Luke gives us so much go learn about Jesus, and the hits just keep on coming. This past Sunday we looked at ch. 7 where Jesus accepts the invitation from the enemy Roman soldier, to heal his servant. Jesus will love the enemy really, and heads for his house. Before he can get to the house, the soldier has begged Jesus to stay away because he is unworthy. He tells Jesus that all Jesus has to do is say the word, a lot like his own power to send orders, and he knows the servant will be healed. WOW, Jesus says, he has never seen so much faith in all of Israel.
Jesus lets us know two or three great things here. Faith is believing without seeing, and without even being present, which will be very important to those who live after the time of Jesus. We don't have to be in the very presence of Jesus to be healed, encouraged or blessed. Jesus just says the word. We are going to be touched by his words, even when we live years later. It's also very important to learn that our prayers travel a lot further than we think they do. Actually we can pray about people, situations, world issues and challenges, from a distance, and it's still a very powerful prayer. So the next time you hear about horrible events in the news, from somewhere very far away, lift that situation up in prayer, knowing that God can work there as well. We can make a difference, more than we thought.
Jesus then stops a funeral procession and raises the dead man, to give him back to his widowed mother. In the first century the care of the parents was in the hands of the children. This was her only son, she was going to be without support. So Jesus shows compassion and heals the son, so that he can go on taking care of his mother. I'm particularly touched by this story, as Elaine and I are in the process of helping her mother move from a group home in Florida, to a group home near us. Her dementia is getting worse. Caring for parents has become more and more a responsibility for us Baby Boomers than we at first realized. My parents didn't have to worry about my grandparents, so this is a new level of involvement and responsibility now. Seeing that Jesus get's involved and helps out is good news for us too.
John the Baptist gets back into the picture here. He is concerned from his prison cell, that Jesus isn't doing what he expected Jesus to be doing by now. To prepare the way for the Messiah, was like getting ready for a great war that would take away the enemies of Israel, expecting someone like David to be a great warrior and re-establish the nation of Israel. John the Baptist hasn't seen any of the sweeping away the enemy yet, and was wondering what was going on. So he sent some of his followers to go check this out. Jesus invites the followers to hang around for a bit, so they can see what Jesus is doing.
After a while, Jesus tells John's followers, "Go tell John, what you see and hear." take a look at what is really going on. The blind can see, the deaf can hear, the lame can walk, and good news is being proclaimed to all people. The real work of the Messiah this first time, is to work on the far more important mission of recovering the relationship to the Creator, not restoring the flag to the capitol, the real mission is to see the relationship is an eternal one, not for a brief reign of a king to the palace. Jesus asks us to look at what we are really accomplishing with our ministry. Are people really being transformed and connected to our God? It's not about buildings but about lives being brought closer to the Creator and what God hopes we will become.
So I pray that your reading the Gospel of Luke one chapter a week with us, will begin to help you discover what the essentials of our ministry is, "We are partners in the ministry of Jesus, to connect people to God, to one another, and to a broken and hurting world, so that future generations will praise the Lord." (from our Vision Statement.) May you see the part you can play in helping people get closer to God.
Later this week we will look at the diner party with Simon the Pharisee and the woman who was washing Jesus feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. Great stuff there too, about the great mercy and grace of God for us all.
May God bless your journey of faith and discovery.
Pastor Jeff
Monday, February 17, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Year with Luke Ch. 6
Hello Pilgrims of faith, those who travel the road toward God. Chapter 6 of Luke has a couple of words of encouragement for us on the pathway. Luke ch. 6 starts out with the disciples gathering wheat to chew on as they walk. The Old Testament was about sharing for the needs of those on the road, so it allowed for the taking of food, but only enough to consume then, not carry off for later. The disciples were allowed to do what they were doing. But for the Pharisees, who jumped all over them for doing this on a Sabbath day. But Jesus reminded them of when David needed food, he got the bread on the altar table for his friends. Knowing the Bible can be of big help when we get to a variety of situations that need resources for the deciding.
I'll continue to urge everyone to start or reconnect to a daily reading plan for Scripture. There are so many out there that can be very helpful. Type in Google search for a "one year Bible" and you will get pages of suggestions, you can pick your version of scripture, the kind of reading you want etc. In You Version app on my iPad, I've chosen to read a book at a time year Bible. So I read the whole book of the Bible a chapter at a time, with a Psalm of Proverb thrown in for variety and a prayer suggestion. I've just read through Genesis, Mark, and Exodus, and I'm now in the book of Acts. It's a good way to keep the story together in my mind and still know that I'll read the whole Bible through this year again.
Back to Luke ch. 6, Jesus finds a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on a Sabbath. The Pharisees circle around like vultures on a road side kill, waiting to see if Jesus will break the sacred Sabbath law. He challenges them to look at the poor man with a withered hand. "Is it right to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath?" "Should we ignore a person in pain, because it's the day of worship?" To not do good is like doing evil, don't you think? you could help but didn't, leaving the poor man in pain when you had the power to help. Jesus heals him.
Maybe we have withered parts of us that need God's touch and healing and going to worship should be the place were we can reconnect to God and be healed. God wants to heal us, rather than seeing us suffer still. Our withered part, could be an experience we carry around that should be forgiven, and yet it lingers on and poisons our future, because we can't forgive and let go. Maybe our withered part is unanswered prayers, we have begged God to do something for us or for a loved one and it hasn't happened yet. Maybe our withered part is a disappointment from an experience we had with others, or we didn't get the job we were hoping to get, or our children made choices we would not have wanted them to make. The loss can be overwhelming, the grief can be around for a long time. So we need to bring that to Jesus for healing. Sometimes the healing is in our attitude. The pain could be what shapes us into what God wants for us. Remembering that St. Paul prayed three times for the thorn in his flesh to go away and God answered no, because, Grace is better, and in your weakness, you depend on God's strength, which is so much better. Even if we don't think so at the moment. See another example of knowing the whole story, you can find help in any moment or any issue. (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)
On with the story, Jesus goes up to the mountain top to pray for his selection of disciples to become apostles. There are many disciples, students of Jesus and his teaching. Jesus is now ready to make some leaders and to be sent out when Jesus is finished with his earthly ministry. So he prays all night long and then chooses the twelve. We try to do the same thing in the life of our congregation and yours. Prayer is an absolutely essential component of who is selected to be a leader in the church. We ask God to be the one who can show us who that should be.
The helpful part of this moment is that Jesus chose Judas to be in that group. He chose one who he knew would betray him in the end. He demonstrated what he taught in the sermon he was about to give, to love your enemies, to turn the other cheek, to accept those who were not going to do you any favors. A lesson he was willing to share with us, in choosing Judas for his apostolic team. Prayer made it possible for him to get along with the betrayer. Prayer will help us to make it through difficult places too.
Come back later for the rest of the story. But hopefully as we read a chapter a week, we will discover we can get a lot of help for our pathway.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
I'll continue to urge everyone to start or reconnect to a daily reading plan for Scripture. There are so many out there that can be very helpful. Type in Google search for a "one year Bible" and you will get pages of suggestions, you can pick your version of scripture, the kind of reading you want etc. In You Version app on my iPad, I've chosen to read a book at a time year Bible. So I read the whole book of the Bible a chapter at a time, with a Psalm of Proverb thrown in for variety and a prayer suggestion. I've just read through Genesis, Mark, and Exodus, and I'm now in the book of Acts. It's a good way to keep the story together in my mind and still know that I'll read the whole Bible through this year again.
Back to Luke ch. 6, Jesus finds a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on a Sabbath. The Pharisees circle around like vultures on a road side kill, waiting to see if Jesus will break the sacred Sabbath law. He challenges them to look at the poor man with a withered hand. "Is it right to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath?" "Should we ignore a person in pain, because it's the day of worship?" To not do good is like doing evil, don't you think? you could help but didn't, leaving the poor man in pain when you had the power to help. Jesus heals him.
Maybe we have withered parts of us that need God's touch and healing and going to worship should be the place were we can reconnect to God and be healed. God wants to heal us, rather than seeing us suffer still. Our withered part, could be an experience we carry around that should be forgiven, and yet it lingers on and poisons our future, because we can't forgive and let go. Maybe our withered part is unanswered prayers, we have begged God to do something for us or for a loved one and it hasn't happened yet. Maybe our withered part is a disappointment from an experience we had with others, or we didn't get the job we were hoping to get, or our children made choices we would not have wanted them to make. The loss can be overwhelming, the grief can be around for a long time. So we need to bring that to Jesus for healing. Sometimes the healing is in our attitude. The pain could be what shapes us into what God wants for us. Remembering that St. Paul prayed three times for the thorn in his flesh to go away and God answered no, because, Grace is better, and in your weakness, you depend on God's strength, which is so much better. Even if we don't think so at the moment. See another example of knowing the whole story, you can find help in any moment or any issue. (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)
On with the story, Jesus goes up to the mountain top to pray for his selection of disciples to become apostles. There are many disciples, students of Jesus and his teaching. Jesus is now ready to make some leaders and to be sent out when Jesus is finished with his earthly ministry. So he prays all night long and then chooses the twelve. We try to do the same thing in the life of our congregation and yours. Prayer is an absolutely essential component of who is selected to be a leader in the church. We ask God to be the one who can show us who that should be.
The helpful part of this moment is that Jesus chose Judas to be in that group. He chose one who he knew would betray him in the end. He demonstrated what he taught in the sermon he was about to give, to love your enemies, to turn the other cheek, to accept those who were not going to do you any favors. A lesson he was willing to share with us, in choosing Judas for his apostolic team. Prayer made it possible for him to get along with the betrayer. Prayer will help us to make it through difficult places too.
Come back later for the rest of the story. But hopefully as we read a chapter a week, we will discover we can get a lot of help for our pathway.
Blessings
Pastor Jeff
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Year with Luke Ch. 5 part 2
There is a lot going on in each chapter of Luke and now that we are in the fifth chapter we have a couple of calling the disciples stories, and a couple of healing stories. There is also the conflict with the Pharisees, who thought they knew better than anyone how religious life should be. Let me give you an example.
Jesus healed a man of leprosy, which in the eyes of the Pharisees, was God's punishment for some sin and the person deserved it. So for Jesus to heal him seemed like interfering with the laws of God. Jesus even took a step further with his next miracle. When you were discovered with the skin disease, you had to leave your home, your family, your community and go live outside the village, sometimes in caves or little huts or with other leprosy sufferers. When you are healed, you are clean and allowed to move back home, to be with family, to be with friends, to participate in life. Jesus was giving the sick man his whole life back. A true reason to be grateful. When Jesus heals us our whole lives can be transformed, everything will be different.
Jesus was at home, teaching, when four friends brought their paralyzed buddy to be healed. Because the crowd was so large, and they couldn't get to the door, they decided to climb up on the roof, hoist their friend up there, rip a hole in the roof big enough to lower their friend down to place him right in front of Jesus. This is an incredible act of love and friendship and one we are invited to consider, when we know friends, family, loved ones, who need to be healed by Jesus. We can bring them and do whatever it takes to get them there.
Jesus is so special, he didn't blow a gasket because they were tearing a hole in his roof, he was impressed by their care for their friend. He announced that his sins were forgiven, so he would know he was completely healed. Now the Pharisees went crazy again and reminded everyone that only God could forgive sins. They weren't interested in the poor man being healed, but about their attitude about rules and laws of their faith. We can get that way sometimes about the things we think are so special. We are seeing a lot of that criticism played out on religious radio and others, dividing up sides about some feelings about some topic.
But Jesus says, to show you that he had the power to forgive sins, he forgave the man on the stretcher and invited him to pick up his mat and go home. He did. Jesus explained a little further in Luke's gospel in this chapter, that the well don't need a doctor, the sick do, and he had come to heal the sick. Perhaps we need to see in this story, that Jesus comes to help us, to heal, to forgive, to lift us up from our stretchers and limits, and walk home set free. Ask Jesus to heal you, to forgive you, and to set you free. He loves to do that.
We have a couple of lessons we can take away from this story. Friends who care for those who need help are very important at bringing friends to Jesus. So when ever you pray for a friend, co-worker, or member of your family, you are symbolically bringing them to Jesus. When you mention them in Joys and Concerns in worship or in small groups, you are bringing them to Jesus. Asking for prayer and our praying for them, is like helping to carry them together, so we can get them to Jesus.
So, think about friends who need to have a new life, a new perspective on faith and practice, who seem trapped and need forgiveness and healing, and pray for them. Share the story of what Jesus does because he has the power to forgive sins. His death on the cross was to make sure that happens for all of us. As he reminds us when we take part in Holy Communion, this is a New Covenant poured out in my blood for the forgiveness of sins. Drink this and remember these blessings.
Good news for your journey, blessings on you, I'll share more later
Pastor Jeff
Jesus healed a man of leprosy, which in the eyes of the Pharisees, was God's punishment for some sin and the person deserved it. So for Jesus to heal him seemed like interfering with the laws of God. Jesus even took a step further with his next miracle. When you were discovered with the skin disease, you had to leave your home, your family, your community and go live outside the village, sometimes in caves or little huts or with other leprosy sufferers. When you are healed, you are clean and allowed to move back home, to be with family, to be with friends, to participate in life. Jesus was giving the sick man his whole life back. A true reason to be grateful. When Jesus heals us our whole lives can be transformed, everything will be different.
Jesus was at home, teaching, when four friends brought their paralyzed buddy to be healed. Because the crowd was so large, and they couldn't get to the door, they decided to climb up on the roof, hoist their friend up there, rip a hole in the roof big enough to lower their friend down to place him right in front of Jesus. This is an incredible act of love and friendship and one we are invited to consider, when we know friends, family, loved ones, who need to be healed by Jesus. We can bring them and do whatever it takes to get them there.
Jesus is so special, he didn't blow a gasket because they were tearing a hole in his roof, he was impressed by their care for their friend. He announced that his sins were forgiven, so he would know he was completely healed. Now the Pharisees went crazy again and reminded everyone that only God could forgive sins. They weren't interested in the poor man being healed, but about their attitude about rules and laws of their faith. We can get that way sometimes about the things we think are so special. We are seeing a lot of that criticism played out on religious radio and others, dividing up sides about some feelings about some topic.
But Jesus says, to show you that he had the power to forgive sins, he forgave the man on the stretcher and invited him to pick up his mat and go home. He did. Jesus explained a little further in Luke's gospel in this chapter, that the well don't need a doctor, the sick do, and he had come to heal the sick. Perhaps we need to see in this story, that Jesus comes to help us, to heal, to forgive, to lift us up from our stretchers and limits, and walk home set free. Ask Jesus to heal you, to forgive you, and to set you free. He loves to do that.
We have a couple of lessons we can take away from this story. Friends who care for those who need help are very important at bringing friends to Jesus. So when ever you pray for a friend, co-worker, or member of your family, you are symbolically bringing them to Jesus. When you mention them in Joys and Concerns in worship or in small groups, you are bringing them to Jesus. Asking for prayer and our praying for them, is like helping to carry them together, so we can get them to Jesus.
So, think about friends who need to have a new life, a new perspective on faith and practice, who seem trapped and need forgiveness and healing, and pray for them. Share the story of what Jesus does because he has the power to forgive sins. His death on the cross was to make sure that happens for all of us. As he reminds us when we take part in Holy Communion, this is a New Covenant poured out in my blood for the forgiveness of sins. Drink this and remember these blessings.
Good news for your journey, blessings on you, I'll share more later
Pastor Jeff
Monday, February 3, 2014
Year with Luke ch. 5
Chapter five of Luke is an exciting reflection on the qualities of Jesus' ministry. There are a couple of healing stories, two calling disciples to follow, some confrontations with Pharisees and a miraculous catch of fish to help us to pay more attention to Jesus and to become more committed to following the Master.
Jesus approaches the fishermen who are cleaning their nets after not catching anything, he asks if he can use one of their boats for a pulpit to teach from for the crowds have come to the beach. He teaches the crowd for a while, then he asks Simon to go out into the deep for a catch. I love the irony here, the professional carpenter, is telling the professional fishermen, where the catch is going to be. And besides that, the fishing is usually better closer to shore, their weighted nets can settle to the bottom and trap the fish between the bottom and the net that descends upon them, then they pull the ends of the net together into a bag, and bring the net up to the boat.
Going out into the deep defeats some of the purpose of shallow fishing nets. But here is the way we might gain some spiritual insights, Jesus asks us to follow him, and not just follow him, like yeah, You are my guy, but follow his instructions, including how to do you job, and do your life. And there are going to be times when this does not make much sense. We often have come to our ideas by hard work or experiences, or by common sense. Then being told something else, just unnerves us. But Jesus asks Simon to go out deeper. Like we do, Simon, complained first, explained why this wouldn't work, but then goes ahead. They get a huge catch of fish. So full, that it's tearing their nets. So full that it requires more help, from the other boat. So full, that it begins to weigh the boat down.
Another little message from God, being obedient and faithful to the instructions, will yield a miracle, not as we expect, but God sent. Their boats were on the verge of sinking because the catch was so plentiful. Maybe we can learn from this, and be more willing to be obedient and faithful to what God asks of us. Maybe we need to be more willing to trust that God sees and understands parts of life we don't. Maybe we can learn that trusting God's leadership is really worth the effort and the commitment, and like in this case, leaving behind the familiar in order to really follow Jesus.
I hope you are reading the whole chapter with me. Jesus invites Simon and Andrew, James and John to leave everything and follow him. They are going to become fishers of men and women. Bringing people into the network of God.
We sometimes ask Jesus to come into our lives, but it's for our benefit. We want to have the rescue available should we need him in times of trouble. But he asks us to follow him. He asks us to do all things his way. He asks us to leave behind our ways for his ways. We are going to need to make a decision, to accept his call for following him, and let his directions and his desires and his expectations become the primary source of life. Sometimes we stay in our current lives and responsibilities but we gain a new perspective of following Jesus.
This could mean we treat others, not as we are used to treating them, based on what we get out of the relationship, but as Jesus would relate to them. We treat our boss as Jesus would show respect. We treat our families as gifts from God and do the right thing for them. It is something to think about. And we won't know what that all will look like, unless we read the rest of the story. Join me as we read Ch. 6 leading up to the sixth Sunday of the year. I'll write more about ch. 5 in a day or two.
Blessings on you all in your spiritual journey, come and follow Jesus.
Pastor Jeff
Jesus approaches the fishermen who are cleaning their nets after not catching anything, he asks if he can use one of their boats for a pulpit to teach from for the crowds have come to the beach. He teaches the crowd for a while, then he asks Simon to go out into the deep for a catch. I love the irony here, the professional carpenter, is telling the professional fishermen, where the catch is going to be. And besides that, the fishing is usually better closer to shore, their weighted nets can settle to the bottom and trap the fish between the bottom and the net that descends upon them, then they pull the ends of the net together into a bag, and bring the net up to the boat.
Going out into the deep defeats some of the purpose of shallow fishing nets. But here is the way we might gain some spiritual insights, Jesus asks us to follow him, and not just follow him, like yeah, You are my guy, but follow his instructions, including how to do you job, and do your life. And there are going to be times when this does not make much sense. We often have come to our ideas by hard work or experiences, or by common sense. Then being told something else, just unnerves us. But Jesus asks Simon to go out deeper. Like we do, Simon, complained first, explained why this wouldn't work, but then goes ahead. They get a huge catch of fish. So full, that it's tearing their nets. So full that it requires more help, from the other boat. So full, that it begins to weigh the boat down.
Another little message from God, being obedient and faithful to the instructions, will yield a miracle, not as we expect, but God sent. Their boats were on the verge of sinking because the catch was so plentiful. Maybe we can learn from this, and be more willing to be obedient and faithful to what God asks of us. Maybe we need to be more willing to trust that God sees and understands parts of life we don't. Maybe we can learn that trusting God's leadership is really worth the effort and the commitment, and like in this case, leaving behind the familiar in order to really follow Jesus.
I hope you are reading the whole chapter with me. Jesus invites Simon and Andrew, James and John to leave everything and follow him. They are going to become fishers of men and women. Bringing people into the network of God.
We sometimes ask Jesus to come into our lives, but it's for our benefit. We want to have the rescue available should we need him in times of trouble. But he asks us to follow him. He asks us to do all things his way. He asks us to leave behind our ways for his ways. We are going to need to make a decision, to accept his call for following him, and let his directions and his desires and his expectations become the primary source of life. Sometimes we stay in our current lives and responsibilities but we gain a new perspective of following Jesus.
This could mean we treat others, not as we are used to treating them, based on what we get out of the relationship, but as Jesus would relate to them. We treat our boss as Jesus would show respect. We treat our families as gifts from God and do the right thing for them. It is something to think about. And we won't know what that all will look like, unless we read the rest of the story. Join me as we read Ch. 6 leading up to the sixth Sunday of the year. I'll write more about ch. 5 in a day or two.
Blessings on you all in your spiritual journey, come and follow Jesus.
Pastor Jeff
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