My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your sight [lit. “eyes”];
Keep them in the midst of your heart. Proverbs 4:20-22 (read vv. 20-27)
INTRO: Simone Weil was born into an affluent family, but always felt drawn to poor
Wanting to better understand the hardships of the working class, she went to work in a factory
– there she learned not only the harsh conditions in which many people labored, but also about their afflictions, both great and small
– one observation she made reflects on minor injuries in the workplace:
“When an apprentice gets hurt or complains of fatigue, workmen and peasants have this fine expression: ‘It’s the trade getting into his body.’ Whenever we have some pain to endure, we can say to ourselves that it is the universe, the order and beauty of the world, and the obedience of creation to God which are entering our body.”
Acquiring a skill changes our bodies
– first blisters form and then become callouses, muscles that are sore at first become strong, and the movements that are awkward starting out we later perform with agility and grace
In our current study, we are learning to let God’s grace enter our bodies read more…
Draw near to God and He will draw near to youThe Pharisees had set out to lay a trap for Jesus. Their plot and the intention behind it is a tribute to Jesus’ integrity. If he had been a heretic or a criminal, there would be no need for plots and tricks. All they would have to do is use his own words and actions against him.
The idea of trying to catch Jesus in a trap suggests an image of hunters rigging a net or snare to catch a large and powerful animal (picture a lion bound with ropes). It is sad to think of Jesus tied to a post or thrown into a cage.
Using questions for bait, the Pharisees posed a conundrum that was sure to throw Jesus for a loss regardless of how he answered. Should they pay taxes to Caesar, the Emperor of an oppressive and pagan kingdom in which he was worshiped as a god? To say yes would compromise the purity of Jesus’ spiritual teaching as well as outrage the crowd who deeply resented Roman taxation. But to say no would certainly bring the wrath of the Roman government down on Jesus’ head.
But Jesus cannot be trapped or tricked. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s,” he says, and the Pharisees turn tail and run. Those who attempt to attack Jesus end up wounding themselves.
We are amazed at Your wisdom, Lord Jesus, and how you turned the enemies’ weapons back on their own heads. But have we also come to You and asked, “What is lawful?” when the real question is not moral but relational? In every situation and regarding every decision, teach us to ask, “To whom does this belong? To whom am I obligated?” and most importantly, “To Whom do I belong?”
How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7 (read vv. 7-12)
INTRO: Some of you know of Walter Martin
He popularized Christian apologetics in his book, Kingdom of the Cults
– Walter Martin lived here in San Juan Capistrano and occasionally I would run into him around town
– he suffered from diabetes and nearly lost his feet to the disease
– in one of our encounters, he told me about a masseuse who worked on, “She saved my feet,” he said
Few of us were ever taught importance of taking care of our feet
– we abuse them with shoes that are too tight or worn out and also with bad posture
– this can create muscle tension and over compensation that results in pain in our legs, back, and neck
– we pay for abusing our feet as we age – mangled feet can misalign the body and diminish its ability to balance, causing us to lose stability
If you are ever tempted to say, “My feet are killing me,” it is probably because you are killing them read more…
The Hebrew word yad appears at least 1600 times in the
Old Testament and has a wide variety of meanings
- A person’s hand can be with someone – to join, support, or assist (1 Chr. 4:10)
– also, “to give the hand” – join in partnership (2 Ki. 10:15) - A person’s hand can be upon someone – either to give help or to be against
- by the hand of means “to come through someone,” by the agency of (1 Sa. 11:7)
- take from the hand of is to rescue or deliver someone
– (Ex. 2:19; Isa. 51:22) - to place the hand on or over ones mouth is to silence ones self
– stop ones self from saying anything (Job 40:4)
– the last place that a word can be prevented from being spoken read more…
Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.'” The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” Exodus 4:1-2 (read vv. 1-8, 10)
INTRO: I’ve got to hand it to you, you found your way here [we met on Sunday at a new location]
Think about the phrase I used – what did I just “hand to you”?
– what passed from my hand to yours?
What are some other ways that we use “hand” as metaphor?
Today we’re going to meditate on what the Scriptures say about hand
Every once in awhile we have to deal with the fact that our time and culture is very different from what we encounter in the Bible
– we are not those ancient Hebrew men and women
– we don’t think of our bodies the way they did — we don’t think of our breath as spirit or blood as sacred
– our objective way of thinking puts us at distance from our bodies – the world of nature – God read more…
Draw near to God and He will draw near to youJesus used this parable to answer a question and to forcefully reiterate a point he had made on several previous occasions. The question the parable answers was the one put to him by the chief priests and the elders, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” (v. 23). The point he had made before and was driving home again was that kingdom of God would be taken from the religious people who assumed they were God’s favorites, while streaming into it would be Gentiles, tax collectors, and prostitutes (Mt. 8:11-12; 21:31).
Jesus appealed to an image had already been made explicit by the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 5:1-7). So –although the Lord slightly reworked it, because in the earlier version the people addressed were compared to (bad) grapes while in Jesus’ version they were the vine-growers (Isa. 5:2). At any rate, in both cases it turned out badly for the audiences to whom the parables were directed.
There are only two classes of people in Jesus’ parable. First there are those who try to control religion, keep it to themselves, and personally profit from it. The other group are those to whom the vineyard (or kingdom of heaven) is graciously given and who faithfully turn its yield over to God.
When You come to us, O Lord, what sort of fruit do You hope to gather? What specific actions or accomplishments do You want us to present to You? Justice? Righteousness? Compassion? Although the specifics may not be clear to us, we have Your example and therefore trust that we will not be off the mark if we devote our lives to loving the Father with all our heart, mind, body, and spirit and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
The idols of the nations are but silver and gold,
The work of man’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
Those who make them will be like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them. Psalm 135:15-18
INTRO: I want to tell you what I see God doing with “us”
God has each one of us on a spiritual journey
– this describes our progress in God – we grow and develop into spiritual maturity (Ep. 4:11-14)
– what this means is that we become more at peace in Jesus, more content, less angry, and filled more with the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)
Think of the spiritual journey like a hike in the Sierras – the Spirit is our guide
– the more we advance, the more we will take advantage of better gear and make better use of it
– we are learning about hiking, but also about everything else — weather, trees, plants, animals, stars, etc.
In a similar way, getting training in spiritual disciplines is useful for making progress in our spiritual journey
– these include learning to wait on God in prayer, the sacred reading of scripture, fasting, discernment, solitude, and so on read more…
So I was doing yard work this afternoon and my eyes kept tearing up–I figured it was grass allergy. Anyway, something was missing and I realized while mowing the lawn that I wasn’t grousing as usual, “That dog is killing the grass” or “I’m sick and tired of picking up after her.” Sweeping the patio I almost expected Ginger to come bounding out of the doggie door because she always took a special delight in going to the lawn after I had beautified it and leaving one of her masterpieces on it. (If your eyes had seen what my eyes have seen, you would agree that she could be quite the sculptor at times.)
The realization comes gradually but with absolute certainty–I would be happy to go on cleaning up after Ginger and reseeding the dead patches in the lawn if I could somehow turn back the clock, take away Ginger’s cancer, and have her with us for twelve more years. Of course, this is mostly for Barbara’s sake. (Dang allergy–where’s the tissue?)
It occurred to me that every pet owner has an implicit agreement with their animal. It begins the day we bring it home from the rescue shelter, pet store, or wherever we are fortunate enough to encounter them for the first time. I admit that there are good dogs and bad dogs, good cats and bad cats, and so on and on, even as there are good humans and bad humans. But in all fairness to the animals, the bad ones have frequently become that way through the abuse of a bad human or the neglect of a clueless human. read more…
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures Luke 24:45 (read vv. 36-53)
INTRO: When you read a novel–mystery, sci-fi, thriller, etc.–the end is satisfying if there’s a point and everything fits
In this last small section at the end of Luke, one big challenge remains
– not in regard to Jesus – the message of his life is very clear
– but the story of Jesus was never just about Jesus
– it has been about the lives he touched – especially those closest to him
So Jesus is alive from the dead, God’s Son, Messiah and Lord
– but where does this leave the disciples?
– what has he done to their lives and where do they go from here?
This is the loose end that has to be resolved before the story ends
– I want you to notice in this last section, Jesus does all the talking read more…
Draw near to God and He will draw near to youJesus envisioned the kingdom of God as a wedding feast and the call of God as an invitation to a party. Through Jesus, God calls us away from our worldly pursuits and to himself and the banquet of his Son. To answer that call is to turn from every distraction and bring our attention fully to God in the present moment. Certainly we have time for this despite our “farms” and our “businesses.”
We would do well to pause at Jesus’ description of the wedding guests who were “both evil and good.” The criterion for them entering the dinning hall was neither moral nor religious, but relational. Guests are not invited to wedding receptions because they are good people, but because of the way they are related to the bride or groom. So in Jesus’ parable, we are invited into a relationship with God without regard to whether we are good or bad when the invitation comes. The worst form of judgmental Christianity is that which bars the entrance to the kingdom to someone who does not seem good enough (Mt. 23:13).
When one of the guests showed up for the reception in street clothes, he was confronted and thrown out. He did not come to the feast for relationship, but for the food and entertainment. The event defines how one must come and appropriate attire. The man’s lack of respect for the host indicates his unwillingness to enter a relationship with him. That the host meant to be in relationship with his guests is evidenced by the fact that he addressed the man as “Friend” and gave him the opportunity to explain himself (v. 12–even Judas was addressed by our Lord as friend, 26:50). read more…
Daily Meditations From the Scriptures