Devotional Thoughts for Today
Lk. 10:30 (NIV): “In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.’”
Matt. 7:24-6 (NIV): “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
In 1981, Rabbi Harold Kushner, after tragically losing a young son, wrote a book entitled, When Bad Things Happen to Good People. If some preachers were to write a book based on Luke 10:30, they would name it, When Bad Things Happen to Bad People. Noting that the man in the parable went from Jerusalem, the city of God, to the pagan city of Jericho, which was cursed by Joshua (6:26), many preachers have said that he was being punished for rebelling against God.
“Bobby” who was in my youth group in the early 1980s would’ve agreed with that conclusion. After a teaching based on the wise and foolish builders, I had the students draw a picture to show what they’ve learned. But when I saw Bobby’s drawing, it dawned on me that many Christians think this way: In the world according to Bobby, the natural disasters (rain, flood, and wind) in the parable struck only the house built on the sand (i.e., “bad Christians”), but the house built on the rock (i.e., “good Christians”) was completely spared.
The first time I really felt how illusory Bobby’s world was when my sister-in-law died of cancer at the age of 32; she left behind two small children. The second time was when my brother-in-law also died of cancer at 43; he, too, left behind two small children. Both were believers. And I didn’t find much solace in Kushner’s words: “I can worship a God who hates suffering but cannot eliminate it, more easily than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer, for whatever exalted reason.” But I felt that you should let the grieving parent mourn, while you bite your tongue and speak not. Elihu bit his while listening to Job defend himself against his misguided friends, saying, “It profits a man nothing when he tries to please God” (34:9), until he could bear no more.
Job was wrong. So was the rabbi. At no time did God fail to be good and all-powerful. Living in a fallen world, we’re grateful for the life that God has given us—mostly good things, but some bad—until we are called home. Ultimately, we bite our tongue before a God who let his Son suffer so that we might live.
Prayer
Lord, I praise You for the life that You have given me. While I complain when misfortunes come my way, ultimately, I am thankful that these are golden opportunities for me to realize how good I really have it, especially living in the West. This is all due to your unmerited favor. Help me to live for You. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 39
Lunch Break Study
Read Jn. 5:14 (NASB): “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.’”
Ps. 103:8-10 (ESV): “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. [9] He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. [10] He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”
Job 38:1-5 (ESV): “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: [2] ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? [3] Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. [4] Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. [5] Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?’”
Question to Consider
- Can sin cause sickness? If yes, give some examples.
- Does sin always cause calamities in life? Why or why not?
- Based on Job 38:1-5 (38-42), what is God saying to Job? What would God say to Rabbi Kushner? What would He say to you the next time you complain about God because of something bad that has happened?
Notes
- Yes it can, but not always (Jn. 9:3: “Neither his man nor his parents sinned”). My brother-in-law died of lung cancer even though he never smoked, but things like drinking and smoking can shorten the average life span. An example would be many deaths resulting from drunken driving.
- We never fully get the full consequences of our sins because God is always merciful. This is why complaining to God when bad things happen in our lives is a form of ungratefulness. But we are all too human and God allows us to pout—we see this in psalms. My favorite: “Awake , O Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself!” (Ps. 44:23).
- God is saying, “Don’t forget that I am the Creator, but you’re a creature with many limitations. You don’t understand everything that is going around you because of your finiteness. Harold, I grieve with you over your son (Jn. 11:35) and because of your loss of confidence in me. Believe in my Son Jesus; I let him suffer so that you might live.”
Evening Reflection
Did anything happen today that caused you to question God’s goodness or His power even for a moment? It happens! But let’s regroup before turning in; reflect on what God said to Job; and dwell on His infiniteness, while being very personal. He can be trusted. Proof? A suffering Messiah Jesus. Pray.
To do that, Jesus went along with this man’s thinking based on the Law of Moses: “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them” (Lev. 18:5), that is, obtain eternal life. Therefore, “Do this and you will live” implies that the lawyer had failed to keep God’s law perfectly, and as a result didn’t have eternal life. Feeling slighted, since he thought otherwise, the lawyer “wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” This is when the parable of the Good Samaritan is given, not necessarily because Jesus wanted to emphasize a lesson on loving our neighbors, but to help the lawyer see that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Is. 64:6). Once the lawyer recognizes that, he is ready, not only to hear the gospel, but to believe it as well.
While some teenagers may come to church to meet cute boys or girls, and some grownups for business opportunities, this lawyer came to Jesus for an entirely different reason. Here, the lawyer came “to test” Jesus, which the Greek word ekpeirazō is used; but the same Greek word is used when Jesus tells the devil, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matt. 4:7 KJV). While testing measures a student’s progress, tempting is to seek his downfall; this lawyer “tempted Jesus” (KJV). He probably belonged to a group of “Pharisees and Herodians” who tried “to catch [Jesus] in his words” (Mk. 12:13) to accuse him.
The first film to win 11 Oscars is “Ben-Hur,” based on the bestselling novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, by Lew Wallace in 1880. He began that project with “no convictions about God or Christ”; writing was only an outlet for his creativity. But, an unexpected thing happened. Wallace said, “I need to do the research; I need to learn the Bible. . . . Long before I was through with my book, I became a believer in God and Christ.”
There was a girl I knew very well when growing up. Though she was not a believer, she was curious about what we believed and sometimes attended my local youth group. However, during a one-on-one conversation, a member of my church told her without further explanation, “You are going to hell!” Deeply offended, she stopped speaking to us and stopped showing any interest in coming out again. Nobody knew how to explain the Gospel with great sensitivity, and though we tried to mend some bridges and attempted to explain more fully each person’s true need for Christ, it seemed too much damage had been done.
In this recounting, Jesus drives demons out of two demon-possessed men who had been living among the tombs. Either by the demons’ choice or their own, these men were isolated from society due to their condition. Upon meeting them, Jesus frees them by sending the demons into a nearby herd of pigs (which promptly drowns), much to the shock of those tending the pigs.
Lk. 7:37-50 (ESV): And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, [38] and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. [39] Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” [40] And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” [41] “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. [42] When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” [43] Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” [44] Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. [45] You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. [46] You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. [47] Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” [48] And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” [49] Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” [50] And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
For a long time, the judge shows zero interest in addressing the widow’s grievance; her lack of stature only adds to his indifference. But the judge’s mind wavers as she keeps shouting and even banging on the door; he is clearly overwhelmed by it. As the days turn into weeks, the judge, out of sheer exhaustion, relents; she gets what she came for: justice.
Read Lk. 2:46-55 (NIV): “And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord [47] and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, [48] for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, [49] for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. [50] His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. [51] He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. [52] He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. [53] He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. [54] He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful [55] to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.’”
“How much?” asks the merchant, to which the owner responds, “It’ll cost you everything you have.” Although the buyer offers all his cash and property, the seller demands even more. Upon being told, “I’ve nothing else except my wife and children,” the owner says, “They become mine too.” Though the merchant is troubled by what this is costing him, he reluctantly gives them up, but the seller isn’t done, saying, “There is one more thing I want.” Feeling indignant, the buyer shouts, “I don’t have anything else!” But the seller retorts, “You become mine, too.” Does the merchant want the pearl that desperately? He must have, since the phrase “sold everything he had” could extend to selling himself as a slave, especially in the antiquity when this was practiced (Gn. 44:16). But as the pearl is being handed over to the buyer, the seller says, “You can take back everything—cash, property, you and your family –I’m lending them to you; when I need it, I’ll take it back.”
This parable tells us not to “offer sacrifice to the LORD . . . that cost [us] nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24). Since everything we own belongs to Christ who paid for them with His life, when He calls for them, whether it be our availability, money, career, kids or spouse, we “give . . . to God what is God’s” (Matt. 22:21). What is He asking you for right now?
A famous author on leadership (a former pastor) was impressed by how Enron got so huge, very fast (“A decade later . . . the revenues were $101 billion . . . its assets . . . $53 billion”). No one knew then that the heads of this energy company hid, using deceptive accounting methods, enormous debts from bad deals. The oversight made by this author is the kind that some pastors and businessmen make: being mesmerized by anything that grows very fast, and then copying what appear to be impressive methods.
A while back, I met a Vietnamese pastor who suffered for 3 years in prison for his faith. But his church, instead of dwindling during his absence, grew; and some 30 years later, it had 423,213 members in 2,388 churches. In China, after the communists drove out all western missionaries following the Cultural Revolution in 1949, many in the West worried that the church would die out under communist persecution; instead, it flourished throughout China: from 840,000 to 100 million believers by 2007.
During my morning jog in Villahermosa, Mexico, I slowed down to share the gospel with a young man coming my way. After a few minutes into the conversation, he said he’ll return to his former church—“Kingdom Hall.” Then I realized that he was a backslidden Jehovah’s Witness, but knew very little of its teaching (See Lunch Break Study 1/23). So, I was in an awkward position of having to inform him of their beliefs, and then to refute them afterwards.
It seems that many who “love” theology (e.g., “I’m a 5-point Calvinist”) lack love, while others who promote love find doctrine not as essential; yet instead of an “either/or” attitude, we should be balanced and have both doctrine and love: “Speak[] the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). So, in love, I shared with the young Mexican some guidelines to find a church that preaches the true gospel.