Home thoughts from abroad.wordpress.com

Luke 9:57-62: ‘First’.(please click here for todays passage)

The first voice in this short section expresses a superficial, perhaps careless,                        ill-considered promise to follow Jesus. Do they really understand what they are getting into? It’s not been thought through.

In listening to the second and third voices we are brought face to face with the matter of priorities: Who or what comes first? Jesus does not encourage ‘easy-believism’; a shallow approach to follower-ship. We preachers should not do so either. Let would be disciples count the cost ( see 14:25-33). I am reminded that someone said, ‘Entrance to the Kingdom of God is free, but the annual subscription is all that you’ve got.’

Compare these words with the wonderful story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16). Note especially Elijah’s words: ‘But first…’ (13), and see how God blessed her when her priorities were aligned with God’s (Matthew 6:33).

Prayer: Help me Lord to always put you first.

Luke 9:51-56: The ministry of tears.(please click here for todays passage)

I heard a leader ask, ‘Does good leadership walk away from a problem or towards it?’ I instinctively knew the answer, but was also aware in that moment of how much I feel the temptation to walk away from some things.

When you know that a difficult experience lies ahead, but you recognise that it must be part of God’s will for you, it is good to be resolute in determining to go through it, with His help. Set your face to ‘go to Jerusalem.’ Embrace the way of the cross. There is an unavoidable cost in Christian discipleship. Some things just have to be faced bravely; they cannot be avoided. You can’t fly over them; you have to go through them.

‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.’ Isaiah 43:2

And here’s another thing. Some Christians seem to be gung-ho about preaching hell and judgment. They seem to relish it. You can almost sense they are rubbing their hands together at the prospect.Theycan hardly wait to see people getting zapped; to watch fire falling on contemporary Samaritan villages. But one preacher said we should never speak about Hell except with tears in our eyes, and I rather find that I am drawn to his sentiments.

Prayer: ‘Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell.’ C.T. Studd.

Luke 9:49,50: Be wary of criticism.(please click here for todays passage)

There are people doing good work for Jesus who do not belong to our particular sector of the church. Fancy that!

When the young, teenage, Spurgeon wrote home to tell his parents that he was going to be baptised by full immersion, his mother wrote him back to the effect that whereas she had prayed for his conversion she had not prayed that he would become a Baptist! (They were Congregational by affiliation). With his characteristic humour evident even then, Charles replied to the effect, ‘Ah mother, the Lord in His bounty has done far more than you could ask or think!!’

Writing in 1991 Dallas Willard said, ‘In previous times, to be a Protestant and to be a member of a particular Protestant denomination was a very serious matter. On occasion it had been, as history shows, a literal matter of life and death. People were persecuted and even killed over differences of denomination, and those of one denomination rarely held out much hope either for the moral decency or the eternal prospects of those from others. As late as the forties and fifties of this century, intermarriage was strongly discouraged and deep friendships rarely found across denominational lines’

Thankfully, he could go on to add, ‘In the sixties and seventies, by contrast, such attitudes effectively disappeared from the American scene…it is a fact that during the last two decades we experienced the complete trivialisation of sectarian dogmatism along denominational lines.’ (‘The spirit of the disciplines’, p21.)

The same thing can also be said of the UK. We recognise across the Bible-believing churches that we have much more in common than things that cause us to differ, and the differences tend to be about secondary matters.

Eugene Peterson writes about how for many years, in his town in Maryland, he was part of what he calls ‘the company of pastors’. They met in his study at 12 noon every Tuesday and came together to help and encourage each other in the pastoral task. Most of them were following the same lectionary, so they would talk together about the text for the following Sunday, and try to give help with exegesis and illustrations. They would discuss how to apply this Scripture passage to every aspect of their week.Not every minister in the town joined them, but many did. I understand that today, probably more than 40 years after its inception ( and long after Peterson moved on) the ‘company’ is still going. It sounds marvellous and something I would love to be part of. We have so much to learn from other believers of different stripes.

It remains the case of course that we have a duty to guard the gospel, and not compromise by our associations. But let’s be wary of judging others, and keep clear of dismissing people whose methods and views may differ from ours in some ways. God has the right to use people I don’t like; those I might disagree with. There are many doing good work for Jesus who don’t belong to my ‘church’. God bless them I say!

Remember this dictum: ‘In essentials – unity; in non- essentials – liberty; and in all things – charity.’

Prayer: Lord give me a big heart towards all who own you as Saviour and Lord, and a willingness to learn from all my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Luke 9:46-48: ‘The relentless smell of the self.'(please click for todays passage)

Yet again we see an expression of ‘the upside down kingdom’.

We can’t hide from Jesus; He sees and hears us.

People who follow Christ are called to be humble. ‘For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment…’ (Romans 12:3). ‘Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.’ (Philippians 2:2).

Here are three challenges from this short reading:

1. What is my attitude to status (48b)? Am I willing to take the lowest seat? (14:7-11). We have the example of Jesus ever before us (Philippians 2:1-11), and it teaches and rebukes and corrects us.

2. What is my attitude to children? Do I see their worth and value? Do I care for them, and listen to them and treat them with dignity? Do I welcome them and see Christ in them? (18:15-17). Do I regard the Sunday School as of less importance than the ‘main church service’?

3. What is my attitude toward others? (46). Is it one of unfavourable comparison; of competition? Do I feel myself to be in some way superior and want to be thought of in that way? What happened to the idea of all being on level ground before the cross? The irony is that the One who truly was ‘the greatest’ in that group made Himself least among them. But Jesus exemplifies God’s law of gravity, that ‘what goes down must come up’ ( see 1 Peter 5:5,6).

In his autobiography, ‘The Pastor’, Eugene Peterson describes how, at one time, two young people, ‘Sarah and Steve’, came to see him regularly to talk about what is involved in being a pastor. In one conversation he said this to them, ”You are at your pastoral best when you are not noticed. To keep this vocation healthy requires constant self-negation, getting out of the way. A certain blessed anonymity is inherent in pastoral work. For pastors, being noticed easily develops into wanting to be noticed. Many years earlier a pastoral friend told me that the pastoral ego ‘has the reek of disease about it, the relentless smell of the self.’ I’ve never forgotten that.”

Prayer: Lord I see that every Christian grace grows in the soil of humility. I hate my prideful egoism. Help me to humble myself under your mighty Hand.

Luke 9:43b-45: The centrality of the cross(please click here for todays passage)

In the previous section, a desperate man pleaded with Jesus for help for His son, calling the Lord, ‘Teacher’ (38). But the section ends with the words: ‘And all were astonished at the majesty of God.’ The Divinity of Jesus was revealed in His mighty works, and the next paragraph opens with, ‘But while they were all marvelling at everything he was doing…’ (43b). However, things took an unexpected turn, in spite of what Jesus had said earlier (21,22). The more they saw of Jesus’ miracles, possibly the more they thought of Him as the conquering Messiah who would evict the Romans once and for all, and bring in the final expression of God’s Kingdom there and then. But the fact was that Jesus was going to die in the next scene of the drama (44). The cross is central to Christianity and we should let the Bible’s words about it ‘sink into’ our ears (44).

There is a mystery to the workings of God in this world as He reveals His truth to people (45). But I am so glad to be able to say that although once I was blind, I now can see.

Prayer: Jesus keep me near the cross.

Luke 9:37-43a: ‘…but they could not’.(please click for todays passage.)

When I read this story I find that I identify with the disciples’ inability and lack of power in the face of overwhelming need. They had just descended from the mountain top of glory where they had seen remarkable things, but now in the valley of need, they were faced with their own impotence. However,we know from elsewhere in the gospels that the disciples asked Jesus privately why they could not cast this demon out (Matthew 17:19).His reply was because of a lack of faith (Matthew 17:20), and Mark’s version suggests it was also due to a lack of prayer – and even fasting (according to some manuscripts Mark 9:29). In my own ( admittedly limited) experience, I have found that these things go together: prayer, fasting and faith. Faith grows in the fertile soil of prayer and fasting, and real power to bring down strongholds is unleashed as we engage in these thoroughly Biblical disciplines.

Some years ago I read the remarkable story of the Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea. In the hills behind the city centre, where the church met, there was a place called ‘Prayer Mountain’. It was a prayer retreat centre, full of spartan rooms,having little furniture. The book said that when members of the church faced problems, they would regularly go to ‘Prayer Mountain’ for two or three days and pray with fasting. Commonly they found that the insoluble was solved, the mountains moved, the miracles came.

Are you facing a situation that intimidates you with its size? You feel helpless before it. Have you considered going to ‘Prayer Mountain’? You can do that without going anywhere near South Korea.

Luke 9:28-36: Wakey, Wakey.(please click here for todays passage)

The theme of prayer yet again surfaces. The subject of Jesus praying is again brought to our attention. Bear in mind that prayer is one of Luke’s ‘big’ themes spanning both The gospel and Acts.

Here are two things that happened to Jesus when He prayed that, I believe, will be replicated in the lives of those who pray in Jesus’ Name:

a.) Jesus was transformed/transfigured (29). I understand the Greek word is essentially ‘metamorphosis’.- the process by which a caterpillar is changed into a butterfly. I understand that the same word/ idea reappears in 2 Corinthians 3:16. As we keep our eyes on the Lord in prayer; as we look at Him and to Him; as we worship Him, so we are transformed more and more into His likeness – people who shine with the glory of God in this dark world.

b.) The Lord had an experience of the spiritual realm, seeing and hearing wonderful things (30, 31).He had a vivid encounter with eternity, we might say. Never forget that hearing from God lies at the heart of prayer. It is not merely about a monologue on our part (35). By the way, the word translated ‘departure’ in verse 31 is actually ‘exodus’. Jesus, by His death and resurrection which He had only just foretold, was going to bring about the greatest rescue of all – a deliverance the like of which the exodus story was only a shadow. He was going to make possible freedom from the slavery of sin.)

It seems to me that in Jesus you have a picture of the ideal prayer life, and its effects. But we also see in the disciples a reflection of what we so regularly find in the church regarding prayer/prayer meetings. We are often dopey and dozy and only half awake (32).We need a slap around the chops from the Holy Spirit. The sleepiness regarding prayer seems to me to be one of the saddest and greatest failings of the contemporary church. But it’s not all bad news, for it is possible for the disciples to become ‘fully awake’ (32) and see the glory of Jesus, and enter into deep spiritual realities. I pray this day for such an awakening.

Luke 9:23-27: Daily Discipleship (Please click here for todays passage)

Somebody said that the true measure of a life lies not in its duration but it’s donation. It’s not how long you live but how much you give. Each day provides ample opportunities to die to self and serve others (24). Many of these will be found at home, in your domestic life. The life of self- denial and cross-carrying is to be lived ‘daily’ (23). It is not just for Sundays and special religious festivals like Christmas and Easter. This very day; this so ordinary day, you will find occasion to crucify yourself and give to others. Paradoxically, it is in such giving away that you find your true life. You can have everything and yet nothing (25); and yet you can give away and still have, and keep forever. That is the way of Jesus and it is the best.

I recently wrote about seeing a sign in the Kauri Forest in New Zealand, saying that the giant tree may well date back to the time of Christ, and I noted that someone had tried to erase the the Name of Jesus. As we were talking about this, I said to Jilly, I Just feel I want to shout, ‘I am not ashamed of Jesus’ (26). But it takes self denial; constant death to self, to identify with Jesus in a world system that wants to rub Him out. That’s the context in which we ‘daily’ live out our discipleship.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please give me the courage and strength to die to myself today, and trust you with the outcome.

Luke 9:18-22: Teach me to pray.Please click here for todays passage.

In Eugene Peterson’s book, ‘The pastor’, he tells a story about how one day, after being in the ministry for a number of years, a lady from his congregation came to him and said, ‘Please will you teach me to pray.’ He saw clearly that this work of spiritual direction lay at the heart of what he was called to do, yet it was the first time anyone had asked for such help.

Peterson also tells how early on in his ministry he was advised to read the writings of a certain author, who was regarded at the time to be the leading authority on pastoral work. He devoured his books, but after a while began to sense that something was wrong. Then it hit him – in all the volumes he had read there was not a single reference to prayer. How can you be a pastor who does not pray?

Today’s reading opens with something of an anomaly: ‘’Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him.’’ (18a, ESV). He was praying alone, yet in company. That got me thinking. As a spiritual leader, somehow, without parading your spirituality, you have to let people into your prayer life. The disciples saw enough of Jesus at prayer to want His help and guidance with their own devotions (see Luke 11:1, and the context: Luke 10:38-42). As a pastor, a chief way you will fulfil your vocation (if not the chief way) will be alone, on your knees. But ‘’the disciples’’ will always be with you – in your heart. Like the high priest in the Old Testament, you will carry the names of the ‘’tribes’’ on your ‘’breastplate’’. But there are other ways too in which they will need to be with you; to be invited to join you in the life of prayer. William Still counselled young pastors along these lines: ‘When you go to serve a church, announce that you will be praying at a certain time and place. Don’t say you will pray if anyone comes. Say you will be there praying, and invite people to join you. Be there, and pray regardless of who shows up.’

There always have been divergent viewpoints regarding who Jesus is (18b, 19), but this is the most important question you will ever face (20). Who is Jesus? What do you say? The Person and Work of Christ are closely bound together – His divinity and His death/resurrection. And this Jesus who is the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, was a Man of prayer. (He was also a Man of the Word. He knew from the Scriptures that there was a ‘’must’’ about His rejection and crucifixion and resurrection.)

There is something about prayer that is vital to Christian ministry, and Jesus is still setting the example to contemporary disciples, for we still see and hear Him at prayer in the gospel records. Furthermore, Jesus is interceding for us in heaven right now. Someone observed, ‘You’re on Jesus’ prayer list. That ought to make your whole day.’

My response to all of this: ‘Lord, teach me to pray!’