Category: Devotions

Divorce and Remarriage.

Luke 16 v 18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

The pain that many have received from the Church because of a verse like this!

In their failure to keep a marriage together some of the loveliest of people have found themselves in the outer courts of the Church.

The irony is that at this time the Pharisees’ interpretation of this Law meant that divorce was acceptable for the craziest of things. I remember stories been taught to me way back in Bible College of divorce being permitted for spoiling your husband’s dinner! But the crazy reasons are still with us. In 2016, in California, a wife filed for divorce because her husband had voted for Donald Trump!

The Pharisees had their own interpretation of the Law, their Mishnah, helping people understand and fulfil the requirements. Jesus came and brought his own interpretation also, it is called the Kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God.

In this verse Jesus upholds the Law on the sanctity of marriage. The Law is the Law. He doesn’t say it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t water down the Law.

Not only do we need to be faithful to God with our money (v13) and our possessions (v1), we also need to be faithful to people (v18).

So what about those who have failed to be faithful with money, materials or marriages? Shall we condemn them? No we strongly encourage them to force their way into the kingdom. Outside the kingdom is condemnation. But inside there are all kinds of wonderful graces. Love. Forgiveness. Restoration. Acceptance.

The Law is the Law. But here comes the Kingdom. For all kinds of reasons I am thankful that Jesus came preaching the good news of the Kingdom.

 

 

Difficult decisions to be like Christ

Luke 16 v 16-17 ““The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.”

I sat with a friend having coffee and as we were discussing the kingdom that Jesus leads us into I could see the battle he was having.

There are aspects of the kingdom that are for the broken and the weak for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. However, we have seen in this gospel alone how counting the cost of building a tower or going into war, hating one’s family, selling our possessions to give to the poor etc all take a determination and a force to enter into that kingdom mentality and life. My friend was once again making a kingdom decision and he ‘forcing his way into it’. Spiritual warfare is not extended times of praying in tongues, but it is taking aggressive decisions to be the better person when all around you are those who should know better. It is about choosing the lonely path. It is about not reacting when you have just cause to do so. It is about having a bigger more generous heart. That is the warfare fight with the powers and principalities that stand behind people and their conversations and actions towards you. I pray my friend wins the battle. If he does, then he will enjoy the blessings of the Kingdom.

 

However, tough that it is, Jesus says it is still easier than trying to accomplish the Pharisees own interpretation of the Law of Moses, called the Mishnah. The rules of the Kingdom and the battle to enter it is easier than the battle to fulfil man’s interpretation of the Law.

 

The Kingdom Jesus brings is the perfect interpretation of the Law found in Him. Jesus says it is this that will endure. The Kingdom will not die. Generosity of heart is here to stay, forever. In eternity we will have big hearts towards one another. But we will have forcibly moved into that here on earth.

So let’s win the war today. Let us no matter how much energy it takes, force our way into the kingdom by making those difficult decisions to be like Christ.

Money

Luke 16: 10-15 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. ”The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.”

I read this yesterday: LOTTO jackpot winners Colin and Christine Weir have been granted a quickie divorce after 38 years of marriage. … Colin, 71, and Christine, 62, who took home the jackpot in 2011 had been married for 38 years before being hit by the curse of the lottery. They won £161 million!

All that money and it didn’t bring them happiness and it certainly didn’t save their marriage.

Wealth can seriously affect your health and well-being.

Jesus speaks to the Pharisees who loved money! He stresses the importance of faithfulness. Can God trust you with it?

The truth is we all like money. Most of us would like more. The reason being is obvious, we like what it does, what it gives us, where it takes us. But it is dangerous because of all of that. It can demand our attention and our desperation, our worship and our servitude.

Are you worrying about money?

Are you wanting some retail therapy today?

When was the last time you gave some money in just an act of generosity and not your tithe?

Do you tithe?

Are you free from the power of money?

Be faithful.

Investing in eternity

Luke 16 v 1-9 “Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. ² So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ ³ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ⁴ I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ ⁵ “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ ⁷ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ ⁸ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. ⁹ I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

In an unusual parable Jesus addresses his disciples and instructs them not to be dishonest. That is not what he is praising but the shrewdness. This manager was clever.

I tell you … this is what he is getting at:

One day we will have to give an account for the money and assets that we have gained in this life.

Just as the manager gained himself a future by taking care of the present of people’s lives (their debts) so also we should invest in others for our own eternal good.

People are always more important than possessions.

If we use our money to alleviate suffering and influence lives, then those lives will welcome us home.

Let us live our earthly lives in the light of our eternal home.

What is your view of the Father’s house?

Luke 15

The third parable Jesus tells in answer to the Pharisees grumbling of him welcoming sinners. The parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and now the lost son. In this parable Jesus turns his attention back to the religious, to those who do not think they are lost. We know nothing of the 99 sheep or the 9 coins that are not lost but here Jesus describes the son who wasn’t lost in detail and the finger is definitely pointed to the religious in answering who is the eldest son? More importantly, if the Pharisees are grumbling because heaven rejoices over the ‘sinners’ coming to Jesus, what is the relationship like between the Pharisees and heaven?

 

1. He has a faulty relationship with the Father based on works.

 

v11,v25 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons…Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.”

 

He was the greatest servant on the farm. Why was this wrong? He was a son.

All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.

He makes it sound like hard work. He was living in the Father’s love at the beginning, he knew the Father loved him, but he had never received that love for himself. He was too busy. A great servant makes for a lousy son.

Jesus loves me this I know

For the Bible tells me so

Little ones do Him belong

They are weak but He is strong.

The Pharisees needed to become children again, not workers.

We also need to learn how to embrace the Father’s love without working for it.

 

2. He is in the Father’s house but he is not experiencing it.

 

v25-26. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.”

 

He heard people having a great time. As a son why didn’t he just go in? Why did he go and call a servant to find out?

He wasn’t relaxed in his own home.

The Pharisees did not understand that in the Father’s house there is rejoicing.

The Church should be free to party. In the Father’s house are emotions, sometimes tears of love and comfort, sometimes joy and laughter, sometimes dancing and celebrations.

 

3. His hurt keeps him from experiencing the Father’s love, v

“But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.”

 

You may long for a blessing from your Father but deep and unresolved hurts are preventing that.

The Pharisees hearts had become hardened like a fortress, but these defensive walls prevented the Father’s love being experienced.

Are you hurt?

 

4. His expectations of his Father’s love are way low so he refuses to ask.

 

v30-31. “But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’  “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

 

 

How sad that the Pharisees could have experienced all that the ‘sinners’ were experiencing and more!

They had the attitude that still exists today in that ‘If the Father is going to bless me, heal me, touch me then He’ll do it’.

No He won’t.

V31.

The Father is saying you never asked, you never put yourself in the position to receive.

 

What a waste of a life to have been religious, believing you are better than most, keeping some rules, going to Church, singing songs, saying some prayers and yet never knowing the Father and his love and his house of joy!

Emergency love

 

Luke 15: 8-9 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

In 2006 the church where I served held a building fund offering day. On the given Sunday morning, just over £35,500 was given, a remarkable offering that was the largest in its history. As I closed the morning service and inviting people to come to the evening service I told them to go looking for coins down the sides of their chairs, under the bed, in their clothes, all the hidden places in their houses. In effect sweep the house clean for the coins! That evening we saw the offering rise to £36,000!

Lost coins are all around us, we just don’t go looking for them.

Remember, Jesus is telling this story because the religious were murmuring at him welcoming sinners.

Jesus reveals just what ‘welcoming’ sinners really means to him. He doesn’t just welcome them, he goes looking for them. He turns on the light, cleans the house thoroughly and searches carefully. He is meticulous in his search. Joy waits until the search is over and the sheep and the coin are found. For now it is the emotion of desire. This is emergency love. This is industrial grace. The coin must not stay lost. Whether or not this was part of the woman’s jewellery (they would often have coins on a necklace around their head indicating they were married) what is clear is that this woman cares. Her life is agitated not by the 9 coins that she still has but the 1 coin that is lost. She is not comforted by the 9 that are left. The 9 only remind her that the 1 is lost. But when she finds it then the party begins. How can she party with the 9 when 1 is lost?

May our churches rejoice again! Not because of the great music and the powerful words we sing. But because of the lost people that have been found that week.

 

 

Keep an eye out on the small numbers

Luke 15: 3-7 “Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he 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 neighbours 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.”

You have 99 sheep. You have only lost 1.

Why be concerned about the 1?

The 99 never strayed away, they never got lost and they never gave you any problems.

But this one sheep not only got lost, but you lost it. It may be its own fault for getting lost but you assume the responsibility for it.

If you can apportion blame then you don’t need to do anything, you don’t need to go searching, it is not your fault.

If you can blame it then you can focus on the larger number that is left.

But you don’t.

This sheep is no longer in the safety of the flock.

It began to drift.

It stopped coming to the home-group.

It reduced the Sunday attendances.

Finally it dropped off completely.

Weeks have gone by.

Are you bothered? It is only 1 member, you still have 99.

It is just 1 widow.

1 young person.

1 poor person.

1 not very gifted person.

Are you concerned about the small numbers?

If you want to see growth then don’t be tempted by the largeness of 99 that you forget it is made up of 99 individuals who could all get lost.

To get back to 100, you have to keep an eye on the smallness of one.

This is mission.

Lost people and the Church

Luke 15

V1 Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering round to hear him.

V2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”

V3 Then Jesus told them this parable …

V8 “Or suppose …

V11 Jesus continued …

 

The religious saw those around Jesus as sinners and they had probably just reason for doing so. There were people who collected taxes for the Romans who were oppressing God’s people and making a living out of it. Then there were others who were so distanced from ever being able to be accepted by God either because of their lifestyle or background.

The religious were offended and angry not only with the lost but with the One who was seemingly enjoying being with them and at the same time claiming to be sent from heaven to do so. They were in fact protecting God from such incredulous impure connection. God is holy.

 

Three stories from Jesus.

Sheep, coin and a son. All three were lost and all are found in different ways. Jesus is responding to the criticism of being focused on the lost with these parables. Jesus doesn’t say they are not lost. He is not just welcoming everyone into the Kingdom without the need to follow him. The parties, celebrations and rejoicing come after the repentance. They are lost and he has come to lead them.

The challenge for the Church and Christians who are trying to be like Jesus today is this:

Who is gathering around us that results in such criticism?

Who are the ‘lost’ today?

What stories do we have to tell that explain why we spend more time reaching lost people than spending time with those who think they are righteous?

 

 

 

Don’t hang out with grumblers

Luke 15:1-2 “1 Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering round to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”

Who surrounds your life?

Who is wanting to hear you?

Who are you welcoming?

Who do you eat meals with?

It’s probably a whole lot more enjoyable if it isn’t the religious mutterers and grumblers of this life.

The salt of discipleship

Luke 14: 34-36 “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. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Luke is obviously writing to the early Christians and using these words of Jesus to the Jews reminds the early Church that it influences the world and that makes it a better place. Salt.

It ends a passage that was difficult to read as much in our present day as it was for the first Church and as it was for the Jew to hear it. Salt.

The Church.

Salt that has become unfit. Manure is better.

Is that possible that we could become like this? Has it happened?

The world has many family divisions, unfinished towers and we live surrounded by fights.

Discipleship, costly obedience, sacrificial Christianity means that we will be right in the middle of our world influencing it for the good. The world needs the Church to be salt.

Between 2000-2018 I increasingly wept over the price Christians around the world are paying right now to be salt in their communities. This last year, in a new chapter of my life, the Lord has taken me to weep new tears. It is tears for my own nation. It is to weep for ‘Christians’ who carry a deep sense of justice for what should happen in Church, for those whose feelings are hurt, for the offended, the greedy and selfish. The world waits. God is waiting. Will the Church become salty again? Can it?

I believe in resurrection. It comes only after a death. The Church needs to stop displaying the cross and instead get on it. Perhaps discipleship then has a chance. Maybe our world can experience salt.