Blog Archives - St. Michael's Lutheran Church, School, & Childcare Richville, MI

Humble not Humbled

9/29/2021

7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11 NLT)

Americans love the underdog. We love it when a smaller, lesser ranked team upsets a bigger, higher ranked team. The underdog celebrates after an upset victory. The loser tries to slip away and hide.

We don't love being upset in our personal life. No one wants to be humbled. Jesus tells us that we should be humble, not think more of ourselves than others. Humility, not pride, is a Christian virtue. Humility puts others first. Pride says I can make it on my own. Humility says I need God's help, love and forgiveness. It is better to be humble nd win with Christ, not humbled and lose on our own.

People Are More Important

9/28/2021

One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat dinner in the home of a leader of the Pharisees, and the people were watching him closely. 2 There was a man there whose arms and legs were swollen. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?” 4 When they refused to answer, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him and sent him away. 5 Then he turned to them and said, “Which of you doesn’t work on the Sabbath? If your son or your cow falls into a pit, don’t you rush to get him out?” 6 Again they could not answer. (Luke 14:1-6 NLT)

I made a personal commitment when I entered into the ministry to put people first, before man made rules, rituals and traditions. No one is perfect. I certainly am not. I have made and continue to make a lot of mistakes. So decided if I had to make a choice between two options I was going to err on the side of the Gospel.

Jesus never made any mistakes. But he challenged those who thought they had it all together and knew exactly what to do. He shows us by His Words and actions that helping people in need is more important that following rules and rituals. Jesus never disobeyed God's Laws. We should not either. But we can and should set aside the traditions, rules and rituals that would prevent us from helping someone in need.

Danger

9/27/2021

31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” (Luke 13:31-35 NLT)

What do you do in the face of danger, freeze, run or fight? Those are the most common responses. Jesus stood up to danger. He was not intimidated by threats made against Him. He knew His mission and would not let anything or anyone keep Him from fulfilling it.

What do we do when we face danger? We can rely on ourselves or we can put our trust in the Lord. He doesn't promise to take away the danger. But He does promise be with us through the danger. What more do we need?

Only One Door

9/24/2021

22 Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”
He replied, 24 “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. 25 When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’
28 “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. 29 And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God. 30 And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.” (Luke 13:22-30 NLT)

There is only one way to enter into God's eternal kingdom, through the door of faith. Our good works can't open the door. Our bad works shut the door. Jesus opened the door for all who believe in Him. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus calls us to follow Him, to trust Him, to receive His gifts of forgiveness, love and faith.

Still Growing

9/23/2021

18 Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”

20 He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? 21 It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.” (Luke 13:18-21 NLT)

Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed or like yeast. It may not look very big at the start, but it keeps growing and growing. Jesus started out with12 Disciples and the women who believed and followed Him. Read the Book of Acts and see how the number of Jesus followers grew after Pentecost. Jesus followers, the Kingdom of God, is growing all around the world today.

You may ask, why is the Christian Church on decline in the United States today? People have offered many different answers. There may be a little bit of truth in many of them. The one thing I hope for is that as the number of practicing Christians declines in the U.S., God is giving us a great opportunity for a new beginning. People will always need Jesus. We have the greatest gift of all time to give to them. Imagine what God can do with our small beginnings.

Helping not Controlling

9/22/2021

14 But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”
15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”
17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did. (Luke 13:14-17 NLT)

Jesus wanted to help the woman who had suffered for 18 years. So He did, even though it was the Sabbath. Helping is not limited to six days of the week. The Pharisees wanted to control the people with their rules and religious mandates. Jesus called them on their hypocrisy because they cared for their animals on the Sabbath.

We can get caught up in things we think are good. Sometimes the good gets in the way of the best. Jesus shows us that it is people over policy, relationships over requirements, helping over hindering. It is not easy, but with the Holy Spirit's help we can do a better job of following Jesus' example.

Compassion

9/21/2021

10 One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! (Luke 13:10-13 NLT)

It was the Sabbath, the Day of Rest. But there was a crippled woman suffering and in need of help. Jesus saw her, called her and healed her. This was a simple act of compassion.

If we are going to follow Jesus' lead, when we see someone in need and we can do something about it, we need to do it, despite what other people may say. (That issue comes in the next part of Luke 13.)

Last Chance

9/20/2021

6 Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. 7 Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’
8 “The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. 9 If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9 NLT)

Some football games come down to the very last play, the last chance to either win or lose the game. But football is only a game. Some people play games with their lives. They only live for themselves. They do not live for the Lord. As a result, their lives do not produce any of the fruits of faith.

Jesus told this parable to warn people that they need to live productive lives in response to God's gifts of faith and forgiveness. Jesus warns that after one last chance that the unproductive life, like the fruitless tree, will be cut down. If your life is not producing the fruits of faith, don't miss your last chance.

REPENT

9/17/2021

About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. 2 “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.” (Luke 13:1-5 NLT)

The Temptation then and now is to think that "Bad things happen to Bad People." That is not necessarily the case. Bad things happen to sinful people and we are all sinful. So we should not be surprised when bad things happen to us. When we see bad things happen to others, Jesus says we should repent so that we do not lose our eternal life. To Repent is to admit and confess that we have sinned, gone our own way. To repent means to ask God to forgive us and help us turn back to Him and His way.

Understand the Times

9/16/2021

54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. 56 You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.
57 “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 When you are on the way to court with your accuser, try to settle the matter before you get there. Otherwise, your accuser may drag you before the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, who will throw you into prison. 59 And if that happens, you won’t be free again until you have paid the very last penny." (Luke 12:54-59 NLT)

Jesus says that if we can look at the sky and predict the weather, we should be able to look around us to understand the times and know what to do. He gave an example. and said settle a conflict on the way to court instead of waiting for the judge to decide. He may "throw the book at you." Your accuser may be willing to settle out of court and you keep your freedom.

Understand the times. Act wisely. Trust the Lord.

Author

My name is Larry. Right now I am serving as the Intentional Interim or Transitional Pastor at St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Richville, MI. This blog is part of my daily personal time reading the Bible and talking with God. It is more of my personal thoughts than a deep theological discussion. Thanks for taking the time to join me in reading and thinking about what God has to say to us today.

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