Obedient or Disobedient?

“You’re disobedient. Genesis says only men can lead the flock and women shouldn’t lead, preach or teach” I was told by a congregant this week.

Firstly, I would like to just state that following God’s call and doing His will is not disobedient. The opposite in fact is true. However, ignoring His call, not listening and deliberately ignoring a vocation is indeed disobedient.

Genesis does not, in fact, explicitly state that a woman cannot hold a leadership role, minster, preach or teach. In actuality, NO WHERE in the Old Testament does it explicitly forbid a woman to hold these roles.

What often happens is that less accurate translations of Genesis 2:18 and Genesis 3:16 are misquoted and taken out of context.

Genesis 2:18 – And the Lord God said “It is not good for the human being to be along; let us make him a helper just like him.”

Genesis 3:16 – And to the woman he said “I shall greatly multiply your griefs and your groaning; in pain you will bring forth children, and your inclination shall be for him. And he will lord it over you”
Nicholas King Translation

So it was not good for the human being to be alone and a helper just like him was created. Equal. A companion. Sharing the load, living and working together as equals. And to “lord it over you” meaning false authority, displaying an inflated sense of self importance, condescending and intimidating instead of genuine leadership and humble service. This does not grant man power over woman. It does not say that women cannot be ministers, preach, lead, or teach. It just says that man will think he has power and importance that he does not actually have.

Indeed there are many examples in the Old Testament where God called and used women to lead, preach and teach. Whilst the Old Testament is patriarchal it also shows that God used women in ways which defied the cultural norms. These women had direct access to God and communicated directly with God. They did not need a man to be a go-between.

Examples of such women from the Old Testament are:

Deborah (Judges 4-5)
Miriam (Exodus 15:20)
Esther (Esther)
Huldah (2 Kings 22:14)
Athallah (2 Chronicles 22:10-12)
Abigail (1 Samuel 25)
The Wise Woman of Abel (2 Samuel 20:15-22)
King Lemuel’s mother (Proverbs 31:1)

Moving on to the New Testament, again there are two small misinterpreted sections in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14: 34-35) and Timothy (1 Timothy 2:12). The rest of the New Testament does not, in fact, explicitly state that a woman cannot hold a leadership role, minster, preach or teach; on the contrary the examples in the New Testament actively promotes women taking on these roles.

To address the aforementioned verses from Paul’s epistles it must be remembered that we only have one half of the conversation, that Paul’s letters were addressing particular situations and that they are heavily weighted by the male dominant culture of the time. Paul was not addressing all women in ministry. He was instead addressing those in the congregation who were out of order, who were gossiping instead of worshipping, speaking out of turn and who were not displaying modesty and restraint in a reverent way.

This is evidenced in the fact that many women held influential leadership roles in the early church. Not only is this documented in the New Testament but in Romans Paul is commending their service as ministers and deacons, preachers and teachers of the church.

Examples of these women from the New Testament are:

Phoebe – Deacon and Minister (Romans 16:1-7)
Junia – Apostle (Romans 16:1-7)
Priscilla – Church Planter and Leader (Romans 16:1-7)
Lydia – held church in her home (Acts 16:14-150
Philip’s daughters (Acts 21)
Nympha – held church in her home (Colossions 4:15)
“Chosen Lady” – Church and Pastoral Leader (2 John 1:1)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Jesus Christ.
Galations 3:28

Leadership roles are assigned by God as a spiritual gift.

God bestows capabilities and positions upon individuals for His own purposes, these subjects told me, and when He looks for a human vessel He “sees” only the willingness of the soul to serve.
Kwilecki 1987,66

More importantly, Jesus regarded women as fit for preaching and delivering news about Himself to other men. In John 4 the Samaritan woman is the evangelist to an entire community. Jesus entrusts the news of the resurrection to women before men. Also, women are listed as prophets in Acts and Corinthians and prophets clearly have the authority to preach and teach.

Or long answer short: “Tough! God tells me to so I will continue to follow His call whether you agree or not”

Epiphany

There are several elements in the nativity scenes we see and in the carols that we sing that could be said to have used dramatic license – despite the clues in the Gospel passages. For example, when the magi reach Jesus He is no longer a baby in a manger in a stable but a child with his
mother in a house. (It is probable that Joseph, at the time of the magi’s visit, was at work), the shepherds were no longer there. They had visited when Jesus was a baby and then returned from whence they came, spreading the good news as they went. And if we shut out the images of these nativity scenes that we are so familiar with and just concentrate on the Gospel passages then we gain a clearer understanding and see the different responses to Jesus.

Herod displayed an open hatred and hostility toward Jesus. He wanted Jesus dead and slaughtered many children in an attempt to achieve this. The chief priests and the scribes were indifferent toward Jesus; they were more concerned about their status and their religious respectability.

But the wise men sought out Jesus and worshipped Him – even at great cost. If we then compare the visit of the wise men to the earlier visit of the shepherds, documented in Luke, we can discern that:
Jesus came to the Jew first, then to the Gentile.
Jesus came to the humble and ignorant first, then the honourable and learned.
Jesus came to the poor first, then the rich.

There are also lessons we can learn from the wise men such as not being satisfied with merely looking at the star and admiring it; the wise men did something about the star, and set out and followed it. They persevered in their search and in following after the star. They were not discouraged in the search by Herod or the doubtful religious leaders. They rejoiced at the star and when they arrived at the destination the star led them to, they entered in and worshipped with a sense of urgency to worship Jesus immediately and not wait to a later time. When they
worshipped, it was to give something – not empty-handed adoration.

There is a wonderful pattern to be seen: “Those who look for Jesus will see him: those who truly see him will worship him: those who worship him will consecrate their substance to him.”

What have we forgotten?

Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child’s cry. A blazing star hung over a stable and wide men came with birthday gifts.

We haven’t forgotten that night down the centuries; we celebrate with stars on Christmas trees, the sound of bells and with gifts. But especially with gifts. You give me a book; I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry could do with a new pipe.

We forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled … all that is except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. It’s His birthday we are celebrating. Don’t ever let us forget that.

Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most … and then let each put in his share. Loving kindness, warm hearts and the stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth.
The Bishop’s Wife 1947

But it isn’t just that stocking for the Christ-child that gets forgotten.

Every Christmas churches, and many of us in our homes, have some sort of nativity scene. It reminds us of a profound truth, the incarnation, that moment that God became flesh and walked among men. We celebrate God’s love and grace, that He laid aside His heavenly glory to be born in the humblest of ways to save us by dying for us.

Everything and everyone in these nativity scenes is glorifying the Saviour of the world.

Everyone shown in the nativity is portrayed as a worshipper of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The angels worshipped Him. (Luke 2: 8-14)

The shepherds worshipped Him. (Luke 2: 8-20)

The wise men worshipped Him. (Matthew 2:1-11)

Even the animals, in their own way, worshipped Him. (Romans 1:19-20)

And this is quite right and proper but we have forgotten someone and something.

Jesus came to this world to save us from our sins and reconcile us with God. He came to give His life for those who hated Him and wanted Him dead. As Jesus said in Mark 2:!7 “They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

So who did we forget?

We’ve left out the ignorant. Let us take Caesar Augustus as an example of this. He ordered a census in order to charge more tax. We don’t know what prompted Augustus’s timing but we do know that God was behind the timing.

When God sent His Son into the world there were several factors that made the time right which we overlook, such as the conditions which made it easier to spread the Gospel. Conditions such as Roman law which protected Paul and others as they travelled around the Roman world preaching the Gospel. Roman peace which meant there was a lack of wars within the Roman Empire, enabling the Apostles and other early believers to travel freely without fear. The Roman roads which made travel easier and the Greek language – which was the most common language used at that time and which was an expressive language enabling the deep truth to be explained in great detail.

When Augustus issued his decree he did not know God was using him to fulfil the prophecy of Micah 5:2, that out of Bethlehem in the land of Judah would come the one promised. Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David, their family line from Bethlehem, and so the order of census forced them to travel to Bethlehem where Jesus was then born.

Whilst being ignorant of the part he played, Augustus was part of God’s plan for Jesus’s birth. Jesus came into the world to save those ignorant of God, the lost, from their sins and from themselves.

It’s not just the ignorant we’ve forgotten, we have also left out the indifferent. Take the innkeeper for example, who kept watch over the inn and collected money from travellers. When Joseph arrived at the inn with a very pregnant Mary the innkeeper was not bothered. He turned them away telling them there was no room. Seeing their plight and that Mary could give birth at any moment, he could have, perhaps, offered them his own room but instead he was indifferent to their need and even the offer of the stable was just an afterthought. He was unmoved and indifferent but still a part of Christ’s birth.

There are many like that innkeeper – only preoccupied with themselves, not moved by the Gospel message or our witness to them. Yet Jesus came to save them too.

John 1:11 “He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” Jesus came anyway. He died to save the indifferent anyway so that if they do hear Him and come to Him they can still be saved.

But we haven’t just left out the indifferent and the ignorant. We have also left out the incredulous.

In Luke 2:15-18 we hear how, having believed the angel, seen and worshipped Jesus, the shepherds returned to their sheep telling everyone they met about the baby in the manger and the angel’s message. The people the shepherds told were astonished but they did not go to see and worship baby Jesus themselves. They heard the story, were impressed by the story but then did nothing about it.

Jesus still came and died for these people – those who are so wrapped up in their own lives that, despite being impressed, they ignore the invitation given to them to be saved. The message may be impressive but it can only save you if you turn to Christ in faith. Receive Him and be saved by His grace.

But it is not just the incredulous, the indifferent and the ignorant we have left out. We have also left out the self-righteousness. Those so blind to the truth and who Jesus is that they fail to see even when they see it for themselves with their own eyes. Let us take Saul as an example here. He was a very religious man and a zealous Jew but his self-righteousness had blinded him to who Jesus was. When God “opened his eyes” on the road to Damascus he sees himself as a sinner, repented and God saved his soul. Saul became Paul.

Salvation does not come by doing good alone. Jesus, in His death on the cross, did what we cannot do. Jesus opened a way to God for all who believe in Him. When we truly believe we are saved.

But we didn’t just leave out the self-righteous, the incredulous, the indifferent and the ignorant. We also left out the wicked. The wicked such as Herod, who slaughtered those precious, innocent children. Herod who, once he knew death was near, had 70 Jewish religious leaders executed for the sole purpose of having people weeping as he died. The soldiers who followed these orders of Herod should also be included here. Jesus died to save people such as these so that the wicked could be delivered from their evil.

He died for people like Herod and the soldiers following his orders, for murderers, addicts, thieves, manipulators stepping on people just to get what they want, for those who do not care about others’s feelings and needs, for those full of meanness and hate, for politicians, bankers, stockbrokers, teachers, homemakers, drivers, vicars, priests, bishops and all sinners.

Jesus Christ died for everyone who has ever or who will live, for you and for me.

If we had been there the night of Jesus’s birth then the likelihood is, sadly, that we would not have noticed, that we would not, for whatever reason, gone to worship Him at His birth. Because we are sinners just like everyone else. But He still came, out of grace and love, for us. Our salvation wrapped up in a tiny human baby.

So let us believe anew, repenting and turning to Him who forgives and loves us. And, like the shepherds, may we spread His love and the message of the greatest gift of all to all whom we meet so that they have a chance to also be a part of the salvation Jesus bought for us all.

Mary …

We tend to use a mixture of readings from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to revisit the miracle of Jesus’s birth. Here, Matthew doesn’t tell us how the Virgin Birth took place—except that it was by the Holy Spirit. Whereas, Luke gives a little more detail, the angel telling Mary that the Holy Spirit will come upon her, and the power of the Most High will overshadow her. The Virgin Birth is a divine miracle in the power of the Holy Spirit.

But Matthew does tell us two things about Jesus, one being what he does: “You shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins”. Many Jews were looking for a Messiah who would come in conquering power. But Matthew shows us the much deeper human need. Jesus comes to save us from our sins—our spiritual needs far outweighing other needs.

The miracle of the Virgin Birth is also a sign of the far greater miracle and mystery of God becoming flesh and taking his place amongst us as one of us – the Incarnation. God didn’t just send angels, prophets and messengers—he came! In Jesus, God has come close; has taken human nature and human life to himself joining human nature to his own divine being. This is all of the Grace of God, who is a God who stoops to take us by the hand. In this respect, Matthew quotes from the Old Testament: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him “Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”’ If the name Jesus is descriptive of what Jesus does, Immanuel is descriptive of who Jesus is—God with us.

The miracle of the Virgin Birth points towards both the humanity and the deity of Jesus. He was a human person born in the normal way. He is also the eternal God who has come to us—the God-man. Jesus didn’t begin his existence at Christmas, but as eternal God, entered into time and space at Christmas. For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given… (Isaiah 9:6).
So many people are ‘in the dark’ about God and don’t see him clearly. Yet, if you want to know what God is like, you only have to look at Jesus. Jesus Christ is the “Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing…” He is the revelation of the will, wisdom and person of God. His teaching is the
instruction of God. His death is the death of God-for-us. His resurrection is the victory of God! The meaning of Christmas is first and foremost a message of amazing grace, of a God who comes near.

The miracle of the Virgin Birth is a new creation, the beginning of a whole new world. What we can’t do for ourselves, God has and is doing. Into a world of brokenness and sadness God has come by means of a supernatural birth in the power of the Holy Spirit. But it doesn’t end there: the same Spirit who hovered over Mary and brought about a miracle of new life and transformation in her can also do the same in us! Regardless of who you are or what you have done you can start a whole new life as part of the new world. Jesus is the answer to our deepest needs. He is God come among us in order to save us from our sins and to rescue us from the deepest cause of our alienation and brokenness. When we start from the inside out we can have hope that the entirety of our life can experience the transformation he brings.

Mary, mother of Jesus (Photo by Juan Carlos Leva on Pexels.com)

John the Baptist

Matthew 11:2-11 is a reading which often gets overlooked.

John the Baptist is in prison. He has been in prison for some time and knows he will not leave it alive because Herod’s wife wants him dead. She has not yet, however, found a way of securing his death and Herod is intrigued by John and so listens to what he has to say. Consequently, John is treated with respect and his disciples were allowed to visit him freely. His disciples keep him up to date with what is going on in the world outside and report to him what they have witnessed of Jesus.

John sends his disciples to Jesus with the question “Art thou he that should come?”

This is where opinion amongst well-known commentators differ.

Some state that John sent the disciples only to remove their doubts.

Others state that this question came directly from John with the answer being directed to John; who may have been feeling impatient at hearing about the signs and wonders but not seeing the appearance of God’s kingdom in a way he expected and so was falling into despair in prison.

Many Christians struggle with this passage and John’s question. This is not surprising considering what else we know about John.

John the forerunner. The one sent to “Prepare the way of the Lord”.

John, who, before he had even been born, recognised his cousin as Lord and Saviour and jumped for joy in his mother’s womb.

Seeds of doubt planted by the devil reach their peak at times of great despair and can cause people to question even the most important fundamental truths.

We hope that, nay we know that, John’s faith did not fail him.

However, at a time of despair, languishing in jail, confirmation of what he knew to be true would consolidate and strengthen his faith and hope.

Yet, if John had sent his disciples to Christ with the question for their satisfaction then we know that Christ pointed them to what they had heard and seen; directing them to the way in which salvation was to be found.

John, who at Jesus’s baptism witnessed the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus and heard the voice from heaven confirming Jesus as God’s beloved Son with whom He is well-pleased, had shown Christ to his disciples.

John saw that some of these disciples were envying for his sake and some were making the same misinterpretations as many of the Jews did about the Messiah. John wanted to ensure, before his own inevitable death took place, that his disciples were satisfied from their own experience of and sight of the works of Christ; and so he sent them on this errand.

“Poor men have the good news proclaimed to them,” Jesus added when He spoke to John’s disciples. He invited them to His kingdom and told them of peace and pardon.

It was predicted in Isaiah that the Messiah would indeed preach good tidings to the meek (the gospel to the poor).

Jesus knew that John the Baptist, whose heart was with the poor, knew that He was the one who united power and tenderness and could be none other than the expected king.

From verse 6: Blessed is he who shall not take offence at my poverty and lowliness of life and who will not reject me and my doctrine.

John wanted, not to force Christ’s hand into revealing Himself before His time came but, to ensure that he had completed his mission and passed the baton over to the one for whom he had been preparing the way.

Jesus then gave testimony to John, and to all he had achieved.

What Jesus said about John was not only to praise John but also for all the people.

Those who listen to the word will be called to give account of their improvements. Do we think that once the sermon is over the work is done? No! It most certainly is not. In fact, that is when the great work really begins.

Fervency and zeal are required by all. Self must be denied; the bent, frame and temper of the mind must be altered.

Those who have an interest in salvation will not mind what the terms are nor how hard they seem.

Things of God are of both great and common concern.

God requires no more from us than the right use of what he has given us.

People are ignorant because they will not learn.

John was sent to prepare the people to receive the Messiah and he fulfilled this commission. He preached repentance and faith in Christ.

As John prepared the way for Jesus then so we must prepare now.

We must prepare our hearts and minds, making them right and open ready to receive Him again this Christmas and for when He comes again in glory.

Not only that but we must spread that good news so that others also have the chance to repent and prepare.

Handing over the baton (Photo by BOOM ud83dudca5 Photography on Pexels.com)

Once Upon A Time …

… there was a little baby born in a stable who would become the saviour of the world. He was visited by shepherds and magi, whilst the angels sang and a star shone.

And that is precisely the problem – too many people treat the reports of Jesus’s birth as if it was a nice little fairy story for children. There is too much complacency, too much commercialism and too much watering down the truth because it’s easier to fall in with non-believers, materialism and instant gratification than it is to stand firm in the faith. Humans like an easy life but the ironic thing is that taking the easier road leads, at the end, to suffering.

The road less travelled, narrow and difficult though it may seem at times, is the path to God’s house. Whilst the journey may seem hard, the end is worth it. It is better to travel the more difficult road with Christ by our side and wait for our reward at the end of the journey than it is to opt for the easy journey and the consequences that await.

Advent is a time of waiting, watching and preparing, of truly listening to God with our heart and with all our senses, of opening our hearts and minds, of making changes and being prepared to be changed, of praying and inviting Jesus into our lives and our hearts. It is a time to get ready to climb that difficult path up the mountain.

Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving. He is real and the path to life, not just a story for Christmas. He is our Saviour, our Redeemer, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who rules through love not war. He sacrificed himself to defeat death and the devil to save us. He shows us God’s mercy, love and grace. He grants us forgiveness and shows us how to live.

This year, why not use this time of Advent to evaluate yourself and your faith, to choose Jesus, the greatest gift of all, to choose life not death. Yes that means making difficult choices and choosing the harder path over the easier one. It means loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and loving your neighbour as yourself. It means loving, forgiving and praying for your enemies. It means listening and obeying our Lord and Master and following him.

But what a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs he bears. What Joy, Love, Light and Peace we gain as a child of our Heavenly Father.

Hell is truly an absence of God, of not being in his loving presence. So stop treating Jesus’s birth as a fairy story and give it back the significance it requires.

I pray that you all receive God’s blessing this Christmas.

Image of a stained glass window depicting Jesus’s birth (Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com)

King of Kings

The Sunday before Advent, we celebrate Christ the King, which concludes the church year as we begin the Advent Season and the new church year the following Sunday.

Whilst one of the more recent festival days of the church, having been added to the church calendar in 1925, it is when we join together to give thanks to Christ our King and to be reminded that all nations fall under the reign of God’s Son, and to remind the world that we all live under this reign, whether or not we acknowledge it.

Jesus is our King and is the King of kings.

So, what kind of king is he?

In his epistle to the Colossians, Paul tells us that in Jesus, our King, all things in heaven and earth, both seen and unseen, have been created through Jesus and for Jesus. There is nothing, no nation, no government, no earthly ruler that has not been created through Jesus and for Jesus. He is the Lord over all. King of kings and Lord of lords.

Paul goes on to tell us that without Jesus being an active part of our world everything would fall apart. Jesus is the glue that holds all things together. The ultimate sticky back plastic.

Paul tells us that our Almighty and all powerful God rescued us from the power of darkness into Jesus’s kingdom, where there is love, forgiveness, grace and mercy. All ruled over by the gentle, loving hand of Jesus. An all – powerful king who chooses not to rule by force but by love.

In Luke chapter 23, Jesus is being crucified and mocked. Jesus, our all – powerful king, allows himself to be crucified – killed in a cruel, torturous, shaming way; choosing to reign from a cross, willingly dying for us.

Yet it is this that shows us what it means to have Jesus as our king and what kind of king He is.

A king who is literally dying to save us. A king who took our humiliation and punishment for us. A king who was tortured and died and refused to save himself. A king who gets what he does not deserve – death on a cross – so that we can have what we do not deserve – life in his kingdom. A king of overflowing love showing us God’s overflowing love for us.

And he does not stop there, as demonstrated when, even though he was dying, he still found the breath to forgive the repentant thief.

Jesus is a king who is always ready to forgive and to welcome a repentant sinner home.

Christ, our king of love has let us off the cross, giving us the opportunity to be his disciples and live each day for him.

I invite you to think about what that means for you.

We give thanks for Christ our King, the all-powerful, who chooses to reign by love. The king who died so that we might live.

So, let us live not for ourselves but for him. Let us make the most of the opportunity to live each day for the king who died to save us and continue to do so until that blessed day when his kingdom will come in all it’s fullness and glory.

Christ The King (Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com)

Signs of Daybreak

A rabbi once asked his students how they could tell when night had ended and day was on its way back.

‘Is it when you can see an animal in the distance, and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?’

‘No,’answered the rabbi.

‘Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance, and tell whether it is a fig tree or a peach tree?’

‘No.’

‘Well then,’ the students demanded, ‘when is it?’

‘It is when you look on the face of another hunan being and see that he or she is your brother or sister. Because if you cannot do that, then no matter what time it is, it is still night.’

Jesus said, “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

We are all God’s children. Through faith and in Jesus Christ we are all part of the same family, all brothers and sisters.

This is the starting point for how we should treat one another. We are to respect our brother and sisters.

We should listen to each other and be ready to hear God speaking. We should learn from, heed and act on their advice.

We should value them and the gifts they bring, thanking them for the different ways they serve and encouraging them.

We should be interested in their lives, how their week has been, and we should pray for them.

We are to treat each other as equals and honour them as a fellow heir in Christ.

We should love them, and our neighbour, as ourselves.

Let us look for the daybreak and the light of Christ shining brightly as we greet our brothers and sisters and welcome the day.

Riches and Heaven

A Sandwich for Supper

A story tells of a man who went to the office every day in his expensive car, and made important decisions and signed big contracts. Often, the important man would enjoy business lunches with his clients, and would try to distract the attention of his influential guests away from the unsavoury spectacle of the beggars on the streets of his city. One evening, after a hard day making money, he packed his briefcase to go home, where supper would be waiting for him. As he was locking his desk for the night, he caught sight of a stale sandwich lying abandoned at the back of the drawer. Without much thought he crammed it in his coat pocket. No need for it to go mouldy and mess up his desk. And on the way out to the car park he saw a street beggar on the steps, huddled in an old blanket. ‘Here my friend,’ he said to the beggar. ‘Here is something for your supper.’ And he gave him the stale sandwich. That night, the man dreamed that he was away on a business trip. After the day’s meeting, he was taken with his fellow directors to the town’s most luxurious restaurant. Everyone gave their orders and settled down with their aperitifs to look forward to a convivial evening. The orders arrived. Pate de foie gras. Medallions of venison. Lamb cutlets with rosemary and garlic. The dishes being brought to the table brought gasps of delight from all the company. Then his own order appeared. A waitress set in front of him one small plate, on which was served a stale sandwich. ‘What kind of service is this?’ the man demanded, enraged. ‘This isn’t what I ordered! I thought this was the best restaurant in town!’ ‘Oh sir,’ the waitress told him, ‘you’ve been misinformed. This isn’t a restaurant at all. This is heaven. We are only able to serve you what you sent on ahead while you were alive. I’m very sorry, sir, but when we looked under your name, the best we could find to serve to you was this little sandwich.’
Retelling of a Jewish folk story, Margaret Silf

Luke (chapter 16 verses 19 to end) tells us about the rich man and Lazarus. It is a stern teaching and word of warning from Jesus; although it is often misinterpreted.

We have a rich man living in luxury and a poor homeless man living right under the nose of the rich man, by his gate where the rich man could not miss him.

These are opposite extremes. The poor man has nothing, wears rags, is covered in sores and lives on the street. The rich man has fine clothes in colours that show off his wealth to the world, a luxurious home and an abundance of food.

The rich man had so much more than he needed, yet, despite seeing the poor man every day he completely ignored him and did nothing.

The poor man was so neglected that those passing did not even chase the dogs away from him.

Jesus has talked in other passages about how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

However, that is not because of the wealth itself but because of man’s love of wealth and the ignoring of those suffering and in need.

It is the state of our hearts and not the state of our wallets that interests Jesus.

The wealth and luxury the rich man enjoyed was not, in itself, what condemned him.

What condemned the rich man was that he totally ignored the poor man, despite him being right in his path.

We all have opportunities to help others laid in our paths. If we neglect these opportunities we are as guilty as the rich man. As Jesus said, “The poor will always be with us”.

The selfish use of worldly possessions is equally sinful. To do nothing when there are people like the poor man at our gates is equally wicked no matter how much wealth or how many possessions we have.

Spiritual things are also being represented in the different states of good and bad, in this world and the next.

The rich man’s sin was in providing only for himself. The poor man is in the depth of adversity and distress.

We are not told that the rich man caused any harm to the poor man but the rich man did not care for the poor man.

There is a time coming when those who hate and despise the people of God would gladly receive kindness from them. But the damned in hell will not have their torment eased.

Nothing can bring about true repentance without the special grace of God renewing the sinner’s heart.

Jesus is using this teaching to consolidate the dangers of the love of money, the deceitful, treacherous nature of riches; that those not using their property in the right way may not enter heaven, that they ought to heed the warnings from the prophets and their duty to care for and show kindness to the poor.

Both the rich and the poor man die. Jesus does not reveal what the after lands are really like. Instead He uses the preconceived ideas of those He is teaching; The point was to emphasise the total reversal of position of the rich man and the poor man.

The rich man, who lived in luxury whilst alive, now lives in torment and suffering. The poor man, who lived in suffering and torment whilst alive, is now the possessor of abundance and delight.

The rich man now wants from the poor man the help which he refused to give the poor man in life. Each must, however, reap in death what he has sown in life.

How we live our lives here determines life hereafter, the character we make out of ourselves, once set and hardened in this life, cannot be remoulded in the next.

The rich man’s request for his brethren serves only to try and excuse himself by claiming ignorance, and that had he known he would have been different. He tries to put the blame on insufficient warnings instead of owning it himself.

However, the teachings of Moses and the prophets are sufficient, holding a divine message for those who wish to listen.

It is not a lack of warnings but the aversion of will.

The rich man is in torment, not because he did not know his actions were wrong, but because he did not choose to do what he knew to be right.

Let us ponder the story of The Long-Handled Spoons:

A rabbi asked God to give him a glimpse of what heaven and hell would be like. God agreed to this request, and asked the prophet Elijah to be the rabbi’s guide on this adventure. Elijah first led the rabbi into a large room. In the middle of the room was a fire with a big cooking pot bubbling away on it. And in the pot was a delicious stew. All around the cooking pot sat a crowd of people. They each had a long-handled spoon, which they were dipping into the delicious stew. But the people looked pale and thin and wretched. There was an icy stillness in the room. The handles of the spoons were so long that no one was able to get the lovely food into their mouth. When the two visitors were back outide again, the rabbi asked Elijah what strange place this was. ‘That was hell,’ Elijah explained. Then Elijah led the rabbi to a second room, which looked exactly like the first. In the middle, a fire was blazing and a cooking pot was bubbling away, full of the same delicious, aromatic stew. People sat around the fire, with the same long-handled spoons in their hands But they were enjoying lively, animated conversations with each other. And the difference? Well, the people in the second room were not trying to feed themselves with the long-handled spoons. They were using the spoons to feed each other. ‘Ah, heaven,’ said the rabbi.
retold by Margaret Silf from an unknown source.

Discipleship Is Costly

Luke 14:25-33

Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem because the time of His death is approaching. He was accompanied by His disciples, whom He was teaching and preparing, but time was short. Hence, Jesus’s radical call. It was absolutely necessary for them to leave everything behind and be prepared for their own death if they are serious about following Him and about going with Him to Jerusalem.

There were also large crowds accompanying Jesus as He journeyed towards Jerusalem.

Jesus was also teaching these crowds.

Those who were already following Jesus needed to be taught the nature of true discipleship. They needed to be fully aware of what following Him costs.

Following Jesus demands full and total devotion to God.

Jesus was so fully devoted to His mission that it meant abandoning and being rejected by His home town and His family. For those who must leave their family behind to be able to fully follow Jesus it could be perceived as hating one’s family in the eyes of some.

Jesus tells us that to be His disciple means carrying our cross and following Him.

He is giving His disciples advance warning.

The road they were following Jesus down is expected to end in death, and they must prepare themselves.

Full devotion is described by and measured by what future is being committed to.

As usual, Jesus gave examples in order to help His disciples and the crowd understand the importance of fully evaluating the cost of following Him.

It was not a decision to be made lightly. Each person in the crowd and each disciple needed to consider whether they could follow Him to the very end, leaving everything else behind.

“None of you can be my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”

Jesus is entirely serious in saying that those following Him to Jerusalem must not be encumbered in any way.

But, if we look at other contexts and situations, does Jesus require every one, every disciple, every where and in every time to abandon family and possessions and run headlong towards death for Him?

If we look at the rest of the New Testament we can discern that the answer to this question is no.

The rest of the New Testament portrays faithful disciples maintaining family relationships and retaining possessions.

There are the apostles who travelled with their wives as they travelled far and wide on missionary work. The members of the church who had homes and possessions, with which they supported the church and the work of Peter, Paul and the other apostles.

It is important, however, to reiterate that these converts held their possessions loosely and were willing to give them up for the good of others and to support the Gospel mission.

It is also important to realise and accept that the requirements Jesus placed upon those wanting to follow Him on the road to Jerusalem will be required to be fulfilled should the circumstances dictate.

All followers of Jesus must remind themselves constantly that following Him faithfully could require the full sacrifice of family, possessions and even life itself. Those Christians who do not encounter or experience that extreme sacrifice must ensure that their family, possessions and life do not become so dear to us that they draw us away from full devotion.

Discipleship IS costly.

It demands continuous giving – giving time, giving energy, giving attention, taking initiative, making sacrifices, facing opposition, losing privacy, embracing obscurity, even shedding tears.

The making of disciples is not just sharing the Gospel, but sharing our own selves, gladly, for the souls of others. It means giving, giving, giving, giving and even more giving.

It is more blessed to give than to receive. So it also is with the hearts of disciples. It makes me happier for you to have my time, energy, attention. initiative, than it does for me to keep them to myself.

The crowd who were with Jesus on the road were interested enough to be following Him. However, they hadn’t fully grasped the implications and cost of discipleship. The same is true for many today. Throughout the world, both in churches and out, are crowds of people interested in Jesus but who do not really grasp the full implications, cost and commitment of discipleship for themselves.

And it is to such as these that Jesus is speaking to here. Those people who are willing to follow Jesus and learn from Him but only as long as the cost to them is not too high. Casual followers, followers who are here today but gone tomorrow.

Jesus points out that this is a total misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian and He strongly addresses this misunderstanding.

We are to put Jesus first, to put our love for God above everything else in our lives.

The Christian life demands strength to love.

The Christian life demands that we carry a cross.

The Christian life demands that we give up everything for God.

There is only one person who has ever managed to do this perfectly and, of course, that is Jesus Christ Himself. He is our model – our example. We are to imitate Him, or in the words of Thomas A Kempis we are to develop “The Imitation of Christ”.

Growth in discipleship is ultimately growth in becoming more Christlike in our thoughts and actions.

And that involves sacrifice and hard work.

Are we ready to count the cost and become the disciples Jesus wants us to be.

It’s a choice we must make.

Not only that but we must keep making that choice

every

single

day!