Luke 16-B “Neither Will They Be Convinced”

S = 16:29-31 “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

O = The rich man argued with Abraham in this story (pretty cheeky!) asking the Lazarus might be sent (still looks down on the man) to warn the brothers he yet had on earth so that they might avoid the torment of hell. The rich man was convinced that they would listen to a man resurrected from the dead. Abraham makes it clear that they won’t listen…why? Because they didn’t listen to Moses and the Prophets…which are filled with teaching about loving God with your whole being (because He shows steadfast love to you), and of repenting of our sin and seeking the Lord. But they, if they are like the rich man (and he seems to think they are), choose not to hear, not to see, not to repent.

A = Is there some sign I am holding out for… before I repent and change the way I think about God? What is my “if only” argument? Why would I miss his message? How have I heard Moses and the Prophets? If I don’t listen to God’s Word, if I choose to serve self rather than the Lord, then no miracle will change my trajectory. The need is not for more miracles to prove to me that I need to change, but a new master who will change my heart of stone before it drags me down to hell. This week I need to make sure that Jesus is the “one master” to which I am devoted!

P = O Lord, may I choose to hear your voice today (Heb. 3-4) and may I never harden my heart! O Jesus, great lover of my soul…

• may my community learn to listen to each other and show care for each other despite their differences (James 1:19);
• may my nation see the danger we face and act in repentance (Eze. 33:11);
• may my congregation have ears to hear and seek the Lord like we mean it (Psalm 105:3-5; Luke 14:34),; and finally
• may the Church universal love each other and unite around your kingdom mission (1 Cor. 12:14; 2 Cor. 1:7,22) until you come Lord! Amen.

Luke 16-A “Two Masters”

S = 16:13-15 “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

O = This passage is like an object lesson of what he just said. The Pharisees loved money and ridiculed Jesus. They were devoted to themselves and despised God internally. They appealed to the court of men’s opinion when it is God who knows their hearts. Money is a false god engendering as profane a liturgy as Baal or Molech ever did—yet we are still able to justify ourselves before men. Interesting how this teaching on only being able to love one master leads to a condemnation of divorce. Only one love is acceptable—love God, serve God, be justified by God—put our trust in his goodness not our own selves.

A = Where are my divided loyalties? Where do I turn away from loving God to worship in the temple of self? Where do I despise the one true God to love money/world/ etc.? Is there a something or someone that I love more than God? It is a fact that I will serve that which I love...I will spend time doing what I love…I will give my life for what I love—so what is it? Is it possible to know the character of God and not and not respond to it in love? Yes it is (e.g., the dishonest steward, Pharisees), but I don’t want to be “that guy” ridiculing Jesus to be justified by men…if only temporarily.

P = O Lord, I want to serve you today…I want to love you today, and not ever walk away into an adultery of the heart to serve another master. Amen.

Luke 15-B "Cain & Abel Redux"

S = 15:28-32 “But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

O = The older son was not happy to see the prodigal return and refused to enter the celebration that the father had ordered. Thought the father come out to entreat him, the older son bitterly and unfairly scolds his father…perhaps in the hearing of others. His argument is flawed in at least two ways: (1) He is disobeying the father by not entering in, despite the special invitation; (2) The fatted calf is for him to enjoy as well, if he will only partake of it. The ending is a cliff-hanger that allows the Pharisees to write their own ending to the parable. The argument of the older son sounds very much like the envy that was present in Cain (Gen. 4) before he killed Abel. There God himself “comes out to entreat” Cain. It seems that the older son would rather have seen the younger son stay “dead!” Here the younger son lives…and it is Jesus who is killed in his place.

A = Do I think I deserve better than others? Am I envious of others when God blesses them? Do I tend to sit “outside” and sulk at my own selfish grievances? I need to enjoy what the Father enjoys, recognizing and remembering the two ever-present reasons for joy found in verse 31 (the Father is ever with me; and all that he has is mine) now supplemented by the return of the lost (v. 32). The “fatted calf” is for all who will share in the joy of the Father, for me as much as for anyone else!

P = O Lord, may I not be deceived to trust in my own worthiness or sense of entitlement, but may I enter in with your joy because you are my Father and I get to be with you! May many return to you and be embraced and celebrated by your family the church. May I never think that I am a better judge or more righteous than you God. Thank you for loving us and celebrating our return. Amen.

Luke 15-A “As Long as it Takes”

S = 15:4-5,8 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing… “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?”

 

O = We need to remember that they were told to the Pharisees and lawyers with the people looking on. These parables are very familiar, and yet as I read them again I notice two things in particular as the parables unfold. First, the man leaves the 99 sheep in “the open country” (i.e., a safe place without mountains, dangerous valleys, and wadis [i.e., dry riverbeds and gullies] where predators and thieves could hide or sheep could fall). Likely there would have been others to watch over the sheep with a flock of that size. Second, how long does the man search for the sheep? The text says, “…until he finds it”, similarly the woman seeks diligently for the lost coin…until she finds it. How long? As long as it takes! We see that God takes the initiative in seeking out and restoring the lost. He doesn’t give up as if he was merely looking for a lost golf ball. Actually, looking for a golf ball is an interesting comparison, for it takes more than a few moments it can become embarrassing to the golfer and he will quit looking and drop a new ball. In these parables we see God’s unwillingness to write-off that which was lost and his willingness to do what it takes to bring restoration—even at great cost to his honor and dignity. For example, the running of the Father (v.20) would have been considered undignified.

 

A = Am I like a golfer briefly searching for a lost ball or am I committed like the shepherd or the woman to seeking until what was lost is found? I guess it depends on how much I love what is lost. The Pharisees didn’t care about the “sinners” but Jesus did. Do I rejoice at the repentance of one sinner or do I respond apathetically? Who will I seek out in prayer in the days to come? Who will I go after and gently carry back to the flock with rejoicing?

 

P = O Lord, let me be more concerned about the restoration of the lost than about my own honor, my own rights, my own time. May I be quick to celebrate the victories of others—whether small or great. Lord, may your love be the song of my heart this week. Thank you for doing whatever it took to bring me back to you as well. Thanks for the gracious restoration you offer that we could never earn, and the robe, the ring, the shoes and the party! Amen.

Luke 14-B “…he cannot be my disciple.”

S = 14:26-27,33 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple... So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

 

O = The first thing I observe after the surprising use of “hate”, is the thrice repeated phrase, “…cannot be my disciple.” Jesus was talking not about a potential disciple’s willingness but their ability to do it. The key has to do with undivided love. This passage is certainly one of Jesus’ “hard words”, but Jesus is not telling his followers to be mean or unfeeling towards family, but merely using the strong language of a Semitic idiom for “to love less than.” It reminds me of the teenager who might say, “When I get home my parents are going to kill me!” In normal speech we understand that such a statement is not to be taken literally but is an idiom for being in a lot of trouble. However, Jesus’ words here are indeed a radical call to a mission—one that must be pursued even if opposed by one’s own family, even at the cost of one’s own life. Discipleship requires that a disciple have a cross-bearing attitude; an attitude that renounces all else as belonging to himself. Why? Because all of his person, every ounce of strength is focused on following Christ…just as Christ was focused on fulfilling the mission given him by his Father. My part in this mission cannot succeed if I am divided in my loyalties. My love for Christ should lead me to love my family more and more, but that result can only flow out of a single-minded love for Christ. If I just want to make my family “happy” then I won’t be carrying a cross or going on any one-way missions for the Lord’s kingdom. My life will end up as an unfinished tower—a testimony of good intentions without counting the cost. But…there is a cost of not being a disciple as well, and though its payment is deferred its cost is terrible.

 

A = Am I able to be Christ’s disciple this week? (It seems almost silly to speak of discipleship in such short terms, but I must start somewhere.)

1. Do I love Jesus more than my closest family, and even my own life?
2. Do I bear my cross, the implement of my temporal doom, and not let it slow me down as I follow Jesus?
3. Do I renounce anything and everything as belonging to me, “all in” for Jesus, or am I like the Seagulls in the old movie, Finding Nemo crying, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” over every potential scrap?

Discipleship is radically different from the status quo…but Jesus is the One who calls me to it. Yes it is costly, but it is worth it at any price.

 

P = O Lord, May I never be prevented from being your disciple by loving something or someone else more than I do you. All I have comes from you and is still yours…may I steward it wisely and complete the “tower” you call me to build in defense of your kingdom! May I surrender only to you in this mission! May you be glorified and may my family know your love in the process. Amen.