14:5 - Rules, dogma and theological opinions should be put aside for the sake of people...helping people reach newness and healing. People are more important than rules. They are more important than budgets. They are more important than our plans. People are the sons and daughters of the most high God. Rules/laws are made to help people live better, holier lives...not to make them slaves.
14:12 - I think that we sometimes get caught up in being generous with those who we know will repay us our generosity. We are kindest and most giving to our friends, because they will pay us back with gifts and words of thanks. True generosity is shown when we break out of that mold and give to those who have no ability to return the favor. True generosity is shown when we give to those who hate us...when we give to those who have no idea who we are.
14:18ff - There are a million excuses for us in this world to ignore God's invitation to drink from His cup...to live the life He has called us too. We are too busy. We are preoccupied. We will do it after school. We will answer the call after we've had some fun. If we feast on the things of this world, we will be left empty and unsatisfied...we will miss out on the great banquet that we are being called to take part in. Choose wisely.
14:26 - Hate everybody you love, including yourself!? That seems so harsh. But this is what you have to understand. When you put everything else behind
God on your list of priorities...you actually become better at all the other relationships. When I show hatred to myself in that I put God before myself - I actually have a more fulfilling, joy-filled life. When I show hatred towards my family by putting God before them - I am a better, more focused, more committed husband and father. Hatred does not imply that we sinfully destroy every relationship we have on earth...it means we consider all relationships nothing in comparison to our relationship with God...which in turn makes every other relationship more holy and God-honoring. Pretty cool, huh?
14:34 - A dangerous warning to all Christians...if you carry the name of Christ, you are the salt of the earth. Wherever you go, you should make a difference...you should add a godly flavor into everything you do. If not, we are not fit to carry the name of Christ...a Christian who doesn't actually follow Christ is as useless as salt with no taste.
15:6 - I love that line, "Rejoice with me for I have found the sheep that was lost!" That should be that attitude of the church when lost, broken, incredibly sinful people walk in the door - "Yes, they've come to the right place!" We do the grace of God no justice when we react with judgement and fear. Who are we as undeserving sinners in the hands of a merciful God, to call judgement upon others. Rejoice when the lost are found!
15:17ff - We have to notice that the prodigal son returns in humble repentance. He knows how wrong he has been and he returns to his father on his knees, begging only to be treated as a slave. When we have strayed from God, we should always return in humility...understanding that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves as we fall broken at His feet. A belief that we have to earn our way back into God's good graces will only sending us spiraling further and further into sin and further and further away from God.
15:31 - I have been the brother in my life. I have been the Christian wondering why some people get to sin-it-up and then at the last minute turn to God, receiving the same thing I get after all my hard work! I came to the realization that it all depends on how you look at what truly living looks like. I had the flawed belief that the life of sin was more fun and enjoyable than the life of the Christian. I have found that, that is absolutely not true. The one who has been in Christ has been at the banquet table the entire time...given access to the Holy Spirit...given purpose and meaning and true joy. The life long Christian has been offered over and over the chance to eat the bread of life and drink from living water. The prodigal has wallowed in sin and hopelessness and discovered the hard way that there is nothing in this world that can truly satisfy outside of God. Why should I be jealous of a broken lost man who falls at the feet of God with nowhere else to turn? I should rejoice that such a man is now going to sit at the table with me and experience the life he was created to live.
8 comments:
Luke 15 - have always loved this story of the wayward son. There is so much to learn from it.
I think that it is unbelievably amazing that one can gain so much from a 2000 year old story - one that I have heard now for over 30 years - only God can do something like that.
Find something in His Word that you really like - and whether you think you need to or not, read it at least 2 to 4 times a year.
Peace,
j
12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
I definitely need to learn from this. That would be kind of hard to do.
14:15-23
Every party seems to enjoy/want what they don't have.. the well-off people don't want to come to the banquet they could give for themselves and the poor/random people on the streets would probably enjoy the banquet a lot.. so by giving the party to the poor , each party gets what the "want" kind of.. just a thought. Probably has nothing to do with the parable.
I looked up a few version of 14:25 and the message said "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple."
hate doesn't seem harsh to me.. it seems unloving.
In chapter 15 there seems to be a lot of jealous coins and sheep for the one coin and sheep getting the rejoicing.. and son jealous of the other son.
It does sound unloving, but it is actually completely focused on love...a totally sold out love of God. And in the midst of loving God we are able to love everyone around us better. It is further proof to me that we were created to be connected to God, because we do everything better when we are fully involved with Him.
In Luke Chapter 14:7-14 -
Jesus teaches us about humility. I definitely need to practice this, because sometimes (although I hate to admit it), I only think of myself. And now that I come to think of it and look back on some of the selfish things I've done, I can't remember there was anything satisfying that comes as a result from being egotistical.
in verse 25 from chapter 14, Im not sure I completely understand...
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
The scripture above is from the NLT version, and if you look closely, verse 26 says "by comparison" - I guess that means that you should put him first and above everything else. When you compare the love you have for Jesus to that of others, we should love Him so much that by comparison it would seem like we hate the others.
thats a lot o' lovin'
it was good!
So why is it hate your family instead of be sold out to God with no thought of your kin. It seems weird to say one instead of the other. possible reasoning? but then again, some versions don't say hate, rather hate in comparison (from Bryan's) and the message didn't say hate at all, but be able to let go which would be severing ties.. separate/without thought of family.. which seems right, but maybe there's something I'm not seeing and he really did mean hate
I looked up hate as used in chapter 14 in the Greek. It is the word miseo, which can be translated hate, despise, disregard, be indifferent to. Maybe disregard works better for you Stephen...understanding that you disregard others for God - putting Him first. But out of respect for the translators of the NIV and ESV (men and women who are light years beyond me in their ability to translate) - I am still comfortable with hate. We cannot take the world's definition of hate and swallow it hook line and sinker. Think of the world's definition of love...I love taco bueno...I love this girl I've know for 10 minutes - as a Christian you define love as commitment. We can see that Jesus calls us to love God and others to fulfill the commandments...as he is dying on the cross he is working out plans for someone to take care of his mother...he is all about loving others and our families. So we have to assume that what he means is that we must disregard/hate our families to put God first so that we can actually love them more.
Father, I ask that you continue to make me a better man for my wife, my friends, those whom I have influence over. I ask that you continually test my commitment to you: that i continually practice putting others second only to you, Lord, to grow in you and be better at all those relationships. i love you...
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