Jesus Uses Parables

  Prayer Practice

Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.

DAILY READING

Luke 13

REFLECTION

Kingdom Truths

 by Kelsey Bacon

Here in this passage we find ourselves again getting a picture of Jesus' ministry, of his preaching, of his miracles. And these particular stories I think have some common themes, particularly in regards to the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus preaches and teaches about the Kingdom of Heaven often, especially through parables, but in these stories--even the ones that aren't parables--we can feel a sense of urgency in Jesus' teaching. He makes such strong, bold claims about the Kingdom, even if they aren't what the people want to hear. And I can imagine him speaking them, desperate for the people to see the truth, to turn from their wicked ways and repent. These passages tell some hard truths about the Kingdom, but they are truths indeed. Let's dig into some of these truths:

1. The Kingdom of Heaven comes on God's time. In the story of the healing of the crippled woman, we read that she had been crippled for eighteen years. God waited to heal her until just the right moment, so that the people would see and understand the lordship of Jesus and glorify God. Did she suffer? Oh yes, I'm sure she suffered greatly all those years. But the Kingdom of heaven comes in God's time, not ours. And even in the parables of the mustard seed and the yeast, you see two examples of things that take time. It takes years and years for a mustard seed to grow into a tree, and it takes much time, patience and hard work to knead yeast into sixty pounds of flour and water. Sixty pounds! Imagine how tired your arms would be?! All of these things take time--God's time. God's perfect time. The Kingdom of Heaven comes on God's time.

2. There is a certain path you must take to enter the Kingdom. This is made evident throughout this passage. But, funnily enough it's not certain things that you have to accomplish or an application you have to send in or even a literal path you take to get there, but a different kind of way. First, Jesus says you must repent. No one can enter the Kingdom if they still think that their sins were okay and they have nothing to be sorry for. Then Jesus talks about the narrow door. And here he says those on whom the door is closed will say "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." But the owner of the house will reply. "I don't know you or where you come from." Here we see that the path is not so easy. It's not just about the appearance of being on the path, but about the deep truth that the way provides. It's about climbing through the brambles and thickets when the path becomes more difficult to follow, about crying out to the Lord when the path takes you through the valley of the shadow of death, and crying out to him also when you reach the mountain top. It's about following Jesus' footsteps as your guide.

3. God's Kingdom is here. If there's anything that this passage clearly communicates, it's that God's Kingdom is at hand, and Jesus is Lord of it. He is the sovereign King and he tells us so clearly what he is asking us to do.

Reflect Further: The Kingdom is here, so how are we to respond? Every day, let us repent and turn to the Lord, let us pray for his timing, for his Kingdom to reign, and for him to lead us ever onward.

Mudslingers and Fig Trees

I am ready for this election season to be over.  How about you?  I’m done with all of the mudslinging. We continually hear one political group comparing themselves to the other by showing how evil their opponent is.

It doesn’t take long to get tired of all the negativity. Highlighting only the bad might make us feel better for a brief moment, but soon either we, or those around us will need some good news.

Our scripture passage today talks about this very thing. Luke 13: 1-9 explains how there were some who were talking to Jesus about how bad certain people where.  Jesus even questions these accusers asking, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no!” But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Did you catch Jesus’s reply? “Unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Those who brought the question to Jesus were not even talking about themselves.  They were comparing one group of Galileans to another, but Jesus turns the tables on them saying they too need to repent.

Jesus continues telling about a man who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard that did not produce any fruit. The man wanted to cut down the tree because it was just using up soil.  It’s not hard to see that Jesus was telling this story about those who thought they were good enough.  He keeps the story focused on those who were playing the comparison game, not on the “sinners”.

As Christians, we need to be particularly careful how we treat others. It’s easy to compare someone else’s shortcomings as worse than our, in order to bolster our self-worth.  Talking with a friend, family member or colleague about what horrible thing someone else did, takes the spotlight off of how we are doing, but that kind of living is dangerous.

We need to make sure we are producing good fruit for the Kingdom of God and not just using up soil. Repentance is the key to keeping the focus on ourselves and away from others.

Heavenly Father,

We confess that we often look at what others are doing hoping to feel better about ourselves.  We are so sorry. Please forgive us.  Help us to turn our focus and only compare ourselves to you.  Thank you for loving us and not giving up on us.  Help us to produce fruit that gives you glory. When we do look at others, please help us to look with love and compassion.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Jumping In and Standing Out

Read about the healing of the crippled woman in Luke 13:10-17.

A Salvation Army advisory board member for the past 10 years, I confess there were times along the way when I thought they’d do well to lose their uniforms and dress more like the people they serve. It never really bothered me, but the thought did cross my mind from time to time. 

My uninformed view abruptly changed just a short time ago. A young Salvation Army officer was relaying what it is like to serve in a high-crime neighborhood, especially now in an age of rising tensions and ebbing trust. She said, “We may take a stray bullet, but we are not targets, because people see our uniforms and know we are agents of peace.”

Wow. When has such honor arisen out of such humility? These committed servants know well their Salvation Army mission statement: “To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.” How do we know they live it every day? We hear from those they serve every day.

Jesus never wore the navy and white uniforms with red trim, but He stood out no less than if He had. While the religious leaders burdened their people with rule upon rule, Jesus came proclaiming freedom upon freedom. To the woman crippled by an evil spirit for years, He said, “Woman, you are free from your infirmity” and immediately she “straightened up and praised God.” Then when the synagogue ruler cited man-made laws in objection to Jesus' act of compassion for the hurting woman, Jesus pointed out the man's disregard for the same man-made laws in caring for his hungry animals. (He silenced him, basically.)

Like the Christ they serve, The Salvation Army stands out in the world, even as its servants jump in to serve it. Of course, their Master did, too: “The people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.”

Lord, may I, like these servants among us, be an agent of peace, today. Amen.