Today’s reading is Luke 9:1-10:48.

Before we get to the reading, I have had computer trouble over the weekend. For some reason, Friday’s post didn’t get published then. I just now got it to publish properly. So, if you have subscribed via e-mail, you have received two posts today. Sorry about that. Additionally, because my Macbook crashed over the weekend (which I thought was never supposed to happen) and I was traveling, I was unable to even do yesterday’s post. Sorry about that as well. But hopefully we’re back on track today. On to the reading.

Cornelius caught my attention today. As Luke was striving to explain why God chose Cornelius to be the first Gentile convert, he let’s us know what a good and God-seeking man he was. God chose Cornelius because Cornelius was already trying to find God. The text says Cornelius was “a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God” (Acts 10:2). Of course, I see the devotion, the fear of God, and the praying. What really caught my attention was the giving of alms to the people. Because I believe the church is a spiritual organization and not a social welfare organization, I often miss the passages that talk about being generous with material goods to other people. Of course, folks who view the church as a social welfare organization often miss these passages too. After all, they dropped a fiver in the collection plate on Sunday, they’ve done their part.

Yet, here it is. How did Luke know Cornelius was a man looking for God? Partly because he was giving his money away to others in need. If I’m right, it is not the local church’s job to provide social welfare. However, generosity to those in need (whether brethren or otherwise) is something someone who is actually seeking God will do naturally. He didn’t give his money to a church and let the church dole it out. He didn’t give it to the synagogue. He gave it to the people.

Apparently, if I want to be like Cornelius, a devout man, seeking God, then generosity to those in need should be on my short list of things to do today. This is not a matter of evangelism. It is not a means of giving someone a handout in hopes of getting a Bible study. No, it is a matter of caring about people. When God has blessed me financially, I need to use that to be a blessing to others.

What kinds of things can we do? Well, there’s Haiti, of course. There’s the homeless and indigent. There are numerous charities and organizations that could use time and money. There’s the neighbor, friend, family member, co-worker, brother or sister in Christ who has fallen on hard times. There are plenty of opportunities for us to be generous to the people. I need to start looking for them.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 15:1-16:31.

I am once again reminded of the compassion God has given me and of the compassion I need to have for others.

For a long time, I’ve been enamored with the concept of “tough love.” Basically, what I thought that meant was if someone made their own bed, they had to lie in it. Sure, if someone through no fault of their own had a hard time in some area, emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, spiritually, then I would be there to help them out of their tight spot. That is, of course, the loving thing to do. However, if their trouble was in their own doing, my job was to be like wisdom in Proverbs 1:26, and laugh at their calamity. 

But then here is this story about a father and two brothers. This prodigal made his bed. He demanded his inheritance before the time. He wasted it on profligate living. He destroyed his own life. He comes back to his father. Will the father show tough love? Will he tell the son to pull himself up by the bootstraps and get out of his own mess he so willingly made? Will he accepts the son’s idea of being a servant and working his way out of it? That’s kind of an intermediate idea. “You have to work your way out of it, but I’ll help you get a job.” No. The father does none of these things. The father just shows love. He accepts the son back as his son. He shows mercy and grace.

The older brother, on the other hand, is livid. He’s all for tough love. “This son of yours” he calls the brother. He doesn’t deserve this. But of course not. If he deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy and grace, would it? “He made his own bed. If he had been more like me, this wouldn’t have happened.”

I get two things out of this. I’m reminded that I am the prodigal. I’m not the son who stayed with the father the whole time (though, I think the older brother was not being honest with himself when he tried to claim he had always done what the father wanted, but that is another post). I’m the son who went into the far country, looking for meaning and fulfillment elsewhere. However, I never found it. Instead, I found things that left me broken and empty. I was eating pods with the pigs. I too came back to the Father with the idea that I could somehow be His servant, earning my keep. Then perhaps someday I could work my way up and deserve His love again…maybe. But, instead of demanding I earn my keep, He brought out the fattened calf and celebrated with me. He put a robe on my back and a ring on my finger and, because of His love, declared me His son. Wow! I needed that.

The second thing is I need to recognize that same thing with others. I’m a returning prodigal who has been shown mercy, grace and love. How can I show anything less to the other returning prodigals? Of course, I should not enable anyone to live in sin or continue with prodigal living. I should not be a codependent rescuer. That would be participating in their sin (Ephesians 5:11). If we keep the phrase “tough love” to mean we stay lovingly detached from those who want to stay in their problems and establish boundaries for our continued aid, then okay. But withholding mercy, grace, and aid from those who penitently seek it is not tough love. It is not love at all. We’ve all made our beds. If our Father forced us to lie in them, where would we be? If we do the same to our fellow returning prodigals, where would they be? 

I am reminded of two things today. I have been shown great mercy. I need to also be merciful.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC