Wear Him out!

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" My wife and I have a 4 and a 6 year old. We love them with all our hearts, but sometimes they just wear us out! They have so many questions, so many needs, so many wants. It can be overwhelming on some days. I thought of my innocent children and their incessant banter as I read today's devotion.

Luke 18:1-8 is the parable of the Persistent Widow. She keeps bothering the judge in order to get justice. He actually fears that she will wear him out, and so gives in to her request!

Jesus seems to be saying, "talk to God so much, that you think you'll wear Him out." You can't wear God out, by the way. Talk to Him with childlike abandon. Tell him about the details of your day. Ask Him to meet your needs and your wants. According to verse 8, our pleas demonstrate our faith. Makes sense. My child keeps coming to me because I meet his needs. God wants to do the same for us. Wear Him out!

What's your "measure?"

Luke 6: 38 is a beautiful illustration of God's willingness to give to His children. But you may miss the nuances if you're not familiar with open market commerce.

The majority of the world does not buy their groceries from Grocery stores, but rather open, outdoor markets where people bring their goods to a central gathering place to buy, sell, barter, and trade.

One merchant may be selling out of a large 100# bag of flour; another out of a bag of sugar; ;yet another out of rice. The seller uses a measuring containter (many times an old metal can or jar) to maintain consistency of the amount sold. The measure could be as small as a little mushroom can or as large as a gallon fruit can.

This measure used to sell goods in the marketplace is what Jesus is speaking of here in Luke 6. Your choice of measure to give to others will be taken and used to measure back to you God's gifts.

A "good measure" would imply using a large container rather than a small one. "Pressing" that measure down would imply maxing out the amount of space available. This is common when selling sugar. "Shaken together" would also be a way of using all the area in the container. Shaking rice down would allow more to be put in the can. "Running over" happens when the merchant continues to pour the goods on again and again until the product actually forms a peak and the container cannot hold one more speck. "Poured into your lap" actually happens when a woman is wearing an apron and uses it as her bag.

Perspective

Luke records the Sermon on the Mount quite differently than Matthew did. Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-26 both contain the words of Jesus from the same message, but note these differences.

Luke - "Blessed are the poor"
Matthew - "Blessed are the poor in spirit"

Luke - "Blessed are you who hunger now"
Matthew - "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness"

Luke - "Blessed are you who weep now"
Matthew - "Blessed are those who mourn"

On the flip side...

Luke - "But woe to you who are rich"
Matthew - N/A

Luke - "But woe to you who are well fed now"
Matthew - N/A

Luke - "But woe to you who laugh now"
Matthew - N/A

Did Matthew just spiritualize Jesus' words? Or did Luke elaborate with the "woes" on what Jesus really meant?

Can we say that in church!?

Luke 5:33-39 includes the parable about new and old wineskins. Now, I've read this illustration many times before. I have always thought 'Yes, it's difficult to put new ideas into old structures. I get it.' But this time in reading it, what caught me is the fact that Jesus used alcohol as an illustration.

Jesus had the habit of tying in modern day activities (farming, fishing, buidling) and objects (seeds, lamps, money) when teaching. Wine was the common drink of the day and so fair game for Jesus to use in an illustration.

Today, Christians may have the habit of drinking, smoking, or gambling. I'm not encouraging the practice of any of them, but are they fair game for use as illustrations in our churches today?

Modern Day Leprosy

I've not written here for quite awhile! I'm now in Luke chapter 5. Wow. Sorry about the gap.

Luke 5:12-16 is the story of Jesus cleaning the man with leprosy. Lepers in Jesus day were considered the outcasts, the untouchables. People went out of their way to avoid them. Lepers were rejected and shunned by society.

Jesus treated the leper in this story with love, compassion, and acceptance.

Who are the lepers today? Who do we avoid? Who do we consider as outcasts in our day?

As Christians, we ought to reach out to these modern day "lepers" with love and acceptance. They value to God as much as you and me.

Matt Parkman Moment

We recently wrapped up a series at KCC based on the hit TV show Heroes.

In my daily Bible reading I am reading the story of Jesus healing the paralytic from Mark 2:1-12. After the paralytic's friends literally tear the roof off of the house where Jesus is teaching, He does something astounding. He reads the teachers of the law's thoughts! I immediately had a Matt Parkman moment! For those of you who may not follow the show, Matt Parkman is the character who has the heroic gift of reading other people's thoughts.

I guess I shouldn't act so surprised, I mean after all, we are teaching our children in our childrens program, Caraway Street, that God is omniscient. So logically, Jesus knowing all, would be able to hear someone's thoughts. Yet the passage hit home after watching Parkman use his gift on TV. Jesus knows all our thoughts...

Simon Peter was Married

Interesting fact here. From Mark 1:29-31 we learn that Jesus heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law who was suffering with a fever. She got up and begin to wait on her guests.

First thought: Jesus heals or saves us to serve. It's not all about us, it's about expanding the kingdom of God here and earth and ministering to others, meeting their needs.

Second thought: The Catholic church holds Peter up as the first Pope. They also teach that a Pope cannot be married. Here scripture tells us he had a mother-in-law, implying he also had a wife.