Lost things

All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives. “Or what woman, if she owns ten silver coins and loses one of them, won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it? When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.” (Luke 15:1-10, CEB)

This is the beginning of chapter 15 of the gospel of Luke which most would say is about repentance, because the rest of the chapter is the story most of us know as the Prodigal Son. And that story is about the son repenting and coming home. But these three parables go together. And if it is about repentance how do the sheep and the coin repent?

So bad joke time, how does a sheep repent? I’m sorry I’ve been baaaaaaad.
And how does a coin repent? I promise I’ll change.

But these stories are not about repentance, yes it is there in the last parable but that isn’t the focus. It isn’t about the sheep or the coin here either. It is about the shepherd and the woman. The people who lost something and went looking for it. And when they found the thing that was lost they rejoiced and had a party.

Luke 15 is about Lost Things. As in Tinkerbell, where lost things are things that are lost from the mainland and come to the land of the fairies and Tinkerbell uses them to create wonderful new things. It is about the searching and not giving up until the thing that was lost is found. It is about the love the of thing by the one owning it.

It is about the love God has for you and the lengths God will go to have you home and a part of the kindom.

There is always rejoicing in heaven over you.

Loving People. Loving God.

hired hand

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. That’s because he isn’t the shepherd; the sheep aren’t really his. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. He’s only a hired hand and the sheep don’t matter to him. “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that don’t belong to this sheep pen. I must lead them too. They will listen to my voice and there will be one flock, with one shepherd. “This is why the Father loves me: I give up my life so that I can take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I give it up because I want to. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it up again. I received this commandment from my Father.” There was another division among the Jews because of Jesus’ words. Many of them said, “He has a demon and has lost his mind. Why listen to him?” Others said, “These aren’t the words of someone who has a demon. Can a demon heal the eyes of people who are blind?” (John 10:11-21, CEB)

The hired hand is there only for the money. The hired hand will not risk their life to save the sheep from a wolf because the sheep are not theirs. They are only there for the money they will make and if they die then they can not make the money.

The shepherd will lay down his life to save the sheep because the sheep are the livelihood of him and his family. And the sheep know the shepherd and follow him. The sheep know when the shepherd calls and go where he leads.

Do not follow a hired hand, but follow the shepherd. Listen to his voice and go where he leads.

Loving People. Loving God.

Be on guard

But false prophets also arose among the people. In the same way, false teachers will come among you. They will introduce destructive opinions and deny the master who bought them, bringing quick destruction on themselves. Many will follow them in their unrestrained immorality, and because of these false teachers the way of truth will be slandered. In their greed they will take advantage of you with lies. The judgment pronounced against them long ago hasn’t fallen idle, nor is their destruction sleeping. God didn’t spare the angels when they sinned but cast them into the lowest level of the underworld and committed them to chains of darkness, keeping them there until the judgment. And he didn’t spare the ancient world when he brought a flood on the world of ungodly people, even though he protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, along with seven others. God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to total destruction, reducing them to ashes as a warning to ungodly people. And he rescued righteous Lot, who was made miserable by the unrestrained immorality of unruly people. (While that righteous man lived among them he felt deep distress every day on account of the immoral actions he saw and heard.) These things show that the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and how to keep the unrighteous for punishment on the Judgment Day. This is especially true for those who follow after the corrupt cravings of the sinful nature and defy the Lord’s authority. (2 Peter 2:1-10a, CEB)

Watch out for those who would lead you astray. False teachers whose destructive opinions will deny God and pull others along with them. We need to follow after God and keep our focus on where we are being led and not be drawn astray by false teachers and our own desires.

If we focus on God we will remain true and not slide to sinfulness.

Focus on God and love the world!

Loving People. Loving God.

sound teaching

From Paul, who is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope. To Timothy, my true child in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. When I left for Macedonia, I asked you to stay behind in Ephesus so that you could instruct certain individuals not to spread wrong teaching. They shouldn’t pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. Their teaching only causes useless guessing games instead of faithfulness to God’s way of doing things. The goal of instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Because they missed this goal, some people have been distracted by talk that doesn’t mean anything. They want to be teachers of Law without understanding either what they are saying or what they are talking about with such confidence. Now we know that the Law is good if used appropriately. We understand this: the Law isn’t established for a righteous person but for people who live without laws and without obeying any authority. They are the ungodly and the sinners. They are people who are not spiritual, and nothing is sacred to them. They kill their fathers and mothers, and murder others. They are people who are sexually unfaithful, and people who have intercourse with the same sex. They are kidnappers, liars, individuals who give false testimonies in court, and those who do anything else that is opposed to sound teaching. Sound teaching agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God that has been trusted to me. (1 Timothy 1:1-11, CEB)

Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to make sure sound teaching was what was taught. Making sure that myths and endless genealogies were not the norm of what was taught. Endless genealogies? I take that to mean that people said they had the sound teaching based on who they descended from. As in our family has been a part of this congregation for 5 generations and my great-great-great-great grandfather gave that light fixture to the congregation so it is the only proper light for worship.

Sometimes we get hung up on the wrong things. And follow after what we shouldn’t.

Know who God is and what we need to do love God and love others. Don’t get hung up on myths and other stuff.

Loving People. Loving God.

Who can be saved?

A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?” Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except the one God. You know the commandments: Don’t commit adultery. Don’t murder. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. Honor your father and mother.” Then the ruler said, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.” When Jesus heard this, he said, “There’s one more thing. Sell everything you own and distribute the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” When he heard these words, the man became sad because he was extremely rich. When Jesus saw this, he said, “It’s very hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom! It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.” Those who heard this said, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus replied, “What is impossible for humans is possible for God.” Peter said, “Look, we left everything we own and followed you.” Jesus said to them, “I assure you that anyone who has left house, husband, wife, brothers, sisters, parents, or children because of God’s kingdom will receive many times more in this age and eternal life in the coming age.” (Luke 18:18-30, CEB)

What must I do to obtain eternal life? What is the bare minimum I can do and slip by and have life forever? And what is eternal life? Is that really life that is eternal that starts now, or is it something we wait for that is different than life here?

Jesus gives him 5 of what we know as the 10 commandments and he says he has kept all of these. Then Jesus says sell all you have and distribute the money to those in need. You see it is not about what we have, it is about the greatest commandment, and the second greatest which is like it, love God and love neighbor. If you have an abundance of stuff, you probably love that stuff more than God, and giving away the money is loving those around you. And we have a hard time letting go of what we have. But when we do we will have eternal life, not a life we wait on, but abundant life now!

Loving People. Loving God.

godless myths

If you point these things out to the believers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus who has been trained by the words of faith and the good teaching that you’ve carefully followed. But stay away from the godless myths that are passed down from the older women. Train yourself for a holy life! While physical training has some value, training in holy living is useful for everything. It has promise for this life now and the life to come. This saying is reliable and deserves complete acceptance. We work and struggle for this: “Our hope is set on the living God, who is the savior of all people, especially those who believe.” Command these things. Teach them. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. Instead, set an example for the believers through your speech, behavior, love, faith, and by being sexually pure. Until I arrive, pay attention to public reading, preaching, and teaching. Don’t neglect the spiritual gift in you that was given through prophecy when the elders laid hands on you. Practice these things, and live by them so that your progress will be visible to all. Focus on working on your own development and on what you teach. If you do this, you will save yourself and those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:6-16, CEB)

I was struck by the sentence, “But stay away from the godless myths that are passed down from the older women.”

Timothy though is a book that doesn’t speak highly of women and has the passage that women should be quiet. And as I did research into that sentence I found that there is nothing about women in the original Greek. That verse from the ESV is “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;” Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. That is good advice. Stay away from irreverent, silly myths. Keep your focus on training for holy living, not just physical training but spiritual training. Keep your focus on Jesus.

Practice the things we need to to keep us strong in the faith. Using our spiritual gifts for the better of the world.

Loving People. Loving God.

turn away

I hope to come to you quickly. But I’m writing these things to you so that if I’m delayed, you’ll know how you should behave in God’s household. It is the church of the living God and the backbone and support of the truth. Without question, the mystery of godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory. The Spirit clearly says that in latter times some people will turn away from the faith. They will pay attention to spirits that deceive and to the teaching of demons. They will be controlled by the pretense of lying, and their own consciences will be seared. They will prohibit marriage and eating foods that God created—and he intended them to be accepted with thanksgiving by those who are faithful and have come to know the truth. Everything that has been created by God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected. These things are made holy by God’s word and prayer. (1 Timothy 3:14 — 4:5, CEB)

in the latter times, some will turn away from faith and pay attention to spirits that deceive and the teaching of demons. We are seeing this now. As many have in the past. This is not a one time happening, but something that can go on for a long time. We need to focus on where God is calling us to be.

Everything that has been created by God is good and should be accepted with thanksgiving and nothing received with thanksgiving should be rejected. God made it and it is good. We shouldn’t judge it but know it is good and not reject it. If you reject something that God made good says it is not is following after spirits of evil and teaching of demons.

Love the world, because God created it.

Loving People. Loving God.

Planned

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. Turning to them, he said, “Whoever comes to me and doesn’t hate father and mother, spouse and children, and brothers and sisters—yes, even one’s own life—cannot be my disciple. Whoever doesn’t carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. “If one of you wanted to build a tower, wouldn’t you first sit down and calculate the cost, to determine whether you have enough money to complete it? Otherwise, when you have laid the foundation but couldn’t finish the tower, all who see it will begin to belittle you. They will say, ‘Here’s the person who began construction and couldn’t complete it!’ Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down to consider whether his ten thousand soldiers could go up against the twenty thousand coming against him? And if he didn’t think he could win, he would send a representative to discuss terms of peace while his enemy was still a long way off. In the same way, none of you who are unwilling to give up all of your possessions can be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-33, CEB)

I think this is interesting because in my years of following God I am sure there was a plan, but I always didn’t know it. And Jesus here is telling the crowds that they need to trust the plan. Because you wouldn’t go to war without figuring out if you can win, and you wouldn’t build a tower unless you knew you could complete it. And Yes I know I can do the things God calls me to even when I wonder how in the world I would ever complete them. But I honestly didn’t know the plan.

We need to let go of everything we know and allow Jesus to guide us as we go. This is unnerving for me and for probably most. Even those of us who do not plan everything like to know at least an outline. But we really don’t get that. That is trust. That is faith.

Step out every day in faith, knowing that Jesus is leading you where you need to go and be and will always be by your side.

Loving People. Loving God.

Peace

“Don’t think that I’ve come to bring peace to the earth. I haven’t come to bring peace but a sword. I’ve come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. People’s enemies are members of their own households. “Those who love father or mother more than me aren’t worthy of me. Those who love son or daughter more than me aren’t worthy of me. Those who don’t pick up their crosses and follow me aren’t worthy of me. Those who find their lives will lose them, and those who lose their lives because of me will find them. “Those who receive you are also receiving me, and those who receive me are receiving the one who sent me. Those who receive a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Those who receive a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. I assure you that everybody who gives even a cup of cold water to these little ones because they are my disciples will certainly be rewarded.” (Matthew 10:34-42, CEB)

When we actually follow Jesus we will have peace, but that peace may be within conflict. Because actually following Jesus could lead to conflict in the family or with friends. We need to make sure our relationship with Jesus is the main relationship in our lives and not allow anything to get in the way of that. That means that conflict could come within groups we are in. We must be ready to state the truth and follow Jesus, even when it means we will cause stress and strife in our earthly relationships.

Know though that the reward we receive will be greater when we faithfully follow after Jesus and take up our cross daily.

Loving People. Loving God.

We are not alone…

Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave in the Lord, will inform you about everything that has happened to me. This is why I sent him to you, so that you’ll know all about us and so he can encourage your hearts. I sent him with Onesimus, our faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will let you know about everything here. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, says hello to you. So does Mark, Barnabas’ cousin (you received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him). Jesus, called Justus, also says hello. These are my only fellow workers for God’s kingdom who are Jewish converts. They have been an encouragement to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, says hello. He’s a slave of Christ Jesus who always wrestles for you in prayers so that you will stand firm and be fully mature and complete in the entire will of God. I can vouch for him that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. Luke, the dearly loved physician, and Demas say hello. Say hello to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, along with Nympha and the church that meets in her house. After this letter has been read to you publicly, make sure that the church in Laodicea reads it and that you read the one from Laodicea. And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry that you received in the Lord.” (Colossians 4:7-17, CEB)

Have you ever felt like you were alone in the world? That you did the work you did all by yourself?

I would have to say honestly, I have been there. It is easy to get caught up in the world around you and lose sight of all of our partners in ministry.

This passage from the epistle to the Colossians reminds us we are not alone. this list of people, who are all working together in the mission of God shows us and reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses and we never are alone.

Know you are not alone.

Loving People. Loving God.