Jesus Calms the Storm

We had a retreat today at church where we experimented with "believing into the story." We used a passage from Luke from a couple of weeks ago, where Jesus stilled the storm on the lake (Luke 8:22-25). In our last session we composed a psalm of thanksgiving based on the passage. Here it is:
Thank you, Lord, for rescuing us from great danger.
For it is you who spoke to us
And it is you who spoke to the winds and the waves.
Lord, it was you who drew us into the fierce storm,
for you said, "Let us go to the other side."
The storm came and we were so frightened, overwhelmed by fear,
"Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
And you, Lord, awoke as if from sleep and you spoke,
"Peace, be still!"
You spoke to the winds and the waves and you spoke to our souls.
And now we call on you in wonder and awe,
"Who is this who commands the winds and the waves?"
It is you, Lord Jesus, our faithful shepherd and captain.
For you have lost none of us whom the Father has given you.
We are persuaded that neither winds nor waves, neither lightning nor thunder, neither our own weariness nor the breaking down of equipment, nor the leaking of our boat
shall be able to separate us from the love of God in you, Lord Jesus!
You shall fulfill your purpose in us and bring us to the other side.

The Good Samaritan

Our passage today, Luke 10:25-37, is one of the best known parables, not only in the Bible, but in the world. A Good Samaritan has become synonymous with those who have mercy on someone who has no connection or claim on them. 

I notice that at church, when I am working late on a Friday afternoon; it's getting toward evening; I'm looking forward to going home and having a relaxing meal with my wife--that's when the plea for help comes. Of course, people call churches because they know that churches are supposed to be Good Samaritans; they're supposed to have mercy on strangers. Even if they've never read the Bible, they somehow know that. 

So it was a few Fridays ago, a man and his pregnant wife were on their way back from the wife's father's funeral and happened to be running out of gas and money by the time they got to Manlius. I wonder, how do people find out that we are even here? It's the standard story in many respects: "I've checked with the other churches; they won't help or can't help--could you? Would you?" So there is this appeal to your pride--here's a chance to go one better than the other churches in town. I have turned this kind of thing over to our deacons, so that they can evaluate the need and decide whether and how much we can help. And our funds in recent years have precluded us from doing any extensive help.

But here is this poor man and his wife and they appear to have some developmental issues and they do need to get back to Illinois. And it's cold; and it's getting late; and only one deacon is available at the moment and she says to me, "I feel like this fellow is genuine. We should help him." The man gives me a reference to a pastor who can verify his story. The pastor does, but I also realize that this is not the first time this guy has been in a jam.

But the jam seems to be real, so we help him and he goes on his way, with enough for gas and meals and maybe even a night in a cheap motel. It may have been a clever scam. And many have avoided being scammed by simply refusing. But they have also avoided the blessing of having mercy. And besides we were using money that had been entrusted to us for the work of the Lord and if this wasn't it, what is?

So we take the chance sometimes, maybe this will really do some good. 

After all, Jesus took a chance on us. He found many of us wounded and alone. He poured in the oil and the wine; and he has told the Innkeeper, whatever it takes to make us better, he will bear the expense.

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-two

(Luke 10:1-24)  Many found excuses not to follow Jesus, but many did follow the Lord and this passage tells how Jesus sent them out to prepare the way for him. We who are serving the Lord can take comfort that if he has sent us into a situtation, we preparing the way for him. Ministry will not end with us. At some point Jesus will come along into people's lives and bring to fulfillment what he has used us to begin.

After the seventy-two come back with glowing reports of how people were helped and healed, Jesus says in v18 that he saw Satan fall like lightning. Comentators have wrestled with this statement, wondering if Jesus is speaking historically, or presently, or prophetically. In any case, we know how God's Story ends. The good wins over evil. It behooves us to link our story with Jesus' story so that he may share his happy ending with us.

The Transfiguration

Luke's account of the Transfiguration is found in 9:28-36. It is a foretaste of the unexplainable nature of the kingdom of God, the kingdom where Jesus is king. Notice how Peter gets this big idea of how they could build three tents, one for Moses, one for Elijah and one for Jesus. But Jesus is not on a par with these two men, as great as they are in the Hebrew Scriptures. As the old hymn, "Fairest Lord Jesus," says, "Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight and all the twinkling starry host. Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer than all the angels heaven can boast." So the cloud of glory envelopes the disciples and Jesus and the two prophets and the Father speaks, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him!" And when the cloud lifted, they saw only Jesus. 

I believe the true test of an experience from God is how well the soul is focused on the Lord Jesus. If the soul is focused on something else or someone else, we have the right, perhaps the responsibility to suspect it.

Who Do You Say Jesus Is

In Luke 9:18 Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do the crowds say I am?" The disciples offer various ideas such as Elijah or one of the prophets come back to life. And then Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Peter confesses, "You are God's Messiah." 

Many people today offer theories and ideas about who Jesus was or who he is. Why do we tend to remake him in our image? For the revolutionary he's a revolutionary. For the philosopher he's a philosopher. For the leader, he's a transformative leader. For the mystic, he's a mystic. For the superstar, he's a superstar. For the salesman, he's the greatest salesman. It seems like all kinds of people who have no qualification, feel qualifieid to assert who Jesus is. And the amazing thing is that the crowds would rather hear a rock star give his opinion about Jesus or hear a movie star say who he is, rather than trust the witness of the Scriptures.

Who do we say Jesus is? If we confess that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God--this is what makes us Christians.

Jesus Saves the Man of the Tombs

Luke 8:26-39. This story provides great insight into the compassion of Jesus. He and his disciples had crossed over the lake and were in Gentile territory, "out of bounds" so to speak. And now Jesus ministers to a man who is "out of bounds" in this region that is already beyond the pale. He reaches the lowest of the low, someone who has forgotten that he is even human. And yet Jesus sees a human being beneath all the demonic domination that had eviscerated his psyche. My wife had a noteworthy insight about why Jesus allowed the demons to go into the herd of pigs. It would add validity and weight to the man's testimony in that region. There would not just be this single man's word for it; there would be all the witnesses who saw the herd of pigs plunge off the cliff and would know the reason why. And there would be the leaders of the community who pleaded with Jesus to leave, who would for that very reason acknowledge that the man of the tombs had been set free by the hand of the God of Israel.