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.

Bad Witness

Mark 1:21-28 tells the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue on a Sabbath. A very common occurrence in the adult ministry of Jesus. His teaching was amazing, authoritative, and unlike what they were used to hearing from their own teachers of the law.

What was uncommon about this Sabbath was the undesired testimony of an evil or unclean spirit. After making himself known by crying out in the middle of the message, the bad witness confessed, "I know who you are-the Holy One of God!"

Jesus sternly silenced him with the words, "Be Quiet!"

We're currently in the middle of a sermon series called "Heroes" and next Sunday we will be listening to first hand accounts of what Jesus has done in people's lives here at KCC. They will testify how their lives have changed since meeting Jesus.

The witness of an evil spirit is not needed by Jesus. However, our confession is! We're told as Christians to go and make known the good news of Jesus. Can people see your story in the way you live?