1050.) Luke 16

“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

Luke 16 (New International Version)

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

¹Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. ²So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

³“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ⁴I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

⁵“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶” ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’

⁷“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
” ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

⁸“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. ⁹I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

from Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit
by Paul Chilcote:

Steward of All Life,

Three rules are essential to the proper use of my resources.

Enable me to gain all I can.
But as you bless my labors, guard me from harming my health, my mind, or my neighbor in the process.
May honest work and common sense be my guide.

Encourage me to save all I can.
Guard me from wasting your precious resources to gratify unhealthy and prideful desires.
May the most important legacy I leave behind be that of justice, integrity, and generosity.

And so empower me to give all I can.
In my efforts to be a good steward of your many blessings,
give me what I need to provide caringly for those I love,
open my heart to the needs of those who are close at hand,
and create a generous spirit within me to do good to all.

You have blessed my life in so many ways.
Teach me, O generous God, what it means to be a steward of your treasures.
Amen.

¹⁰“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹²And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³“No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.”

Ezekiel 14:6 (English Standard Version)

Thus says the Lord GOD:  Repent and turn away from your idols.

¹⁴The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. ¹⁵He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.

_________________________

Music:

Since this chapter is focused largely on money, here is a song that does the same.  ABBA sings “Money, Money, Money.”

_________________________

Additional Teachings

¹⁶“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. ¹⁷It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

¹⁸“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

“The Rich Man in Hell” by Christian Dare.

¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

²⁵“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, ²⁸for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

³⁰” ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ “

“They will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

. . . an ironic statement, considering who is telling this story . . .

OR — as I heard Dr. R. C. Sproul tell in a recent sermon:

“I have learned how to answer people who try to make fun of me at parties with the old line, ‘Hey, preacher, say something religious.’  I answer, ‘Go to hell.’”

_________________________

My picks for stories / works of fiction about Hell!

Dante’s  Inferno.

I like the John Ciardi translation of this all-encompassing poem.  Dante believes that God’s punishment is just and that the punishment fits the crime.  So the nine circles of Hell show that the less loving and more selfish one’s life, the more harsh one’s hereafter.

Quote from the book:

Midway in our life’s journey I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself
alone in a dark wood.  How shall I say

what wood that was!  I never saw so drear,
so rank, so arduous a wilderness!
Its very memory gives a shape to fear.

Death could scarce be more bitter than that place!
But since it came to good, I will recount
all that I found revealed there by God’s grace.

C. S. Lewis’s  The Great Divorce.

Lewis pictures a bus that takes people from Hell to Heaven where they can stay — if they choose.  But choosing to stay means giving up one’s carefully nurtured sin . . .

Quote from the book:

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

stacks of money.    http://www.nsf.gov/news/mmg/media/images/rebate_f.jpg

gallons of olive oil.     http://www.barioliveoil.com/shop/images/Traditional%20EVOO%20Gallon%20Case%20%286%29.jpg

bag of wheat.     http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FQlMKJUv0Co/TNnFh2cu7JI/AAAAAAAAAVU/NrGALuyrZio/s1600/bag%2Bof%2Bwheat.jpg

Dare.   http://wordincarnate.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rich_man_in_hell.jpg

Inferno. http://www.mobipocket.com/eBooks/cover_remote/ID2097/tifr-184729.jpg

The Great Divorce. http://blog.beliefnet.com/idolchatter/imgs/CSLewis_TheGreatDivorce.jpg

1049.) Luke 15

“The Prodigal Son” by Liz Lemon Swindle

Luke 15 (New International Version)

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.    Luke 19:10

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. ²But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

“The Lost Sheep” by Alford Usher Soord.

³Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

Isaiah 53:6 (English Standard Version)

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

a stained glass window in St. Jacob’s Lutheran Church, Anna, Ohio

⁸“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Lost Son

“The Prodigal Son Taking Leave of his Father,” by Mary Ann Willson, 1815 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)

¹¹Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“The Prodigal Son” by John Macallen Swan, 1888 (Tate Collection, London)

¹⁷“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ ²⁰So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Malachi 3:17 (Amplified Bible)

And they shall be Mine, says the Lord of hosts, in that day when I publicly recognize and openly declare them to be My jewels (My special possession, My peculiar treasure). And I will spare them, as a man spares his own son who serves him.

“The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt, 1669 (The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia)

“Often I have asked friends to give me their first impression of Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son. Inevitably, they point to the wise old man who forgives his son: the benevolent patriarch.

“The longer I look at ‘the patriarch’, the clearer it becomes to me that Rembrandt has done something quite different from letting God pose as the wise old head of a family. It all began with the hands. The two are quite different. The father’s left hand touching the son’s shoulder is strong and muscular. The fingers are spread out and cover a large part of the prodigal son’s shoulder and back. I can see a certain pressure, especially in the thumb. That hand seems not only to touch, but, with its strength, also to hold. Even though there is a gentleness in the way the father’s left hand touches his son, it is not without a firm grip.

“How different is the father’s right hand! This hand does not hold or grasp. It is refined, soft, and very tender. The fingers are close to each other and they have an elegant quality. It lies gently upon the son’s shoulder. It wants to caress, to stroke, and to offer consolation and comfort. It is a mother’s hand….

“As soon as I recognized the difference between the two hands of the father, a new world of meaning opened up for me. The Father is not simply a great patriarch. He is mother as well as father. He touches the son with a masculine hand and a feminine hand. He holds, and she caresses. He confirms and she consoles. He is , indeed, God, in whom both manhood and womanhood, fatherhood and motherhood, are fully present. That gentle and caressing right hand echoes for me the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Can a woman forget her baby at the breast, feel no pity for the child she has borne? Even if these were to forget, I shall not forget you. Look, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

–from Henri J. M. Nouwen’s book The Return of the Prodigal Son:  A Story of Homecoming, based on his contemplation of the painting by Rembrandt, above.

_________________________

²¹“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Proverbs 28:13    (NRSV)

No one who conceals transgressions will prosper,
but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

“The Prodigal Daughter” by Charlie Mackesy

from This Day with the Master,
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

Jesus came into our broken world to provide a way to get the prodigals back home.  He wanted to purge the rebellion from our hearts so we would not only come home, but also enjoy being home, so we would rejoice in the privilege of being a part of the family we had abandoned.  Jesus paid the price for our return and healing.

As the years have passed, a conviction has deepened in my soul that Jesus wants to do far more for us than most of us imagine.  So often we think in quite selfish terms about what Christ came to do.  Yet in fact Christ died to do more for human beings than we have ever dreamed.  If we do not dream a little bigger, we are never going to experience the deeper reality of his presence.

The reality is that Christ came to do more than just keep us out of hell.  He wants to develop a personal relationship with each human being for whom he died.  He died to save me not just from my sins, but also from my own self.  “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

Self-interest is the ultimate definition of sin, and the Cross holds the power to set each person free from self-interest.  A French Catholic priest in the court of King Louis the XIV one day said, “Oh, God, isn’t there anybody left anywhere who loves you just for who you are?  Can’t you find one such person?  And if you can’t find one, couldn’t you make one?”  That is why Jesus went to the Cross:  to bring me to the place where I love him simply because of who he is and not because of what he can do for me.

The ending of the story of the Prodigal Son would have been terribly disappointing if the son had merely returned for more of his inheritance without an apology to and an interest in his father.  Once the father saw his son coming home, the relationship between father and son became the thing of paramount importance, and the reader forgets that the son ever needed anything except his father.

²⁵“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ “

The opening sentence from the short story “The Capital of the World” by Ernest Hemingway:

Madrid is full of boys named Paco, which is the diminutive of the name Francisco, and there is a Madrid joke about a father who came to Madrid and inserted an advertisement in the personal columns of El Liberal which said: PACO MEET ME AT HOTEL MONTANA NOON TUESDAY ALL IS FORGIVEN PAPA” and how a squadron of Guardia Civil had to be called out to disperse the eight hundred young men who answered the advertisement.

. . . all seeking reconciliation with their fathers.

_________________________

Music:

Chris Rice and his moving “Untitled Hymn.”

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burden’s lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!

And like a newborn baby
Don’t be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall…so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!

Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!

O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can’t contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!

And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory’s side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Swindle.    http://www.markmallett.com/blog/wp-images/Prodigal3.jpg

Soord.    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lzkkp2Ku5pg/TzaOiJiCpFI/AAAAAAAAIg4/bqvdKo4yeMA/s1600/The%2BLost%2BSheep%2BA%2BU%2BSoord.jpg

woman sweeping for coin.    http://crosstippedchurches.blogspot.com/2009/04/parable-of-lost-coin.html

Willson.    http://americanartgallery.org/uploads/pictures/005914/x_mawillson10.jpg

Swan.    http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=14076&searchid=7991&tabview=image

Rembrandt.    http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rembrandt/rembrandt139.html

Mackesy.     http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bjUAoQkNlcU/S9JOjIVa8NI/AAAAAAAAAUg/-30NkP6Y16w/s400/prodigaldaughter.jpg

“The Prodigal Son” by Nigel Cox.    http://www.traceymcnee.com/artists/images/cox/web/the_prodigal_son_large.jpg

1048.) Luke 14

The Banquet Hall at Biltmore Mansion in Asheville, NC.  The table can be extended to seat 64 of your closest friends!  I also like the three walk-in fireplaces, and the priceless 16th century Flemish tapestries on the walls.  Oh, and the photographer is shooting this picture while standing up in the organ loft!

Luke 14 (New International Version)

Jesus at a Pharisee’s House

¹One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. ²There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. ³Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” ⁴But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away.

⁵Then he asked them, “If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?” ⁶And they had nothing to say.

from The Merchant of Venice,
by William Shakespeare:

The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath.  It is twice blest:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown.

His scepter shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.

But mercy is above this sceptered sway;

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;

It is an attribute of God himself;

And earthly power doth then show like God’s

When mercy seasons justice.

⁷When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: ⁸“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. ⁹If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’

“Friend, go up higher!”

Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. ¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Proverbs 3:34 (Contemporary English Version)

The LORD sneers at those

who sneer at him,

but he is kind to everyone

who is humble.

¹²Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

“A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.”

–Samuel Johnson, in Boswell’s Life of Johnson

The Parable of the Great Banquet

¹⁵When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁶Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

“My cup runneth over” by Houston- based artist Diane Nicholls

Psalm 23:5 (King James Version)

Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.

¹⁸“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

¹⁹“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

²⁰“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

²¹“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

²²” ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

²³“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ “

Jeremiah 31:8 (New Living Translation)

For I will bring them from the north
and from the distant corners of the earth.
I will not forget the blind and lame,
the expectant mothers and women in labor.
A great company will return!

The Cost of Being a Disciple

REQUIRED READING for every believer!

²⁵Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ²⁶“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

–Dietrich Bonhoeffer

²⁸“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? ²⁹For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

from My Utmost for His Highest,
by Oswald Chambers

BUILDING FOR ETERNITY

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?”
–Luke xiv.28

Our Lord refers not to a cost we have to count, but to a cost which He has counted.  The cost was those thirty years in Nazareth, those three years of popularity, scandal and hatred, the deep unfathomable agony in Gethsemane, and the onslaught at Calvary—the pivot upon which the whole of Time and Eternity turns.  Jesus Christ has counted the cost.  Men are not going to laugh at Him at last and say—”This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”

The conditions of discipleship laid down by Our Lord in verses 26, 27, and 33 mean that the men and women He is going to use in His mighty building enterprises are those in whom He has done everything.  “If any man come to Me, and hate not . . . , he cannot be My disciple.” Our Lord implies that the only men and women He will use in his building enterprises are those who love Him personally, passionately, and devotedly beyond any of the closest ties on earth.  The conditions are stern, but they are glorious.

All that we build is going to be inspected by God.  Is God going to detect in His searching fire that we have built on the foundation of Jesus some enterprise of our own?  These are days of tremendous enterprises, days when we are trying to work for God, and therein is the snare.  Profoundly speaking, we can never work for God.  Jesus takes us over for His enterprises, His building schemes entirely, and no soul has any right to claim where he shall be put.

³¹“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

³⁴“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? ³⁵It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

_________________________

Music:

How to follow Jesus?  Hillsong sings, “With Everything.”

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Banquet Hall at Biltmore Mansion.    http://z.about.com/d/honeymoons/1/5/v/N/BB2.jpg

dew and flower.   http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english_literature/images/elmerchanttheme02.gif

“Go up higher.”    http://www.worshipworks.com/lectionary_art/YrC_Gif/60lk14_1.gif

Nicholls.    http://www.artdianenicholls.com/gallery.html

The Cost of Discipleship.      http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GcGwlQBRurw/UAhHy9djWgI/AAAAAAAAAtk/9RXrP3hqA0g/s1600/cost+of+discipleship.JPG

house construction.    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xPpRt1h8Khg/UJfksr_kt7I/AAAAAAAAAC0/1tSUrIo9ZP0/s1600/house-construction.png

1047.) Luke 13:18-35

Luke 13: 18-35   (NIV)

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

¹⁸Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? ¹⁹It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”

²⁰Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? ²¹It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

The Narrow Door

²²Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. ²³Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

He said to them, ²⁴“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.

from 40 Days to Your Best Life:  A Spiritual Journey to Contentment for Nurses, by Suzanne Tietjen (Honor Books):

The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention.
–Luke 13:24  (the Message)

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine issued a report titled “To Err Is Human,” saying that one in twenty-five hospital patients is harmed by medical errors.  Medical errors are the eighth highest cause of death in the United States, outranking automobile accidents, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDS.  My father, an aerospace engineer—and thus a person with a low tolerance for errors—couldn’t get over this.

“How can this happen?” he asked me.

I told him to imagine himself sitting at the dinner table reaching for the salt when Mom asks him a question.  A moment later he finds himself shaking pepper rather than salt onto his mashed potatoes.  It happens just like that.

Distraction, it turns out, is the root cause of errors about 41 percent of the time.  The health-care world is struggling to find ways to avoid interruptions and concentrate on the task at hand.

Distraction gets me in trouble spiritually as well.  I battle it daily in my prayer life.  I start out talking to God and somehow find myself making a grocery list.  Or I plan to read my Bible, but get caught up in a television show.

Worse still, I have an impulse to call a friend or write a letter, but between the demands of work and home, I forget to do it.  I find myself reacting to life’s interruptions, rather than following God’s leading.  All too human, I can’t maintain my focus on my own.

The apostle Paul talked about having his eye on the goal.  More and more—at work, at home, and in my relationships with God and people—I, too, am asking God to help me pay attention.

One thing at a time.

Focus on the goal.

Eyes on the prize.

His life in me.

²⁵Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

²⁶“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

²⁷“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

²⁸“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. ²⁹People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. ³⁰Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

“There will be surprises in the kingdom of God. Those who are very prominent in this world may have to be very humble in the next; those whom no one notices here may be the princes of the world to come.”

–William Barclay

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Music:

The older I get, and the more friends I have in heaven, the more I find myself looking forward to “the feast in the kingdom of God.”  And in spite of all the books about visiting heaven, I still have a hard time picturing it — because I know that whatever I can think, God will have made it so much better!  Thank you, loving Father, that you will bring all your children safely home to you.   HERE  is MercyMe and “I Can Only Imagine.”

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Jesus’ Sorrow for Jerusalem

“Jesus Wept.” Sculpted by Mike Scovel.

³¹At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

³²He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ ³³In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

³⁴“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

G. Campbell Morgan called this a display of “the Mother heart of God.”

³⁵Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Romans 11:26   (ESV)

And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.”

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

mustard seed and tree.    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nkEEd1ZWXO4/S7V03VNNWII/AAAAAAAAALk/Tk1wrySSI90/s400/MustardSeed_LOGO300px.jpg

woman kneading dough.    http://www.stfrancisparish.com/Graphics/bread_baking2.jpg

salt and pepper.    http://www.made-in-china.com/image/2f0j00RaQEOftBITdFM/Salt-and-Pepper-Bottle.jpg

Scovel.    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QbrZupV_Q-k/SbXGVlxvW

1046.) Luke 13:1-17

After the earthquake in Haiti, a girl cries.  Were the Haitians worse sinners?  Were they more guilty?  Is the Lord no longer merciful?  Questions like these were put to the Lord . . .

Luke 13:1-17  (NIV)

Repent or Perish

¹Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

“It is true, the wicked man sometimes falls dead in the street; but has not the minister fallen dead in the pulpit? It is true that a pleasure-boat, in which men were seeking their own pleasure on the Sunday, has suddenly gone down; but is it not equally true that a ship which contained none but godly men, who were bound upon an excursion to preach the gospel, has gone down too?”

–Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The point, I think, is that any of us may die at any time, so repentance should be a priority.  

⁶Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸” ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ “

What fruit is God looking for?

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

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Music:

I should listen to this song every morning — it would encourage me to put a smile on my face and live with my roots deep in God’s grace!  HERE  Ken Medema sings “Tree Song.”

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A Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath

¹⁰On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹²When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” ¹³Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Psalm 6:4   (NRSV)

Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.

¹⁴Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

¹⁵The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

¹⁷When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

The woman was so obviously healed!
The synagogue leader was so obviously wrong!

Banish the bent-over spirits:

memory of red guilt or
a long-ago foolish choice:
wrong marriage or
bitter divorce;
small crimes or
little legal brutalities;
a legion of torment
of additions.
Sexual abuse, manipulation,
domestic violence;
losses of mind, sight,
hearing, mobility,
self-doubt or
its grand mirror—
grandiosity.

Banish the bent-over spirits:

and good things, too:
obsessions now that
began healthy and
twisted a whole life;
professional demands,
creative dreams;
caring for an
ailing, aging parent,
proud-pushing an achieving child;
beautiful homes
shopped to sparkling,
beautiful bodies
jogged-starved to thin;
even church-work
where faith eats
its children.

Banish the bent-over spirits.

My shoulders sink,
and my spine curls
under the weight, while
my eyes turn in until
I cannot recognize
the one who heals.
See me here,
and call me, Christ.
Lay your hands on
the human meaning
beneath distortion.
In spite of a world
that disciplines healing,
in spite of people
who do not want
others well,
say the words
that set me free—

that I may straighten into praise.

from An Improbable Gift of Blessing: Prayers to Nurture the Spirit
by Maren C. Tirabassi and Joan Jordan Grant

_________________________

Jeremiah 10:6 (English Standard Version)

There is none like you, O LORD;
you are great, and your name is great in might.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Haiti girl crying.   http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01558/HAITI-GIRL_1558332c.jpg

fig tree.    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Fig_tree.jpg

bent-over woman.     http://parisparfait.typepad.com/paris_parfait/images/2007/08/31/beggarwoman.jpg

1045.) Luke 12:32-59

A poor substitute for a grace-filled life!

Luke 12:32-59   (NIV)

³²“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

JESUS DELIGHTS IN BLESSING HIS PEOPLE
by David Wilkerson

Many Christians think God delights only in chastising and correcting us. Not so! The Bible tells us He takes no pleasure in disciplining us. On the contrary, Jesus says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). He assures us, “I’ll give you everything you need — because My heart is set on blessing you!”

Nowhere in the Bible do we find Jesus cursing anyone (the only thing He cursed was a fig tree). No preacher, apostle, prophet or shepherd in history ever blessed people more than Jesus did. He pronounced blessings everywhere He turned.

Consider the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are you who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are you if you hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the merciful, the peacemakers, the persecuted, the reviled.” Everywhere Jesus turned He pronounced, “Blessed . . . blessed . . . blessed.”

Jesus took children into His arms and blessed them. He blessed those who held feasts for the poor, crippled, lame and blind: “He lifted up his hands, and blessed them” (Luke 24:50).

It touches my heart deeply that Jesus’ last words before He left His disciples were words of blessing. Luke says, “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:45). And then “. . . he blessed them” (verse 51).

At this point you may be thinking, “I can understand how the Lord would bless children, or new converts, or even Christians in poor countries who need miracles just to have food. I can see how He would bless imprisoned believers in foreign countries, miraculously providing them with glorious revelations of Himself.  But me? Well, I don’t think I ever live up to the light I have received and I don’t feel worthy of His blessings.”

Beloved, I hope you understand by now that you will never be worthy of God’s blessings. No one earns His blessings. Rather, He comes to us — strictly in His mercy and grace — and bestows on us spiritual blessings beyond our comprehension.

³³Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Watchfulness

³⁵“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.

When the man comes back from the wedding, his servants are eagerly watching for him, ready to swing into action at his command.  He is so pleased with their watchful attitude that he turns the tables, as it were.  He girds himself with a servant’s apron, seats them at the table, and serves them a meal.  This is a very touching suggestion that He who once came into this world in the form of a bondslave will graciously condescend to serve His people again in their heavenly home.  The devout German Bible scholar Bengel regarded verse 37 as the greatest promise in all God’s word.

–William MacDonald

³⁸It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. ³⁹But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Be ready — for when will YOUR end come?

⁴¹Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”

⁴²The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? ⁴³It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. ⁴⁴I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. ⁴⁶The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

⁴⁷“That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. ⁴⁸But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.

Not Peace but Division

⁴⁹“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! ⁵¹Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. ⁵²From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. ⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

This passage disproves the theory that Jesus came to unite all humankind (godly and ungodly) into a single “universal brotherhood of man.”  Rather, He divided them as they had never been divided before!

Interpreting the Times

⁵⁴He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. ⁵⁵And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. ⁵⁶Hypocrites!

_________________________

Further Reflections on Hypocrisy:

A hypocrite never intends to be what he pretends to be.
–Anonymous

Superstition, idolatry, and hypocrisy have ample wages, but truth goes a-begging.
–Martin Luther

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You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

⁵⁷“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled to him on the way, or he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

_________________________

Music:

The twelfth chapter of Luke has been full of warnings against greed, anxiety, and general unfaithfulness.  We have been encouraged to live attentively and faithfully.  Here is a song, by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend, which reiterates this same theme so clearly!  HERE  is “By Faith.”  Sing it all day, all week, all your life long!

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New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

most toys.    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N2ziriWNIDA/TzKVZ3HEnbI/AAAAAAAAGUQ/irECyJpgEzw/s1600/psalm+39+HeWhoDiesWithTheMostToysWins.jpg

Keep your lamps burning.    http://www.togethertocelebrate.com.au/43ordinarioC19.jpg

question mark clock.    http://www.annastan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/question-mark-clock1.jpg

Timothy Botts calligraphy.    http://lh4.ggpht.com/_sb3cCBsDDDs/SHfuIyeNNFI/AAAAAAAADUQ/U4XQtqiHGRU/LUKE12-48.jpg

1044.) Luke 12:1-31

“The Rich Fool” by Rembrandt, 1627 (Gemaldegalerie der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin)

Luke 12 (New International Version)

Warnings and Encouragements

¹Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Reflections on Hypocrisy:

Sincerity makes the least man to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.
–Charles Spurgeon

Where there is no religion, hypocrisy becomes good taste.
–George Bernard Shaw

²There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ³What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

Daniel 2:22 (New Living Translation)

He reveals deep and mysterious things
and knows what lies hidden in darkness,
though he is surrounded by light.

⁴“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.

“A man has but one life to lose, and one soul to save; and it is madness to sacrifice the salvation of the soul to the preservation of the life.”

–Adam Clarke

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

–Jim Elliot

⁵But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. ⁶Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

Psalm 50:11 (English Standard Version)

I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.

⁷Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Google says that the average redhead has 90,000 hairs on her head, while the average black-haired person has 110,000 and blonds have 140,000.  God knows exactly how many hairs you have on your head.  And if He knows this, He knows the more important things about you as well!

⁸“I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. ⁹But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. ¹⁰And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

The Holy Spirit’s main ministry is to testify of Jesus (He will testify of Me, John 15:26). When that testimony of Jesus is fully and finally rejected, one has truly blasphemed the Holy Spirit and essentially called Him a liar in respect to His testimony about Jesus. Those who reject Jesus in a settled sense are guilty of this sin.

The eternal consequences of this sin force us to regard it seriously. How can one know if they have in fact blasphemed the Holy Spirit? The fact that one desires Jesus at all shows that they are not guilty of this sin. Yet continued rejection of Jesus makes us more hardened against Him and puts us on the path of a full and final rejection of Him.

–David Guzik

¹¹“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, ¹²for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus used the man’s request to speak to him and the crowd about greed. Perhaps the man’s passionate request for justice really had a low motive; perhaps he was more animated by covetousness than by justice. Here is where the deceptive nature of the heart is such a challenge; we may mask our greed by claiming we are on a righteous crusade.

¹⁴Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

¹⁶And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ‘

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

The man was a fool – not because he was rich, but because he lived without any awareness of and preparation for eternity.

²¹“This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

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Music:

The opposite point of view from the rich fool.  (See also verse 31 below.)   “Here I Am, Living for Your Glory”  by Tim Hughes.

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Do Not Worry

²²Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ²⁶Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷“Consider how the lilies grow.

They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! ²⁹And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

Proverbs 21:21 (English Standard Version)

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
will find life, righteousness, and honor.

_________________________

New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Images courtesy of:

Rembrandt.   http://d1shzm2uca9f83.cloudfront.net/large/rembrandt_rijkedwaas.jpg

sparrow.     http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_C8K5LE9vIos/SvG2n3GukpI/AAAAAAAACmk/RumJF7ylLOI/s400/Sparrow+2.jpg

rich fool.   http://wordofloveforyou.com/r1.jpg

daylilies.    http://www.mysticmeadowsdaylily.com/images/Daylilies06.jpg