I remember back in high school hearing about the Exxon oil spill in Alaska and feeling so bad for all of the wildlife that was hurt as a result. In fact, I was so affected by what had happened that I decided I would never get gas from an Exxon gas station again.
One day, I came home bragging to my dad about how much I cared for the environment. I told him that, in my effort to avoid going to an Exxon station, I had driven around for almost an hour until I finally found a gas station I thought was good enough for my environmental convictions.
I remember my dad saying, “I want to make sure I understand this. You avoided Exxon and other gas stations because you care about the environment, right?”
I proudly responded, “Yep!”
To which my father said, “What about the harm you do to the environment by wasting an hour’s worth of gas to find a gas station that’s really not that different from the ones you were trying to avoid?”
Yeah… I hadn’t thought about that. In my effort to do the right thing, I had actually worked against my original goal. Today, I just use whatever station is closest, but I often think back on that moment as a reminder of how easy it is to get caught up in the details and lose sight of the bigger picture.
Why do you think it is so easy to focus on rules or appearances instead of the real purpose behind them?
This Sunday, we will be looking at some verses where Jesus is confronted by Pharisees who interpret the law of rest in a way that actually causes more work. Matthew presents a contrast between the heart of the law that Jesus shows us and the rigid religious structures the Pharisees worked so hard to keep in place.
As we read Matthew 12:1-21 together, think about what differences you notice between the Pharisees’ approach and Jesus’ teaching. What might it look like for us to live by the heart of God’s law rather than getting caught up in rigid structures?
I invite you to join us this Sunday at 10:00AM as we read and reflect together on how this passage might apply to us today.
N.T. Wright, in his “Everyone” commentary on Matthew, shares a story, in typical British fashion, about a fox hunt he had witnessed as a boy (this is not to endorse such a thing, just his account). He described the riders in red coats atop of fine brown horses that blew trumpets and led the way for hunting dogs and riders who were less dashing on more humble horses. As they charged around chasing the fox, the clever animal hid in the bushes and back-tracked after the riders had all passed him. Suddenly, those at the back of the procession looked back to the hill they had just come from and saw the fox behind them. They blew their own trumpet to turn the group around, and suddenly those who were on humble mounts were at the front of the pack, while those on the fine horses were bringing up the rear.
Did you know that according to a law in Orlando, if you leave an Elephant at a parking meter, you have to pay the full fee that you would pay for a car? Some insist that no such law ever existed, but others are adamant about it. It’s hard to say, but we do know that strange laws like that still remain in the layers of various states legislation. I love trying to imagine the context for coming up with laws like Missouri’s ban on driving with an uncaged bear in you car. It would be hard to discern the original intent behind a law like that.
What are your first thoughts when you read the letters IRS together? Do you have negative or positive feelings about this agency? That’s sort of a rhetorical question, I don’t know many people who get the warm and fuzzies when it comes to our government tax agency. As John Oliver says, “It’s no wonder people hate the IRS. They’re unavoidable, they often function poorly and they combine things we hate the most: losing money and math.”
Whoops! Got invited to go fishing and forgot to update Wonderwhat. Sorry about that. This Sunday we will be doing our final study in the book of Jonah. What a fun ride this has been! We’ll be reading all of 
WONDERWHAT 