Assume…

One Sabbath, when Jesus went to share a meal in the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely.
When Jesus noticed how the guests sought out the best seats at the table, he told them a parable. “When someone invites you to a wedding celebration, don’t take your seat in the place of honor. Someone more highly regarded than you could have been invited by your host. The host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give your seat to this other person.’ Embarrassed, you will take your seat in the least important place. Instead, when you receive an invitation, go and sit in the least important place. When your host approaches you, he will say, ‘Friend, move up here to a better seat.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. All who lift themselves up will be brought low, and those who make themselves low will be lifted up.” Then Jesus said to the person who had invited him, “When you host a lunch or dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return and that will be your reward. Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. And you will be blessed because they can’t repay you. Instead, you will be repaid when the just are resurrected.” (Luke 14:1, 7-14, CEB)

Remember what happens when we assume. We make an ass out of you and me.

When we take a seat, we should not we will be embarrassed when we are asked to vacate it for someone else. So we should not think more highly of ourselves and let others lift us up.

You do not do things for those who can repay you. Do everything for those who need it, so your repayment will be treasure beyond your wildest imagination.

Love without limit and give grace freely.

Love out Loud.

I am god…

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus along with her sons. Bowing before him, she asked a favor of him. “What do you want?” he asked. She responded, “Say that these two sons of mine will sit, one on your right hand and one on your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink from the cup that I’m about to drink from?” They said to him, “We can.” He said to them, “You will drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left hand isn’t mine to give. It belongs to those for whom my Father prepared it.” Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them over and said, “You know that those who rule the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. But that’s not the way it will be with you. Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant. Whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave— just as the Human One didn’t come to be served but rather to serve and to give his life to liberate many people.” (Matthew 20:20-28, CEB)

I love this passage because basically James and John’s mother asked Jesus for one of them to sit in the Father’s seat.

We confess through the creeds that Jesus was killed, died, descended to the dead, then rose and ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. So who is at Jesus’ left hand side? The Father. So whoever, James or John, is sitting on Jesus’ left, they are taking the seat of the Father.

Now I do not want to fill any of those seats or drink from the cup Jesus drank from.

We need to worry about serving others and showing love in all things rather than trying to take seats of power.

Power is not ours to take. Jesus came to serve and to show us how to serve, not how to claim a seat of authority.

Serve. Love out Loud.

sincere love

The end of everything has come. Therefore, be self-controlled and clearheaded so you can pray. Above all, show sincere love to each other, because love brings about the forgiveness of many sins. Open your homes to each other without complaining. And serve each other according to the gift each person has received, as good managers of God’s diverse gifts. Whoever speaks should do so as those who speak God’s word. Whoever serves should do so from the strength that God furnishes. Do this so that in everything God may be honored through Jesus Christ. To him be honor and power forever and always. Amen. (1 Peter 4:7-11, CEB)

Love each other. Love brings forgiveness.

Open your homes and help each other.

Show God’s love in everything you do to everyone you meet.

God’s strength and mercy are shown through us sharing love.

give blessing

Finally, all of you be of one mind, sympathetic, lovers of your fellow believers, compassionate, and modest in your opinion of yourselves. Don’t pay back evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, give blessing in return. You were called to do this so that you might inherit a blessing. For those who want to love life and see good days should keep their tongue from evil speaking and their lips from speaking lies. They should shun evil and do good; seek peace and chase after it. The Lord’s eyes are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord cannot tolerate those who do evil. (1 Peter 3:8-12, CEB)

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. Give blessings in return for all you receive.

We should kill them with kindness and show them love.

They will know we follow God by our love, so let’s shower the world with love.

Good or Evil?

On another Sabbath, Jesus entered a synagogue to teach. A man was there whose right hand was withered. The legal experts and the Pharisees were watching him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. They were looking for a reason to bring charges against him. Jesus knew their thoughts, so he said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” He got up and stood there. Jesus said to the legal experts and Pharisees, “Here’s a question for you: Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” Looking around at them all, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did and his hand was made healthy. They were furious and began talking with each other about what to do to Jesus. (Luke 6:6-11, CEB)

Which is more important, keeping a day created for you or healing and restoring to community?

Is it better to heal on the sabbath or to allow evil to continue?

The leaders were upset that a person was restored to community because the “rules” had been broken. But are not the rules there to help us treat people as humanity and to lift them up and not continue to hold them in captivity?

Which would you choose, good or evil?

Satan’s synagogue

“Write this to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:
These are the words of the one who is holy and true, who has the key of David. Whatever he opens, no one will shut; and whatever he shuts, no one opens. I know your works. Look! I have set in front of you an open door that no one can shut. You have so little power, and yet you have kept my word and haven’t denied my name. Because of this I will make the people from Satan’s synagogue (who say they are Jews and really aren’t, but are lying)—I will make them come and bow down at your feet and realize that I have loved you. Because you kept my command to endure, I will keep you safe through the time of testing that is about to come over the whole world, to test those who live on earth. I’m coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown. As for those who emerge victorious, I will make them pillars in the temple of my God, and they will never leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on them my own new name. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. (Revelation 3:7-13, CEB)

Satan’s synagogue…

People who profess to follow God but fall short of doing what God has called them to do.

People who say they follow Jesus but do not love as Jesus commanded, but rather use their religion to hate those not like them.

People who claim to be Christian and yet do not accept others ot love them because their lifestyles do not fit the mold they hold to be Christian.

These people will be judged by God for not doing what they were commanded, even though they think they are doing God’s will.

Do you belong to Satan’s synagogue?

hear God when?

So, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you hear his voice, don’t have stubborn hearts as they did in the rebellion, on the day when they tested me in the desert. That is where your ancestors challenged and tested me, though they had seen my work for forty years. So I was angry with them. I said, “Their hearts always go off course, and they don’t know my ways.” Because of my anger I swore: “They will never enter my rest!” Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that none of you have an evil, unfaithful heart that abandons the living God. Instead, encourage each other every day, as long as it’s called “today,” so that none of you become insensitive to God because of sin’s deception. We are partners with Christ, but only if we hold on to the confidence we had in the beginning until the end. When it says, Today, if you hear his voice, don’t have stubborn hearts as they did in the rebellion. Who was it who rebelled when they heard his voice? Wasn’t it all of those who were brought out of Egypt by Moses? And with whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with the ones who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? And against whom did he swear that they would never enter his rest, if not against the ones who were disobedient? We see that they couldn’t enter because of their lack of faith. Therefore, since the promise that we can enter into rest is still open, let’s be careful so that none of you will appear to miss it. We also had the good news preached to us, just as the Israelites did. However, the message they heard didn’t help them because they weren’t united in faith with the ones who listened to it. We who have faith are entering the rest. As God said, And because of my anger I swore: “They will never enter into my rest!” And yet God’s works were completed at the foundation of the world. Then somewhere he said this about the seventh day of creation: God rested on the seventh day from all his works. But again, in the passage above, God said, They will never enter my rest! Therefore, it’s left open for some to enter it, and the ones who had the good news preached to them before didn’t enter because of disobedience. Just as it says in the passage above, God designates a certain day as “today,” when he says through David much later, Today, if you hear his voice, don’t have stubborn hearts. If Joshua gave the Israelites rest, God wouldn’t have spoken about another day later on. So you see that a sabbath rest is left open for God’s people. The one who entered God’s rest also rested from his works, just as God rested from his own. Therefore, let’s make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience (Hebrews 3:7— 4:11, CEB)

When did we hear God?

What day is today? It seems the author here is trying to say that at any time when you hear the word of God, you need to listen. Today, if you hear Their voice, do not have stubborn hearts.

“Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that none of you have an evil, unfaithful heart that abandons the living God.” Our hearts can lead us from following God. Listen for God, and when you hear Their voice, listen. Follow where They lead.

Whenever you hear God.

who is she?

Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. A woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn’t stand up straight. When he saw her, Jesus called her to him and said, “Woman, you are set free from your sickness.” He placed his hands on her and she straightened up at once and praised God. The synagogue leader, incensed that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded, “There are six days during which work is permitted. Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath day.” The Lord replied, “Hypocrites! Don’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from its stall and lead it out to get a drink? Then isn’t it necessary that this woman, a daughter of Abraham, bound by Satan for eighteen long years, be set free from her bondage on the Sabbath day?” When he said these things, all his opponents were put to shame, but all those in the crowd rejoiced at all the extraordinary things he was doing. (Luke 13:10-17, CEB)

A woman was there. She does not have a name. She had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. When He (being Jesus) saw her, he called her over and told her she was set free from her sickness. Not healed, but set free.

How did he know she was bent over for eighteen years? Did he talk to her before? The lesson states that He was teaching, and when He saw her, He called her over. He did not ask her how long she had been ill or bound. He just knew. He saw her. All of her. She was bent over, and when He said that, He touched her, and she stood up straight, praising God. Perhaps she praised God with Psalm 103:1-8:

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and do not forget all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works vindication
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
    His acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Jesus saw her and knew who she was and how long she had been in bondage. So He told those who questioned this healing on a Sabbath, “You will untie your ox or donkey and take them to water, an animal, but you will not heal this daughter of Abraham?” She is not property, or an animal, she is not something to be fixed, she is a part of the People of Israel, a Daughter of Abraham. She deserves to be healed and allowed to be a part. This is the only time Daughter of Abraham is used in Luke. Later, Jesus will call Zacchaeus a “son of Abraham” in Luke 19:9. A woman and a tax collector. Who do we see as in, and who does Jesus see as in?

Remember, the Sabbath is a gift of rest, not a limitation on helping humanity.

which is better?

One Sabbath, as Jesus was going through the wheat fields, his disciples were picking the heads of wheat, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the Sabbath law?” Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read what David and his companions did when they were hungry? He broke the Law by going into God’s house and eating the bread of the presence, which only the priests can eat. He also gave some of the bread to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The Human One is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:1-5, CEB)

Is it better for a man to grind the grain to eat it on the Sabbath, thus doing work on the Sabbath, or for the man to go hungry?

Now one day will really not make a difference if the man does not eat, but how many days has he already gone without eating?

Is it better to keep the law or for people to be fed?

Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, and Sabbath is rest for all. The Sabbath is a reminder that even God rested, but it is not to be kept if others are hungry or dying. We need to take care of basic human needs first. Sabbath will always come, but life may need a boost.

So, which is better?

Keeping the law, or feeding the hungry?
Keeping the law, or saving a life?

what would you do?

Paul and Silas journeyed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, then came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he entered the synagogue and for three Sabbaths interacted with them on the basis of the scriptures. Through his interpretation of the scriptures, he demonstrated that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. He declared, “This Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ.” Some were convinced and joined Paul and Silas, including a larger number of Greek God-worshippers and quite a few prominent women. But the Jews became jealous and brought along some thugs who were hanging out in the marketplace. They formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason’s house, intending to bring Paul and Silas before the people. When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and some believers before the city officials. They were shouting, “These people who have been disturbing the peace throughout the empire have also come here. What is more, Jason has welcomed them into his home. Every one of them does what is contrary to Caesar’s decrees by naming someone else as king: Jesus.” This provoked the crowd and the city officials even more. After Jason and the others posted bail, they released them. (Acts 17:1-9, CEB)

If you were Jason, what would you do?

Accused of disturbing the peace, and welcoming those who disturb the peace into your home? Being said that, you stand in contrast to Caesar’s decrees and follow Jesus as king.

Would you be convicted of following Jesus?

Would there be enough evidence to show that you heard what Jesus said and you do it?

What do you do to convict yourself of following Jesus?