Luke 11:37-41

Luke 11:37-41 

English Standard Version 

  When someone asks you how you are, what do you say?  The socially acceptable answer is somewhere between 'fine' and 'good'.  Are you really?  

  Now, it's not a great idea to always burden someone with the full and honest answer to that question, because there's a time and a place for everything, but if we never acknowledge that perhaps we aren't fine and good, then that's not the best, either.  

  Jesus is being honest with the Pharisees -- they're so focused on looking righteous that they've forgotten to take the next step and actually live a righteous life.  Everything may look good from the outside, but they're rotting away.  It's like one of those avocados you get at the grocery store that looks great and is completely brown on the inside to the point you just throw it away.  It's such a disappointment.  

  Jesus isn't saying that the exterior acts don't matter.  He wants us to insure that our interior life matches.  Are we pursuing God in our private lives?  Do we have integrity?  Are we the kind of people in private that we are in public?  What do you do when you have free time?  Do our hearts seek God?

  All of these are important questions to ask, and to listen for the answers.  Discipleship is a lifelong goal.  May we never stop seeking God and being humble to listen for the Holy Spirit as it offers correction and guides us towards God.

Luke 11:33–36

Luke 11:33-36 

English Standard Version 

  Sometimes, I set my phone down when the flashlight is turned on and I don't realize for a while that the flashlight is still on.  You can't see it when it's sitting flat on a surface with the light pointing down.  It serves no purpose.  It's not exactly what Jesus was talking about, but the same concept.  

  Jesus goes on to say that the eye is the lamp of the body.  If our eyes aren't working well, that has other impacts.  Have you ever tried to drive when you have something in your eye, or tried to read after having your eyes dilated?  It's nearly impossible.  In the same way, if we have our eyes focused on the wrong things, living faithfully, as we're called to do, is nearly impossible.  We're setting ourselves up for failure.  

  Therefore, what we watch matters.  From the shows we choose to the social media we take in to the books we read.  Every little thing forms us in some way.  May we choose wisely, with humility, recognizing the importance of what we take in to the body.

Giving Blood and the Gospel

Luke 11:29–32

Luke 11:29-32 

English Standard Version 

  Imagine you're living in the time of Jesus.  You've heard about his teachings and miracles, so you go to see for himself.  Maybe you see him perform a miraculous feeding, or you see a lame man healed.  Would that be enough?  Would you be convinced that he is the Son of God?  Or would you ask for more?

  Some of the people clearly asked for more.  I understand where they're coming from -- it's a big step to believe that the person in front of you is the long-awaited Messiah.  But Jesus starts talking about the sign of Jonah.  Jesus is telling the people that the people of Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching, and someone greater than Jonah is here, but the people are still resisting.  Are they open to what God is doing in their midst?  Are we open to what God is doing in our midst?  Do we resist?  Are we willing to trust in Jesus?

  Think of Jonah... dead for 3 days in the belly of a whale, forgotten at the bottom of the sea, the watery tomb, and then he rises and countless repent.  He was pointing ahead of himself to the day when the new and better Jonah would arise and demonstrate the grace and power of God for all to see.

Sermon on Ephesians 6

Luke 11:27–28

Luke 11:27-28 

English Standard Version 

  Being a student of Jesus is challenging.  We grow in knowledge, and Jesus pushes on us.  Jesus wants us to grow, and to keep growing, so that we don't get comfortable and stop moving.  Jesus sees the distance between who we are and who we were created to be, and because Jesus loves us, he wants us to be as close to that image as possible.  He knows we were made for incredible joy and peace.

  So here a woman is crying out blessing, and Jesus is redirecting.  He's pointing us towards action -- to follow Jesus is to be in motion.  The Word of God guides our hearts, and it leads us to be a people in motion.  We do what Jesus calls us to do -- we love and we serve one another, and we lead and we are led closer to Christ.

Luke 11:24–26

Luke 11:24-26

English Standard Version 

  Nature abhors a vacuum.  

  If we remove all the bad things in our life, that is good.  But what if we don't replace them with something good?  Eventually, Jesus says, all those bad things will return. 

  It's like removing all the junk food but not getting any healthy food... eventually, we'll go find more junk food, because we'll be hungry.  We need to make it easy on ourselves to surround ourselves with healthy food.

  In the same way, let us pursue Jesus, putting positive spiritual exercises and disciplines in our lives.  When you have idle time, fill it with prayer or study.  Read a chapter of Scripture.  Fill your time and mind with thoughts and words of God.  

Luke 11:18–23

Luke 11:18-23 

English Standard Version 

  In our sin, we were stuck, trapped and separated from God.

  Jesus, however, is the strongest man -- he overcomes the devil, who would prevent us from reunion from God.  Jesus takes away the devil's armor and claims us as his own.  This is the reality of the power dynamic -- in defeating death, Jesus demonstrates his power.

  That leaves us with a choice.  Jesus is clear about the stark difference -- are we with Jesus, or are we against him?  We have a choice.  You have a choice.  As Joshua says, Choose this day whom you will serve.  

  May we choose wisely each and every day.

Luke 11:14–17

Luke 11:14-17 

English Standard Version 

  Have you ever witnessed a debate that, while academically interesting, doesn't actually get to the heart of the issue?  Sometimes I hear people talk and realize that they're talking around the point, rather than driving straight to it.  

  Here, Jesus has cast a demon out of a man.  This should be cause for celebration, right?

  Right?

  Some of the people, however, are opposed to whatever Jesus is doing.  They see him as a threat, and there is nothing that can be done to change their minds.  Perhaps they are afraid.  Their hearts are closed off, and they will not hear his words or see his miracles without doubt in their hearts.  

  Jesus sees through their opposition, though, and he sees where our hearts are hardened as well.  He doesn't leave us in this place, however -- he loves us and comes for us, pointing out our opposition and calling us into the waters of discipleship, however timid or afraid or opposed we may be.  Your Savior loves you and does not leave you.

Winter Baseball and The Gospel

Luke 11:9–13

Luke 11:9-13 

English Standard Version 

  I am an imperfect person, and yet I know not to give my son a serpent.  I am over 14 years in, and I have never given my children a scorpion.  They did not cover this in parenting class -- I figured it out on my own.  I have bought my children ice cream and Legos and other things that they enjoy far more than snakes.  

  If human parents can figure this out, how much greater are the gifts that will come from God?  And God gives the best gift of all -- the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God, is the gift offered to us by God.  May we have the wisdom to ask and the courage to trust in God.

Luke 11:5-8

Luke 11:5-8 

English Standard Version 

  Jesus is not trying to make God look like he's ignoring you.  Jesus is instead trying to make a point about how God is kinder/more generous than any of us.  If you go to a friend who is tired and already in bed, the friend will eventually get up and help you if you persist.  How much more will God help if you persist?

  I don't think there's a magic formula -- we often try and find exactly what the number is for God.  God is not a vending machine.  But Jesus is trying to show us that persistence matters.  Do we keep praying?  This is more than praying for something once or twice.  Do we pray consistently for things?  If so, we learn to keep things in front of God, to continue to depend on God.  God cares for you and wants to hear what you're praying about, what you're fearful of, what makes you anxious.  Take that to God, over and over and over and over again.  The more we pray, the more it trains our hearts to cast our cares upon God, the more focused on God we become, the less we try and carry things on our own.  God is stronger than we are -- may we place our fears and anxieties there.

Luke 11:1-4

Luke 11:1-4 

English Standard Version 

  I read somewhere that all of the apostles would've started out life in synagogue school before leaving at some point to pursue other vocations.  They're steeped in religious life... and yet they ask Jesus to teach them how to pray.

  They knew how to pray.

  But they watched Jesus pray, and they clearly saw something lacking in their own lives.  They wanted to pray like Jesus did, in a way that was a two-way conversation, conveying intimacy and enriching their lives with spiritual depth.  They wanted more than what they'd had before Jesus.

  Do you long for Jesus to teach you to pray?  Maybe this is something important for the church in the 21st century.  That we not simply look for the words, but we ask Jesus to teach us how to pray, how to pursue God, how to develop breadth and depth in our spiritual lives that prayer might be life-giving and nourishing, a drink from the living waters that quenches our spiritual thirst.

Luke 10:38–42

Luke 10:38-42 

English Standard Version 

  When we read this story, we have to remember that it's not meant to discourage us from serving.  Martha's serving is fine -- hospitality was vital in their culture.  The drawback is that she is distracted.  She is anxious.  She is so caught up in the tasks that she is missing the larger picture of who and why she is serving.  Her tasks have become overwhelming her and she is exhausted.

  When we focus on Jesus first, our fears should diminish.  We worry less about being unprepared and unqualified.  We worry less about appearing unworthy.  We realize that in Christ, we are enough, and that helps us find rest, even in the midst of busy-ness and numerous tasks.  We find ways to be with Jesus, to trust in Christ, even while we serve. 

Luke 10:33–37

Luke 10:33-37 

English Standard Version 

  Imagine the most despised person in society and making them the hero of the story.  That's what Jesus does -- no one would have expected a Samaritan to be the hero here.  For a priest and a Levite to pass the wounded man by and the Samaritan to show compassion is intended to shock the audience -- because Jesus wants to shock us.  Jesus wants us to step back from labels and think about acts of love and limits of love.  He wants us to realize that God thinks about love differently than we do.  God doesn't shy away from costly love.  Realize what this Samaritan does -- for a complete stranger, he not only inconveniences himself, but also writes a blank check so that this man can be healed.  He incurs great cost to himself for the sake of another.

  The idea is that we realize that we are the ones who are wounded.  We are the ones who need a Savior, and thankfully, Jesus is the one who comes with a willingness to incur costly love.  Jesus doesn't count the cost, but is willing to write a blank check, up to and including at the cost of his life, so that we might be healed.  Jesus shows us mercy.  

  If we hear this story enough, and let it marinate into our hearts, we are amazed at the love of God.  The more we do this, then it shapes us into a certain type of people.  We become the type of people we expand the limits on our own love, because we are busy giving thanks for the love of God that has expanded to include us when we are broken.

Luke 10:29–32

Luke 10:29-32

English Standard Version 

  The young lawyer here reveals the goal of his efforts.  He doesn't want or feel like he needs Jesus to justify him.  He wants to justify himself, that Jesus would be amazed at his logic or his wisdom.  

  Jesus, though, hasn't come so that we might make good efforts at justifying ourselves.  Jesus has come so that we might understand our brokenness and allow ourselves to be justified by God.  To that end, he pushes, gently, on the young lawyer's idea that love has boundaries or lawyers.  

  Jesus tells a story about a man who is left for dead by robbers.  A priest and a Levite come upon him, and they pass him by.  We don't know the reasons they did -- there are likely plenty.  Did they love the man like they loved themselves?  It's hard for us to know the limits of our own actions.  Where do we draw the lines?  We always do somewhere.  Jesus is trying to teach us that God doesn't draw a line.  There's no limits to God's love.  We can't justify ourselves -- the good news of the Gospel is that we don't have to.  

Sports, Disappointment, and the Gospel

Luke 10:25–28

Luke 10:25-28 

English Standard Version 

  It's one thing to know the rules of the road.  It's another to follow them.  The kids sometimes point out that I'm not obeying the posted speed limit on the freeway.  I know what the rules are, but do I follow them 100% of the time?  I do not.  

  Here, we have a lawyer approaching Jesus.  He has all the head knowledge he will ever need.  He comes to Jesus with a simple question about eternal life.  Jesus asks him a basic question, and when the lawyer answers correctly, Jesus tells him so, and the adds a command.  Go and do.  It's not enough just to know, but the lawyer, and all of us, have to go out and follow the law of God.  We're called to love the Lord with all our hearts and soul and strength and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  I agree with the pastor who said that one of our biggest sins is that we don't love God enough -- we love other things more.  Each of us has something different, but the takeaway is that we don't make time to fall in love with God every day.  We wake up in the morning and busy ourselves, and the rest of the day often rushes onward from there.  Are we falling in love with God?  If we can start there, God will show us how to love one another.  I believe that.  

  It's one thing to know.  It's another to do.  May we pray for the courage and wisdom to obey.

Easter Sermon 2026 (Luke 24:1-12)

Luke 10:21-24

Luke 10:21-24 

English Standard Version 

  What is the greatest treasure?  If you're a king, you either have it or can obtain it.  Nothing is off limits, right?  

  Here is Jesus, telling the disciples that they have obtained the greatest treasure of all.  They have seen Jesus, and they believe.  Do you think they realized what they had?

  I think of these same disciples, on this Maundy Thursday, fleeing from the soldiers in the hopes of saving their own lives.  They see Jesus arrested and suddenly all seems so small and fragile, their kingdom having toppled so fast.  Do they feel like Jesus contains wisdom beyond compare?  Or do they think that all is lost?

  We often feel this fragile and small.  But Jesus can go confidently to his arrest because he has no fear.  He knows true power and righteousness, and death does not frighten him.  He has come in love, for love, and love shall conquer all.

Luke 10:17-20

Luke 10:17-20 

English Standard Version 

  The disciples have returned from their mission, and they are thrilled with the results they have seen.  How could they not be?  I would be.  We all have results in mind that would give us this kind of joy.  As a preacher, you imagine preaching before thousands of people and seeing your words impact multitudes.  As a parent, you imagine your children growing in faithfulness and becoming good people.  What are your roles in life, and how do you define success?

  Jesus affirms that these are good things, but he reminds them of the greatest thing -- to have one's name written in heaven.  This is the true joy, and it comes as a gift -- this is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.  This is what Holy Week is about, what the cross is focused upon.  God has come for this -- not that we might achieve results, for God could do that on his own if that was the only goal.  Jesus has come so that we might have life and have it eternally.