Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 31 March 2014 "From the inside out"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Monday, 31 March 2014 "From the inside out"
Daily Scripture:  Luke 19:1 He entered and was passing through Jericho. 2 There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, and couldn’t because of the crowd, because he was short. 4 He ran on ahead, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully. 7 When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
11 As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that God’s Kingdom would be revealed immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 He called ten servants of his, and gave them ten mina coins,[a] and told them, ‘Conduct business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
15 “When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’
17 “He said to him, ‘Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
18 “The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.’
19 “So he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, 21 for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’
22 “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow. 23 Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ 24 He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him, and give it to him who has the ten minas.’
25 “They said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away from him. 27 But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’” 28 Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 When he came near to Bethsphage[b] and Bethany, at the mountain that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples, 30 saying, “Go your way into the village on the other side, in which, as you enter, you will find a colt tied, whereon no man ever yet sat. Untie it, and bring it. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say to him: ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent went away, and found things just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus. They threw their cloaks on the colt, and set Jesus on them. 36 As he went, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! [c] Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
41 When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, 44 and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation.”
45 He entered into the temple, and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’[d] but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’!”[e]
47 He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people sought to destroy him. 48 They couldn’t find what they might do, for all the people hung on to every word that he said.
Footnotes:
a. Luke 19:13 10 minas was more than 3 years’ wages for an agricultural laborer.
b. Luke 19:29 TR, NU read “Bethpage” instead of “Bethsphage”
c. Luke 19:38 Psalm 118:26
d. Luke 19:46 Isaiah 56:7
e. Luke 19:46 Jeremiah 7:11
Reflection Questions:
From the start of his ministry, Jesus' message challenged his day's religious and political leadership structures. He taught that faith and trust must flow from the inside out, and gave a wide-ranging set of warnings against a "mismatch between…hearts and lives." Live authentic lives devoted to God, he told his followers. "Don't be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights in giving you the kingdom."
In Luke 12, tension between the status quo and God's kingdom was building. Jesus did two main things: 1) warned his disciples about enemies, and 2) reminded them that God knows and cares about every part of our lives. He challenged his followers, then and now, to avoid a casual, half-hearted faith. How wholehearted is your faith? What does it look like in your life today to follow Jesus whole-heartedly and passionately?
In verse 34, Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." True security and satisfaction, he taught, came from seeking God first, not from externals like food, clothing, or material possessions. How does Jesus' teaching challenge the ways you think and act about how much security and satisfaction "stuff" can bring you?
Today's Prayer:
King Jesus, thank you for offering me eternal security and everlasting fulfillment. It's hard for me to make the inside of me match the outside sometimes. Help me desire your kingdom above all else. Amen.
Insight from Jeanna Repass
Jeanna Repass serves as the Kansas City Missions Program Director at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
One year ago this week, my oldest son Adam was driving back to college for spring football practice when his car hit a patch of black ice on Interstate I-29 causing it to careen into the cement guard rail and roll over five times. I received a phone call from the State Patrol telling me that my son had been in a serious accident and was in the hospital. He survived, made a complete recovery (sans some nasty scarring on his left hand) and is thriving today – praise God!
As a Mom it was one of the scariest days of my life. At the time I would not have said “Thank God for that car accident!” I do not believe that God causes car accidents so I would not want to attribute a tragic accident to our loving, omnipotent heavenly Father. But today I would say, “Thank God for all the love and growth in my faith that came out of that car accident.”
I am most definitely a woman of faith whose belief in Jesus as the resurrected son of God is firm and unshakable. There is not anything that anyone could say to me that would change that belief. I’m a “Jesus Girl” and that’s that! I have however seen people whose faith is an inspiration to me and whom I look up to as the people I would describe as truly deeply committed Christians.  These are people who have a whole-hearted faith and they live it out in ways that are daily testimonies to me.
Most of those people who inspire me would be the first ones to humbly say that they are still striving to grow in their faith and become more committed to Christ. I know them by their actions. They are the ones that give the eulogies at their loved ones funerals and fill those eulogies with so much affirmation of the promise of the resurrection that those of us in attendance leave knowing we’ve glimpse resurrection and can’t wait to be a part of it ourselves.
These are the people who not only, “Consider the lilies of the fields….” but also live their lives reflecting what it truly means to, “Seek first the kingdom of God…” knowing “…it is our Father’s good pleasure to give (us) the kingdom.” (Luke 12: 29 & 32). During this season of Lent, I am not only reading through the book of Luke reflecting on the scriptures through renewed prayer for deeper understanding; I am also leaning into the witness of others where I find the scriptures lived out and find my faith inspired by theirs. Thank you Darrell and Patricia and all of you whom would never self proclaim – but whose lives are the example of what it means to follow Jesus whole-heartedly and passionately. Amen.
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