Author: Aaron

Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

“For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

“Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.

“Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.” Luke 14:25-35 (CSB)

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Remember our mission? 

One of the most haunting images in the Old Testament for me is the moment when God asks Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice(Genesis 22:1-19). I want to talk it down and to justify it away. Sometimes, I’ll stammer that Abraham misunderstood God, and that God saved Abraham by providing the ram in Isaac’s stead.

But I don’t believe this. 

I don’t believe it because I remember Abram’s mission. The mission wasn’t  Isaac, but to be a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12:1-3). And Abraham could only do that through God. Abraham didn’t care about the mission part, he cared about having a son. So, when God gave him a son in his old age, God was still making sure that Abraham knew the priority of his mission: That the blessing would come from God not through his son. It’s like a parent testing a child with dangerous responsibility. Abraham was there to declare God to the nations, not just to dote on his son.

Amazingly, Abraham responded obediently.

Now, we know God wasn’t and isn’t into child sacrifice. He despised Molech and his worship for it involved that very act (Leviticus 18:21). In fact, the place where these sacrifices took place is where we derived the name hell ¹. God was merely making sure that the seed of his promise would take root. For this to happen God must be the a priori, or primary and first love from which even Abraham’s love for Isaac is derived. Loving Isaac is good. But that familial or storge love will not bring about the blessing. Loving God must come first. For Abraham, this love is symbolized through circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14), and through obedience to God’s test. 

It is no different for the Christian. Our mission is also neglected if there is any love, even that which is perceived to be good, that is placed above our love for God and his love for us. Once again, this is a pep talk Jesus is giving with his disciples on the way to Jerusalem, which is why he is encouraging them to focus and prepare. Don’t love anything or anyone more than God! By definition one cannot and be a follower of Christ, for to be a follower means to live his mission, obediently, which means placing the mission above secondary connections of love. 

God comes before child, spouse, mother and father. Are these then bad? Of course not, they’re beautiful and amazing. But they don’t come first. It is not only money, sex, and power that become idols when placed too highly. As C.S. Lewis quotes in Mere Christianity, if the Devil can’t get us by our vices, he’ll use our virtues. Anything to place something between us and God. For when that happens, we become as useless as salt that isn’t salt. We’re so ineffective, we’re not worth having around. 

So love God first, Jesus say, then, and only then, you will be able to bless abundantly and fully.

1. Ge Hinnom in Hebrew translates to Gehenna in Greek which translates to Hell in English. Related to yesterday’s email, Hell is the place that is furthest from where heaven is on earth, which is child sacrifice pretty much sums up. ↩︎

He went through one town and village after another, teaching and making his way to Jerusalem. “Lord,” someone asked him, “are only a few people going to be saved?”

He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and won’t be able once the homeowner gets up and shuts the door. Then you will stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up for us!’ He will answer you, ‘I don’t know you or where you’re from.’ Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown out. They will come from east and west, from north and south, to share the banquet in the kingdom of God. Note this: Some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.” Luke 13:22-30 (CSB)

What does it mean to be saved? 

First we need to distinguish between Jewish theology, and Greek Philosophy. The Greeks had tremendous cultural influence over the known world. Although Rome was the great empire, it was the Greeks that won culturally and Hellenism spread wherever Rome conquered. At the core of Hellenism was its philo-sophy (philos and sophia) or love of wisdom. Perhaps the most prolific and influential philosopher in the known world was Plato, from who we also get Socrates. It was Plato (and others) who argued, that the human being was mortal flesh and immortal soul and that the soul was contained in a way by our bodies, but would be released upon death and go to the land of forms (heaven). 

When early Christian theologians attempted to understand their faith, many of them were deeply rooted in Hellenistic (Platonic) thought and used Plato’s imagery to describe their beliefs in contrast. St. Augustine was perhaps the most famous. The trouble is that, what was used in contrast came to be the norm, and our understanding of soul, body, and heaven became more Greek that Jewish or Christian in many instances. In this version, to be saved means your soul goes to heaven when your body dies. 

This is NOT Christian theology. Within Christian theology, the soul and the body are enmeshed, and heaven is already interacting with our world. Heaven is the realm in which God operates, and it is deeply connected, if hidden. It is like the heart of creation, beating at all times. At the two ends of the bible we see harmony in God’s creation identified as the union of heaven and earth, once in the Garden of Eden and once in the Heavenly Jerusalem descending upon the earthly one (Rev. 21:2-3) and the reunification of Heaven and Earth as God intended. When heaven and earth are unified, there is peace, harmony, and wholeness. Where there is not, there is conflict, war, jealousy, and strife (see the story of Cain and Abel as the first story after the separation). Where Satan separates heaven and earth, Jesus is reunifying. This is complex but really important. Because to be saved then means to belong to this heavenly sort: To the heavenly rule. Only the ones who identifying (with both word and being) with the new Heavenly reign will continue on in the iteration of Creation that God is bringing about. 

Those who continue in active rebellion against the rule of God will be kicked out. It doesn’t matter what you say with your mouth, or what your background is. It’s an issue of fealty and rule. Who is your true King? Are you allowing heaven to begin to rule in your life? This is not about action or works, but about Grace (invitation) and submission (acknowledgment) symbolized and performed through baptism. It’s to acknowledge Jesus as King and to allow him to be so in your life.  If you’re not willing to be in now, you won’t be in at the end either.  

So how are we saved? By allowing the rule of heaven to be broken into us through baptism and allowing the Spirit to begin the work of new creation within us.

Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants. But know this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

“Lord,” Peter asked, “are you telling this parable to us or to everyone?”

The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten. But the one who did not know and did what deserved punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be expected. (Luke 12:25-48 CSB)

In his initial covenant with Abram, God told him that he was choosing him because he wanted him to be a blessing for all people. (Genesis 12:2-3)

That’s a people chosen for a mission. 

It’s a little like a seal team chosen for a special operation. There was something unique about them that allowed the mission to be accomplished, but in the end, the goal was not being chosen, but the point was the mission itself. 

And God’s mission was always for all people. In fact, we see this wrestled through at the Jerusalem Council in the Book of Acts, when the gathered group of apostles were attempting to decide what to do with the influx of gentile converts, who were themselves experiencing the Holy Spirit. The conclusion of it, spoken by James the brother of Jesus, was that this was God’s plan all along, and he quotes this scripture: 

After these things I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
I will rebuild its ruins
and set it up again,
so that the rest of humanity
may seek the Lord—
even all the Gentiles
who are called by my name—
declares the Lord
who makes these things known from long ago. (Acts 15:16-17 which is an interpretation of Amos 9:11-12)

Images of occupied Jerusalem and the coming falling of the temple should be seen here, along with the new image of Christ recreating the temple (himself) within his disciples.

God’s mission is still everyone— all the nations. Being a Christian is not about a state of being, but about being called out as a people who are the harbingers of this truth on behalf of others. Chosen with a task. It’s the very reason the first Christians received the Holy Spirit as a sign and symbol of them being sanctified for the task(Acts 1:8). And what is the mission? The reconciling message of the cross (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

Remember Jesus is telling his disciples this message as he walks to Jerusalem to fulfill his own brutal mission — the very one he rejected Satan in the wilderness with in order to complete (Luke 4:1-13). Using stark language of disobedience and consequence highlights the imperative of their own  purpose. He’s not going to die so that they can spend their lives playing video games, and drinking too much wine. No! He’s going to die so that all may be reconciled to God and to each other through the word and witness of the Holy Spirit in his disciples. Bear Witness! He tells them. Remember I am coming back. You’re here for a reason.

I’m a parent. I know how difficult it is to keep a child focused on what they need to focus on, especially when there are so many easy distractions. It’s loving realignment that can sometimes get heated, depending on the significance or the response. And that is what our Lord is doing for us. We too have a mission, don’t be complacent! he warns. There will be many other good things that might appear to be important, but this is of the utmost important. Do it, for me!

How are our own lives arranged to live this mission out? 

Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

“Friend,” he said to him, “who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you?” He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”

Then he told them a parable: “A rich man’s land was very productive. He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’

“That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” – Luke 12:13-21 (CSB)

This text immediately precedes the one about not worrying about one’s life. It is one of many other good passages that we won’t be looking at it though this period but it bears impressing in our mind as it is the conclusion to this one. 

When do we worry? We worry when we are out of control. Worry is our mind’s attempt to control circumstances with our mind, which saps our energy, our attention, our focus, and our ability to love. 

Ever been up late mulling over a thought in your head, again and again? Has mulling it over changed the event that happened, or what is going to happen? Or has it simply depleted your sleep?

This worry is really what greed is about. It’s about control. Storing up your treasures, building up your nest egg, trying to maximize your bank account. Money itself is control. We want it because we get to do what we want when we have it. Greed is an outsized desire for control.

And, in order to get it, we’ll fight, cheat, steal, or sacrifice other important life events. Like the instance in today’s text, many have seen or been a part of families split over inheritance — more worried about money than relationships. 

Here’s a little secret: Life goes fast. Way faster than most realize. And, you really won’t care about what color sofa you purchased, or where you purchased it from in the end. These things rarely matter. That’s not what lasts. 

Money gives us the illusion of control, but it’s fleeting. And that control prevents us from trusting, which is where faith and love emerge.  This is partially why Jesus says the ones who really get it, are the ones who have no money at all (Matthew 5:3,6). Why? Because they have no control, and therefore all they have left is to trust.

It’s a reminder that the things of God’s Kingdom are the only things that will survive death. Those relationships you’ve built and how well you love are the markers of the new world, and they will be something with which we are confronted in the end. What did you do with what you were given? Did you surrender, and learn to love, or did you spend most of your time trying to build your 401k? 

What preoccupies you the most? And are they eternal things, or are they passing away? 

He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,

Father,
your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves also forgive everyone
in debt to us.
And do not bring us into temptation.”

He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Luke 11:1-13 (CSB)

There’s a lot here. Prayer is a big topic. It consumes books, and retreats. There are seminars on it. But it’s also small, and simple.

To pray is to commune with God. 

It’s not a done thing, but a forever doing thing. It means to be always engaging, always reaching out, always yearning and always discerning. To pray is to seek God in all things, and always be seeking him. We are never done wondering about God’s desires, and will continue to be regularly asking. Prayer is a permanent feedback loop that’s embedded into us. 

It always amazes me how many people, some who have been in church for years, are uncomfortable praying. It’s not a shaming statement, it is true. It means, that somewhere, early on, prayer was never appropriately modeled for them when they were new believers. 

It’s like a child in a household with two parents who never speak to each other. You grow accustomed to the norms displayed to you. Because prayer is modeled behavior. It’s something we should learn from the church, but more importantly, it’s a language that we hear around us, and internalize for ourselves. We learned how to speak to our parents as children by listening around us, and we learn how to speak to God, by listening around us. If we never learned, it can feel alien. 

You’re not alone if it feels alien. It did for Jesus’ disciples as well. For many if not most. Prayer can feel… awkward.

I see the scene of our passage, on the road, Jesus stops for a time of prayer. His disciples, many of whom were likely teenagers, watching and learning the language that their new mentor is displaying for them. It feels… different than they usually see. Far more intimate. They want to have the passion that he has. They want his connection. 

“Show us how to do that,” they plead. “Like you do. With warmth.” 

I see Jesus smiling, and gathering them in. There is no shame. 

“You begin with Abba… Dad.” It’s intimate and close. Someone who genuinely cares.

The rest is an exposition on how our Dad cares for us. Listens. Wants to hear from us. What’s more, he wants to respond. Our Father desires what any good dad wants, for his kids to yearn to be with him, and also to grow into themselves. He wants to spoil them occasionally, gloat over them, delight in them, and honor them. A good father takes pride in their accomplishments, and joy in their lives. 

“Start there he says… start with Dad, and let the rest flow.” 

Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the law?” he asked him. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”

“You’ve answered correctly,” he told him. “Do this and you will live.”

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.” Luke 10:25-37 (CSB)

This story is particularly relevant to the road that Jesus was walking on toward Jerusalem which was notorious for bandits and scoundrels. People would travel in groups for safety on it. As a true teacher, he uses the example at hand to answer the question about eternal life. For him, and in scripture, eternal life in scripture does not just mean life forever, although it certainly includes that. Rather, it means knowing God in his fullness, 

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3

Dallas Willard famously quipped, “I have come to believe that as many people can get into heaven as can stand it.” Really, the living forever part is a relatively simple problem for God to fix. Rearrange some atoms, fix some broken lungs and worn out knees and voila! It’s the heart that longs to be there with him and like him that is the complexity. We can live forever, but still hate, despise, envy, etc. The demons do that. For a particularly poignant view of this reality, see C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, which is simply one of the best books I have ever read. 

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus is highlighting the problem with the complexity of the human condition. Which one is love? is what he is asking his audience. Remember, the original question of the asker was what did he need to do to have eternal life? Jesus spouts back with a story about love. We have to be like that. Like love.

Why? Because, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” 1 John 4:8 

And therefore, even if they “go to heaven” to be with God, the whole condition will be so utterly miserable, that they’ll think they are in hell (again, see The Great Divorce) and choose elsewhere, like Willard suggests.

Which is why Jesus highlighted the law: This is what eternal life (knowing God and being with him forever) requires. To love him fully, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

All well and good. The hitch? We’re terrible at it. Miserable. Awful. Love doesn’t come naturally, since love is of God, and being like God has been hard for us since the garden. The whole “made in his likeness” has had a deep pall cast over it after the serpent convinced us we no longer needed him to be like him. 

If you don’t think you need love, to love, you’ve got issues. It’s rather like telling water you don’t need it to satisfy thirst. 

Jesus isn’t shaming us, he’s inviting us to be something more. Yes with our effort, but also with his own Spirit, which is the very point of his mission. If we could already do this easily, he wouldn’t be going to Jerusalem. But he’s going to give us eternal life. That is, not only life with God, but a whole new heart that can handle the experience. One rooted in his own, 

“The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live.” Deuteronomy 30:6

After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and he sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. Now go; I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves. Don’t carry a money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals; don’t greet anyone along the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Don’t move from house to house. When you enter any town, and they welcome you, eat the things set before you. Heal the sick who are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.’ When you enter any town, and they don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘We are wiping off even the dust of your town that clings to our feet as a witness against you. Know this for certain: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.” Luke 10:1-12 (CSB)

Who is it that sends out envoys of people before his arrival, to secure location and secure patronage and fidelity? A coming King. 

On the road to Jerusalem Jesus sends out his many followers ahead of him to gauge interest and to invite them to pay homage. Our minds jump to the wedding banquet with the king who invites those who were not originally invited (Luke 14:7-14). Jesus is the King who is returning to his Kingdom, the one long promised in the book of Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 43:1-4) We will cover this idea more specifically during the triumphal entry, but needless to say this is a moment of a King entreating his own subjects to see who is still fully loyal to him and who wants to join in the joy of his reign. 

When a King’s envoys are sent, it is expected that they will be cared for by the subjects. The King ought not have to support himself in his own land, and hospitality, that great middle eastern virtue that endeared Abram himself to the God, is an enduring symbol of loyalty. Stay with those who host and invite you in. Do not fear that you are taking advantage, they are still loyal servants of mine, and it is their joy to serve their King! For the King’s pleasure is the subject’s deepest desire. 

Notice in this passage, in contrast to the shepherd image where the shepherd chases the lost sheep, the King has no patience for those subjects who have forgotten their fealty. They are not lost, they are mutineers and treasonous. Time ought not be spent on any who no longer are interested in their primary and most important obedience. Again, we see the image of the King kicking those invited out of the wedding feast (we will see this in the coming days). Fine! You don’t want the Kingdom, the passage says, we will give it to those who DO. 

Still today, I largely operate off of the model that people do not change unless they truly want to change. Neither by guilt, nor by edict will they bring themselves to kneel before the cross, but rather by the brokenness of the will and the dedication of the heart. Given this, those who are truly lost, rather than apathetic, and who have not lost the desire or the will, our Lord will pursue to the ends of the planet and back. Or, rather, to the cross and back. 

Finally, we see glimpses of the different sort of nature of the Kingdom that is coming and over which Jesus reigns. For as his harbingers lead the way, they don’t do so with buckets filled with money, or lavish and opulent displays of wealth and power as kings in his time would have, but rather with simplicity and humility. They trust Him who has sent them. And the product of this trust, the truest sign of the nature of the Kingdom, is the healings produced. The outpouring of the spiritual nature of that which is coming to Jerusalem, and a foreshadowing of the great promise found at the end of Revelation, when Heaven itself would descend upon the city. 

As they were traveling on the road someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Then he said to another, “Follow me.” “Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.” But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”

Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9: 57-62 CSB

It is my experience that most of us, particularly in the United States, have a transactional relationship with God. Despite our piety somewhere unspoken within our deeply held beliefs we have particular expectations of him in return. 

These unspoken expectations often come up in a crisis like during a divorce, a loss of a job, or a death in the family. The cry is similar, “But why God, I did my part?!” “I go to church, I held onto sexual purity, I donate money, how could this happen to me?!”  Our prayers often cater around these sorts of expectations, “What school should I go to?” “What job should I work?” “Where should I live?” “Can you help me get a car?”  There’s nothing wrong with these request, and of course better to ask God than not ask (1 Peter 5:7), but at the same time, they’re fundamentally consumer choice projected onto spirituality. The fastest growing “churches” in the world are those that broadcast this as the gospel: “Be faithful to God and he will reward you abundantly, with wealth, love, and happiness.” 

C.S. Lewis once famously quipped at this take, “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.”

The book of Job is even better. 

This insidious undercurrent to our religious beliefs has conflated the American Dream with the Gospel message, and it inevitably leads to despair. I’ve held the hand of too many who are poor, tired, lost, depressed, divorced, cheated on, bereaved, despite their faithfulness to working hard and following the proper guidances of our culture to know this. “Why me, what did I do wrong” is the oft repeated refrain. 

You didn’t. It’s the promise that’s wrong. A horrible lie.

Joseph didn’t do anything wrong when he was sold into slavery and shipped off to Egypt. 

The Disciples didn’t do anything wrong when most of them were brutally martyred. 

The Saints through history didn’t do anything wrong when they were hostilely confronted by power, governments, and society. 

It’s that the Gospel has never said, follow me, and you’ll be rich, happy, and comfortable. Ever. 

Following him always leads to the cross. It always leads to death. It’s a death to self, death to desire, death to ambition and death to personal Glory. 

Following him leads to war against Satan, and Satan doesn’t go down easily. 

But, just like our Lord, when we do that, then, and only then, does the Spirit give real and true life. The type that money, status, houses, and prosperity couldn’t dream of affording. It’s the power to overcome Satan and his whole illusion he has cast over the world. 

The cost is high, but not doing so is worse. 

As for me and my house, we choose the path that leads to real life. 

He sent messengers on ahead of him. Along the way, they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival, but the Samaritan villagers refused to welcome him because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?” But Jesus turned and spoke sternly to them, and they went on to another village. – Luke 9:52-56 (CEB)

How quickly, when we are trying to walk with Christ, we fall out of favor with those around us. On the road to Jerusalem, Jesus intentionally went thorough Samaria, a people with historical animosity towards the Jewish people. While a direct route involved going through this land, most travelling from Galilee to Jerusalem would have taken another route in order to avoid the tensions. 

Jesus chose to walk right through them. 

The Samaritans hated the Jews (and vice-versa). The Samaritans had historical roots in belonging to the Norther Kingdom but become intermixed with the Assyrians after they were conquered. Some of the Northern tribes were exiled, while some Assyrians were brought in, creating a new people group. This ethnic convolutedness, brought together with the historical animosity of the Northern tribes and Judah, created two groups with an incredible animus towards each other that spilled over into religion — more specifically where and how to truly worship. One cannot even imagine the deep chasms of mistrust that exist still in the Middle East as these familial ethnic feuds go back thousands and thousands of years. 

One wonders at the the deep nascent mistrust beginning to develop even in newer parts of the world. When allowed to foster and foment, it inevitably leads to separation and war. 

Jesus didn’t avoid this conflict, he walked right into the middle of it. While not detracting from the clarity of his mission for one moment — “You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.” (John 4:22) — by engaging with the Samaritans, Jesus takes the first step towards healing and reconciling work that he himself will ultimately bring. 

“Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear, for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 41:14)

It’s telling of the human condition that he’s openly rejected. No one wants Jesus and the disciples to stay with them when they realize he’s going to see their lifelong adversaries in Jerusalem (a competing place of worship). It’s telling also that Jesus’ own disciples want to punish this personal slight with fire from heaven. 

Eye for eye. Shame for shame. Death for death. 

Doing the work of peace brings conflict. It brings frustration from those deeply rooted in it. Peace requires sacrifice, and humility. It requires uprooting long held beliefs and forgiving injuries that have long since become a part of our identity. Jesus confronts this as he redresses his disciples. 

“This is not my way” he says. “This is not my way.”

It wasn’t then, and it wasn’t now. 

“As the time approached when Jesus was to be taken up into heaven, he determined to go to Jerusalem.” Luke 9:51

Welcome to our time together during this 40 days leading up to Easter. Through this period, we will be following Jesus from the moment he turns his eyes towards Jerusalem up until his crucifixion.

This turning point in his life is significant. In many ways, the life that he led before was all preparation for this, for the walk he must and will make. For the pain and suffering he know he must endure. But even before that, from the beginning of Creation, God who was, knew and prepared himself for this moment. He knew what love would cost before time was created, and yet chose love, still. 

For God is love (1 John 4:8).

Everything that Jesus says, everything that he does, and all that happens to him must be filtered through this thought in our heads: “God loves me this much.”

We will never understand the depth, or the willingness of that Love to seek us out and draw us in, but even conceiving of it can entirely transform us.

You are worthy of his love, because he chose you, from the beginning, to be loved.

Our greatest resistance to coming to know the Father is not the Father. It’s us. Lent is the season when we can let those things go, and seek his face. It’s a time when we can reflect and ruminate on those things which prevent us from knowing the Father. It’s a great time to put into practices things that mirror that love, and reduce our own self preoccupation so that others might know it as well.

May this season show you the love that the Father has for you, and his desire for goodness within your life. May it be filled with blessing and healing.