The Kingdom in Luke

Luke 6:20-23 contain some similar teaching by Jesus to the beatitudes in Matthew 5:
--The poor will inherit the kingdom
--the hungry will be filled
--those who weep will laugh
--and those who get flack for following Christ will be rewarded.

Luke adds some punch by contrasting these positive attitudes with some 'anti-beatitudes':
--the rich will miss out on the kingdom
--the well-fed will be hungry
--the happy will cry
--and don't celebrate just because people like you.

Then he presents some kingdom paradoxes:
--love those who hate you
--bless those who curse you
--don't be satisfied with just a small sacrifice
--and set the example for generosity, don't wait for the other guy to do it first.

You will get what you give:
--judgment
--forgiveness
--generosity

Some more nuggets:
--check yourself out before pointing out someone else's faults.
--whatever is on the inside is what is going to come out.
--words don't prove much—it's actions that demonstrate who you really follow.
--a solid foundation and secure building are a picture of a person who lives out the words of Christ. Mere words or statements of faith are like a house with a shaky foundation. The house may be OK, but without a solid foundation of action, it won't survive the storm. Are we putting into practice the things we have heard, or are we just talking about them? Note: Jesus own interpretation of this story is not that he is the foundation, but that obedience is the foundation.

Notice the similarities between the person who built on the rock, and the one who built on sand:
--both hear Christ's words
--both build the house
--both experience the flood.

Now note the differences:
--the house on the rock pictures the person who puts Christ's words into practice, thus building the foundation on the rock, and survives the storm.
--the house on the sand pictures the person who does not put Christ's words into practice, and thus has no foundation, and his house collapses in the storm.

“And why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46

Blessed are... #8

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Want to see God's kingdom come into being, to see people living in harmony? Be willing to suffer some persecution as you work towards seeing it happen.

Persecution will come from people and forces that do not share your purpose or style.
Persecution neither proves that you are right, or that you are wrong. Just expect it.

It may well come from power-hungry, proud, arrogant people who aren't pursuing peace, mercy, teachability or the other traits commended in the beatitudes.

Blessed are... #7

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Actively working to bring factions into agreement.

De-escalating violence, revenge, or retribution.

'Child of' can also be used to mean 'has similar qualities of' as in 'a child of the 80's'.

It is God's desire to bring relationships into a state of peace. Those who desire to follow him and live as his kids will want to do the same.

Peacemakers are actively involved, promoting, instigating, stirring up the best in others.

But, just in case you think this is an easy one to follow, here are some tough questions:
--Can a tank be a peacemaker?
--Can we use violence to enforce peace?
--Is there such a thing as a 'just' war?
--How do we make a stand for justice without fighting against injustice?
--Is Jesus calling us to passively acquiesce in the face of evil?
--When trying to resolve an argument, are we supposed to just give in?

Blessed are... #6

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.

Blessed are the genuine, blameless, sincere, untarnished, undefiled, unmixed, transparent in understanding, will, character, thoughts and passions, for they will perceive, know and experience God.

Looking for and expecting to see good character in people will enable you to see those God-like, positive qualities within them. You will see what you look for.

C.S. Lewis in 'The problem of pain' (quoted by Brian McLaren in 'The secret message of Jesus') says: “It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.”

Blessed are... #5

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

I forgive you for what you may have done or said that hurt me.

Mercy is more in action than in word—it is best demonstrated, not just verbalized.

Being merciful infers an openness to a different perspective—allowing someone to have a different point of view than your own.

Mercy is a generosity of spirit.

Both mercy and arrogance will engender the same in return. What you plant you will harvest. Kindness and generosity towards others will make them much more inclined to be kind and generous in return.

Blessed are... #4

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Again there is the value of recognizing a need, seeing a hole that needs to be filled.

Thinking everything is all figured out, complete, finished, means there is no room for improvement (so the unacknowledged hole still remains).

Righteousness is the state approved by God. So, a desire to have his heart and character should be right on the money.

I think this hunger is both for oneself (personal) and for the world (the kingdom of God).

Can't see the forest

for the trees, or maybe the toothpicks, newspapers, turpentine, or other wood by-products.

There are a few major themes in the Bible. Things like redemption,
compassion, peace, justice, just to name a few. The 'forest' if you will.

It seems that over the centuries the church has got really good at
distilling, digging, mining for little nuggets (pardon the mixed metaphor) of truth.

But in so doing, we have forgotten the forest these little nuggets were taken from.

• Instead of compassion and affirmation, we have emphasized one or another definition of 'holiness' that isn't compassionate.
• Instead of justice for all, we have focussed on individual freedom, blessings, wealth, power, etc. And justice for all has turned into injustice for those who aren't the privileged few.
• Instead of God's desire to redeem even the worst, we are ready to consign them all to hell as we tell them: “I told you so, serves you right.”
• Instead of an active, present sense of the reign of God in this world, we have turned our back on the problems of today's world in order to plan only for eternity.
• Instead of a land where God's shalom permeates and brings resolution to conflict, we have invented 'just war', the Crusades, colonialism, and other 'Christian' ways of dealing with injustice.

To continue the forestry analogy, we have clear-cut the whole forest, and all we have to show for it is a little pile of dead branches and leaves, and a massive mansion.

Instead of an environment where all creatures can co-exist, we have an obscenely huge home for one of the creatures, and displaced everything else.

Can't see the beautiful, natural forest of compassion because the trees have been turned into instruments of hate, segregation and division.
The few trees that remain are hard to identify as the former glorious forest—but it still is the forest!

Just step back and regain the perspective of the big picture.

If we allow it, the forest will grow back.

God's kingdom is still a place of rest, hope, support, affirmation, encouragement, peace, joy, love, equality and redemption.

We just need to get back to looking at the forest instead of focusing on what we can make of the trees.