Category: Lectionary Ramblings

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2014 Lectionary Ramblings Lectionary Ramblings

July 19th 2014: Luke 19:11-27

Read Luke 19:11-27 here

The Parable of the Talents is today’s reading, yet another “hard saying” of Jesus. He is, as usual, uncompromising in His denunciation of those who do not build on the gifts and responsibilities they have been given. I can imagine this parable being told theatrically and with much gesticulating as the point is rammed home. The investment that God has placed within each one of us is expected to grow, flourish and bear fruit. Fortunately, we are not alone in seeking to do this. We have God, for us, with us, within us, and we have one another, the Church to journey with. This is why it is so important that we do not isolate ourselves, particularly over issues like doctrine and ethics/morals. We have a hope, we have joy and peace to enjoy and to share, but we also have a responsibility not to rest on our laurels and let the deposit of the Spirit go to waste. We cannot earn our salvation. Only God can give. Only God can ever take away. We can, though, waste the opportunity of a lifetime. We are to love God with everything we have, love our neighbours and love ourselves. Without love it is impossible to please God, and so, out of the love that God has lavished on us and continues to lavish upon us, so let us be people who lead people to Jesus. We might be able to lead with words, or songs, but it’s much more likely that people will be led to Jesus be who we are and how we live.

What talents has God given to you? How can you use them to show people that He loves them today?

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July 18th 2014: Luke 19:1-10

Read Luke 19:1-10 here

Zacchaeus, so the song goes, was a very little man. What he lacked in stature he appears to have made up for in cunning, taking from the poor, storing up treasure for himself and caring not a jot for anyone else. Yet he was drawn to climb a tree to see Jesus. But even Zacchaeus was shocked when Jesus invited Himself around for the evening. It seems to be the one thing that Jesus needed to say to get His attention. Cutting right through to his heart, and to the heart of the matter. Instantaneously, it seems, Zacchaeus is transformed, a changed man, seeking to make amends with all he has wronged, and throwing in his lot with Jesus. Even as this life-changeing, town-changing event was taking place, and Zacchaeus was doing himself out of a nice little earner, many were grumbling, criticising Jesus for consorting with sinners, even tax collectors.

It’s easy for us to try and keep ourselves, or the Church, pure. We try to stay away from things that will damage us. We sing the right songs, read the right books, eat the right food and so on and so on. We can be prone to criticising others who do not approach God, life, faith, moral and ethical issues in the way that we do.We can walk under a cloud of righteous indignation, thinking that we are making all right around us, when actually we are the ones who suffer when we live in such a pompous and arrogant fashion. Jesus cuts through all social convention in declaring that salvation has come to the house of Zacchaeus, but he does not care. He does not care about anything apart from that another one has been added to the Kingdom. Oh that we would commit ourselves to the discipline of living with this attitude.

What’s the one thing Jesus could be saying to you today, trying to get your attention? Can you remember the first time it happened? Are you willing to open up your life and let the light shine in, so that the light of God might shine out today?

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July 17th 2014: Luke 18:31-43

Read Luke 18:31-43 here

As Jesus predicts His death for a third time (31-33) we see clearly His mastery of the situation that He was in the process of willingly submitting Himself to as He set His face towards Jerusalem. Perhaps He didn’t know what it would sound or feel like, perhaps He did, but He knew very well that He was willingly striding towards His destiny and purpose, His willing sacrifice of Himself for all mankind. It seems obvious that doubts and sufferings travelled with Him as we see later in the narrative of the Passion but, for now, Jesus seems secure and focused in His mission. As opposed to a couple of days ago, Luke is explicit that the meaning of Jesus’ words was hidden from the Disciples. It must have been quite a thought to realise what He had explained about Himself in hindsight in the months and years to come!

Verses 35-43 are dominated by the story of the blind man on the road to Jericho who recognised the Son of David, who in having mercy on him could give him what he most needed. For me, the key point to the whole exchange is not that Jesus was able to restore the man’s sight – this should come as no surprise to anyone who has been reading the gospel accounts – nor is it that the man, upon receiving his healing glorifies and praises God – this is the purpose of Jesus’s healings, to reveal God and something of His kingdom and to bring people in to relationship with Him. No, it all rests on the simple question “what do you want me to do for you?” It’s easy for us to see people in need or suffering and “divine” what we think they want or need, assuming that what is presented obviously to us is the deepest issue. I believe that Jesus saw that the barrier between this man and relationship with God was the lack of his sight, but that it was important that the blind beggar himself articulated it. What if he had said something else, such as “help me to love my neighbour more” or “help me to bring resolution in my family life”? I believe Jesus would do that too. The compassion of Jesus leads Him not to force Himself upon us, but to let us come to Him and ask for what we desire. I believe He gives us the things we need that keep us moving forward on the journey of faith, whether they be big or small. So it is not just about healing, or lengthening limbs, or gold teeth, it is about being drawn ever deeper in to the wonder of relationship with God.

What do you want Jesus to do for you today?

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July 16th 2014: Luke 18:15-30

Read Luke 18:15-30 here

“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” says Jesus. Does this mean leaving our brains at the door or coming unthinkingly to Jesus? I don’t think so at all. A lot of the children and young people I know are highly discerning about the people they “let in” or trust. They are not indiscriminate and without sophistication. Rather it is what flows out of their hard-won trust; loyalty, obedience when necessary, willingness to learn, to be stretched and challenged, which marks a child-like faith. Are we willing to be obedient, to learn, to be stretched and challenged, or do we want to argue every point of our lives, circumstances and theology tooth and nail with Jesus until we are satisfied He has met our conditions of acceptance? We should remember we have already met His, as He welcomed us as adoptees in to His family.

What we have received, however much or however little it may have been, will pale in to the insignificance of a speck of dust compared to the inheritance we are promised in the age to come. Hold on to that, whether you love your stuff and your wealth, or you struggle to put food on the table every single day. the life, the world, the circumstances we have now, will surely all be changed at the coming of the next age. All of us will be and have the same, we’ll have God, who is love, physically in our midst as we are physically in His. Unimaginable joy. Let it be something of a fuel for us to get through the coming day.

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July 15th 2014: Luke 18:1-14

Read Luke 18:1-14 here

There are two parables today. I have to admit that I have never really understood the Parable of the Persistent Widow, so if anyone can enlighten me I’d be glad of the help! I think it is instructive that Luke feels the need to explain the parable in verse 1, as being to ensure that the disciples pray continually and don’t give up. It is quite rare for the parables to be explained, either by Jesus or the gospel writers. This must have been a particularly hard message! God’s justice will be brought to bear through persistent trust and prayer, trust and obedience, perhaps. It is for us to learn as we live what God’s justice looks like in each situation in which we find ourselves.

The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector which closes out today’s reading would be easy to gloss over as being far more simplistic and straightforward. The Pharisee is caught being proud of himself and his righteousness under the law, whereas the Tax Collector understands what it is to desperately require the grace of God. That is an important message in itself. We need to remain aware that we are who we are because God has called us and loved us. That might well be enough but I think something else has jumped out at me on this reading: that is that it is easy for us to think that we are living with God as the Tax Collector does: full of actual humility, contrition and thankfulness, but actually living more like the Pharisee, comparing and contrasting ourselves with others, scoring our righteousness higher than that of others. Sure, we might be doing all the right things, but what does our heart look like? As Bill Hybels asked once, who are when no-one’s looking? I can be both arrogant and conceited on the one hand and downtrodden and “woe is me” on the other, however I might come across in public. I think we are called to be the same person behind closed doors and from atop whatever platform we are given. Again, this is a hard thing to do, but God’s challenge to us today is to flee from arrogant righteousness and fling ourselves afresh upon His mercy.

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July 14th 2014: Luke 17:20-end

Read Luke 17:20-end here

Continuing our ramble through Luke 17, we begin the working week with a look at the coming of the Kingdom of God. “The Kingdom of God is in your midst!” says Jesus in verse 21. Is he referring to Himself as the embodiment of the Kingdom? Perhaps, as He spoke He was right in front of them. So too, the Kingdom of God is in our midst today as Jesus lives within and amongst us by the Holy Spirit. It is not enough for us to spend our lives seeking “signs of the kingdom”, as tantalising and sometimes helpful as those might be. Jesus, in whom all the fullness of God was and is, has inaugurated the Kingdom through His victorious life, death, resurrection and ascension. The Kingdom of God is not (just) miracles, signs and wonders, captives set free, caring for the poor, it is Jesus, Himself, who through the kind of love and mercy I will never understand calls us to draw near this morning and every day. We are to keep looking to Him, not being distracted by the shiny “new” appearances of the Kingdom over here and over there. Love and relationship between God, us and one another is the ultimate goal and outworking of the Kingdom, so that God is glorified and given His rightful due in worship.

33-36 is another fairly well-known passage. Again, as in other parts of Luke, it seems to me that Jesus is fairly cantankerous here. I often wonder what kind of tone of voice these words were delivered in. “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it”. What? What are we to hold on to? All this metaphor and hyperbole hurts my brain on a Monday morning (sorry Lord). I think though, that it might be a continuation of a verse we looked at last week, Luke 16:13, where Jesus tells His hearers that we cannot have two masters. So too, here I think, Jesus is uncompromising in His rhetoric and call. Do we love our life and our stuff more than we love God? Do we love ourself more than we were meant to? Conversely, do we love ourselves too little to see the true value we have in the eyes of God and to trust Him to bring through His desire and plan for us? Much easier in words than in practice, let’s try and trust God more today than we did yesterday and be thankful for the life, love and hope of Jesus.

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July 13th 2014: Acts 28:17-31

Read Acts 28:17-31 here

“Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”

The Good News of the Gospel is for everyone. The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, the Scriptures tell us, but nevertheless, the victory of Jesus on the Cross, and in the resurrection and the ascension is sufficient, once and for all, to open the offer of life, hope, peace, freedom and a future to all, wherever they come from. Paul preached under guard in Rome after having been arrested, trying to make it clear that there is no limitation on who can hear and respond to the message of the love of God. So it is for us. It is not for us to choose who is allowed in, or to be kept out of Church. God has opened the way for all through Jesus Christ, lavishing the full abundance of His love on the whole world. Let us live in such a way as to make sure that we ourselves put up no barriers between God and man that have already been torn down. Let’s be people of love and peace.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

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July 12th 2014: Luke 17:11-19

Read Luke 17:11-19 here

Today’s lectionary reading from the Gospel of Luke is the well-known healing of the ten lepers. “Jesus, Master, have pity on us” say the ten lepers in verse 13, as Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. In this they are acknowledging Jesus’ authority. Were they asking for healing? Attention? Cleansing? Cure? Jesus sends them, quite rightly according to Mosaic law, to show themselves to the Priest, and they are cleaned. But was the purpose of the cleansing mere cleansing? It seems perhaps not. When the one returns, a Samaritan, foreigner, enemy of Israel “loudly giving thanks to God” it is this, and the lack of thanks to God from others, that Jesus remarks upon. We can almost here his shoulders being shrugged as he notes that none of the lepers who may have been Jewish have acknowledged God’s part in their cure. As they are restored to the potential of inclusion in community and life itself, it seems that Jesus intervenes in compassion, but also to draw those who have been cured into a living relationship with God.

A pause for thought: Are we seeking an intervention or an interaction with God just to get past a problem or issue, or are we seeking an ongoing living relationship with God? Are we seeking just to be made how we want to be, using the power of God for our own ends, or are we willing to worship God primarily with our lives?

Jesus can heal or cure anyone who asks if it is the right moment for their healing. Ultimate healing is salvation. We all have weaknesses and sicknesses, most of which we would like to see removed. However this is not all of life, or the whole point of meeting with Jesus. The good that can result from meeting with Jesus is to come into the relationship with God that we were made for.

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July 11th 2014: Luke 17:1-10

Read Luke 17:1-10 here

Today’s reading is yet another stark message from Jesus. Woe to us if we cause another to stumble. We’re also called to rebuke those who sin against us, but to forgive if those who sin against us turn from what they have previously done which has caused us or the community to stumble. Some of us in Churches are a little too good at rebuking. Others of us are a little too good at appearing to repent, and then proving that our repentance isn’t true repentance, because we continue to live/do/say just what we did before.  We’re called to be a forgiving people, including (especially) being forgiving of ourselves. At the same time, it is our responsibility to seek to do all we can to avoid causing another to stumble. Ultimately forgiveness is God’s and we are to seek His help in living a grace-filled life. We’re not to become puffed up or conceited in our righteousness, our forgivingness or the amount of work we do for the Kingdom. We’re not special because we work for the Kingdom, we’re special because we are called, and known by name from before the foundation of the world, by God. Let us not become puffed up in the success of our Christian life, or despondent about our failures. Let us instead be balanced, and continually thankful in the perspective that the glory is not ours, but God’s.

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2014 Lectionary Ramblings Lectionary Ramblings

July 10th 2014: Luke 16:19-end

You can read Luke 16:19-end here

After yesterday’s look at the Parable of the Shrewd Manager, today we find ourselves with the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. I remember that one of the first sermons I ever preached was on this passage, regarding Heaven and Hell, and it was the first time I came across Surprised by Hope, Tom Wright’s brilliant discussion of the subject. Quite a deep subject to get your preaching start with! There are several things that interest me about this passage. One is that the “destinations” of the Rich Man and Lazarus are denoted as entirely natural. It should not be a surprise that the poor man is at Abraham’s side, and the Rich Man is in torment in Hades. Perhaps a nod to some of the quandary I found myself in yesterday?! Abraham’s comments in verse 25 and 26, explaining the reason for the Rich Man’s repose and suffering in Hades are similarly natural-seeming. This man has given no regard to God during his earthly life and received all his treasure in full. Added to which the gap between Heaven and Hades cannot be covered by any man (except, Jesus, remember it is Jesus telling this story).

The desperation of verse 27, as the Rich Man pleads that his family might be allowed to hear is chilling, as is the answer he receives: they should have all the information they need make the right choice. And then the crux of the whole passage comes…

“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

In the light of what happens at the end of the Gospel account of the life of Jesus, we might be tempted to nod sagely at this point. However I think it’s all too easy for us to take the prophetic voices (whether they be biblical or contemporary) we hear pointing us to make the most of the opportunity for life, hope and peace with God now for granted. I know for myself I have the tendency to seek improvement and influence, happiness and well-being in the here and now, rather than listening to Jesus’ exhortation to live not only for now but with a mind on the things of heaven and the Kingdom. Are we willing to change our priorities so our lives are lived, and appear to be, lives which prioritise the things of God? Will we seek the well-being of others over our own? Will we consider how we use our money, our time, our talents, in a way which speaks loudly the truth in love, to those around us who need to hear it?

Whether Heaven and Hell are as they are described here is not, I believe, the point Jesus is trying to make. In the prophets, in Moses, and ultimately in the life and story of Jesus Himself, we as the Church have the life and hope we need to show those we love the best way to live, now and for eternity. What a challenge that is. What a privilege.