Author: Rick Henderson

Re:Verse passage – Luke 18:9-14 (day seven)

Last night was a first for me in ministry. In our final large group session of the night for Freedom Weekend (our youth discipleship retreat), we had a Vespers service. Every year we designate this service as a time for prayer and reflection. This one was was beautiful. There was movement. There was emotion. Students were praying over one another. Students were praying over adults. The Spirit of God was stirring the hearts of our youth.

This was not all that different from previous Vespers. What made this one different, was after 45 minutes of prayer I got up, dismissed the group, but something strange happened: no one moved a muscle. No one wanted to leave. They were content to sit in the presence and power of the Spirit. It was a taste of heaven, and they were not about to let it slip away.

I share this story for two reasons:

One, God is at work in the lives of our young people. Pray for them as they continue to reflect on what God taught them this weekend. Pray for them as they come down off this mountain and enter back into school routines. Pray that they don’t fall back into old habits. Pray for sustained change.

Two, the same presence and power our students felt this weekend is at work in us and with us at all times. It sometimes takes sweet moments like this for us to truly recognize it, but what if we came into church this morning with the same expectation of awe and wonder? What could happen if we expected to taste heaven?

Re:Verse passage – Luke 16:1-18 (day seven)

You cannot serve God and ___________________.

You fill in the blank. This passage tells us that we cannot serve God and money, but we know it is not just money that becomes our master. What has become your master? Is it money, a hobby, your job/school, a person, your phone, or your schedule as a whole? What is it that competes with God for your time?

It is usually not an intentional choice to put something above God. Rather, it happens over time. It starts as a small sacrifice of God’s time in order to put something “urgent” into the top priority for that day. As we allow these “urgent” requests to pile on, God’s time seems to fall down the list of priorities. Eventually, the “urgent” becomes the master while God becomes secondary. If you do not protect your time with the Master, a new master will manifest itself in His place.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day seven)

“I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” vs 19

Have you ever played the game Monopoly? There is a card you can acquire called a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.  In the game, if you ever end up in jail, you can use the card to get out immediately and continue about the game. Many church attenders treat their faith like this card. Do something you think is really bad? It’s okay, God will forgive you. God’s love has become their “Get Out of Hell Free” card.

Living like that, are you fully appreciating the love of the Father? If you knew His love, you could not just shrug off your sin and go about your life. If you knew His love, sin would break you. What I appreciate most from the parable is that the prodigal is willing to indenture himself as a slave in his father’s household. He wasn’t expecting a “Free” card back to the life he had. He recognized something many of us miss: when you know the love of the Father, you will do anything you can to be near His love.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:1-10 (day seven)

When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. vs 5

God loves you. He loves you so much that He is willing to leave the ninety-nine to chase you when you have gone astray. Some have called this love “reckless.” Though it may seem irrational for the Shepherd to chase after one lost sheep while He has ninety-nine other perfectly safe sheep, it shows that God’s love is definitely not reckless. It is, in fact, relentless.

He loves you so much that He is coming down the mountain (thanks Scott) and picking you up, putting you on His shoulders. God knows that if he puts a leash around your neck or tries to herd you back, you will fight and take your time, lingering in the danger for a little while longer. When you realize you have been lost for far too long, and you surrender to the Shepherd, He puts you on His shoulders! He picks up the pieces of your broken puzzle and fits them back together. He pulls you out of the mess you have gotten yourself trapped in and makes 100% sure that you are safe. He carries you home! Thats relentless love!

Re:Verse passage – Luke 14:12-24 (day seven) 

But they all alike began to make excuses… I have bought a piece of land… I have bought five yoke of oxen… I have married a wife. vs 18-20

The most shocking part of this parable is that the excuses are legit. No one would cancel their honeymoon for a friends party. Nor would people bat an eye if the CEO flew across the country to check on his new factory.  These are not bad things. In fact, they are good things, but good things can make for bad priorities.

How many of us do the same thing? How often do we get preoccupied with our everyday life occurrences and inadvertently neglect our spiritual health? We fill our schedule with good things justifying our actions because the things we did were not sinful. However, good things, if they are not Kingdom things, can quickly become an idol.  Our priority as followers of Christ should be “What we can do for the Kingdom?” not “Does the Kingdom fit into our schedule this week?”

Re:Verse passage – Luke 13:1-9 (day seven) 

And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. vs 8 ESV

I appreciate the clarity in the ESV’s translation of the fertilizer. It wasn’t some blue “Miracle Grow” that you buy in a bottle from the box store down the street. This was manure: animal feces. If you wanted to create the best growing environment with the best fertilizer, you would have to get your hands dirty as well as deal with a putrid smell, which is likely why this vinedresser waited three years before going this route. Putting forth the effort to cultivate his fruit was inconvenience to him, and he almost waited until it was too late.

Fruit is the by-product of a fertile relationship with Jesus. As the relationship is nurtured, fruit will be produced. Many Christians find the cultivation of that relationship as an inconvenience. They would never admit that, but the reality is shown in the lack of fruit (love, joy, peace etc.). If we are not willing to get down on our hands and knees in prayer and dig into the Word on a regular basis, we can continue to expect a barren tree.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 12:13-21 (day seven)

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” Luke  12:19

It is easy to read this passage and think that God doesn’t want us to prepare for the future, but that is not the message of this parable, nor the message across the Bible.

 Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure. Genesis 41:49

What makes Jospeh different from the rich man? Both saw an opportunity to capitalize on a season of abundance. One wanted it for pleasure. The other wanted it for security. One wanted to be able to stop working now. The other wanted to work hard now so they could survive the years where working was not possible. God honors wise planning, but selfishness destroys hard work.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 11:5-13  (day seven)

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” vs 9

Nowhere in scripture can you find a verse that says, “If you become a Christian, your life will be easy. You will be given blessings just for being a Christ follower.” Most committed Christians would argue that this life takes sacrifice and work, but unbeknownst to us, this message of easy living gets passed down in evangelism as we attempt to sway people into Christianity. This is what happens when we prioritize converts over disciples. In discipleship, new believers get to see a participatory faith. They get to see that life does become easier, but only after things got harder first. They do receive blessings, but they are not materialistic. When we our faith becomes participatory (asking, seeking, knocking), we will see how God is working and how that work is always for our good!

Re:Verse passage – Luke 10:25-37 (day seven)

Go and do the same. vs 37b

This is not a challenge to help the poor (though we should). This is not a cry for more social justice (though justice is good). This is a challenge for heart change.  While we often see ourselves as the Good Samaritan in this story, we are more accurately the lawyer wanting to know, “Have I done enough?” Jesus wants our actions to be based on a feeling of deep concern and love for other human beings regardless of what that person has done for (or to) us. When we “love [Jesus] with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind,” that love will not just overflow on those in our immediate circle, but it overflows on every person who comes across our path.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 8:1-15 (day seven)

“[…] it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.”

Jesus gives us a glimpse into the purpose of his storytelling. Jesus isn’t telling us that His parables are only understood by some elite group of people. Actually, His stories are quite relatable, and it is likely that most people understood what He was getting at… when they allowed His words to penetrate their heart! Matthew Henry says parables make the things of God “more plain and easy” to those willing to be taught, and “at the same time more difficult and obscure to those who [are] willfully ignorant.” Application of the parable is the difference in hearing and understanding. As we continue this study in the parables of Luke, dive deep into these stories and see how God is penetrating your heart and ask yourself, where can I be found in this story?