Tag Archives: Luke 18

Who am I fooling?!

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I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me: let us exalt his name together.

(Ps 34.1-3)

Jesus told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: ’Oh God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, crooks, adulterers, or heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.’

Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, ‘God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.’” Jesus commented, “This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face, but if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”

(Lk 18.9-14, the Message)

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift…. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.

(Rom 3.22,23,24&27)

Everything that we have – right living and right thinking, a clean slate and a fresh start – comes from God by way of Jesus Christ, that’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

(1 Cor 1.31, the Message)

Truly, God’s word penetrates deeply and illumines the realities of our private thoughts, cherished pet sins, and ungodly desires. We can be putting on a great act for those around us, but God is never fooled by that, and some of Jesus’ strongest words of condemnation were for the hypocrites, whose religiosity masked hearts of stone, adamantly resistant to his message of the kingdom of God.

I was brought up short recently during preparation for our study in Romans, by that simple assertion that boasting – in race, in covenant promises, in possession of the Law – all so dear to the Jewish people – is totally excluded by the reality of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. I am not a Jew, but a Christian, who has known so many blessings and privileges through her life, protected from so many of life’s trials. On one level, I know that I have nothing to boast about – as a sinner I am utterly dependent on grace.. but I know my heart and my fears and insecurities, and I know the conversations that happen in my head. I know that inner voice of self-congratulation and the subtle judging of other people which goes on, it sounds very like the pharisee in Jesus’ story.

Am I the only person who goes into a social gathering protecting herself from hurt and rejection by an inner assertion of her own moral worth and innate value? How easy it is to make assumptions about those around us, and silently, with quiet inner relief, to add up the sums and decide we’re ok, because of something, anything in others that doesn’t quite meet our approval – morals, habits, characteristics. How deadly is this temptation to continually compare myself against others in a critical way, looking for things that will enable me to feel a bit better about myself! Human pride is so devious, continually changing ground and colour, hiding in plain sight because we simply don’t recognise its latest disguise! It is my pride which drives me down this horrible, mean path of inner judgement and self-elevation; it is pride which wants to think well of myself and which writhes under the weight of gospel truth – that truth which demonstrates that I have simply no reason whatsoever to be pleased with who I am… who I am apart from Christ that is!

I want to learn to live differently, now that I have been shown this fact about myself and see it for what it is – sin. I want to be changed by the inner working of Jesus’ Spirit, to abhor such behaviour, and instead to embrace his love for my fellow sinners. And I think one of the most powerful means to changing is to embrace the things I can boast about more effectively! I can and must exalt my Saviour, praising the love with which He loved and loves us, praising his saving power and complete work on our behalf; praising his perfections which are ours by faith in him. He is altogether worthy of praise and adoration, and absolutely worth boasting about! Not in some possessive way, but in the best kind of boasting – we have this gift, this good news which is for everyone who will believe, and so we shout about it in order to invite those who do not yet know him to come and find out.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your mercy in showing me the truth about the way pride still pollutes my behaviour and my thinking.

Thank you for the forgiveness which Jesus has won for this sin, and for the power of your Spirit within to transform and purify me, so that I become victorious over it.

Go on driving out false human pride, out of every place that it hides, and fill me instead with that humble thankfulness which sees my need, and then rejoices in my Saviour’s complete provision. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Doing God’s will..

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“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work…”

(Jn 4.34)

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.”

(Jn 12.23-26)

Jesus took the twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.

(Lk 18.31)

Therefore my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

(1Cor 15.58)

Then they asked [Jesus], “What must we do to do the works that God requires? Jesus answered, “The work of God is this; to believe in the one he has sent.”

(Jn 6.28-29)

All four gospel narratives clearly reveal a man on a mission: Jesus knew from his early years that he had a particular task to fulfill, and when he finally embarked upon his earthly ministry, he spoke again and again of his ‘work’. We see that this work was to announce the kingdom of God, and ultimately to suffer, die and rise again in order to inaugurate that kingdom and defeat the evil power which until then had held all humankind in bondage.

Within this context however, we also see a man whose days appear to drift by with little structure, and who was continually responding to ‘interruptions’ and unforseen circumstances. How do we reconcile this with the idea of doing God’s work? Perhaps the answer lies in a different understanding of what it is to live for God in this world? Jesus knew exactly who he was, and why he was here. Jesus identity was secure and his purpose inflexible, and he knew that God would fulfill that purpose in his (God’s) good time. Within that overarching direction however, there was a sense of freedom and an expectation that each day would bring exactly what God planned across Jesus’ path. What looked to his disciples like unfortunate distractions and delays were met in Jesus with a peaceful, focussed attention – he believed that God was working in all the circumstances, and was ready to be used in any way that his Father ordained.

Is this not a liberating principle that we can also apply to our lives? As followers of Jesus, the Way, we look to his example and direction for our lives. We see that God has an overarching purpose for us – to believe in the one whom God has sent, that is, Jesus – and we trust that his power within is sufficient to enable us to do that until we are taken home and made new. Within that purpose, each of us has different callings at different seasons of life – a job, a family, a hobby which uses God’s gifting to us and celebrates his goodness – and in each of these, we must believe in Jesus. That is, we must live in those situations and activities as redeemed sinners, with an overflowing abundance of love to share in God’s name for people who need to hear it. ‘Belief’ which does not affect how we live is not belief, it is only a theory or casual notion which we can ignore when it suits us. If we claim to believe in the one whom God sent, and yet will not bear witness by our words and deeds, by the way we use our resources, and the choices we make, then we do not believe in the way Christ calls us to.

I am excited to think that my life as a believer is not a matter of rigid scheduling of ‘religious’ activities, but is a pattern woven by my Father according to his purposes, where he asks for my yielding, my desire to be attuned to his promptings, my availability to be ‘interrupted’ and to recognise in the smallest event some sign that God is at work and asking me to share it.

Heavenly Father, thank you that while you ask me to be prudent and to steward the hours and days, the strength and resources you give me, yet you also call me to hold all my schemes and plans lightly, recognising your authority over my life, and your place as the great weaver by whose skill your kingdom is being built and all things are working together for your plans. Today I release my life afresh into your keeping and for your directing. Let me meet what you send with the strength you will supply, and with glad confidence that you are working through all that comes. In the name of Jesus, who showed me what this looks like, Amen.

What on earth is going on?

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Jesus took the twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be turned over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”  The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

(Luke 18.31-34)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me?…All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:..I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me….They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing….

(Psalm 22. 1, 7, 1, 14 &18)

Bewildered, but loyal; unable to see what was in store beyond the certainty of trouble for the man whom they loved and had followed for years, yet willing to go with him for a little longer. Do you ever wonder how the disciples made sense of the last weeks of Jesus’ life, what did they tell themselves was happening? The methodical author of Luke’s gospel leaves us in no doubt, and presumably he has it on good authority from one who heard the disciples themselves tell the story… They had no idea what Jesus was up to, it simply made no sense to them at the time! I doubt whether we would have done any better in their place given our limited understanding of God, and poor grasp of his big plan for the world.

The disciples had all the clues – as Jesus reminds them when he points out that all which is to come had been foretold – and yet they remained so wedded to the popular Jewish idea of a military and political deliverer as their Messiah, that it all passed them by. How patient Jesus continued to be with his foolish followers, and how lonely it must have been..When we face great trials, are we not much comforted by sharing our apprehension with trusted friends and praying with them? There was no one who understood, no one except his Father. As it says elsewhere in Psalm 22..”Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no-one to help.”

 For love of his friends, for love of all those who would one day follow their journey into faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, for love of me, he chose to walk that lonely road. Each day brought the final trial closer, more clearly into focus. Each step of the journey that was gradually drawing him closer and closer to Jerusalem was a triumph of his will to obey his Father, and a demonstration of the power which is available to us now, his followers, as we live in him.

Even in their confusion and ignorance, Jesus’ disciples were still so dear to him, so precious, and he knew that their participation in the events which were to unfold was crucial. These men would be the witnesses, the recorders and preachers of all that they had seen, and in time would found the church, that body of redeemed humanity which is Christ’s beloved and for whom he died. He was full of compassion for their weaknesses, and bore with their foolish, misguided ambitions, and above all, he loved them well enough to complete his work. His presence alone would never have been enough to atone for their sins, or ours; we needed his death – what a humbling thought. His teaching alone cannot change our hearts or avert the right anger of a holy God against rebellious people. We needed his death, and he knew and determined to love us to that uttermost extent.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who from the beginning of the world had purposed to pursue his fallen children and to restore them, spotless and pure, to fellowship with him.

Praise be to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who submitted himself entirely to the planned work of redemption, for love of his people, and held nothing back in meeting our utmost needs. 

May we be found fully submitted to Christ, to his transforming power in our lives; so moved by and indebted to his love for us that we hold nothing back in our turn, as we seek to live for and glorify him.

God of the impossible….

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“How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

Peter said to him, we have left all we had to follow you!”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no-one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and in the age to come, eternal life.”

(Luke 18. 24-30)

Many of us are familiar with the sad story of the rich young man who came to Jesus seeking assurance of eternal life, and who went away downcast, because Jesus challenged the stranglehold which his wealth had on his heart – he could not let it go, it had become his god. That is the point of the hilarious picture of a camel squeezing through the eye of a needle – it is simply impossible, laughable and to be dismisssed. In human terms that is… and that is the point which Jesus made to those who questioned how anyone could be sure of salvation if even a rich and law-abiding person could not. With God in the picture, everything changes!

It is God who can do the impossible. By his power at work in hearts and minds, he transforms people so that they recognise the idols which are dominating their lives, and brings them to a point where they can surrender everything to God as rightful king and lord. The proper names for these things are repentance and faith, and they are not once-in-a-lifetime experiences either. It is true that for many people there will be a particular occasion when they know that a decision has been made, to follow Jesus, to accept forgiveness for past sins, and to trust him for the future. But it is also true that as disciples, we spend the rest of our lives working out in each new situation, what we need to repent of and what it means to exercise faith in God as our trustworthy heavenly Father!

I think that I have a bad habit of forgetting what Jesus says in the passage I quoted above – that it is God whose ability and strength is the issue, not mine! How often do I look at a situation and feel overwhelmed, unable to cope with what is being asked of me?! If God is sending me along a particular path, then He is also providing the resources which I will need as I go – and I need to trust Him to be faithful, and to recognise the things which are holding me back.

The disciples pointed out to Jesus how much they had given up to follow him – and his response is a staggering promise, which holds good for all disciples, that no one will be the loser as a result of their obedience to God’s call on their lives! Do I believe him? When I am faced with the loss of something – or someone – precious to me, do I trust God to provide for the gap which will be left in my life?

How often do we ask God to show us in advance how he will replace what is lost, repay what we feel we are sacrificing?! That is not to trust him, that is not faith in the promise, and I need to guard against such an attitude when I am facing up to the prospect of obedience resulting in loss.

I know that God gives good gifts to his children, but also that everything I am and have is a gift from his hand – not deserved but freely given. I hold all things on an open hand, not in a closed fist, and must learn to say with Job -“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1.21)

My God is Lord of the impossible, and in any time of sacrificial obedience, I can and must trust him to do just that, to turn what seems an impossible sacrifice into one which I make gladly for his sake, and one which he will more than abundantly make up for, in the ways which he knows are best for me! Blessed be the name of the Lord!