More than four years ago, my son Mark observed in a comment to a blog that “recreational outrage is America’s most popular indoor sport.” Last month, in writing about out-of-control parents at youth sports, Jason Gay also used the term “recreational outrage.”

Naturally, the participation trophy debate isn’t about the children, or even sports. It is yet another pastime for the recreationally outraged, a howl to make an easy score in the culture wars, earning back slaps from followers who think the planet is going to hell, thanks in part to socialist 7-year-old soccer programs. – Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2023

It seems that no matter how innocent a post on social media starts, it can always degenerate into outrage. For example, last week, NextDoor, the neighborhood website, invited us to post a picture for the #LoveYourNeighborhoodContest. Since one of the categories was #NeighborhoodCreatures, I posted this picture of our late dog Babo encountering a deer on a morning walk:

The picture was an instantaneous hit garnering over 300 “likes” in two days. “Love this!” “That is so adorable!” “This is awesome!” “Yours is a photo I saved.” I wondered how long before someone would make a snarky comment about what a dangerous situation this was, and I wasn’t disappointed: “Not a wise decision to let that happen. Babo could be seriously injured. You got lucky he wasn’t. I don’t understand people.”

The same person deduced that someone who really liked the picture “must not be from Colorado.” Then someone piled on her: What’s wrong with you? At least some people can look at a pic and enjoy it. Do you think only people from Colorado know about wildlife? Get over yourself.”

I attempted to be a peacemaker:

Folks, can we declare a truce? It’s a cute picture of an inadvertent encounter between a small dog and a large deer. In this case, each found the other curious. As they say, “No animals were harmed in the making of this picture.” Some folks want us to understand that this is a potentially dangerous situation. I don’t think any of us needs to be in attack mode.

Sadly, the bickering continued.

I hope we as believers can avoid outrage. Breakpoint’s March 28 article on colleges closing contained this insightful paragraph:

Like with any crisis, the situation in higher education also presents opportunities. One of our mottos at the Colson Center is that “outrage is not a strategy,” and that’s just as true here as it is elsewhere. Our calling by God is not to sit back and be angry but to bring His kingdom into this world. A crisis can also be an opportunity.

Outrage is not a strategy, even if it’s an issue more important than the safety of a small dog.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.9, 13 – 16, ESV)

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you hardworking mothers. Stay with it…your work is important:

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15.58, NIV)

Then [the older women] can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2.4, 5, NIV)

I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (2 Timothy 1.5, NIV)

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. (Proverbs 31.28 – 30, NIV)

This is NOT about one of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia stories. It’s a feel-good story from this year’s Kentucky Derby, run on May 6. June and I enjoy the pageantry, and, of course, sometimes there are surprises. This year’s highlight was a story about a horse running in one of the preliminary races.

Cody Dorman is a profoundly disabled child who lives in Kentucky. His brain works, but not his body. He liked horse racing and expressed a desire about four years ago, when he was 13, to meet a racehorse. The top picture shows a 6-month-old colt initiating contact with Cody. Two years later, during the pandemic, Cody was depressed and said he wanted to go back and see that horse. The second picture, described as miraculous, shows that the horse, now full-grown, remembered Cody.

The story goes on. The owners named the horse Cody’s Wish, and he lost his first three races. Cody said that the horse couldn’t win unless he was there. With Cody on the scene, the horse won six of his next seven races, including the 2022 Breeder’s Cup. You can’t make this stuff up! On Derby Day, Cody’s Wish would be running in Race 5: Big Fans Dirt Mile. Cody insisted on a new suit for the occasion:

I encourage you to watch the entire video (about 11 minutes). I’m not sure I know all the takeaways: see what God says to you.

Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? (Job 39.19, ESV)

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD. (Proverbs 21.31, ESV)

I wrote the other day about British subjects who reject the monarchy and proclaim loudly, “Not my king!” But a way more important king was rejected: Jesus told two serious back-to-back parables about the Jewish leaders’ rejecting his kingship.

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another…Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” …Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. (Matthew 21.33 – 43, ESV)

By this time, the leaders are beginning to figure this thing out:

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. (Matthew 21.45, ESV)

And Jesus follows up with the parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22.1 – 14) where the invited guests spurn the invitation. (Compare Matthew 8.11, 12) The wedding feast parable contains this scary sentence:

The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. (Matthew 22.7, ESV)

Scary because it’s exactly what happened in 70 A.D. when the Romans ransacked Jerusalem. Today, an Islamic mosque sits on the site of the magnificent Jewish temple.

The wall in this picture surrounds the area called the Temple Mount built by King Herod in Jesus’ day. Today, the Islamic “Dome of the Rock” sits on the site. Herod’s temple is “a heap of rubble” just as Jesus predicted directly:

Jesus said, “You’re impressed by this grandiose architecture? There’s not a stone in the whole works that is not going to end up in a heap of rubble.” (Mark 13.2, MSG)

I’ve seen part of that heap of rubble, and I’m reminded that if God didn’t spare Jerusalem for rejecting Jesus, he won’t spare individuals or churches or nations either.

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (Revelation 2.4, 5, ESV)

I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. (Revelation 3.1 – 3, ESV)

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven…Our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12.25…29, ESV)

I closed yesterday’s story about how God answered my prayer about moving a heavy chair from the garage to the deck with this verse:

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21.22, NIV)

That’s the second time Jesus said that to the disciples. Here’s the first:

And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him.” And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17.14 – 20, ESV)

“Nothing will be impossible to you.” (Matthew 17.20) “You will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21.22) But we don’t ask…

“O faithless and twisted generation…how long do I have to put up with you!” This “encouraging word” was said to the disciples! Disciples whom Jesus diagnosed as having “little faith.” And it doesn’t take much faith. How much? Enough to ask. Because it’s not the size of our faith that counts but the size of the object of our faith. If I have enough faith to step onto an airplane, barring an accident, I’ll get where I’m going, not because of the size of my faith, but because of the airworthiness of the plane and the competence of the crew.

You have not because you ask not. (James 4.2)

We’ve had a tough time with deck furniture since we’ve been in Monument. We’ve bought at least three sets, maybe four, in the 17 years we’ve been here. June likes wicker, but so do the squirrels so it’s hard to keep it looking decent for more than a season or two. Last month I was inspired by a Wall Street Journal editorial on lessons learned in Wood Shop in high school: I Came, I Sawed, I Conquered. It’s a fun article – I recommend it. But what caught my eye was in the last paragraph:

Prices for patio furniture are astronomical, and my wife and I figured we could build our own and save thousands of dollars. We found a simple plan and made an outdoor sofa ourselves out of 2x4s. – Mark Naida, Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2023

He’s right about astronomical. Here’s a basic set from CostCo for $3,000. (Not a typo!)

I thought, even I can build something out of 2x4s so I looked online and found a plethora of plans at https://www.ana-white.com/, including a chair, sofa, and table that could be built from 2x4s.

So the first week I built the two chairs, the first out of treated redwood, and it was VERY heavy. My challenge on Saturday was to move them from the garage to the deck. How? I have a furniture dolly, but with small, hard wheels, it wouldn’t have traversed the front yard which was still a bit soggy from snow earlier in the week. I wasn’t sure my hand truck would work. I even considered using the car, but I’m not sure it would fit or that I could have gotten it in there. What to do? I wrote this note in my prayer journal during my time with God:

Big challenge today is to move the chairs to the deck. The heavy one, especially, will be hard.

Praise the Lord. My neighbor had some tree guys over, and they had a giant hand truck: big hand truck, big tires. I asked to borrow it, and the guy said, “If you need someone to help you, let us know.” I got the lighter chair around to the steps going to the deck, but I couldn’t get the chair up the steps. So, I “let him know.” He came over and just picked up that chair and carried it. Then we got the heavier chair and the two of us moved it up the steps together. I told the fellow, “You are an answer to prayer.” He replied, “Glad to be that.”

I assembled the last two pieces on the deck! Here’s the finished product. What do you think? Less than $500 for the materials, and it’s the same basic design as the one from CostCo costing six times more.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4.6, ESV)

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21.22, NIV)

Saturday morning (middle of the night, our time!), Britain’s King Charles III was crowned in an elaborate, centuries-old ceremony. I didn’t watch it live or on replay, but I found some of the anti-monarchy protests interesting. If you check out this report, you’ll see a common protest mantra:

NOT MY KING

I’m not a huge fan of Charles (few people are, apparently), and I think the monarchy will not be as good after his mother, Queen Elizabeth, about whom I’ve written before. That said, I find the sentiment, “Not my king,” amusing. I have news for the protestors, if you are a British subject, until the constitutional monarchy is done away with, Charles is your king.

He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ (Luke 19.12 – 14, ESV, emphasis mine)

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2.9 – 11, ESV)

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine! – Abraham Kuyper

This story fits in with Jesus and the parables.

I do business with a Christian-owned computer consulting company in Denver. Just last month they rescued June’s computer from a major failure. Anyway, a few days ago, they sent me (and their other clients) an email asking us to check their website for “glaring errors” since they were going to revamp it. The opening screen looked OK except I was confused by this message in red letters:

As of 2019, we are not taking new clients at this time, but if you have any urgent needs, email or call us directly and we can help direct you to a fast solution.

I wrote back and asked, “Are you still not taking new clients? What does that mean? What’s the point of advertising your services if they’re not available?” I heard from my friend immediately (in VERY large type):

Wait.  Where did we say that on the website??

I wrote back, “On the opening screen” and sent him a picture. He responded:

I can’t believe we looked right past that!  We put that there before covid, and kept it there when we were swamped with clients DURING covid!

He removed the sentence immediately.

For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” (Matthew 13.12 – 14, ESV)

We left ourselves yesterday with the challenge to give up all we have for the joy of being part of God’s Kingdom. One of the things that makes this difficult is, as Jesus pointed out, his Kingdom co-exists with the opposition. That means that we are constantly subjected to opposing messages.

For the first time, I think, I understand Jesus’ remark to the disciples:

Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew16.6, ESV)

Puzzled, the disciples finally understood that Jesus was talking about “the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (verse 12).

But now I’m puzzled because didn’t he just describe the Kingdom as leaven? (Matthew 13.33)

So in this case, “leaven” is not positive or negative – it’s just teaching. Teaching can permeate a culture, whether it’s good or bad. And today, we are inundated with all kinds of leaven/teaching, which has certainly poisoned our culture. From the current state of abortion opinion (55% of Americans identify as “pro-choice”) to gender confusion to plain old consumerism: “If you just buy this product, your life will be better.” And when we buy enough, we can’t even be generous because we don’t have any money. One pastor used to say, “The stewardship decisions are not made in church; they’re made in the real estate office and on the car showroom floor.”

Jesus would say to us, “Beware the leaven of…”

¹  Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?
²  On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;
³  beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
⁴  “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man.
⁵  O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.
⁶  Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right,
⁷  for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
⁸  All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
⁹  They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.
¹⁰  Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,
¹¹  for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. (Proverbs 8.1 – 11, ESV)

We’re finishing up our brief look at the Kingdom Parables of Matthew 13. There are seven in all, six of which start: “The Kingdom of God is like…”

• Keep sowing seed because not everyone responds and bears fruit
  • Parable of the sower
• The Kingdom co-exists with its opposition
  • Parable of the weeds
  • Parable of the bad fish (if we’re going to call the parable of the wheat and tares the parable of the weeds, let’s call the parable of the fishing net the parable of the bad fish!)
• The Kingdom grows and benefits others
  • Parable of the mustard seed
  • Parable of the leaven
• The Kingdom has great value (today’s topic)
  • Parable of the Hidden Treasure
  • Parable of the Pearl

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matthew 13.44 – 46, ESV)

Easy to understand; tough to apply. The Kingdom has great value, and what it costs is all we have:

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14.33, ESV)

The rich young ruler couldn’t do it:

The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19.20 – 22, ESV)

If you’re waiting for me to show you the loophole, why this doesn’t mean what it appears to mean, I haven’t found it yet either. Except I do notice that the young man who kept all of his possessions went away sorrowful, but the fellow who sold all that he had to buy the field did it with joy.

Both men in these parables also acted with intention to alter their status quo. They were intentional and they paid attention. We could start there, couldn’t we? Tomorrow, I want to look at one place specific place to start. Hint: “Beware the leaven of…”

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. (Hebrews 10.32 – 36, ESV)

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3.8, ESV)

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliott