Reading: Matthew 10:21-42, Acts 15:22-41, Psalm 24, Exodus 1-3

Recall:
“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut— make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.

  “If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.
- Matthew 10:34-39 (The Message)

It seemed to the Holy Spirit and to us that you should not be saddled with any crushing burden, but be responsible only for these bare necessities: Be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians (blood, for instance); and guard the morality of sex and marriage.
These guidelines are sufficient to keep relations congenial between us. And God be with you! Acts 15:28-29

God listened to their groanings. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw what was going on with Israel. God understood. Exodus 2:24-25

Reflect:
Eugene Peterson softens the language of Matthew 10 a little bit, but wow, it's still powerful...and confusing. His desire is to "free us for God." Anything that stands in the way of that has to be removed. However, it is in those relationships, quite often, that we do the hard work of finding and relating to God. It would be easy for some, I think, to point to this verse, leave their families, and park themselves in a desert somewhere. But I don't know what good that does them or the Kingdom.

Genesis 2:24-25 is a bit perplexing as well--perplexing, but comforting. Perplexing because it seems that God needed the Hebrews to remind Him that they were suffering and that God had made a covenant with them. Didn't God already know that? But it is comforting to note that "God understood" their plight.

Respond:
God, it is so good to know that you understand me. It's a remarkable thought actually. If I shared everything about myself to anyone--my thoughts, my feelings, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't understand me. I don't even completely understand myself. But you understand.

Thank you for the gift of my family. Maybe the reason that Jesus' words sound so harsh to me is that I have such wonderful, strong relationships. I will continue to submit those relationships to you, so they may bear the most fruit--for me and Trish, and Emerson.