40 Days of Lent - Day 13

Luke 12:  13-21 - MdV

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

The rich man in this parable plans for the future.  He is not on his “guard against” the power of money and allocates his abundant harvest for his own security and comfort. He plans  carefully in order to be rich towards himself and what happens?  The life entrusted to him is taken unexpectedly.

God has been rich towards us. The season of Lent reminds us that one day our lives too will be taken from us.  Jesus calls us to live in such a way that is “rich towards 

God”. Not tomorrow, but today. 

40 Days of Lent - Day 12

Luke 11:  11-13 -- DR

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” 

Way back at the beginning of this chapter, the disciple asks Jesus to teach them to pray. And here we have the climax—the “much more” of our lavishly giving heavenly Father. Jesus points to those fathers who give what their children ask for, not less. But our Father in heaven is the “much more” giver.

While we might focus on daily bread, fish and eggs our extravagant God wants to give us the much more of himself through the Holy Spirit. All we need to do is ask.

 

40 Days of Lent - Day 11

Luke 11:  9-10   - DR

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Luke 11:9-10

I’m sure everyone likes these verses. It sounds simple doesn’t it – just ask and you get. But have you noticed something about the previous verses? They aren’t at all focussed on individual requests. There are lots of “us” and “we” in the model prayer and in the parable the friend isn’t asking for his own needs but for someone else.

It’s hard to see in the first sentence above but every “you” is actually plural. It seems Jesus is really talking about the community praying together. That of course changes the whole picture. It is the prayer of two or three gathered together. What a wonderful opportunity we have at Redeemer, as students, staff and faculty, to prayer together—to be an asking, seeking, knocking community bringing our prayers together to our Heavenly Father.

 

40 Days of Lent - Day 10

Luke 11:  5-8  - DR

Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. Luke 11:5-8

“Shameless audacity:” What a great phrase! Jesus follows up the model prayer of imperatives with this story about a friend needing bread for another friend. But friendship just isn’t enough to get the answer he needs. It’s shameless audacity—brazen boldness—that gets response.

Of course God is our friend and that is a wonderful part of our relationship with him. But he wants more—he wants us to come “boldly to the throne of grace.” (Heb. 4:16 KJV) We can only come to him this way when we have confidence in him that he is able to supply all our needs. Are you that confident? Then ask boldly, with shameless audacity.

40 Days of Lent: Day 9

 Luke 11:   2-4

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father,

hallowed be your name

your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.

Jesus responds to the disciple’s bold request by giving us a model prayer that is even more daring. We repeat this prayer so often that we miss its audacity. The English doesn’t help here either and we tend to soften it by saying it in a sing-song fashion.

But Jesus is instructing us to pray by telling God what to do: holy your name; bring your kingdom; give us bread; forgive our sins; don’t lead us into temptation.

Does this frighten you? It does me.

Yet this speaks to insistence and determination to have God act. Do we fail to see God respond when we pray this prayer because we are too timid and polite to be direct? Next time, try to pray it the way Jesus taught it and perhaps we’ll see things happen in ways we never imagined.

 

40 Days of Lent - Day 8

Day 8 - Luke 11: 1 -- DR

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of this disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." Luke 11:1

“Lord, teach us to pray.” This is one of the most unique statements in all of the gospels for two reasons. First, it is stated in the imperative: this is the mood of a command. Although we might be shocked by the force of this and likely want to soften it by adding “please” there is something very powerful about the way the disciple made his statement. It definitely is not a question or suggestion.

Secondly, this is the only time Jesus was asked to teach something. What prompted it? Luke often records that something powerful happened when Jesus prayed: a voice from heaven speaks; the Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove; the appearance of his face changes; his clothes become white and gleaming; Elijah and Moses appear; and an angel comes to strengthen him. No wonder the disciple wanted to learn to pray like Jesus.

Do we want to see the awe-inspiring happen when we pray? Are we eager to experience glimpses of God’s glory when we pray? If so, we need to be bold and say: “Lord, teach us to pray.”  Maybe a snow day is a good day to practice this imperative. 

40 Days of Lent- Day 7

Day 7 - Luke 10:38-42, At the Home of Martha and Mary - RP

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who  sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, 

don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

It is so easy to identify with Martha. Jesus and his entire entourage are invited by Martha to come and eat with her and her sister. The idea of a small herd of people dropping by for a meal is stressful for anybody. She was banking on Mary’s help to pull it off,  but  Mary was AWOL. She was hanging out and being ‘spiritual’ and leaving Martha with the whole mess. 

Except, Mary was not just being spiritual. As Jesus would tell Martha, few things are needed – or indeed only one. What Jesus really wants above all things is not our labors for Him, but our heart. If He has our heart, he has our labors. 

But we can work for Him and serve Him and still be far from His heart.  It really is a matter of focus and priorities.