Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

Jesus tells a tragic story of a man POSSESSED by his POSSESSIONS.  The man in the story does a lot wrong.  He is know forever as the rich FOOL.

So let this not be me and us.  This is one area in life that everybody gets a chance to do this wrong.  And, everybody gets a chance to do this right.  Let us use the wisdom of this story to help us to understand money and stuff and possessions and resources correctly. 

We have LOUD competitors in our society:  "He who dies with the most toys wins!"
Jesus directly and specifically contradicts that in today's parable.  This want of money and stuff and security is:

• root of all kinds of evil
• have the capability to plunge us into ruin and destruction
• can effect your spiritual nearness to God

If the love of stuff is the root of your tree, then all these bad things can grow as fruit.  Listen as we hear the call to not be Possessed by our Possessions.

My ESV bible notes describe this passage as one of the most enigmatic, debated, and misunderstood passages in the Bible.  Enjoy this Knucklehead as he answers all the questions and solves the debate in just 7 minutes.  Just Kidding.

Jesus is in the forgiveness business.  Thank you Lord.  Without it, he'd be out of customers.  

He's also in the justice business.  Those who persistently make their own way; reject Him; reject the influence and ministry of the presence of God in our world and in our lives; harden their hearts today; harden their hearts tomorrow...You get the picture.  What about that guy? Or Gal?  

There is going to be judgment.  There is a place where you can "go too far."  Today we hear of such a person.  Let us be grateful for the Person and the Presence and the Provision of God.  I suppose we should too be grateful that He is a God of justice for those that just keep on saying NO.  Listen and be grateful today.

The title over this little section in my Bible says "Have No Fear".  It is, IMHO exactly what the passage does NOT say.  It is a warning to get your fear/respect/care/attention correctly placed.  

It ends with sparrows and makes the same emphasis as we talked of in Sparrow Lives Matter (Episode #102), one of my favorites of all time.

Could my concerns be misplaced?  YES
Is there something here to be aware of?  YES
Do You care for me?  YES
Am I SEEN? YES
Am I forgotten?  NO
Is anything hidden? NO
Am I more valued than SPARROWS? YES
Should I be careful how I live? YES
Does God have the authority to punish evil?  YES
Does God punish justly? YES
Am I in trouble? YES
Does He not also make a way? YES

We are not forgotten in judgment.  Yikes.  
We are not forgotten in rescue.  Yeah!  Listen please.

Jesus drops little bombs that on first glance seem like little fire crackers.  But then, after some consideration, they appear more like nuclear warheads in their devastating power.

The Covered will be REVEALED.  The inside will become outside.  The Hidden will become known.  Whispers will be proclaimed.  The secret anonymity that we think we live our lives in will become very public.  Like, proclaimed on the housetops kind of public. 

Spend 7 minutes with me today as we explore this sobering reality.  If you have got a little throw-up in your mouth, you have a good start on this. 

We hopefully won't stop at the throw-up-in-my-mouth stage, but will call ourselves to live and think and act in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.  Ironically, when that is proclaimed on the housetops, I suppose it will be pleasing to me too.  Listen secretly today.  But be ready for when our thoughts about this podcast will be known far and wide.

You have two big problems.
What will you do about your sin?  We aren't going to talk about that today.

What will you do about death?
We will celebrate the answer.  It is SO GOOD, that if this is all you knew about God, you would sign up to follow Him this instant. 
Up to this moment in human history, all we had was shadows and hints.  Jesus is heading to His crucifixion, and He is accelerating the pace of His revelation of Himself.

Enter MARTHA.  In tragedy.  We find her in grief. Perhaps you too have lost a BROTHER, or a GRANDPARENT, or a CHILD or a MOTHER to death.  Perhaps you ache even reading this sentence.  If so, then the message to Martha will be a comfort and a call to you.

The Lord tells her  exclusively and initially some news that kings and prophets have been waiting CENTURIES for.  Martha, I am going to give you THE GOOD STUFF.

I am the resurrection and the life.  Everyone who believes in me shall never die. I am fixing death.  This tyranny has gone on long enough.  Watch me with Lazarus.  Watch me on the cross and in my resurrection.  You are the FIRST to hear of this.  You will be the first to see it.  DO YOU BELIEVE?  Do you wanna sign up?  Listen and answer the call.

Martha, you have done a poor job.  You missed the main thing.  You have mischaracterized the character of God Himself.  Your sister got it right in choosing Me and time with Me and listening to Me.  She chose the GOOD PORTION.  You did not.  You are officially rebuked.

If the story of Martha ended here no mother would ever name her child MARTHA. Fortunately for us, we get another chapter.  It is in the midst of the tragedy of the loss of her own brother Lazarus in John 11.

Jesus gives here one of the most precious messages in all of history.  The world had been waiting 1000's of years to hear it.  Kings and prophets longed to hear it.  And yet, it was given TO HER.  Individually, at least at first.  She was the first, and for a while the ONLY one to hear this message of authority and hope.

Will Martha here choose the GOOD PORTION?  Will she seek and choose Jesus?  Will she take the extra large, gooey, warm cinnamon roll of a renewed, intimate relationship of pursuit of Jesus?  Will she chose the good stuff?  Listen and find out.  You may just name your next baby girl MARTHA because of it.

1 pair of Sisters
1 who distractedly, anxiously serves
1 who sits at Jesus' feet and listens to His teaching
1 accusation as to the character and activity of God
1 bossypants command TO Jesus
1 name repeated
1 NECESSARY THING
1 rebuke
1 CHOICE

For us, one listen, one necessary thing and one choice.

The man in this story lives forever.  Even not-yet Christians are familiar with the concept of being a "Good Samaritan".  It means to render aid to someone who you do not have a relationship of obligation.  In my country, we even have LAWS to protect and encourage such acts of compassion.

So, where did we get such notions?  Luke chapter ten.  We have two who certainly leaned toward having an obligation: A Priest and a Levite.  Both see, go to the other side, and pass by.

See what?  A man robbed of everything:  his clothes, money, property, emotional security, and even his health. 

So it is this really bad, journeying foreigner, who does it right.  He sees, has compassion, and then proves with care, transportation, shelter, and provision.  What caught my eye this reading was the amount of TIME the Samaritan spends personally caring for the left-for-dead man.  By my calculations, between 15 and 30 hours.  

The personal applications just drip off this page.  Welcome and please listen.

A bible-expert comes to test Jesus.  Obviously this is a dangerous thing.

He demonstrates a great knowledge of the Old Testament and in a sense is able to summarize and cut to the heart of it.  Jesus turns his question about ETERNAL LIFE back to him.  The most startling thing is that this guy GETS THE ANSWER RIGHT.  Think about this:

• he knows the Old Testament
• he out of the 1000 pages, finds 2 verses that really get the answer right
• he accurately quotes them in front of people

But then, he doesn't have the wisdom to shut up and wants to go ROUND TWO with Jesus.  He also wants to know, and probably limit to whom those duties are owed.  I think he's in a search for NON Neighbors.  It even tells us his bad motivation that we too are drippingly guilty of:  trying to JUSTIFY OURSELVES.  Listen.

Half way thru this little section, Jesus stops in a meta-moment and basically says to the disciples, "This is the GOOD STUFF.  I am giving you GOLD right now.  This is a treasure.  What you see and what you hear has been longed for for centuries, and you are getting it at this very moment".

I hope they took a deep breath in appreciation that, "their butts were in the buttertub" of spiritual history.  The Old Testament is kind of a TREASURE MAP.  The New Testament is what is buried beneath the "X". 

Therefore, with the Old Testament, we too get the treasure map and the clues and the fragments and the shadows.  And, with the New Testament, we too get the treasure of Jesus and His works.  Shortly, we find out about the Holy Spirit and His job of continual-treasure-revealing.  So, OUR BUTTS are also in the buttertub of revelation.

Listen and let's TREASURE(verb) the TREASURE(noun) that is this Father, Son and Spirit.