Foundations for Our Future (130) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Brotherly Responsibility

Once again today we hear one of Jesus’ harshest terms, “hypocrite.” (Matthew 7:5) As painful as it is, let us face it again. Our Lord is telling us that if we persist in calling ourselves his disciples, while we are preoccupied with other people sins, we are fooling ourselves. We are not the disciples we profess to be, if we remain focused on “fixing” others, while we ourselves are needing repentance and grace. Self examination is a critical part of the journey of faith, and without it we place ourselves in great peril. We have to “take the log out of [our] own eye.”

But it is important to notice that the teaching does not end there. Jesus tells us next that we can help our brother, indeed we must. When we are in a right relationship to God and humbly seeking his will for ourselves, then we can be of great assistance to one who is suffering with a “speck” in his or her eye. We are to be available to the members of our family, the community of Christ followers, to help them whenever they are in distress. There is to be a divine mutuality in the body of Christ, with each helping the other.

Such readiness to come to another's aid, an attentiveness to the true needs in the lives of those given to us, does not come without God’s help. Nor does it come if we have superficial relationships with other believers. It is part of the life that can be lived only in the true communion of the church.

Foundations for Our Future (131) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

A Tough Transition 

This verse is one of the most difficult for me to explain in its context, though I think I know what the Lord is trying to teach us. (Matthew 7:6) I find the transition very difficult, in fact quite tough. It seems harsh to modern ears. Especially because both the animals referred to are more loved in our culture than despised. In Jesus’ day they were two of the most unclean animals anyone ever encountered.

So what is the lesson we are to learn? It seems to be this: when we have received holy things, sacred things, we are to be very careful about who we share them with. Is that to mean here we are to be careful who we seek to help? Does it follow after the teaching about right judgment behavior because we are to be very slow in offering even the most godly help, sacred help? Perhaps, since it might be rejected. Trampled under foot?

But what if this verse is linked to what comes next, and not to what has gone before? Then Jesus is trying to alert us to prayerful care before we speak. We are to be seeking his guidance before we try to “fix” anyone, no matter the distress they may be in. If our offering (our pearl) is not to be rejected, indeed if we are not to be “attacked” for interfering, we must pray for God’s help.

Foundations for Our Future (132) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Serious Prayer         

Today we focus on another of those teachings of our Lord that are very memorable, even among those who do not practice what he teaches. My prayer is that we will be among all those moved to want this teaching to shape our lives.

Jesus lays before us a three step process in prayer: “Ask, seek, knock.” (Matthew 7:7) And he tells us that each of those steps will have results. When we ask it will be given, when we seek we will find, and when we knock the door will be opened. I know of no more wonderful news to hear, once we are clear what is being said. Remember he is telling us about the character of our “heavenly Father” (Matthew 6:32), and his desire to provide for us all we need for life itself. The challenge for those new to faith or weak in faith is this: “Why are my prayers not answered if this is true?”

Once more we must rethink what we are saying, when (as all of us do) we ask this question. Are we asking for what is necessary or are we asking for what we want? Is our understanding of what is necessary in line with God’s clear revelation, or are we asking our Father to give us what is not according to his will?

When we pray according to God’s will, good things always happen.

Foundations for Our Future (133) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Good Things?

Let’s stay focused on asking in prayer, and the clear teaching the Lord gives us in Matthew 7:7-8, especially the phrase: “For everyone who asks receives.” How can this be? Everyone?

Remember the Lord Jesus is speaking to those who have decided to follow him. The audience are “his disciples.” (Matthew 5:1) That means they are wanting to learn to serve the Lord by listening to the teaching he is giving them. If that is you, then this everyone includes you. Now how do we understand?

When we turn to the Lord our God in prayer, we always are heard, but we do not always get what we asked for. God gives good things to his children, but not according to their definition of good, but his. Almost always we ask wanting a “Yes,” but sometimes the answer is “No.” Sometimes the answer is “Not yet.” In either case we have been answered, and God’s answer is always good. It is always right.

To learn to ask, seek, and knock is to learn that we will always be answered. Sometimes after the ask, sometimes when we are seeking prayerfully for an answer, sometimes when we are knocking hard on heaven’s door. But we will receive an answer.

Foundations for Our Future (134) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

Our Children

Jesus regularly uses examples that take his hearers right to things they know well in their daily lives. Here, in Matthew 7:9-10, he appeals to the natural desire of every parent to provide for their own children. He pictures them giving the 1st century equivalent of a meal, bread and fish, to a hungry son. No parent would serve him a stone and a serpent! Do you see with your mind’s eye the Lord Jesus smiling? How could he be clearer?

Our heavenly Father loves us more than any earthly parent, even the most godly. In fact he loves us perfectly. Nothing he does for us is untoward. If he withholds, it is for our good. If he gives, it is for our good. Painfully. Jesus also here reminds us (Matthew 7:11) that we, even with the best of intentions, our “evil.” That is we are inclined to lean away from God’s good purposes and will. Yet we want to do right for our own children. Can’t you see, Jesus seems to say, that your heavenly Father will always do what is right? No good thing will he withhold from you, when you ask with a desire for God to make the determination.

Foundations for Our Future (135) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

A Discipling Ask

Let’s stay with Matthew 7:7-11 for another day.

Suppose you have become persuaded that to become a disciple-making disciple is the call of God for you, but you are not at all clear how to begin. Let us further suppose you have decided the first step is to find someone who will help you learn to be that kind of disciple. How might this passage of Jesus apply to your situation? How could it help guide your prayer?

First you could ask. Lord Jesus I want to learn to be a disciple-making disciple, but I don’t know who to turn to. Please lead me to the right person.

Second you begin to seek. Lord make me attentive today to notice if you put someone in my path who is the right person to disciple me. I am seeking Lord. Let me not miss them Lord Jesus.

Third, on a day soon to come you suddenly think: “Is that the right one Lord?” Then you have to ask them. You have to “knock” to see if the door opens.

Sometimes this process will need to be repeated for a season. There have been times in my life when I prayed for something for years before the Lord unequivocally answered my prayer, but that has never been true about learning to be a disciple. That prayer has always been answered quickly.

Foundations for Our Future (136) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

A Timothy Ask

One last day with Matthew 7:9-11. Ask, seek, knock.

Perhaps you are ready to be so bold as to want someone in your life to disciple. You have been learning and growing for a season, and have a living relationship with someone who has walked this path ahead of you, however so slightly. You now know the time has come to reach out to another and share what you are learning. How do you find someone who wants to learn from you? When Paul spotted Timothy in the church at Lystra, he asked him to come along. (Acts 16:1ff)

It is important to notice several things about this story. First, Paul had been well discipled, both as a Jewish man and then as a Christian man. He had served alongside Barnabas for some years, and then alongside Silas. Both of those men were in Christ before him. Undoubtedly they had discipled Paul. Second, Paul had preached in Lystr three times before he invited Timothy along. He had surely built a relationship with him before he invited him to join the apostolic team. He did not invite a stranger, but someone he had come to know and admire.

I have no doubt that Paul was practicing “ask, seek, knock.” He was asking for someone to disciple because he knew Jesus’ teaching to pray for this. He was paying attention to those he was coming into contact with. He was seeking the right one. He was waiting to knock at just the right moment.

Are you ready to do the same?

Foundations for Our Future (137) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

The Golden Rule

Human beings, fallen creatures that we are, are constantly thinking of ourselves. We are focused on our own needs and wants, our own security and comfort, all that will lead to our own well being as we understand it. Yet to care for ourselves and those given to us is not, in itself, sinful. God has planted in the human heart the need for and the care of others, and that requires that we ourselves are healthy, both in body and in spirit. But there is a limit. To only focus on our own needs is to fall away from God’s call. How we see and treat others reflects upon our fidelity to the Lord Jesus.

Today we are given the most fundamental guidance for our relationships with others. (Matthew 7:12) We are to treat them in the manner that we ourselves wish to be treated. Do we want kindness? We are to be kind to others. Do we want generosity? We are to be generous with others. Do we want to be understood? We must seek to understand others. Do we want mercy when we have done wrong? We are to be merciful.

The Golden Rule (as it has long been called) is an unfailing guide to the behavior of a Christian in the family and community in which he or she lives. Every interaction with another human being, made in the image of God just like we are, becomes a moment for righteous or unrighteous behavior.

Foundations for Our Future (138) 

by: The Rev. Dr. Jon Shuler

The Narrow Gate

Yesterday we looked at the Golden Rule, and if we spent any time in prayer in its light, we are aware of how hard it is to exercise at all times. We fall into attitudes and behaviors toward others that are not godly. We are harsh, we are judgmental, we are unforgiving. In the great sermon Jesus goes immediately to the truth that to be his disciple is hard. (Matthew 7:13) He calls us to imagine a narrow gate and a wide one. The first is difficult to enter and the latter is ever so easy. To follow the teaching of the Lord Jesus, if he is truly our Lord, requires effort. It is not easy. It demands discipline. It is a central characteristic of a true disciple.

We must not miss what Jesus is teaching us today. “The way is easy that leads to destruction” he says. Destruction. That path will never build up, it will never bring true joy, it will never lead to good outcomes. It is a path that only leads to darkness and separation, at the last, from the life giving presence of God and all who love him.

Remember today that God’s Word is to be a “lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.” (Psalm 119:105) But if we are to walk in that light we must first pass through the narrow gate of true trust, true faith, in the Lord Jesus. He is the narrow gate.

Foundations for Our Future (139) 

by: The Rev. Dr.  Jon Shuler

A Hard Path

If the gate is narrow, as we saw yesterday, so too is the path hard. (Matthew 7:14) Let us not miss the teaching of our Master today. There are three truths contained for us in this single verse. The gate is narrow, the way is hard, and few find the life that God offers to those who enter.

We saw that the gate is the Lord Jesus. He calls to all who hear of him, or come into any knowledge of his truth and love. “Come to me all you who travail and are heavy laden.” (Matthew 11:28) The call is a universal one. No one is excluded from his invitation.”Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37) Yet the reality if we come is costly. To follow is to obey a call to die to old ways and habits, to give up self-centered ways, to find a new life that only God can give. It is hard, and that is why we must submit to becoming his disciples. We have to learn to be disciplined if we are to follow, and to welcome discipline is hard.

The reward for a disciple, Jesus says, is life, and that means life in the kingdom of God. It is to know the joy of alignment with God’s will for us, and for his creation. No good thing will he keep from those who enter that kingdom, but “those who find it are few.”