Before The Boulder Hits You On The Head.....Make the choice

Todays Reading Luke 16:19-17:10

In our schools, teachers and staff spend a great deal of time helping children to learn to make wise and positive decisions. We begin in kindergarten because it is a skill and an awareness that will be valuable in all aspects and throughout these children's lives. Making good choices is that important. Not everyone heeds the lesson.

If someone were to survey people what about what were the most important choices that one could make in their lifetime, I suspect that the answers would be choices about who one marries, how one raises their children, and the choices in our careers. For most people, this is what would come to mind first. Very few people would come up with, " I chose to believe in Jesus Christ because I wish to be saved and have eternal life." Although, the scripture for today would seem to point out the importance of choosing Godliness and faith above all else, we do not clearly make that choice as emphatically as we do others. Why?

The answer is easily found in that we do not live in a God-friendly culture. When one reads about those who lived in the time of Christ, it often appears that in the Jewish culture, of which Jesus was a part , people lived theology in everyday life. So much of life was centered about the temple and the observances of faith. Islam today finds people being called to prayer several times a day. However, in our western American culture, not even church bells ring as they do in Europe. Not that this is such a big thing, but it makes the point that very little makes us call to mind our faith in our daily life. We have to make a point of seeking it out. Our days begin with a cup of coffee and the morning news shows, not the word of God. In doing so, we are confronted immediately with the sins of the world. But we have trouble realizing that it is sin we are witnessing. We euphemize it and call it news as we watch people making bad choices, wrong decisions, or spewing lies that have brought them notoriety or defamation.

Here in Luke, Jesus gives us this tough illustration of a man who had everything he could want in this world. He tells us also about a man who had absolutely nothing in this world, living outside the doors of the rich man. When the destitute man dies, he is given a place in heaven. However, when the rich man dies he is sent to hell. There he calls out to God for help but God explains that there is no way out of his circumstances that he has found himself in. He made his choice back in his earthly life. The rich man then pleads that somehow, someone should communicate to his family and friends still on earth, that they must repent and understand who God is in order to avoid the same fate as he is experiencing. God tells him that they have heard the same words that he has heard when he lived, which also the poor man had heard. They must make the choice, just as he did, for God or against God.

Ah choice! The freedom to really do well or to really mess up ! Too many of us in this world,  are still dilly dallying around with this choice thing as if it is not that serious. The thinking promoted in this culture and taught by secular-humanist liberal churches, is that it just does not matter. We are all going to heaven. No one has clarified as to why exactly this has come about in Gods thinking. On the surface it sounds good but then it raises the question, "does this include Hitler, Dahmer and Stalin?" But wait—"no that does not make sense," says the public as they ponder this. Yet, where does God draw the line? How about some of our lesser know criminals, or the child molester or the guy down the street caught pilfering the cash register? Are their sins erased?  Or how about the person who practices satanic rituals or the person who never believed in God and denounced Him all the way?  Do we all get  a shot at heaven no matter what choice we have made? Confusing isn't it?

Not really, because God does have an answer which modern theologians do not like and that our culture is uncomfortable with. Although, we cannot know entirely what God's judgment will be, his Son has emphatically told us that the way to God is through him- Jesus Christ. His suffering and agony on that horrible cross had a purpose and a message: that he was the actual doorway to the kingdom of God. It is not a suggestion. It is the truth.

So it does matter what choices we make. God is not stretching out his hand to all who have rejected him. He is not accepting applications from the ones who had no time for him. But he is saying "yes, you are welcome,"  to all who, with a sincere heart, have repented of their sins and have chosen Jesus freely with loving hearts and fervent minds and have made this decision long before the train hit them or the boulder fell on their head. Everything about eternal life hinges on this choice. Everything. Our chance to be saved is now. It is this very moment that is the right time to tell everyone that we know, the good news, because our voice will be  inaudible from the grave.

Laurie Erdman

 

 

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Real Urgency

Luke 16:1-18
Note: Today’s reading makes us think! To help me work through my own confusion, I read through the notes in my study Bible and 3 commentaries. Each of the commentaries in some way describes this parable as “difficult to interpret.” I found William Barclay’s, The Daily Bible Series: the Gospel of Luke, Revised Edition (1975), to be quite helpful.

Today we begin in the same setting as yesterday; Jesus is with a group of his disciples, and the Pharisees are listening in. Yesterday, we heard three stories about God’s urgent and passionate pursuit of the lost. As we begin today, it seems Jesus is giving us a picture of worldly urgency.

It is clearly a priority of God’s to reach the lost, and Scripture reminds us in several places that He desires no one to perish. But our priorities are often selfish. We get distracted and pursue worldly security. In business, finances and relationships, we can be ingenious and instinctive in finding creative solutions to get what we want, to protect ourselves, to create a sense of security. But when it comes to the Kingdom of God - reaching the lost, investing in discipleship, or loving others - we are often hesitant, quick to doubt, and slow to obey.

I believe this passage is a scathing criticism of the Pharisee in each of us. In verse 14, we hear the Pharisees scoff at Jesus, and in verse 15, we hear Jesus say to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts.” It’s interesting that this group, who would not betray the law to heal or rescue someone on the Sabbath, would soon begin scheming like this shrewd manager and justify breaking many laws for the sake of protecting their power and their way of life, as they hire someone to betray Jesus, throw together an illegal trial in the middle of the night to convict him, misrepresent his “crimes” in order to convince the Romans to execute him, and pay soldiers to lie about someone stealing Jesus’ body.

Let us not be so artful in scheming to protect ourselves, secure worldly interests, or justify our actions. Let us not defend ourselves from the piercing conviction of God’s law, but allow it to break us again and again, that we might experience more fully the grace and love of Jesus and our great heavenly Father, who pursues us even while we are a long distance off!

What's the Big Hurry?

We've read the story of the Prodigal Son many times, beginning way back in Sunday School. Most of us tend to focus on the loving father, symbolizing God, waiting for and running down the road to greet his long lost son, symbolizing all who have turned back to God. Rebellion, repentance, and restoration -- it's a story as comfortable to us as an old pair of slippers. But I wonder, what about the end of this parable? As I read this story today, I found my attention drawn to the angry, resentful older brother.

Starting in Luke 15:25, the older brother comes home after a day of working in the fields. He arrives at a celebration being thrown on the occasion of his brother's safe return. There is music, dancing, and a feast for the young man now found in a fine robe, with a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet - symbolizing honor, authority and freedom. The older brother, full of resentment that he has "towed the line" his entire life and supposedly never received even the smallest bit of appreciation, refuses to go to the party. (He reminds me of Jonah, with both of them furious over God's compassion on those seeking mercy.)

I think the older brother was asking himself, like many people I have known, so what's the benefit of of doing the right thing now, if I can just repent and do the right thing later? Since the father forgave the prodigal son after all he had done and Jesus forgave the criminal crucified on the cross next to him, then what's the big hurry?

A lot of people live as though they have all the time in the world to spiritually get their act together. What people don't want to be reminded of, as Pastor Paul spoke of earlier this year, is that the end is near. Or at least, it might be near. We do not know the day or the hour of Jesus' return and we don't know how much time we have on this earth.

Many prodigals think they have plenty of time to come home, and they might even consider the older brother in this parable to be a fool for missing some 'fun' before returning to get the robe and the ring and the sandals. Maybe we haven't told the prodigals we know that the blessings of life with Jesus begin here and now, and that just as the young brother lost his inheritance in his years of rebellion, so the prodigals lose the 'riches' that God wants to give them starting today. And most delicate of all, maybe we've not told them that they may not have as much time as they think.

The Father is scanning the horizon, wanting all of us to come home before it is too late. There is a big party planned -- both for the ones who have just arrived and for the ones who have been there all along -- with both present and future blessings available for all.

Humility & Hospitality

Humility – Let’s try to be very honest now. Do I (do you) really have true Christian humility? Do I (do you) really want other folks to get the recognition? A fellow felt a need for more humility in his life. So he set aside a full day – 6 AM to 8 PM in which he would go off by himself and eat nothing, drink nothing, say nothing…just to become really humble. At the end of the day, he smugly said to himself. “You know what? I don’t know of another person who has spent an entire day in being humble like I was today!” Ouch!

Hospitality – Is that one of your spiritual gifts? Read Romans 12:13 and 1 Peter 4:9. Have you ever thought of hospitality as being a spiritual gift? V. 15-24 – The Master’s Banquet. A very personal question: Have you accepted the invitation that Jesus offers today to you to join Him at His Table? V. 25-33 – Have you seriously considered the cost of following Jesus? When and in what ways has it cost you something to follow Jesus?

Donald E. Pardun

Blessed Assurance

Luke 13:22 - 14:6

When someone asks Jesus if only a few will be saved, Jesus turns the question around (as he often does) and makes it personal: "Work hard to enter the narrow door to God's Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail."

We hear Jesus describing the people pleading outside the locked door, "But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." For many of us, this can be a sobering passage. We might ask ourselves if somehow we've fallen short, and will also be refused entry.

I think a modern analogue to this pleading might be "But we went to all the church pot-lucks, even the Bible studies, and we were always there in the front pew every Sunday to listen to the sermon." These are people who have entered into Christian society, but have never let the message of Christ work in their hearts. Christianity is a "good idea" to them. They may agree with all the precepts. But it has no transforming power.

We "work hard to enter the narrow door" when we let Jesus work in us.

But even then, eternal security is a difficult concept to embrace. We live in a world where acceptance is often conditional. We live in a world where our place -- among co-workers, friends, even family -- is secure as long as we stay in line, stick with the group, and don't do anything wrong.

Jesus isn't like that. But because of who we are -- fallen people in a fallen world -- assurance doesn't come easy. And we marvel at the people who seem to have the "blessed assurance" of the old Fanny Crosby hymn.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!

But scripture tells us again and again that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1), that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:39), that no one can snatch us from his hand (John 10:28). The Word of God is full of assurances like these.

This passage should be sobering only in the sense that there are people who haven't yet found the door. It is a sober reminder to get out there into the crowds of people and point them toward the narrow entry into God's Kingdom so that they, too, can have that assurance and security.


Drew Clausen

Wisconsin Watermelon

Luke 13:1-21

Why do I keep planting them?!

For as much as the picture on the seed package promised melons the size of hay bales, I have never, ever, not once actually grown a watermelon in my WI garden that amounted to more than a frostbitten dwarf of a bulb that I can hurl like a baseball during the October Series back into my neighbor's woods in frustration.

I hope the deer like it. (Actually, I hope they gag on it.)

So, WHY?!! [prepare for run-on sentence of frustration!] Why do I year after year give space in my garden to earthen hills from which large sinewy vines will climb all over my garden fence, the unassuming pine tree next door, and the innocent bystander corn stalks who just keep minding their business, and faithfully producing cobs season by season, notwithstanding the intrusion of these hitchhiking loafers?!!

I keep on thinking: "this might be the year."

In our reading today, Jesus tells a story using one of his favorite anti-hero images: the fig tree. (v. 6) Then Jesus told this story: "A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed."

This time, the man has really had it! He exclaims to his gardener, "after 3 years, what's the use of keeping a fig tree that hasn't produced a single fig! Let's cut that loser down, and plant some tomatoes or something! They always grow in Wisconsin."

But the Gardener... (who was it again, that was cast as a Gardener during this season?!) steps in and says, "awh, let's give er another year. I'll give it even better care than I have before. I'll go all out! Extra food, perfect conditions. I'll baby it. I'll stay by it, special attention. I believe we could still see a fig on that tree!"

The fig tree was a known emblem for God's people, the nation of Israel. What's more amazing? The tenacity of God's folk to suck up resources without bearing an ounce of spiritual fruit? Or, the long-suffering hope and Self-investment of the Gardener to maybe just maybe bring His people along?

I say, greatly moved, this day after Easter, the more-than-a-Little-Marvel is

HE'S GIVING ME ANOTHER YEAR

I'll leave the matter for each of you to answer for yourselves. Is this story more about Produce (what 'fig' does the Gardener seek in you: to grow? to obey? to reproduce? to just believe?), or is it mostly about merciful Patience?

PPaul

PS: By the way, Mary P. (blog from Saturday), your words were some of the last I read on Saturday after a long, long day of prepping myself for Easter Sunday. I want you to know that, seeing them lining the front of the stage yesterday morning, I was blessed to 'consider the lilies'.

Choose Wisely

Luke 12:35-59

 

Archie Bunker—okay that dates me.  (If you do not know who he was ask someone older.)  Here was a man who knew how to divide families.  He did so from a basis of arrogance and bigotry.

 

Jesus promises to divide families, too.  He asks us to choose him rather than burying a father, managing our assets, being distracted by preparations in the kitchen, taking comfort in our surplus, worrying about what we eat or wear, etc, etc.

 

Deut 4:24 says that the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

 

He wants us to choose wisely.

 

HAPPY EASTER

 

Steve Louden