Luke 14:1, 7-14
Today, as is so often the case in Luke, Jesus is criticizing the Pharisees. We so often take this as a critique of morals, and this is so wrong. This is the way Luke calls each of us. Not to set up the moral right and wrong, but for us to examine ourselves, our hearts, our purpose.
Luke is the gospel which has the woes to the Pharisees, this is one of three dinners that Jesus has gone to, each one raising the bar a bit higher on looking within. Do we stop and look within when we read these texts, or do we just look for our own validation. "Oh look, I'm doing it right." When we don't even look at ourselves deeply. This is what Jesus is asking us, the religious to do.
In a world right now where we are so divided and we act like we have the high moral ground this word comes and cuts to the heart of the matter. Stop, worrying about what others are doing, take a deep look at yourself. Do we try to harvest any of Paul's fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control? Do we try to make sure we are inviting in those we would rather not talk to: Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative? Do we foster God's kingdom at all: loving one another as God loves us?
We have taken self-examination and thrown it out in favor of an easier kind of line up. Just give me right and wrong, black and white, and forget all the rest. See, God's word is full of contradictions on the law. Just read Kings and you find the story of Naaman, the Assyrian guard who worshiped idols, who was made clean. No conversion story, the prophet Elisha didn't even come and give him the instructions, it was the servant. Maybe read Jonah, sent to people who were not even Jews, sent to tell them to examine how they were living and they repent. Still Jonah waits for the judgement due them, which God never sends and Jonah never understands.
Turn, turn to Jesus, it's the first step in our Way of Love. Turn and start examining ourselves. Am I walking the walk others would look at and say, "hey, that's a Christian and I want to be like them."? Do you know what the top three things Christians are known as nowadays? 1. anti-gay, 2. judgmental 3. hypocritical. We don't live like Jesus. Soren Kierkegaard said, "where everything is Christian, nothing is Christian." Even back then in the 1800's we didn't walk the walk.
Jesus came to point out that the religious leaders weren't living the way God intended them to live. Our questions should always be, what do people see when they encounter me? Do they see God, do we show them God, do we open ourselves to any criticism or are we so convinced or our rightness we're no earthly good? It's time for us to open our hearts and reclaim the Jesus who walked this earth and taught us the way to be. Not seeking the spotlight, but in seeking others.
Today, as is so often the case in Luke, Jesus is criticizing the Pharisees. We so often take this as a critique of morals, and this is so wrong. This is the way Luke calls each of us. Not to set up the moral right and wrong, but for us to examine ourselves, our hearts, our purpose.
Luke is the gospel which has the woes to the Pharisees, this is one of three dinners that Jesus has gone to, each one raising the bar a bit higher on looking within. Do we stop and look within when we read these texts, or do we just look for our own validation. "Oh look, I'm doing it right." When we don't even look at ourselves deeply. This is what Jesus is asking us, the religious to do.
In a world right now where we are so divided and we act like we have the high moral ground this word comes and cuts to the heart of the matter. Stop, worrying about what others are doing, take a deep look at yourself. Do we try to harvest any of Paul's fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control? Do we try to make sure we are inviting in those we would rather not talk to: Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative? Do we foster God's kingdom at all: loving one another as God loves us?
We have taken self-examination and thrown it out in favor of an easier kind of line up. Just give me right and wrong, black and white, and forget all the rest. See, God's word is full of contradictions on the law. Just read Kings and you find the story of Naaman, the Assyrian guard who worshiped idols, who was made clean. No conversion story, the prophet Elisha didn't even come and give him the instructions, it was the servant. Maybe read Jonah, sent to people who were not even Jews, sent to tell them to examine how they were living and they repent. Still Jonah waits for the judgement due them, which God never sends and Jonah never understands.
Turn, turn to Jesus, it's the first step in our Way of Love. Turn and start examining ourselves. Am I walking the walk others would look at and say, "hey, that's a Christian and I want to be like them."? Do you know what the top three things Christians are known as nowadays? 1. anti-gay, 2. judgmental 3. hypocritical. We don't live like Jesus. Soren Kierkegaard said, "where everything is Christian, nothing is Christian." Even back then in the 1800's we didn't walk the walk.
Jesus came to point out that the religious leaders weren't living the way God intended them to live. Our questions should always be, what do people see when they encounter me? Do they see God, do we show them God, do we open ourselves to any criticism or are we so convinced or our rightness we're no earthly good? It's time for us to open our hearts and reclaim the Jesus who walked this earth and taught us the way to be. Not seeking the spotlight, but in seeking others.
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