A Love That's Out of Bounds - Luke 6: 27-36

It seems there is never a short supply of enemies to discuss on the nightly news.  North Korea has threatened us with nuclear missiles. The Marathon bombers have once again shattered our sense of homeland security.  Meanwhile, the fate of hundreds of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay who were incarcerated in the war on terrorism is yet to be decided. We could spend months debating these issues - and already have - while never considering the daily conflicts that we have at the office, at school, or even at home.  In the face of all this, Jesus' command to love one's enemies in Luke 6: 27-36 seems quite simply absurd, impractical, and even dangerous to many.  So, is it impractical or is it really indispensable?  In order to answer that question we need to understand the meaning of this command, the motivation for it, and the power to do it.

We need to understand the meaning of it (27-31). The whole of Jesus' teaching here answers the question, how are we to respond to those who oppose our will, our dignity and integrity as human beings?  Jesus begins with this blockbuster of a command: "But I say to you that listen (Hey! Are you listening?) Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you" (27). The backdrop of Jesus’ words is what might be called “The Law of Retaliation” which said that revenge was righteous as long as you did not take more than what was taken from you.  “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (see Exodus 21:24, Deuteronomy 19:21).  The original law was not a bad law, it was actually designed to control vengeance and encourage mercy; and was probably not literally applied anyway: most of the time an injury was given a monetary value. Nevertheless, Jesus rejects vengeance as the way we are to respond, and calls us to practice unrestricted love and goodness even towards our enemies.  Specifically he calls us to “love, do good, bless, and pray for” those who really don’t like us…and may even hate us (27).

Isn’t it often the case that those we begin to pray for, however feebly, we can then begin to bless - to actively seek their good in prayer - and those we pray for and bless we can actually begin to do good to; and those whom we serve and do good to we may actually begin to feel love for…for we have been practicing love all along.  Now Jesus gives us some very practical examples of this extraordinary kind of love: 

If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also” (29). Now as then, being slapped in the face is a grave insult.  Jesus wants us to dampen the fire of anger, letting it slide off us like water off a duck; breaking the cycle of revenge. 

Martin Luther King once described a time when he and his brother were driving at night to Chattanooga, Tennessee from Atlanta.  “He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. They didn’t dim their lights; hardly any driver that passed by dimmed his lights. And I remember very vividly, my brother A. D. looked over and in a tone of anger said: "I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power." And I looked at him right quick and said: "Oh no, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway."  Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the trouble, isn’t it?  When Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, he was revealing to us the key to ending the cycle of hatred, revenge, and violence in this world.

Now it’s a legitimate question to ask…what about our neighbor’s cheek?  What should we do when someone else is being slapped?  Do we offer their other cheek too?  Jesus doesn’t say that…but what he does say is that he came to let the oppressed go free (Luke 4: 18).  I think we have to assume that Jesus would have us always stand on the side of the oppressed and mistreated; to confront evil when it occurs in a way that is both just and merciful.  Indeed, the restraint of evil is the legitimate God-given role of a righteous government (see Romans 13).

“…and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again” (30). Now I have to admit that the last thing I would want to do if someone stole my coat is to give them the shirt off my back.  Can Jesus be serious?  I’d want to yell and scream… go to the police, file a report on stolen jackets, write down his license plate number! I think what Jesus is serious about here is refusing to see myself only as a victim.  We can spend a lot of time complaining about what other people have done to us…yet Jesus challenges us to see the underlying need of others, to seek to understand it, and to take appropriate action.  But notice too that Jesus does not tell us to give whatever we are asked, but rather to whomever asks.  Again, we are not powerless, we are still left with the responsibility to decide how best to help those who are in need.  Above all, it challenges us to value people, even those who infuriate us, more than things. 

To some up the meaning of enemy love, Jesus says: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Lev. 19:18)  In other words, your behavior toward others should not be determined by how others actually treat you, but how you would want others to treat you!  You have the power to dim your lights and to meet hatred with love.  That’s a tall order?  Why do it?

We need to understand the motivation for it (32-35).  Jesus was not speaking in abstractions here…he was speaking from real life experience.  He had enemies, including his cynical brothers (John 7: 2-5). He knew that loving one’s enemies is impossible without strong motivation.  So what motivations does he offer us?

Jesus offers us a Higher Standard:  “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” (32-34). Jesus is raising the bar here.  What comes natural is to act in our own interests, to ask the question: “What do I get out of this?” If we do that we’re simply living according to accepted patterns of behavior.  But there is another standard, a much higher one, and that is the standard of God’s mercy: to “love our enemies….to be children of God for he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”(35) I think there’s something inside each of us that knows we’re capable of more, of living life at a higher level.  We love movies like “Iron Man” and other tales of superhuman heroes because we aspire to be better than average.  Jesus is reminding us that when we love like this we’re living above and beyond the norm…we’re living superhuman lives… we’re living more like children of God. I believe that if Jesus does not come back in another thousand years, humanity will rise up as one to affirm with deep conviction that his words and ways reflected the highest and best of what it means to be truly human, even superhuman…

But there is more.  Jesus offers us a Heavenly Reward: For he says,“your reward will be great.”  Essentially, Jesus is saying that we should do our good deeds, not for the applause of people, but for the applause of heaven. The reward Jesus speaks of is not our salvation for that is a free gift to all those who are lost and have been found by Him.  Rather, it is the joy of a life lived according to the Way of Jesus and his self-giving love…. a love that will make profound changes in us now, and continue to bless us and others for eternity. Micky Mantle once said, “I would have taken better care of myself if I had known I was going to live so long.”  Our life today is an eternal life…and what we are doing today matters because it is preparing us for a never-ending life of joyous responsibility in God’s full world.

Finally, we need to understand the power to do it (36). So what line is Christ calling you to cross in the name of love this week?  What boundary line of resentment and frustration or suspicion is he asking you to ignore?  What radical step is He calling you to take as you consider his command to love the unlovable and to show mercy to the infuriating?  How is God searching your heart today and leading you in the way everlasting?  These are humbling questions, questions that lead us to seek the power to actually do what Jesus asks.They command us to do what may seem impossible, impractical, and downright nonsensical.  We sense in us a tension between the lofty ideals of God’s love…and the harsh reality of ugly people who get under our skin.  I’m thinking of Psalm 139, a psalm that begins with soaring verses about an inescapable, transcendent God. 

“O Lord you have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from far away…Where can I go from your spirit…or flee from your presence?  For it was you who formed my inward parts and knit me together in my mother’s womb…I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  How weighty to me are your thoughts O God…I try to count them – they are more than the sand;    I come to the end – I am still with you."

But then, in a drastic change of tone, he writes in v. 19:

“O that you would kill the wicked O God, and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me – do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?  Do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.” 

Can’t you see something of yourself in David’s conflicting thoughts…how one minute we can be sitting quietly in church, singing praises to God, and the next minute cursing the guy who cut us off on the road or judging someone who we consider unworthy of God’s forgiveness?  Dr. Richard Mouw, proposed what he calls the “woops” interpretation of this passage because of what David writes next in v. 23.  Do you know the verse? It’s as though David catches himself in the middle of his rage and reminds himself that he stands in the presence of the One who knew all his sins and from whom he could not hide. “Woops!” David seems to say, and then ends the Psalm in quite a different tone: 

“Search me O God and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.  See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”

From rage against his enemies - or God's enemies - to a sudden realization of his own faults and shortcomings, David becomes deeply aware again that he himself is in need of God's mercy and a guide to lead him in the way everlasting.  Yes, "Search me, O God!"  For the Lord who forgave his enemies from the cross, and turned his persecutors into his friends, will empower you and me not only to say, “Woops!” but to begin to actually walk in this everlasting way.  This is why Jesus says, literally: “Become merciful just as your Father is merciful.” Not just “Be merciful” but “Become (from ginomai) merciful!”  It’s as though he knew that this would be a lifelong journey of growth for us.  Yet we have hope because just as our Lord said, “Be opened” to the deaf man’s ears, and “Be still” to the roaring sea, and “Be not afraid” to his terrified disciples – so the One who gave his life for us...and forgave his enemies from the cross,will inspire us to “Be merciful" and therefore to become what He commands!   

Crucified and Risen Lord, who loved the unlovely, healed the unhealable, and forgave the unforgivable, I admit that I find it hard to love You without reservation, or to love others without qualification.  I find it much easier to be consumed with my own concerns than to look beyond my circle of family and friends to the deep needs and hurts of others.  It’s a strong temptation to be vengeful, to hold a grudge, to despise my rivals, and disregard the different, the difficult, or the simply annoying people with whom I work, live or go to school.  Yet how can I ask you to forgive me if I am unwilling to forgive others?  When those around me are at their ugliest help me to treat them with the same merciful love that you showed when you said, “This is my body, which is broken for you.  Do this in remembrance of Me.”  Amen.

In Search of the Good Life - Luke 6: 17-26

What is your dream of “the good life”?  Is it about money, fame, success…contentment, comfort?  This was an important question in Jesus’ day and ours as well.  Many suppose that the “Beatitudes” in Luke 6: 17-26 answer this question by offering a “how to guide” on the good life.  Strive to be poor, sad, hungry, and hated: then you’ll be blessed, and get the really big rewards from God.  Dallas Willard tells about a man who left the church because of the Beatitudes.  He had chosen a career in the military, and said to his mom that if being meek, poor, and sad was the ideal Christian life, he just couldn’t be that: "That's not me." (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, 99).

In case you’re wondering, poverty and deprivation is not the ideal in scripture.  In Luke 1:52-53, Mary praises God for lifting up the lowly and feeding the hungry.  In Acts 2: 43-47, Luke describes the church as a place where believers “had all things in common” and gave to one another “as any had need” (see Acts 4:34). If poverty and hunger is a sign of God’s favor, why try to alleviate it?

But if the Beatitudes are not meant to be a “how-to” guide to the Good Life, what are they?  We need to know…especially if we’re serious about experiencing the Good Life which he intends for us.  The key is the context of Jesus’ sermon:  Jesus has spent the entire night in prayer.  In the morning he chooses the Twelve who will carry on his mission, and then comes down with them, standing on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and an even bigger crowd of the curious. Among the crowds, Luke tells us, were people from all Judea, and the city of Jerusalem (17a). These were, of course, Jews, but there were also men and women who had traveled from the regions of Tyre and Sidon - “pagan” Gentile cities on the Mediterranean coast in what is modern Lebanon (17b). Luke says that they came for two reasons: They came “to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases” (18).  “Everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.”(19) That’s when Jesus stopped, looked up at them and began to teach them about the Kingdom they had just experienced. And this is what he tells them…

i. Jesus’ word to the hungry crowds: “Yours is the kingdom of God – through Me!”  ²⁰ Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 
Notice that Jesus did not say, “Blessed are you because you are poor and hungry and sad.  No, Jesus implies that you are blessed in the midst of and even despite your poverty, hunger and sadness. Why?  Because “Yours is the kingdom of God”…and you may enter it now through me regardless of your condition. This is the key to understanding the Beatitudes.  We are blessed not because we are miserable…we are blessed because God has come to us regardless of what condition we are in. In Jesus’ day and ours many assume, if you are poor or hungry or miserable or hated, that God must have abandoned you.  But the message of Jesus is that the Kingdom of God has come near to such as these…to an unlikely mixture of Jews and Gentiles, the curious, the questioning, the poor, the hungry and the heartbroken… because no condition can exclude us from God’s merciful touch when we come to him with simple faith! 

Back in the 70’s something truly wonderful happened across the border from El Paso documented in the film Viva Cristo Rey.  It was Christmas, and Father Rick Thomas was leading Bible studies on both sides of the river.  They were doing outreach at the high school, in the prisons, running summer camps, and trying to reach out to needy people with food, clothing, and faith in Juarez.

A magazine writer describes how she was brought to the Juarez dump one day by Father Rick. “The smell and the flies were unbelievable. People lived there in cardboard and tin shacks. They spent their days sorting through garbage looking for salvageable or saleable goods, and their nights in either alcoholic or drug stupors...trying to forget the day. Early every Wednesday morning, people from the neighborhood and the suburbs came for Bible study and were inspired to give a banquet for the poorest people they knew.”

They decided to bring dinner on Christmas to the people who lived in the Juarez dump. They scraped together what they could, loaded a few cars and headed out on Christmas morning with a small meal for 150 people— all they could afford. When they arrived they found that a fight was about to break out between two rival groups over a piece of dump territory, but they were able to negotiate a temporary peace for the dinner. 300 people gathered. Frank Alarcon noticed that as the women were serving ham from a pickup tailgate sliced and sliced, the ham grew no smaller; and everybody got at least one of the 75 burritos they made. When everyone had eaten seconds and thirds, they were offered the leftovers and bagfuls disappeared into the shacks. On the way back to El Paso they were in a state of shock, sure that they had seen a miracle. The next week they found that the summer camp they used for the kids was being sold. A few weeks later, someone deeded them a small ranch in Arizona… on which they found water on the first drilling...and the story goes on from there. Small acts of faith and tiny steps of obedience opened more and more doors for God to show his power and glory.

The message of Jesus is that he comes to us in our poverty and in our hunger and in our sadness…whether it is physical hunger or spiritual hunger…whether it is a lack of food on the table, a job, a friend, or just self-confidence and joy.  He comes to us with his grace, his love, and his healing touch to all who receive Him.

ii. Jesus’ word to his sidelined followers: “Yours are the rewards of heaven, rejoice!”  (22-23) 

Now Jesus turns to those among his followers who have felt hated or excluded for the sake of Christ.  ²² "Blessed are you when people hate you…exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven….”

We pride ourselves for being a “tolerant” society…yet even in this country we can feel excluded or sidelined for our faith in God.  Scientists like Francis Collins have taken a lot of criticism for openly declaring their Christian convictions.  We’re reminded over and over again in academia that “there are no absolute truths, except the truth that there are no absolute truths!”  Nevertheless, Jesus says that we are blessed.  

• Some of you come from families in which you are the first or only person to trust in Christ…and you’ve been subtly or openly criticized for that faith.  Blessed are you when you make it known that you are my follower… regardless of what people may think of you.   

• Some of you have tried to live according to a different moral standard than the world.  Blessed are you when you are made fun of because you are modest or are teased for wanting to reserve the life-creating act for a life-sustaining marriage. 

• Some of you have tried to go against the tendency to make superficial judgments about others.  Blessed are you when you refuse to put down that awkward guy with the rest of your friends…but share your lunch with him instead.

In God’s kingdom those who are rejected and sidelined because of Him are nevertheless blessed by Him and have the promise of heavenly rewards as well.  In his book What Good Is God?, author Philip Yancey writes about the 2004 Ukraine election in which the reformer Victor Yushchenko challenged the entrenched party and nearly died for it. On election-day the exit polls showed Yushchenko with a comfortable lead, but through outright fraud, the government had reversed those results. That evening the state-run television reported, "Ladies and gentlemen, we announce that the challenger Victor Yushchenko has been decisively defeated." However, government authorities had not taken into account one feature of Ukrainian television: on the small screen insert in the lower right-hand corner of the television screen a brave woman gave a different message in sign language for the hearing impaired. "I am addressing all the deaf citizens of Ukraine. Don't believe what they say. They are lying, and I am ashamed to translate these lies. Yushchnko is our President!"  No one in the studio understood her radical message.  Inspired by her courage, deaf people led what became known as the Orange Revolution. They text-messaged their friends on mobile phones about the fraudulent elections, and soon other journalists took courage … and likewise refused to broadcast the party line….a million people wearing orange flooded the capital city of Kiev to demand new elections. The government finally buckled under the pressure, consenting to new elections, and this time Yushchenko won.

When I think of that bold translator, I think of the Holy Spirit who is quietly reminding us each day, and especially when we feel sidelined or ridiculed for our faith that the One who was excluded and hated and reviled is there too, and none of these things can separate you from his indestructible love for you.   And finally,

     

iii. Jesus’ word to the careless rich: “Yours is not the good life, not yet!” (24-26)  ²⁴ "But woe to you who are rich…who are full now…who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep….”

Now Jesus turns his attention to those who have full bank accounts, full stomachs, comfortable lives and the world’s applause but who care only about themselves.  These are the careless rich.  The key to understanding Jesus is v. 24: “Woe to you who are rich because “you have received your consolation.” The Greek word is apecete (apechete) and it means “to acknowledge receipt of full payment.” 

In other words, those who live only for material gain as their driving ambition have received their full payment.  Barclay puts it this way: “If you set your hearts only on the things that the world values, you will get them, but that is all you will get.”  In other words, “You’ve had it!”  

Lee Iacoca the former CEO of Chrysler Corporation, writes in Fortune magazine: “What do guys like me do who’ve had the world by the string?  I got some notoriety... and made some money in the car business... Now that chapter has closed, and I don’t think much about cars anymore.  You can plan everything in life, and then the roof caves in on you because you haven’t done enough thinking about who you are and what you should do with the rest of your life.”  In his book, Straight Talk, he writes: “Here I am in the twilight years of my life, still wondering what it’s all about.... I can tell you this, fame and fortune is for the birds.”

We may not be poor in material things…but we can still be poor in spirit; and that describes so many today.  We want to “win it all,” but we don’t have a clue what “it” --- is all about.  The answer is not to become poor so that we can earn the really big rewards from God…but to become rich in faith and a never-ending life of generosity toward others!  It stands to reason that if God comes near those who are poor, hungry, and cast out as Jesus has done… then those who are his followers will do no less.  We will respond out of gratitude to God by using our vast resources of wealth, education, and influence as God would do.

One day Steve Reynolds of World Vision got a call from headquarters while working in Ethiopia at the height of the famine, asking if he would host a young European couple who wanted to visit and learn firsthand what was happening. Steve was willing to help. The couple, Ali and Paul stayed almost a month, rolling up their sleeves to help and showing tireless compassion. Paul and Ali finally went home but not before they had committed to do whatever they could to help. You may know Paul Hewson better by his nickname, Bono. Since that trip in 1985 the lead singer of the Irish rock group U2, has traveled the globe as an advocate for the poorest of the poor, lobbying members of parliaments and congress; persuading governments to appropriate billions in aid.

But in a later interview with Christianity Today, Bono specifically mentioned the key influence of Steve Reynolds. Bono said, "All of this started for me in Ethiopia in the mid-'80s, when my darling wife and I went out there as children, really, to see and to work in Africa."  Condensed from Richard Stearns, Unfinished (Thomas Nelson, 2013), pp. 152-154

Steve Reynolds and Paul Hewson, an unknown missionary and a rock star…God inspired both to do crazy things for his Kingdom…and he will do the same in us.  Like (1) going hungry for 30 hours to raise money for the poor like our students did this weekend or (2) standing up for an awkward kid in school, or (3) refusing to be quiet about our faith in Jesus even when others make fun of us.  (4) Proclaiming the good news, (5) Bringing healing to the sick, (6) Sharing our abundance with those in need, (6) Comforting those who mourn, and (7) Standing with those who have fallen…we’ll do more than dream about the good life, we’ll live it…because his Good Life is living in you and me.   

King Jesus, open our eyes that we might see the blessed life, the truly good life which is available to us regardless of our present condition or situation through faith in You, a life which does not trust in our own wealth and power or the illusions of control, or the idea that we can “have it all” without You. For apart from You, nothing we possess has any lasting value. By the power of Your Spirit, help us to enter now into Your blessed Eternal Life, rich in grace and in generosity toward others,  steadfast in the face of every trial, and assured of the blessings of heaven. All glory and honor and praise be to Your name!  Amen

The Called & The Committed - Luke 6: 12-17; 9: 1-6

The other day I was driving down Centinella when I saw a sign in front of a neighborhood 7-Eleven.  It said, “Believe in Something Bigger.” My eyes widened with curiosity as I read the fine print and snapped a picture. That’s when I saw the word “Powerball” – the latest California lottery gimmick.  It’s amazing to me that the human capacity to believe in something truly bigger…like the fall of the Berlin Wall or sending a man to the moon, or the end of world hunger, let alone believing in the goodness and greatness of God, could be compared to believing that your one ticket in 175 million could be the lottery jackpot.  

In Luke 6: 12-17 we read about twelve men who were drawn to something, or rather Someone, truly bigger…One whose vision of the Kingdom of God, of justice, mercy, and love, of victory over evil, death, and hell, was so compelling that they left everything to join the first community of his followers…and together they changed the course of history.  To go back to the beginning and understand what that community of Jesus’ original followers was like is to know what we should be like if we are to fulfill our ancient calling.

i. It was a community that knew its Creator. ^6:12 Now during those days [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:

After a night of prayer Jesus made the decision to form from among his many disciples a close knit community and to teach and train them to replicate his ministry. Mark put it this way: He “called those whom he desired to be with him.”  When we say the word “church” today, most people think of a building or a religious institution; but the word “church” is much more personal than that… it is derived from the Greek word kyriakon meaning “those who belong to the Lord.”  The church was not invented by Jesus’ followers as an afterthought when he died.  The church was a community created by Jesus at the beginning of his ministry.  It was comprised of (1) disciples (mathetes) which means "learners, students, and apprentices"; and (2) apostles (apostolos) meaning “messengers, delegates, those sent on a mission.” We read in Acts 1: 21-26 that the apostles had been witnesses of Jesus from his baptism and were now called to join in his mission. 

But the key is to understand that Jesus called them to be with him, to learn from him, to share life with him.  He calls us not just to master his teaching, which is what the students of Rabbis typically did, but to the imitation of his life.  It’s something to think that as Jesus was praying about who would join him in his ministry and proclaim his message, that he was also thinking about you and me! Which is why, in John 17: 20, Jesus prays not only for his own disciples but for “those who will believe in me through their word!”  A lot of people today are in search of a good church.  But our job should not only be to find a good church but to know the One who created the church and chose us to make him known!   In the one case, the church is the place where I can get my needs met, in the other the church is where we meet the One who knows what I need, and join him in his mission. 

ii. It was a community of unlikely members. ^6:14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶ and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. 

The gospels state that Jesus called Twelve as apostles. This is not an arbitrary number.  In Scripture, 12 is a family number.  Jacob (Israel) had 12 sons…and those 12 became the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel.  When the N. Kingdom was destroyed in 721 BC, ten tribes were lost.  The remaining 2 formed the S. Kingdom, the ancestors of today’s Jews.  When Jesus called 12 to follow him, it signified Jesus’ hope for the restoration of the community of God’s people. In addition to these 12 men, the gospels name at least 3 women who followed Jesus: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Suzanna, “and many others who provided for them out of their resources” (Luke 8: 1-3). All this is to say that when Jesus called his followers he intended to form a family (Matt. 12: 46-50). He formed a family (not a corporation, not a mortgage investment company, not a political party, not a religious institution) but a close knit group of brothers and sisters with whom he ate, slept and shared his life.

But like any family…there was great variety among them.  Who could have predicted that Jesus would have chosen as the original leaders of his community such an unlikely group of diverse and even antagonistic personalities? Churches often look for what Greg Ogden once called "the omnicopetent professional" (The New Reformation). They're looking for someone with great communication skills, pastoral sensitivity, administrative excellence and though the ability to walk on water is not required…it is preferred.  It’s interesting to see that Jesus did not choose for his first followers a group of rabbis or trained religious professionals - people like me.  Instead he chose unschooled men like Peter and his brother Andrew who had a fishing business with James and John.  Matthew, as a tax collector worked on the Sabbath and extorted money from the people…not exactly the resume of a spiritual leader, let alone the writer of a gospel.  Amazingly, this man was called to follow Jesus along with Simon the zealot, an anti-Roman revolutionary and an ultra nationalist. What a strange group to lead a movement.   

  

We’ve noted the diversity of our own church before, the variety of political and economic and racial backgrounds that make up St. John’s…but it’s really the unity of our church that should amaze us more, the forbearance, the endurance of our commitment to one another.  Such unlikely unity is a gift: it is only possible because of Jesus. 

ii. It was a community of redeemed sinners. ^6:17 He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.  Jesus came down, Luke tells us.  He came down from heaven to earth to walk among us, and now he comes down again from a mountain where he was in prayer with the Father to walk with his disciples, and teach them his ways.  He comes down to stand on a level place with us...the ones he came to save.  He is the one "who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God something to be grasped...he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross" (Phil. 2: 6-8).  

When we consider the names of Jesus’ new family and the stories behind those names, we’re reminded that he came down to call sinners to repentance and faith in Him.  Peter is always named first because he was first in faith…and first to fall on his face…denying he knew the Lord three times!  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were nicknamed sons of Thunder because of their fiery tempers. Bartholomew (Nathanael) tended to say whatever was on his mind. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:47) Matthew the tax collector was despised by his own people as a ‘sinner.’  Thomas was the pessimist and skeptic of the group.  Judas Iscariot was the dishonest treasurer, and betrayer. 

Failure and forgiveness will always be the twin companions of Jesus’ church.  There will never be a time when we do not need them; never a time this side of heaven when we are free from failure or the need to forgive. The grace of God is the most transforming and healing power in the universe. Because of grace, Mathew began using his gifts to gather gospel material instead of taxes.  James & John saw their pride and anger transformed into compassion and humility. Thomas, discovered the reasonableness of faith. Simon the Zealot joined Christ’s revolution of love. Peter knew forgiveness after failure.   

Now, twenty centuries later, we are still called to love because he first loved us; and to forgive because we have been forgiven.  I once preached for an AP search committee and then met with the Senior Pastor.  He asked me with a smile: Are you a Team Player?  I sincerely answered, “Yes” and explained why.  To which he replied shortly, “Well, I’m not.”  “Oh." I was pretty sure that was the end of the interview! After speaking with a staff member I learned that this pastor liked to breed competition between his staff members rather than teamwork to encourage productivity.  It seemed to me that fear and intimidation was the motivating work environment he was trying to create. 

The foundation of Jesus’ community was not fear or intimidation, but grace and apprenticeship to Him.  It was Jesus who told the story of the prodigal son, forgiven and welcomed home by his father, to illustrate God’s love.  It was Jesus who said to the adulteress, “I do not condemn you…go, and sin no more.” It was Jesus who said, “I did not come for the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance.” The church is sometimes accused of being “hypocritical.”  In truth there is some hypocrisy in everyone of us.  The word “hypocrite” which was the name given to an actor who wore a mask over his face in ancient Greek plays…accurately describes how many of us attempt to cover up the true person inside.  The church was designed by Jesus to be a place where actors and actresses can come and finally remove those masks, admit their faults and find grace and healing.  

iv. It was a community with breathtaking orders. ^9:1 Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 

Just as Jesus called the twelve and gave them power and authority over evil and disease and sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of God…so he has sent us. When the Secretary of State is sent on a diplomatic mission to negotiate a peace treaty or meet with heads of state, the Secretary represents the President and acts on behalf of and with the power and authority of the President.   Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  Just as Jesus was sent by the Father on a mission to redeem this world, so he sends us into the world as his representatives.

Earlier I said that the word “apostle” means "one who is sent on a mission."  Now it would be easy to assume that only apostles go on missions… just as many assume that ministry is what we pay the pastor or missionaries to do. In fact, the apostles were the leaders of the mission…but not the only members of the mission team.  In Luke 10: 1-2 we read that Jesus sent out the 70 to do exactly what he tells his apostles to do here. So….there are no disciples without a mission!

Now when Jesus gave the Twelve a mission, he also gave them the power and authority to accomplish it.  People today are hungry for power and authority… for fame, influence, prestige.  The brothers that bombed the Boston marathon last week may have been seeking some kind of power and authority through violence and terror.  But this is not the kind of power that Jesus gives.  His power and authority are given in order that we might confront evil not do evil, heal the sick not make people sick, and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom…where what God wants done is done.

I was talking to a guy at the gym who has become disillusioned with people.  He doesn’t want to be part of a worshiping community because people have hurt him and disappointed him.  I’ve been trying to give him hope…that the community of God’s people is filled with imperfect people, but its also a place where we can experience forgiveness and find healing relationships.  He’s part of my mission.  Jesus invited us to be part of God’s advancing kingdom on earth and beyond through faith in Him.  Friends, our neighbors need, our co-workers need, our friends at school need what we’ve been given by grace through faith alone.  

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The other day I heard a professor of choral music encourage singers at Palms Middle School with these words: “We have many people in our lives who can help us…mechanics to fix our cars, doctors to treat our aches and pains, attorneys to help us with legal problems, policemen to fight crime; but who do we have in our lives to help take care of the inside?  That’s your job,” he said.  “You are the artists and singers and music makers.  You help us to take care of the inside.  You are the “gardeners of the soul.”  I couldn't believe my ears. I walked down to him afterward and said, “As someone who cares about the inside of people...about the soul, I wanted to thank you for that.”  

Friends, regardless of what kind of work we do, Christ has called us to care for the inside of people as well as the outside, to commit ourselves to Him as the healers and proclaimers of kingdom hope, to encourage those around us to believe in the One whose grace is bigger than our sin and shame...and whose resurrection life is bigger and stronger than death itself.  This is the job of the church…not just a place that we go to, but a community that goes in His risen name. 

Risen Lord, we thank you for calling us to share life with you in the community of your people.  We also acknowledge that with community come the inevitable irritations of real life together.  Therefore, help us not only to confess our sins to you, but to ask forgiveness from those we have hurt; to practice the same forbearance that you have shown us.  Master, as much as we love this spiritual family and desire for it to grow ever deeper, may it not become an idol.  Forgive us when the familiar has blinded us to the unfamiliar, the unloved, and the uncommitted who are outside our church walls.  Help us to warmly welcome into our hearts and homes, and this church, those who need your illuminating truth and redeeming love as much as we do.  Amen! 

Joy in the Shadows - Luke 5: 33-39

We in southern California are blessed to have so much sunshine…and so when the sun is obscured by days of gloomy clouds, we truly long for the sun to return.  My dear cousin from Oregon always arrives in shorts and flip flops no matter what time of year it is…because he and his family hope for warm, clear skies.  For me one of the most beautiful sights to behold is the sun…piercing the clouds after a rainy day; the rays of light illuminating the earth and sea like heavenly searchlights.  On this Passion Sunday I want us to think together about the light of joy…joy in the shadows.   

In Luke 5:33-39 we hear Jesus speak for the first time of his suffering and death…but it happens in the most unexpected moment: it happens at a joyous dinner party.  Then [the Pharisees] said to him, "John's disciples, like the disciples of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and drink." Jesus said to them, "You cannot make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” (33-35)

i. In the shadow of the cross, Jesus knew the joyous gift that cannot be taken away. (33-35) Jesus has just called Levi, a tax collector to follow him.  At that time, Levi throws a great dinner party for Jesus and invites all of his tax-collector-friends.  The Pharisees and Scribes complain to his disciples.  For them, the proper response to sinners was separation…not compassion.  But Jesus reminded them that he came to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance; that the Kingdom was like a party to which sinners and hurting people alike were invited.   Can we think of a sinner, a sickness, or an outcast that Jesus would have distanced himself from or turned his back on? More likely he would have turned toward them, with his healing touch, his forgiveness, and the call to repentance and faith in him.

The religious leaders again questioned him.  “Why do you not fast and pray like John’s disciples instead of eating and drinking with such people?”  What we need to understand is that these men were fasting and praying to hasten the coming of the Kingdom.  They did not yet understand that Jesus announced the Kingdom and that in Him the words of Isaiah were being fulfilled: good news was being preached to the poor, captives were being released, the blind could see again, and the oppressed set free!  The point being…The Kingdom is at hand, so now is the time to rejoice!  Jesus used the picture of a wedding feast.  Everyone knew that you didn’t fast at a wedding feast; you enjoyed the food, you rejoiced with the happy couple; but the problem was Jesus was keeping company with the wrong kind of people and so….

As Jesus spoke these words, he saw the stern disapproval in their faces.  That’s when he continued, “The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.”  He foresaw the rejection of his message and ministry in their faces.  He foresaw his own sacrificial death.  The day would come when he would be taken away.  The day would come when he would be betrayed by one of his own disciples and deserted by the very ones with whom he was now celebrating.  The day would come when he would be falsely arrested, flogged and crucified like a criminal, treated worse than any tax gatherer or common “sinner.” The day would come when he would suffer and die on a Roman cross…but that could not take away the joy of this day nor his power to love and forgive on that dark day. Why would anyone reject such joy or the man who embodied it?

ii. Why some cannot receive the gift that Jesus brings. (36-39) [Jesus] told them a parable: "No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old.(36) To put it another way: many people are prepared to patch their old ways with some of Jesus. They’re willing to take bits and pieces of him and stitch them into the fabric of their old ideas where they have become threadbare.  But what tailor would ever try that?  Who would cut a piece from a brand new suit and use it to patch an old worn out one?  My words and ways, says Jesus, are meant to be a total replacement, not just a convenient patch when our old ways aren’t working out very well.

Jesus continues: And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. (37) These are the ones who want to have all of Jesus provided they can keep all of their old ways too.  In the ancient world, grape juice was fermented in animal skins.  The CO² generated by the fermentation process would stretch the skins which is why new wine was always placed in new, flexible skins.  Jesus warns that the brittle “wineskins” of our old beliefs/habits can’t contain the “new wine” that he brings. 

And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, "The old is good.'"  (39). That is, some prefer their old ways to any part of Jesus.  His point here is not that some think their old ways are “better” but that they are “good enough” and don’t even want to taste the new.  It’s a refusal to even try Jesus’ words and ways or admit that they have any merit at all.

But what does Jesus mean when he says that “new wine” must be placed into “new wineskins”?  The Greek word kainos conveys more than simply “chronologically new” (If that were true then only the physically young could follow Jesus).  No, kainos  means “newly-invented, remarkable or previously unknown.”  When Jesus says that his wine must be put into fresh wineskins he is talking about a miracle of the new creation -- the creation of a new kind of vessel that can hold his Spirit, his message and ministry; and that new vessel can even be a tired old heart that comes to him in repentant humility, and is transformed by his grace.  A “new wineskin” is growing and changing as Jesus fills us with more of himself; growing in the knowledge of his word and ways, growing in compassion for others: the poor and the sick, those have been treated unjustly, who feel unloved, forsaken, lost and lonely and running from God.  Again, it is not separation from “sinners” that defines Jesus’ followers, but compassion.

iii. The secret of the gift and why any who will may receive it. (35) But here is the secret of the gift of Jesus’ “new wine.”  We can’t make ourselves into “new wineskins” – No!  The “new wine” makes our “old wineskins” new!  “For if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.  The old has gone, the new has come.”  (1 Cor. 5: 17). “I have a friend” Henri Nowen once described, “a friend who radiates joy, not because his life is easy, but because he habitually recognizes God's presence in the midst of all human suffering, his own as well as others'. ... My friend's joy is contagious. The more I am with him, the more I catch glimpses of the sun shining through the clouds. Yes, I know there is a sun, even though the skies are covered with clouds. While my friend always spoke about the sun, I kept speaking about the clouds, until one day I realized that it was the sun that allowed me to see the clouds.”

Let us remember on this Passion Sunday that the light of the Son has pierced the clouds of sin and sadness; that Jesus invited us to experience true joy even as he stood in the shadow of the cross; that in Him there is no sin or sickness, no evil or injustice, no failure or disappointment, not even the shadow of death itself, that can take us away from God’s joyous Kingdom or his love. 

King Jesus, in the shadow of the cross, You showed us the joyous gift of the Kingdom of God that no sadness or sorrow can defeat; the joyous reality of Your sacrificial love that bore our sin and turns our mourning into dancing: “Surely, You have born our grief and carried our sorrow. For You were wounded for our transgressions, and upon You was the chastisement that made us whole.”  Responding to Your sacrifice we turn from everything we know is wrong. We honor, bless, and praise Your holy name. We thank You for bearing our sins upon the cross, for offering us forgiveness and the fullness of Your Spirit.  We ask You now to come as Savior and cleanse us; to come as Lord, and take control of us, that we might serve You with Your other disciples, forever.  Amen!

Hope for "Saints" - Luke 6: 1-11

Last week we learned that Jesus loves to surround himself with “sinners” –The fact that Jesus ate and drank with tax gatherers and other morally questionable folks irked the religiously serious of his day who felt that the proper response to such people was “separation” not “compassion.”  That’s when Jesus explained that he came to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.  

It would be a mistake, though, to think that Jesus despised the religious professionals or had no time for them.  Jesus often taught in the synagogues.  He had many encounters with the Pharisees and scribes, the pastors and bible teachers of his day, and some like Nicodemus and Saul of Tarsus became his followers.  Jesus loved the “sinners” but he loved “saints” too…even though many of them would reject him and his messiahship.  They rejected him because he seemed to disregard their traditions, played fast and loose with Sabbath regulations, and claimed to understand the “spirit” of the Law as if He himself had written it. What rebuke, and what hope from Luke 6: 1-11, does Jesus give to the “religiously serious” in each of us?

1 One sabbath while Jesus was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" 3 Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?" 5 Then he said to them, "The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath." 6 On another sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched him to see whether he would cure on the sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against him. 8 Even though he knew what they were thinking, he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come and stand here." He got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?" 10 After looking around at all of them, he said to him, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

i. Understand the purpose of the rules: God’s law was meant to free us from sin, not enslave us to legalism.   One Sabbath while Jesus was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked some heads of grain, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them.  But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" (1-2)

Now it’s important to understand that on any ordinary day what the disciples were doing was freely permitted according to the Law of Moses. Deut. 23:25 reads, “If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand….” As long as you did not use a harvesting tool, like a sickle, you could pick corn without breaking any rule. There was another law that actually required farmers to leave a part of their harvest for “gleaning” by the poor (Lev. 23:22; Deut. 24:19-22).

But Jesus’ disciples were not picking grain on just any day; they were picking grain on the Sabbath day, and by the time of Jesus there were 39 specific activities that were classified as “work”…among these were reaping, winnowing, threshing, and preparing a meal.  The disciples were technically breaking all four! The religious professionals of Jesus’ day had good intentions… they wanted to encourage holiness and hasten the kingdom by building a “fence” around the Torah, a fence of oral tradition and regulations that were added in order to keep the commandments from being broken.  So, for example, if the Sabbath Command prohibited “work”, the Mishnah attempted to define “work” more specifically. 

Was there an awareness that this could descend into legalism?  Yes.  In the Mishnah Hagigah we read, “the rules about the Sabbath…are as mountains hanging by a hair, for the Scripture is scanty [while] the rules many.”  Even so, this group of Pharisees, who held a strict position on Sabbath keeping, expected Jesus to stop his disciples immediately.  Instead, Jesus cites some Scripture of his own. Jesus answered, "Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave some to his companions?"  (3-4).

Jesus tells a story from 1 Samuel 21: 1-6 where we read about a time when young David was fleeing with his men from King Saul who was trying to kill him. They come to the town of Nob, where the priests were watching over the tabernacle and the daily sacrifices. Exhausted and hungry from a long journey, David asks the priest Ahimelech if he has anything to eat. The priest responds that there is no ordinary bread, only the holy bread.  The 12 loaves that were placed on a special table before the altar where it remained for one week as a sign of God’s presence.  Now this is the key point: we know from the Law that it was changed on the Sabbath, which is why the story is relevant. And so when we read in 1 Samuel that “the priest gave [David] the holy bread…which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away” (1 Sam. 21:6) we have good reason to believe that David had come to the priest on the Sabbath; and that it was on the Sabbath that he ate what was forbidden by anyone but the priests to eat. The priest does this for David because he is the King's son-in-law, and he is on a holy mission and is hungry.

Did David’s extreme situation have anything to do with Jesus and his disciples strolling through the grain fields? Yes, in the sense that the priest made an exception to the rule in order to meet a legitimate human need.  No doubt the priest would have agreed with Jesus that “The Sabbath is made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2: 27)  That is, God’s Law was meant to free us from sin not enslave us to rules that substitute for a bold and creative love of God and people. Indeed the whole foundation of the Law is the unmerited, steadfast love of God for his people (Exodus 20:1).  This is why Jesus remind the Pharisees of the words of Hosea: “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6) 

Let’s face it…we Christians have been just as good at creating silly rules as the Pharisees.  There is a message there for all of us.  Here are a few Sunday rules I found, that are still actually on the books….*In Blackwater, KY, tickling a woman under her chin with a feather duster while she's in church service carries a penalty of $10.00 and one day in jail.  *No one can eat unshelled, roasted peanuts while attending church in Idanha, Oregon. *In Honey Creek, Iowa, no one is permitted to carry a slingshot to church except a policeman.  *No citizen in Leecreek, Arkansas, is allowed to attend church in any red-colored garment. *Swinging a yo-yo in church or anywhere in public on the Sabbath is prohibited in Studley, Virginia; *and turtle races are not permitted within 100 yards of a local church at any time in Slaughter, Louisiana.  Robert W. Pelton in The Door. Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 5. The Puritans felt that “play” could degenerate into wickedness and so anything that resembled “play” was banned.  Church was no time for silliness or fun.  I can’t help but think of David who, while  “wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might” as the ark was being brought up to Jerusalem! Jesus changed the image of Sabbath rest from a straight jacket of joy-crushing rules, to a stroll through the grainfields with friends, conversing and celebrating the bounty of God’s harvest in His presence.   Therefore, we must…

ii. Beware the abuse of the rules: The rules must never be an excuse for disregarding people or human need.  Luke tells us about another time when Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and saw a man whose hand was “withered.” (6-11) He tells us that the scribes and Pharisees were there watching to see if he would try to heal this man on the Sabbath. Jesus knew what was on their minds, so he asked them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?"  No one said a word in response. Then he had the man stretch out his hand, and he healed it.  Luke tells us that “they were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.” Already the seeds of Jesus’ passion are being sown in this defiance of the religious professionals and their traditions…and not only of their traditions, but of our own tendency to promote legalism over love, and religiosity over relationships.  He would never allow the rules to be used as an excuse to disregard people.

I was reading the other day about Mati Goldstein, the commander of the Jewish ZAKA rescue mission to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.  She was asked why she came to Haiti, working tirelessly, even on the Sabbath.  “"We did everything to save lives, despite Shabbat. People asked, 'Why are you here? There are no Jews here', but we are here because the Torah orders us to save lives… We are desecrating Shabbat with pride…"”  What would it mean for you and I to desecrate the Sabbath with pride?  What outrageous work of compassion or love could we do to earn that badge of honor?   I wonder if sometimes it isn’t simply the willingness to set aside our need to always be right, to be good rule keepers, and focus instead on forgiving, loving, listening, and even admitting how much we need each other, despite our differences and even because of them? I wonder also if it wouldn’t mean a commitment not just to know the rules, but to know the Ruler, because we cannot understand or obey the rules…

iii. Know the heart of the Ruler: We cannot understand or obey the rules that are set forth in Scripture until we know the heart of the Ruler.  Jesus made a shocking claim to the religiously serious when he said, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:5)          

At the heart of every rule is the Ruler who established it.  Now there are good rules and there are unjust rules; there are rules that bless and protect us from harm and there are rules that destroy or are just plain silly.  The new pope has decided he isn’t really interested in all the traditional pomp and circumstance.  He favors simplicity: no fancy vestments and no red shoes.  I’m sure he thinks the “rule” about the red shoes is sort of silly, and not in keeping with the Ruler.That’s because it’s not enough to know the rules.  It’s not enough to memorize the rules. It’s not enough to sing about the rules.  It’s not enough to obey the rules.  We’ve got to know the Ruler! 

Madeline L’Engle in her book Walking on Water writes about a Hassidic rabbi, renowned for his piety. He was unexpectedly confronted one day by one of his devoted youthful disciples. In a burst of feeling, the young disciple exclaimed, "My master, I love you!" The ancient teacher looked up from his books and asked his fervent disciple, "Do you know what hurts me, my son?"  The young man was puzzled: "I don't understand your question, Rabbi. I am trying to tell you how much you mean to me, and you confuse me with irrelevant questions." "My question is neither confusing nor irrelevant," answered the rabbi. "For if you do not know what hurts me, how can you truly love me?"  Jesus wants us to know his heart, the heart of the Ruler.  He wants us to know what hurts him (yes) our pride, our selfishness, when we use the rules as an excuse to disregard people; but also what blesses him…understanding that at the heart of the Rules are the two greatest commands…to love God and love people.

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In one of Jesus’ most well known parables, The Parable of the Father & His Two Sons, Jesus tells the story of two sons…a younger son who takes his inheritance and squanders it in wild living; and an older son who remains home doing his chores.  When the younger son finally comes to his senses, he decides to return home and plead for his father’s mercy, intending to offer himself as a hired servant.  This he does…but before he can speak his Father welcomes him, forgives him, and decides to throw a huge party.  At this point the older son is outside, pouting.  "Why are you throwing this huge party for that loser of a son?  I’ve been slaving for you for years, and I’ve never gotten a party like this?"  The Father had to remind him, “My Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours, but we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has become alive, he was lost and has been found” (Luke 15: 31-32).

If you haven’t guessed, the older brother represents the religiously serious, the Pharisees and scribes, the church-going, pew-filling, bible-reading, hymn-singing, religious folks like you and me who are a little annoyed by Jesus’ focus on all those strange and difficult people out there.  Yes, Jesus loves me too despite my pride and self-righteous attitude.  There is hope for sinners but, by the grace of God, there is hope for saints too… 

King Jesus, the Word made flesh, I confess that I am a mixture of sinner and saint. I confess that it is possible for me to keep the rules and cherish the rituals, while remaining distant from You and uncaring toward others. I admit that I can be in church every Sunday, know all the songs, and recite all your commands, yet still have a heart that is stubborn, impatient, arrogant, and uncaring. Forgive me, Lord, when this has described me! Let Your Law convict me of sin and guide my daily walk, but never be used as an excuse to be cruel or uncaring. Let Your Word always lead me to Your heart, and to those whom You came to save and want to bless through me, to the glory of God. Amen!