{"id":989,"date":"2014-07-02T16:50:22","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T21:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/?p=989"},"modified":"2014-11-25T10:11:06","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T16:11:06","slug":"acceptance-of-god-self-and-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/02\/acceptance-of-god-self-and-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Acceptance of God, Self and Others"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/sermons\/?sermon_id=41\" target=\"_blank\">Audio Link<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/l1QVQtKmTmo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><br \/>\nMatthew 10:40-42<\/p>\n<p>In today\u2019s reading, the NRSV translation you heard today, chose to use the word \u201cwelcome\u201d in verse 40. \u201cWhoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. <sup><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/sup>After doing some digging into the Greek and looking at several other English translations, I just don\u2019t think this translation does justice to what Jesus is conveying.<\/p>\n<p>I think most of us might understand what Jesus is saying with these words, but I really believe that instead of welcome, we may want to consider \u201creceive\u201d or \u201caccepts\u201d.\u00a0 Welcome in English just seems to lack to full substance of how deep this welcome, receiving and better yet, accepting means.<\/p>\n<p>When I hear receive in this verse, I hear something to the effect of, whoever receives you; they receive you into their hearts and therefore receive me also into their hearts.\u00a0 The same goes for accepting and I believe even more so.\u00a0 To accept is exactly what Jesus did and what God does in Christ Jesus, for each and everyone of us.\u00a0 Acceptance not based upon condition but unconditional acceptance.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s examine this idea of acceptance just a little further.\u00a0 It seems over the last several years, there has been a wider and wider gap being formed between people with different ideas.\u00a0 We have so may people taking such extreme stances on so many subjects.\u00a0 It seems like so often we have an \u201cour way or the highway\u201d attitude.\u00a0 Where is hospitality, acceptance, welcoming of others, unconditionally without the \u201cbut\u201d clause added to every idea and statement.\u00a0 Can you just imagine where we would be if this is how God extended God\u2019s grace to us?\u00a0 With the clause of you are welcomed, but\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>Here is another interesting item in this verse.\u00a0 In the Greek, the text could also be translated, \u201cWhoever accepts you, I accept, and whoever I accept accepts the one who sent me.\u201d\u00a0 This translation has Jesus, our Lord accepting us upon our accepting of the disciple.\u00a0 God is doing the work, not us doing the work, of accepting God.\u00a0 This then makes it clearer that it is not works in the acceptance of God.\u00a0 Luther even said, that we cannot even have enough faith of our own to accept God but if it were not for the Spirit giving us faith.\u00a0 All that being said, we have freedom to choose to accept the disciple that is referred to in verse 40.<\/p>\n<p>When Jesus is speaking about whoever accepts you, the \u201cyou\u201d is any disciple as a disciple is one who follows Jesus. \u00a0Therefore this applies to us in our daily lives.\u00a0 If we continue to examine this single verse, we can also see what Jesus says about those who reject the disciple.\u00a0 It is not written, but conversely expressed here.\u00a0 Whoever rejects you, I reject and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.\u00a0 Acceptance is life-giving, rejection is not.<\/p>\n<p>This sounds harsh to think that we are being rejected.\u00a0 However, recall what was said in the Gospel of Matthew Last week in verse 32 and 33. \u00a0\u00a0Jesus is speaking and says; <sup>32\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cEveryone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; <sup>33\u00a0<\/sup>but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. <sup><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Acceptance and rejection, of Jesus\u2019s disciples is a very fine line I think sometimes!\u00a0 I cannot tell what is written upon another\u2019s heart.\u00a0 I do not know the relationship that others have with God.\u00a0 If I reject, if I take a stance and draw a line in the sand, do I take a chance of rejecting one of Jesus disciples and in doing so, by my own free will, suffer the consequences of my actions?<\/p>\n<p>Controversies are here now and more are coming in the future, where people will use the Bible to justify a stance, one way or another.\u00a0 On the other hand the Bible can also be used for acceptance, without the clause of \u201cbut\u201d.\u00a0 Here is what I believe.\u00a0 The Bible is a love story of God and God\u2019s unconditional love for God\u2019s creation.\u00a0 God sees who we are, accepts unconditionally who we are.\u00a0 This does not mean God does not want more for us but accepts us where we are today.<\/p>\n<p>The Spirit is continually seeking us out.\u00a0 Seeking us out to be accepting of God, Self and others.\u00a0 Even in our rejections of others, our God, and ourselves, God continues to shower us in God\u2019s unconditional grace.\u00a0 That applies to not only to the disciples, who as humans have failures but also to those that are not yet disciples who have rejected God.\u00a0 God wants more for them and us.<\/p>\n<p>Acceptance of others, acceptance of our Triune God, is a choice that we all are faced with each and every day.\u00a0 Jesus faced the greatest choice of all to accept the will of the Father, for the sake, not of Himself, but for others, others who may reject him or accept him.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 acceptance of God\u2019s will for Himself and others is life-giving.<\/p>\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n<p><sup><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/sup> <em>The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version<\/em> (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Mt 10:40.<\/p>\n<p><sup><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/sup> <em>The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version<\/em> (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Mt 10:32\u201333.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Audio Link &nbsp; Matthew 10:40-42 In today\u2019s reading, the NRSV translation you heard today, chose to use the word \u201cwelcome\u201d in verse 40. \u201cWhoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. [1]After doing some digging into the Greek and looking at several other English translations, I just don\u2019t &#8230; <span class=\"more\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/02\/acceptance-of-god-self-and-others\/\">[Read more&#8230;]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[77,3,83],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-admin","4":"post-989","6":"format-standard","7":"category-acceptance","8":"category-grace","9":"category-sermon"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2m6h5-fX","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":682,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/14\/mission-day-1-houston\/","url_meta":{"origin":989,"position":0},"title":"Mission, Day 1 &#8211; Houston","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"January 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"We rise to another early day, just like our travel days towards Houston. Now we rise to the soundings of a rooster, yes a rooster, here in Houston. Well, some of us hear the rooster, while others can to sleep through just about anything. It had rained overnight and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus Ministry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus Ministry","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/campus-ministry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1483,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2016\/01\/03\/john-testifies-to-the-word-son-incarnate-for-all\/","url_meta":{"origin":989,"position":1},"title":"John Testifies to the Word, Son Incarnate, for All","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"January 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunday, January 3, 2016 Second Sunday After Christmas Old Testament \u00a0Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm \u00a0147:12-20 New Testament \u00a0Ephesians 1:3-14 Gospel \u00a0John 1:1-18 JOHN 1:1\u201318 The bolded text is this author's additional explanation to the reading as translated by N.T. Wright. 1\u00a0In the beginning was the Word. The Word was close beside\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christ&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christ","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/christ\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/k2af10YlLoc\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1347,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2015\/06\/17\/baptism-changes-our-reality\/","url_meta":{"origin":989,"position":2},"title":"Baptism Changes Our Reality","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"June 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/youtu.be\/xW616MbaGA0 Audio Link Sunday, June 7, 2015 | After Pentecost Genesis 3:8-15 Psalm 130: 1-8 2 Corinthians 4:13\u20135:1 Mark 3:20\u201335 Isn't it nice that we are in a different gospel today? Oh don\u2019t get me wrong, John is great stuff, but it is nice to have another perspective of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Baptism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Baptism","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/baptism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/xW616MbaGA0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1150,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2014\/11\/27\/shepherd-king\/","url_meta":{"origin":989,"position":3},"title":"Shepherd King","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"November 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Audio Version http:\/\/youtu.be\/9cK5GKcYecU Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Psalm\u00a0100:1-5 Ephesians 1:15-23 Matthew 25:31-46 \u00a0 I think for many of us, but I can really only speak for myself, when I hear the word King it brings all sorts of images to my mind. We don\u2019t live in a monarchy society and I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christ&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christ","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/christ\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/9cK5GKcYecU\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1292,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2015\/04\/11\/truth-and-witness\/","url_meta":{"origin":989,"position":4},"title":"Truth and Witness","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"April 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/XodTgtIaY68 Audio Version Easter Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 John 20:1-18 Can I get a consensus, that to tell a lie is wrong? What about a \u201cwhite lie\u201d? What about withholding information that would be beneficial to someone? What if the information may\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Christ&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Christ","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/christ\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/XodTgtIaY68\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":53,"url":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/2011\/10\/10\/grace-vs-law-wedding-feast\/","url_meta":{"origin":989,"position":5},"title":"Grace vs. Law, Wedding Feast","author":"Douglas Dill","date":"October 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"When I began to study the Gospel reading for today, I first said to myself,\"hey, this is an easy lesson. Everyone will get this. It's obvious that heaven is where the banquet is and we have been invited, yet some will refuse.\" End of sermon, right? I always have to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Grace&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Grace","link":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/category\/grace\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-r8C8N7yLZUE\/TpMXjBqHDYI\/AAAAAAAAAJU\/eBL6oQa9_CI\/s320\/WeddingFeast.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":991,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions\/991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.messy-spirituality.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}