Word on Wednesday with John Mason

Isaiah 35 - Through Isaiah, God promises salvation and hope for His people.

Phillippians 4 - Giving thanks in everything - and the peace of God ...

The world around us seems to be growing more selfish and corrupt. The values that spring from a general acknowledgement that we are the special creation of a personal God are gathering dust on the shelf of history. Parents are concerned about the influences of social media and the impact of gender issues. Drugs and alcohol, homelessness, violence and rape seem more prevalent. Is it possible to feel hopeful? Two and a half millennia ago hopelessness was staring the little kingdom of Judah in the face. In the 8th century BC the Assyrian imperial army rampaged through the Middle East and sacked the northern kingdom of Israel. A century later the Babylonian armies were on the rise, and it was only a matter of time before Judah received the unwelcome attention of those powerful forces. How would Judah survive? She had no army to speak of, no money and no allies. Greater nations had already been cut down. Political obliteration seemed inevitable. Yet despite the odds, Judah’s morale was not destroyed. A glimmer of hope was on the horizon. It was Isaiah, one of the prophets who had spoken of doom and despair, who wrote about a special leader who would be raised up. In Isaiah chapter 11, features of God’s promised king unfold. A leader after God’s own heart. Isaiah was disappointed by the politicians of his day. They were corrupt: they took bribes, ignored the poor, and turned a blind eye to justice. King Ahaz, for example, had broken every trust given to him. He had even used the gold of the Temple to try to bribe Assyria and prevent her march on Jerusalem. He’d failed. He was another ruler who’d let his people down. Time and time again, rulers and governments do that. In most western democracies today election promises are constantly consigned to the trash. In chapter 11, verse 1, Isaiah offers hope: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Jesse was the father of King David, the great king in the Old Testament. Just as David himself had come out of obscurity, Isaiah is saying, so too a new king would emerge, and he would be greater than David and his son Solomon. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, Isaiah says, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2-3). Wisdom, understanding and knowledge would characterize this king’s rule. But fundamental would be his willingness to learn from God. There would be no political blunders in his rule. Furthermore, corruption would not plague his government; the media wouldn’t be able to destroy him – either over his personal integrity or his policies. No one would be living in poverty or without a home. A leader who would use his power for peace. The metaphors in verse 6 are vivid: The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. Peace would be the mark of this leader’s rule. Periods of world peace are fleeting. The war in Ukraine has expunged the view that the world had at last entered a time of safety, security and prosperity. Yet Isaiah insists, under God’s ruler there will be no incompetence, no corruption, no violence – only peace. Could it be true? A leader who draws his people from the nations. Isaiah doesn’t stop there, for in verses 10 though 16 he portrays people coming from all parts of the world, like a scattered army, to rally around this ruler. It will be a victorious, redeemed community, he says (11:15). People will come from the East and the West. Highways will be built to God’s City so that people from every nation can come. It’s a vivid and poetic picture. Understandably we ask, ‘Could it happen?’ ‘Who is this root of Jesse, this ruler to whom the people rally, who will restore creation to its pristine harmony?’ Jesus. Some seven hundred years before Jesus came, Isaiah predicted the first coming of God’s king as well as his return. This is one of the amazing things about the Bible that convinces me that it is what it says it is – namely, God’s deliberate, progressive, self-revelation. Centuries before Jesus came, Isaiah opened a window on Jesus’ life and work. Wise men did come from the Far East to pay him homage at his birth. And people from around the world have been coming to him ever since his death and resurrection. The Gospel writers reveal that Jesus not only taught but backed up his words with action that showed God’s compassion for a sick and sorry world. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and dealt with the powers of evil. As the New Testament unfolds, we learn that the coming of God’s king is in two parts: his first coming was a rescue operation; his return will reveal the king in all his might, majesty dominion and power. He will bring his perfect justice to bear and, with the unveiling of his own glory, will reveal the glory of all who have truly

Isaiah's foretelling of the coming of Messiah, God's King - our Hope.

Philippians 4:4-9 - Giving thanks to the Lord in all things - and knowing the peace of God which passes all understanding.

‘Thanksgiving’ in America is one of the delights Judith and I experienced when we moved to New York in 2001. Despite the evil events of September 11 that year, people at the Thanksgiving Dinner we attended expressed their thanks for the way the Lord had used the events of 9/11 to build their trust in him. When we think about it, thanksgiving is a theme that permeates the Bible – especially the Psalms. And while we do live in an uncertain world, there is still much for which to be thankful. Come with me to Paul the Apostle’s Letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verses 4 through 9. Rejoice: Rejoice in the Lord always; Paul exhorts. And, as he doesn’t want us to skim over this, he repeats it, Again, I say, Rejoice. Paul was in prison when he wrote these words. He is repeating his earlier exhortation, Rejoice in the Lord (3:1). God wants us to so value our relationship with Jesus Christ that we long for the smile of his approval in all we do. Nothing else matters. He is our joy. Now notice Paul doesn’t say we are to rejoice in the Lord in all circumstances – some situations may be evil. Rather, we should rejoice that the Lord still has his hand on the helm of the world’s events and our personal affairs, working out his good purposes for his people. It challenges us to ask if we trust him in every situation – be it the loss of a job, disappointments, or sobering medical news. Furthermore, in exhorting us to rejoice, he is not speaking about our being happy, always having a smile on our face. The joy he speaks about is the deep inner peace and contentment that springs from a personal trust in Jesus. For this reason, he urges us to pray with thankfulness in our hearts: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Don’t be anxious … Timeless words and a universal remedy for anxiety. So, Paul urges us to pray for concerns about life; petition the Lord with our particular needs, with thankfulness in our hearts for his goodness and mercy. Here is the antidote to anxiety and the prelude to the experience of peace. Such prayer and thanksgiving express trust in God in every situation. Let me ask, can you honestly say you are assured that Jesus is not only in control but that he truly loves and cares for you? Peace. In verse 7 we read: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, and in verse 9: …And the God of peace will be with you. Peace, Shalom is a word of security. Paul was in prison for his faith when he wrote these words. He knew what it was to be anxious, even fearful about life’s disappointments. He knew the barbs that can hurt – be they lies or literal persecution. Encouragingly he speaks about God’s peace guarding our hearts and minds. Guard in this context conveys the positive idea of protection. As a Roman citizen, he may have had in mind the Praetorian Guard. It’s a great thought – God’s ‘Praetorian Guard’ providing security for our hearts and minds, and so giving us peace. Furthermore, heart is the Bible’s way of speaking of what is deep within us – our desires and will, our emotions and our very soul. And mind refers to our thoughts that spring from our inner longings. Now, if we remove God’s promise of peace from its biblical context, the idea of peace is lovely but without substance. Peace in the Bible is meaningful and profound, true and full of strength. The God of peace is the one who has made peace possible between himself and you and me. On the day of his resurrection, Christ met with his disciples in a locked upper room. ‘Peace be with you’ were his first words. It wasn’t a conventional greeting, for he immediately repeated it. The God of peace is also the God of power. It is the God of peace who brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is the New Testament standard for God’s mighty power. Peace is associated with the kind of power that not even death can stand against. These great promises are grounded in the peace that God himself has secured. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection he is the author of just and everlasting peace. How much there is for which we can be thankful. Is this real for you? How often do you express your thankfulness? Just at Thanksgiving? Or every day? A General Thanksgiving. Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give humble and hearty thanks for all your goodness and loving kindness to us and to all people. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your amazing love in the redemption of the world through our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace and for the hope of glory. And, we pray, give us that due sense of all your mercies, that our hearts may be truly thankful, and that we may declare your praise not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in

Philippians 4 - Giving thanks to God in everything and then knowing God's peace, which passes all understanding.

No, I’m not talking about Gramercy Park, New York City – although I’ll come back to that. I’m referring to an old English word, gramercy, used by Shakespeare, that is derived from the French, grand mercy, meaning ‘heartfelt, big thanks’. That said, the name ‘Gramercy’ for the only locked private park in New York was derived from the Dutch, Krom Moerasje, ‘little crooked swamp’ – which is what the park originally was. Now permit me a personal note about Judith’s and my ‘heartfelt thanks’ following September 11, 2001. That day we were living Downtown in the New York City financial district, quite near the Twin Towers. With the destruction of the towers, our apartment building was in the original Ground Zero. We needed to find a new place to live. Unexpectedly, I received a call asking if we would be interested in moving to an apartment in the Gramercy area. ‘Yes, please!’ How heartfelt our thanks were – to the Lord and to the phone-caller. For us ‘gramercy’ took us back to the earlier English meaning. It also reminded us of the ‘big thanks’ everyone of us owes God. Consider the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion in Luke chapter 23, beginning at verse 33. Two others, criminals, were crucified with Jesus at a place known as The Skull (which in Latin is calvaria, hence our ‘Calvary’). The positioning of Jesus between these two seems a deliberate way of implying that he was just another criminal. This also fulfilled the prophecy: He was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12). We can identify two important themes – a prayer and a promise. A Prayer. Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’ (23:34). Everyone watching that day knew Jesus was innocent. They knew the injustice of it all. So, for whom was he praying? Some suggest his prayer was for the soldiers, but in that case he might have said, ‘Father, understand their situation’. They were doing their duty. Others say his prayer was for the Jewish leaders who had stirred events that led to his crucifixion. We make better sense of the prayer when we read it all: ‘for they do not know what they are doing’. Jesus was praying for people who shut their minds to the voice of truth. Yes, he was praying for the Jewish leaders who taunted him (23:35). And he was praying for the Roman soldiers who mocked him as the ‘King of the Jews’ (23:36f). Significantly, with his prayer he was putting into practice the law of neighbor love that he had spoken about in his parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:28-34). In his hour of crisis, he prayed for others and forgave them their ignorance. But, he was also praying for his followers and the watching crowd. And, let me suggest he was praying then for you and me now. At one time or another we have all have mocked the dying Christ. Deep down all of us have rejected his claims to be our Lord. An inscription stating the charges against Jesus, was put over his head in accord with normal Roman practice. Significantly, Pilate wrote: This is the King of the Jews (23:38). He quoted back to the Jewish leaders their accusation against Jesus. In doing so, the Roman governor was also stating the deeper truth we find in Luke’s narrative: Jesus is the king of the Jews. He is the Messiah and the Lord. This theme is illustrated in the conversation that follows. A Promise. One of the criminals being crucified with Jesus was contemptuous: ‘Are you not the Christ?’ he mocked. ‘Save yourself and us!’ (23:39). He chose to die as he had lived – dismissive of anything religious. Even his colleague was shocked, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?’ he said (23:40). As a minister who has been at the bedside of many dying people, it is tragic to witness this kind of death. There is no peace and no hope of the future. The second criminal chose another path: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,’ he asked (23:42). Now this man’s life was no better than his colleague’s. He freely admitted that he and his colleague deserved to die – ‘receiving the due reward of our deeds’ (23:41). Yet, as he died, he reflected on his own unworthiness compared with the innocence he recognized within Jesus. His conscience was stirred. Something about Jesus impressed him. It may have been the sharp contrast between Jesus’ prayer and the bitter anger of his colleague. He knew Jesus was innocent: ‘This man has done nothing wrong,’ he said (23:41). However bad his life may have been, he feared God enough to recognize his need. The simplicity and directness of his requests are striking. He isn’t religious or pretentious. He may have remembered what he was taught as a boy about God, and about God’s promise that one day he would send a successor to the great King David. Perhaps he began to see that Jesus was that king, and so he asked the king for a place in his kingdom – when Jesus was enthroned. His repentance came in the closing hours of his life; his faith may have been no bigger than a mustard s

Luke 23:33ff - Gramercy - Great Mercy, as shown in Jesus' words to the repentant thief beside him on the cross.

History and archaeology documentaries have made us more aware of past civilizations and the splendor of their buildings. However, while ancient buildings can be awe-inspiring, they testify to the rise and fall of nations. No matter how great an empire may have been, no matter how rich its accomplishments or powerful its armies, it didn’t last. All of which makes Jesus’ response to his disciples comment about the magnificence of the Jerusalem Temple significant. During the week leading up to his arrest, they remarked on the magnificence of the Temple: …Some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings (Luke 21:5). At the time, the Jerusalem Temple was some fifty years into an eighty-three year reconstruction facilitated by Herod the Great. The temple was immense, constructed of massive stones – some over sixty feet in length. It covered a thirty-five acre site, more than twice the size of the original World Trade Centre Twin Towers site in New York City. Tacitus, a contemporary Roman historian, commented on the grandeur, the beauty and wealth of the Temple (History 5.8.1). Luke himself notes the extensive decoration that adorned it. The unexpected. Jesus’ response to the disciples’ comment was unexpected: ‘…the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down’ (21:6). Just as it would have been outrageous for anyone to have predicted the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City before September 11, 2001, it would have been even more so for Jesus to say the temple would be razed to the ground. As N.T. Wright observes, ‘The temple occupied central place in the life, religion and imagination of the Jewish people’ (Wright, NT., Luke for everyone (2001), p.251). The temple signified God’s presence with his people. It was also the place where sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people were made. Foreshadowing its destruction, Jesus pointed to the obsolescence of what the Temple materially represented in terms of God and his people. Earlier in his ministry, Jesus warned of catastrophic events yet to come (Luke 12:35-48; 17:20-37). It’s therefore not surprising the disciples asked: “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” (Luke 21:7). Their words, these things, are key to the themes that unfold. Three of the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke, record Jesus’ words about the last things. However, there are differences. Matthew and Mark for example, weave together Jesus’ words about Jerusalem and the end of time, making it difficult to unravel the themes. Luke however, sets out the two scenes more clearly – perhaps because he writes primarily for a non-Jewish readership. Central to Jesus’ response about the timing of these things are his words: ‘…And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once’ (21:9). He restates a tension he had already spoken of, namely the tension between immediacy and delay regarding the timing of events (Luke 12:41-48 and Luke 19:11-15). He expands this by identifying the first two sets of events that we should expect as, under God, the world moves towards an end time: convulsions and persecutions. Convulsions (21:8-11). He begins with a specific warning about false prophets who will come in his name making predictions about the end of time. Don’t be taken by surprise, he continues. There will be an end of time, but before that ‘nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven’ (21:10f). Jesus warns of wars and conflicts. Three years ago, who would have expected a global pandemic and, twelve months ago, the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Furthermore, Jesus also warns of natural disasters and upheavals. Consistently he taught that by our own efforts we are not good enough to create a world of universal peace. Nor can we control the massive forces that lie beneath the earth’s crust – forces of such magnitude that cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. We should not be taken by surprise by the rise and fall of nations as well as seismic and climatic events. As Paul the Apostle writes in Romans chapter 8, verses 21 and 22, the present creation is subject to decay and groans in travail awaiting the day when we will enjoy the perfect fulfilment of all God’s promises. Why is it that we live with our eyes so focused on life now that we fail to walk in the light and wisdom of the Lord? Persecutions (21:12-19). Jesus also warns of occasions when God’s people will be marked out as undesirables – some will be imprisoned and even brought before the heads of state. However, he assures us, we will not be alone. He will equip us with any defence that might be needed: ‘settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to

Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and warns of political and climatic upheaval.

One of the conundrums of life is the oft irrational hostility towards the Christian faith. Yes, sadly some professing Christians have carried out terrible abuses. But the big picture is that over the centuries God’s people have shown care and compassion for the poor and the needy – exemplifying a facet of the public ministry of Jesus – seeking the welfare of the city (Jeremiah 29:7). Ironically, but perhaps not surprisingly, the media in all its forms chooses to overlook such welfare. I say ‘not surprisingly’ because people in every generation want to cut down anyone who threatens them. The Jewish leadership felt threatened by Jesus of Nazareth. So much so that they endeavored to trap him with gotcha questions which could discredit and destroy him. This was increasingly evident during the days before the Passover – at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. In Luke chapter 20, verse 25 Jesus had responded to the question, ‘Teacher, … is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor?’ with ‘… Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s’. Confounded by his answer they were silenced (Luke 20:26). Nevertheless, despite this unexpected setback, the aggressive questioning continued. This time the Sadducees, another group of Jewish leaders, pressed him on the subject of the resurrection. The Sadducees were conservative aristocrats. The high priests were drawn from this group. Willing to work with the Roman authorities, their privileges were protected. However, they were treated with suspicion by Jewish loyalists and pious Jewish people. In his Antiquities Josephus tells us that the Sadducees only accepted the written Scripture, not oral tradition which the Pharisees accepted (xiii.297; xviii.16). However, the Sadducees denied life after death and therefore, resurrection. This was the question on which they challenged Jesus (Luke chapter 20, verse 28). Using the law that required the brother of a man who died childless to take his brother’s wife in marriage (levirate law), the Sadducees framed their question. Yet, given that there are only a few recorded occasions of levirate marriage – one being that of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:5, 21) – and that the practice seems to have been dropped by the time of the New Testament, their question was more hypothetical than real. They posed the situation of seven brothers successively marrying the same woman. None of the marriages produced any children. In turn they asked Jesus whose wife the woman would be in the resurrection (20:29-33). Implying there could be no answer to their question, they used it to argue there could no resurrection. But Jesus responded: ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage’ (20:34). His implication is clear. Given the successive marriages portrayed by the Sadducees, Jesus affirms the norm and the appropriateness of marriage between a man and woman. Significantly, in saying this he also confirms the creation order of Genesis 2:24. But he didn’t stop there. He continued by contrasting our present experience and that in the life to come: “Those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage…” (20:35). In a tightly worded sentence he affirmed the reality of life beyond death and also the resurrection. ‘Life in the age to come will be significantly different for all who are considered worthy,’ he says. Not everyone will experience the new age and the resurrection. His words here are consistent with the movement of thought that unfolds in Luke: only those who have been rescued (Luke 19:10) will enjoy life and resurrection in the coming age. Marriage as we know it will no longer apply. It will no longer be needed for ‘they cannot die any more…’ (20:36b). One of the reasons for marriage is the procreation of children in a world where everyone dies. But in a world where death no longer reigns, marriage and the birth of children is unnecessary. Notice Jesus didn’t say they no longer die but rather, they cannot die. In the coming age we will share something in common with the angels: ‘… they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection’ (20:36c). So important was the question of resurrection that Jesus used the opportunity to point out that it was implied in the Old Testament. Drawing from the scene when God revealed his name to Moses (Exodus 3:15), Jesus drew attention to God’s description of himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (20:37). Jesus then drew out the logic of God’s words, saying: “Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive” (20:38). Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were long dead when Moses was alive. The statement that God is the God of these men, can only be true if they are alive, even though they have died. The alternative is to say that God is the God of people who no longer exist, which is nonsense. Luke then includes wor

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn lived at the time when Soviet communism sought to harness human engineering to create a new society. The goal was to develop a new kind of human being. Greedy, competitive and alienated individualists were to be transformed into co-operative and generous altruists. Capitalist men and women were to be changed into a socialist society. Even before the fall of the USSR, Solzhenitsyn concluded the experiment had failed. It suggests that dreams of a better world and a better life based on human invention and force will founder. But let me suggest that we don’t have to despair. A ray of light shines in the darkness of our world. Come with me to an unexpected encounter that changed a wealthy money-grabber into a benevolent philanthropist. The man’s life was changed more rapidly and more radically than even Karl Marx would have believed possible. We read about it in Luke chapter 19, verses 1 through 10. Zacchaeus was very rich, yet his wealth didn’t earn him respect. In fact, the reverse was his experience: he was a social outcast. He was a chief tax collector. Jewish tax collectors were regarded as traitors because the money they collected went to the treasury in Rome. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, it was reckoned that 99% were crooked. But there seems to have been something appealing about Zacchaeus. Short in stature, there was a touch of humorous eccentricity about him. And this was evident when Jesus of Nazareth came to town. As do celebrities today, Jesus drew huge crowds wherever he went. Zacchaeus wanted to see him but, pushed back by the crowd, he discovered he couldn’t. Thinking outside the box, he climbed a tree. We easily miss the incongruity of the scene. Here was Zacchaeus, an eminent, affluent public servant, shinning up a tree to get a look at the man who, himself, was considered an outsider by the elite. Zacchaeus risked being ridiculed by the crowd. What prompted Zacchaeus? Curiosity? He certainly wanted to see the celebrated miracle-working teacher from the north. People have always been attracted to celebrities and heroes, and encounters with Jesus often begin like that — curiosity about a celebrity. But consider what happened: When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down; for I must stay at your house today’ (Luke 19:5). We can only imagine how startled Zacchaeus must have felt. It was a critical moment. He didn’t expect this. How would he react? He hurried and came down and received him joyfully (19:6). Perhaps it was more than curiosity that prompted Zacchaeus to climb the tree that day. He may have felt growing regret over his lifestyle. Over the years in ministry, I’ve encountered people like this. They find life doesn’t turn out as expected — a broken marriage; difficult children; money ill-spent; a lost reputation. They feel trapped. But they know they can’t turn the clock back. Zacchaeus may have felt this sense of despair. But maybe he’d heard how Jesus had changed other people’s lives – Matthew, another tax-collector, for example. Whatever prompted him, Zacchaeus jumped out of the tree and without a moment’s hesitation took Jesus in for lunch. It was a life-changing moment, for clearly Jesus impressed Zacchaeus. So much so that during the meal Zacchaeus stood up and said, ‘Behold Lord, the half of my goods, I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold’ (Luke 19:8). Zacchaeus’ promises are specific and immediate. There’s no fabrication. We can almost hear him turning the key in the lock of his safe. Meeting Jesus led this self-centered wealthy, but probably lonely man to a radical change within. He turned away from greed and revealed compassion for the poor and powerless. He also demonstrated a sense of justice. What caused the change? Zacchaeus suddenly understood who Jesus really was: he called him ‘Lord’. This was more than a courtesy title. He knew he was in the presence of greatness. In his work Zacchaeus would have experienced the deceitfulness of human nature in paying their taxes, and the dishonesty of tax-collectors in collecting taxes. He now knew he was in the presence of someone who could see right through deception and fraud. Jesus was the one man with whom you had to be completely honest. There’s a transparency and humility about Zacchaeus’ reaction. His awakened conscience had led to his heartfelt repentance. ‘Today salvation has come to this house…’ Jesus said (Luke 19:9). It wasn’t good works or making amends for past wrongs; it wasn’t his generosity to the poor, that saved Zacchaeus. Rather it was his personal encounter with Jesus and his genuine repentance. It was a significant moment: a man’s life was transformed. It’s the kind of transformation that politicians try to achieve through economic and other strategies. Revolutionaries use a gun. Jesus did it by inviting himself to lunch. You may be thinking this kind of change can’t really take place in our

In Mere Christianity CS Lewis comments, ‘According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride…. It was through Pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind’. Consider Jesus’ parable recorded in Luke chapter 18, from verse 9: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector”. In Jesus’ day the Jewish people considered tax-collectors traitors and thieves – traitors, because they were employed by the Romans; thieves, because they took a percentage of all taxes they collected. Yet the Pharisees at that time were regarded as exemplary, morally upright people. The context of the parable suggests that the two men had gone to the temple for either the morning or the afternoon ritual sacrifice. Yes, both offer their own prayers during the service, but it seems this was customary at the time the priest was offering the sacrificial lamb. Religion. It seems that the Pharisee stood at the front of the temple, apart from the main body of the congregation. This is consistent with the content and tone of his prayer. Reckoning he was righteous before God he considered himself superior to everyone else. Indeed, in his self-conceit he didn’t pray for the tax-collector but rather prayed so that the tax-collector might hear him: “God, I thank you that I’m not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers or even like that tax collector” (18:11). He moved from what he no doubt considered to be the general sins of his fellow-worshippers to a ruthless denigration of the tax-collector. And he did not stop there, but outlined his own credentials: he fasted twice a week – whereas the Law required fasting only once a year (on the Day of Atonement); he gave ten percent of all he earned – this too was beyond the Law’s requirements. Despite all of this the Pharisee, Jesus tells us, had a very real problem: he had the outward form of religion but no personal relationship with God. Relationship. Jesus’ story does not stop here: “But the tax collector, standing far off would not even look up to heaven” (18:13). Standing, as was the Jewish custom, the tax collector was at the back of the temple. He was under no illusion about his moral and spiritual condition. There’s no self-congratulation: rather, he beat his breast. There are only two places in the New Testament where people ‘beat their breast’ – here and in Luke 23:48, where men and women went away from the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion. Only in times of deep emotional stress and grief would people, men especially, beat their breast. Clearly the tax collector was aware that his broken relationship with God was real and that it arose from deep within his heart. Elsewhere Jesus identifies the heart as the seat of all human sin (Mark 7: 21-23). We can imagine his words bursting out in gasps expressing his inner torture: “‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!’” He felt as if he were the only sinner in the universe. There is something else significant: merciful here is not the usual Greek word. Have mercy on me is normally, eleeson me (as in Luke 18:38). Here the wording is literally, God, make an atonement for me…! It is a reference to the sacrifice of atonement. The tax collector very specifically asks that God will turn away his just anger through a sacrifice of atonement (or propitiation) so that he might be forgiven. Unlike the Pharisee, this man knows that his only hope is to throw himself totally upon God and God’s heart of mercy. Mercy is the only thing he knew he could ask for. Jesus’ concluding comment is breath-taking and would have shocked his first hearers: “I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted” (18:14). The tax collector’s prayer is the kind of prayer God hears. Significantly there is a change in the order as the two men walk away from the temple. The tax-collector now leads the way. He is the one who is justified. Justify is the language of the law courts and is central to the Apostle Paul’s teaching about salvation. Significantly it is found first on the lips of Jesus. The tax collector is reckoned righteous in the same way that a judge declares or acquits an accused person of charges against them. Kenneth Bailey comments: ‘For centuries the Church debated whether the sacraments have an automatic effect on the believer irrespective of their spiritual state. Here in this simple parable we already have an answer, and the answer is no!’ (Bailey, Peasant Eyes, p.155) The parable goes to the heart of our relationship with God. And this includes our attitude when we attend church. It is only when we come into God’s presence honestly and with a repentant heart, that God in his mercy declares us pardoned and absolv

Prayer is a very special privilege for the people of God. Why don’t we pray more consistently than we do? Come with me to the parable in Luke chapter 18, verses 1 through 9. It is about a powerful judge and a powerless widow. Because women at the time often married much older men, many were widowed and ill-provided for; they were vulnerable to exploitation. The widow here seems to have been unjustly treated over a property or financial matter. A relative may not have passed on her rightful inheritance. But her problem didn’t stop there. Her case was being heard by a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man (18:2). Every society knows powerful people like this. The Jewish historian, Josephus, observed that King Jehoiakim was ‘Neither reverent towards God nor fair towards human beings’ (Antiquities 10.5,20). The judge in the parable is either unjust or dishonest, or both. He seems more interested in money than morality. What hope did this poor, powerless woman have? We can imagine the stillness amongst Jesus hearers as the drama unfolded, asking themselves, ‘What would I have done?’ The scene is dramatic and unexpected: The widow kept coming to him’ (18:3). She used the only weapon she had – persistence. ‘Grant me justice against my opponent’ (18:3) she insists. For a while the judge acts true to form: he does nothing. But in time he relents, not because he is a changed man but because of her perseverance: ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,…’ he says (18:4). The words no respect are significant. Kenneth Bailey comments that ‘Middle Eastern traditional culture is a shame/pride culture. That is, a particular pattern of social behavior is encouraged by appeals to shame’ (Bailey, Peasant Eyes, p.132). Whereas the judge should have felt shame about the way he treated the widow, he didn’t. No appeal of goodness or mercy could be made to him on behalf of the destitute woman. Money may be one thing that persuades him… or is it? His soliloquy continues, “Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming” (18:5). The woman is persistent, and the judge realizes she will not give up. Indeed, her perseverance provokes this powerful, corrupt man to bring about justice: he not only hears her case, he settles it in her favor. Jesus comments: “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (18:6-8) The word delay literally means patience. It’s a word in the New Testament especially linked to God’s act of salvation, such as we find in 1 Timothy 1:16 and 1 Peter 3:20. In each instance the stress is on the long-suffering nature of God’s patience in dealing with us. Two commentators, Bailey and Horst, observe that the sentence, Will he delay long over them is not a question but rather a statement, better translated, He is also slow to anger over them. All of us are sinners. None of us either through our efforts or because of who we are, can claim God’s kindness, let alone his vindication of us. We are totally dependent on his mercy. This is key to understanding the parable. To paraphrase Kenneth Bailey (Through Peasant Eyes, p.139), God’s people ‘are sinners, not sinless saints. If God is not willing put aside his anger towards us, we can’t approach him in prayer. We dare not call out for vindication lest, as the prophet Amos warns, the Day of the Lord is a day of darkness, not light (Amos 5:18-20). To seek vindication does not make us righteous’ It is only because God is long-suffering and patient that he will be slow to anger towards those who persist in calling on him and throwing themselves and their needs upon his mercy. Through this parable Jesus brings our attention to profound and encouraging themes about prayer. In the face of life’s uncertainties, he wants us to know that we can and should pray. Persistence in our prayer invites God’s long-suffering patience and mercy towards us. God is not capricious but is a loving, compassionate Father who will vindicate our cause. He will do this, not because we deserve it, but because he is merciful. While we will delight in seeing the perfect manifestation of this on the final day, we can also be assured that there will be times when God will vindicate us in our present life’s experience. We can be confident that God is at work in the drama of human history and in our lives, bringing his good purposes to pass, including the final vindication of his people. So, Jesus asks you and me about our prayer and our trust: When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” The real issue is not with God’s willingness to answer our prayers but with our refusal to ask. So why don’t we pray? Is it because God doesn’t seem to answer our prayer? Is it because we have been swayed by our cult

One of the many things that impressed Judith and me on moving to the United States was the Thanksgiving holiday. In November 2001, we were invited to a Thanksgiving meal by a family in the city. Towards the end of the meal our hosts invited everyone around the table to name one thing that had happened during the year for which they were thankful. Everyone had a story to tell, especially as we had all experienced 9/11 in New York City. What special encouragement it was to look back together and thank the Lord for the good things he does in our lives. Every year just before Thanksgiving, the local news includes a segment with a reporter asking children what they are thankful for. In Luke chapter 17, verse 11 we red that Jesus was in the border area between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered an unnamed village ten lepers began shouting out. Outcasts. We can imagine the scene. Outcasts of society because of their infectious disease, they were compelled by law to live beyond the fringes of the town. Coming as near as they dared, they tried to attract Jesus’ attention, calling out, not specifically for healing, but for mercy – charis (17:12-13). The words, when he saw them, suggest that there was a time delay before Jesus noticed them. This is another detail indicating the authenticity of Luke’s report. The simplicity of Jesus’ response is remarkable: he didn’t lay his hands on them, he didn’t pray a loud, lengthy prayer, or tell them they were healed. Rather, he simply told them to do what was required of anyone who had been cured of leprosy – namely, go and show themselves to the priests who were charged with the task of health inspection (so, Leviticus 14:2ff). Jesus put their faith to the test by telling them to act as though they had been cured. So it was, as they went, they were made clean (17:14). Their act in going was a response of faith and obedience. If they had not believed in the power of Jesus’ words, they would not have gone. Healing. But the narrative doesn’t end there. Verse 15 tells us that one of the nine, seeing that he had been healed, turned back to Jesus, praising God with a loud voice. He would not keep quiet. Having seen God at work that day he wanted to let everyone else know about it. And 17:16 tells us he understood Jesus’ extraordinary power and compassion. In an act of humility and gratitude he prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Almost as an afterthought Luke adds: And he was a Samaritan. It is a telling comment. In the parable of the Good Samaritan there is an underlying theme: the Jewish disdain, even hatred for the Samaritans. But such were the horrors of leprosy that in this instance Jewish people and Samaritans had been brought together. It says a great deal that Jesus did not isolate the nine Jewish sufferers for special blessing; both the Jewish and the Samaritan were equal beneficiaries of his compassionate word of power. Only one. Further, it says a great deal that the Samaritan was the first and only one who turned back to thank Jesus, even though Jesus was a Jewish rabbi. It almost seems as though the Jewish lepers expected God’s compassion and action as a matter of right: they had no need to thank him. With three deft questions Jesus exposes the failure of the nine to express their gratitude to God for their healing. Apparently caught up with their new found happiness they forgot the source (God) and instrument (Jesus) of their cure. It was clearly too much bother for them to make the effort to return to Jesus and thank him. Understandably Jesus was saddened by this: “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” he asked (17:18). How easily we forget to thank God for all the good things he does for us. For the man who turned back to Jesus there seems to have been an added blessing: “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well,” Jesus said (17:19). While the nine were certainly healed of their leprosy, the words translated here, has made you well are literally, has saved you. For this man there was a healing of his soul as well as his body. Is thanksgiving a regular part of your prayer? Paul the Apostle writes in Philippians chapter 4, verse 4: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice. … Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. A Prayer. Almighty God, creator of all things and giver of every good and perfect gift, hear with favor the prayers of your people, so that we who are justly punished for our offences may mercifully be delivered by your goodness, for the glory of your name; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. You may like to listen to the hymn, May the Peoples Praise You from Keith and Kristyn Getty. © John G. Mason N

If you want to be known and celebrated these days you need to ensure that the cameras are focused on you and that you are looking directly into them. This focus on self stands in stark contrast to the best traditions of British royalty. In theory Royalty exists, not to promote themselves but the interests of others. The Royals don’t look into the camera: the cameras follow them. Humility is the theme in an often-overlooked parable recorded in Luke chapter 17, verses 7 – 10. Having just spoken about genuine faith amongst would-be followers, Jesus contrasts the role of a master and servant, warning against pride. Building on a common theme in the first-century Middle East, he uses the typical pattern of a master-servant relationship to illustrate the relationship between God and his people. It is a scene that will seem unfair to anyone who lives in a society that prizes egalitarianism and freedom, for the parable portrays acceptance of authority and respectful obedience to that authority. However, the late Kenneth Bailey who spent many years in the Middle-East, comments that we need to be aware of ‘the security that this classical relationship provides for the servant, and the sense of worth and meaning that is deeply felt on the part of a servant who serves a great man. These qualities of meaning, worth, security, and relationship are often tragically missing from the life of the… worker today… The servant offers loyalty, obedience, and a great deal of hard work, but with an authentic Middle Eastern nobleman the benefits mentioned above are enormous’ (Through Peasant Eyes: p.119f). Jesus asks, “Who among you who has a servant ploughing or keeping sheep will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table?” (17:7) He expects the answer, ‘No one’. “Will he not rather say to him,” Jesus continues, “‘Prepare supper for me, … and afterward you will eat and drink?’” (17:8) Commentators have noted that the meal envisaged here is not late at night. More likely it would have been at three or four o’clock in the afternoon. The master isn’t a bully, demanding harsh and unfair hours of his servant. The parable is asking the question, ‘Does the master provide special privileges to a servant who does his/her duties?’ To which the answer is ‘No’. Jesus uses the parable to draw our attention to the nature of the relationship between himself and his followers – which we also find in other places. In John 15:15 for example, Jesus calls his disciples friends but then qualifies this by noting that the servant is not greater than his master (John 15:20). Nowhere in the Bible do we find a casual egalitarianism between God and his people that is envisaged in some Christian circles today. God alone is God. And Christ is our Lord. Verse 9 presses the application. Using a form of question similar to that in verse 7, Jesus asks, “Does he thank the servant…?” – again expecting the answer ‘No’. Jesus doesn’t use the usual Greek word for thank (eucharisteo). Rather he uses the word charis – meaning grace/favor. Literally he is asking: ‘Does he (the master) have any grace/favor for the servant?’ This is significant, for the theme of grace or favor is dominant throughout the Bible, and not least in the New Testament. For example, in Luke chapter 1, verse 30 we learn that Mary was told by the angel that she had found favor with God. This doesn’t mean that Mary had won favor with God because of some special action that deserved merit. Rather, the context reveals she was given a gift that was far too great to have been earned. God, of his own initiative had granted her a favor, purely as a gift. More than just thanks. Here in Luke chapter 17, verse 9 the question is even deeper, for it is asking if the servant now deserves more than just ‘thanks’ for a day’s work well done. Is the master now indebted to his servant? Is his work now worthy of merit – grace/favor? This is the central question the parable addresses. To which the answer is ‘No’: the servant has simply done what he was required to do. He has no grounds for claiming special favor. The point is wrapped up in the final comment: “So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless servants; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” (17:10) The original word translated worthless is difficult to express in English. Indeed, in his book Through Peasant Eyes (p.123f), Kenneth Bailey suggests that we need to review how the word has been translated in Middle Eastern contexts. Following the 11th century Syriac and Arabic versions we can better translate verse 10: “We are servants to whom nothing is owing, we have only done our duty.” This is truly significant. It underlines yet again a theme Jesus develops: salvation is a gift. It is not merited in any way, shape or form. It anticipates his words about the purpose of his coming – to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). The parable challenges everyone of us who has

Money and what money can buy dominate our lives. The title of one book says it all: Born to Shop. To follow up last Wednesday’s consideration of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager, we noted that the parable brings together several key biblical themes. The property owner in Luke chapter 16 is an honorable man. Confronted by a manager who is corrupt the owner justly dismisses him, but in his mercy does not have him immediately imprisoned. By his silence the manager admits his guilt. A dark parable. However, perceiving the owner also to be merciful, the manager pursues a bold strategy that will rescue his future. But it is a strategy that is entirely dependent upon the mercy of the owner. It’s a dark parable about life and death issues – our corrupted character and the extraordinary goodness and beauty of God. Which brings us to verses 9-13: ‘And I tell you’, said Jesus, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes. The And I say… indicates a new subject that is linked back to the parable. Unlike the manager in the parable, the people to whom Jesus now speaks have financial resources. Instead of simply serving their own needs, they are in a position to assist others. The theme of an existential crisis about the future continues, but this time it is in the context of Jesus’ followers. Jesus wants us all to consider our own future and how we should live in the light of it. In particular he wants us to think about how we might use our resources – our money and possessions. In Luke chapter 12, verse 33 Jesus urges his followers to lay up treasure in heaven. Here in verse 9 he is saying, ‘win friends now so that they may welcome you into the eternal homes.’ The they Jesus is speaking about, are people who have heard and responded to God’s good news because of the generosity of God’s people funding gospel ministries. ‘Life is short,’ Jesus is saying. ‘Ask yourself how you will use your material resources, for the time will come when you won’t need your money.’ It will happen when we die or when Jesus returns – whichever occurs first. Costly Giving? Are you willing to use the resources you have at your disposal for the salvation of others – even those who in your view don’t deserve to be saved? In the dark parable of the Dishonest Manager, God uses his resources to pay the price of the rescue of fallen humanity. Now Jesus is asking, ‘Are you willing to use your resources sacrificially so that the unlovely and the unjust can come to know him as their Lord and Savior? If you do, the day will come when there will be a welcome cheer for you in heaven.’ ‘Don’t live for this world and its wealth. It is absurd to make money and possessions your life’s goal. Live for the world that is to come,’ Jesus is saying. As now, so then. In verses 10-11 he illustrates his point by setting down a principle regarding faithfulness. To be found trustworthy in the small matters of life is a measure of trustworthiness in matters that are great. How we use money and possessions now is a measure of our fitness for the greater wealth of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. “And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?” Jesus asks in v.12. Worldly wealth is a temporary trust and a test of faithfulness. Entry into the coming kingdom is permanent wealth. Jesus is not an ascetic who sees the material world as evil. He knows money is temporary, but nevertheless useful stuff when properly used. He is also realistic for he knows how often the purse-strings control our heart-strings. He knows how easy it is to love money and the power it seems to give us. So he warns in verse 13: “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” The word hate was a common expression in Jesus’ day. It underlines the point that of two alternatives one is preferred over the other. There is no place for compromise. Jesus wants us to put him first. Jesus was speaking then to people living in the 1st century Roman society, but he might just as well be speaking to us today. The way we continue to consume goods is surely nothing short of idolatry. Our shopping malls look more and more like temples. There are many practical ways we can apply this principle: Adopt the Scriptural pattern of percentage giving: ten percent is the guide. Support the ministry of the local church as a first commitment. We may not always agree with all the policies of the church – no church is perfect – but if the Bible is being taught and the gospel proclaimed we should have no hesitation in supporting it financially; local churches are fundamental to building people into God’s kingdom. Invest in the training of ministers: the future of the church depends on this. Support mission in the wider world and include Christian ministries that care for the poor.

Many millions throughout the world are mourning the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The longest reigning monarch in British history, she was respected for her life-long commitment to leadership through service. She reigned with dignity and graciousness, providing stability in a chaotic world. In previous Word on Wednesday writing I have touched on her witness to her faith in her Christmas Messages. In 2011 she said:‘…Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a Saviour, with the power to forgive…’ Her words, ‘we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed’ call to my mind Jesus’ parable, ‘The Parable of the Shrewd Manager’ found in Luke chapter 16. Two themes stand out: a Dishonest Manager; and a Generous Owner. A Dishonest Manager. The parable takes us into the world of property and business. It’s the story of a rich man who has his affairs looked after by a property manager, who enjoyed a great deal of delegated power. He could negotiate financial deals and sign contracts. His position commanded a great deal of respect. However, as with any position of financial responsibility, he could mismanage funds. And this seems to have been the case, for at short notice his master issued him with a dismissal notice: Charges were brought to the owner that his manager was squandering his property. The silence of the manager is significant. He was street-smart and was clearly unsure of the details of the charges. To speak might give the master even more reason to charge him. But his silence condemned him. He was fired, but significantly not immediately sent to prison. He had time to plan, but he needed to act quickly. Knowing he didn’t have either the physical stamina or the heart to work as a laborer, and not wanting to beg, he worked on a strategy to win friends who would look after him. One by one he called in those who owed money to the owner. He halved the debt of the first debtor who owed the equivalent of 900 gallons (lit. 100 barrels) of oil. He also reduced the sum owed by a second debtor who owed the equivalent of two and a half tons of wheat (lit. 100 containers). In today’s money both reductions were in the order of $10,000. While much ink has been spilled in debating the meaning of this parable, we can make several observations. The manager’s action in reducing the outstanding accounts is conceivable. In a bad season an owner could reduce the yearly rent in advance. But the feature here is the secrecy and the speed of the adjustments. Furthermore, there is an all-important underlying theme: the owner’s character. The manager knew him to be just and upright. And because the owner hadn’t promptly sent the manager to prison, it was evident he could temper justice with mercy. This is the key: the manager risked everything on his perception of the owner’s mercy. A generous owner. The owner had two options: he could call in the debtors and point out that the updated rental agreements weren’t binding. Or he could remain silent and personally absorb the pain and the price of the deception. In which case he would be the one who paid the cost of his manager’s tactic. To interpret the parable this way puts a dark construction on its meaning. Could Jesus really be saying this? Consider verse 8 where we read: And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. Shrewdness. The placing and force of the word shrewdly is significant. The owner is not commending his manager for his deception, but rather is complementing his shrewdness. The usual Greek word for wisdom is sophia. But here another word is used – meaning cleverness in self-preservation. The manager is commended for his shrewdness in looking out for his future. The parable speaks of an existential moment in the manager’s life. He faced a future without hope. The movement of the story and the motif of shrewdness means this is a parable about life and death matters. Furthermore, as one commentator has noted, the better reading of the phrase in 16:8 is not, the unrighteous manager but rather the manager of unrighteousness. This phrase is a figure or metaphor for the world of men and women whose lives are characterized by unrighteousness before the owner – God. In the parable Jesus is drawing together a complex cluster of ideas. The owner is a figure for God who is both just and yet incredibly merciful. The dishonest manager is a figure for us all. A parable for us all. In the story the manager is caught in his sinful actions and called to account. Knowing he is guilty, he entrusts his future completely to the kindness and mercy of the owner. Having experienced his master’s goodness at the beginning (he wasn’t jailed) he is confident his master will bear the full cost of his rescue. Th

Divisions between groups of people is a feature of every age. These days the divisions are being redefined – based especially on race and gender. In Luke chapter 15 we find two very different groups amongst Jesus’ hearers: what we might call the ‘sinners’ and the ‘saints’. In the eyes of contemporary Judaism, prostitutes and tax collectors were ‘sinners’ – outcasts of respectable society. The religious elite, who viewed themselves as the shepherds of Israel, considered that they were the righteous, the ‘saints’. By dining with outsiders Jesus implied that he treated them equally as men and women and welcomed them. Indeed, in the previous section Luke records Jesus’ words about true discipleship: “Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!” (14:35). It was the outsiders rather than the religious elite who heard. In Luke chapter 15 three parables alert sinners to the reality of God’s grace, while at the same time challenging the self-satisfied saints to repentance. In all great literature there are purple passages: Luke chapter 15 stands supreme. The lost sheep (15:3-7). David Penman, one time theologian and missionary in the Middle East and a former Anglican archbishop, once pointed out to me that ‘no-one in the Middle-East loses anything; things are simply lost. One is never ‘bad’, they are simply not ‘good’. The outcasts in Jesus’ audience would have listened intently because he spoke about the lost. In our city life we often lose sight of the risks to the shepherd and the price he would have paid to rescue the sheep. His action stands in stark contrast to the ‘shepherds’ in Israel who were losing sheep and not bothering about rescuing and restoring them. All they did was sit on the sidelines, criticizing anyone committed to rescuing the lost. Does this sound like today? How many progressive church leaders are committed to going out and rescuing the lost with the clear statement of God’s good news? Grace, freely and sacrificially offered, is the dominant theme of the parable. The sheep was lost and unable to find its way home. Showing grace or mercy, the shepherd was pro-active in searching for it. The lost sheep could offer no assistance: its restoration was a gift from beginning to end. With joy in his heart the shepherd slung the sheep over his shoulder and carried it home. So great was his joy that he called in his neighbors to share in it (15:5-6). Jesus’ comment in verse 7 provides the interpretative key for the parable: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Jesus made a clear link between the lost sheep and sinners: men and women who are lost in terms of their relationship with God. For many, Christianity means rules and regulations set by a cold and aloof God whose only interest is impossible perfection and retributive justice. The tax collectors and sinners in Jesus’ audience may have been tempted to think this way too, for their religious leaders taught and held out to them an impossible standard. They knew all too well that they were lost. This parable, with its focus on the extravagant goodness and grace of God, gave them the hope that God was sending his shepherd to rescue them. Further, the parable is about the cost of the rescue. We are aware of the cost in rescuing people in the aftermath of a major disaster – a hurricane, earthquake or tsunami. Here Jesus points to the cost of the rescue of humanity; the shepherd is not burdened by the weight of a lamb, but by the load of the full-grown sheep that he carries back through the wilderness. Luke wants us to become aware of the dark shadow of the cross looming over Jesus’ life. There is also an implied repentance – the recognition of need – in the sheep’s acceptance of its rescue. Through the lens of this parable we see the shape of God’s good news. Jesus himself is the good shepherd who has come to the rescue of fallen, lost humanity. Ironically, the outcasts, the irreligious are aware of their state, but the religious aren’t. A further parable develops this conundrum. The lost coin (15:8-10). Jesus’ attack on the failure of the religious leaders continued with the opening line of the second parable – a woman and a lost a coin. It may have been one of ten coins in her purse, or it may have been a coin on a string of coins. Significantly, it is the responsibility of the person who lost the coin to find it. Unlike the Pharisees and their scribes who were indifferent to the lost, the woman started searching. The price of her search and recovery was high, for she needed to get down on her hands and knees and go over every inch of her house, looking in every nook and cranny. Clearly the coin could not find or restore itself. Jesus’ theme of rescue and restoration continued with the successful recovery of the coin. Men and women are likened to lifeless coins, lost and almost hidden in the darkness of a chaotic, confused world. Rescue and restorat

These days the success of a church or minister is usually measured in numbers: the bigger the crowds the more successful the ministry. But numbers never impressed Jesus. He was much more interested in disciples – people who were ready to be taught by him and be guided by his good counsel throughout life, no matter the cost. In Luke chapter 14, verses 26 through 33, we find that huge crowds were following him. Turning to them he said: “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple…” The choice between family affection and our loyalty to him is the first of two expectations Jesus sets out for all who would follow him. The startling word hatred with respect to family members lays out a principle: namely the need to subordinate every relationship, including our relationship with dearly loved ones, and even life itself, to loyalty to Jesus Christ. This is not fanaticism. Rather, Jesus’ focus here is rooted in the first commandment: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength’ (Deuteronomy 6:6). Now, it is vital not to build doctrine on just one verse. True disciples, instructed by the counsel of God’s Word, will also be aware of the importance of family life – as we find for example, in Deuteronomy 5:16, 18; Matthew 5:27ff; Ephesians 5:3-5, and Ephesians 5:22-6:4. Furthermore, elsewhere in his ministry Jesus even commands his followers to love their enemies, not destroy them (Luke 6:27). In any age – and not least today – there are many who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. But Jesus is telling us that unless our loyalty to him is not front and center in our lives, our claim is meaningless – “they cannot be my disciple”, he says (Luke 14:27b). Bearing one’s cross is another expectation (14:27). The sight of someone carrying a cross would have been familiar to many of Luke’s first readers. Hundreds were crucified in Galilee at the time. Speaking figuratively, Jesus requires that any of us who would follow him must put aside anything that stands in the way of their loyalty to him and honoring him. JC Ryle (Luke: Expository Thoughts, pp167f) comments: ‘The demand which our Lord makes upon us here is particularly stringent and heart-searching. Yet it is a wise and necessary one … Ungodly fathers cannot bear to see their sons ‘taking up new views’ of religion; worldly mothers are vexed to see their daughters unwilling to enter into the gaieties of the world … ‘It is a heavy cross to disagree with those we love, and especially about spiritual things; but if this cross is to be laid upon us, we must remember that firmness and decision are true kindness.’ How often has a firm but gracious resolve to follow Christ spurred family members to take Christ seriously? Two parables illustrate the need to count the cost – the tower builder and the warring king. Anyone who decides to build a tower – it is their choice – will want to calculate the cost. To do otherwise is to invite the scorn of others and even threaten the success of the enterprise. Furthermore, it is a foolish leader (king) who goes to war without evaluating the resources needed for victory. It is the wise king who, realizing he does not have the necessary resources, finds a way to secure a peace. To follow Christ truly is costly. It’s something that God’s people in every age should consider. With the pandemic over the last two and a half years, many good Bible-believing churches are finding there is a renewed interest in the Christian faith. How important it is that when introducing men and women to the wonders of God’s grace and the hope of glory, they do not neglect to explain the cost of commitment. Too often people come into the life of a church with their own dreams and expectations – prosperity, or ‘God will let me live life the way I want’. Salt – a warning. Jesus concludes his words here with the analogy of salt. Anyone who says they are his follower and yet who lacks the qualities of true discipleship is like salt that has lost it flavor. “Salt is good,” Jesus says. However, “if salt has lost its taste how can its saltiness be restored?” he asks (14:34). Pure salt is one of the most stable compounds and therefore doesn’t lose its taste. However it is generally agreed that the common salt used in Jesus’ day was impure. It was therefore possible that the sodium chloride in the material called salt could be washed out and thus lose its salty taste. It became useless: “It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile…” ‘True discipleship,’ Jesus is saying, ‘both preserves and adds flavor.’ True disciples are not bland and insipid. Rather they have a cutting edge to their lives – living a life of discipleship, no matter the cost; praying for and looking for ways to introduce others to the Lord Jesus Christ. A prayer. Lord God, you know us to be set in the mid

Everyone loves a party, especially if we like the hosts and the interesting guests they always invite. Throughout his narrative Luke observes that Jesus of Nazareth was someone hosts and hostesses liked to have on their guest list. Jesus has always intrigued people. Even today people indicate they would love to have him on their guest list. But Jesus often proved to be an unpredictable guest, saying the unexpected in the course of a meal. And while the religious establishment were threatened by him, they kept him on their guest list – in the hope of trapping him during conversation. In Luke chapter 14 we find Jesus at a dinner party in the home of a synagogue ruler, who may also have been a member of the Jewish Council (Sanhedrin) and a Pharisee. It was another occasion when the issue of Sabbath observance arose and the Pharisees there were watching him (Jesus) closely (14:1). The appearance of a man with edema (dropsy) could well have been a trap. In the same way that hosts today often have place cards for seating their guests, so too protocols existed in the ancient world – including amongst the Jewish people. And, in the same way people today sometimes try and reposition their seating to be seen with the ‘right’ people, people then maneuvered their seats (14:7). Observing this, Jesus did what he often did in a controversial setting: he told a parable. ‘Beware,’ he warned, ‘of taking a more prestigious position, only to find yourself relocated to a lower position by the host. It is better,’ he observed, ‘to take a lowly position first, so that if the host invites you to a higher position, you will receive the greater honor’ (14:8-10). He also used the situation to return to his overall theme of the last day and observed that on that day there will be many unexpected reversals: “All those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (14:11). Having started to speak he continued with yet another observation, this time to his host: “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or rich neighbors; but when you give a banquet invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (14:12b-14). This must have been a conversation stopper. We can imagine that as they were just about to eat their next mouthful, Jesus reminded them of the poor and the hungry. ‘How dare he?’ some may have thought. ‘You arrogant upstart,’ others may have said. One man tried to salvage the situation. Latching on to the idea of the ultimate party in heaven, he responded, “Blessed is the one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God” (14:15). It was the kind of statement made by someone who liked to think he was good at conflict resolution. We get the impression that the speaker believed in life after death and was pretty sure of where he was going. But Jesus, knowing that this comment reflected religious apathy, told another story: “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now’” (14:16). In Jesus’ day two invitations were sent out to potential guests prior to an upcoming celebration. No refrigeration meant that hostesses could not always be sure of the availability of the meat they wanted; nor could they stock up at home. Hence, two invitations: the first sent out some weeks prior to the party, the second, twenty-four hours before the event. Jesus’ audience would have easily decoded that he was speaking about God’s kingdom. The Old Testament prophets had issued the first invitation to Abraham’s vast family. And doubtless his hearers expected him to tell them how they would all be part of it. But the parable took an unexpected turn with the second invitation: “Come, everything is now ready.” But there was more: “They all alike began to make excuses”. ‘The first said, “I have just bought an investment property: I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, “I have just bought five new oxen and I need to test them: please excuse me.” Another said, “I’m on my honeymoon, so I can’t come.”’ At first glance the excuses seem plausible. But they’re not. It would have been unlikely then, as today, to purchase land without first seeing it and knowing the details. Second, to purchase oxen without first testing them in a field was again most unlikely. The third excuse is the rudest. In a village community everyone would have known in advance about major events such as banquets and weddings. Furthermore, it was the height of rudeness in the Middle East to speak on social occasions about intimate relationships between men and women. The parable exposes the way that people in every age are so focused on the interests and cares of the material world that they have no time for God. How attracted we are by the desires of our hearts and

No one likes a hypocrite. The English word hypocrite has its origin in the Greek word for actor and like actors, hypocrites typically love the applause of the crowd – as they say one thing and do the opposite Come with me to a scene we find in Luke’s Gospel as Jesus traveled towards Jerusalem. The details speak of its historical authenticity – a woman crippled with an incurable sickness and a pompous leader of a synagogue with his high-minded rule-keeping. The scene unfolds in Luke chapter 13, verses 10 following. Teaching in a synagogue one Sabbath, Jesus noticed a badly crippled woman, bowed and helpless – possibly with spondylitis deformans. It may be her infirmity itself drew attention or she may have used it as an excuse to be noticed. Certainly she had a problem. Luke the physician tells us that a spirit – an evil spirit – had caused this physical infirmity for eighteen years. Inviting her to come over to him, no doubt so that everyone could see, Jesus said to her, “Woman you are set free from your ailment” (13:12). Luke tells us that Jesus laid his hands on her and immediately she was able to stand up straight again. Feeling strength and health in her body, the woman’s first response was to praise, glorify God (13:13). The moment of joy, however, was brought to an abrupt halt when the synagogue ruler angrily stepped in: ‘You have six other days in the week for work. You are not to practice medicine on the Sabbath,’ was the force of his harsh words (13:14). But Jesus was not deterred. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? Ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” For Jesus, her healing symbolized something more than God’s power and compassion at work. It symbolized her release from the power of sin and evil. Furthermore, in saying that it was right to heal on the Sabbath, Jesus was pointing out that the Sabbath was consecrated for the ‘good and proper end’ of creation. Two parables that follow underline this (13:18-20). Both highlight the prolific and pervasive growth of God’s kingdom. The parable of the mustard seed shows how, from a tiny insignificant beginning, God’s kingdom would become immense. From the modest beginning of twelve men, and one of them a traitor, in a tiny province in the Roman Empire, would grow a group numbering millions upon millions. The final return of God’s king is in mind. If you have ever made bread, you will know how the yeast finds its way through the dough, doubling its size or more, if left long enough. Similarly, God’s kingdom will find its way right through society, into the lives of insignificant men and women as well as into the corridors of political and economic power. The healing of the crippled woman was a sign of God’s power and of Jesus’ authority. It was a sign of the decision God had made: to liberate men and women from their bondage to sickness, to sin and to Satan. This was God’s purpose. It was the choice Jesus had made. He had come to liberate men and women from their slavery to self and to sin. And God’s vision is big. Countless millions will be affected. We can be completely confident about this. And look how Jesus treated this crippled woman. She was a nobody, an outcast, and yet he was prepared to put his reputation on the line for her. Ignoring the potential reaction of the religious elite, he made available for her the benefits of the kingdom of God. What an encouragement this is for us. Everyone is acceptable. It doesn’t matter who we are: there are no exceptions. And that is why there will be many surprises on the final day. Prayer. Lord God, you know us to be set in the midst of so many great dangers that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: grant us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. You may like to listen to He Will Hold Me Fast from Keith and Kristyn Getty. Attending the upcoming Getty Music ‘Sing’ Conference: September 5-7? Look for the Anglican Connection booth and sign up for our breakout session: ‘The Gospel Shape of Reformation Anglican Liturgy’. © John G. Mason Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018. Support the Word on Wednesday ministry – Mid-year gift here. The post ’Hypocrisy…’ appeared first on The Anglican Connection.