The Essential Light of the Word of God for the Whole of Our Journey

 

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” –verse 105

 

Sure it’s easy to say we believe this verse but do we really?

 

A light on a path is essential to the well-being of the traveler and to keep her/him going in the intended direction.  A dark path can be full of obstacles to bump into or holes to fall into.  It can be painful, even dangerous trying to walk down a dark path without a light.  It is also impossible to gauge if you are still moving in the intended direction.  It is easy to get sidetracked down a little side trail and not realize you’ve gotten off the path until sometime later.

 

But do we really believe that God’s Word is the light to our path?  What path?  Must this not be the path of life?  The Psalmist has spoken of the all-encompassing Word of God that is worthy of the complete focus of his life.

 

All too often, I fear we miss the point of this verse.  We see the path as only a part of our journey.  When in crisis perhaps – then we turn to God and His Word for solace.  When we feel a sense of the rightness or a sense of duty to get a little spirituality into our life – then we seek God in His Word.  When we need something – then we seek God in His Word.  When it’s convenient and we have time or little else to do – then we seek God in His Word.  We should learn to thank God for times like these.  Because at times like these we see the darkness of the path we are on and recognize the need for light.

 

But having said that we must also realize that to view this path as only part of the journey of life is to miss the key point:  my life is a dark path and the only way to live safely and be sure I am headed in the intended direction is to focus my entire life upon seeking God in His Word.

 

God’s Word is not just God’s gift for spiritual reading on Sunday.  God’s Word is not just something to provide solace to the sick or God-thoughts for funerals.  God’s Word is not just the resource of the holy man, priest or minister.  God’s Word is light to illumine the path of one’s entire life.

 

The light shows the way.  To the extent that we don’t use the light is the extent to which we put ourselves in danger and risk getting off the path, moving away from God and turning towards eternity lived apart from God.

 

What foolish people we often are!  We stumble blindly down the path of life, bumping painfully into obstacles, getting side-tracked into the thorny thickets, drawing sometimes closer but often further away from God – all the while holding in our hands a flashlight that is fully functional, but switched off!

 

Dear reader, pick up God’s Word.  Turn on the light of your life!  Commit your way to a course of daily study, reading, and meditation.  Seek input and teaching from the Word.  Learn to know God’s presence speaking to you through the Word.  Practice the disciplines that open your life more fully up to the Word.  Build your weekly routine around meeting with the Lord of the Universe (what more could you possibly have to do that is more important than that?)   Make decisions about what to do and how to do things based upon whether or not it enhances your receiving from God in His Word.  Seek guidance for choices, morality and wisdom from God’s Word.  Respond to God’s Word – make it your life’s ambition to hear it, know it, and obey it – really!  This is not drudgery or constriction.  This is true freedom to soar – to be all that God would have you be, all that you were created to be:  to live in peace with the flow of God’s Spirit (versus trying to swim upstream).  This is the way of Divine favor and blessing.  This is the way to fullness of life – satisfaction, real joy and meaning.  Turn on your light, dear reader!  Pick up and read God’s Word!

 

Turn on your light, O my soul!  O God, help me to set my way, moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, season by season according to Your Word.  Let Your will be done to me, in me and through me according to Your Word! 

 

Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."  Luke 1:38 NRSV

Devotional: the Way of Abundant Living Found in Psalm 119

The following is an excerpt from my devotional on Psalm 119 entitled "The Way of Abundant Living".  It came from my own personal devotions and reflecting on these verses.  May it be a blessing to you.  I encourage you to read it slowly, not all in one sitting.  

 

Ø Opening: 

Take a few moments to just sit and be.  In the quiet stillness seek the presence of the Lord.  Ask Him to lead you and cause you to cling to His Word.  In what ways do you need to be clinging to God through His Word in your life right now?  Pray about these and then begin.

Ø Encounter:  

Psalm 119   The Hebrew Letter – Daleth

25 I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life according to your word.

26 I recounted my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees.

27 Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;  then I will meditate on your wonders.

28 My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.\

29 Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law.

30 I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws.

31 I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD; do not let me be put to shame.

32 I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.

Transformation Through Clinging to the Word

The Hebrew verb meaning “to cling” is present both in verses 25 and 31.1  The Psalmist is clinging both to the dust (v.25) and to the Word (v.31).  The dust here could either be the dust of mourning or an image of poor health.  Whichever it is, the Psalmist perceives that the Word of God has restorative power.  When we, in our mortal bodies, cling with our souls to that which is eternal – God’s Word – we can know the saving, reviving, life-giving force of the Word of God.  Like a life-preserver in a sea of mortality and sin, God’s word lifts us up to eternal life and blameless living.  Cling to that which lasts forever and as we are transformed, we too become buoyant to last forever!  It is not just that we cling to the Word which is buoyant with the holiness of eternity.  As we cling through diligent attention to the Word, we are inherently changed to become increasingly the substance of eternity:  holy and eternal – like God!  The Holy Spirit through the Word changes us to become buoyant on the sea of mortality and sin.

There is also comfort to be found even when one is “in the dust of mourning.”  In time of grief there is a solace and comfort to be found in God’s Word.  Knowing the inner thoughts of God (v.26), the mind of Christ2, where love exceeds our ability to imagine, whose power and wisdom are infinite – to begin to realize the vast scope of eternity, where this loving sovereign God who has spoken is taking us, can give us hope in grief, comfort in sorrow, and even joy in affliction. His Word assures us that He will make everything right in the end and wipe away every tear from our eyes (see Revelation 7:17).  Even the longest grief in this lifetime is but a drop in the bucket of eternity which will be spent in the joy of His Presence.  This provides solace and hope not just for tomorrow but also now, knowing that He is even now (although in sometimes hidden and mysterious ways) working His purposes to a glorious end.  Eternity, then, is unfolding within us and enfolding our lives with what Dallas Willard has called ‘the eternal kind of life now’.  Through clinging to the Word of God in the Scriptures we discover the eternal kind of life now and even begin living it!

It is Not a One Time Choice

We need to be continually choosing the way as the Psalmist does (in this octave of verses see v.26, 27, and 30).  To stay on this path requires constant cooperative vigilance.  Temptations lure and beckon to us at every turn.  Our self-centered inner passions and old habits don’t give up easily -- without a fight.

We cannot assume that because once, some time ago, we chose the path that we are still on it.  To stay on this path of abundant obedience requires a constant choice to reject the world’s ways and embrace His ways.

C.S. Lewis observed this point well as it relates to our day-in-day-out living:

“The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it.  It comes the very moment you wake up each morning.  All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.  And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.  And so on, all day.”  

So, too, we must not assume that we understand.  The Psalmist is constantly seeking to be taught – asking the Master Teacher for instruction.  As our Teacher and Lord instructs, the mind is freshly filled with images of heavenly and spiritual delights that enliven all that we see and know in the world with the reality of God’s kingdom which is all around.  So, with fresh understanding, we come to know the deeper realities of God and His hand upon us and at work in our lives and in the world around us.  Our whole being is drawn to God’s reality in deep and profound meditation.  The meditation draws us not further from reality into our secluded prayer closet, but it draws us to all of God’s reality through the entryway of our prayer closet.  Our time of solitude leads us to see the world afresh from God’s perspective.  The prayer closet then becomes the door through which we enter the world to behold it as it really is.  It is not that in meditation we withdraw from the world to not see it; it is that we are drawn through meditation into the world to see things as they truly are – we see the deep, real, inner substance of things as God sees them.

The Way of Transformation

The way of transformation is exemplified in verse 29.  The Psalmist allows his mind to be aware of sin.  Times of quiet, prayerful meditation will bring self-awareness.  We may become distracted with thoughts in the silence but through turning those over to God, we can ask Him to show us ourselves.  I constantly need to ask Him to show me what this distraction that has come to my mind reveals about my true self.

When we lay the sin that is within us before Him with petition and prayer and we see in this area of our life the new way of living that God’s Word affords, we can know His transformation.  Here God’s Word is truth (v.29-30).  God speaks only truth.  Satan is the Father of Lies.  We know God in His Word to be loving and powerful – caring for us and always speaking truth.  He wants us to be like Him.  Being in this state of knowing leaves no room for opaque living, for deception, or for outright lies.

God’s word illumines the path to be one of honest integrity.  This is how to live.  This Godly kind of truthful living is only possible through God.  It is a God-given gift.  Such honest living is possible for us, because with God all things are possible.  He wants to change us and wants us to be like Him.

So, the Psalmist is aware of his sin, acknowledges/confesses it, sees how it can cause him to stray from the path of a life directed in God’s way and he humbly prays for God’s transforming power to remove the sinful way from Him.

The eagerness to follow grows as we are on the road of God’s commandments (v.32).  Eagerness can lead us to run forward.  The seasons of running in God will require increased strength – an enlarged heart.  It is a strengthening that God gives – this is training in godliness that keeps us in His word – a place where we put ourselves to allow Him to transform us.  This training yields fruit not as earthly training but in a supernatural way as God meets us in our inner person and changes the very nature of who we are.  Who we are, then grows to be increasingly into the one who He intends for us to be:  a person made of the substance of eternity who is joyfully, cooperatively vigilant, who is vitally more alive than ever with an increased awareness of all of creation.  Our awareness is heightened in seeing the persons around us as God sees them, also by seeing His hand at work and even by seeing God Himself.  This is the destiny of everyone on this path, and it is something that even angels cannot share (I Peter 1:12).

Ø Interface:

Understand –

(1)   What is meant by the “buoyancy” of God’s Word?  What effect does clinging to the Word have on us?

(2)   How is the Word of God a comfort in grief?

(3)   Why can’t we assume that we are still on the abundant-obedient path if we were once sometime in the past?

(4)   How does meditation relate to the world?

(5)   Why is truthfulness necessarily a part of being on God’s path for living?

(6)   What is described about how to approach sin here?

Embrace –

(7)   What might be involved in “clinging” to God’s Word?  What might it look like in your life?

(8)   How would your life be different today if you were more “cooperatively vigilant”?

(9)   Why is humility necessary for meditation?  What pride in your life right now might be keeping you from meditation on God’s Word and His Truths?

Choose –

q  What sins has the Lord been making you aware of in your life as a result of this study?  How might you apply this week’s reflection and study to this area of your life?  Consider taking the awareness of the sin and laying it before the Lord in prayer.  Then as you pray, remember the Lord is with you, as if seated next to you.  Ask Him to give you a vision of what your life would be like if you were freed from those sins.  Consider how “truthful living” by clinging to God’s Word in that area of your life puts you in a place to experience Him transforming you.

Know –

q  Re-read the quote from C.S. Lewis.  What “wild animals” rush at you each morning?  Consider committing yourself to begin each day as Lewis describes.  Try beginning each new day this week by memorizing and reciting verse 27 of Psalm 119 to yourself as a way to focus your attention on listening to that other voice.  Pray to find God’s point of view for your life each day from the start.  At the end of the week evaluate.   Was this helpful?  If so, in what ways might you continue this practice?

---

1 The NRSV brings this out:  “25 My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to your word.

 31 I cling to your decrees, O LORD; let me not be put to shame.”

2 I Corinthians 2:16 says:  “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?  But we have the mind of Christ.”

Wise New Year's Resolutions Inspired by John Chapter 1

 

Wise New Year’s Resolutions

The Gospel of John Chapter One provides wisdom for the new year.

Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions yet?  Someone has said that New Year’s Resolutions tend to go in one year and out the other.  And there are several that are common ones that many people make each year such as losing weight or quitting smoking.

Here are a few unique New Year’s Resolutions I found on the internet, perhaps you’d like to give one of these a try this year:  *Spend less than $1825 for coffee at Starbucks this year.  Someone’s New Year’s Resolution was: *1080 dots per inch.  Another one was one word:  *“Sleep”.  *One person said that they resolved to read more – so they got started right away by turning on closed captioning on their TV.  And one ingenious person wrote this one:  *”Protect my internet accounts by outsmarting hackers – change my username to ‘password’ and my password to ‘username’”. 

Then there is the Reader’s Digest cartoon that depicts a homeless man on the street.  He is wearing a disheveled white shirt and ragged tie begging for money.  His sign says, “I hit reply all.”  The New Year’s resolution that went with this was “double check all emails before I send them.”

Actually a few years ago, I found the following to be the most humorous website of all about New Year’s Resolutions, though it is not intended to be funny.  At the top of the webpage it said, “These New Year’s Resolutions are popular year after year.  Find resources to help you achieve your goals.”  And then below, it listed typical resolutions, such as lose weight, drink less alcohol and manage debt.  And you can click on these to get helpful advice and tips from the experts that maintain this sight to help you actually do what you intend and keep your New Year’s Resolution.

I clicked on the link that said “Manage Debt”.  Under that heading it begins by saying the following: “The first step toward taking control of your financial situation is to do a realistic assessment of how much money you take in and how much money you spend.”  What had me dumbfounded however was to consider the source for this site from which such advice was being given.  I found that at: www.usa.gov and it is run by our federal government.   I am not sure if they still have this post up or not.  As I write this the debt clock stands at over 36 Trillion dollars, with annual Tax Revenues at 5.1 Trillion per year.  The national debt comes to over $271,00 per taxpayer.  I find myself wishing our government could follow their own advice!  And I wondered if they had done so, if they might have considered spending tax dollars to run such a webpage a necessary expenditure.

Well, we find ourselves in a culture that is quick to move on from Christmas now, to New Year’s Resolutions and there are Valentine’s Day items in the stores already.  But the church savors the celebration of Christ’s Incarnation for 12 days, until Epiphany on January 6.  And so it is appropriate to explore the wonders of the incarnation as John describes it in the first chapter of his gospel -- though we will find in these profound words of Scripture, relevant help in considering our New Year’s resolutions for the year to come.

John in this passage refers to Jesus Christ as the Word of God.  And much is usually made of how this Greek word, logos was understood in the Greek philosophy.  It refers to a Divine Universal Reason.  But what I want to consider here is the Hebrew understanding of this word.  For there were, at the time of John’s writing this gospel, Greek-speaking Jews.  And John begins his gospel in such a way to command their attention.  “In the beginning…”  This is of course how the first book of the Bible begins in Genesis as God creates the world.

Logos in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament, has a very interesting usage.  In our modern English speaking world, we tend to think of a “word” as something that communicates meaning, an idea.  We hear it as a noun, as information, as a concept.  But for the Jews, the term word meant more – it was active.  It conveyed a sense of movement and action.  For God’s word spoken in Genesis did more than communicate information, God’s word spoken created.  “And God said, let there be light…and it was so.”

At several points in the Scriptures the logos of God was used to speak of God’s wisdom.  God’s logos, was not just a term that meant communicating information, it was a term that spoke about how to use information wisely, to live a good life.

In the Bible, the Logos of God not only accomplished the acts of creation, the Logos of God delivered His people at many points in their history, and the Logos of God brought righteous judgment.  The Logos of God came upon the prophets such as Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Isaiah giving them understanding.  The Logos of God brought wisdom.  In Proverbs chapter 8 wisdom is personified in a way very reminiscent of John 1, saying, “The Lord brought me forth…I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began….I at his side….rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in humanity.”

Thus, for the Greek speaking Jews the Word of God, the Logos of God, had the connotation of God’s wisdom, personified and active among His people.  In John 1:1-18 this term Logos or Word is applied to the eternal Son of God, the Word was with God – thus the Word was separate and distinct from God.  Yet, at the same time, the Word was God.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word of God, becomes flesh and most certainly reveals to us Who God is – what His nature is – the Word becoming flesh does convey information.  But also, the concept of Word conveys action, meaning that the Word of God came not only so that we would know information about God, but that we could know God, even experience God.  The Word of God came not merely to give us information but to lead us and give us the wisdom to live life to the fullest with the information we have.  The Word came not merely to inform but to transform. 

And this challenges us, doesn’t it?  It is so easy for us to fall into the habit of our culture to focus on information.  Our educational system is built around conveying information to students who are expected to memorize the information.  There is so little emphasis given in our schools or in our culture about how to use the information wisely.

I think of the glaring example of this described in the book, Finding God at Harvard, by Kelly Monroe.  It describes a student making straight “A’s” in his ethics class at Harvard, who then precedes to treat the woman who cleaned his dorm room inhumanely, eventually raping her.  He knew the information about ethics, but he had not used that information to live an ethical life.  He lacked wisdom.  You can get straight “A’s” in school and flunk life.  The church should be the place to help parents teach godly wisdom and character to the youth and children.

And yet how easy it is for us to focus only on the information conveyed in the Incarnation.  We can easily focus only on how Jesus shows us who God is.  But the Word of God came not merely to inform but also to transform and impact our lives.

He came to be at our side – to accompany us upon life’s journey – to celebrate our joys with us, and comfort us in times of difficulty.  The incarnation happening as it did in a smelly barn with animals all around means that our God is not off in a remote ivory tower, but instead is willing to get dirty and come down into the mess with us and walk through whatever we face at our side.

We will never fully comprehend the co-eternal, Living and Active Word of God – but it is not an understanding of the incarnation that we need, we need to receive the Word of God, welcome Him into our lives.   John tells us that to all Who receive Him, He gave power to become children of God.  What a promise!  To be adopted into God’s family, as His children.  What a blessing to focus on in the coming new year.  Might we find in this scripture from John 1 some wonderful inspiration for our New Year’s Resolutions for 2025?

I offer you two great examples:  Matthew Henry is known for his massive multi-volume commentary on the entire Bible.  And he was pondering once, the significance of the New Year, and wrote this in his journal on January 1^st, 1705: “Not renouncing, but repeating and ratifying all my former covenants with God, and lamenting it, that I have not lived up more closely to them; I do in the beginning of this New Year solemnly make a fresh surrender of myself, my whole self, body, soul, and spirit, to God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, my Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, covenanting and promising, not in any strength of my own, for I am very weak, but in the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, that I will endeavor this year to stand complete in all the Will of God.”

A fresh surrender of the self to God is a great New Year’s Resolution – a great way to seek to know and follow the Living and Active Word of God at your side.

And the second example comes from the writings of 20^th century pastor and theologian, A.W. Tozer, 20^th who said this:  “If you ask God to give you a special message for the opening year, one that will be made seasonable and real in every exigency of unknown future, you will be surprised how faithfully He will fulfill His Word, and how fittingly the Holy Spirit will speak to you of things to come, and anticipate the real needs and exigencies of your life.”

Tozer encourages us to ask God for a special message – something that is unique to your needs and situation.  What would God say to you about your life in the coming year as we are about to launch into 2025?   What word does the Living and Active Word have for you?

I encourage you to pause now for a few moments now, and in the quietness of your heart, pray and ask God for just such a special message for your life.  I remind you that the Holy Spirit is within you.   He is with you.  Ask Him what He wants to say to you about your life in 2025 and then listen, and in the stillness notice what comes to your mind.  Come Holy Spirit.

* * * * * *

The Living and Active Word of God became flesh, coming down to earth, bringing us the wisdom of heaven to enlighten our lives and allow us to experience the Presence of God with us on life’s journey.  It is an incomprehensible mystery – and yet offers practical application for our lives.

Through the ages the words of the Scripture, of John the Apostle, come down to us this day inviting us to receive into our lives the incarnate Word of God.  Will you receive Him by offering a fresh surrender of your life, as you seek His Active wisdom in your life listening for His word for you for 2025?  For nothing less than the blessing of knowing that you are a child of God, knowing that you have Word-Who-became-flesh at your side awaits you!  May the wonder of that truth fill us with thankfulness and joy at the beginning of 2025 and the whole year through.

To Him be the Honor Glory Power and Praise Now and Forever.  AMEN.

This post was adapted from a sermon preached at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Gladstone, NJ, on December 29, 2024.  You can watch the video on St. Luke’s Gladstone’s YouTube channel.

Discerning God's Call in Things that are Hard to Understand

 This sermon was delivered on a Sunday when the lectionary brought up a very difficult reading from Luke 16:1-13 and we had two baptisms with many visitors!  

Discerning God’s Call in Things that are Hard to Understand

Luke 16:1-13                           Sept 21, 2025                                      by Kent Walley

 

Why did Jesus teach in parables?  Do you know?

 

Most people would say: to explain things to help us understand God and His Kingdom here from earth.  I, myself, once thought that.

 

And indeed, the parables are relatable, using everyday situations to talk about the kingdom of God.   But Jesus doesn't use parables to make things plain to us.

 

Here is His startling statement in Mark 4:11-12:

"Jesus said to His disciples, 'To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.'"

 

Did you catch that?  In the Gospel of Mark chapter 4, Jesus says He teaches in parables so that people would NOT understand!!!

 

What?  Why would Jesus say something so that people would not understand?  Why confuse people?

 

There was a time in my life where I sat pondering that question for a long time.  Why would Jesus teach so that people would NOT understand?  Why bother saying anything if you don't want them to understand?

 

He explains the parables to His disciples but not to the crowds.  It is like an open secret.  He puts it out there for everyone.  And everyone is confused, but then the disciples come to Him, and ask Him to explain.  Some who listened, sought Jesus out afterward seeking to understand.  Jesus explains the meaning TO THEM.   He says that the secret of the Kingdom is given to them.  And so why tell a parable so that the crowds would not understand?

 

Do you see it?  Jesus wants people to stay after class.  He wants people to come to Him and ask Him to explain it.  Jesus' parables get us thinking, wondering, pondering so that we will be prompted to come to Him and ask.  Not everyone is ready to listen.  Not everyone is truly interested, but for those who are, the parables are like bait, meant to lure in those who would genuinely seek God in their life.  The difficult and confusing parables are actually an invitation to come to Jesus and get to know Him personally.

 

And so, we have before us today one of the hardest parables to understand.  And as we look at it together, let us keep in the back of our minds what Jesus said about why He taught in parables.

 

Let your questions, your concerns, perhaps even your discomfort this morning, lead you to stay after class, like the disciples did, let this parable lead you to pray to ask Jesus for understanding, and in doing so grow into a deeper relationship with Him which will abundantly bless your life.

 

That being said, I want to be sure you understand that I did not select this passage to be read today.  We follow a lectionary, a reading cycle and this is the gospel passage appointed for today.

 

I really do wonder sometimes what the people who put together our lectionary were thinking?

 

Here we are in the Fall.  It is a fresh start.  People are coming back from being away in the summer.  They are reconnecting with their church and then in September we read this!??

 

And what a great reading for a Sunday when we have lots of visitors for baptisms!

 

If you are a visitor, please know that we really do not always talk about money in this church!

 

Though it is remarkable how often Jesus does!  We tend to forget that.

 

So let us seek Jesus this morning --to open our minds --to hear a word from Him for each of us in this parable.

 

Jesus tells us that a manger was squandering His master's resources.  It could be that He was just inept.  Maybe, but others think that what Jesus means is that this manager was padding his own expense account, taking advantage of his position to cheat, inflating the prices his master's customers were being charged, so that he could keep the extra money for himself.  Jesus describes him as unjust.

 

He was getting up every day and cheating and squandering and getting away with it.  Day in and day out there were no consequences for his actions.  It seems that this must have gone on for a long time.  Until one day, there came that critical moment where everything in his life changed.  Someone found out and told his master.  And he was held to account for his actions.

 

The master calls him in, confronts him, and then fires him.   

 

So, to ingratiate himself to others with the hope that they will help him after he has lost his job, he calls them in one by one and reduces their bills.

 

Some think that he is just using his position one last time to cut what they owe the master.  This would be undercutting his master.  But if that is what he is doing, why would the master praise him?  For when the master finds out what he has done, he commends him for acting shrewdly.

 

More probably the manager is cutting his own, overly inflated, commission that he has been adding to the bills.  He is cutting the overhead.  This not only could earn him favor with the customers, but it would also make his master's rates more competitive.  So, his master looks better, and he wins favor with the customers.  Smart.  And master commends him.

 

Then Jesus says, "I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes..."

 

Here is yet another puzzling statement of Jesus.  It makes you want to look at it again and be sure you are reading that correctly.  I don't think I am being controversial in saying that I don't believe Jesus is commending being dishonest here.  With all we know about Jesus, could we really believe that He would mean that?

 

So, what is Jesus really saying?  Perhaps as some think, Jesus is using irony.   He is saying something like: “Sure try that, make dishonest wealth and use that to bribe and ingratiate yourselves to others.  Then, when your life ends, they will welcome you into their eternal kingdom.  Oh, wait a minute.  They don’t have an eternal kingdom, only God does…uh oh.”

 

In other words, think!  Think about who you really want to ingratiate yourself toward.  You might get fired on earth, but you don't want to be fired by God!  Fired by God!  That sounds like hell fire and brimstone.  You don’t want to be let go – by God… That doesn’t sound any more pleasant.  We certainly don’t want to be let go from heaven!

 

I am having some fun with the words here, but Jesus is actually making a very serious point.  Acting with self-centeredness while forgetting God in this life might seem to be desirable, profitable in the moment, but actually, it leads to ruin.  You can be dishonest.  You can cheat. You can use wealth to ingratiate yourself to others.  But God sees.

 

So don't be like the manager before he was caught...Think about consequences.  Think about what you are doing with the resources God has entrusted you with.  How are you using them not just for yourself, but to honor God and bless others?

 

Darrell Bock in the IVP commentary writes about this passage:

"People of this world think about how they use their resources.  Even if they misuse them, they still give it thought.  They think about the long-term benefits of what they acquire.  Disciples should apply themselves to honor and serve God by their use of resources.  They should think through their actions, both short and long term."

 

Think about what God would want you to do with what you have...God who made you... Who gave you the opportunity... The ability... And created the resources... He gave you life itself!

How might you use what He has entrusted to you to give back to Him?

 

And Jesus is teaching us here to not serve wealth... Don't live thoughtlessly, impulsively focused on what you can get for yourself.

 

It is not a sin to be wealthy.  But Jesus warns us time again in the gospels about how dangerous money can be, because of the effect it can have on our hearts.  Bock in his commentary writes:

"Money is evil because of how it brings out distorted values in people.  Pursuing money can make people selfish, leading them to take advantage of others, to treat other people as objects and to be unfaithful to God.  It tends to reflect an excessive attachment to the world.  So, it is better not to be attached to the pursuit of wealth.  Possessions are a responsibility.  Their use is a test of character, values and stewardship.  The one who is faithful in little is also faithful in much."

 

You were made for a higher purpose than trying to use money and take advantage of others for your own ends.

 

Ultimately your heart can have only one focus.  What are you living for?  Jesus says at the end of this passage: you cannot serve two masters.  You cannot serve God and money.  Again, Jesus is not saying it is a sin to be wealthy.  But the question is: what are you focusing your life upon yourself, or God?  Jesus is really challenging us today just as Joshua challenged the Israelites after the Exodus when he said: Choose this day who you will serve!  May we respond as he did: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

 

How do you know if you are serving wealth?  How do you know if wealth has gotten too strong of a hold on your heart, on your life, on your focus?  One way to test your heart is to regularly practice giving your money away.  As Jesus said, there is a greater blessing in giving than in receiving.  Living open-handed before God, rather than close-fisted, or grabbing is one way to help reduce the hold money can have on our hearts.

 

As uncomfortable as this subject is, Jesus wants what is best for us.  He is speaking to us in love.

 

And why does talking about money make us so uncomfortable?  Might the subject touch something within us that we don’t want to have to deal with?

 

Jesus is telling us today, that just as people in the world who don’t care about God think carefully about their money and how to use it to get what they want – so the children of light, those who are seeking God should think carefully about who they are serving – what they are living for, and make deliberate choices to focus their lives upon God.

 

So as uncomfortable and difficult as this parable of Jesus is, maybe it wasn't such a bad reading for a baptismal Sunday after all.  Because this parable, in very real-life, down-to-earth, practical ways, challenges us to consider what we are living for.

 

Today, we are about to hear two families renounce self-centered living.  Self-centered living amounts to self-worship.  They are about to pledge that they renounce all sinful desires that draw us from the love of God.  Money can certainly lead us to desire things and do things that draw us away from the love of God.

 

And we are about to hear these parents and Godparents pledging to help these children learn to put Jesus first... to serve Him, to follow and obey Him as Lord.

 

And we are about to join them by pledging to support them and renewing our own baptismal covenant in which we promise in several ways not to live our lives serving ourselves, but to serve God first, above all else and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

 

The words of Jesus echo down through the centuries right here to us this morning, challenging us to think.  Think carefully about our lives and what we are really living for.  To live for self can seem like a good choice in the moment, but it ultimately leads us away from where we really want to go.  We were made for a higher purpose.  We were made to discover the blessings that come in giving, in serving, and loving God and our neighbors as ourselves. 

 

Jesus is among us this morning echoing the words of Joshua and saying to each of us: choose this day who you will serve.  Will join me in thinking carefully about what we are about to say, and meaning it from the bottom of your heart?  Will join me in letting this baptismal covenant be the way in which we answer Jesus by saying: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”?

 

To Him Be the Honor, Glory, Power, and Praise, Now and Forever.  AMEN.

 

A Homily for Peace

A Homily for Peace

Prayer Service                        Sept 17, 2025                                      by Kent Walley

The following homily was preached at our prayer service for peace held at St. Luke's Gladstone on September 17th in the wake of political violence and mass shootings.  You can always watch videos from our live worship on our YouTube channel.  Also you are welcome to visit our website www.stlukesgladstone.org.  

This will be short...I have 3 points

1. God is Love

That is what the scriptures tell us.  We read the 10 commandments tonight, but Jesus said all the commandments and scriptures could be summarized as love God with your all and love your neighbor as yourself.

 

Regardless of your party or your viewpoints on issues... Everyone must abhor violence, especially political violence.

 

In the quest for political power the nastiness and volume of the rhetoric has been turned up too high.  It provokes hate.

 

Reasoned disagreement may not make the headlines the way a vitriolic emotional statement will, but it is the way forward for liberty and democracy.  As Christians we need to follow the example of Christ and be an example of love in our world. 

 

And as the scriptures teach us: We should speak the truth to one another but with love.

 

Jesus said that to insult someone or to call someone a fool was just as much a sin, placing one in the dangers of the fires of hell, as to literally murder them.  Think about that for a moment considering what we regularly hear from our leaders.

 

We need to remember that every person, no matter how badly they are behaving or how wrong we think they are -- is a person created in the image of God and therefore worthy of dignity, love and respect.

 

As Christians we need to be people of love not of polemics, not political conquest.

 

2 Jesus said, those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

 

We need more humility.  We need people willing to listen to the other point of view and not just try to win the argument, but rather listen, and learn, and say I realize I could be wrong about this...because I am not perfect, not all-wise, and not all-knowing.

In other words: I am not God; therefore, I do still have much to learn and I could be wrong.

 

As Christians let us humble ourselves and listen to one another and especially listen for the voice and leading of God.

 

We need to be humble.

 

3. Prayer is essential.  There are voices in our culture speaking with disdain about the phrase “thoughts and prayers.”  They have a point.  To simply utter those words as a cliche and then do nothing and forget about it is not what love demands.

 

But we also have to be honest.  The problems in our country and in our world are so complex and there are such strong disagreements that they defy easy human solutions. 

 

For example, you could make all guns illegal tomorrow, but would such an extreme measure suddenly eliminate gun violence?  There would still be so many guns out there and these days, people can make their own guns with 3d printers.

 

That doesn't mean we shouldn't come together and talk and try to do more to keep guns out of the hands of those inclined to violence and who have mental health problems.

 

I am just using that as an example to say the solutions are not quite as simple as we often assume.  How do we solve the violence, the terrorism, unjustified aggression, and the many other problems in our polarized country and in our divided world?

 

All of our big complex problems should remind us that we need God.  We need Him for everything, but especially as we look at the challenges of this present moment.  Let us be wise and realize we need God to act and to lead us.

 

We need divine intervention.  We need the God of love to move in all of our hearts and bring us together to find real solutions, rather than fighting against one another.

 

God does move in amazing ways in answering our prayers.  I have seen it time and time again. Yes, we should take action... We should come together... But above all else

we should pray and call upon God to bring justice, freedom and peace to all, as well as comfort to those who mourn.

 

This moment in history makes it clearer than ever that we need 1) love, 2) humility, and 3) prayer.  May God help us to be examples of these to those around us.

 

We need the mercy of God.  So let us now go to Him in prayer, trusting God to be present to His people at this crucial moment is history.

 

Thank you for your presence here tonight.  And thank you for your prayers.