Continued according to plan. Of course there was a plan. It wasn't simply random travel and purpose. A plan: town after town, village after village, preaching God's kingdom, spreading the message. With the 12 and some women who'd been healed of various afflictions and illnesses.
Hadn't realized the wife of Herod's manager was with Jesus. Interesting. Women were Jesus' patrons/providers...for Jesus and the disciples. Many others joined them.
Story of the seeds and soils. Insight. Stories. Sower simply throws seed. Doesn't care where it lands. Could be seen as wasteful in some farming circles. Lavish in others. Foolish. EP: "The words, acts, intentions, creative happenings of God falling all over the place." Luke's gospel says that's the way the world is.
"God is present in the world sowing his seed, the seed thrown into every person's life into every situation, into every heart, into every nook and cranny of the universe."
Don't be misers of what you hear. We're not keeping secrets; we're telling them. We're not hiding things; we're bringing everything out into the open. Generosity begets generosity.
Obedience is thicker than blood.
Storm in the boat. "Why can't you trust me?"
Gerasene demoniac. Mob. They asked Jesus to leave-too much change, too fast, and they were scared.
Jairus and the woman with blood.
Galatians 4-6
As long as the heir is a minor--wonder what age that would have been in that time period.
Jesus came to redeem those of us who were kidnapped by the law. So now we're free to experience our rightful heritage. Child-heir-access to inheritance.
Abba-Aramaic. father, or daddy, or papa. Unprecedented intimacy with God. Suddenly we're free with God, no stiff protocals...combines intimacy with reverence. Intimacy is a freedom to share ourselves, to express ourselves, fearlessly in God's presence. We're free to be spontaneous and uninhibited.
Previously enslaved to so called gods.
Reduced to blunt, letter writing language out of sheer frustration. Tell me, how have you become so enamored with the law? Have you paid close attention to it? Birth by slave woman? Or by free woman?
Set free to live a free life. The moment any of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. "The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law."
"What matters most is something far more interior: faith expressed in love." Galatians 5:6
"Use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows."
"Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness.
Consequences of living selfishly: 5:19-21
Living God's way: affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity, a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people, loyal commitments. (Fruits of the Spirit)
Fruit is the result of an organic process.
Work out the implications of living this life of freedom. Don't compare yourselves with one another as if one were better and another worse. Each one is an original.
Nothing but the cross. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore them, saving critical comments for yourself. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed.
What a person plants, she/he will harvest. Decisions, attitudes, acts, prayers, thoughts, are seed.
6:12-13. Powerful words. "These people who are attempting to force the ways of circumcision on you have only one motive: They want an easy way to look good before others, lacking the courage to live by a faith that shares Christ's suffering and death. And their talk about the law is gas. They themselves don't keep the law! And they are highly selective in the laws they do observe. They only want you circumcised so they can boast of their success in recruiting you to their side. That is contemptible!"
What substitutes for the call to circumcision today?
It is not what you or I do; it is what God is doing, and God is creating a totally new, free life.
No comments:
Post a Comment