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Day 140: Luke 24:13-35 — Ordinary Moments

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Emmaus was a little-noted town. Luke doesn’t say why the two disciples were going there. We may well find ourselves in the position of these two travelers, discussing various things as we walk or drive down the road. We may be trying to understand the meaning of what has happened in the Gospel story and in our own experience. Is there any credible reason to believe that Jesus really was raised from the dead or that God is present in the turmoil of our lives? These two may have been going home, going on a business trip, or just going there to get away from the terrible things they had witnessed in Jerusalem. Maybe it is just an ordinary place in life. Maybe it is an example that Luke provides so we can come to realize that it is in the ordinary things of life that we may see Jesus. The risen Lord meets us on the road to our Emmauses, in the ordinary places and experiences of our lives, and in the places to which we retreat when life is too much for us. The story warns us, however, that the Lord may come to us in unfamiliar guises, when we least expect him. It is an unplanned spiritual moment. It is initiated by Christ and not us. As we live and walk along our path, we need to pay attention to those we meet and in the very act of sharing ourselves and our bread, we may encounter our Lord. The Lord is risen and He comes back to meet us on the road to Emmaus.

Who can I now tell this wonderful story to? I just did! “You’re it” — now go and tell another.

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Day 139: Luke 24:1-12 — “If a man dies, will he live again?”

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Luke answers the age old philosophical question, “If a man dies, will he live again?” (Job 14:14).  He answers the questions in five words in Greek, translated in the English Standard Version, “He is not here, but has risen (Luke 24:6).” Jesus was dead or at least that was what the religious establishment thought.  So, they pushed Jesus aside and went on with religion as usual.  They held their services and made their sacrifices.  They continued to meet and debated over the law.  They would drop a few alms for the poor and feel good about themselves.  No more having to listen to a proclaimed Messiah that looked forward to the coming of a kingdom whose rules for admission and the boundaries of whose fellowship they did not control. No longer would they have to debate over this man who ate with tax collectors and rebuked those who gave fine dinners for their respectable friends.  However, Jesus’ was no longer dead and their lives were about to be turned upside down with the coming kingdom of the church.

Luke tells us that the women were dutifully serving Jesus in the best way they knew how. They had prepared spices to anoint his body and had gone to the tomb early to finish the burial, only to be met with the challenge, “Why do you look for the living among the dead (Luke 24:5)?”  In what ways do we continue to look for the living Lord among the dead? Do struggles and questions lead us to the place that we just shun Jesus like the religious leaders or do we continue to serve Jesus in the best way we know how?  Jesus was not in the tomb but He was found among the grieving, among his disciples, and later in various places, and ultimately at the “right hand of God.”

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?” In the midst of tending to the necessary chores, especially the things that need to be done in the hard times, the women were met by the unexpected experience of God’s grace. Sometimes faith means going on and tending to the necessary chores that need to be done in our lives. Be faithful in the tasks that are ours and do the necessary tasks, for in them we, too, may be bearers of the good news of the day: “He is not here, but has risen!”

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Day 138: Luke 23:26-32 — Suffering on the Cross

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Jesus on the crossI grew up for a few years in East Austin. All my friends in the neighborhood were either African American or Hispanic. It was a tough neighborhood and we were all poor and struggling. The only way for me to survive was to act tough and crazy, so I was called the “crazy white boy.” One of my best friends was African American and we were at a park playing one day. A group of boys decided that this “crazy white boy” needed to be beat up. I stood with my friend ready to fight until I saw that he turned on me and sided with the group. I was disappointed and hurt. It seemed that at every corner of my young life was meant to be alone.

I have experienced more profound tragedies in my life with the loss of family and friends. No doubt so have you. There was a time in my Christian life that I wondered why God had allowed my sufferings. I have seen others suffer and was lost for words. Yet, as I continue to grow in Christ I have found that part of our Christian message is that God has not turned away from our plight nor does He miraculously deliver us from all of our sufferings. In Luke 23:26-32, Jesus is led away to the cross, Simon of Cyrene is made to carry the cross, women mourned, Jesus laments for the Daughters of Jerusalem and their children. God did not prevent Jesus from suffering, nor did He deliver Him from it. Jesus not only suffers on the cross, but here in our text He knows He could not stop the judgment that Israel and humanity had caused. The suffering of the innocent—the death of Jesus and the suffering of the women and the children—is an indictment of the institutions and means of human cruelty and a call to turn from our sinful inclinations and accept the cross and God’s mercy as the answer. Otherwise, “if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:31).

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Day 137: 2 Samuel 16:1-18:18; Luke 23:13-31 — Betray or Be Faithful ?

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Ahithophel cannot wait to turn on David when the usurper Absalom rose to power. Hushai remained faithful in the face of a new and awesome threat. The Jewish leadership cannot wait to have the Romans crucify Jesus. The disciples do not know what to do, frightened, they will watch at a distance, but watch. “Institutionalized religion, the church, the old God, is not for me.” versus “I will cling to the old rugged cross.” Absalom represents the new order, the fresh look at the world, bold, uncharted, powerful. David’s faithful know this is just not right. Jesus threatened the world as they knew it, threatened the entire system by which they understood, ruled, were comfortable, safe. Jesus’ disciples know that He has brought a new age from God Himself. “My God would not stand for these old ways, these dry, narrow minds. The Bible needs new eyes for a new age — perhaps no Bible at all. God is in me and you. We are all gods and goddesses.” versus “Jesus loves me this I know, because the Bible tells me so.”

How so human. How so full of self. Full of rebellion. Full of Satan. When God’s anointed is not what we want Him to be, then we proudly proclaim from our dark emptiness of ignorance, “I know better.” When the Creator does not reflect our image then man decides that is not the real God, there surely must be another that looks more like, well, like me!

Then the others, so determined to be faithful in the face of death itself; so committed to the One Who truly loves them. Not knowing but yet trusting the One Who leads. These are blessed, walking by faith, not by sight.

Ahithophel and Absalom died cruelly. David retook the throne and planned the end of his enemies. The anointed of God ruled the dominion given to him. Jesus arose from the grave, astounding all who saw Him, frustrating all of his enemies who heard, “He lives.” The will of our Creator cannot be stopped, will not be frustrated. We can either work with Him and be blessed or stand — momentarily — in His way and find our best human wisdom thwarted and ground to dust by the Rock of Ages.

The next time we find faith untenable, obedience unfathomable, spirituality an unsolvable puzzle and life that makes no sense, remember those faithful of ages past. The risks, which were no risks at all to those who could truly “see.”

Prayer: Holy, Righteous, True and Faithful One, may we be faithful to You in this day.

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Day 136: Luke 22:63-23:12 — Cheering Death?

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

We all have different ways to focus during the Lord’s Supper. I believe it is the most important few minutes of my week and I assume that you probably feel the same too. A chance to commune with God…how humbling, how wonderful. The question I pose to you this week is — what do you think about?

I’m sure we all think about different things. I try to remember the sequence of events leading up to the Cross. I try to put myself in the moment — to hear the sounds, see the faces and feel the intensity in the air. I have often thought about that the same crowd that shouted a triumphant return to Jerusalem is now the same crowd that is cheering his death. I think about Luke 22:63-65 and how my Lord and Savior wasn’t even treated with common decency before his death.

If you read anything at all about serial killers or people being executed, you will probably notice that it usually draws a crowd. When Ted Bundy was executed in 1989, there was a crowd outside the prison chanting and cheering his death. Timothy McVeigh of the Oklahoma City bombings was executed to the echoes of cheering outside the prison walls. Yet neither was beaten and mocked on the way to the gallows.

Jesus suffered far more than just the cross. He looked into the eyes of the people he came to save and saw their hatred for him. He listened to them mock him and scream for his blood.

Praise God that Jesus loved me enough that he still carried out God’s plan. That’s what I think about.

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Day 135: Luke 22:39-62 — Busted!

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

Peter. My buddy. I really identify with this guy. In today’s reading alone we see Peter doing 3 things I  bet you’ve told yourself, “Oh, I’d never do that.” That’s all right; I’ve told myself that too, but I no longer believe it.

“I’d never fall asleep in the garden with Jesus — especially after He told me not to.”

“I might have reached for my sword, but no way I’d ever cut a guy’s ear off.” (And if you picture Peter somehow swinging the sword vertically, slicing the ear off as Malchus cooperated with his head upright, think again. Peter was trying to take off the guy’s head, not his ear. Malchus ducked. We’re not told that’s how it happened, so it’s just my opinion, but it makes sense.)

“Betray the Son of God? Never!”

Yes, Peter’s my buddy because I can see myself in him every step of the way. I want to stay awake with you, Jesus, but my body’s telling me otherwise. I’ll defend you to the death Lord, but just let me do it my way. Master, others will turn and leave, but I’m with you (at least until the courtyard). Each time, through each failure of my life, Jesus is there, not condemning (though I deserve condemnation), not by humiliating me in front of my friends (though I deserve that too), and in my weakest moment He gives merely a look of disappointment (though I deserve Him turning His back on me).

I’ve also always wondered what was Peter’s reaction when Paul confronted his hypocrisy (Gal 2:11-21), yet I can see myself in that Peter as well.

Father, today as I see Peter in myself, help me also to see your grace through my weakness, for it is through my weakness that your grace is magnified. Help me each day to be less like Peter and more like the Lord I serve, and in Whose Name I pray.

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Day 131: Luke 21:5-19 — Don’t be Fooled!

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

the end is nearThe other day, I was teaching a class with some teens. They had a fascination about the end of times. It seems they have experienced the teachings of the pseudo-religious prophets that manifest themselves in contemporary entertainment genres. The force of Jesus’ warning in Luke 21:7-11 is that disciples of Christ should not be misled by the false prophets who will come claiming authority and saying that the time is near. Such claims are the words of charlatans who prey upon the innocent. Nevertheless, the dangers and hardships that we experience are real. Truth is tested and faith is confirmed not in idle speculation but in the crucible of hard times. In Luke 21:5-19 Jesus foretells the coming destruction of the temple with a warning of the wars, earthquakes, famines, and plagues that will come and a warning to the disciples of the persecutions they must endure. We need to distinguish biblical teachings and sound biblical interpretation from the sensational claims carried by the media and popular religious best-sellers. We are not waiting for a call to ministry, we already have a call to disregard the false prophets; do not be led astray, and do not go after them (Luke 21:8). Those who wish to find a more energetic religious experience, therefore, should look not for signs of the future but for signals that it is time to live by Jesus’ call for obedience and faithfulness here and now.

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Day 130: 1 Samuel 30:16-2 Samuel 2:7; Luke 20:20-38 — Respect for God’s anointed

Monday, May 10th, 2010

He was impatient, self-willed, foolish, jealous, and afraid. Even so, Saul, king of Israel, was the anointed of God to lead these people. David had many opportunities to disgrace or to kill Saul, but took none of them. David counted the life of Saul as precious because he was the anointed of God. News of the death of Saul and Jonathan struck at David’s heart. The young Amalekite, thinking he would find favor with David, said that he had mercifully killed the wounded Saul. No understanding of that servant of God and respect for the anointed. What a harsh reprisal, we may think, as David commanded his execution! “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” David had such great reverence for the Lord that he counted even those deemed fools by others to be worthy of honor.

He was young, idealistic, powerful, compassionate, the Anointed One. Yet the leaders of the age could not accept Him as the Leader of their world, not as they knew it. “We will trap him! We will confound his wisdom and expose him to the world as a fraud!” The “best and brightest” of that Age come to confound the Rock of Ages. No understanding of that servant of God and respect for His Anointed. “Shall we pay taxes?” Ah, this will divide the people! Say, “Yes” and the common man will hate him, say, “No” and He is an insurrectionist to be arrested. Either way He is out of here! His answer still convicts us, asking whom we really serve. Then the question which still divides our friends today, is there life beyond the grave? Is there marriage in heaven? Once more the question came from those who did not even understand or truly reverence the One whose temple they occupied. Truly a conundrum, we have him now! The Anointed One turns it back on them, turning back on them the Scriptures from which the Sadducees derived their own power. We see the answers in today’s world as, yes there is life beyond the veil, we shall have no need of gender or race or color, all will be the children of God.

What is the real center of these passages? Reverence of God and respect for His Anointed. When we do not understand God’s will, when Jesus just does not make sense, when holiness and righteous living are far outside the scope of practice for the “modern” world, who is out of kilter? Who lacks a connection to reality? Who fails to understand the needs of emerging cultures and countercultures? It is man, we are the uninitiated, ignorant ones who kill the Anointed thinking we are doing the powers of this world a favor. Let us revere our Creator, follow His anointed so that the true life, the true order of the universe, the Reality of our being comes back into the service of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Prayer: Today, almighty God, help us to understand what steps we must take today to follow your will, to glorify Your name, and respect Your Anointed One, Jesus of Nazareth. For Jesus’ sake, thank You for hearing us, help us to hear You.

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Day 129: Luke 20:1-19 — A Thank You to Moms

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

I hope that I don’t upset you by doing this, but I would like to take this opportunity to recognize all the Moms out there on this Mother’s Day. The daily Bible reading is listed above for you to read today.

I found this article and thought I would share it with you. A very special “I love you” to my own Mother. Momma, I am always so thankful that I was born into a Christian home and a son to a Godly woman.

Mary – Obedient Servant

By Candy Arrington
Guest Writer

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Luke 1:38

Gabriel’s visit to Mary was unexpected and terrifying. But despite her fear and confusion, Mary didn’t run from the situation. Instead, she listened with enough composure to understand the announcement. Then she asked a simple question, “How can this be?”

Mary didn’t question God’s call on her life. She only asked for clarification. She wanted to understand the mechanics of how something that seemed in opposition to natural law could be accomplished. Once the angel answered that question, she yielded herself totally to God’s plan.

I can imagine that if an angel appeared to a teenage girl today with this shocking news – you’re going to have a baby, although you are a virgin and unwed – there would be numerous questions or an exclamation of “No way!” I’m sure Mary realized the potential problems inherent in God’s mission for her life yet she didn’t voice any of those. Instead she calmly trusted that if this was God’s plan for her it must be the best plan.

This tells us something of Mary’s relationship with God. Her faith was obviously deep enough for her to offer herself as a willing servant. Perhaps it was Mary’s servant-heartedness that caused God to select her as the one “highly favored among women.” It seems appropriate that God chose this obedient teenage girl to be the mother of a child who would later offer himself in the greatest act of servanthood ever.

The Bible leaves us in suspense about the specific reaction of Mary’s parents to her news. Perhaps they were skeptical of the authenticity of her story or even angry and disappointed with her. Clearly, part of the way they handled the situation was to send her to stay with Elizabeth, out of public view and away from gossiping tongues.

Joseph was embarrassed by Mary’s pregnancy and planned to distance himself from her by breaking their engagement. When the angel appeared to him, verifying Mary’s story, Joseph also acted in obedience to God’s plan for their lives. I’m sure that Mary, Joseph, and their families experienced all the conflicting emotions that we do today when faced with a situation that seems out of our control and life-altering. Sometimes God asks us to do things that bring skepticism and criticism from those around us. Often, obedience to God’s will involves some degree of discomfort.

Although Mary found favor with God, her life was not without suffering. Upon seeing the infant Jesus in the temple, Simeon predicted that a sword would pierce Mary’s soul. Mary was alive during Jesus’ ministry, his arrest, trial, and present when he was crucified. She saw the fulfillment of God’s plan, but she also endured a mother’s anguish as she watched her son die a brutal death.

The true test of our faith and trust comes in our obedience to God. I wonder what would happen if, like Mary, we willingly offered ourselves, without questions or delay, to God’s purpose and plan for our lives.

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Day 128: Luke 19:28-44 — The stones cry out

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

stones cry outLegend has it that Napoleon was traveling through Switzerland with his army. Every town they came to greeted the General with thunderous applause and great enthusiasm. One of Napoleon’s officers remarked, “It must be delightful to be greeted with such demonstrations of enthusiastic admiration.” Napoleon replied, “Bah; this same unthinking crowd, under a slight change of circumstances, would follow me just as eagerly to the scaffold!”

Our Lord had many followers too, but He knew many of them would turn away and reject Him, despite the blessings and praise they heaped upon him as He rode into Jerusalem.

37When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:37-40

Just as Peter told the Sanhedrin that he and John, “cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20), Jesus is telling the Pharisees that praise to Him is not optional. If we fail to praise Him, the stones will do it for us! Indeed, whatever we do, we are to do “in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17).

What have you done today that brings praise to the Lord?

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