November 7 - Luke 16:1-18

Luke 16:1-18 – The Shrewd (Dishonest?) Manager

What are we to do with our earthly goods? How are we to manage them? Jesus has something to say.

Two of the Pharisee’s biggest sins were pride and love of money … from pride came hypocrisy.

Jesus compared the pride of the elder son in the story of the Prodigal Son to that of the Pharisees. They were so caught up in worrying about their own inheritance they had no humility when it came to forgiveness for those who were most in need. Now, he looks at their love of money.

The manager of this rich man’s estates is not a slave … he has a lot of power. He buys and sells, living on the revenue that he earns. He sends the surplus to the rich man … his master.

We are to see ourselves in the role of the manager … God is the master. We have the right to live our lives and deliver to God whatever we see fit, but when he accuses us of being wasteful, we should pay attention.

After we use what it is we need to live, we hoard or squander it rather than offering it back to the Lord.  This may seem unnatural to us, but we often forget that we are simply stewards ... we act as if we are the owners of all that we have.

Now, the master says to the manager … you can no longer act in this role. This is a point of deprivation. We are to be separated from the Lord … our sin is that of avarice.

When the manager attempts to make friends with his debtors by acting shrewdly, the reason that the master affirms this behavior is because there was wisdom in acting to protect the man’s future. Prudence became part of the man’s behavior.  Create relationships that will benefit you in the end, even if it means disposing of earthly goods.

These relationships … friendships … are much more important than wasting the goods we have been given as stewards. This is valued in God’s sight.

November 6 - Luke 15:11-32

Luke 15:11-32 – Prodigal Son

The story of the Prodigal Son is quite well known and has been preached and taught many times. There isn't much more to learn about it, but it will always be a powerful story of grace and compassion, forgiveness and restoration.

Along with the stories of the lost sheep and the lost coin, the story celebrates the return of a lost son. Great rejoicing occurs when the son who was gone returns.  The second half of the story tells of the sour attitude of the elder brother who never left the home and stayed in order to work alongside his father.

The thing about this story is that the position of the elder son was never threatened. His attitude is what demeans his position in his father’s eyes.

In direct contrast to the elder son’s behavior, the father kept a hopeful, vigilant eye out for the return of the young son. Hoping every day that the boy would come to his senses, the father’s compassion drives him to keep an eye out and when he saw the boy from far off, he knew that there was an opportunity for restoration of the relationship.

Now, the beautiful thing in this story was that when the older son realized what was happening and refused to go in to the party celebrating his brother’s return, the father went out to him, hoping to repair that relationship as well.

With words of love, patience and compassion, the father welcomed both sons.

God’s compassion is boundless.

November 5 - Luke 15:8-10

Luke 15:8-10 – The Lost Coin

In this story, we read of a woman who lost one of ten silver coins. She does everything to find it and when she does, she tells everyone and rejoices with them.

This is not a story of a pitiful woman who only has a little bit of money, it is more a story of a woman who has saved these coins, maybe for some special occasion. Whatever it was, the coin was important to her. The loss of the coin is a real loss for her.

The story describes God who loves his children. In the story of the lost sheep, God took pity on the poor thing and did everything to retrieve it so that it wouldn't harm itself any further or be alone. In this story, we see yet another side of God’s compassion. We, like the coin is to the woman, are precious to God. There is a part each sinner has to play in God’s plans. If one person is lost, that person’s place in the entirety of God’s plan is empty. There is a hole.

Blaise Pascal said that “there is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God …”

This story tells us that there is a place in God’s plan that only we can fill. We are precious and important to him.

Oh, how the angels rejoice when that empty place is filled with the repentant sinner.

November 4 - Luke 15:1-7

Luke 15:1-7 – The Lost Sheep

In the Gospel of Luke, we find four separate events when Jesus associates with sinners and is then called to task for it by the Pharisees. There was an enormous class difference in that culture and the very religious had nothing to do with anyone who might cause them to be considered sinful.

In Luke 5:27-32, Luke 7:39 and in Luke 19:7, these Pharisees do the same thing they do here – they grumbled because Jesus spends time with people who are deemed to be less than perfect.

We find at the beginning of this passage that tax collectors (a particularly despicable sort – they were considered immoral because of the work they did, collecting money from people to turn over to the government and often collecting more than necessary to line their own pockets) and other sinners were drawn to Jesus. In him they found holiness rather than prideful and contemptuous self-righteousness. They found genuine love rather than disdain. They found hope in the midst of their circumstances.

These tax collectors and sinners no longer had rights to a relationship with God by the letter of the Law. With the coming of Jesus, the door which had been slammed shut by their own guilt, was re-opened.

Their miserable state opened the way for God to be compassionate with them. Imagine the story of the lost sheep. If that sheep had not been lost, there would have been no need for the shepherd to search for it. God seeks sinners, because the sinner is in such great need.

Those hundred sheep that were left in the open country to fend for themselves? They've figured it out and don’t need God to show up and hold them. They are already in safety. But, God seeks out the lost, the sinners, the ones who are miserable. He goes far beyond what is necessary. It might not seem worth it to those of us who measure things and create metrics for our lives, but for God … that one lost sheep, the sinner, the tax collector is of utmost importance.

November 3 - Luke 14:25-35

Luke 14:25-35 – The Cost of Following Jesus

Great crowds … multitudes are following Jesus to Jerusalem. Jesus is fully aware that there is a difference in expectation between him and these huge numbers of people. They are expecting a party. He knows that is not what will happen … for them, or for him.

He turns to them and says words that seem to make everything we believe in turn upside down. Jesus is NOT family friendly for those who would follow him. He declares that we must choose following him above everything else. It is not an easy road. We must be prepared to give up our families, everything we love … even our own lives if we truly want to be his disciple.

This is one of those passages that is often overlooked in our happy little worlds. We want the family to be the most important thing in a Christian’s life, but Jesus knows that loving our family more than anything else, means that we leave him behind. Loving ourselves more than anything else … being more concerned about our health and well-being, our future, our fortune, our homes, our lawns, our success, our failures, our workplace, our friends than anything else. All of these things separate us from him.

It doesn't matter how many Bible studies we host or teach or attend - or how often we read scripture, or how much money we give to the poor or how often we go to church or all of the things we do; Jesus asks us to truly count the cost and understand what is required for us to be a disciple.

We do not understand the depth of this in our culture today. Christianity is much too easy and we have created a simplistic attitude toward it. Imagine being given the choice of sacrificing your child or your faith. Which would you choose? Do you even realize that these choices are being made around the world today? In this passage, Jesus is VERY clear regarding what the cost is to be his disciple.

“Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).

We can’t pretty this up and make it go away. Jesus is clear about the cost of discipleship and when we feel as if we have done enough or sacrificed enough … he asks us to do more and to sacrifice more.

Tasteless salt is useless … we are useless as Christians unless we are willing to be everything for Jesus Christ.

This is a difficult lesson and one that is nearly impossible for us to understand, much less live. But, we must always be aware that we are not ever doing enough for the cause of Christ. He demands everything from us, we give so little.

November 2 - Luke 14:15-24

Luke 14:15-24 – The Great Banquet

Luke is again speaking to the Pharisees and those religious leaders who believe that they have a ‘right’ to eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.

The custom in that day was that invitations had long since been sent and accepted. When everything was prepared, a domestic slave was sent to summon the guests on the day of the banquet. In this case, Jesus is the servant … or slave of God, sent to summon the people of Israel to the great banquet.

In a bizarre turn, every single person who had already accepted the invitation, refused to come to the banquet.  In Luke 8:14 we find that these people heard the word of God, but the seed fell among the thorns: “They are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” 

This parable is not about a future event, but was a story with immediacy and with continuing relevance. Jesus was inviting the people of Israel and he continues to invite each of us. Those who have too many other things to occupy their time and make those things more important than a relationship with God, will find that his anger and judgment are swift. What the master discovers is that those who were originally invited, have at the seat of their refusal to attend, a deep hatred for Him. The only thing they care about is their own lives, their own needs and how to adjust their religion to benefit those things.

The household owner sends his slave out to those who are poor, crippled, blind and lame. The understanding is that these people do not have a list of things in their lives that will stop them from coming to the banquet. When the needy from the city do not fill the banquet hall, the master sends the slaves beyond in order to fill the hall. There are more than enough seats and there will not be any left empty.

If we look back at the original covenant God made with Abraham, the Lord promised that Abraham’s seed would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17). That is the number of seats available at the Great Banquet and that is what the Lord has opened up to those who will fill his house.

November 1 - Luke 14:1-14

Luke 14:1-14 – At a Pharisee’s House

Once more, Jesus is invited to eat with one of the Pharisees. This man is a ruler of the Pharisees, probably a member of the Sanhedrin and this offers an opportunity for more discussion. Rather than a comfortable social setting, Jesus enters the den of lions. Luke reminds us that they watched him carefully, waiting to pounce on any theological flaw in his teaching.

There, in front of Jesus, is a man who suffers from dropsy. Was he planted there by the Pharisees, knowing that Jesus would not be able to resist helping the poor man? Possibly. Once again, this happens on the Sabbath and once again, the question came up as to whether or not it is lawful to heal on the Sabbath.

This question has shown up on three other occasions – Luke 6:1-5, 6:11; 13:10-17. It is a popular point of contention between Jesus and the Pharisees.

Jesus wasn't finished with the dinner guests after he confronted them about their treatment of men versus animals. They had nothing to say and he moved on to another issue which presented itself.

At dinner, guests reclined on couches. The head couch held the host and other important guests, then, extending out from it were places of honor. If a very important guest came late to the dinner, someone would be displaced in order to make room. Jesus addressed these guests and while his instructions might have even made sense in the reality of the moment, he was addressing greater things. Those Pharisees who felt they were religiously very important refused to humble themselves in the kingdom of God. When the day came for them to stand before God they would be humiliated and asked to leave their supposed place of honor. God will humble the mighty.

After addressing the guests, Jesus turns to the host. The translation might be better read as: Stop continually inviting those who are friends or relatives or rich neighbors. Jesus doesn’t expect people to never invite their friends and relatives or even their neighbors to dinner, but for many there is an expectation of being repaid. Caring for the needy, though will not bring material reward on earth, but at the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14b), repayment will be made in full.