Author: Dave Dishman (Page 281 of 459)

Controversy moved with Jesus as he traveled and taught, particularly with his insistence on performing miraculous healings on the Sabbath. The sparring sides held their ground—healing on the Sabbath comprised work, and no work allowed according to the law, versus Jesus the Lord and Creator of the law and the Sabbath. Seems a bit one-sided from my perch, but old rules die hard.

Jesus saw a woman who had been crippled and bent over for eighteen years. He called her forward and said, Woman, you are set free from your infirmity. Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

An unbelievable miracle—but on the Sabbath. The indignant synagogue leader announced to those present, There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.

A classic bureaucratic answer. Follow the rules no matter what. All sorts of healing can happen here every other day of the week, just not this day. The problem with his solution? Healings never took place before, healings only took place around Jesus, and Jesus stood here right now. Get out of the way, little man.

Jesus tore into the religious leaders, reminding them of their hypocrisy and lack of love for the people they allegedly served. They stood long-faced and humiliated, while everyone else delighted in all the wonderful things Jesus did.

Few of us are fans of bureaucracy. Nothing like a trip to the DMV to make you want to give up driving. But I lean the same way with Jesus. I hope to contain him, keep his words safely folded in their book. I’m afraid to yield control.

This story reminds me to let Jesus loose. The woman bound for eighteen years reminds me to let Jesus loose. Even the fears of the religious teachers reminds me to let Jesus loose.

Both the way of Jesus and the way of the bureaucrat tug at me. It’s my choice which one I let loose.

Luke 13 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Mark Duffel

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Truer words never spoken. Jesus said these at the end of a teaching time about money and worry and barns and seeking the kingdom of God. I’m reminded how my heart constantly veers toward shiny treasures.

At the gym I meet old guys like me, working out just so we can eat another bowl of ice cream, but also younger guys working out with one eye on the mirror. They treasure those muscles. I treasure that ice cream.

Also at the gym at least one screen always runs shows featuring builders with cute personalities renovating old houses. Lots of us turn toward the lure of a beautiful home. Personally, I most treasure my garage.

This week movie-makers give out awards. I watched Billy Crystal host the Oscars once and he described the event as fabulously wealthy people giving one another golden statues (or something akin to that line). I don’t remember the crowd laughing much. Many people treasure those golden statues, both those hoping for one and those watching from afar. I give all that a pass these days.

Then the best event of this month and maybe the whole year—March Madness. 68 teams entered the tournament, treasuring a championship. Millions of fans filled out brackets and now follow their progress. Massive amounts of disappointment litter the month of March—only 1 team wins. But the hunt for treasure pulls us in.

These treasures (and loads of others) compete for my heart. Jesus, however, pointed out a higher way: Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

Treasure in heaven. So much better than muscles or garages or championships or golden statues.

Luke 12 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Ashin K Suresh

A Pharisee asked Jesus over to eat at his house. Jesus took the invite and sat down for the meal, but apparently didn’t wash up in the way the Pharisee deemed appropriate. The host chided Jesus on his lack of religious practice—bad idea—launching Jesus into some of his own thoughts:

Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?…Woe to you Pharisees, because you give a God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God.

Jesus knew this man inside and out because Jesus created this man inside and out. Jesus knew of his attention to particularities in tithing. Perhaps this man taught on tithing from the garden and peered over the fences of neighbors to see they did so properly? Perhaps he choose the ten percent himself, pointing out the best fruits and vegetables for his table?

In doing so this proud Pharisee ignored the greater issues of justice and love of God. I don’t think Jesus choose mint and rue out of thin air. Jesus looked inside his host and saw the specific nature of his pious sins.

Sadly, I’m much more like these Pharisees than I like to admit. Their stories aren’t in scripture for me to look at and shake my head, but rather to ponder and consider how I fit in their crowd. Jesus’s words apply to me as a religious teacher just as much as these Pharisees.

I’m good at cleaning the outside. Cleaning the inside? That’s just as hard as it’s ever been.

Luke 11 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Izz R

What comes to mind when you think of praying for something you want? I see heads bowed, knees bent, and quiet moments of humble requests offered to the Lord.

How did Jesus describe such praying? A ceaseless, door pounding, bar room brawl: Because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you what you as much as you need.

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks find; and the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Can I really pray so aggressively? Jesus says to go to the Father and ask. To go again and again. Knock and knock and knock and yell bold requests through the door. This is not my normal prayer experience—perhaps I’m going about it all wrong?

Also, Jesus provides a sure-fire answer to one prayer: If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

If I ask for more of the Holy Spirit, then more of the Holy Spirit infuses my life. As the Holy Spirit seeps into the cracks of my hidden places, my prayers reflect more of the Lord. As my prayers reflect more of the Lord, the Holy Spirit splits more rocks in my soul. A virtuous cycle pulls me further up and further in.

These ideas click together. I ask for the Holy Spirit, and ask for what I want from the Lord. I ask over and over. The Holy Spirit guides my asking in fresh ways, giving insight into results or lack thereof. My life changes, and lives around me change under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

My role? Keep asking with shameless audacity.

Luke 11 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Alexander Tsang