What Matters Most
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23:23 NASB
Weightier provisions – Were you able to give an answer to Koheleth’s question? Did you write down why your life matters? Yeshua gives an answer too. Let’s see if your answer looks like His?
“The Devil is in the details,” we say. Maybe we need to apply that same aphorism to our lives under the Lord. Is it possible that we are so caught up with the details that we have neglected what is barys (weighty, heavy)? Have we adopted the Greek metaphysics of “right” answer, “right” amount, “right” denomination? I was recently teaching a group of people whose ethnic heritage involved a great deal of Catholicism. Having come out from under the burdens of “right” dogma, they proclaimed their salvation, concluding that all who remained behind were “lost.” But is God a respecter of denominational affiliation or an inspector of the heart? Do the details prevent me from noticing others who are merciful, long-suffering and kind no matter what “church” they attend? Have I put doctrine, baptism, confession of faith, tithing, even serving the church ahead of justice, mercy and faithfulness?
What would happen to your social-acceptability scale if you began to measure according to weight? Who among you is doing justice? Who is merciful? Who demonstrates reliability? Who follows God’s instructions? Notice that Yeshua doesn’t say that the details don’t matter. They do matter, but they do not compensate for weight. A thousand feathers will not outweigh a single piano. Too often we seem to think that the multiplication of rituals and rule-keeping offsets our lack of justice, mercy and reliability. Every man knows that flowers help, but many bouquets do not make up for one act of unfaithfulness. Keep the rituals. Keep the details. But put the weight where it counts.
Justice, mercy and faithfulness – these three stand out as the true measures of godly obedience. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who knows who God is and how He acts. The real test of our relationship, with God and with others, is found in these three things.
To do justice is to act toward others in ways that glorify God, account for the dignity He placed in men and redeem the earth so that it reflects the values of heaven.
To show mercy is to set aside my rights and my agenda so that others might prosper under the Lord’s care and provision. In particular, it means accepting the consequences due others so that I might share in the forgiveness Yeshua has shown me.
To be faithful is to follow Torah. Faithfulness is not simply keeping your word. It is keeping your promise to act as a citizen in God’s Kingdom where He determines what is good and what is prohibited. It is to live in a way that sets you apart from the world because you absorb His instructions and manifest them each and every day.
When these three are in place, I think we will find that all the rest follow.
Topical Index: weightier, barys, justice, mercy, faithfulness, Matthew 23:23
Who among you is doing justice? Who is merciful? Who demonstrates reliability? Who follows God’s instructions? He is.
~When these three are in place, I think we will find that all the rest follow.~ Amen. But He has has said, “without Me -you can do nothing.” Why are we doing justice? Why are we merciful and show mercy? Why do we strive to be faithful? Because He (the Living Torah) is our Standard and He has said “without Me- you can do nothing”.
Yeshua was (and is) the perfect man. Unspotted, unblemished..- full and complete. In Him dwells all the fulness (completeness) of the G-dhead, bodily. He has said, “follow Me.” Do as I do. (and live!)
Solomon (poor guy) was “all about” stuff and things. He accumulated. This, that or the other- “more” will make me happy. Even though this man “had it all”- he (praise G-d!) realized and recognized (finally..) he had nothing. Did Solomon remember the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Did Solomon obey the instructions of YHWH?- the word of the LORD? Solomon was a very (worldly) wise fool. Did Solomon “read and follow label directions?” Did he live his life according to “it is written?” Or was he among the choir who sing “I did it my way?” I wonder if Solomon ever heard of another king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar?
Ah, but then there is yet another King.. another King who does not yet -fully wear the crown. A King who wears many crowns- Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.. “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His Name..” Shall we? – Solomon, will you join us?
Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.
Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won which now His brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem;
The root whence mercy ever flows, the Babe of Bethlehem.
Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.
Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.
Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His piercèd feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.
Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.
Crown Him the Lord of Heaven, enthroned in worlds above,
Crown Him the King to Whom is given the wondrous name of Love.
Crown Him with many crowns, as thrones before Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, for He is King of all.
Crown Him the Lord of lords, who over all doth reign,
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word, for ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light, where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night, their God, Redeemer, King.
Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.
This message really hit me where I am standing today! Recently someone told me ‘You can break Torah by trying to keep Torah”! Wow…and that is so true, when one becomes so focused on the DETAILS of who did what, who said what – trying to prove one’s position, to be RIGHT – than you have just broken Torah. The devil IS in the details … and will rule and reign over you with them if you allow him to. To set aside your agendas, to be merciful, to be faithful, to be long-suffering, and to be merciful – that will rise you above the minutia of ‘stuff’ and allow you to see the bigger picture. A picture that Abba sees from His perspective ~ not ours. Let us all set aside our own agenda, our own needs and allow the mercy of the Almighty to flow thru our veins so much so that it overflows into everyone we come into contact with. If we can do that – that mercy and faithfulness and justice will ‘infect’ everyone we come in contact with….and may it start with me!
Amen, and I appreciate the attention to what justice, mercy, and faithfulness actually mean. Most everyone would agree they are important – but they are ‘soft’ Christian words which have lost their meaning over time. We are studying Galatians at church right now, and everything is about ‘faith’, however, most of the time when I hear the word it is being used in a vain-hazy-Christian platitude. I include myself in that group, I wonder at how long I have spouted platitudes without really understanding the depth of the words.
I recommend that you download the Galatians seminar I did some time ago. It is on the web site.
Man….. Sometimes God gives answers before you can ask the question! Today, just before opening Today’s Word, I had a discussion with my wife about the children. We (the girls and I) are not communicating. I’ve been a unreliable father in the past, working hard to become reliable (faithful) now. But I’m trying to do it with ‘flowers’ instead of the weightier things….. This really speakes out to me today! Now I know what we need to do tonight, around the kitchen table. Thanks, Skip!
“Why call me LORD, LORD and do not do what I say? “Yes, LORD” is our only “right-response”. Obedience to what G-d says to do (the law, commands,precepts of the LORD found written in the User’s Manual, our Him-Book, the word of G-d. “Do as He asks” was the excellent admonition of His mother to the servants. We are the servants. Christ was a servant and He asks us to follow Him and to live as He lived, as a man under authority. We (now) live “by the Book”. The instructions/teachings of YHWH are written for our shalom. Yeshua said, “if you love me”- (please) keep my commandments. – This do and you will live.. Not only will you live- but you will prosper. Length of days and long life will they add unto you. The words of the LORD will add years to your life and life to your years.
Our Maker and Provider is not only interested in our eternal souls but He is intricately and intimately involved in our “everyday” living!
Are we coming into the slow recognition/realization/revelation- the very Author of the Book we love (and live by) lives within the heart of every blood-bought believer?
“Be holy, for I AM holy”. How on this green planet can we even begin? – “What does the scripture say? (We either need to get a “tat” or a t-shirt) but folks,- this is how we roll- “the word of G-d says..”- G-d’s Book (our Bible) is the plumb line of Amos. When our (daily) lives, thoughts, actions, words, deeds are “in alignment” (or rightly-related to) what is written, – then we may know the smile of our Father and we are “rightly-related” (or righteous).