Daily Scripture:
Luke 17:26 “Also, at the time of the Son of Man, it will be just as it was at the time of Noach. 27 People ate and drank, and men and women married, right up until the day Noach entered the ark; then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, as it was in the time of Lot — people ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built; 29 but the day Lot left S’dom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 That is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, if someone is on the roof with his belongings in his house, he must not go down to take them away. Similarly, if someone is in the field, he must not turn back — 32 remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever aims at preserving his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will stay alive.(Complete Jewish Bible).
Luke 9:23 Then to everyone he said, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake daily and keep following me. 24 For whoever tries to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life on my account will save it. 25 What will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but destroys or forfeits his own life?(Complete Jewish Bible).
***
Reflection Questions:
Jesus said that what we sometimes call “business as usual” has no enduring value. “[Jesus'] followers can finally expect relief and salvation (Luke 21:27-28)(Luke 21:
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with tremendous power and glory.[
)(Complete Jewish Bible), and possessions won’t matter.”* In Luke 17:32, he referred to a tragic story from the early Old Testament. Before destroying the wicked city of Sodom, God sent messengers to warn Abraham’s nephew Lot to flee destruction. But “because Lot’s wife could not let go of her life in Sodom, she looked back and perished, becoming a pillar of salt (Genesis 19: 26)(Genesis 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a column of salt.)(Complete Jewish Bible).”** Jesus had many disturbing ways of asking whether we own our possessions, or whether in reality they own us.
Luke 21:27 Daniel 7:13–14
] 28 When these things start to happen, stand up and hold your heads high; because you are about to be liberated!”- On a world basis, most of us in the United States are among the wealthiest 1% of the population. (This website, updated in February 2018, says anyone who makes $32,400 a year or more is in the top 1% of incomes in the world.) Whether you make it to that cutoff line or not, how much do you believe God has given you in life? How close are you to doing all the good you can do with what God has given you? What role does fear play as you seek to determine what good you can do with your resources? What practical steps could you take in the next 12 months to increase your generosity? (For helpful practical ideas and deeper reflections, read Pastor Hamilton’s book Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity.)
Lord Jesus, if you had only cared about your own comfort and convenience, you would never have come to earth, and I’d have to live without hope or forgiveness. Make me less afraid of giving, and more open to the joy of generous living. Amen.
Family Activity:
Gather with your family with two backpacks, some paper, a few large, heavy rocks and a couple of thick markers. As a family, write down many of your blessings that meet basic needs (items like shelter, food, water, health care, education, and transportation) on the paper. Place these pieces of paper in one backpack. Have each person try on this light backpack. Acknowledge its lightness and how each of these blessings makes our lives better. Then have everyone take a stone or two and a marker. Write down the same words on the stones with “No” in front of each. Place them in the second backpack, and pass it around. Use its heaviness to imagine and discuss what life would be like without each of these blessings. Discuss places and situations where people do not have these, and what their life must be like. Read Galatians 6:2 and Matthew 25:35-40(Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens — in this way you will be fulfilling the Torah’s true meaning, which the Messiah upholds. and Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you made me your guest, 36 I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and make you our guest, or needing clothes and provide them? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 The King will say to them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!’)(Complete Jewish Bible). Talk about what you can do for others to lighten these heavy burdens. Thank God for your blessings. Ask God to help you lighten others’ burdens.
* Richard B. Vinson, study note on Luke 12:47-48 in Joel B. Green, gen. ed. The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 148 NT.
** HarperCollins Christian Publishing. NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Kindle Locations 234001-234002). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Read today's Insight by Dave RobertsonDave Robertson is the Director of Community Life at Resurrection West.
One of my favorite books is The Great Divorce, by C. S. Lewis. In this great book of fantasy, a man takes a bus ride from Gray Town (Hell) to Heaven. You see conversations between the ghostly figures who are from Gray Town and the solid people from Heaven. In each conversation, the people know each other from their time on earth. What you discover is the people of Heaven chose God and God's will in their time on earth. The people from Gray Town, when on earth, placed something else in place of God as their focus on earth.
In Luke 9, Jesus says, "All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me. All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me will save them. What advantage do people have if they gain the whole world for themselves yet perish or lose their lives?"
It's fascinating for me to see the conversations Lewis creates. The one conversation I keep in mind constantly is between two people who were pastors on earth, who find themselves in different places. Both of these men started their ministry with a desire to love God and people. One of these men, however, begins to have the desire to be right more than the desire to love God.
“There have been men before … who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God himself… as if the good Lord had nothing to do but to exist. There have been some who were so preoccupied with spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ.”
I love to learn and lead others and the temptation to be "right" is real. When I give in to this temptation, instead of learning more about God to love God with my mind, and leading others with a servant's heart, I set myself up as "Godly" in order to impress others. I find it important to keep before my mind the reasons God has called me to lead. It's not about gaining earthly glory, but to lead others to a life that's truly life.
One of the best quotes from The Great Divorce is about fulfilling the Lord's Prayer seeking God's will be done.
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”
When we take up our cross and follow Jesus, we truly say, "Thy will be done." Whenever I say that, the need to be "right" is no longer a temptation. I know the power of God is truly the only way for a life to be transformed and my need to be "right" loses its power.
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- Or download this week's printable GPS.
©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Unite Methodist Church of the Resurrection
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