(Chapter 1 from WHO IS THIS GUY? and What Have You Done with My Sweet Savior?)

“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” — Luke 7:34

I have to admit that for most of my life, or at least as far back as I can remember, there has been a word, or more often a phrase, almost constant in my vocabulary (spoken or unspoken). It pops into my head when someone cuts me off in traffic, when someone is rude to me or another person, or when someone’s words or actions are oddly out of order from what to me is normal behavior.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the person is a bad person. It refers to a person who is acting badly—selfish, inconsiderate, disrespectful, mean-spirited, vindictive, using coarse language, or even just acting silly—and I think, What a Jerk!

The definition of the word jerk in the New Oxford American Dictionary is “a contemptibly obnoxious person with its root in the idea of a person who is jerking someone around or who deals with others dishonestly or unfairly.”

As a person who regularly probes the Bible as a source of guidance and truth for my life, I enjoy digging into certain topics to see what Scripture has to say about issues pertaining to my life and the world around me. Not surprisingly, when I looked, I could not find the word jerk in any translation of the Bible. What I did find was an interesting word that is one of the few words most of the major Bible translations don’t bother to translate: raca.

While reading through the gospels, on numerous occasions the above-mentioned phrase has popped into my head: What a jerk! Feeling my face flush with embarrassment, I move on. For the thought was not directed toward the words and behavior of the Pharisees who through their hypocrisy sought to trap Jesus, or to the Jewish people who turned away from Jesus, or to the dim disciples who would regularly miss the point of a teaching from Jesus, but for the words and actions of Jesus himself.

Wait a minute! Did I just call Jesus a jerk? Even as I’m thinking it I can feel the wrath of all Christendom bearing down on me.

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When we rush to the door, who is it we expect to find?

Continuing with Jesus’ parable of The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant in Luke 12, we come to verse 41. Here, Peter interjects a question. It seems pretty benign and an easy one to just skim past.

As a writer writing dialogue, I will occasionally use what I call, “Throw away lines”. This is dialogue that doesn’t give much information but just keeps the exchange between characters more interactive or it will que one character to give more information. I’ve been mistaken many times to treat certain lines in the Bible as throw-away lines without a lot of meaning. This is one of them.

Peter asks, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?” Honestly, it seems kind of a lame question. Like some others the Disciples ask, Jesus seems to almost ignore it and just continues to teach. Right? I mean the simple answer would be for Jesus to respond either “It’s for you” or “It’s not for you but for them.”

But what is Peter asking? He is actually trying to get clarification and to make a point. Saying – If you are talking to us, Jesus, we are right here. We have given all up to serve and to follow you. Where you go, we will go so certainly you are not talking to your Disciples. They are not yet understanding the part about Jesus going away.

So, Jesus actually directly responds to the question. He moves the object of the teaching from a mere servant/slave (Doulos) to a Steward (Oikonomosthe) still a servant but a manager of household affairs. Jesus is recognizing the Disciples as leaders of the church.

Peter refers to Jesus’ teaching as a Parable (Parabole) – where we get the word Parabola – a geometric curve that is identical on either side. The parable is considered “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning” but at its core it refers to a placing of one thing by the side of another. Putting something juxtaposition to another for comparison. An example is 2 ships squaring off for a sea battle. Each ship can look at the other and determine where they stand as a fighting force. A Battleship would feel pretty good about itself if it was facing a Destroyer.

In Mark 4:30 Jesus asks, “And he said, whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison (Parabole) shall we compare it?”

When Jesus tells a parable, he is painting a picture and letting the listeners compare themselves to that picture. Or, it’s like looking in a mirror and gauging what’s in the reflection. I don’t know that it is a common phenomenon but now as I am getting older, when I look in the mirror, I believe I often mentally prepare myself and don’t see that I’ve changed all that much. I kind of see what I want to see. However, if I unexpectedly walk past a mirror and happen to notice myself, it can be a shock. Is that old, gray, fat guy really me? Continue reading →

In Luke 12 Jesus teaches a story which is often referred to as The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant

Luke 12:35-47 reads “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

“Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?” And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.

But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.”

These scriptures are teachings about “being ready”. Honestly, when I have read these verses or when I have heard them taught I’m often left feeling a sense of anxiety and dread. I don’t think I am alone in that feeling.

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A Saturday Morning Men’s Prayer Story

The silent alarm in my head sounds. I open my eyes and the room is dark. Squinting over at the small, dim green light, the alarm clock shows 6:42am. Ahhh! It’s too late to make the effort to go. But, a voice in my head responds, “No, it’s not.” Alright then, I just don’t want to go. I don’t want to go! I simply don’t want to go! In the words of Tommy Boy, “Me want sleepy!” Soooo much easier on a cold, dark Saturday morning to roll over and just nestle in.

The men’s prayer group has been meeting for most every Saturday morning for over 20 years. I have had the privilege of seeing God do crazy, amazing things among the bleary-eyed, stubble-faced, tussled hair of pre-dawn prayer refugees. Meetings where guys consistently walk out healed, restored and refreshed. Many of the players have changed over the years but someone had always picked up the mantle to keep it going. Guys like Pete and Jim and Dan and Hal were now holding down the fort.

Why do these guys do it? Because these guys who drag themselves out of bed are always satisfied by a God that is a rewarder of those that make the effort to seek Him. And 6am on a Saturday morning is truly making an effort.

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