Missions Paul

Grey

Luke 17 v 11 “Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.”

Can you walk down the grey path? It is a lot more difficult than the black and white paths of life.

The border between Samaria and Galilee is a grey path, It is neither one or the other. The Samaritans were definitely considered as unclean people by those in Galilee. This is borderland and an unclean place. They haven’t even arrived yet in the next border town of the leper colony and here they are, Jesus leading them in uncomfortable places. They would meet their own kind there but also people who were known as below them, people who didn’t please God though they tried by following Scriptures, they never worshipped in the Temple of Jerusalem and so were sub-standard. Galilee was where Jesus had performed miracles and had cleansed so many lives. But along the border is where a new culture develops between the acceptable and the not so.

Does everything have to be clear cut for you?

Are there certain streets you will never walk down?

Is your favourite verse in the Bible, ‘Come out from among them’? (2 Corinthians 6:17)

Do you never like to use grey?

Jesus walks in the questionable places.

Jesus walks in the places that were united but now stand divided.

Jesus walks where no one really wants to.

Jesus walks in the messy places.

He likes the grey.

 

 

 

Duty

 

Luke 17 v 7-10 “⁷ “Suppose one of you has a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸ Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹ Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

 

Having just taught that as disciples we should treat people with respect and that we should live a life of continuing to forgive, Jesus then warns the disciples not to be like the Pharisees and think themselves superior for doing so. This is after all our duty. The English translation says we are servants. But the Greek ‘doulos’ is slave. The slave in this parable is ploughing the field, farming the sheep, preparing the food and getting everything ready for the master. That was his duty. Now we might think he deserved to be thanked. The parable suggests otherwise. There is no room for entitlement whether that be of thanks or a sense of achievement. If you receive from God it is purely grace. Nothing of what you have done has earned the praise. It is your duty to obey. I am not sure there is much discipleship without duty.

Let us go and do our duty today by serving God in all we that we do.

10 healthy rebukes.

Luke 17: 3-6 “So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. ⁴ Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” ⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”

There are times that a rebuke is needed. The word means ‘to express strong disapproval of someone, to speak seriously, to warn’ in order to prevent an action or bring one to an end.

There are a lot of rebukes that lead to division and hurt. Can there ever be a healthy rebuke? Here are 10 thoughts:

1. A sin needs a rebuke from the one sinned against, v3.
2. It will be a healthier rebuke if we see the sinner as family, our brother or sister, v3.
3. A rebuke is for the purpose of repentance which leads to forgiveness, v3.
4. The one who rebukes has relationship in sight, v3.
5. A rebuke is not to gain advantage or to harm but it leads to the eventual surrender of the one rebuking as they forgive the sinner, v3.
6. A rebuke may be ignored or non-effectual, the sinner may continue to sin and keep coming back, the rebuke may need patience, v4.
7. The measure of the rebuke must not increase even if you spend all day rebuking the same person, it should still lead to forgiveness not division, v4
8. This controlled and compassionate rebuke seems beyond us at times, v5.
9. The rebuke needs faith because without it you can never live a life of forgiveness, v5.
10. It is easier to rebuke into forgiveness than move a mulberry tree into the sea. If we can do the latter with a little faith then we can muster enough faith that God can restore that relationship, v5.

 

 

Treating the mikros with respect.

Luke 17: 1-2 “Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. ² It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

Jesus is still speaking about the religious leaders and the ordinary Jew as he addresses his disciples. The ‘little ones’ does mean children but it also means anyone of any age who is under our influence. In fact the word is ‘mikros’ and it means the ‘unimportant’ or the ‘insignificant’. These religious leaders were not only lovers of money but they were lovers of themselves. They were burdening people. The ordinary Jew were being tempted to believe that they would never please God unless they performed every religious duty devised by man. You see the things that were causing people to stumble were not the obvious tempting sins. It was this religious nonsense and it still exists. The Pharisee is still amongst us. Deceptive and manipulative leadership causes people to stumble in this life. Any authority that views people as unimportant and insignificant in the way they are spoken to and treated needs to be removed. In the words of Jesus, if they cause needless harm then they need to be hurled to the bottom of the sea. Strong? Yes but that’s how wrong it is.

I believe this applies to everyone and not just leaders. But come the position comes the responsibility. I heard a few days ago how a young person has stopped going to church simply because she was told by her Pastor, “You are not a very good Christian.” That comment no matter how much the leader felt justified to say it tempted the girl to think, “You’re right, I’m not going to be able to do this life,” and she walked away. She was tempted and she surrendered to it.

But how can the Church show discipline? How can we lead if we are unable to use strength and challenge? We do it the Christ way. We go via the cross and we lay our life down in total humility. This is how we treat the mikros. He showed us no other way.

Our responses and actions towards people either causes them to thrive or trip. We cause them to grow or to stumble. The temptation trap is always available to us and we must resist picking it up at all costs.

Mikros should never be used.

If you miss the opportunity then you’ve missed it.

 

Luke 16 v 27-31 “²⁷ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, ²⁸ for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ ³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ ³¹ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

The revelation of the Scriptures (the Law and the Prophets) all point to the fact that it is Jesus, the Messiah, standing amongst them.

But they missed it.

The rich man appeals to Abraham that if Lazarus bridged the chasm and went to the home/gate of his family then they would repent. In a prophetic moment in the parable Jesus speaks of his resurrection, ‘even if …’ but even then they would not listen. Jesus did cross over that chasm when he rose from the grave.

But they missed it.

The first readers of Luke would definitely be thinking of Jesus in this parable and how even his physical resurrection was not enough to convince the religious leaders and hardened Jews.

The point is if you have missed it then nothing will change that.

What did they miss?

Jesus, the Messiah of course.

But also the opportunity to be big-hearted to the poor. They were lovers of money and stingy with mercy. They missed the chance to have a generosity of heart, to be loving and kind. They did not open the gate to the poor, to those burdened by life, to people who were ‘below’ them.

The opportunity to be loving is here right now. Open the gate today. Swing wide your arms, embrace even those who you do not like.

We have those same opportunities today.

We will have so many excuses and reasons not to be so.

Let us not miss it.

The closed gate becomes the chasm.

Luke 16: 22-26 “²² “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴ So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ ²⁵ “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

 

If you don’t open the accessible gate in this present life and help people then the chasm will be too wide in the next life to receive any help that you need.

What you do on earth has massive consequences to what happens to you in the next life.

Jesus is welcoming the sinners, the Pharisees who love their money (v14) are not.

The 2 men, one rich and one poor are no longer separated by the closed gate. Now it is an eternal chasm that can never be crossed.

What you have on earth is no indicator of what you will have after you have died.

The 2 men die. Even the rich and the ones who lord it over others get old and die.

The beggar is named first, his death seems more prominent.

The rich man also dies. He isn’t carried by the angels. He is buried in Hades. The Jews saw that as a resting torturous place before the final judgment.

You reap what you sow. This is not about what you have or don’t have. This is about what did you do to others with what you had?

The rich man never even gave a cup of cold water. Now he is longing for just a finger of cold water.

How he must have wished he could turn the clock back and have opened the gate to the poor man. But it is too late. The chasm is set.

The sad fact is that this is not just a rich man, this is a son of Abraham (v25), a religious man. How can the religious not have big generous hearts to people? Shocking that this may sound, the religious man will have a long time to think that over.

Swing wide the gate, welcome the sinner and get onto the right side of the chasm.

What is on the other side of your gate?

Luke 16: 19-21

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.”

 

Jesus tells another parable, again it is to teach about the kingdom.

 

There are 2 men. They are separated by a gate.

 

A rich man who lived a life of luxury. He didn’t need a thing. His clothes were expensive ones. His life was one of opulence. His days were full of celebration and rejoicing.

 

The other man is not rich. Far from it. He has to beg. He is sick. He has sores. Dogs are his friends. He is miserable. He is hungry. He longs for the throw-away food.

 

Two men separated by a gate.

 

Around the world the poor live alongside the rich. Those in despair with those who have more delights than they can manage. One street can be rich and the other side of that street can be poor. In my lifetime the world has shrunk, it is reachable now, there is just a gate that separates.

 

This morning I woke to a text from a friend in Burkina Faso. It doesn’t take long to get to this country, less than 6 hours flight from Paris. It is just the other side of the gate. I woke in the comfort of my home to read the following: “Church planter Y. reported just now that church planter A.C in Gorom Gorom in the north was woken up and forced out of his home late last night by two armed men with guns. As they were leading him out of his home he managed to swiftly escape in the dark and they fired several shot at him but God indeed protected him, the bullets missed him. His family (wife and children) have run away to his in-laws. A.C is now hiding in a different town, where Y is on his way to visit him and bring him support and encouragement.” As I was sleeping last night I had no idea that someone close to me (the Church planter of my friend) was going through the valley of the shadow of death. He is just the other side of my gate, what will I do?

After reading that text and before I began to open the Bible and write this I looked at my news app and something caught my eye. “A BBC investigation has uncovered a secret world of sexual exploitation of children and young women by religious figures. Clerics are grooming vulnerable girls in Iraq and offering them for sex, a controversial religious practice known as ‘pleasure marriage’”. I then read of a painful testimony of a young girl called Rusul, a teenager who ‘married’ too many times to count. My app news brought Rusul into my home. She is the other side of my gate, what will I do?

One thing is important to me is that I never become cocooned into my own world of comfort, provision and small-mindedness.

 

What’s on the other side of your gate?

Who are those below you? Who are those who have diseases you will never have? Who are the hungry and the destitute? They are on the other side of your gate. Take a look.

The gate that divides. The gate that encloses you into your world. The gate that keeps you focused on self. The gate that makes your world smaller.

Take a look. They are there waiting and hoping.

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.