Thursday, Nov. 4

Thursday

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus,  “And who is my neighbor?”  In reply Jesus said:  “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper.  ‘Look after him,’ he said,  ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’  “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”  The expert in the law replied,  “The one who had mercy on him.”  Jesus told him,  “Go and do likewise.”                   - Luke 10:29-37

This parable of the Good Samaritan may be one of the best known and best loved (along with the parable of the Prodigal Son) in all of the Bible.  However, while it is one of the best known, it may also be one of the least lived parables by those who claim to be Christians. 

Keep in mind that this entire parable is told in response to a question was asked of Jesus.  An expert in the law was questioning Jesus about who really qualified as his neighbor…this story is Jesus’ brilliant and powerful answer.

When Jesus begins his story by saying, “a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho”, he is referring to an actual road between the two cities; it was about 17 miles long and it really did go “down”.  The road from Jerusalem to Jericho dropped nearly 2,500 ft over those 17 miles!  It was also a notoriously dangerous road and where robberies and ambushes of would-be travelers was not uncommon.

We aren’t told anything about this poor fellow who gets attacked and left for dead.  We don’t know anything about his ethnicity, his religion, his occupation, or his family.  He is just a person in desperate need of help, which is kind of the point Jesus is making.  But we do know something about the other three characters in the story; a Priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan.  Everybody knows the story from here right?  The Priest and the Levite ignore the guy but the Samaritan has compassion on this fellow and helps him. 

It is easy to be harsh and judgmental about the actions of the Priest.  But the truth is that it would not have been easy for the priest to help this guy.  First of all, it could have been a trick or a trap.  Perhaps those robbers who attacked this guy were still nearby.  Perhaps they were waiting in ambush to attack him.  Secondly, he doesn’t know if this man is dead or alive.  If the guy turns out to be dead, or if he dies while he is trying to help him, then the Priest would be defiled (ceremonially unclean) for touching a dead body (Lev. 21) and would not be able to carry out his Priestly duties.  He would have had to go back to Jerusalem and carry out the complicated cleansing rituals in the Temple in order to have another Priest pronounce him clean again.  This would have taken at least a week and would have involved considerable expense for the Priest and for his family.  In other words, it would not have been and easy thing for this Priest to decide to stop and help, he would have been taking a pretty big risk.  To help this guy was probably going to cost him a good deal of time and money.

I think it is bitterly ironic that it was the Priest’s own religion that kept him from stopping to help this man.  Remember that Jesus has just said that the two most important commands in all of Scripture are to love God and to love others; he does not say that the most important commands are the OT laws about staying “clean”!

Who is your neighbor?  Anyone in need of compassion (this means everyone).

What holds you back from extending compassion to others?

Does your “religion” ever get in the way of your compassion? 

Wednesday, November 3

Wednesday

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.  “Teacher,” he asked,  “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  “What is written in the Law?” he replied.  “How do you read it?”  He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and,  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied.  “Do this and you will live.”  But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus,  “And who is my neighbor?”              - Luke 10:25-29

This expert in the law has asked Jesus a very profound question and Jesus has given him a very clear and straightforward answer, well okay, technically Jesus answered his question with a question, but either way, he brought this “expert” to the heart of the matter.

I want you to focus on the final sentence in the above passage.  He (the expert in the law) wanted to justify himself.  Don’t we all!  What is it about us human beings that we are prone to look for loopholes or the exception to the rule? 

Why couldn’t this expert lawyer simply take Jesus’ reply that he is to love God and to love others at face value?  Why did he (why do we) feel that he needed some justification?

Perhaps he was trying to put Jesus to the test.  He might have been trying to catch Jesus on some technical matter of interpretation of the law (after all he was an expert in it).

Perhaps it was because he expected Jesus to say that his neighbors are his family, his friends and his fellow faithful Jews.  Perhaps he really thought that he was keeping the law and fulfilling his obligation to love God and others, and he wanted to hear Jesus tell him “good job!”

Maybe he was just trying to put on a show for those in the crowd.  He might have been more concerned with his reputation, more worried about what others were thinking of him than what Jesus thought of him.

But maybe there was a part of him, somewhere deep down inside, that knew he was not living up to this law of love (after all he was an expert in it).  Maybe he was trying to find some way that he could wriggle out from under the weight of its conviction.  Maybe, just maybe, he (like all of us) knew in his heart that he could not keep the law the way that God commanded.

If we are honest with ourselves, we all must admit that we fall far short of the standards God sets for us in His word.  The truth is that we fall short not only of God’s holy standards, but also of our own concept of basic human decency as well.  I know I do…I say that I believe in forgiveness, but I often withhold forgiveness from those who need it.  I say that I believe in humility, but I harbor pride and arrogance in my heart.  I say that I believe in honesty, but I am too often prone to spin or color the truth in my favor.  I say that I believe in the high ideal of love, but I do and say unloving things nearly everyday.

Who am I, and who are you, who are any of us, to try and justify ourselves before Jesus?  The whole point of the gospel message is that we cannot justify ourselves!  Only Jesus can justify us before God!  The only proper response is to fall on our knees before him confess our failures and beg for his mercy.

Take a few moments to reflect on your own heart…

Consider what areas you feel the need to justify yourself before God.

Where do you tend to make excuses for yourself?

Oh Lord we know that we cannot hope to justify ourselves before your holy standard.  We can only cast ourselves upon the mercy of the only one that can justify us – Jesus Christ, it is in his mighty name that we pray, Amen.

Tuesday, November 2

Tuesday

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

 - Matthew 22:34-39

Yesterday we read a similar passage in Luke 10:25-28. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is the one who quotes the OT law (Deut. 6:5). Matthew tells us that Jesus was being tested with a tough question. He was asked to boil down the commands of God to a single statement. In other words, “Tell us what it is all about Jesus. What does faith in God really mean?” Wouldn’t you like to hear from the ultimate authority on what life and faith are really all about?

Jesus’ answer to this question is amazing! His answer is so simple, and yet it is also deeply profound. I had a theology professor who used to say, “any idiot can make simple things sound complex, but it takes real genius to make complex things sound simple.” This is precisely what Jesus does here! He takes the great complex mysteries of life, the Bible, God, and faith, and distills them down to two beautifully simple and clear commands; love God & love people!

There it is…you want to know what the Christian life is all about? It is right there in those two commands. Jesus says that everything else “hangs on these two commands”.

You might think of these two commands as describing the vertical relationship and the horizontal relationships that make up the Christian life. The vertical relationship is to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. The horizontal relationship is to love your neighbor as yourself. For those of you who are visual learners, think of these two areas as the two beams that make up a cross.

The vertical beam = your relationship with God

The horizontal beam = your relationship with others

It is important for us to realize that you have to have both. You cannot have a cross without the two beams. If you take away the horizontal beam, you are left with a stake in the ground. If you take away the vertical beam, the horizontal beam falls to the ground. You cannot love God if you ignore your neighbor and when you love your neighbor you also love God. This may sound obvious or simplistic, but too many Christians overemphasize one to the neglect of the other. The wisdom of Jesus shows us that you simply cannot separate the two because they are really not two different commands, but one.

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.    – 1 John 4:20

All of your studying, all of your giving, all of your serving, all of your attending, all of your worshipping, all of your teaching, all of your meeting, all of your praying, all of your fasting, all of your reading, all of your sharing, all of your witnessing, all of your writing, all of your calling, all of your walking, talking, eating, breathing living and dying should be done in love for God and in love for others!

Take a few moments to do a little self-assessment in these two areas; love for God and love for others…

Are you harboring any bitterness or resentment toward God or another person?

Are you spending time with God in His word and in prayer?

Are you taking time to listen and extend kindness to others in your life?

Oh Lord, teach us to love you with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and grant us your grace to love others as ourselves. Keep us from distractions and divisions. Keep our hearts focused on these two simple commands. – Amen.

Jeff Frazier

Monday, November 1

Monday

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.  “Teacher,” he asked,  “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  “What is written in the Law?” he replied.  “How do you read it?”  He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and,  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied.  “Do this and you will live.”          - Luke 10:25-28

Let’s begin with a question…what is the most important question you could possibly ask?

The question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” is easily the most important question any person can ask. It is more important than the question, “Where should I live?”  It is more important than the question, “Whom shall I marry?” It is more important than the question, “What career shall I pursue?”  The reality is that life is so uncertain that a person could be in his grave before he marries or enters a career.  So the matter of where one spends eternity is the crucial issue to settle before all others.

A man well versed in the study of the Jewish Law (a lawyer) asked this very question of Jesus Christ.  But it is possible to ask the right question with the wrong motives and that is just what this Jewish lawyer did. He knew the answer to the question in his head, but his heart was not right before God.  He was not open to the fact that he needed eternal life for himself.  He knew the Law far better than the average Jew did. He kept the Law, or so he thought.  He was no pagan or Samaritan!  He was asking the question about eternal life to test Jesus.  Perhaps he wanted to trip Jesus up or to demonstrate his own superior knowledge in front of the crowd.

But Jesus turned the question back on the lawyer.

Jesus did not say to the lawyer, “What do the scribes and Pharisees say?” He didn’t ask, “What is the tradition of our Jewish religion?” He didn’t say, “That’s an interesting question. What is your opinion?” He didn’t inquire about any mystical spiritual experiences that the man had. Rather, Jesus directed the man back to the written Word of God: “What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?”

The Bible and the Bible alone is our sole authority in matters of faith and practice. This may sound basic to you, and in some ways it is; but it is under constant attack and so we must hold firmly to it. It was one of the central issues of the Reformation (Sola Scriptura).  It is a crucial dividing line between evangelical Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church.  If we move away from Scripture as our only authority, we are adrift on a sea of subjectivity where we can end up saying many things that contradict the Bible. So, what does Scripture say on the crucial question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  This is essentially the question that Jesus puts to the lawyer.

The lawyer answers Jesus by quoting the two great commandments, that we must love the Lord our God with our total being and love our neighbor as ourselves.  Jesus praises this answer: “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live” (10:28).  Notice that Jesus did not say, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Neither did Jesus say, “Just pray this little prayer after me.”  Why did Jesus answer as He did?  Maybe He needed some training on how to share his faith! Or, maybe we need some instruction from him on how to share our faith!

When it comes to loving God with our total being, we cannot begin to love a God whom we do not know. And, as Jesus has just said, “No one knows who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Luke 10:22).  If this lawyer had evaluated his life correctly by the standard of God’s Law, he would have seen immediately that he fell far short. He would have fallen down before Jesus and cried, “How can I know God and love God as I ought?” Jesus would have replied, “Repent of your self- righteousness and believe in me. I alone give eternal life to those who believe and follow me.”

Have you asked this all-important question about eternal life?

Have you found the answer in Jesus Christ?

Have you shared this answer with anyone who may be asking the question?

Jeff Frazier

Friday, October 29

Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they pleased with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. (v. 7) But just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:2-3; 7

I have been blessed to have witnessed innumerable gestures of extraordinary generosity in nearly 25 years at FBCG. In just the last couple of months I have seen two separate gifts of $100,000 given to further the renovation of the East Campus facility. During that same period of time I listened as two different men, unbeknownst to each other, told me that at some point in their lives they felt the Lord call them to increase their personal generosity by 1% every year. Each of these people has learned what it means to “excel in the grace of giving.” Each is allowing God to draw their hearts into a kind of radical and uncomfortable generosity!

But there is one more, and very different, story I want to share.

Some 13-14 years ago a staff member at FBCG told me that the ushers had discovered an unusual gift in the offering plate the previous Sunday. It was a small gold ring – nothing fancy – just a small ring with a cross engraved on one side. I don’t know who put the ring in the offering plate or why – but something about that gesture touched me so deeply that I have kept the ring all these years (after making sure the value of the ring was retuned to the offering!). I kept it because it reminds me of the story of the poor woman in Luke 21. I kept it because it reminds me that love expresses itself through gifts given from scarcity; and true generosity begins in the heart – not the checkbook. And I kept it because it reminds me of what it means to “excel in the grace of giving.”

It strikes me that for some of us, to “excel in the grace of giving” might mean giving a gift of $100,000. For others, it might mean growing our generosity in an intentionally disciplined way over time. For yet others, it might mean simply giving what we have to give as a gift of love to the God who has given us everything!

Close your time with God by thanking him for his many gifts and blessings, and by asking him to help you to “excel in the grace of giving.”

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9

Brian Coffey

Thursday, October 28

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”

Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever pleases him and offer it up…O king, Araunah gives all this to the king.”

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

2 Samuel 24:18-24 (selected)

Almost 30 years ago I spent a summer in inner city Pittsburgh working with Hmong refugee families. These dear people had fled their homeland (Laos) only to find themselves living in poverty in slum-like conditions in America. Early in my time there I learned that the Hmong women and children augmented the family income by digging for worms in the city park that was just across the street from the church where I lived. They would sell them at local bait shops and earned $7 for a gallon jug of night-crawlers.

One of the Hmong kids I got to know that summer was Neng – a 14 year old boy who was loud, angry and fond of using four letter English swear words. He was hard to have in the group and hard to like. But over the course of a few weeks I built a little trust with Neng and he told me some of his story. When he was 10 years old he watched as his father was gunned down in front of his home by guerillas; when he was 12 he escaped Laos by swimming across the Mekong River in a hail of gunfire. I remember thinking that when I was 12 I was playing Little League baseball.

A few weeks later the time came for me to leave Pittsburgh and head back to graduate school. We planned a little ice cream party for the Hmong kids – we had one last evening of fun together – then said our goodbyes. Later that night, as I was packing my stuff, I heard a voice called to me from the sidewalk below my apartment. I looked out the window and saw Neng motioning for me to come down. I went down to see what he wanted and he quickly shoved a small envelope into my hand and said, “Maybe you can buy some food,” and he pedaled away on his little sting-ray bike.

I stood there a long time before I opened the envelope – because I was afraid of what I would find. When I opened it there was a $10 bill inside. I never forgot that expression of love and generosity – because I knew what it had cost Neng to earn that money. I knew it was a gift given from scarcity.

I think that’s what Jesus is trying to teach us in this story. There is a kind of giving that flows from our abundance – and of course, that is good! But there is another kind of giving that comes from our scarcity – an uncomfortable and costly kind of giving. And it is this kind of giving that Jesus sees in the poor woman. This is what King David means when he says, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

As I look at my own life, I see that this kind of giving - costly, sacrificial giving – always flows from love; not duty, not obligation, not guilt, but love. What my little friend Neng said to me through that $10 gift was, “I love you.” What the poor woman said to God through her gift of two small copper coins was, “I love you.”

That makes me wonder about what my giving says to God. Do my gifts say, “Here’s what’s left over,” or “If I have to, I suppose I can spare this!” or, “I love you!” Take a few moments to ask yourself these same questions – then take your answers to God in prayer. Ask him to help you to increasingly align your love for him with your generosity!

Brian Coffey

Wednesday, October 27

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor woman has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Luke 21:1-4

A few weeks ago I was on my way to meet my wife to watch a high school football game and I stopped for gas. I was also kind of hungry – so I went looking for a snack. Right in front of the cash register I noticed a display of a new kind of M&M's! They were called “pretzel M&M's” - that is, small pretzel bits coated with milk chocolate and a candy shell. I had heard about these new-fangled M&M's, but had never tried them, so I picked up a couple of bags. One for me and one for Lorene. I knew she would be pleased that I thought of her as well as my own sweet tooth!

I found my wife in the stadium, gave her her bag of pretzel M&M's, and took out my own bag. No sooner had I opened the bag – and a lady sitting one row behind me said, “Oooooh, are those the new pretzel M&M's? I have to try one of those!” While her request certainly put me “on the spot,” I was proud of myself for not nodding toward my wife and saying, “Um,…she has a full bag too!” Instead, I quickly poured a few of my pretzel M&M's into her open hand – and that of her husband as well – then happily returned to enjoying my treats.

As I thought about it later, it dawned on me that I had been quick to share because my bag of M&M's was still mostly full. I still had plenty left over for myself. True, I had shared – and that is a good thing – but I had shared from my abundance!

I was thinking about that as I read the story of the poor widow in Luke 21. It struck me that sometimes that’s how I think about my giving to God! If I look at my checkbook (or bank account) and the amount makes me feel comfortable – then I feel like I can share some with God. But if that amount makes me feel a little uncomfortable – like I might not have enough left for ME – then I am tempted to wait for a “better time.” I would guess I am probably not alone in those feelings!

Jesus said, “All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but out of her poverty she gave all she had to live on.” I think Jesus is saying that while giving out of abundance is a good thing – God actually expects those of us who have been materially and financially blessed to be generous – it is a comfortable kind of giving. He wants his disciples, and us, to see in this poor woman another kind of giving – a giving that goes beyond the comfortable – to the uncomfortable.

Has Jesus ever called you to step out of your comfort zone when it comes to giving? Has Jesus ever nudged your heart to do something wildly generous? Are you willing to become a little more like that poor woman? Ask the Lord to show you what “giving your two cents” would look like in your life!

Brian Coffey