Adventures in the Word

Summary of a message spoken at Nora Christian Fellowship on Nov 25, 2007.
Taken from Luke 22-23

I’m honestly not sure why Luke told the story of the cross in a “series of threes.” It may have been a reference to Jesus’ statement that he would be ‘raised the third day,’ or it could have been an indication of His death, burial and resurrection. Or telling it this way could simply help us better remember the greatest story ever told.
Here’s the Story told in threes:

On the road to the cross, Jesus . . .

• reminded Peter, with a solemn look, that he would deny Him three times, late, before the rooster crowed.
• suffered the false testimony, hatred, and bitter accusations of three trials and three judges: the Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate.
• stood by quietly while an unlikely Pilate tried to defend Him – unsuccessfully – three times (Luke 23:22).

On the cross, Jesus . . .

• agonized between two other crucified men, one bitter and desperate, the other repentant but hopeful.
• stretched out His hands to all the world as King of the Jews. The sign, posted over his head and intended to mock Him, ended up praising him to all the world in three languages: Greek, Latin and Hebrew.
• uttered three things that showed the cross was deeply rooted in His heart: these three words expressed His forgiveness, His steadfast love for individuals, and His undying commitment to the Father. His cross was not just for show; it was not something He only felt obligated to do – it simply revealed who He was . . . and still is!

Still on the cross, Jesus . . .

• endured the sneers from three strata of society: the religiously self-righteous, the merciless soldiers, and a crucified criminal.
• mourned with creation for three hours, when the sun refused to show its face.
• died, and all three sneering strata began – in reverse order – to grieve when they finally saw the truth of what they had done, and the Truth of who this Man really was.

This is a summary of a message that I shared at Nora Christian Fellowship on November 4, 2007

“Then he said to the crowd, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.’” — Luke 9:23–24 New Living Translation

Crux – noun 1 a vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point: 2 a cross.

The crux of Luke is the cross. If you put Luke and Acts together (and Luke wrote them to be companion books), the cross is in the middle and forms the heart of both books. Luke is the story of Jesus and his cross; Acts is the story of the twelve disciples and their crosses.

At the end of Luke chapter 8, a strange thing occurs with the number twelve. Consider:
• Luke records the twelfth in a series of Jesus’ healings.
• Jairus’ daughter, the twelfth to be healed, is twelve years old.
• The woman with the issue of blood, the twelfth to be recorded in need of healing, has had her condition for twelve years.
• Directly following the twelfth healing, Luke records: “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power . . . to cure diseases.” This is the first time that the twelve disciples are sent out.
• Two more instances of twelve occur in the story of the feeding of the 5000.
• At the end of that story Luke records that “twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them [the twelve disciples].”

One more thing: there are exactly twelve occurances in Luke of the word twelve.

Hmmm.

Why the sudden rush of twelves? To see why, I think we have to see how things come to a pivotal point or crux here at this point in Luke’s gospel. Up to this point, it’s been all about Jesus and his growing ministry. But now Jesus turns toward Jerusalem and announces that he’s going to take up his cross and die and rise again. That means that the clock starts ticking for when the twelve disciples will carry on the ministry of Jesus after his resurrection. It also points to the time when the twelve will take up their crosses too.

Life, blessing and multiplication come out of death. God’s calling on Jesus defined the shape of his cross – the way that he would sacrificially give his life for us all. We too have a calling on our lives and that calling will form the shape of our cross.

This is a summary of a message that I spoke on Sept 23, 2007 at Nora Christian Fellowship

“. . . Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, “The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all!” – Luke 21:1-4 The Message

Taken from Luke 20:27–21:4

Divine Life Out of Death – Resurrection – continues to be the theme in Luke’s gospel. This passage has three ‘riddles:’ One spoken by the Sadducees and two by the Lord:

Riddle 1: “ . . . whose wife will she be in the resurrection?”

The Sadducees’ question, clearly intended to ridicule the idea of resurrection, backfired when Jesus clearly taught that marriage will simply not continue into that age. And this makes perfect sense because, in that age, there will be no more death either. And because death will expire, the need for conception, birth and children – the primary purpose of marriage – will also expire.
However, under the Sadducees’ program this pitiful widow would have no hope at all.

Riddle 2: “David calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

Jesus quotes Ps 110:1 and basically asks, since David calls the Messiah, his human descendant, ‘Lord,’ how can that be? In other words, he asks, “HOW CAN A HUMAN BEING BE GOD?” (We have to understand that, in the first century, the common assumption appears to be that the Messiah would be a normal human being, a descendant of David. They simply could not have imagined the God Man. )

And although Luke doesn’t reveal the answer to the riddle here before His resurrection, you can feel the anticipation! He doesn’t waste much time though: Read Acts 2:29–36. There you’ll find Luke quoting Peter saying that, David wrote this Psalm when he “ . . . fores[aw] this, [and] spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah (vs 31)” and “ . . . God made Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord (God) and Messiah (human).” The resurrection left no doubt that the human Jesus was divine! So the answer to the riddle is: once you witness the resurrection, you’ll see plainly that Jesus truly is both Lord (Divine) AND Christ (the expected human Messiah).

Riddle 3: How can the widow’s two mites be a bigger offering than all the others’?

Here Jesus re-introduces the Sadducees’ apparently hopeless widow and elevates her – a veiled reference to resurrection – above everyone. Jesus has just charged the Scribes with “devouring widows’ houses,” but now she has risen from her despair. Jesus answers the riddle by saying that she – out of her poverty – gave everything she had.

This ought to encourage us too, because, when we’re feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders, when our ‘gas tanks’ are ‘on E,’ and yet we choose to give – even if it seems to be such a small thing – Jesus tells us that it actually means a lot to Him and He sees and receives it for what it truly is: a huge gift. So it’s not the actual size of the gift that matters so much, but the amount of effort that it takes to give it, given the resources that we humanly have on hand.
May God fill you with the Resurrection Life of His Son!

“He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’” – Luke 22:41-42

Here’s the whole passage of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
Luke 22:39-46
Matthew 26:36-46
Mark 14:32-42

Being ‘discouraged’ is universal and inevitable – even for the most spiritual among us. Maybe even especially the most spiritual among us. Here are seven things that we can learn from Jesus in the garden.

What to do when the inevitable strikes:

1 Admit it when you’re discouraged. Somehow, somewhere we’ve gotten the warped notion that, if we’re really spiritual, we won’t get discouraged. But the fact is that Jesus himself was sorrowful, even to the ‘point of death.’ He actually

was a ‘man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.’ Sorrow is a fact of life – no one is exempt. And denying the fact will only perpetuate and aggravate the problem. It’s like temptation: it’s not whether you’ll be tempted, it’s what you’ll do when you’re tempted. What are you going to do when you ‘get down.’

2 Pray alone. With discouragement comes the common desire to withdraw, but remember that discouragement serves as a divine warning flag telling us to get alone with Him and PRAY! This is exactly what Jesus did in his hour of sorrow. And don’t try to pray spiritual gobbledegook. Simply pour out your soul earnestly and honestly.

3 Pray with others who know and love you. But we can’t do it alone. Yes, Jesus got alone to pray, but he didn’t go far away from those closest to him. To be precise, he went about ‘a stone’s throw away’ from his disciples, and three times he checked on them and scolded them for not praying. He needed them but they could only signal the start of their own withdrawal.

4 Accept that people will make their own choices. We all have our own Judases. It doesn’t mean that you’re a failure when someone that you’ve tried to help goes their own way. It certainly was’t a surprise to Jesus that Judas ‘turned him in,’ although he may have been surprised by the betrayal kiss. But still, Jesus accepted the kiss; it wasn’t easy, but Judas had made up his own mind and apparently Jesus made no attempt to stop him. We too need to give people the space to . . . betray us . . . if that’s what they want to do. And often they’ll do it with ‘a kiss,’ and try to make it look like something it’s not. But remember: this happens even to the most spiritual among us (read Jesus).

5 Realize that discouragement is usually temporary and try to understand why it’s happening.
Check all that apply:
• weary
• sick
• bored
• ‘disconnected’
• other ____.
Feelings are fickle. “Tears may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” “He who sows in tears will reap in joy.” Try to keep it in perspective; in my life the fog has always eventually lifted and often I don’t really know why. But I am so glad when it does.

6 Wait for God to strengthen you. Our God sees and cares and sends help. He saw Jesus in agony and sent an angel. But we often miss this divine strength because it comes in a form we wouldn’t normally expect or can’t see: the strength may come through a child, a word, a nap, a laugh, a ray of sunshine, or some other invisible, unappreciated, or unremarkable thing. Wherever it comes from, don’t miss it.

7 Resolve to do the will of God. Jesus said, “ . . . not my will, but yours be done . . .” We have to learn that ‘it’s not about me.’ So many times in my life, the black cloud won’t lift until I turn my eyes away from myself and onto someone or something else. Often the ‘way of escape’ is laying down my problem and taking up someone’s else’s. WE can do in a small way, what the Lord did for all men.

Of course this list is not exhaustive and you may do all these things perfectly and still have the blues. A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling low and then I had a simple thought and suddenly I chuckled and it was all over. Seriously! I think the thought was something like, “Wow. I don’t care what anybody says, life is still wonderful.”

It is a Wwonderful Llife.

This is a summary of the message spoken on March 11, 2007 at Nora Christian Fellowship.
Read Luke 12:1-21
“What we do in life, echoes in eternity”
— Maximus in the movie Gladiator

In Luke chapter 12, Jesus extends his teaching of the Pursuit of God, by warning us of the dangers of hypocrisy: “Beware of the yeast of hypocrisy.” This hypocrisy – living a double life, one in public, the other in private – will eventually catch up with us, says Jesus. In eternity, what is whispered in secret will be “shouted from the housetops.” In that day, everything will become crystal clear – we’ll have no more hiding places!

The sooner we realize this the better. Think of the difference it would make, if we actually believed and lived like God were present everywhere we go! But wait – this actually IS TRUE! – the coming of the Lord will be its unveiling. And the level of our awareness of God in private – that is, the unconscious assumption that God is with us, rather than that we are alone – determines the degree that we feel comfortable or uncomfortable with our sins. And when God is always near, we find ourselves increasingly praying and worshipping this glorious God. Before long, we start “glowing” with the life and power of God as our transparency grows.

Now, how can we actually begin to live this way?
More later.

Spoken at Nora Christian Fellowship on April 22, 2007.

“Strive with earnestness (from the Greek word, related to
our word, agonize,) to enter in through the narrow door . . . “ – Luke 13:24

Jesus IS the Narrow Door.
He Himself is the opening we go through to get into the Kingdom of God. Unlike the 60-foot-wide door in Herod’s Temple, Jesus is narrow and requires us to “squeeze through.” This concept is similar to what is stated in Mt 11:12.

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it” – Today’s NIV

Although a difficult passage, many agree that the point is that God, “humbled himself” and became vulnerable, accessible – even to the point of nearly being trampled by the crowd. Now we can get in without all of the formalities. Not that Jesus has lowered the standard – He actually met all the requirements of the Law Himself so that now the “proprieties” can be waived. We, as it were, simply “crash the party” much as the sinful woman in Luke 8, or the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 9. After all, if we really see who it is that is suddenly “available,” why wouldn’t we just “barge in?”

So in effect, Jesus presents us with a choice: we can be in either one of two camps: Either we can be earnest, humble, not afraid of appearing small, not letting appearances blind us from following after the Lord with the heart.

Or we can be in the other camp: smug, passive, arms folded, skeptical, having our minds made up, not really listening – just assuming that we’re “IN” because of our “works” or family heritage.

No, Jesus Himself is the Dividing Point, the Lightening Rod of Truth, the Narrow door. How we respond to Him is what really matters in life.

Spoken at Nora Christian Fellowship on April 29, 2007

What is a human being worth?
Taken from Luke 14.
At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus notices a man who is grossly swollen – a man with dropsy – what we normally call edema. It’s the Sabbath and Jesus is among the religious leaders who are suspiciously watching him. Jesus asks a simple question that probes to the heart of the matter: “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath?” Or in other words, “Is there any reason that a human being should be left to suffer if we can relieve it?” No one can give him an answer. He then grabs hold of the swollen man and heals him, which means he immediately ‘deflates’ – the exaggerated swelling dramatically shrinks.

This surely would have been a sign to all the onlookers and skeptics. And in this healing Jesus gives us a sign: we too need to be stripped of the baggage that clogs our understanding of our true worth: It’s not our work, our family, our possessions that give us value. It’s simply the fact that we are human beings who are created and loved by God.

So the question that Jesus poses in this chapter is: “What is a human being worth?” He answers by giving us four stories to illustrate that, it’s not the people who “have it all together” who are blessed and privileged; rather, it’s the “low-life” of society that end up being invited in and moved ahead in line; it’s the ones who realize their bankruptcy, their “lostness.”

To sum things up, we’re told not to start building a tower before estimating what it’s going to take to finish it. Likewise we need to “count the cost” and realize that we won’t be able to finish the job of our lives; WE CAN’T DO IT! We need to go to the cross and let the “old man die.” The sooner we realize and accept this, the sooner we’ll find our new life in Jesus Himself. Luke 15 will more fully illustrate the point that the Father runs to meet his prodigal children who “come to themselves.”

Spoken at Nora Christian Fellowship on April 15, 2007

Luke 13:1-21
This passage describes three ‘towers’:

The first tower is the literal Tower of Siloam in Jerusalem that collapsed and made all the news headlines of the day. This tower symbolizes that the whole world stands under the righteous judgment of God. No one is exempt: “All have sinned and come short of God’s glory.” The eighteen that died in that tragic disaster could not argue with God at his judgment seat.

The second tower is the figurative ‘tower’ of the fig tree that deserved to be cut down, but instead received mercy. This also describes the attitude and action of God toward the human race: Yes, we deserve judgment, but we also receive his abundant mercy on a daily basis. Israel is pictured here and Jesus is saying that Israel deserves judgment, but instead has received mercy.

The third tower is the ‘tower’ of the ‘Daughter of Abraham’ who lived her life in a bent over condition for eighteen years. Her life appeared hopeless, yet she received the resurrection power of the Lord. This reveals that the way of God also includes resurrection life – life beyond judgment and mercy. Even though death has apparently won – the new life from Jesus, the Messiah, is stronger than death itself.

This woman suddenly stood upright – a clear sign of the resurrection power of God. She is the eighteenth healing of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. He’s helping us keep track of each stitch in his threaded story of resurrected lives. And he ties the knot at the end of the book: the resurrection of Jesus Himself.

Because He lives, so can we.

“But He [Jesus] said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’” – Luke 18:27
Change.
Genuine, life-long lasting change in our character, lifestyle, and habits is difficult; some would say even impossible. But Luke 18 continues to show God’s way out of this predicament. Let’s look at the four stories there and see what the Lord is saying through them:

1 Persistent widow
2 Prayers of the Pharisee and tax collector
3 Infants brought to Jesus
4 Rich young ruler

What are the common threads here? I think Jesus is comparing and contrasting two sides of the same coin. And He summarizes it in the Scripture quoted above. On the one hand the widow, tax collector, and infants all share the same attitude: they know they are powerless. The widow was considered to be the most weak and vulnerable of society and God made it crystal clear that she was to be protected at all costs. Yet the widow in Jesus’ story, even in her apparent powerlessness, overcomes.

The infants that are brought to Jesus are also among the most powerless. Every mother is well aware of the helplessness of her baby. But Jesus lifts up the infant as the epitome of the Kingdom’s true character: ” . . . of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

On the other hand, the Pharisee and rich young ruler proudly list their accomplishments:“I tithe, I fast, I have kept, etc” and appear to “have it all together.” But deep down, they know they’re only pretending. And if we’ll be honest with ourselves, we know that we often ‘fake it,’ making a good show of things, not wanting to let on – even to ourselves – that we’re really weak, broken, and confused.

If we want God to do the impossible, including the changing of our lives, we must be willing to take off the hardened exterior and reveal our true, weak and impotent selves. The Lord Himself, like he did with the little babies, will quickly come to our defense and powerfully touch us.

“So I tell you, make friends for yourselves with your ill-gotten wealth, so that when it fails, they may take you into the eternal dwellings.” — Lk 16:9

This is one of the most strange sayings of Jesus, but I think the key to understanding it is in the parables before and after. In comparing this parable to the Parable of the Lost Son, there are five similarities:
1 Both the son and the steward were entrusted with money.
2 Both wasted the money. The Greek word for wasted in verses 15:13 and 16:1 is actually the same.
3 Both reached a financial crisis; they both lost all the money.
4 Both had internal conflicts and reached a clear decision, which they then carried out to the letter. Make sure to get this point; it’s very important.
5 Both were received into homes.

Now let’s compare these five points to the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Lk 16:19-31).
Rich? Absolutely. He was the ‘rich man.’
Wasted money? Yes, the rich man wasted his money on himself. He “dressed in purple and fine linen and lived sumptuously every day.”
Financial crisis? He died. The others’ money failed by famine and job loss, but the rich man just sailed right along and simply didn’t see the inevitability of what Jesus said: . . . when it (the money) fails, not IF, but WHEN. Money WILL fail. For the rich man it failed when he died.
Internal conflict which resulted in decision? No. The rich man blithely went to his grave, thinking that he could ignore Lazarus forever.
Welcomed into ‘eternal dwellings’ aka Abraham’s bosom? No. He simply did not use his money to make Lazarus his friend.
We all have ‘three Ts’: time, treasures and talents. And we all have a limited time to ‘waste’ them on others. Although it’s not perfectly clear; somehow, our spending of ourselves here, will have an effect on our welcome there.