Hello friends.
Welcome to the 19th episode of Christian Meditation with me,
Anita Mathias.
Let's close eyes and begin to detach from the world and enter the inner sanctuary of our soul and spirit,
Made by God,
Loved by God.
Let's begin to slow our breath.
Breathe out to the count of five,
Exhaling any stress or tension,
And breathe in to the count of five,
Inhaling the deep peace of the stars and of God.
Again,
Tense and tighten your body as much as you can.
Release it.
Breathe.
Let's do this tense and tighten and release cycle again,
To further relax our body.
When I'm distracted in church,
Say,
Or in my time of prayer,
It helps to focus my imagination on the very visual visions of God in the Bible.
In the book of Revelation,
The Apostle John,
A prisoner on the island of Patmos,
Escapes the boundaries of space and time and sees a door standing open in heaven,
And that door still stands open,
And you and I can walk through it.
And there before me,
John writes,
Was a throne in heaven,
With someone sitting on it.
From the throne came flashes of lightning,
Rumblings and peals of thunder.
Then I saw a lamb,
John writes,
Looking as if it had been slain,
Standing in the centre of the throne.
The four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb,
And they sang a new song.
You are worthy,
O Lamb,
Because you were slain,
And with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Then I looked,
John writes,
And heard the voice of many angels,
Numbering 10,
000 times 10,
000.
They encircled the throne,
And in a loud voice they sang,
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
To receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise.
And then John heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea singing,
To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power for ever and ever.
Every creature on earth and on the sea singing,
All the sad and abused animals who ever lived,
All our loved and lost pets,
Rover and Brutus and Juno and Buddy and Trooper and Jakey,
Now not barking but singing.
How magnificent the world of creation is.
How magnificent God is.
O Lamb upon the throne,
Beautiful,
Gentle,
Lion-like,
Spectacular Lord Jesus,
Instruct our spirits as we segway into Matthew chapter 17.
After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum,
The collectors of the two drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked,
Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?
Yes,
He does,
He replied.
When Peter came into the house,
Jesus was the first to speak.
What do you think,
Simon?
He asked.
From whom do the kings of the earth collect taxes,
From their own children or from others?
From others,
Peter answered.
Then the children are exempt,
Jesus said to him.
But so that we may not cause offence,
Go to the lake and throw out your line.
Take the first fish you catch,
Open its mouth and you will find a four drachma coin.
Take it and give it to them for your tax and mine.
The silver coin in the mouth of a fish.
Never underestimate God.
So the taxman comes for Peter.
Does Jesus pay the voluntary but expected tax for the upkeep of the grand temple and his priests,
Like today's tithe?
And as he often does,
Jesus asks Peter what he thinks,
Because as a friend he's interested and as a brilliant teacher he wants Peter to think for himself.
Sons do not pay tax to their father,
They both agree.
Then Christ,
Who repeatedly referred to his powerful body as God's temple on earth,
Decides to pay temple tax anyway,
To avoid a scandal on,
Offence.
Christ was unafraid of offending the legalistic Pharisees.
He healed on the Sabbath,
He allowed his disciples to pick grain on the Sabbath,
He overturned the tables of profiteering temple money changers.
Brave stands against legalism,
Greed and hard-heartedness.
However,
Since his blazing eyes,
Which see into our eyes,
Hearts and souls,
Saw silver in a fish,
To refuse to pay tax would distract from his message And if we,
His followers,
Must sometimes offend our friends,
Church or community,
Let's ensure it's on spirit-guided,
God-directed issues.
And Jesus instructs Peter to cast a line and a hook,
As amateur fishermen did,
Insulting for a professional with boats and nets.
And Christ again demonstrates that he knows best,
Even in Peter's one area of professional expertise.
And Christ knows best in our own areas of giftedness.
His call often involves us working just outside our zone of competence,
Forcing us to function with the magic of God's spirit and energy.
The grain of pride must die for resurrection.
And Peter finds silver in a fish.
When you lack the money to fulfil the dream God has placed in your heart,
Never rule out his wonder-working power.
Pray for God's miraculous provision,
Or for Christ's surprising strategies to create wealth,
Rather than work yourself to breakdown,
Or manipulate or use others to get money.
Will God tell us,
On request,
Which fish in the multitudinous seas of the world has swallowed silver?
He sometimes might,
For he hates waste.
But not always.
Tim Keller writes,
People think,
If God has called you to something,
He's promising you success.
But he might be calling you to fail,
To prepare you for something else through the failure.
To work all night and catch nothing,
As Peter did,
Strengthens our character and endurance,
So that we are capable of becoming fishers of humans,
And,
If God pleases,
Sometimes,
Perhaps even fishers of money.
Amen.
