Carried Home

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

CARRIED HOME

Luke 15:1-7

15:1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

NIV

Is this not about that old thinking of us four and no more? Although the Pharisees looked to the law for their righteousness, in fact, Jesus had called them white-washed tombs, or told them about cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside was dirty, or in need of cleansing, they were still trying to obey God in some form or another, while these tax collectors and sinners, needed the gospel. Of course, the Pharisees were also in need of the gospel. There is no question we the ninety-nine should always be in a state of rejoicing. There should be no time in our day that we should not be rejoicing. We cannot stuff our rejoicing until Sunday morning in church. Although we have even seen a muted form, if not a void of rejoicing in the congregation. There may even be the same form of thinking in the manner of the Pharisees, looking to work, and good deeds, as the way of life for the believer. However, we are told to rejoice and told again to rejoice in Jesus. He told the Pharisees that all of heaven rejoices when one lost soul is found and carried with gentleness and joyfully brings that sinner home, into the kingdom of God. Rejoicing should be the way of life for believers for we already live in the kingdom of God. We have changed from our former way of thinking and have turned to Jesus for our salvation. However, we have so much more in that salvation. We have inherited eternal life which includes Jesus having prepared a place for us in the New City of Jerusalem and that he is coming back to take us there so we can live with him. God will dwell with us and be our God and we will be his people forever and ever in this paradise Jesus has made ready for us. We can just imagine and rejoice in that imagining of Jesus putting us on his shoulders and carrying us to our eternal home. 

Being Salt

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BEING SALT

Luke 14:34-35

34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 

NIV

It is interesting that Matthew records Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth and then goes on to include that salt is good, but if it loses it saltiness. Here is where the rubber meets the road for us believers who follow Jesus, as our Lord and Savior. We cannot speak to every person for we do not know the heart of other people, only the Lord sees our hearts. But we can look at the outside, and we can make some assessment of the evidence of a person’s lives. If we are to be the salt of the earth, we first must conclude what salt is used for, at least in the time of Jesus. We mostly use salt to today as table salt to enhance the flavor of our foods. However, in the time of Jesus as they did not have refrigeration to keep foods fresh, salt was used to preserve food and to purify wounds. If this is the case, then the spiritual significance symbolizes that we are to be a preservative to the world and act to purify the wounds of sin. That means we may also enhance the taste of the world to God. However, that would imply that we must be engaged in the world, have an effect upon the world. We cannot simply be Christians that separate ourselves from the sinfulness of the world, having no contact with people that do not know Jesus, and are acting out their own evil desires, much in the same we did before submitting to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. We suppose there are believers who were born a believer, and never acting according to their sinful desires. But then why did God inspire those words to be written that we all have fallen short of the glory of God, that there are none that are righteous, for all have sinned. Nevertheless, whenever we became a child of God by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior we became the salt of the earth. But what if we are not salting the earth? What is we have separated ourselves, isolating ourselves within the community of faith, only making friends with other believers, and if we do have to walk outside our little circle of believers, we remain silent, so that no one knows what we believe? Have we lost our saltiness if that is the way we live? Maybe we think all that is up to the evangelist, or the missionary or even the pastor, and as long as we give them money, we are still being the salt of the earth. However, we cannot escape the fact that apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, as gifts to the church for the perfecting og the saints for the work of the ministry, which would include being really salty people in the world, having an influence on the taste or flavor of the world. Salt we are and it is salt we will stay. 

The Cost of Discipleship

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

Luke 14:28-35

THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. 34 "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 

NIV

This is all about carrying our cross in that both these examples that Jesus uses are about counting the cost. Dietrich Bonhoeffer made the same point in his book, “This Cost of Discipleship”. Of course, when we first accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we did not sit down and ponder how much it was going to cost us to be a disciple of Jesus. However, once began to read the scriptures and hear the word of God preached, we began to see this was a life that was going to be one where a great change was going to occur in our lives. There was going to be a cost. As we grew more and more aware of the changes that we were going to make within ourselves it could have been possible that we might have decided it was not worth going up all the pleasures of the flesh, all the giving into every whim and fancy of our hearts that were bent toward evil, although, we would not confess that we had an evil heart. However, the cost of allowing Jesus to cleanse us within, and purify our hearts, was more than worth it, for without the cleansing blood of Jesus, we would certainly not be able to enter into the kingdom of God and inherit eternal life in the paradise of God. No cost is too great, and after we began to understand all that was ours within the kingdom of God, we determined to finish the race, to walk all the days of our lives in service to our Lord. How can we say that we are carrying our cross, serving our Lord, and then retiring from that service? We understand when Adam was sent out from the garden that he was told he would toil all the days of his life. Although we have been restored and are once again within the kingdom of God, we still live in this corruptible body, this imperfect self that continues to fail. Sure, we do not look for ways to sin, but it just happens because we have not yet attained our resurrected glorified bodies. Still, we know the cost, and we have made the choice and we will finish the course that the Lord has laid out for us, the path he lights the way, until that day we take our last breath. We will win the prize and be victorious over our enemy for God fights for us. The cost of discipleship is worth it all.

Loving to Carry

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

LOVING TO CARRY

Luke 14:25-27

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

NIV

We knew we needed to further consider these words of Jesus, as yesterday time was pressing us to be at church on time considering we are the pastor. What we needed to do is compare how Matthew recorded what Jesus said, and it is different. Matthew’s record quotes Jesus as having said that if anyone loves his father and mother more then him is not worthy to be my disciple. He said the same thing about loving sons and daughters more than him. Because Luke uses hate, it is the same sense as if we love our family more the Jesus. Of course, the Lord expects and demands that we love our father and mother and our children, as well as love our neighbor more than ourselves. The whole of the truth of God is about living a life of love, and not of hatred for anyone, In fact, Jesus warns us about hatred, that it is the same as the command not to commit murder. If God is love, in fact, he loved us so much he sent Jesus to come in the form of man, to go to the cross and take all our sins upon himself, being the sacrifice for us, to satisfy his own justice, reconciling himself to us, paying that price we were supposed to, and then was buried and Praise God, he was resurrected being the firstborn of all who believe in him so that we too will be resurrected into an eternal life where there is no death, no hatred, no sin. Life is all about loving each other, yet we are to love Jesus more than anyone or anything in this life. He must be the first and the last love of our lives, before all else. However, we are still to love one another rather than having any hatred in our hearts whatsoever. Because we love Jesus more than anyone, we can take up our cross and follow him. This means we are willing to carry our cross to our execution or bear our cross to our death. We will never lose our faith, our trust to our last breath. It is doubtful we who live in this country would experience death because of our faith, although believers in other parts of the world have been put to death in horrific ways devised by evil men driven by the power of Satan. Nevertheless, we will carry our cross, and we will follow Jesus all the days of our lives, no matter what. 

Following

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

FOLLOWING

Luke 14:25-27

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

NIV

This is not a new concept, the fact is that we need to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will added to us. There can be no distractions between us and Jesus. There will always be some members of our family or our extended family that do not get it. They cannot see how we want to live by faith. They do not understand we cannot be invested in the world because we are invested in Jesus and cannot have both. Therefore, there will be some tension, or conflict within the family even though we still love one another. Hate is a strong word that Jesus used here, that if we do not hate our family, we cannot come to him. The Greek word here does mean to hate, to detest, but by extension, it can mean to love less.

Nevertheless, the point is that Jesus has to be the first in our hearts, above anyone else. Now the word of God tells us husbands to love our wives and to manage our children or family. However, the point still is about putting Jesus first, picking up our cross, and following him, which means forsaking our own interests or ourselves for him. This we must ponder on more tomorrow. 

Eating at the Table

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

EATING AT THE TABLE

Luke 14:15-24

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." 16 Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' 19 "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 20 "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' 21 "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' 22 "'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23 "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'" 

NIV

Now that we have considered being blessed because we are eating at the table in the kingdom of God, we should look at this parable. It is a straightforward look at the Jews who Jesus came to first, and all their excuses not to see him as their Messiah. Therefore, Jesus sends out the invitation to all the Gentiles all over the world. We know that was God's plan all along because he knows all things, as well if we are to take the words given to John about how God so loved the world, which means that included from the being, all mankind, that he sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for the sins of mankind, so that whosoever believes should not perish, but have everlasting life. that is us, we are the ones on the roads and country lanes, and we are now in the house of the Master. There is one more way we could look at this, which might be stretching it a bit. This idea of making excuses could relate to all the community of faith. We could make an excuse not to do that which God has called us to do. We think sometimes that we have our plan as to how we will live in the community of faith rather than sit at the table with Jesus. When we accept the invitation to come to the banquet, it is not a carry-in, so to speak. That is we cannot bring what we want to bring to the table, we must eat the food the master has offered us. To personalize this, I when I entered the kingdom of God I brought my skills, my talent as a photographer, and my insight into visual communication, but Jesus had something else on that table for me to eat. He said to leave your skills and talents, outside, I want you to eat from the table of verbal communication, I am making you into a preacher. This is where we get the words of a song that says, “Break me, melt me, mold me, and fill me”. When we accept to come to the banquet, we need to eat from the table what Jesus has prepared and placed before us. We cannot make any excuse, but to consume, and devour, the call upon our lives. So there you go, that is the other look into this parable. Let us praise our Lord because we are eating at the table. 

One of the Blessed

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

ONE OF THE BLESSED

Luke 14:15-24

15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." 16 Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' 19 "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' 20 "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' 21 "The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' 22 "Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' 23 "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'" 

NIV

It is always interesting how Jesus tells stories to get a point across, rather than just slamming people, and putting them down for their rejecting him as the Messiah. However, this statement by one of those at the table with Jesus heard about those whom someone invites to a luncheon and how the rich guest could pay him back, but the poor, the lame, and the blind could not, and so which is more of a blessing, this one said, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God. We are going to have to wait on the story Jesus responds with although it is all about who responds to the invitation to the luncheon, although Jesus now made it a great banquet. However, the fact still remains we will be blessed beyond measure when we sit down at the feast in the kingdom of God. That may some presumptuous to say we are going to sit down at his great banquet in the kingdom of God, yet because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and have received the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to dwell within us and lead us into all truth, and have followed Jesus through the waters of baptism and are people of faith, believing in Jesus, following him, trusting him with our lives, we have the confidence and the assurance that we are one of the blessed who will sit at the table in the kingdom of God. In fact, we have already been sitting at that table many times when we take of the bread and the wine, although we use grape juice to avoid offending anyone’s sensibility about wine. Nevertheless, we are sitting at the feast in the kingdom of God, toasting, or we say remembering all that Jesus did for us, at the cross, and through being buried and then remembering his resurrection. All that is the reason for the feast on the table in the kingdom of God, having abdicated our citizenship of the kingdom of the world and have become a citizen in the kingdom of God, we are feasting at the table in the kingdom of God and thus we are one of the blessed. So when we have communion at church, we must remember we are one of the blessed.