Bryan Richardson

Voice

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:14-30 (day three)

“All spoke well of him.” Jesus will eventually warn people that the “yea-sayers” pose a particular kind of danger to the human soul. We’ll gravitate toward those who give us good press, and pretty soon, we’re not loving people, just using them to prop up our self-regard. Jesus remained unfazed by the initial rave reviews. How did he do that? Well, it’s not insignificant that immediately prior to his visit to Galilee, he spent an extended time away in solitude. The Bible indicates that Jesus often did this. Jesus understood that one must be able to live alone if one is going to live with others. In these times of separation, he could listen for neither supporters nor detractors, but only for the voice of God. And then he would return to the presence of people in love and discernment.

Lesson

Re:Verse reading–Luke 4:1-13 (day three)

“[The devil] left him until an opportune time.” You know those things that catch your eye, get your goat, tick you off, push your buttons, turn you on? Yeah, Jesus could have listed those things as well. Whenever you finally admit to the Lord how difficult the struggle really is, he responds by saying, “That was my struggle too.” The Bible says he’s sympathetic, not unsympathetic, because our temptations were his temptations. Believe it. This wilderness encounter was only the beginning of what the devil had planned for Jesus. The devil even showed up in his friend Peter’s counsel for crying out loud. To face temptation well, we must learn from Jesus to struggle like he struggled before we can learn to resist sin like Jesus resisted sin. Pay attention.

One

Re:Verse reading–Luke 3:1-20 (day three)

“But one more powerful than I will come.” When the people asked John what they should do to escape destruction by the wrath of God, he did not wax systematically theological. He simply gave them a picture of what the world looks like when it’s set right: Live generously, conduct business honestly, treat people with integrity, work hard without complaining. No one was excluded—not the military, not the government, not the average joe. That is exactly the kind of world his hearers were longing for. Once that picture is in the air, the next question is, “How do we get that kind of world?” And that’s when all eyes turn to Christ. Evangelism efforts could learn from this pattern: Set the vision before people, then introduce them to the only one who can lead them there.

Ask

Re:Verse reading–Luke 2:39-52 (day three)

“They found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.”

Do you know why it’s so hard to bring ourselves to ask honest questions? Because questions reveal to anyone who hears them what we’re interested in and what our limitations are, the exact two things we tend to hide—our frailties and what we really think. But Jesus demonstrates that this is the way human beings grow—and he introduces no alternative. Scripture shows us that Jesus is divine; he is God. But he’s human nonetheless, and fully so. Jesus did not appeal to special privilege when it came to growing up the hard way. As his questions shaped his spirit, his inmost thoughts and his weakness grew into his obedience to God and his self-sacrificial love. What questions are you asking?

Buzz

Re:Verse reading–Luke 2:1-20 (day three)

“They spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child ” Research into corporate communication culture has shown consistently that the company grapevine remains a valuable and mostly reliable source of news. In fact, a sizeable portion of employees rate the grapevine higher than formal channels of communication when it comes to telling the unvarnished truth. You know why? Because momentous news never fits well into carefully crafted containers of control. People who try to dribble it out to the masses only get in the way, and pretty soon, people figure that out. The ancient grapevine spread the gospel without stilted methods or flashy gimmicks and despite efforts by fearful leaders to rewrite it. The buzz was that something good had occurred in a backwater village. This was back-fence conversation—the way the gospel is meant to be shared.

Start

Re:Verse reading–Luke 1:1-38 (day three)

“How can I be sure of this?” Doubt is a function of our finiteness: We don’t know everything, so we doubt. Rightly channeled, doubt can press us on to further investigation of mystery. In that way, doubt can lead us to deeper faith. Zechariah and Mary both express doubt to the angelic messenger. In Zechariah’s case, lifelong training in the theological and scriptural tenets of the priesthood and the high holy work of service to his people has welled up in his soul as…skepticism. It’s as if Zechariah’s posture is one of looking back at the priesthood’s storied past and asking, “Where’d all the glory go?” Conversely, Mary seems to look out at the future from where she stands and ask, “What glories are yet to be?” Doubt isn’t a bad place to start. But it’s a terrible place to end up.

Become

Re:Verse reading–Acts 23:11, 25:12, 28:16-31 (day three)

“For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.” This situation looks like an old man who’s finally settled down after his nomadic ways and now spends his days regaling wide-eyed young hangers-on with war stories, doesn’t it? Don’t be fooled. The man in this narrative is none other than Paul “Straining-Toward-What-Is-Ahead” the Apostle. In his welcoming guests to his home, he is wielding the shaping power for the future of the human race. In these “Rome sessions”, he’s teaching people, forming spirits, enlightening minds. He speaks not of the old days, but of new possibilities. He’s hasn’t “ended up”, but rather he presses on. We think aging means fading. Paul new the older he grew, the newer he became. And that’s what he showed the world.

Step

Re:Verse reading–Acts 20:17-38 (day three)

“They would never see his face again.” The Spirit’s here, and we look forward to Christ’s appearing and the resurrection at the end of the age, but there sure are a whole lot of people who’ve left the scene. And there’s still a church to lead, character to form, a cross to bear, and a world to seek. It seems we could have used a few more years with the ones who made it happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know: We would become so dependent on them that we wouldn’t ever develop the strength we need to do the work at hand. But it’s probably worse than that. Forget depending on them; we might just leave it to them altogether. Something about absence forces a choice, though: Step into the gap, or step down. Paul’s gone. Where are you?

End

Re:Verse reading–Acts 17:10-12, 16-34 (day three)

“Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God.” Ecclesiastes tells us that the end of a matter is better than its beginning. As the church began, the band of believers saw an explosion of growth and joy. Even though the establishment—through arrests, beatings, and jail time—responded harshly, the joy of so many people embracing Christ opened the disciples’ hearts to a Holy Spirit-fueled courage and a command of circumstances they had never before known. As years passed, did they perhaps begin to think of themselves as naive in retrospect? Things would get much, much worse. And through it all, their faith and joy would grow much, much deeper. These were the days that taught Paul how all things bend toward the good in the lives of those who love God. That was reality. It still is.

Nurture

Re:Verse reading—Acts 16:11-34 (day three)

“The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” Jesus said that his Father is always working. He also said he had “other sheep that are not of this sheep pen” and that “they too will listen to my voice.” Just as with Lydia, who was already seeking the truth and had become convinced that God was where truth would come from if it would come, God is engaging people in ways that we do not know. God has granted human beings a great deal of power—more than we probably realize—and we can employ that power to cultivate and nurture his work if we want. We would be surprised to see the extent of God’s work in the world, but then again, our surprise might indicate how little we’ve been expecting it. So, what can you nurture today?