Luke 5:1-3

Luke 5:1-3

English Standard Version 

  Imagine you're Simon, and there's a huge crowd pressing in on a teacher, and suddenly he's in your boat, teaching the crowd.  The Gospel comes to you in the midst of ordinary life.

  This is how the Gospel so often works -- it comes to us, in the midst of the ordinary.  There can be noise and crowds, and sometimes we miss it, but other times... it breaks through, and suddenly Jesus is there, leading us, teaching us.  God comes to us in the ordinary, transforming moments, transforming us.  This is one of the beautiful things about the Gospel -- it's full of stories we can relate to, where grace meets people in circumstances we understand, filled with vulnerability and tenderness and beauty.  The Gospel is real, and it's for real people.

Luke 4:42–44

Luke 4:42-44 

English Standard Version 

  Do you withdraw to pray?

  I get so busy, so caught up, that I forget to.  Often.  I'm not proud of it.  

  Jesus withdrew to pray.  Think of the endless streams of sick people coming to be healed.  There was no end of work for Jesus to do, between healing and teaching and ministering... but he made time to pray.  It was a priority.  

  If Jesus wasn't too busy to pray... then I ought to learn from him.  No matter what, this is a core piece of what it means to be a Christian, to build a rhythm of life around setting aside time to pray.  May we follow the example of Jesus and make room for God to speak to us.

Luke 4:40–41

Luke 4:40-41 

English Standard Version 

  It's fall and turning winter, which means it's the season where everyone is sick.  You can't go more than 30 seconds without hearing someone cough or sneeze, and our sensitvity to this is heightened since COVID.  I was on a plane the other day and the guy on the other end of the row was coughing when I got on the plane and I spent the entire plane ride wondering if he was the superspreader that would get everyone on the plane sick.  It's just that time of year -- we naturally try and avoid people and circumstances that might get us sick.

  Jesus doesn't run from it, though.  Jesus embraces us to heal us.  He comes to us.  The love of God is amazing -- when we are sinful and broken and desperate, he comes to us, in love and grace, to heal us.  Jesus never turns from us, but turns to us, thanks be to God!

Luke 4:38–39

Luke 4:38-39 

English Standard Version 

  To be healthy is to serve.  This is the path of grace -- it transforms us and leads us to serve others.  To be healthy isn't an end unto itself -- to be healthy is to be healthy so that Christ can use us in the service of others.  That's the goal -- that we are healed so that we can be in proper relationship to one another, which is a posture of service.  In a culture focused on self-actualization and self-seeking and self-serving, the way of Christ shows another path, one where wellness is defined by our ability to serve others.  May we seek that instead, for it is the healthy way.