do you understand?

“There was a certain rich man who clothed himself in purple and fine linen, and who feasted luxuriously every day. At his gate lay a certain poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. Lazarus longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Instead, dogs would come and lick his sores. “The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. While being tormented in the place of the dead, he looked up and saw Abraham at a distance with Lazarus at his side. He shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I’m suffering in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received good things, whereas Lazarus received terrible things. Now Lazarus is being comforted and you are in great pain. Moreover, a great crevasse has been fixed between us and you. Those who wish to cross over from here to you cannot. Neither can anyone cross from there to us.’ “The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, Father, send Lazarus to my father’s house. I have five brothers. He needs to warn them so that they don’t come to this place of agony.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. They must listen to them.’ The rich man said, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will change their hearts and lives.’ Abraham said, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, then neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’” (Luke 16:19-31, CEB)

I like this passage for the last verse, “Abraham said, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, then neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’” It’s like Abraham knew someone was going to rise from the dead!

We live our lives in bubbles, and as long as I get what I want, that is all that matters. We see others around us suffering or in need and can do something but do not do something, which makes us guilty of a sin of omission. We know we should do something and have the means to, but we do not do it, and that makes us guilty.

Do we understand we are not the center of the universe and the worlds do not revolve around us?

In the immortal words of High School Musical, “We’re all in this together, once we know, that we are, we’re all stars, and we see that.”

We need each other and need to lift those who need help.

Love People. Love God.

who do you think you are?

While everyone was marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Take these words to heart: the Human One is about to be delivered into human hands.” They didn’t understand this statement. Its meaning was hidden from them so they couldn’t grasp it. And they were afraid to ask him about it. An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Aware of their deepest thoughts, Jesus took a little child and had the child stand beside him. Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me. Whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever is least among you all is the greatest.” (Luke 9:43b-48, CEB)

Who do you think you are?

If you think you deserve the seat of honor, you need to check yourself. The disciples were arguing about who was the greatest. Jesus found a child and brought the child into their midst and said, “Welcome those who no one else does and lift them up instead of trying to hide them from sight. When you welcome these, you welcome me, and you welcome the one who sent me.”

When you make yourself the least, you will be great in the kindom.

Go be the least and lift those who are hidden.

for…

At one time you were like a dead person because of the things you did wrong and your offenses against God. You used to live like people of this world. You followed the rule of a destructive spiritual power. This is the spirit of disobedience to God’s will that is now at work in persons whose lives are characterized by disobedience. At one time you were like those persons. All of you used to do whatever felt good and whatever you thought you wanted so that you were children headed for punishment just like everyone else. However, God is rich in mercy. He brought us to life with Christ while we were dead as a result of those things that we did wrong. He did this because of the great love that he has for us. You are saved by God’s grace! And God raised us up and seated us in the heavens with Christ Jesus. God did this to show future generations the greatness of his grace by the goodness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus. You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. It’s not something you did that you can be proud of. Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives. (Ephesians 2:1-10, CEB)

This passage has the wonderful passage that Martin Luther found and clung to, “You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith. This salvation is God’s gift. It’s not something you possessed. It’s not something you did that you can be proud of.”

You are saved by grace through faith, not by your own works, so no person can boast. That’s how I remember it. Lutherans all over the world can say this from memory because it is our verse. We are saved by God’s grace through Christ’s faithfulness and we can not earn it. And so we do nothing. We go to worship and sit on our bottoms and do nothing. Or nothing that seems to be a work, because works do not save us, grace does, so we do not need to do anything. But when we stop where the above does at verse 9, we miss the point. And that is verse 10.

Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.

For these good things, God planned ahead of time, or how I remember it, “For the good works God planned for you to do ahead of time.”

We are saved by grace, through faith, not by our own works so we can not boast, FOR the good works God planned for us ahead of time.

We are saved to be God’s hands and feet and share God’s love.

FOR!

rich through poverty

I’m not giving an order, but by mentioning the commitment of others, I’m trying to prove the authenticity of your love also. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you could become rich through his poverty. I’m giving you my opinion about this. It’s to your advantage to do this, since you not only started to do it last year but you wanted to do it too. Now finish the job as well so that you finish it with as much enthusiasm as you started, given what you can afford. A gift is appreciated because of what a person can afford, not because of what that person can’t afford, if it’s apparent that it’s done willingly. It isn’t that we want others to have financial ease and you financial difficulties, but it’s a matter of equality. At the present moment, your surplus can fill their deficit so that in the future their surplus can fill your deficit. In this way there is equality. As it is written, The one who gathered more didn’t have too much, and the one who gathered less didn’t have too little. (2 Corinthians 8:8-15, CEB)

Here, Paul is writing to the Corinthians. There is a community in need, and the Corinthians have a surplus. They can help the other community. Paul is not ordering them to help, but is showing them why they should care for others.

Jesus, in His richness, stepped down from the throne and took on poverty, so we could become rich through his poverty. We become richer by becoming poorer. Poorer in what the world sees as richer and richer in what actually makes us rich.

Love of others is what we are called to.

Love People. Love God.

Become rich through poverty.

watch out…

In the presence of all the people, Jesus said to his disciples, “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They love being greeted with honor in the markets. They long for the places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly.” Looking up, Jesus saw rich people throwing their gifts into the collection box for the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow throw in two small copper coins worth a penny. He said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than them all. All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had to live on.” (Luke 20:45—21:4, CEB)

The widow is not an example to lift up, but an example to use for those in power and those with resources to say, “it is your place to care for this one.”

If you have more, do not tip God. And do not create a system that makes widows give their last pennies.

We need to care for the last, the lost, the least, and the little. The orphan. The stranger. The widow.

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of others, and know others are thinking of you.

all things to all people

Although I’m free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them. I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I’m under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law). I act like I’m outside the Law to those who are outside the Law, so I can recruit those outside the Law (though I’m not outside the law of God but rather under the law of Christ). I act weak to the weak, so I can recruit the weak. I have become all things to all people, so I could save some by all possible means. All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23, CEB)

I remember this verse in different language. I am all things to all people. I do what I have to to get into a group to tell them about Jesus. But is this really good?

Paul spread the gospel like no other, and he was great at meeting with different groups and doing things in ways that allowed him to be different in different places. And we all have little nuances that change depending on the groups we are with, but to radically change oneself to fit in?

We need to be radically who God created us to be and live deeply into that. Do not change to fit in; be who you were created to be.

Preach the gospel at all times by living your life out loud.

cornerstone

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees confronted them. They were incensed that the apostles were teaching the people and announcing that the resurrection of the dead was happening because of Jesus. They seized Peter and John and put them in prison until the next day. (It was already evening.) Many who heard the word became believers, and their number grew to about five thousand. The next day the leaders, elders, and legal experts gathered in Jerusalem, along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others from the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and asked, “By what power or in what name did you do this?” Then Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, answered, “Leaders of the people and elders, are we being examined today because something good was done for a sick person, a good deed that healed him? If so, then you and all the people of Israel need to know that this man stands healthy before you because of the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is the stone you builders rejected; he has become the cornerstone! Salvation can be found in no one else. Throughout the whole world, no other name has been given among humans through which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:1-12, CEB)

A cornerstone is the stone that holds the walls together for the building. It is the stone that is foundational to the structure.

Jesus is the cornerstone of our lives. Jesus holds it all together when the world would come and knock us down and move us around. Jesus holds us firm.

This is the power that heals and gives life.

Is Jesus your cornerstone?

Dishonest Manager

Jesus also said to the disciples, “A certain rich man heard that his household manager was wasting his estate. He called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of your administration because you can no longer serve as my manager.’ “The household manager said to himself, What will I do now that my master is firing me as his manager? I’m not strong enough to dig and too proud to beg. I know what I’ll do so that, when I am removed from my management position, people will welcome me into their houses. “One by one, the manager sent for each person who owed his master money. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your contract, sit down quickly, and write four hundred fifty gallons.’ Then the manager said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’ He said, ‘Take your contract and write eight hundred.’ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted cleverly. People who belong to this world are more clever in dealing with their peers than are people who belong to the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it’s gone, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes. “Whoever is faithful with little is also faithful with much, and the one who is dishonest with little is also dishonest with much. If you haven’t been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? If you haven’t been faithful with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? No household servant can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Luke 16:1-13, CEB)

What is this parable?

A wealthy man hears his manager has done bad in keeping the books, so he calls him in and says make a report to me because I’m firing you. And the manager then makes what the customers or people in debted to his boss owe him less, so they will like him and help him when he is fired. Is this because the wealthy man has cheated those in debt to him? Or because the manager is looking out for himself?

People will say the wealthy man was a crook, and that makes what the manager does the right thing to do, because we are like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but there is nothing in the parable that suggests that.

This parable is not about the wealthy man or the manager per se. It is about both men and all of us.

There is this thing called integrity. Many people strive for it, but few actually obtain it. It is when you say what you mean and mean what you say and do what is right, even when no one is looking. The manager does not have integrity. He in my opinion is looking out for himself, because the parable says, “What will I do now that my master is firing me as his manager? I’m not strong enough to dig and too proud to beg. I know what I’ll do so that, when I am removed from my management position, people will welcome me into their houses.” He works the system in his favor and does what is wrong to cover his own needs. Not a person of integrity.

Do you post online things you would not say in person? That is not integrity.

Walk the walk. Talk the talk. Always tell the truth and look out for the last, lost, least, little. That is integrity.

This is not Stewardship!!!

Jesus sat across from the collection box for the temple treasury and observed how the crowd gave their money. Many rich people were throwing in lots of money. One poor widow came forward and put in two small copper coins worth a penny. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than everyone who’s been putting money in the treasury. All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44, CEB)

I have heard so many people say, oh be like the widow who gave everything and was lifted up by Jesus. But that is not how I read this passage. This is not a stewardship passage in the way we think it is a stewardship passage.

Jesus watches people putting money in the collection box at that temple and sees a widow who puts in all the money she has, while others have tipped the box. She gave everything she needed to live on, out of her poverty. Because everyone has to give, and she had nothing to begin with, and had to give all she had. The system was rigged against her just like the system is rigged against the poor now. The system is in place to keep the poor in their place. And she is not a model of stewardship; she is the reason the rest of us need to step up our giving. We are blessed to be a blessing, not to tip God.

Do not say she is the model. Give so she does not have to and can live, as we are all given life to live it.

nothing!

So what are we going to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He didn’t spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Won’t he also freely give us all things with him? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect people? It is God who acquits them. Who is going to convict them? It is Christ Jesus who died, even more, who was raised, and who also is at God’s right side. It is Christ Jesus who also pleads our case for us. Who will separate us from Christ’s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, We are being put to death all day long for your sake. We are treated like sheep for slaughter. But in all these things we win a sweeping victory through the one who loved us. I’m convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Lord: not death or life, not angels or rulers, not present things or future things, not powers or height or depth, or any other thing that is created. (Romans 8:31-39, CEB)

If God is for us, who can be against us? Christ stands in our place when it comes to the final judgment, and Christ is perfect. There is nothing that can make us not slide through, because God is for us and Christ has made the way clear.

Nothing will come between us and God. Not life, or death. Not angels, or rulers. Not things happening now, or things that will happen tomorrow. Not any power. Not heights, or depths. Nothing that was created, which is everything, right, because Genesis says that the world was chaos, a formless void if you will.

Powers and created things stand alone in a list of binaries. We seem to love binaries. We want something to be this or that, nothing in between, or no other options. But Life is not made up of binaries but spectrums. And even spectrums will not separate us from God. Our desires to push things into binaries will not keep us from God, or any one else.

Nothing can separate us from God’s love for us.