Links for today’s readings:
Apr 14 Read: Joel 1 Listen: (2:59) Read: Matthew 18 Listen: (4:25)
Scripture Focus: Matthew 18:6–9
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
From John: We return to this 2021 post today, at a time when the Epstein files and other scandals have revealed many who may need millstones, if we interpreted this passage literally. It is also a time in which we need to remember again that “these little ones” is not solely about age or the abuse of children, but the deception of those who believe in Jesus. Many today, old and young, are being led to stumble by algorithms (which is to say by the profit-motivated creators of those algorithms), by politicians, and by Christian influencers who spread cultural ideology and call it “biblical.” It’s easy and quick to focus outward and point fingers of blame. It’s better to focus inward and take responsibility for our own actions. Be wary. Devote yourselves to the scriptures. Watch out for the “little ones” around you.
Reflection: Misleading the Least
By John Tillman
The gospels record many times that people asked Jesus about “the greatest.”
There are religious debates about the greatest commandments and, multiple times, in many different settings, the disciples approach Jesus about, or are caught by Jesus arguing about, “the greatest.” (Matthew 18.1-3; 23.11; Luke 9.46; Mark 9.34)
Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven…
Can my two sons sit in the greatest seats…
Which of us is the greatest…
We want to know, don’t we?
Jesus definitively stated that the greatest in the kingdom should be the least, the lowest, the small, the “little ones.” Jesus used a child in this example, but did not use the Greek word referring to age. The word Jesus chose, translated little, implies low status or being unimportant.
The unimportant, Jesus says, are of the greatest importance, but we, like the disciples, don’t quite believe it. We want to be important, big, mature, strong, and dominant. We want to win. In pursuit of importance and status we grasp at power. We grasp at fame. We grasp at wealth. All the grasping we engage in to be the greatest is meaningless—chasing after wind.
This is challenging enough to our sinful nature, but what comes next is more chilling. Jesus has a stark warning for the leaders of the little. To those leaders and influencers who, through actions or words, may cause “little ones” to stumble comes one of the most graphic pictures of punishment to cross the lips of Jesus. If Christ’s metaphor about millstones had been carried out literally through history, there might not be room in the oceans for the millstones and the irresponsible leaders tied to them by the neck.
Woe to leaders who mislead. Woe to influencers who cause others to stumble. Woe when we manipulate rather than educate. Woe when we foment sin rather than form spiritual morality. Woe when we lie and deceive rather than unfailingly cling to the truth.
Have we caused others to stumble? If so, how?
By being an example of greed or any other sin? By spreading a lie? By keeping silent in the face of injustice? By sharing an inflammatory post? By provoking others? By being purposely insensitive? By manipulating people?
May we repent of any of our actions or words that may have caused others to stumble. It is better for us to cut those actions out of our lives than to cause harm to others.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
I will bear witness that the Lord is righteous; I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High. — Psalm 7.18
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: Unprecedented
Not every crisis is a judgment. But we would be wise to look first to our own hearts and our own sins rather than blaming outside forces or the sins of unbelievers.
Read more: Lament the Fall of Leaders (Even Bad Ones)
The removal of a bad leader is often like the lancing of a boil or a surgery to remove cancer.