THE BIBLE SPEAKS
by
Background Scripture:
Luke 10:1-12,17-20.
Devotional
Psalms 78:1-4.
When I began as a pastor in the 1950’s
the term, “mission” was largely interpreted by Christians as participation in supporting
missionaries in the
In Mark 6:6-13, Matthew 10:1-15 and Luke 9:1-6
there are accounts of one or more missions given to the twelve disciples. But,
in Luke 10:1-20, there is a recounting of a mission for seventy of Jesus’
disciples. Seventy was a symbolic number: the product of 7 (the “complete”
number) times 10 (the number of commandments). It was the number of elders
chosen by Moses for leadership, as well as the number comprising the Sanhedrin,
the supreme council of the Hebrews. At that time the known world consisted of
seventy nations and Jesus answered when asked how many times one should
forgive, “seventy times seven.” (Mt. 18:22).
So the call of mission is not limited to an
inner circle. A church is more than a place to worship, hear sermons and learn
about Christ. It is a mission station. And what Jesus told the seventy is still
applicable today: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the
Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (10:2).
KINDS OF
Don’t start writing your church a letter of
resignation, nor, on the other hand, pack your bags for Africa,
We don’t have to be gifted speakers
nor have the skills of a used car salesperson. Much of the most powerful
Christian witness that has impacted my life came from those who witnessed with
their deeds, rather than their words. So far as I can remember, my parents
never lectured me or even tried to explain the importance of helping other
people. But, they impressed that upon me by the way they responded to other
people.
How does your life---not necessarily your
words---impress the members of your family, your friends and neighbors, your
community and beyond?
PROMISES
& WARNINGS
Jesus promised a plentiful harvest. He also
warned of the “wolves” who would stalk his “lambs” (10:3). The seventy were to
travel light and focus solely on their task (10:4). Their message in word and
deed was to be: “The
were
to demonstrate that message by healing the sick (10:9). Whether or not people
responded was not to be their concern. They were to concentrate on those who
responded, not on those who rejected them (10:10-12). And if they are blessed with encouraging
responses, they are not to get carried away with what they think is their success! (19, 20).
There was one other admonition that was
implicit, but not explicit: on this mission you will be totally dependent on
the Father. He will see that you are housed, fed and provide people to see and
hear the message. So, put your trust in God and leave the results to him.
That was sound advice for the seventy and their
mission. It is also sound advice for us and ours. That’s the way we are to go
for Christ.
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
by
Background Scripture:
Luke 13:1-9.
Devotional
Psalms 63:1-6.
When
the city of
The words of Jesus
in Luke13:1-9 are a clear refutation of the concept widely held in Jesus’ day:
calamities are the wages of sin. This belief was conversely voiced by Eliphaz
in Job: ”Who that was innocent ever perished?” (Job 4:7) and strongly refuted
by the rest of Job.
It is ironic that this idea is still strongly and
widely held today, despite the teachings of Jesus.
There
are two relevant incidents to which Jesus responds. No other writer has
recorded these two events, but they are typical of the times in which Jesus
lived. All we know is that some Galilean Jews were murdered on Pilate’s orders
while they were sacrificing in the temple. Galileans had a reputation for
rebellious words and acts, and Pilate was similarly known for acts of violence.
So Jesus asks: Do you think that these
Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered
thus? I tell you, No…” (2,3)
‘I TELL YOU, NO’
We know even less
about the second incident: the violent death of 18 Jews killed accidentally by
the collapse of the
Job and
Jesus both are adamant on this question of calamities being the punishment of
God: “No”! But we need also to be aware of what Jesus is not saying:
that there are no consequences to sin. Although God will forgive the sins of
which we repent, he usually does not cancel the logical and natural
consequences of those acts. If we drive
recklessly and cause an accident in which someone is seriously injured or even
killed, God will forgive us if we repent, but he does not erase the harmful consequences
of our act. Violating the law of gravity is forgivable, but there are often
harmful results.
Perhaps
you have already noticed that, in recounting the two incidents, I have left
off the last nine words that he speaks
in Luke 10:3 and 5: “…but unless you
repent you will all likewise perish.” We believe he is referring to the
terrible destruction of
“SORRY”-PLUS
Unfortunately, many
of us think that to “repent” means to be “sorry.” It is that, but it is a lot
more and, if that’s all that it is, being sorry is not enough. Marvin
Richardson Vincent says, “Mere sorrow, which weeps and sits still, is not
repentance. Repentance is sorrow converted into action; into a movement toward
a new and better life.” True repentance is sorrow plus a substantial change.
Jesus is not suggesting that we have some minor adjustments to make in our
lives, but the word “repent” means giving up, not just the offense you
committed, but the habits of mind and action that preceded---and probably
survive---the offense. Martin Luther wrote: “to do it no more is the truest
repentance” and Joel Billings says, “The hardest sinner in the whole lot is the
one who spends half of his time sinning and the other half in repentance.”
The
effective time of repentance is not the moment you say “forgive me, Lord,” but
that distant time when you have the choice to either sin the same sin again or
refuse to be led in that direction. Lots of people do not mind saying “I’m
sorry,” but they really don’t want the “sorry”-plus. Some put off repentance
until, for obvious reasons, the end of life. But we never know how soon it may
be too late.
Although
repentance may seem to painful and make us too vulnerable, there are few
experiences more gratifying and enabling than the “sorry”-plus route. The act
of confession does not shorten your life or make you impotent. “There is in
repentance,” says William L. Sullivan, “the beautiful; mystery---that we may
fly fastest home on broken wing.”
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
by
Background Scripture:
Luke 7:1, 7-14.
Devotional
Psalms 25:1-10.
In 1952
during my first year of seminary, theological students were invited to serve as
volunteer ushers at the General Meeting of the National Council of Church in
During
the meeting there was to be a nationally-televised service with a great
procession in which we were to carry the banners of the various denominations.
Mine was to be that of the
When
the procession began I was informed that I would not process but, when the
denomination’s name was called, would enter the hall through a great curtain
hanging behind the altar. I have to admit I was dismayed at this turn of
events. I had hoped that perhaps my family would be watching the televised
procession. I wished I could take back my agreement to change places with the
Methodist. But, when the new denomination’s name was called and I stepped
through the curtain, I found myself center stage before a large throng and an
assortment of TV cameras and radio microphones! Into my head flashed the words: “Many that are first shall be last; and
the last shall be first” (Mat. 19:30).
DISTORTED PRIDE
I have
a lot of experiences that confirm Jesus’ teaching on humility. As
A bishop made his
annual visit to a very important church. He and the vicar began at the altar
rail with the bishop intoning: “O Lord, have mercy upon this humble servant!”
The vicar followed with the same words. But, as they settled back in the pew,
they heard the sexton praying, “O Lord, have mercy upon this humble servant.”
Inclining his head, the vicar whispered to the bishop: “Look who thinks he’s a
‘humble servant!”
A superficial
reading of Luke 14:7-11 may suggest to us that Jesus is giving us a technique
to manipulate ourselves into a better seat at the marriage feast. But Jesus is telling a
story to illustrate how humiliating it can be when we seek to exalt ourselves.
He is showing us that when we exalt ourselves, we are more likely to be
humbled.
PRIDEFUL
GIVING
The second part of this passage, 14:12-14, may
seem to be another matter altogether, but Jesus is talking of pride that
escalates into arrogance. I don’t think Jesus is condemning or making light of
entertaining our friends, but I do think that he is focusing on the prideful
motivation that often masquerades as hospitality.
As I write this we have just completed the
2007 Christmas season. I noted again the emphasis on “exchanging gifts,” rather
than just giving. There is nothing wrong in exchanging gifts, so long as that
is not where our Christmas giving stops. If it is expected that you must pay me
back for what I gave you, both of us are robbed of the spirit of giving.
We must be wary of the secret pride of
false humility. “Genuine humility,”
wrote William L. Sullivan, “does not
arise from our pitiable kinship with the dust that is unworthy of us but from
the realization of our awful nearness to a magnificence of which we are
unworthy.”
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
by
Background Scripture:
Luke 14:25-33.
Devotional
Psalms 139:1-6.
“OK to
hate”? Well, it would seem that Jesus sanctions hate when he says: If Anyone comes to me and does not hate his
own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and
even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Lk. 14:26). That
is surely one of the hardest sayings of Jesus. It is like an enormous
speed-bump when reading along in the 14th chapter of Luke
Some people might
dismiss this 26th verse as not really being spoken by Jesus: maybe
the word was accidentally changed when being passed around in the oral
tradition; maybe it got garbled when translated from Aramaic, Jesus’ language,
to Greek to Latin and so forth. But, with a term so seemingly out of keeping
with everything else Jesus is recorded as saying, I believe Luke would not have
included it unless he believed it to be genuine.
When words are
translated from one language to another, very often the translated word may
mean more than the original word, or even less. Most translated words are only
approximate in meaning. Even within the same language used in different
locations, word meanings may not be exact. I looked up the word “hate” in my Random House Dictionary of the English
Language and found five definitions followed by thirteen lines of synonyms.
LOVES ME MORE
In the Old
Testament, the term we translate into English as “hate” is usually used in the
same sense that we commonly understand it. But even then, the word was often
understood to refer to “the religious commitment to reject and turn away
from those who deny God and his laws.” Thus, The Good News Bible takes us a giant step further: “Whoever
comes to me cannot be my disciple unless he loves me more than he loves his
father and mother…” and the
Living Bible is similar, except that it
reads: “…must love me far more…”
We shall turn away from---not despise---anyone or anything that keeps us from
loving Jesus far more.
It would be tempting
to assume that we have thus moved this verse out of the “hard sayings”
category---but we have not. What makes it still and even more a “hard saying”
is that it lays down a level for discipleship that is much easier to say than
to do. Loving Jesus more than any other person is a disturbing imperative: “Whoever does not bear his own cross and
come after me, cannot be my disciple” (27).
Then,
just when we realize what Christian discipleship really means, Jesus seems to
throw us a curve ball: “For which of you desiring to build a tower, does
not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (28,
29). Is Jesus trying to scare us off
from putting him first? No, he just wants us to know
that this is not a marked-down, bargain-basement discipleship. Don’t let you
lips say “yes, yes” while your heart is saying “no, no”!
DISTANT FOLLOWERS
William Barclay
tells of a conversation with a great scholar about a younger man. “’So and so tells me that he was one of your
students.’ The teacher answered devastatingly, ‘He may have attended my
lectures, but he was not one of my students.’” Barclay concludes: “there are so many distant followers of
Jesus and so few real followers.”
In my
wedding manual these words are addressed to the couple to be married, “Marriage is not to be entered upon lightly
or unadvisedly, but thoughtful, reverently, and in the fear of God.” In
reading these words to the couple in their premarital counseling, I am not
warning them against marriage, but against marriage between two people who have
not considered the real costs of marriage---which are quite different than the
costs of the wedding!
I remember reading
in a novel in which one of the characters says, “I hate the cross; it makes
life such a burden.” But Thomas a’ Kempis counsels us: “Carry the cross patiently, and with perfect submission; and in the end
it shall carry you. If you bear the
cross unwillingly, you make it a burden, and load yourself more heavily.” Try it.