The Phil Files

[This devotional thought and the previous one both deal with Luke 20. They were written about 18 hours apart. Both are true and applicable, but this second one doesn't let me off the hook. I make myself face some hard issues in the ministry of Jesus. I invite you along to take a look at yourself, too!]

Years have practice have made it easy for me to see myself in the role of those Jesus heals, helps, and makes whole. I even can sometimes admit that I am like the Lord’s dim-witted disciples – those closest followers who often say and do the dumbest things when trying to jockey for the best position among the twelve apostles. But, I don’t often see myself as one of those evil enemies of Jesus in the religious establishment. These snakes of hell slither all around Jesus’ ministry seeking to trap and trick Him so they can have “legal grounds” on which to arrest him. These hypocrites and abusers of all that is precious and holy are loathsome and reprehensible to me. So to even remotely entertain the idea that I could be one of them makes me nauseous. But the Lord’s confrontation of these snakes have a bite to them that I must hear. In Luke 20, my reading today, Jesus is in direct battle with these brutal opponents. He is trying to help His closest followers to see the truth. They are doing their best to trap Him and battle with Jesus over the basis of His authority. In the middle of the battles, Jesus tells a frightening parable about the Owner (God) of the Vineyard (God’s People) and the farmers (the religious leaders of Jesus day) who long to take control of the vineyard. These farmers abuse and mistreat all of the Owner’s messengers (the prophets), but when the Son comes, their motives are ultimately revealed!

//Inspiration: Luke 20:13-15a (ERV)
“The Owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do now? I will send my son. I love my son very much. Maybe the farmers will respect my son.’ When the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.”

//Incarnation:
How do I try to take possession of God’s vineyard? To put it in cornbread English, how do I try to throw out Jesus and make what he has taught into another religion I can manage and control for my own benefits? I know there are times when I want to re-label the truth of the Christ to make it easier for me and more beneficial for me. But the ugly truth is that I am like every other human: I don’t want to have to walk the way of the Cross and give my life to follow Jesus. Instead, I want to bend his truth to make me look good and to protect my position in the religious elite. This is what receiving grace is all about: honesty about where my heart will lead me if I don’t honestly confront my fears and selfishness and choose to follow the way of Christ! Instead of throwing Jesus out, I choose to go out to Him and share with Him in His shame so that I can also share with Him in a life that matters now … and for the ages to come (Hebrews 12:10-13)!

//Invitation:
O LORD God, Yahweh, the Keeper, Sustainer, and Owner of the Vineyard, your people, please help me see the vulnerabilities I have to try to co-opt the call of Jesus into something for my benefit and my religious position. Use your Holy Spirit to enlighten me and please give me the strength to lay these at the feet of Jesus and follow Him as Lord. It is in His name that I pray. Amen.

Jesus is very clear about His disdain and frustration with what the religious leaders of His day had done with their religious rules and lifestyle. Now, in the closing chapters of His earthly ministry, He is walking into conflict, even forcing the conflict, with religious powers of His day.

Jesus’ words, however, should still send a chill of the spine of all who lead religious organizations, including churches and parachurch ministries.

//Inspiration: Luke 20:46-47“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

//Incarnation:
As a leader in church ministry and a parachurch organization, I must hear this clearly. God does watch and know and care very deeply with how I treat the people who help support the ministries I lead. God judges His leaders with more scrutiny. They must lead with integrity and not abuse those who help them. They must not do it for show. They must not take advantage of those who are helpless and in need. (Yesterday’s devotional thoughts on Psalms 10-12 really identifies these kind of spiritual predators as wicked.) God will punish His leaders who abuse their power. He will punish them more severely. So, I must lead more humbly, more genuinely, and out of sense of wanting to see Go’s will be done and not my own nest be feathered and my own ego stroked.

//Invitation:
O LORD, God of all nations, help me see your will and know it. Be with me as I try to share that will with others, but also try to live it first. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

The comments were laced with sarcasm and cynicism. “If Jesus loves the children, then why do so many of them suffer in the world today? Did they do something in a former life that made them deserve their suffering? Oh yeah, you aren’t the ones who believe in reincarnation …”

Unjust suffering, especially the suffering of children, is a soul-searching subject and not addressed with trite slogans or easy answers. I wanted to let the guy know, however, that it was our job to bring an end to the unjust suffering of children. My words would have been wasted on him, I’m sure. He wasn’t seeking truth, he was wanting to take a jab at religion, and Christians in particular.

However, I believe the message he triggered in my heart wasn’t meant for him, but for me … and us, those who claim to be followers of Jesus. We have to be different than the religious leaders who walked by the suffering man on the road to Jericho in Jesus’ story about the “Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:25-37). We have to be people who do things God wants of us, but we have to know that the most important things he wants of us are living with “justice and the love of God” (Luke 11:42 — our daily Bible reading today is Luke 11).

I’m not sure why, but we resort so easily to practicing the tenets of our faith while losing the heart of God behind that faith. Our faith becomes a religion, focused more on the rules and regulations than on the will of God. That’s why Jesus confronted the religious host who had invited the Lord over for a meal. The Lord’s host appears to have invited him to check on how well Jesus kept the religious rules. As the religious leader discovered, Jesus didn’t do religious rules very well: the Lord was focused on the needs of people. So to the hosts unspoken criticisms, Jesus replied:

//Inspiration: Luke 11:41
But now as for what is inside of you — be generous to the poor and everything will be clean for you.

//Incarnation:
In this context, Jesus is offering a trio of attitudes to offset the stiff, religious, rule-making he encountered all around Him. Justice, love, and generosity are the three qualities of this trio. But are these three actually priorities in my life as I try to follow Jesus? Am I living these out in the way I spend my money, allocate my team, focus my teaching, work in my community, train my children, or choose a political candidate? How much does this trio command the attention of our church, our ministries, our vision, and our budget?
With the upcoming trip to Uganda with Compassion International to try to find sponsors for children in need, I feel God is giving me an international outlet to continue my growth in these precious three marks of faithfulness to the character and compassion of God. But, how I am going to reflect these priorities at home? This is a question I must answer, and not just intellectually, but in terms of how I live my daily life in my own city, neighborhood, and family!

//Invitation:
O LORD God, use your Holy Spirit to work on my heart and mold it to see people and their needs as you do. Please give me wisdom to know how I should help others in tangible ways and demonstrate your generosity, justice, and love. In Jesus’ name, and for His sake, I pray this prayer. Amen.