06/03/2010

My mother died

What would a normal person do if she received news that her mother died? Cry. Rush to the hospital or home to mourn her mom and join the rest of the family for support… Drop everything she had been doing and begin to gather strength to overcome the pain of such great loss… Even after the funeral, she would need a few days, maybe weeks, to recover emotionally and get her life back into normality.

The Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette received that news just two weeks ago in Vancouver while competing in the Winter Olympics. Her mom, who came to cheer for her, suffered a massive heart attack and died in her hotel room.

Joannie had a decision to make. Surrender to her emotions and abandon the Games to mourn and bury her mother — or ignore her mother’s death and stay focused on the pursuit of her Olympic medal?

She chose the latter. And the world applauded her. In the end, Joannie won the bronze medal.

One day, a disciple of the Lord Jesus asked him: “‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’ Then He went into the boat, and his disciples followed him.” Matthew 8.21-23

Let me first go…

That disciple wanted to follow Jesus but first bury his father. Perfectly understandable. Who would have condemned Joannie if she had decided to exit the Olympics to mourn and bury her mother?

But with His apparently heartless answer, the Lord taught that disciple (and all of us) the importance of having the right PRIORITIES. If anyone wanted to follow Him, he or she had to put Him first in their lives, even before father and mother. And when a difficult situation arises, it does not serve as an excuse to put God in second place. Not even the death of a parent is a good excuse!

“I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, I have done according to all that you have commanded me.” Deuteronomy 26.14

Eating of the tithe in mourning means using an excuse to touch the Lord’s tithe for yourself, and thus pushing the Lord to second place in your life. “Lord, I used the tithe money, but it was for a good reason.” There is never a good reason to be unfaithful. “Honey, I cheated on you with that woman, but she was just SOOO beautiful…” Has any betrayed wife or husband ever accepted excuses for being cheated on?

Tithing means that God comes first and that nothing comes in between you and Him — no matter the reason, excuse, explanation or justification.

After answering that disciple, Jesus went into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Clearly, the Lord didn’t give him much time to think about it. I assume the young man got the message and joined them in the boat too.

What about you — will you board that boat or will you bury your father?

Read this message in portuguese