Looking Ahead

We are steamrolling toward Easter! Easter is April 5 this year. Wallula will have three worship services on Easter Sunday at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 a.m. This Sunday, you can pick up Easter invitations and a yard sign to let your friends and neighbors know about these opportunities! We are in the middle of our preaching series, “Unusual Suspects.” We will get to hear from two excellent preachers, Dave York from First United Methodist Church and Kasey Robinson from Westside Family Church in Leavenworth. I know you will be blessed by both these messages. Dave will be preaching this Sunday, so be sure to be at Wallula! I pray that our Easter reading plan has been as big a blessing to you as it has been for me. Every Wednesday, I’ve been sending a devotion to everyone signed up for the plan. I wanted to share today’s devotion with everyone. You can still be a part of the reading and prayer plan by registering on the church center app!

Everybody loves a good “mic drop” moment. You know, those rare times in conversations when you have just the right comment to encourage, motivate, or even admonish the person(s) you are having the discussion with! If you are anything like me, you most often think of those witty sayings after the conversation is over, and you think, “Oh! I should have said…” When I was in college, a couple of freshman guys moved into the dorm. They were likable enough, but one characteristic stood out. They would respond in conversation, to just about anything you said with the phrase, “mmm ogre!” Yeah, I don’t get it either? It did not take long for this silly comment to become something of a catchphrase on our small campus. Truthfully, it got to be pretty annoying! Everywhere you went, people were saying, “mmm ogre!” It was the “6-7” of our day - there was no real meaning. I made every effort to avoid adding the phrase to my vocabulary. One night I was hanging out in my dorm room with a bunch of guys, eating tater tots out of a bucket (that is a story for another time) when one of my friends made a pretty pointed comment offered in my direction. Others broke out laughing, and I quickly searched my brain for an appropriate response. While I was combing through the data banks in my brain, out of my mouth came, “mmm ogre!” Not exactly the “mic drop” moment I was hoping for…

Read Matthew 22:34-40

How many times in the Gospels is Jesus in a situation with the religious leaders like this one? Whether it is the Sadducees or the Pharisees, those jealous of Jesus, or even those who were genuinely curious, people were always asking Jesus pointed questions. Often, the intention was to trap Jesus into saying something they could use against Him later; once in a while, it was to sincerely learn. This question definitely fell into the former’s camp. The Sadducees had failed in their attempt to discredit Jesus, so the Pharisees (who often thought they were the smartest people in the room) stepped in. One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to tell them which of God’s commands was the most important. It was a great question, especially if you wanted to get someone in trouble; I mean, it was the kind of question, if you got ten people into a room and asked, “which commandment is of greatest importance?” You would probably get ten different questions. Often when Jesus was confronted with this kind of question, He would respond with a question of His own. He would force the questioner to exercise a little introspection and come up with the appropriate response themselves. Here though, Jesus drops the mic! Without missing a beat, He responds, almost as if saying, “guys, this should be obvious!” “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And just for good measure, Jesus added, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Mic drop.

Reflection Questions:

1. If you had to summarize what it means to follow Jesus, how would you do it? How does your response compare to Jesus’ mic drop moment in Matthew 22:34-40?
2. What does it mean to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul? How do we live this command out in our lives?
3. Why do you think Jesus emphasized love as the greatest commandment?
4. How can we ensure that love, not just knowledge, is central to our discipleship?
5. What is one way I can show love to a neighbor this week?