CHOKED ON DISTRACTIONS (32 OF 52)
Scripture: Matthew 13:1-9, Matthew 13:18-23, Matthew 13
This content is part of a series.
Choked on Distractions (32 of 52)
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
It is all too easy a thing to become distracted. Perhaps this is true today more than at any other period in history. We are surrounded by distractions in a society abounding with more voices and options clamoring to entertain us than anyone can possibly answer. We have broadcast TV, as well as all sorts of subscription services. I used to be amazed at more than 3 channels showing up on broadcast TV. Today, people purchase subscriptions to more than three multi-channel content providers. There is a plethora of online options for our entertainment and attention far beyond the realm of the simple TV. Should it be any surprise that in the realm of our spiritual lives we are not likewise bombarded with distractions that would take our attention off following Jesus and living out the gospel?
Jesus' message was a call to a renewed and redirected focus. He went around Palestine preaching and teaching people to review their commitment to giving their lives in service to Yahweh. He called on them to look beyond the standard pronouncements of their traditions and heritage along the lines of so many of Israel's prophets before him. Jesus focused his attention on highlighting the essential principles of Yahweh's directives, pointing out how so much legalistic tradition distracted people from the central issues of loving God and loving one another as equal to ourselves.
Time after time, on issue after issue, Jesus called people back to the essential parameters of what it means to love one another and what it means to practice justice, mercy, and compassion. At every step along the way, his disciples struggled to refocus their lives according to those principles. They had been steeped in a heritage bathed in concepts that distracted them from seeing God's full character. They could not keep their eyes on the goal of the transformation God wanted to work in them f ...
Series: Lectionary, Year A
Christopher B. Harbin
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
It is all too easy a thing to become distracted. Perhaps this is true today more than at any other period in history. We are surrounded by distractions in a society abounding with more voices and options clamoring to entertain us than anyone can possibly answer. We have broadcast TV, as well as all sorts of subscription services. I used to be amazed at more than 3 channels showing up on broadcast TV. Today, people purchase subscriptions to more than three multi-channel content providers. There is a plethora of online options for our entertainment and attention far beyond the realm of the simple TV. Should it be any surprise that in the realm of our spiritual lives we are not likewise bombarded with distractions that would take our attention off following Jesus and living out the gospel?
Jesus' message was a call to a renewed and redirected focus. He went around Palestine preaching and teaching people to review their commitment to giving their lives in service to Yahweh. He called on them to look beyond the standard pronouncements of their traditions and heritage along the lines of so many of Israel's prophets before him. Jesus focused his attention on highlighting the essential principles of Yahweh's directives, pointing out how so much legalistic tradition distracted people from the central issues of loving God and loving one another as equal to ourselves.
Time after time, on issue after issue, Jesus called people back to the essential parameters of what it means to love one another and what it means to practice justice, mercy, and compassion. At every step along the way, his disciples struggled to refocus their lives according to those principles. They had been steeped in a heritage bathed in concepts that distracted them from seeing God's full character. They could not keep their eyes on the goal of the transformation God wanted to work in them f ...
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