his father at all. It is not people living faith lives aren’t being faithful but are they, are we being open to what Jesus could do beyond the normal.

What about you? Are you living a faithful life but does the miraculous seem too far fetched for you? Are we like Peter at times, when confronted by the blessing of Jesus, we feel ashamed when it comes to being confronted with the divine power of Jesus that we profess to believe but when we see it in real life we have to adjust our view of Jesus but also our view of ourselves, of our doubt and how far we are called to believe in Jesus and what He can really do in this world but also towards eternity. The power to transform our lives and our hearts.

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (‭‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬‬:‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

Let us pray.

Lord of all our situations and stresses. Lord of grace in the face of failures. Lord of righteousness meet us where we are in the face of the temptations that are swirling around our hearts and minds, drifting in front of our eyes and flowing in an out of our ears, creating unrest in our souls. Meet us in our uneasiness, that we would see Your righteous power confronting our weaknesses and bringing us back from void of sin and death into an eternal relationship with You.

Lord of all knowledge help us not fall into the temptation of failure but let us rest in Your knowledge of us that we are not beyond Your redemption and grace. That our past sins are not greater than Jesus’ righteous life, of His love for each of us even though we too often turn our backs on Him. Help us to remember Your holy name when we are confronted by the temptations of our hearts, the temptations of this world that try to lead us away from Your heavenly kingdom into darkness and despair.

Lord of rest and peace calm our raging minds in these uncertain times. Renew our being from the storms of temptation and fear. Create in us a pure and upright spirit through the gift of Your Holy Spirit. Grant us right thinking that we would not be deceived by our own devices. Led astray by our grand plans, obstructing Your will in and for our lives. May we experience Your continued presence in our waking and our sleeping as Your Holy Spirit quiets the swirling of our minds and teaches our bodies to breathe in Your rhythm of life.

Lord, our giver of life we pray all of this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, as many students prepare to write exams for the first time, or for the first time in years may you grant them peace. Peace and clarity of mind as they study their various subjects. Peace to be able to recall the information they have spent time memorizing and learning. Lord comfort the anxiety and stress that many people deal with through their lives, these people who have trouble dealing with people yet need to be around people to attend school, to move to the next stage of their lives. Lord help them to be at peace with You and with those around them, to be able to function and learn and write the exams that are being put before them.

May the Lord of all knowledge help the anxious heart to find strength to face the unknown so that the unknown will become known. Lord speak Your words of grace and life through the distractions and challenges that many face. Words that draw us into peace instead of fear. Words that refocus our hearts on You the one who speaks order into chaos.

Lord comfort the stress filled bodies that struggle to sleep, that have forgotten the peace of simple relaxation. Bodies that are pointing towards a future but afraid to fail and afraid to succeed. Whatever we may face help us to not just know the knowledge that we have learned but also the eternal promises that root us in You.

Lord of our very souls, bring us to the waters of Your peace. In our struggles may we find the reassurance that we are Yours. Our lives are not based on our successes and failures, our identities are based on Your redemptive love. May the release of our stress give new life to our being so that the flourishing of Your life might grow in each of our lives so that You might be glorified.

Lord we pray for safety for those travelling to and from their schools that they may write, may return and live in the fullness of life, to play, to learn to grow. May we all be filled with Your blessing and grace. We pray this in Your name, in Jesus’ name, Amen.