Luke 18-B “Where Is Our Trust?”

S = 18:24-27 “Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

 

O = Wealth, in general, seems to be a hindrance rather than a blessing in regards to entering the kingdom of God. Why is this? I can think of three reasons off the top of my head:

1. Trust—we trust in our own resources that we can see rather than in God. To enter the kingdom, we need to have faith in the Lord’s effective work on our behalf.
2. Love—when we are wealthy we can come to love our possessions more than we love God. Jesus has already made it clear in Luke that we cannot serve to masters. Here we see the rich young ruler going away sad (v.23) but we don’t know what he will do. Will he part with his possessions and finally being set free from his inner covetousness will he follow Jesus? I hope so!
3. Burden—when we are wealthy we have to haul all our stuff with us and it encumbers us so that we can’t follow God easily or quickly. In Genesis 44-46 (the other reading in our SOAP journal with Luke 18) Pharaoh told Jacob’s family “to give no care to their goods” and yet they brought it all along anyway.

A = What am I trying to bring with me on the pilgrimage with Christ? Where is my trust as I sojourn in this land of woe? Where is my affection as I serve my King? Are the resources that I steward available to be used at the Lord’s command, or do I cling to them willing to fight all challengers like the seagulls in Finding Nemo, crying, “Mine! Mine! Mine!” Will the Lord be honored by my stewardship or will he have to use circumstances to do the impossible by stripping away what I have so that I can follow him? What would my checkbook or credit card statement reveal?

 

P = O Lord, you can do what I cannot. I put my love and trust in you. I pray along with Agur son of Jakeh, “Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8-9). Amen.

Luke 18-A “Praying by Himself”

S = 18:9-14 “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

O = Amazing blind arrogance to be able to be in the presence of Jesus and think that they could trust in themselves for righteousness (hardened resistance to the Holy Spirit) and yet it is so common. Shocking insensitivity, leprosy of the soul, that they could show contempt to others they considered more sinful than themselves, rather than praying for God’s atonement to deliver the “sinners” from their slavery to sin…yet this still happens all the time. Perplexing that the self-trusting, self-righteous man prays by himself because he thinks none worthy of joining him, whereas the tax collector prays for mercy/atonement because he feels he is not worthy of God or others. He is the one whom Jesus declared to be justified…because he was in the presence of the Lord of mercy!

A = Why do I compare myself horizontally against the straw man of societally rejected sinners? It is not the standard of God! I may win all the horizontal comparisons that I spin in my favor, but it is the vertical judgment that holds weight. Do I trust in myself or cast all that I am on the mercy of God, that He might provide atonement for me? Through the whole Bible God lifts up the humble and humbles the proud. His heart is one of compassion towards the humble. Why would I think I can be justified in thinking, feeling, and acting any differently? This week I am determined not to trust in my own righteousness, but depend fully on Christ’s mercy. I will not stand in the exclusive club of myself and deny others access, but will reach out to include those around me, caring for them not just myself. I must start by humbling myself before Christ’s holy love. I myself need forgiveness! I determine today that I will truly pray, and not just be “caught monologuing” about how good I am and how messed up everyone else is.

P = O Lord, when I come into your presence I know I don’t deserve your love, but I receive it gladly, by faith! I desperately want to “go down” differently than I came up to meet with you. I want to allow you to change my heart, my mind, my affections, and my focus for your glory this week. Amen.

Luke 17-C “This Sudden Moment…Don’t Turn Back!”

S = 17:28-33 “Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”

O = There will come a moment of decision when we must decide what is more important to us…the goods that are “in the house” or Jesus, our property and home or Jesus, even our life itself or Jesus. Jesus prepared his disciples, his committed followers, for the day of his departure and that day of his return. He warned that the ultimate day will come when the judgment takes place, but that before that day there would be another day in ad 70 when Roman armies would surround Jerusalem (see 21:20-24) and those that did not flee right away would never get out. This day is even more urgent than that. Perhaps, this moment of decision would come in each disciple’s life, even down to our day, as to whether we desire the deliverance that Jesus offers by faith (though we may face bitter persecution) or the goods, house and land, and life of this world over that of the next. Turning back from Christ in that moment will never bring life only a spiritual fossilization, tragic testimony to what could have been.

A = How will I do in that moment of crisis? Probably the way I do now…in all the little decisions I make each day. If I choose this life, these things, my own desires and worries over the will of Christ today then I am probably fooling myself to think that I would leave it all behind when facing its loss and even martyrdom for following Jesus. Yet if I, even now, take warning and follow Jesus then I will be eternally secure in Him. I remember Jesus said that I can only serve one master (Luke 16:13). So today, what does this mean for my life? Is there anything that turns my head and my heart back to Sodom—let it be cut off now that I may freely follow Christ my Great King!

P = O precious Lord, please set me free to follow you without bondage to my stuff and my home and even my own life. I long for your appearing. As the old song says, “may the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of your glory and grace!” May the old me be left behind like a pillar of salt as the new me runs out to meet you like a calf let loose from its stall (Mal. 4:2), rather than circling the dead things of my former false life like so many vultures.  Amen.

Luke 17-B “The Kingdom of God is Among You"

S = 17:20-21 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.

O = Jesus was asked a “When?” question by the Pharisees and gives a “where-what?” answer. “When?” was not the best question to ask since Jesus had already made it clear that the kingdom was already there (à11:20) as evidenced by his casting out of demons and working other miracles as well. What had not arrived was the Pharisees’ concept of the kingdom—a literal Davidic kingdom victorious over all enemies. They failed to recognize that the Kingdom of God would not be localized any longer (John 4:20-24), for God’s plan and his kingdom are bigger than any one nation or people. True, there is a “not yet” element to the fullness of the kingdom for us, but even so, it is certainly not what the Pharisees were expecting. Their kingdom concept was exclusive, God’s kingdom was inclusive. The kingdom was “in the midst” of them or “among them,” not “within them” since they were unbelievers. Jesus Christ, standing there talking to them, was the kingdom itself! He was the true Israel, the second Adam. He was the place where God and mankind meet, the center of the kingdom, a Spiritual Temple, and he was also the King Himself—surprise! The kingdom is here now in a very real way though you don’t recognize it, nor do you reach out to embrace it.

A = I wonder how often I am within the grasp of the kingdom of God and don’t recognize it. I wonder if the kingdom can’t be seen coming, but can only be recognized retroactively—after going through some difficult circumstances to realize that Jesus was working as the king to make me more a citizen of the kingdom than I thought and that as a result, others are now entering this camouflaged kingdom of God. I also wonder how often I stumble over the ownership of the kingdom. It is God’s after all to rule over and direct, and not mine.

P = O Lord Jesus, May I have eyes of faith to see your kingdom at work in my circumstances and my heart. O King of heaven, May I have arms of love to respond to your presence and embrace it.  O Spirit of grace, May I have a heart of gratitude to be a part of your sovereign plan—and not harboring bitterness at seeing my plans come to naught…after all you are King and you are good! I have no room to complain!  Am

Luke 17-A “A Sacrifice of Thanksgiving”

S = 17:14-16 “When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.”

O = I am struck by Jesus’ response to their cry for mercy—“God and show yourselves to the priests”. This was required for them to re-enter society and the religious/economic life of Israel. A simple request, like that which had faced Naaman many years before. As they went they were healed. One man, realizing that he was now clean (healed) returned to praise God. To this man, offering the sacrifice of praise was more important than re-entering society…that could wait! His praising God loudly and thanking Jesus from a posture of worship is a powerful statement of the divine identity of Christ. And it was a Samaritan that got the message and responded out of a heart of gratitude. This was the faith that truly makes well, not just makes it the way it once was.

A = What is more important to me? Being clean in the eyes of others or being at the feet of Jesus? This miracle began with a confession of need and ended in loud praise and humble thanksgiving…so do I confess need and ask for God’s mercy on a daily basis? Do I follow his deliverance with loud praises and humble thanksgiving? I am but a sinful leprous Samaritan until I receive Jesus’ mercy on the road!

P = O Lord Jesus, you are our healer and more than that…you are God, the Lord of heaven and earth. You are our Great High Priest, the Lamb of God, and the Great King. It is to you that I bow today—not to the lesser priests and influencers. It is to you that I offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving. May I have this faith always and prove to be a faithful person (v. 5). Amen.