The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow. Pray. Study. Guide "Upside Down 'The Lost Parables' from Sunday, 18 June 2017 through Saturday, 24 June 2017
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow. Pray. Study. Guide "Upside Down 'The Lost Parables' from Sunday, 18 June 2017 through Saturday, 24 June 2017 ------- Sunday, June 18, 2017 "Upside Down 'The Lost Parables'”
Scripture:Luke 15:1 The tax-collectors and sinners kept gathering around to hear Yeshua, 2 and the P’rushim and Torah-teachers kept grumbling. “This fellow,” they said, “welcomes sinners — he even eats with them!” 3 So he told them this parable: 4 “If one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? 5 When he does find it, he joyfully hoists it onto his shoulders; 6 and when he gets home, he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ 7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.8 “Another example: what woman, if she has ten drachmas and loses one of these valuable coins, won’t light a lamp, sweep the house and search all over until she finds it? 9 And when she does find it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found the drachma I lost.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among God’s angels when one sinner repents.” 11 Again Yeshua said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will be mine.’ So the father divided the property between them. 13 As soon as he could convert his share into cash, the younger son left home and went off to a distant country, where he squandered his money in reckless living. 14 But after he had spent it all, a severe famine arose throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch. 15 “So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him any. 17 “At last he came to his senses and said, ‘Any number of my father’s hired workers have food to spare; and here I am, starving to death! 18 I’m going to get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.” ’ 20 So he got up and started back to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran and threw his arms around him and kissed him warmly. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son — ’ 22 but his father said to his slaves, ‘Quick, bring out a robe, the best one, and put it on him; and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet; 23 and bring the calf that has been fattened up, and kill it. Let’s eat and have a celebration! 24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he’s alive again! He was lost, but now he has been found!’ And they began celebrating. 25 “Now his older son was in the field. As he came close to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ 27 The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father has slaughtered the calf that was fattened up, because he has gotten him back safe and sound.’ 28 But the older son became angry and refused to go inside. “So his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 ‘Look,’ the son answered, ‘I have worked for you all these years, and I have never disobeyed your orders. But you have never even given me a young goat, so that I could celebrate with my friends. 30 Yet this son of yours comes, who squandered your property with prostitutes, and for him you slaughter the fattened calf!’ 31 ‘Son, you are always with me,’ said the father, ‘and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead but has come back to life — he was lost but has been found.’” ------- Prayer Tip: The Lost Parables Daily Scripture Luke 15:1 The tax-collectors and sinners kept gathering around to hear Yeshua, 2 and the P’rushim and Torah-teachers kept grumbling. “This fellow,” they said, “welcomes sinners — he even eats with them!” 3 So he told them this parable: 4 “If one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? 5 When he does find it, he joyfully hoists it onto his shoulders; 6 and when he gets home, he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ 7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.8 “Another example: what woman, if she has ten drachmas and loses one of these valuable coins, won’t light a lamp, sweep the house and search all over until she finds it? 9 And when she does find it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found the drachma I lost.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among God’s angels when one sinner repents.” 11 Again Yeshua said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will be mine.’ So the father divided the property between them. 13 As soon as he could convert his share into cash, the younger son left home and went off to a distant country, where he squandered his money in reckless living. 14 But after he had spent it all, a severe famine arose throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch. 15 “So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him any. 17 “At last he came to his senses and said, ‘Any number of my father’s hired workers have food to spare; and here I am, starving to death! 18 I’m going to get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.” ’ 20 So he got up and started back to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran and threw his arms around him and kissed him warmly. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son — ’ 22 but his father said to his slaves, ‘Quick, bring out a robe, the best one, and put it on him; and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet; 23 and bring the calf that has been fattened up, and kill it. Let’s eat and have a celebration! 24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he’s alive again! He was lost, but now he has been found!’ And they began celebrating. 25 “Now his older son was in the field. As he came close to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ 27 The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father has slaughtered the calf that was fattened up, because he has gotten him back safe and sound.’ 28 But the older son became angry and refused to go inside. “So his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 ‘Look,’ the son answered, ‘I have worked for you all these years, and I have never disobeyed your orders. But you have never even given me a young goat, so that I could celebrate with my friends. 30 Yet this son of yours comes, who squandered your property with prostitutes, and for him you slaughter the fattened calf!’ 31 ‘Son, you are always with me,’ said the father, ‘and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead but has come back to life — he was lost but has been found.’” Prayer Tip:Jesus told parables to teach people how to look at an ordinary, everyday situation in a new way, and I think Christians are still charged with thinking outside the box today.Holy God, Thank you for giving us examples throughout the Bible, particularly in the parables Jesus shared, of new ways of thinking. Although there is great value in traditions and routine, we know it is also important to be willing to think things through and to be open to something new. Give us your eyes and ears to see and hear what needs to be done. Give us your heart so that we will come to care more about others and sharing your love with them than we do about rules and what is considered the standard way of doing things. Remind us that Jesus came to shake things up, not to fit in.In Jesus’ name, Amen. [Angela LaVallie Tinsley, Prayer and Funeral Ministries]
Read today's Insight by Angela LaVallie Tinsley Angela serves as the Funeral and Prayer Program Director, overseeing on-site funerals and assisting with prayer classes, vigils, walk, retreats, and other events. She began working at Resurrection in April 2007 and in that time has worked with the Singles, Seniors, Young Adults, and Guest Connections ministries. Like this post? Share it! You might also like:
------- "A trilogy of parables to shepherds who didn’t care for the sheep" Monday, 19 June 2017 Ezekiel 34:1 The word of Adonai came to me:2“Human being, prophesy against the shepherds of Isra’el. Prophesy! Tell them, the shepherds, that Adonai Elohim says this: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Isra’el who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?3You eat the choice meat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the best of the herd; but you don’t feed the sheep!4You don’t strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bandage the broken, bring back the outcasts or seek the lost; on the contrary, you tyrannize them with crushing force.5So they were scattered, without a shepherd, and became food for every wild animal — they were scattered.6My sheep wandered around aimlessly on every mountain and hill; yes, my sheep were scattered all over the land, with no one to search for them or look after them. 7“‘Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Adonai: 8“As I live,” Adonai Elohim swears, “because my sheep have become prey, my sheep have become food for every wild animal, since there was no shepherd, since my shepherds didn’t look for my sheep, and instead my shepherds fed themselves but not my sheep,” 9therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Adonai! 10Adonai Elohim says, “I am against the shepherds. I demand that they hand my sheep back to me. I will not allow them to feed the sheep, and they won’t feed themselves either. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths; they will be food for them no longer.”,Luke 15:1 The tax-collectors and sinners kept gathering around to hear Yeshua, 2 and the P’rushim and Torah-teachers kept grumbling. “This fellow,” they said, “welcomes sinners — he even eats with them!”------- Ezekiel prophesied during Israel’s exile in Babylon (some 550 years before Christ). Through him, God said Israel’s self-absorbed spiritual leaders had failed, being indifferent to what happened to their people. Jesus found leaders like that opposing him. When he reached out to sinners and outcasts, they grumbled about it, showing that they didn’t care about those people either. He told them a challenging trilogy of parables in Luke 15. • What do you think life in God’s Kingdom ought to look like? The Pharisees and legal experts believed God looked down on “those people” who didn’t act just right, so they thought they ought to snub them, too. But Jesus acted as though God deeply loved all people. Did what you learned early in life about God and “church” agree more with the Pharisees, or with Jesus? How comfortable are you with loving today’s “tax collectors and sinners” (including, perhaps, yourself), both inside and outside the church? • “[Ezekiel’s] metaphor goes beyond the normal responsibilities of making sure that the sheep are protected and fed. Instead it focuses on the remedial duties, caring for the sick and finding the lost. These equate to the need for kings to bring about justice for alienated and disenfranchised people.” * What are some of the ways you actively support and work for justice for alienated or disenfranchised people around you? Prayer: Lord God, thank you for touching my life with your love and care, which reaches all people. Thank you for Jesus, who expanded the borders of your Kingdom beyond all our human imagining. Amen. * HarperCollins Christian Publishing. NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Kindle Locations 190424-190426). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. -------
Chris Abel
Chris Abel is the Young Adults Pastor at Resurrection, and he describes himself as a "Pastor/Creative-type/Adventurer." A former atheist turned passionate follower of Christ, he completed his seminary education in Washington, DC. Before coming to Resurrection, Chris was a campus pastor near St. Louis, MO.
"All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2)
When I was in college I wrote a pretty gnarly e-mail to the president of my Christian University. At the time, I thought I had a pretty noble cause, namely complaining about the required chapel services we had to attend. So I decided to speak up—and let this president know what I thought of it. What I didn’t expect… was that he actually read his e-mail. I got a response. Here is an excerpt.
“It is regrettable that you cannot find “an authentic experience with God” in a context in which others are leading in a way that you are not. I believe this will be a good challenge for you throughout your ministry. I think when I was younger, I felt freer to judge and condemn the authenticity of others. That painful memory makes me patient with you. You cannot possibly know, of course, whether I or any of the other leaders or any of the other worship teams are “heart felt” in their leadership. You obviously feel that you can discern these matters.
We constantly pray and strive for authenticity in Chapel. You urged me to look into the authenticity of Chapel, I urge you to search your heart for anger and judgmentalism. If such poison is there, it and not the Chapel leadership will ruin your worship experience."
Today I read this letter and cringe. But I share it because it’s good advice. He was right. I wrote my first e-mail with a spirit of anger and judgmentalism. But the line that got me was, “It is regrettable that you cannot find ‘an authentic experience with God’ in a context in which others are leading in a way that you are not.” Because he called my bluff. I wasn’t leading at all. I was sitting back and grumbling about the energy that someone else was putting into a worship service. And I was in good company. The Pharisees and “legal experts” in today’s passage grumble, too. They grumble that Jesus is reaching “sinners.” Usually we can read this passage as simply their disdain for the type of people he’s reaching, but part of me wonders if there’s a little jealousy here. After all, he’s doing work that they aren’t doing. He’s reaching new people and these people are experiencing something new and exciting. But these Pharisees can’t see that. They just see a guy doing something they’re not. And they sit back and grumble. They complain. And we’ve all been there. We’ve all grumbled at the hard work that someone else poured into their art. We’ve all been reckless with our words. We’ve all sent that e-mail without thinking that someone might actually read it. And as a grumble-holic, I have to say it's ugly when I see it in myself... and it's ugly when I see it in you, church. Because grumbling is the easy way out. Want to know what’s hard? Leading. Creating. Helping. Healing. Loving. When you’re working hard on these things, you don’t have time or energy to grumble. Grumbling is just a drain on the God-given abilities and energy you’ve been given. It keeps you from reaching your potential and, too often, it keeps others from reaching theirs. The truth is we’ve got a lot of work to do. There’s a broken world out there and we need all hands on deck. Grumbling simply will not do. And I learned that lesson the hard way. Today, I’m much less eager to grumble about the efforts of someone else. I’ve simply got better ways to spend that energy. And you do too.
------- "Parable 1: 'I’ve found my lost sheep!'”
Tuesday, 20 June 2017
Luke 15:3So he told them this parable:4“If one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?5When he does find it, he joyfully hoists it onto his shoulders;6and when he gets home, he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’7I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.
-------
Jesus told these three stories to the Pharisees and legal experts who grumbled about him mingling with “tax collectors and sinners.” Probably echoing the image from Ezekiel 34, the first story was about a shepherd who lost one sheep from his flock. Unlike the leaders listening to Jesus, this shepherd was not at all indifferent to the loss. He dropped everything, searched until he found the lost sheep—and then threw a party to celebrate finding it. • Pastor Bruce Larson wrote, “A shepherd once explained to me that sheep nibble their way into lostness. They move from one tuft of green grass to the next, sometimes right through a hole in the fence. When they’re done nibbling, they can’t find the hole and they’re lost. Some of us know what that is—to nibble ourselves bit by bit into the far country.” * When have you been like the lost sheep, not sure how to find your way home? What “shepherd(s)” has God used to find you and bring you home? • Have you ever wondered why Jesus spoke of “ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives”? He clearly didn’t mean that the Pharisees and legal experts criticizing him had no need to change. His ironic words pointed out that they didn’t realize they needed to change. Truth is, we all need to keep growing in God’s kingdom. In what areas of your life is God inviting and challenging you today to change and grow? Prayer: O Jesus, thank you for seeking and finding me, for being “thrilled” and placing me on your shoulders! Give me eyes to see others who long for you to find them and to draw them into your great heart of steadfast love. Amen. * Bruce Larson, The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 26: Luke. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc. 1983, p. 235.-------
Brandon Gregory
Brandon Gregory is a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection. He helps lead worship at Vibe, West and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.
When Jesus tells the parable of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep to find the one he lost, I find it vitally important to look at how the sheep is described--or, rather, how it’s not. The parable is devoid of any descriptors for the lost sheep, aside from the word “lost.” The way we often treat this scripture is if it had descriptors: the Christian sheep, the grateful sheep, the familiar sheep, the good-looking single sheep. Many of us would gladly go out of our way to save a sheep with a description like that. The shepherd instead looks for the lost sheep purely because it’s lost. In other words, it’s not about what the sheep can do for the shepherd--it’s about the need of the sheep. So it might be a Christian sheep or a grateful sheep, but it could also be a type of sheep we don’t really want to chase after. An ungrateful, hostile sheep. A gay or transgender sheep. A Muslim or atheist sheep. It could be that the shepherd would never receive anything resembling a thank you from the sheep, and that seeing the sheep safe and happy is the only reward he gets. Though the story communicates the saving of the sheep as a singular mission, that’s just a metaphor. Jesus was living out in his life what it meant to really save a lost sheep. He spent time getting to know them and had compassion for how society had edged them out. He saved them from religious people trying to unfairly judge them. He went to their weddings. He even invited some of them to be his disciples and be a partner in God’s work. In short, he didn’t just ask them to change their lives--he became a part of their lives. Spending time with Christian friends who help you grow is important because it makes you better and better-equipped to do God’s work, but it would be a total waste if that’s all we did. Following Jesus’ example, we need to spend time with people we don’t agree with, or people we don’t like, and meet them where they are. Sometimes, the only reward will be seeing their lives improve only marginally. Sometimes, there will be no reward at all. But we need to go to them not because it benefits us but because they need help. This is the parable of the sheep and the shepherd in action
------- "Parable 2: 'I’ve found my lost coin!'” Wednesday, 21 June 2017 Luke 15:8 “Another example: what woman, if she has ten drachmas and loses one of these valuable coins, won’t light a lamp, sweep the house and search all over until she finds it? 9 And when she does find it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Come, celebrate with me, because I have found the drachma I lost.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among God’s angels when one sinner repents.” ------- For us, “real” money means paper currency, checks or bank balances, not coins. Not for this woman: “The ten silver coins are most likely the woman’s ketubah, or dowry—the only money she brings into the marriage that is technically hers even if the marriage is dissolved.” * Each coin was probably worth a day’s wages. In her dimly-lit peasant home, with a straw-covered floor, the woman searched carefully until she found the coin. Jesus ended this parable by saying again, “Joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.” • Who are your “coins,” the people you value enough to go out of your way to reach out and touch? Is there someone in your sphere of influence (family, friend, co-worker) you particularly sense Jesus calling you to “seek and find”? Ask God to give you a heart that sees the world as God does, that refuses to limit love only to notable or “perfect” people. • Think of a time when you joined in celebrating big good news for a family member or friend. What was the cause, and what was the celebration like? Have you ever been part of celebrating that someone you care about has “changed both heart and life”? What are your inner feelings if it’s someone you don’t like very much who makes such a change? Prayer: Gracious God, you came in the person of Jesus to seek and save the lost. Come into me each day to touch lives you are still seeking. Amen. * Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993, comment on Luke 15:8.
------- Wendy Connelly
Wendy Connelly is wife to Mark, mom to two kids and a seminary student at Saint Paul School of Theology. She teaches classes at Resurrection Downtown and hosts an interfaith podcast, which you can subscribe to at TheLiftPodcast.org.
This month, my nine-year-old found a stick that was his ideal imaginary sword, and carried it all around – stowing it in the back of his shirt, brandishing it for gladiatorial battles with his sister’s water bottle, tossing it around like a boomerang, wielding it proudly for all to see. This stick was, for a day, his most prized possession. And then, he accidentally left it behind at a park. I had already driven twenty minutes away when he suddenly realized it was lost, and became distraught. I imagine this is how the woman in the parable felt when she lost her prized coin. We often believe the spiritual life is about humanity’s search for God. In reality, Jesus tells us through this Parable of the Lost Coin that God is the one searching relentlessly for us. This biblical idea harkens all the way back to the Garden: Ayeka, Adam? Ayeka, Eve? Where are you? You are my great treasure; my heart’s delight. And I will sweep the floor of the universe, every dusty nook and shadowed cranny, lift every tattered rug, until I reach you. And I’ll never – ever – give up until I find you. I turned the car around, seeing the desperation on my son’s face through the rearview mirror, and drove for miles back to the park: we were on a quest for the sword of destiny! My son bolted from the car upon arrival, discovered his makeshift sword where he’d left it, and ran back to the car, rejoicing.
------- "Parable 3: 'This son of mine was lost and is found!'” Thursday, 22 June 2017 Luke 15:11 Again Yeshua said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will be mine.’ So the father divided the property between them. 13 As soon as he could convert his share into cash, the younger son left home and went off to a distant country, where he squandered his money in reckless living. 14 But after he had spent it all, a severe famine arose throughout that country, and he began to feel the pinch. 15 “So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him any. 17 “At last he came to his senses and said, ‘Any number of my father’s hired workers have food to spare; and here I am, starving to death! 18 I’m going to get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.” ’ 20 So he got up and started back to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran and threw his arms around him and kissed him warmly. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son — ’ 22 but his father said to his slaves, ‘Quick, bring out a robe, the best one, and put it on him; and put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet; 23 and bring the calf that has been fattened up, and kill it. Let’s eat and have a celebration! 24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he’s alive again! He was lost, but now he has been found!’ And they began celebrating.------- Losing a sheep or a silver coin was costly. Finding either was cause for joy. But what of a son who chose to be “lost”? Jesus’ story vividly pictured the naive young man rashly using up his resources. Then he finally “came to his senses” (verse 17). And his father was watching for his return: “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion.” The father’s extravagant love embraced him with robe, ring, sandals and the fattened calf, saying, “This son of mine…was lost and is found!” • In our culture, we expect children to “grow up and leave home.” But scholar N. T. Wright wrote that in the culture of Jesus’ day, this was a story of shameful behavior, “with the younger son abandoning his obligation to care for his father in his old age.” * Have you had times when you were like the younger son in Jesus’ story, eager to leave the constraints of your faith behind? What, if anything, helped you to come to your senses and turn homeward? • Wright also noted that “in a culture where senior figures are far too dignified to run anywhere, this man takes to his heels as soon as he sees his young son dragging himself home.” * This is one of Jesus’ great pictures of what God is truly like. Do you picture God high up, intimidating, looking down on you sternly? Or do you see him as a loving parent always eager to run to you and throw his arms around you? Prayer: Lord God, sometimes I’m careless, sometimes I’m stubborn. Keep bringing me “to my senses,” making me willing to come home to you, again and again. Amen. * N. T. Wright, Luke for Everyone. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, both quotations from p. 188.) -------
Evan Palmer
Evan Palmer has been a member of Resurrection since 2002. She graduated from the University of Arkansas where she played soccer for the women's team (go Hogs!). Evan loves Montana and thinks her dad is the funniest person on the planet.
“When he came to his senses…” I love this translation in the New Living Translation of Luke (Luke 15:17). To me, it highlights a place where we too often find ourselves; a place between our sin and our God. The younger son in the parable takes his portion of the inheritance and spends it selfishly. We can relate to this story, can’t we? The inheritance is our life, the life God has given us. Until we fully commit our lives to Christ, we live spending our lives for ourselves and selfish ambitions. We, like the younger son, then feel lost, deprived, and hungry for more. The younger son sets aside his pride and returns home with a plan to ask his father to take him back as a servant. Much to his surprise, he finds his father running towards him, open arms, overjoyed to have his son back home. Our own story may not look as extreme as the story of the Prodigal Son, or maybe it does. Wherever you are in your life, my guess is you have experienced similar feelings to the younger son, or can relate to feelings of doubt that also underlie this story. As outlined in our GPS Reading today, N.T. Wright notes how it was “shameful” for the younger son to leave home, as it was his duty to continue living at home and care for his father. Why did he leave, then? It might have been because his plans seemed more exciting than the plans of his father. Or, maybe it was because he doubted his father’s abilities to provide. Or, he wanted to go against society’s expectations of him and fulfill his own desires. Whatever the case may be, he chose himself over the father. Have you ever found yourself in this place? I think a lot of us have operated in a space where we know the way we are living is not glorifying to the Lord, but it feels good, or it makes us (temporarily) happy, or it’s something we trust we can manage because “we are in control.” Revelation 3:16 speaks directly to this; “But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” Jesus tells us it is better to be all in for Him than to have our feet in both worlds. When do you check your faith at the door? If we were to ask someone from every part of your life (think: work, school, family, friends, the rando at the grocery store, the stranger you pass on the street), would each person say that you are a follower of Christ? Not necessarily because you shared the Gospel with them because the checkout line was too long, but because you showed the lady in front of you in line, with two crying babies on each hip, grace when she took a little longer to check out than you were anticipating. Because you were kind to the coworker who voted for Trump when you voted for Hillary or who voted for Hillary when you voted for Trump because you trust Jesus Christ with your life and, above all things, desire for Him to be known—even to your politically opposed colleague. Here’s the deal: we will continue to experience seasons of doubt for the rest of our lives. Doubt is good. Otherwise, why do we need faith? The key, just like the Prodigal Son, lies in what we choose in seasons of doubt or unfaithfulness. We can choose to continue along the path of doubt, which, inevitably, leads to hopelessness and despair, or choose to live in sin because of how good it makes us feel, or fight through whatever has led us to these feelings (anxiety, depression, the desire to be included, the busyness of our lives, the need to feel important, etc.) and turn back to God in repentance. God’s love and mercy is relentless. And I am so thankful that it is. I am thankful our Father pursues us in the midst of our despair, in the midst of our selfishness, to bring us back to Him. I encourage you to trust the plan the Lord has for your life—even if it doesn’t seem as exciting as your own. I urge you to model your actions after Jesus in every aspect of your life—especially the parts you have been hiding. Lastly, I pray that we remember and envision God waiting with outstretched arms, overjoyed to welcome us back to Him.
------- "Parable 3, open-ended conclusion: What did the 'older brother' do?" Friday, 23 June 2017 Luke 15:25 “Now his older son was in the field. As he came close to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked, ‘What’s going on?’ 27 The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father has slaughtered the calf that was fattened up, because he has gotten him back safe and sound.’ 28 But the older son became angry and refused to go inside. “So his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 ‘Look,’ the son answered, ‘I have worked for you all these years, and I have never disobeyed your orders. But you have never even given me a young goat, so that I could celebrate with my friends. 30 Yet this son of yours comes, who squandered your property with prostitutes, and for him you slaughter the fattened calf!’ 31 ‘Son, you are always with me,’ said the father, ‘and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead but has come back to life — he was lost but has been found.’” ------- Jesus’ story ended once the younger son came home, and the party began—right? No—Jesus told the story to people who grumbled about him mixing with “tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 15:2). So he added the older brother, sure he was the “good” son and not pleased at all to see his brother back home. At story’s end, the father poignantly pleaded with the older brother to join the party: “We had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found” (verse 32). • The servant in the story said, “Your brother has arrived.” When the father came out to him, the older son said, “This son of yours returned.” The father shifted the relationship back: “This brother of yours,” he said. In your imagination, argue the older brother’s case: why was it wrong to welcome the younger one home? In what ways was that case, and the “good” brother’s reaction, out of harmony with the father’s wishes? • As he did in a few other parables (e.g. Luke 13:6-9, Matthew 21:33-40), Jesus left this story “unfinished.” He didn’t say what the older brother did. How did this approach put the responsibility on the Pharisees to decide how they would respond? With whatever “older brother” tendencies you find in yourself, how will you finish Jesus’ parable? Prayer: Lord Jesus, I want to “enter in” to the joy of your kingdom, and celebrate what you are doing in other’s lives. Move me from a “tit for tat” existence to an exuberant, abundant life. Amen. -------
Ginger Rothhaas Ginger is a graduate of Saint Paul School of Theology. She and her husband Rob have a son, a daughter, and a high energy dog. She loves writing, conversations over coffee, and teaching spiritual classes. At least once in our lives, we have all felt what the older brother of the prodigal son was feeling. I’m doing the right thing, I’m sacrificing, I’m working my tail off, and no one notices! As we all know, this kind of thinking leads us into a lonely way of living. Living behind walls of resentment, bitterness, comparison, jealousy, and a scarcity mentality. Over the years, while his little brother was off living it up, the older brother was watching his father grieve his lost son. He probably heard stories of happy memories when the prodigal was a little boy. Watched as people asked his father if he had heard from the younger son and saw his father’s sadness as he assumed his son was probably dead. Likely he heard stories that sounded as if the older brother was being compared to the younger brother, even though the father was just reminiscing. Brick by brick, resentment brick by bitterness brick, the older son built up walls of separation and told himself there isn’t enough love, attention, or fortune to go around. And then when the brother returned and there was joy, the walls were so high that the brother couldn’t even start to bring them down. Imagine if the older brother of the prodigal son prayed, “God, help me see this differently.” In those moments working in the hot field listening to his father reminisce about his brother, God, help me see this differently. In those moments imagining his brother living off the inheritance, partying all night, throwing around money, laughing with friends, Instagramming the happy moments, God, help me see this differently. Standing outside the family party, too bitter to go in, too hardened to feel relief that his brother was alive, too hurt to allow his father’s unconditional love to sink into his own soul, God, help me see this differently. Opening ourselves to God’s love and the love of others is a continual practice. We choose our thinking in each moment…it can be a practice of thinking poor me or it can be a practice of saying the prayer, God, help me see this differently. Thoughts of poor me build tall walls…and walls may initially feel safer than standing wide open to receive love. But, as the walls grow, the isolation grows, and then you convince yourself you can’t return. You can’t let down your guard and allow love. This prayer is powerful. It can profoundly reprogram our thinking and transform our relationships. Try it today. And, if you bristle a little at that suggestion, say this with me now--God, help me see this differently..
------- “The good shepherd lays down his life” Saturday, 24 June 2017 Ezekiel 34:11 “‘For here is what Adonai Elohim says: “I am taking over! I will search for my sheep and look after them, myself. 12 Just as a shepherd looks after his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so I will look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. 13 I will bring them back from those peoples, gather them from those countries and return them to their own land. Then I will let them feed on the mountains of Isra’el, by the streams and in all the livable places of the land. 14 I will have them feed in good pastures; their grazing ground will be on the high mountains of Isra’el. They will rest in good grazing grounds and feed in rich pastures on Isra’el’s mountains. 15 Yes, I will pasture my sheep; and I will let them rest” says Adonai Elohim. 16 “I will seek the lost, bring back the outcasts, bandage the broken, and strengthen the sick. But the fat and the strong I will destroy — I will feed them with judgment.”, John 10:7 So Yeshua said to them again, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All those who have come before me have been thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I am the gate; if someone enters through me, he will be safe and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, since he isn’t a shepherd and the sheep aren’t his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf drags them off and scatters them. 13 The hired worker behaves like this because that’s all he is, a hired worker; so it doesn’t matter to him what happens to the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me — 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father — and I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep. ------- Ezekiel portrayed God as a good shepherd who would “seek out the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak.” John’s gospel completed the story. God came to earth in the person of Jesus, and as promised reached out to the lost and the strays, bound up our wounds and took special interest in the weak. He didn’t just talk about that—he actually did it (e.g. John 8:2-11). He was the Good Shepherd, and in the end, he did indeed give up his life for the sheep—us. • Reflect on the three stories Jesus told—the shepherd seeking the lost sheep, the woman sweeping and searching for the lost coin, the father running to greet the lost son who had come home. In what ways can these stories deepen and enrich your inner sense of how much God loves you? Had you ever pictured that, every time you move closer to God, a party breaks out in heaven—that you are that important to God? How can trusting that God loves you in this profound, relentless way give you a solid foundation for living “life to the fullest,” as Jesus promised in John 10:10? Prayer: God, your love seems almost (but not quite) too good to be true! Thank you for giving your life for me. I open my heart to you—transform my inner life, broaden my horizons and shine out of me as I enter into your joy. Amen. Family Activity: Gather your family for a few rounds of hide-and-seek. Then read Luke 15:11-32. Ask, “What did you do while you were hiding in our game?” “What did the lost son do while he went away?” “How far away did you go during hide-and-seek?” “How about the lost son?” Say, “No matter how far away you were or what you chose to do while you were hiding, someone always came to find you. The prodigal son journeyed far from home and made some very poor choices while he was away. Yet his father [God] welcomed him home with great love and joy. Though God wants us to stay close and follow him, when we stray, God will always welcome us back with love.” Pray and thank God for his faithful and enduring love. -------
Jane Fowler Jane serves as Group Life Program Director at Church of the Resurrection. In that capacity, she encourages our congregation to be a part of the Journey of Knowing, Loving and Serving God and others by being in authentic community and growing in your love and knowledge of Christ. When my kids were quite young, probably ages three and six, we were shopping in a department store. They thought it would be fun to play “hide and seek” among the racks of clothing. When they started this game, one would hide behind a pair of pants or skirt hanging down and the other would walk around the rack and find the other one. They quickly grew bored with this and ventured further away and sought new places to hide. I kept my eyes on them while they were entertaining themselves and I shopped. All was going well until Tyler said, “I can’t find Maddy.” I knew she was there--I just saw her! After several minutes of searching and not finding her, panic set in. A store clerk, as well as another mom, joined me as we fanned out around the store, all calling her name. Maddy sat completely silent in the middle of a rack of clothing as she heard strangers calling her name. She did not want to be found, because she did not recognize their voices and she was afraid. It was not until she heard my voice that she said, “Mommy, I’m here.” Similar to the parable of the lost sheep, I had a child by my side but one was lost. I was not leaving that store until the lost child was found. I take great comfort in knowing that no matter how far I wander away from God, He will never leave me behind and will continue to seek me until I am found. Even at a young age of three, Maddy knew my voice. Through the relationship we had established, this small child recognized that I was the one she could trust, the one who loved her, and would care for her. It is not enough to merely know facts about Jesus. It is only when we have a relationship with Him that we know how deeply He loves us, all the ways He cares for us and provides for us. It is only through a relationship with Christ that we will know who God is and get to partake in this abundant life He offers.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow. Pray. Study. Guide "Upside Down 'The Lost Parables' from Sunday, 18 June 2017 through Saturday, 24 June 2017
Read today's Insight by Angela LaVallie Tinsley
Brandon Gregory
Wendy Connelly
Wendy Connelly
n Palmer
Ginger Rothhaas
n Palmer
Ginger Rothhaas
Jane Fowler
Jane Fowler
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