He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." -- Matthew 13:31-32

A little faith can go a very long way.  The odds of you accomplishing something is far greater when you believe you can do it-- much more than if you were to try doing something you didn't believe possible.   If we believe there can be peace, chances are there will be.  If we believe we can love one another in the way Jesus taught us, chances are we can.  If we believe that God's future for us is bright, chances are it will be.  Some say you have to see it to believe it.  I say you have to believe it to be able to see it!

Readings:  Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-15; Proverbs 4:1-6

"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." -- Matthew 12:50

So Jesus' mother and brothers are outside the house waiting for him and need to talk to him.  Some inside tell him about it.  How would Mary have felt hearing her son disown her and his brothers like that?  If she did hear, did she understand where he was coming from or was it a shock to her?  Jesus' family for the most part is composed of side characters that we don't get to know enough about.  Oh how I would love to know what her experience was of this scene.  Further, Jesus is a middle-aged man and not a teenage boy, so it wasn't like Mary was saying "I'm tired of calling you home for dinner..."  What did they want from him?  Regardless, the words of Jesus to the listeners speaks to family defined by more than just blood relation.  The fifth commandment says to honor your father and mother.  Jesus reminds us that we have a choice in who are the figures of father and mother in our lives.

Readings:  Genesis 39:1-41:16; Matthew 12:46-13:23; Psalm 17:1-5; Proverbs 3:33-35 

"Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." -- Matthew 12:25

A message from Jesus to not just the politicians of our day, but to citizens as well.  The verse warrants little commentary.

Peace.

Readings: Genesis 37:1-38:30; Matthew 12:22-45; Psalm 16:1-11; Proverbs 3:27-32

"He said to them, 'If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." -- Matthew 12:11-12

Was Jesus a sinner?  Christians say, "no, of course not."  But here in these verses we see the unveiling of what is ultimately going to get Jesus killed.  What is it "to sin"?  In Jesus' time it was to break religious law.  In the next paragraph, Jesus blatantly breaks the law by healing a man on the Sabbath and the Pharisees go out and start plotting how it is they're going to kill this sinner for it.  Further, not only is Jesus breaking the law, he is actually rewriting it.  The powers that be don't like this one bit.  To understand the New Testament, it's vital to recognize the role and place of the law in that culture and the way Jesus goes about turning it on its ear.  Without that perspective, there's no way to get at what Jesus, Paul, and other writers of the NT are trying to say.

Readings:  Genesis 35:1-36:43; Matthew 12:1-21; Psalm 15:1-5; Proverbs 3:21-26

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -- Matthew 11:28-30

This is one of my favorites in all of Scripture.  I used to understand it as advice to walk with Jesus when life gets hard.  That is, as Carole King wrote, "when you're down and troubled, and you need a helping hand, and nothing oh nothing is going right... " it could be Jesus speaking in the lyrics.  And while that's theologically fitting and works for me at a personal level, it's really not what this verse is about.  The weariness Jesus is referring to is that from carrying the burden of trying to live according to Jewish law.  Given that there are 613 laws in the Old Testament, that was a lot of rules to hear, know, live by, and share.  Jesus gives us one law in two parts:  Love-- Love God, Love Each Other.  He tells us that all the law and the prophets are contained therein.  To fully understand this text, you have to know what his "yoke" is.  Jesus is speaking as a rabbi to a Jewish population.  The "yoke" of the rabbi was the set of his interpretations of the law.  Jesus' yoke was easy and his burden was light because you didn't have to have legal mastery of the 613 religious laws that seemed so difficult to live by... you just had to know the one law in its two parts.  So love God, and love each other, and enjoy his rest.

Readings:  Genesis 32:13-34:31; Matthew 11:7-30; Psalm 14:1-7; Proverbs 3:19-20

"...and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -- Matthew 10:39

When I was young and first heard this text, I couldn't understand why I needed to find a cross to be like Jesus... I didn't see anyone else carrying crosses, except maybe as jewelry.  And what did it mean to lose your life to find it?  Did that mean to die?  As a child,  I couldn't get my head around it.  As an adult, I've come to see the metaphor.  It comes down to what we live for... if we live for only ourselves, we lose the opportunity to know life in its fullest.  When we live for something greater than ourselves-- when we live for God and give ourselves away, we experience life itself in the way its meant to be.  Taking a breath happens in two parts:  the inhale and the exhale.  Living for ourself is the inhale, giving ourselves away is the exhale-- a complete breath.  A complete life.

Readings:  Genesis 31:17-32:12; Matthew 10:26-11:6; Psalm 13:1-6; Proverbs 3:16-18

"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her." -- Proverbs 3:13-15

Today, a great social concern many are wrestling with is a widening chasm between the wealthy and the poor.  It used to feel like there was a more level playing field and everyone had an opportunity to move up the material ladder of success.  Today, however, mom and pop shops can't compete with the corporate big box shops, so opportunity to compete in the marketplace is mitigated.  I hear many people talking about it.  What I don't hear people speaking of is the growing chasm between the educated and non-educated.  As fast as we're advancing technologically, for most of us, our part in its evolution is as consumers.  Similarly, there seems to be a growing gap in religious culture.  There we find intelligence, rationalization, and skepticism becoming a bit suspect and at times even discouraged.  Let's not let our part in the faith experience be limited to that as mere consumers.  We must continue not just to seek awareness of the content of our faith and its scriptures, but an understanding of it as well.  Knowing doesn't lead to wisdom, but understanding does.  Let's not seek God with just our whole heart, but with our whole mind as well.  Think about it...

Readings: Genesis 30:1-31:16; Matthew 10:1-25; Psalm 12:1-8; Proverbs 3:13-15