Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection grow. pray. study. Daily Guide for Tuesday, 25 March 2014 "The King who came to give"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection grow. pray. study. Daily Guide for Tuesday, 25 March 2014 "The King who came to give" 
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Daily Scripture:  Luke 14:1 When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. 2 Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him. 3 Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
4 But they were silent.
He took him, and healed him, and let him go. 5 He answered them, “Which of you, if your son[a] or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”
6 They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.
7 He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, 8 “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, 9 and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. 13 But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; 14 and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”
15 When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!”
16 But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. 17 He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ 18 They all as one began to make excuses.
“The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’
20 “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’
21 “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
22 “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’
23 “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’”
25 Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard[b] his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. 27 Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace. 33 So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. 34 Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Footnotes:
a. Luke 14:5 TR reads “donkey” instead of “son”
b. Luke 14:26 or, hate
Reflection Questions:
Jesus sent the 12 out for what we might almost see as "serving practice." He then had them help him feed 5,000 people. In answer to Jesus' penetrating question, Peter said Jesus was the Christ (Greek for "anointed one"—equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah). Jesus did not dispute the identification—but he did say frankly that being the Christ meant suffering, not earthly power. And it meant that, not just for him, but for those who chose to follow him, too.
•The disciples had a prudent idea: "Send the crowd away so that they can go to the nearby villages and countryside and find lodging and food." Jesus jolted them by replying, "YOU give them something to eat" (9:13). How did the story (cf. verse 16) show Jesus' power flowing through people, rather than just directly meeting people's needs? Does he still call us to be vehicles through whom his power flows? How did the story show our need to rely on Jesus' power, not our own, to achieve God's purposes?
•In what ways have you had to answer Jesus' question: "What advantage do people have if they gain the whole world for themselves yet perish or lose their lives?" (verse 25) What choice(s) do you face that promise gain, yet might cost you your values, self-respect or honor? In what ways can you gain the strength and self-knowledge to make the right choices?
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, even in our tolerant country, when we serve as you served, and stand firm for God's principles as you did, it can feel like suffering. Give me a heart that's always oriented to your ways, even when under pressure. Amen.
nsight from Rev. Anne Williams
Rev. Anne Williams is a Congregational Care Pastor at Resurrection.
This week, as I was driving through town, I saw something that reminded me of the scripture that we read in today’s portion of Luke, chapter 9, verses 23-24. I was at an intersection watching traffic go by when I saw a truck was pulled over on the side of the street because its tailgate had come unhitched and a bunch of materials flew out of the back. The driver was in the middle of the road, frantically trying to pick his things up as fast as possible with traffic headed his way. Most of the cars were flying by, hurrying on their way, or frustrated that there was a delay in traffic.
Then I saw someone do something a little different. I saw a car drive up behind this man who was desperately trying to clean up his mess as fast as possible, come to a stop and put on its flashing lights. Instead of attempting to get in the other lane and pass by quickly, he was content to stay parked as long as it took to guard and protect the man who was in danger on the street.
As I saw this happen, it reminded me of the way God shows great love and concern for us when we are in trouble. God doesn’t pass by, but stops to care for us in our time of need. This is the God we see manifest in Jesus Christ throughout the Gospel of Luke, but it is also the kind of behavior Jesus calls his disciples to when he asks them to “say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me” (v. 23), and when he shares that the secret to life is that “All who want to save their lives will lose them” (v. 24).
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