Luke 7 :: A Hooker and a Pharisee

Luke 7

At the end of the chapter, Luke recalls a story about a sinful woman, a woman of ill repute, a harlot...a hooker.  Included in this story is a Pharisee, a member of the religious elite, a socialite of all socialites.  The two prove to be an unlikely lesson on the grace of God.

The Pharisee has invited Jesus to his home for a meal.  Jesus's acceptance of the invitation shows that he was not spurning the Pharisees socially, but that he indeed was here for them also.  The woman has taken advantage of the social customs of the day which allowed her to attend a banquet to wait around for left-overs.  She was allowed to come get scraps, but she wanted to see the Savior.

She brings along an expensive bottle of perfume.  Where she got this, I have no idea.  She may have bought it with her "earnings," or she may have received it as a "gift" from a client, or she may have taken from a client.  She could have also come by it honorably, I presume.  She does to Jesus what she knows to do.  I speculate that this was not the first time she had washed the feet of a man, while crying and splashed some expensive perfume on his feet.  It's the sort of demeaning thing that a john would have requested.  She was expressing love for Jesus in the only way she knew how.  When the Pharisee saw her doing this, he wasn't shocked, but he says, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him."

Jesus then addresses the Pharisee with another story.  Two men in debt to a banker - one owes 500 pieces of silver and the other 50 pieces of silver.  If the banker cancels both debts, which of the two would be more grateful?  The host answers reluctantly, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most."

Looking back at the woman, he continues his conversation with the host.  He explains that she has done much more for him than the host has done.  She has been forgiven much and is very, very grateful.  Jesus then tells her that her sins are forgiven and that her faith has saved her.  Now she can go.  She has what she came for.

Wow!  I am absolutely blown away by this story.  I am floored at the willingness of Jesus to love the unlovable.  I find myself saying, "Yeah!  Take that Pharisee."  I have to ask myself, what does this say about Jesus?  Jesus accepts us where we are when we come to him.  Jesus deals with us where we are when we invite him in.  Jesus accepts our offering no matter what it is.  Jesus cancels debts - both large and small.  Jesus notices our offerings.  Jesus notices our ambivalence.  Jesus forgives sins.  Jesus saves the woman based on her faith - not her church attendance, not her walking an isle, not her commitment to attend temple every week after that, not her quitting her profession...

This really is good news.  This really is the expression of the gospel that people are searching everywhere hoping to attain.  This is the love and the compassion I want to flow through me.  Incredible!

Romans 14:19-23 :: Eat and Drink Freely

Romans 14:19-23 (The Message and TNIV)

Paul seems to now make a shift to those who do eat and drink freely, without the hindrance of abstinence.  All food and drink is good, but can be turned badly by the way that we partake.  Just as the strict adherents to the dietary laws could cause problems with others by their insistence on not, those who are free can also cause problems with their freedom.

The point:  "When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don’t eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love." (v21)

When we differ with someone else in our freedoms, whether eating or drinking, our primary concern is how we share the life of Jesus with each other.  No matter what side of the fence we stand, grace (the free exchange of love) should rule the relationship.

Romans 4:13-15 :: Proverbs vs Romans

Romans 4:13-15 in the TNIV and Message translations                Reading Plan

If you read Proverbs, you get a lot of "if A then B" statements.  If you live righteously, good things will come to you.  If you turn against God, calamity will fall on you.  If you raise your kids right, they will turn out well.  If you remain faithful to God, you will prosper.  God is on one side of the equation, and we're on the other, and as long as we fulfill A then God is right there to fulfull B.

Explaining the conventions of Proverbs is a topic for another day, but suffice it to say that they are meant to be words of wisdom for living, not guaranteed rewards for certain behaviors.  And that's actually very, very good news, because most of the time we don't live up to our side.  Paul's great news in today's text is that, even if we don't do A, God is still faithful to B.  The Old Testament is full of stories of God's people being unfaithful, and God remaining faithful to them.  And God expressed this ultimately and perfectly in the person of Jesus: love, forgiveness, and reconciliation for all humanity, who did nothing to deserve it.

God's faithfulness changes the equation.  If I do A, God does B.  If I don't do A, God still does B.  If I totally abandon A and do C, God still does B.  God remains faithful to his promise, even if I don't.

"It was based on God’s decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered when he believed."  God has decided to put everything together for us.  Our job is to trust Him, not run ahead and try to fix it up for ourselves.  Not to decide that we don't like what He's putting together, or how, and try to work out a better plan.

How often do you live in the "if A then B" mentality?  Do you assume that because you're one of the good people, God should reward you, or that because of the mistakes you've made, God still considers you a second-class citizen?  How do you still attempt to earn God's favor?

Matthew11::Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Matthew11

How could this paragraph not stand out to me this morning?

28-30"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

I often find it easy to complain.  Easy to complain about the state of Christianity today, the state of the local church and the state of my life.  Underneath the criticism lies an honest exhaustion though.  I have been a Christian for 30 years, so I should be hitting my prime with this following-Jesus-thing, right?  Instead, when it comes to faith, I am more often tired and worn out than I am refreshed and rejuvenated.  I find myself longing to get away - not always to get away with Jesus, but to just get away.  I need Jesus to show me how to recover my life, how to take a real rest.  I need to learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I want a faith that fits me correctly and isn't so heavy.  I want to live freely and lightly.

Is this kind of life possible?  Are you experiencing it?  There are moments and seasons where I live in this. Everything seems to work.  I'm not talking about everything being good because some of these times have included difficulties in my life of some sort - sick friend, death of a family member, loss of a job, etc..  It's easy to mistake unforced rhythms of grace for prosperity.  The bible talks about us sharing in the fellowship of Christ's sufferings - not sure about you, but I don't like suffering and fellowship together.  When it's all working the way God intended, it's good.  When it's not, I find that it's an issue with me - with my view, with my position or with my expectation.

What is it that is good?  For me it's good when I find myself wanting to talk to Father.  It's good when I find myself satisfied by His Word.  It's good when I see Father working in little things around me, like in the grocery store or at the park.  It's good when I experience the presence of Christ in the midst of difficult days.  It's good when I rest in His provision for my life instead of longing for more.  It's good.

What about you?  Have you ever experienced these unforced rhythms of grace?  When is it good for you?  

Core Belief :: SALVATION BY GRACE

We believe a person comes into a right relationship with God by His grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (TNIV)

On Friday morning, Cameron told me he had written a post for "Salvation by Grace" but got away from the house without publishing the post. He asked me to go online and post it for him. So I did just that...then something happened and I deleted it. Gone. Nowhere to be found. Oops. I'm sure that Cameron's post was probably life-changing for someone and now no one will ever know. Since that happened, I guess he's been tied up, so I wanted to pass along my thoughts on this core belief.

Salvation by Grace was one of the few mantras I remember from my churches growing up. I remember this phrase being thrown around often. Ephesians 2:8-9 was one of the first passages of Scripture I ever memorized. We quoted it before going out and sharing the message of Jesus to people who didn't know it...or at least hadn't embraced it like we had yet. Everybody in my church knew that you were "saved by grace" even if we didn't really know what it meant.

We believe that humanity's relationship with Creator God was severed through disobedience through one man - Adam (Romans 5:12). That's right. The one man created before all men. In Genesis 3, he disobeys God (he sins) and ushers death into our world. This death was not only physical death, but spiritual death as well. His sin separated us from God. Our relationship was not right. We also believe that Jesus came to make that relationship right again. His sacrifice and subsequent resurrection turned everything around. Now, through one man's (Jesus') sacrifice, life would redeemed and humanity could be restored.

So we believe that a person comes into a right relationship with God by His grace. His grace is the giving of His Son so we might have life. His son paid for our sin. His son set things right for us with God. We believe this happens through faith in Jesus Christ - trusting with your life that Jesus is our only way back into a right relationship with God.

How does this belief effect my everyday life? What difference does this make? Not only is our initial relationship reestablished by grace, but it's also sustained by grace as well. I cannot be the husband, the father, the friend, the pastor, the artist that I need to be apart from God's grace in my life. Nothing I do could ever earn this right relationship with God, and nothing I do could ever take this reestablished relationship away. I don't walk on pins and needles wondering if I've done enough good things to get to heaven some day. I don't worry about whether that reaction I had with my kids will reduce the love God has for me. I don't live my life in fear of Father. It's all because of Jesus I'm alive.

What does this belief mean to you? How does it impact your daily life?

Mark 9

John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

“On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.

Mark 9:38-42

Mark 9 is a loaded chapter, to say the least. I was drawn by all 5 of the teachable passages (could be more). I have chosen to process with you through one of them, though.

Admittedly, I have a problem with criticism. I have a bit of what I've been told is a gift of discernment. Unfortunately, I have not matured in that gift, completely. It's easy for me to see the good in someone and to embrace that person no matter what they may look like on the outside. However, I can also easily see the bad in someone, and in the words of the great theologian, Bon Qui Qui, "CUT them." My passion and desire to be more like Jesus has turned my criticism 180 degrees in my life though. When I first became a Christ-follower, I would criticize those who didn't know Jesus and felt like it was my duty as a Christian to point out faults and turn them to Jesus. Now, I feel more compassion, mercy and grace flowing to those very people, and less and less flowing to the "Christians" in my culture.

What I hear being said to me in this passage is simple. Quit criticizing those who are acting in my name, and on my behalf just because you don't agree with their methods. If they are not my enemies, then they are my allies. Okay, I hear that, but...

No "buts." No matter if I agree or if I get it, it's clear. If someone is not preaching against Jesus, then I should praise God for them. I don't have to agree with their methodology, I don't have to trust them...I have to trust Him.

It is very interesting that Jesus calls these new Christ-followers, "simple child-like believers." My response to them is crucial. If I keep them from doing any work or ministry "in Jesus' name," then I am guilty. This is serious.

Father, I want to trust you with all of your 'ministers.' You know hearts and you know motives. Even in the most awkward moments, may your light shine through them, as I pray it shines through me when my heart is not right and motives are not pure. None of us are perfect and all of us need you to re-interpret our messages to the hearts of the people you want to reach. May I live in that trust more today, than I did yesterday.