Luke 14-A “That My House May Be Filled”

S = Luke 14:17-18a, 21 “And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses… So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’”

 

O = The man who gives the banquet is more than a man…v. 24 tells us the banquet in question is Christ’s. But what I notice is that after a selection of culturally inappropriate and lame excuses in fact be carefully couched insults, the man gets angry. I am reminded through this that God is not a dispassionate personality! Yet what is it the master/God does in his anger? He extended radical grace to others who had not been a part of the original invitation! No attempt to sabotage the Messianic banquet will succeed.

 

A = I recognize that I am one of those found in the streets and lanes or the highways and hedges. I could never have dreamed to have been invited to the wedding supper of God’s Son…but now I am! If God’s anger released greater grace (Romans 5:10) then what must his delight in us produce? This week when I am invited to spend time with God in his Word and in prayer, and to table fellowship with him through his gathered people, let me not make lame excuses but come with eager anticipation!

 

P = O Lord, may I come quickly at your call and be a delight to you this week rather than insultingly self-centered and aloof. May I also be like the servant in the parable…diligent to seek out the lost so that your house may be filled. Amen.

Luke 13-E “My Narrow Door"

S = 13-23-25 “And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’”

O = Jesus didn’t answer their question, “Will those who are saved be few?” (v.23) directly. Instead, he encouraged them to actively respond to his invitation by entering through the narrow door. The context suggests that the invitation is not limited in scope (v.29), but only in the time allowed for response…before the master closes the door. Compared to the breadth of eternity, my few years on this earth are a narrow door indeed!

A = Do I see the kingdom of God as being for the few or the many? For the now or the later? As real or imaginary? As impersonal or highly relational? My answers to these questions will shape my response towards God and towards other people in my daily life. If the King and his kingdom are important to me, then I will not wait a minute longer to enter, nor take my access to Jesus for granted. My life is a narrow door limited by the time laid out for me in advance. If I choose to not respond then he will not open the door once it is closed. As the saying goes, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades”…it is not enough to have attended functions where Jesus was present, or to have been in the same town. I must be known by Jesus if I am to enter. How will I choose to spend time with Jesus this week? Obviously Jesus knows everything and everyone, but in this sense Jesus is speaking of relationship not cognitive awareness.

P = O Lord, I thank you for your grace that opens the door to my salvation and your love that sets the table for your wedding banquet, and for your Spirit who sends your invitation to me and leads me, even compels me to respond today! How could I not? Amen.

Luke 13-D "Indignant at Dignity"

S = Luke 13:12-14, 17 “When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”… As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.”

O = Jesus saw a woman who was without social standing because of her disability…yet she was treated with dignity by Jesus. Ironically, while Jesus bestowed dignity on this surprised recipient, the rule of the synagogue lost his own dignity. Jesus called the woman to himself while the ruler would have sent her away. She was made straight while the ruler is seen to be a hypocrite—an actor—who is truly bent…she worships God as a result of her deliverance while the ruler is put to shame.

A = How will I react when Jesus works in ways that seem different than what I expect? Will I want him to undo it or start over again? Will I be a recipient of dignity or an indignant hypocrite? It depends on how I respond to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and his love for hurting people. This week I will choose to see people the way Jesus does, as sons and “daughters of Abraham” to whom he would call, touch, and heal.

P = O Lord, thank you that you see us in our most undignified state and yet you love us, call us, touch us, deliver us, and straighten us as we could never do for ourselves. To you I give glory! Amen.

Luke 13-C "Freed From a Disabling Spirit"

S = Luke 13:11-13 “And there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, ‘Woman, you are freed from your disability.’ And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.”

O = While Jesus was teaching he was also observant as to the needs of the people there. This woman, though “a daughter of Abraham” (v.16), had been in this condition a very long time (18 years). She was bent over with her view only of earth, rather than heaven, she could not fully fix herself even temporarily straightening up. Jesus had to free her to stand up, to look up, and to give up glory to God. She was helpless to initiate any of this…yet she was able to respond to his call, receive his deliverance, and return glory to God.

A = I wonder how often I deceive myself in thinking that I can spiritually and morally straighten myself…to stand up on my own feet, to see all there is to see, to present myself as exemplary, when my self-reliance leaves me bent, bound and shuffling, unable to look up into the face of Christ? Yet when Jesus sees my need, he calls me over and sets me free with a word and a touch! The question is, will I come over when he calls or just shuffle away in my resigned self-effort?

P = O Lord, thank-you for calling me over, for lifting my eyes to behold your beauty, to experience life as one set free from disabling spirits of sins indulged and spirits of hurts and disappointments nurtured in bitterness. May I stand tall in praise of your grace this week. I praise you with all praise! Jesus is Lord! Hallelujah! Amen.

Luke 13-B “Why should it use up the ground?”

S = 13:7-9 “‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year…’”

O = The master comes seeking fruit for the third year. According to the Law, a landowner was not allowed to seek fruit for the first three years. In the fourth year, the fruit was dedicated to the Lord, then in the fifth year the own could harvest the fruit for his use. If this fruit being sought is for the Lord’s offering then this is the sixth year since planting. Three years of unfruitfulness is a pretty hard pattern to overcome…and in fact the tree cannot without help. Do we sometimes feel like this about ourselves…doubting that we could ever be fruitful? I know there have been times when I wondered why the Lord didn’t just “cut me out of the ground.” Perhaps there are relationships with a spouse, a child, a parent, a neighbor, that never seems to bear fruit and now we just want to get rid of it…to dig it out of our life’s garden. I know there have been times that I felt that way. But here we see the relational mercy of God in action. He is committed to digging around us (to remove the hindrances to growth) and piling on manure so we can have what is needed for fruitfulness. He doesn’t cast us off in frustration—but faithfully focuses us and feeds us so that we might finally offer something back to Him. This is a story that is not finished—a parabolic cliff-hanger. The ending is up to us to fill in and it hinges simply on our responding to his love with love.

A = I need to make sure that I respond to his love and mercy and allow the Holy Spirit to produce fruit in my life. This is spiritual maturity—not independence, but trust in God’s love and a desire to be all he wants me to be because I love him and he has chosen me. I need to show more mercy in my relationships, not tending to “cut them out of the ground” when my needs and expectations are not met.

P = O Lord, thank you for not giving up on me! Sometimes the digging hurts and the manure stinks but it is all guided by your patient love and mercy. May I not fight and struggle against the work you are doing in my this week. May your work also be received and responded to in those I love. Produce your fruit in me this week for I cannot of myself do so…but you can! Amen.