Give Until It Hurts
….I trust in the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love,
….for you have seen my troubles,
….and you care about the anguish of my soul. Psalm 31:6a-7 NLT
Luke 21:1-4 (<<click here to read the passage)
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “give until it hurts.” In looking to find where it originated, I was surprised to discover that it came from a speech that Mother Teresa gave as she addressed the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. on February 3, 1994. I read a portion of it and though it is definitely not limited to a monetary perspective it is very applicable to today’s passage. (Click here if you’d like to read it yourself.)
Here is Luke 21:1-4 from the New Living Translation,
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins.
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”
“This poor widow” gave until it hurt. She, though poor, gave everything she had to live on. And to make it very clear, widows had it rough in that without a husband or son to provide for them, it was very difficult to meet even the basic needs of life. She felt compelled to give what she could out of her gratitude for God’s provision. She gave until it hurt.
Many others dropped their gifts in the collection box. But unlike the widow, they gave out of their surplus. Oh…wait a minute…that’s not exactly what Jesus said. He said specifically, “For they have given a tiny part of their surplus.” (emphasis mine)
Sure, most of us give – all good followers of Christ do. But many of us would have to admit that we will gladly give as long as it doesn’t cut into our new car fund. Or we might be “generous” in giving what remains after our shopping spree the day before. Those things, for many of us, equal a tiny part of our surplus.
In our culture, we may not define our income as exorbitant but most of us get by pretty well. We may not live in mansions or drive luxury cars, but we get what we want. We do not lack for food or satisfactory shelter. How many people, regardless of income or affluence, do not have a cell phone of some sort? They aren’t cheap, but we pinch in other places so we can have one…each, mind you.
There is nothing wrong with things but, as followers of Christ, we need to strive to live out the concept of giving until it hurts. And it would do us all a world of good to make it the norm and not the exception to the rule.
May we make every effort follow the precept set forth in Proverbs 3:9,
Honor the Lord with your wealth
….and with the best part of everything you produce. NLT
Not with what’s left, not after we set aside for our wish list but the best part of everything.
Oh, and one more thing, let’s not limit this to money. We are all abundantly blessed with all kinds of resources, time, talents, and maybe most important of all…love.
Lord Jesus, help us to learn to give until it hurts. Amen.
Nov 17th, 2020, Tues, 4:49 pm
Rotten Where It Counts Most
Father, I would plead that You would keep us together. There is so much that we are allowing to divide and then there are things beyond our control that are holding us apart. Provide the bridges we need to weather our storms. Amen.
Luke 20:45-47 (<<click here to read the passage)
I love apples, though I can’t really indulge myself in that they aren’t diabetic friendly. A disappointing thing about apples is the fact that on occasion I would bite into a bad one.
On the outside, it would look absolutely luscious, and then I would take a bite, chew a bit, and spit it out! The outside of the apple was but a façade in that the inside was brown and completely inedible. It got to the point where I would slice all my apples before attempting to eat them, just to avoid the problem.
From what I’ve read there are a few contributing factors to internal browning. They could have been picked too ripe, or maybe they were stored too long. It is a known potential problem when storing apples in long term cold storage. But regardless of why it happens, it’s gross when it does!
If you were a run-of-the-mill guy in Jesus’ day you would probably have looked at the teachers of the Law with admiration and respect. They seemed to do everything right. Oh, if only we could be like them. They were the ones who God liked the most…at least it looked that way.
Everything may have looked impressive on the outside but for most of them it was just a façade – closer inspection of the inside showed them to be rotten where it counted most!
It may have been hard for the common man to believe, but behind their appearance of holiness and respectability, they were arrogant, crafty, selfish, and uncaring. Jesus exposed their evil hearts showing that despite their pious words, they were neglecting God’s laws and doing as they pleased. *
All preachers and teachers of God’s word carry a heavy responsibility. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote,
…you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly]. James 3:1 AMP
And Jesus said of these teachers of the Law,
“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes [displaying their prominence], and love respectful greetings in the [crowded] market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets. These [men] who confiscate and devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense [to appear devout] offer long prayers. These [men] will receive the greater [sentence of] condemnation.” v46-47 AMP (emphasis mine)
When it comes right down to it as followers of Christ, we must realize that religious deeds do not cancel sin. What really counts is being living examples of mercy and justice. *
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Nov 16th, 2020, Mon, 6:54 pm
He’s Not Tame
A windy and wet day, Father, but a wonderful time both in worship this morning and then with family for the rest of the day. Thank you for watching over us as we enjoyed our time together.
Luke 20:41-44 (<<click here to read the passage)
We’ve already spoken of Jesus’ turning the tables on the teachers of the Law who continued to grill Him with every intention of trying to trip Him up in what He said so as to discredit Him and ultimately to incriminate Him. They never once succeeded but now it was Jesus’ turn to grill them a bit!
The core of all their problems was the fact that they refused to accept the fact that Jesus was the Messiah that they and all of Israel so eagerly anticipated. Their greatest hurdle was that they did what we all tend to do – they wanted to keep God shoved neatly into a box of their own making. And I will tell you right now, that is an impossibility!
We want everything neat, tidy, and under our control. As I typed a wonderful character in a series of books written years before even I was born came to mind. The series of books is The Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S. Lewis, and the character is Aslan, the Great Lion.
If you haven’t read the books, it’s hard to communicate the totality of who Aslan is, but maybe this will help.
In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe the Pevensie first hear of Aslan. They think he is a man but come to find out he is a lion, at which point one of the children asks,
“Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver … “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you… He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.”
As Jesus conversed with the religious leaders, He made it very clear that just because they assumed that they would have the final say in who the Messiah was and what He would be and do had no bearing whatsoever on the reality of it all.
In Matthew’s rendition of this occurrence in Jesus’ life, Jesus asked a question that we must answer as well. “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” Matthew 22:42 NLT
First of all, we must remember that the name Messiah (Hebrew), and Christ (Greek) both mean “anointed” – they refer to the same person – Jesus. Jesus was his given name at birth, per his heavenly Father, but He is the Anointed One. So, what do we think about Him? Whose son is He?
Jesus references Psalm 110:1 to point the Pharisees (and us) to who He is – the Son of God.
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
….Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies,
….making them a footstool under your feet.’
Basically, it boils down to the fact that David – Jesus’ ancestor – by inspiration of the Spirit, refers to the Lord (the Father) speaking to David’s Lord (the Messiah, i.e. Jesus). And Jesus then asks the “experts” of the Law, “Since David called the Messiah ‘Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” v44
They may not have liked the answer but the Messiah – Jesus – was greater than David. He, in fact, was God!
Many throughout history have balked at that answer, as well. Many have tried – unsuccessfully, I might add – to refute the fact that Jesus is who He said He is. We can debate all kinds of theological issues but until we believe that, everything else is irrelevant and a waste of time.
Lord, may we all be drawn to find the indisputable reality of You in our lives. Amen.
Nov 15th, 2020, Sun, 7:34 pm
45 Watermelons and 7 Brothers
Father, we are back into a hybrid schedule with some of the schools in our district due to COVID outbreaks. I would ask for Your watchcare over all involved. Wrap Your arms around us. Amen.
Luke 20:27-40 (<<click here to read the passage)
Remember those fun word problems in math class? Here’s a good one.
A boy has 45 watermelons in the desert. He needs to get them across to the Oasis fair, 15 miles away. He can only carry 15 watermelons at a time, and he eats one watermelon every mile he walks, including walking back to where he started from. He can also leave watermelons at any mile he has walked, but no fractions of a mile. How many watermelons can he possibly take to the fair?
(I’ll put one answer at the bottom if you want to try and work it out yourself. I had to ask the master of math who is home for a few weeks to figure it out for me!)
Reading today’s passage made me think that the Sadducees could not have asked a more convoluted question of Jesus! It didn’t involve watermelons but a woman who unsuccessfully attempted to provide a child in a succession of marriages to seven brothers, with the final question being whose wife she would be in the resurrection.
From the get-go, the Sadducees were on the losing team. An old joke comes to mind. Why were they called Sadducees? They held that there is no resurrection from the dead. v27, that’s why they were “sad you see”. It’s old and corny but if there is no resurrection then that means this life is all there is. And no matter how good some have it in this life, it would be very sad indeed if that is all we have to look forward to.
Jesus answered the unimportant question they asked…
“Marriage is for people here on earth. But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.” v34-35 NLT
…but He also answered the important question that needed to be answered.
My study Bible* tells me that the Sadducees were a group of conservative religious leaders who honored only the Pentateuch – that is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy – as Scripture. The Pentateuch is attributed to Moses and they based the entirety of their beliefs on those five books (which by the way is what the word Pentateuch means – five books). They could find no mention of a resurrection in those books.
“But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he referred to the Lord[b] as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So he is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him.” v37-38 NLT
Often in life, we try to make more of something that is necessary. And as human beings, our minds get stuck on things that we assume to be true when in reality, they are not. God is truly the source of true wisdom and we are encouraged to go to Him if we lack the wisdom we need.
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. James 1:5 NLT
(Massey figured out that one possible answer is 6 –there a few different ways to figure it out.)
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Nov 12th,2020, Thurs, 5:00 pm
Gone in the Blink of an Eye
Father, regardless of what is going on in the world around us, You remain the constant. I find great comfort in You being the same yesterday, today, and forever.
********
This past Monday, early on my high school/middle school route I turned onto a road in the semi-darkness and not two hundred yards ahead a deer crossed the road. When he saw me, he stopped perpendicular to the bus, standing stoically near the left shoulder right in the crosshairs of my high beams. The beautiful 8-point buck looked squarely at me for a few seconds and then turned and continued on his trek into the woods.
The above picture is not mine – I found it online. It would have been cool if I could have gotten a picture but one, we’re not allowed to have our phones out on the bus and two even if we were, I wouldn’t have had time to get it out and open my camera app to take a picture.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve taken pictures of abandoned homes, beautiful spring flowers, and magnificent autumn trees. But there was no way I could go back and snap a shot of that buck. It was a random interaction that will probably never happen again in that spot, in that way. Indeed, it was a fleeting opportunity…there at one moment and irretrievably gone the next.
How often in our lives do we encounter unexpected opportunities? At times we have the privilege of acting upon them and other times the openings for interaction quickly present themselves and are gone in the blink of an eye.
Reading through the Gospels, we see that Jesus never missed opportunities like that. He acted quickly…and things were never the same when He did so. I understand that in addition to being totally man, He was also totally God which gave Him foreknowledge of peoples and circumstances. But are not we all His children? Are we not to pursue with all that is within us to become more and more like Him each day of our lives?
Recently Karen and I visited a local Cracker Barrel. Shortly after we were seated an older gentleman was seated not too far from us. Earlier I had held the door for him to enter and then before we were seated, I noticed that employees had provided a chair for him while he waited for his table.
I leaned over and told Karen that if we weren’t in the middle of this whole COVID thing that we should’ve invited him to join us and she said she had thought the same thing.
The sad part is, I let it go at that. I could have slipped my mask back on and sat across from him and chatted before his food arrived…but I didn’t… Opportunity missed? Only God knows…
This past weekend we picked up a few things in Columbus. While we were loading them into the back of the van. A man, who was obviously in need, asked if we could help him out. Our reluctance was obvious, and he left muttering apologies if he had made us feel uncomfortable.
My mind raced to a sermon about comfort in mourning that I had delivered a couple of weeks back and I remembered someone close to us had given us some money to use where we saw fit to help those in need.
Karen and I quickly pooled some cash together and ran after the gentleman. After a short conversation, I slipped him the cash, and with a heartfelt “God bless you” and left him to go his way.
Don’t you think that to truly embrace Jesus’ love for us that it is of the greatest necessity that we love our neighbors, as we are reminded of His deep, deep love for us? Make the most of every opportunity for far too often the openings for interaction quickly present themselves and are gone in the blink of an eye. Amen.
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 NIV
“Give to everyone who asks you…” Luke 6:30a NIV
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36 NIV
Nov 11th, 2020, Wed, 1:10 pm