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.

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 are the least, the lowest, the small, the “little ones.” Jesus used a child in this example, but there is a different Greek word that refers to age. The word Jesus chooses, 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, 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
Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord when he comes, when he comes to judge the earth. — Psalm 96.12

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Genesis 19 (Listen – 5:33) 
Matthew 18 (Listen – 4:25)

Read more about The Seductive Idolatry of Politics
Politics is the most powerful new religion of this millennium…When forced to choose between country, or party, and Christ, we must choose Christ.

Read more about 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.

Scripture Focus: Matthew 15.13
He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.”

From John: Yesterday and today, we are looking back at some posts from 2019 about the spiritual work of cultivating a deep spiritual life of growth and discipleship. 

Reflection: For Sustainable Cultivation—Guided Prayer
By John Tillman

A growing faith that produces a sustainable harvest is one that is cultivated.

Faith that produces harvest is supernatural. It has a purposeful and planned rhythm. It starts with the destruction of clearing obstacles. It continues with protection and tender care for the young plants. It multiplies with growth and harvest that is shared among community. It propagates through seeds of knowledge, passed on for the next generation of growth.

As we conclude (for now) our series on cultivating faith, we pray over our hearts (our fields) some scriptures from today’s readings.

A Prayer to the Sustainer of Faith
Oh, God, planter of the first garden, cultivator of all creation,
We ask you to teach us to cultivate our hearts.

Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
   their teachings are merely human rules.’”

We do not want our hearts to be far from you, Lord.
We do not wish to cultivate a system of human rules,
But a harvest of the fruit of your Spirit.

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

You have taught us, Lord, that the fruits of our actions spring from our hearts.

Our hearts are the fields that we must till and tend.

He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.

Help us, Lord, to resist the urge to weed someone else’s field.

We pray that you would send us, Lord, first into the field of our own hearts.
To pull up the stones.
To burn out the crops of selfishness.
To pull up by the roots our callousness.
To nourish the good seed of the gospel.
To share the harvest in celebration.

Only then, Lord, will be able to give freely to our neighbors of the seed that you have planted in us.

We echo the cry of the outcast Syro-Phonecian woman, Lord.

Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!

We are desperate for a crumb of the harvest of the gospel.
And we long to hear you answer,

You have great faith! Your request is granted.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Search for the Lord and his strength; continually seek his face. — Psalm 105.4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Genesis 16 (Listen – 2:18)
Matthew 15 (Listen – 4:23)

This Weekend’s Readings
Genesis 17 (Listen – 4:02) Matthew 16 (Listen – 3:43)
Genesis 18 (Listen – 4:59) Matthew 17 (Listen – 3:46)

Read more about Cultivation Requires Planning
Do you have a plan to cultivate your spiritual growth?

Read more about Cultivation Starts With Destruction
May the scripture help us to plow up and destroy the cultural idols, trends, teachings, and brands that hinder our growth.

Scripture Focus: Matthew 14.16
Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

From John: For the next couple of days, we will look back at some posts from 2019 about the spiritual work of cultivating a deep spiritual life of growth and discipleship. 

Reflection: Cultivation Must Be Learned
By John Tillman

Cultivation requires intergenerational transfer.

The first training schools for ministers in the church were communities called, in Latin, seminarium, meaning “plant nursery” or “seed plot.” The root word (we just can’t escape agricultural metaphor) also gives us the word semen, the literal “seed” of humanity; seminal, implying an original source of thought or work; and, seminar, a focused time of learning.

Spiritual wisdom and knowledge, like agricultural knowledge, must be passed on, with its seeds, from one generation to the next.

I learned to shell purple-hulled peas (a more flavorful cousin to black-eyed peas) because I sat on a porch with my family and shared in the work before sharing in the meal. Many of us learn agricultural knowledge from a loved one. We learn to tell if a fruit or vegetable is ripe, how and when to prune roses, how to properly root a cutting of a plant, or at what depth to set bulbs in order to have blooms at the proper time.

In individual, cultural, or generational isolation, we lose the ability to transfer or receive knowledge. And in one-way relationships, there is no ability to contextualize knowledge, to discuss it, or to practice together how to live it out. This is why one of the most rewarding parts of The Park Forum is when I hear from readers, and discuss what has challenged or encouraged them. 

There are limits to the level of community that is possible for a geographically distributed ministry like The Park Forum. Distributed communities, like long-distance relationships, require energy and investment to maintain. It is our hope that The Park Forum is a community tool, a seedbed, a source of cuttings that can be planted and rooted in your community.

More of us need to sit around biblical teaching, as my family sat around a bucket of unshelled peas, extracting the value from the harvest together, one pod at a time. When we share in the work of extracting the goodness of the land, we gain more than a harvest of nutritional content or monetary gain. We gain community.

Who is your community? With whom are you processing God’s Word? Who are the believers, older in the faith, from whom you are learning? Who are the believers, younger in the faith, with whom you are sharing what you have learned? 

*If you have not joined our Park Forum Cultivators Facebook Group, please see the description below and follow the link to join us there.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; knit my heart to you that I may fear your name. — Psalm 86.11

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Genesis 15 (Listen – 2:53)
Matthew 14 (Listen – 4:14)

Read more about Cultivation Is Supernatural
A stronger faith, and a greater crop yield comes when we invest in cultivation. Cultivation is not natural. It is supernatural.

Read more about Milk of the Word, A Precedent to Growth
It’s not that we are still drinking milk when we should have been weaned, but that we’ve never drunk it consistently.

Scripture Focus: Matthew 13.37-43
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 

40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. 

Reflection: Preparing the Ground—Guided Prayer
By John Tillman 

We need nothing more in this time of national grief and conflict than to refocus on prayer and our commitment to only Jesus Christ, preparing the ground of our hearts for his truth. We will pray, today, a prayer based on Matthew 13.1-43.

Preparing the Ground
Lord, We live in a difficult time for spiritual growth.

We live in a time of confusion when the enemy is trying to snatch the seed of truth from us…

We live in a time of rocky relationships that cannot stand the heat of the sun or the cold of the night. Our roots cannot break up the hardness of our hearts, so we cannot draw up living water for our own, or anyone else’s, thirst.

We live in a time of distraction, with controversies and conspiracies and crises by the dozens screaming for our attention…diluting our strength…sapping our energy and growth. We allow thorny antagonism to flourish, but not the flower or fruit of the gospel.

Lord help us, even in this time and space, to prepare our hearts as ground that is ready to receive your truth.

Help us to banish and scatter the demonic influences that would snatch away the truth and replace it with a comfortable lie. We especially pray against those demonic forces such as Q-Anon, that would snatch the true gospel from our hearts and plant tares in your good field.

Help us to break up the rocks of our hard heads and our hard hearts. Help us to see with eyes that can discern your truth and listen with ears that can hear the cries and needs of our fellow brothers and sisters. Heal our broken and crumbling relationships, making room for the growth of deep roots of love and community.

Keep us out of the weeds of needless controversies and pointless arguments. Keep us from being tangled in the thorns of addiction to wealth of money or wealth of fame. Help us to shape our lives to produce a fragrant flower to attract others and a fruit that satisfies the deepest needs of those who seek the gospel.

May we bring in many to the harvest. May we shine like the sun in your kingdom.
May whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
With my whole heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commandments. — Psalm 119.10

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Genesis 14 (Listen – 4:04)
Matthew 13 (Listen – 7:23)

Read more about Cultivation Leads to Harvest
Cultivation leads to harvest. Harvests, when shared, lead to celebration.

Read more about Judging Our Hearts
Jesus refers to false prophets’ disguise as sheep’s clothing that conceals an inward nature that is a violent and ferocious wolf.