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 Luke 12:54-56: What’s the weather doing? (click here for todays passage)

Quite often, Jilly will say to me, ‘It looks like rain’, and I will reply, ‘Well there’s none forecast.’ Then Jilly will say,’But they look like rain clouds to me.’ More times than not she is right! I rely on the weather forecast online and am often wrong!! People can learn to predict the weather by looking around them at what they see. It seems to me that farmers are particularly adept at reading the book of nature. They make great, instinctive meteorologists.

Jesus spoke about the need to similarly read the times. It’s been said that a prophet is someone with a Bible in one hand, and a newspaper in the other – a person who can understand the contemporary scene in the light of Scripture. In the Old Testament, in 1 Chronicles  12:32, we read about the men of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do . May The Lord help us to be in their number. Stay close to God and get His perspective on the news. That amounts to wisdom.

 Luke 12:49-53: The cost of discipleship.(please click here for todays passage)

This short section of Luke shows the cost of discipleship to the disciple. It may involve being divided from people you love; those who love you. You belong to a different world; you are a citizen of another Kingdom, essentially speaking another tongue. If people who know you well now turn against you, or at least think you (and possibly treat you) a little strange, you should not be surprised. You have been born again from above. You are a new creation.  You are not the same person you once were. Jesus sounded a clear warning in these words. It’s not that He intentionally splits people up, but the cleavage is an inevitable result of differing responses to Jesus. In the worst case scenarios the division may entail family members cutting off their relatives, betraying them to malignant authorities, and even killing them ( Matthew 10:21). I once heard that in certain cultures, when a person is converted their familly will carry out their funeral, because as far as they are concerned that individual is now dead. So if you ever feel estranged from your unbelieving relatives, don’t be surprised.

So the cost of discipleship to the disciple is an obvious theme here. But do you ever consider what it has to say about the cost of discipleship to the Master Himself? (50). At Easter we tend to focus on the pain of Jesus ON the cross. But what about His agony BEFORE the cross, as He approached it? He was to be totally immersed in unimaginable suffering, and throughout the years of His ministry that knowledge hung over Him.

‘We may not know, we cannot tell, what pains He had to bear. But we believe it was for us, He hung and suffered there.

It cost Jesus to make our discipleship possible; it will cost us to be His disciples. There is no genuine Christian experience without a high price tag. You can’t have discipleship on the cheap.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you were not understood by your own family. Thank you that you understand the grief I feel over this sense of misunderstanding and estrangement. I also take encouragement to see how your brothers later on turned to you. Thank you Lord. Bless my relatives, and may they too have a revelation of the risen Christ.

Luke 12:35-48: Get on with it!(please click here)

Many years ago I read some words in a book about the second coming of Jesus that went something like this:

‘Waiting for that momentous event is not a matter of sitting in our gardens in our deck chairs, scanning the horizon with our telescopes. No, it is a time for distinctive Christian action.’

That quote pretty much encapsulates the teaching in today’s passage. Do you know what Jesus has given you to do? Well get on with it! That is a primary way to be ready for His return. Faithfully do your job (41,42). Privilege brings responsibility, and the more light you have received , the more will be demanded of you (48). If The Lord has shown you much, what are you doing with that light? What will you do with the much He has shown you? As a Steve Green song says, ‘You want to, now will you?’ This simple, heart- searching song contains the thought that ‘The truth that burns inside you like a host of fiery coals,contains the power to liberate a thousand captive souls. But if the truth will ever set you free depends on you. You want to, now will you?’

What are you doing with all you’ve been given? Do you even want to do anything with it? Jesus is coming back to the world, and it’s time to get on with it.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, in best moments I want to live the truth you have revealed to me. But at times, I admit, I lack the will and desire to live up to what I know. Please forgive me; fill me with your fire, and help me to behave as one who will be held accountable at the last.

Luke 12:22-34: A life that is rich toward God.

When I was a teenager I was very small and looked incredibly young for my age. On one occasion,when I boarded a bus and asked the driver the price of the fare, he replied, ‘For you sonny, a penny!!’ I was mortified because I was old enough to pay full price and wanted to do so. But all my worrying about my height didn’t change a thing (25). I couldn’t add a ‘single cubit’ to my stature, as this verse can read, by fretting. My dear Uncle Alf used to say to me, ‘Don’t worry, you will grow.’ He didn’t promise me I’d be tall, but he did know I would be taller, and he was right. But worry didn’t achieve that.

In the last reading we began to think about what being ‘rich toward God’ (22) will look like. It brought us into contact with the very challenging issue of Christian stewardship. What is my attitude with regard to my stuff? Here are some further insights. A life that is ‘rich toward God’ is:

a.) A committed life (31). It has at its core a dedicated priority – the Kingdom of God. It has decided that God will always come first. With that decision firmly settled it can therefore also be:

b.) A trusting life (22-30). And a trusting life is anxiety-free. If we become ‘bird watchers’ and observers of nature, we will see that the Heavenly Father takes care of even the most insignificant creatures.  I’m sure you will see the ‘how much more’ arguments going on here (24, 28). These are arguments from the lesser to the greater. As someone put it, we must not think that God cares more for His aviary and His garden than He does for His kids! Jesus was not advocating a lazy outlook on life. He wasn’t saying that we are not to work or be provident. The Bible, as a whole, is in favour of these things. But He was saying that in a life where God comes first we can, as a general principle,expect legitimate needs ( not greeds) to be met. (Someone said that God is prepared to take full responsibility for the life that is wholly yielded to Him.) Worry is totally unproductive, as (25) shows – whichever way we take it, it adds up to that essential point. It doesn’t get you anywhere good. Worry will not add years to your life ( but some think excessive worry could shorten it.) The Lord wants us to live at rest (Matthew 11:25-30), in attitude of relaxed confidence in Him. We can if we put Him first. I will now add a third thing about a life ‘rich toward God’. It will be:

c.) A generous life (32-34). The details of this will probably work out differently from person to person, but a life that is God -focussed first and foremost, will also be other people- focussed. We will take account of needs and want to give and share.

Such a committed, trusting, generous lifestyle is a hallmark of Kingdom people.

Prayer: Lord help me to live this kind of life – the life you desire for all your people.

Luke 12:22-34: A life that is rich toward God.(please click here)

When I was a teenager I was very small and looked incredibly young for my age. On one occasion,when I boarded a bus and asked the driver the price of the fare, he replied, ‘For you sonny, a penny!!’ I was mortified because I was old enough to pay full price and wanted to do so. But all my worrying about my height didn’t change a thing (25). I couldn’t add a ‘single cubit’ to my stature, as this verse can read, by fretting. My dear Uncle Alf used to say to me, ‘Don’t worry, you will grow.’ He didn’t promise me I’d be tall, but he did know I would be taller, and he was right. But worry didn’t achieve that.

In the last reading we began to think about what being ‘rich toward God’ (22) will look like. It brought us into contact with the very challenging issue of Christian stewardship. What is my attitude with regard to my stuff? Here are some further insights. A life that is ‘rich toward God’ is:

a.) A committed life (31). It has at its core a dedicated priority – the Kingdom of God. It has decided that God will always come first. With that decision firmly settled it can therefore also be:

b.) A trusting life (22-30). And a trusting life is anxiety-free. If we become ‘bird watchers’ and observers of nature, we will see that the Heavenly Father takes care of even the most insignificant creatures.  I’m sure you will see the ‘how much more’ arguments going on here (24, 28). These are arguments from the lesser to the greater. As someone put it, we must not think that God cares more for His aviary and His garden than He does for His kids! Jesus was not advocating a lazy outlook on life. He wasn’t saying that we are not to work or be provident. The Bible, as a whole, is in favour of these things. But He was saying that in a life where God comes first we can, as a general principle,expect legitimate needs ( not greeds) to be met. (Someone said that God is prepared to take full responsibility for the life that is wholly yielded to Him.) Worry is totally unproductive, as (25) shows – whichever way we take it, it adds up to that essential point. It doesn’t get you anywhere good. Worry will not add years to your life ( but some think excessive worry could shorten it.) The Lord wants us to live at rest (Matthew 11:25-30), in attitude of relaxed confidence in Him. We can if we put Him first. I will now add a third thing about a life ‘rich toward God’. It will be:

c.) A generous life (32-34). The details of this will probably work out differently from person to person, but a life that is God -focussed first and foremost, will also be other people- focussed. We will take account of needs and want to give and share.

Such a committed, trusting, generous lifestyle is a hallmark of Kingdom people.

Prayer: Lord help me to live this kind of life – the life you desire for all your people.

Luke 12:13-21:’How much did he leave?'(please click here)

Two ladies were talking about a rich man who had died. ‘How much did he leave?’ asked one. ‘Everything!’ replied the other. As the saying goes, ‘There are no pockets in a shroud.’ (20).

This is admittedly a disturbing story. I don’t think it is necessarily saying that it is wrong to have possessions, but it gives a clear message that you won’t find your true life in anything material (15). You just won’t! Learn from others. Draw on the lessons of the past. Think about how the writer of ‘Ecclesiastes’ in the Old Testament, tried everything; had everything, but found no satisfaction in any of it. He could have written the song,’But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.’ Consider the lottery and pools winners who have admitted,or shown,that their lives were not enhanced by their winnings.

I think this passage is not so much about the amount of stuff you possess as your attitude to it all. It raises two important questions in particular:

a) Are you looking for life in material things?

b) Do you find your security in what you have? The Bible teaches elsewhere the wisdom of a prudent preparation for the future ( e.g. Proverbs 30:25). But what we have here in the ‘rich man’ is someone who presumed upon a future that he was not going to have. He made his plans without reference to God. (Look at James 4:13-17 and you will see a shiny, bright commentary on this farmer and his attitude.) He was also only interested in keeping his ‘treasure’ for himself. There is no evidence that he thought about sharing or giving.

This section also teaches us not to covet what we do not have. How carefully, then, we must live in a materialistic world in which clever advertisers are constantly sending out seductive messages that ( if we heed them) will cause us to want what we don’t have and will never need. They are like the sirens luring the unguarded onto the rocks by their spellbinding ‘music’. ‘If only you had this…if only you had that…you would be happy.’ It’s a lie. Someone said that materialism is like drinking sea water ( salt water) – the more you have, the more you want.

You have to come away from this parable asking, ‘What does it mean to be ‘rich toward God’?(21). I think there may be a clue in that when this man prospered, there is no record of him thanking God for the blessings, nor asking Him how to use it. A steward does not ‘own’. He or she takes care of the property of another, and they can’t use their boss’s property how the see fit. They have to be in touch with him and listen to his instructions.

From a Christian perspective, good stewardship involves thanking God for all you have and seriously praying for direction in its use.

Prayer: Lord I thank you for bountifully blessing me in ways I do not deserve. I want to say how grateful I am for  all your gifts. If you did not give me another thing I would still have multiplied reasons to thank you. Help me to live gratefully, and wisely and prayerfully, so that I may be rich toward God. This is my true desire.

Luke 12:8-12: Going public.(please click here for todays passage)

I was chatting recently with my colleague Phil, about how many Christians today seem to be suffering from a loss of nerve when it comes to speaking about Jesus. I wonder, what would happen if believers across the UK came out of hiding; stopped wearing camouflage. There are people out there who are attracted by Jesus, and would like to have a conversation about Him. David Watson, a famous evangelist in his day, once observed that the problem with many Christians in the west is that we are like the great Canadian rivers in winter – we get frozen at the mouth!

It strikes me that acknowledging Jesus before men needn’t take a lot of words, but it is about publicly identifying yourself with Christ. The psychiatrist and author, John White, said that fundamentally witness is about honesty: ‘This is who I am. I am a Christian.’ I want to be able to say, and mean it, ‘I am not ashamed’, and demonstrate it by stepping out from behind all my hiding places.

If you go public with your faith you need to take on board verse 4, because it is still a dangerous thing to identify with the crucified Jesus (John 15:18-20). The previous paragraph flows into this one. Let’s be sure of God’s Sovereignty and Fatherly care and concern. Sparrows do fall to the ground, but never behind God’s back (Matthew 10:29).

By the way, don’t be tempted to use this passage as an excuse for a lack of preparation to preach (11,12). Jesus was giving a very specific word about a very definite set of circumstances which had to do with arrest and trial. As a great preacher once said, ‘We can’t pull the wool over people’s eyes. They know when we haven’t prepared.’

Prayer: O Lord, I’m with the psalmist on this one, please open my lips that my mouth may speak forth your praise (Psalm 51:15).

 Luke 12:4-7: His eye is on the sparrow.(please click here)

Cyril Rollinson was nearing the end of his days. A special anniversary was coming up on his calendar; a time to remember the day he became a Christian as a young boy. He thought to himself, ‘ I would love to go and sit in the little Methodist church in Chapeltown (Sheffield) where I gave my life to Christ all those years ago, and give thanks to my Saviour for His goodness to me.’ He happened to mention this to a friend, then wished he hadn’t. His kind friend said, ‘I’ll take you.’ Cyril didn’t want to offend him, but he really wanted to make this ‘pilgrimage’ alone. Anyway, he continued to pray about it. Not long afterwards his friend came to him apologetically and said, ‘I’m really sorry, but I won’t be able to take you after all.’ Cyril was quietly thankful to God that he could go alone, as he had planned. When the day arrived, he took the train to Chapeltown. But once he had exited the suburban Sheffield station he realised the place had changed and he was lost. He set off walking, but he was going in the wrong direction. As he walked up the road, a car came alongside him. The window was wound down and a voice exclaimed, ‘Cyril Rollinson! What are you doing here?’ He looked into the car to see old friends – a husband and wife he hadn’t seen for years. They asked him what he was doing. He told them. ‘Well’, they said, ‘ you are going in the wrong direction. But we are caretakers at that church, and we’re just going there now to do a couple of jobs. So, hop in and we’ll take you!’ While they carried out their responsibilities, Cyril had the privacy to sit alone in the church sanctuary, and thankfully remember the moment he wept his way to Christ as a very much younger men. Then the caretakers took him for some something to eat, and drove him all the way back to Leeds.

Whenever Cyril told this story he would ask questions like: ‘ What if my friend in Leeds had been able to take me?’ ‘What if I’d got into the station at a different time?’ ‘What if I hadn’t taken the wrong turning?’ You get the drift. (Any other time and the building would probably have been locked.)Then would come the wonderful punchline, ‘His eye is on the sparrow!’

Because our Heavenly Father knows us so well, and watches over us, we can live fear- free lives. The only fear required is the totally appropriate reverential fear of God.

Prayer: thank you Lord for your intimate care of our lives, and the peace we can have because of it.

 Luke 11:37-12:9: What are you ‘full’ of?(please click here for todays passage)

‘And yet hypocrites would fain, by means of tortuous windings, make a show of being near to God at the very time they are fleeing from him.’ John Calvin.

Religion is rather fond of  ‘the outside of the cup’ (39). Religious people are concerned with outer appearances. So long as they look good on the surface they don’t care too much about the inner life. I would argue that Christianity is concerned about both the inside and the outside. Integrity matters; the integration of the whole person. Who I seem to be externally must not be a mask to cover the inside. The Christian faith works from the inside out (see 2 Corinthians 4:6). What we are becoming on the interior will more and more show through to the exterior.

Inside we are all ‘full of’ something (39). As a leader ( and Jesus was speaking to religious leaders) what you are full of will spill over into the lives of other people you are leading. That could be good, but it may be bad. Jesus was scathing in His denunciations of the religious leaders in His day. He knew they were full of bad things like:

– ‘greed and wickedness’ (39);

– pride (42, 43);

– death (44);

– hypocrisy (12:1-3);

These religious leaders were unconverted men, so how could they really help anyone else? (52). Those who came into contact with them touched death because the leaders were spiritually dead.

But even if you are a soundly converted person in leadership, there remains the challenge to cultivate the inside of your life so that lovely things are planted there; beautiful ‘flowers’ that will eventually show on the surface. Don’t succumb to the temptation to be play a part. (The word for ‘hypocrite’ means to be an actor). Be real. That starts on the inside. It can’t be slapped on like make-up.