FOCUS: Surrender

Tuesday’s Reading: Matthew 21:23 – 26:3, Mark 11:27 – 13:37, Luke 20 – 21:36 (today’s are longer than the rest, perhaps break up into two sittings…)

“And He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.” Luke 21:3

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Most days I am gaga over my kids. I love their smell, their voices, their hilarious stories and wild imaginations. But some days I do not. Some days I want them to go away. Far away. And it’s usually because of this:

Me: Dutch, please pick up your toys.

Dutch: All of the toys? Or just my toys? What about Heidi’s toys? Do I have to pick up her toys too?

Me: Just pick them all up.

Dutch: What about Max? Can I leave him out?

Me: Whatever. Just pick up!

Dutch: What about the papers and coloring stuff? Do I have to pick up the coloring stuff?

[Insert me leaving the room so I don’t say, “I don’t give a rip what you do just STOP TALKING AND MAKE ALL THIS STUFF GO AWAY!!!!”]

Now, I understand it’s important for me to clarify exactly what I’m asking Dutch to do. But often (OFTEN) he’s only asking questions so that he can do the least amount of work possible. 

His questions are thinly-veiled attempts to keep his own discomfort to a minimum.

Over and over and over in Tuesdays’s passages we see the Scribes, Pharisees, chief priests and Sadducees approaching Jesus with “questions.” But their questions had nothing to do with wanting to gain knowledge, wisdom or understanding, their questions were challenges of authority and thinly-veiled attempts to keep their own discomfort to a minimum.

One in particular stands out: The chief priests and scribes ask Jesus about paying taxes, crafting their question in a way that might easily entangle a lesser man than Christ. But Jesus cuts to the heart of the issue:

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

Done. The response: “Marveling at his answer, they became silent.” 

See, our world is full of people who are “questioning” the faith. Often these “questions” are nothing more than an attempt to be let “off the hook” of worshiping Christ and bowing before Him in humble obedience. They are thinly veiled attempts to keep their own discomfort to a minimum. Do you know what I mean?  There is absolutely a place for humble, honest, sincere questions–but we are wise to recognize when our “questioning” is nothing more than an attempt to slip away from surrender. 

Right after this story, a woman comes on the scene.  She does no questioning. In fact, she doesn’t even speak:

“And Jesus looked up and saw … a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

She easily could have questioned the tithe. She could have tried some similarly-slippery Scribe-like reasoning to weasel her way out of worship:

“Jesus, do I really have to tithe? I mean technically it’s impossible to tithe off of two coins, an amount that can’t be divided by 10, right?”

She saves her words and just obeys. She gives all she had. Instead of arguing, questioning, and trying to “figure it out” she just goes ahead and gives all she has. No calculating or scheming.

Just surrendering. So today we:

FOCUS on simply surrendering everything to Him.

Reflection for today: Is there any area of your life you’re struggling to trust God? Are you peppering Him with questions instead of simply obeying? Is there any portion of your heart, your time, your finances, or your family, where you sense you’re still fighting for white-knuckled control? Spend time quietly with Him and ask Him if there’s anywhere He wants you to simply surrender this week. Thanks for reading.