Be Still And Know

Luke 7:50 The woman in this story was almost certainly a prostitute. She had come to Jesus while he was visiting the home of a Pharisee called Simon, and had generously poured out an expensive perfume on Jesus, kissing his feet and wiping them with her hair. Simon the Pharisee saw this as a test case. If Jesus really was a prophet, he thought, he would identify this woman as a sinner and have nothing to do with her. But Jesus didn’t work like that. Jesus saw that the woman needed forgiveness and freely gave it to her. Jesus challenged Simon’s thinking by pointing out that when he had entered the house, Simon had neither kissed him nor washed his feet. However, this woman had gone to extraordinary lengths to welcome and honour Jesus. Jesus then told Simon a story: “A man loaned money to two people – 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he generously forgave them both, cancelling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that? Sim

Luke 7:35 John the Baptist and Jesus had very different personalities. John spent much of his time in the desert, well away from the main centres of population. He dressed in camel’s hair and ate locusts and wild honey. Many people concluded that he was possessed by a demon. On the other hand, Jesus spent his time with people - and often with the more unsavoury members of society. Far from keeping away from drink, Jesus acquired a reputation for partying with people. These two men could hardly have been more different, but both of them came in for scathing criticism. As a result, Jesus concluded that a person’s true wisdom could only be revealed by the way they lived. We all know many people, probably all very different from one another. That’s exactly the way it should be; I don’t believe God intended people to be pressed into the same mould. Individuality is a wonderful gift but what matters most is that, whatever way of life we have chosen, we live wisely. Wisdom was the major focus of the

Luke 7:22 John the Baptist was in prison when he sent his disciples to check out Jesus. He asked them to go and ask him whether he really was the Messiah or whether they should be looking for someone else. John had prepared the way for Jesus’ coming by telling the people that the Messiah would judge people severely. He preached that the Messiah would “clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire” (Luke 3:17). Perhaps John was surprised that Jesus didn’t seem to be preaching judgement in the way he had expected. Jesus responded by pointing to his ministry of mercy and love. He had come to bring healing and good news to people in the way that had been prophesied in Isaiah 61, which Jesus had read in the synagogue in Nazareth. Here was the evidence that he really was the Messiah. It’s good when people ask questions. People often ask very critical questions of the Church, and we should always welcome that. They want to know whether the

Luke 7:6-7 The Roman officer who spoke these words was a fascinating character. He was not a Jew but was clearly deeply respectful of the Jewish faith. He had even paid for the construction of a synagogue and was, not surprisingly, much loved by the Jewish people. When his slave became ill, he decided to invite Jesus to heal him. His concern for his slave was remarkable in itself. Slaves were usually regarded merely as tools, and a master was able to mistreat or even kill them as he chose. This Roman officer was different. He was eager to see his slave recover, and so he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask Jesus to heal him. The faith of the Roman was so great that he didn’t even consider it necessary for Jesus to meet the slave. He knew that Christ’s word was powerful enough. All that was necessary was for Jesus to pronounce the healing. He reasoned that, as a military officer, he had authority to order people around; therefore, Jesus had the necessary authority to declare his slave was healed.

Luke 6:47-48 The foundations of a building are not a luxury. If you have ever purchased a house, you will have almost certainly had a building survey carried out. Part of this process would be to ensure that the foundations were solid. Subsidence is no laughing matter! The recent hot summers have caused problems for many, as loss of moisture in the soil has caused it to contract, damaging foundations. It’s always important to find out what is happening underneath a building. Jesus used the illustration of a building’s foundation as the punch line of his sermon. He pointed out that in good weather, all houses look the same. It doesn’t matter whether they have been built on rock or sand. But when the storm comes, you definitely notice the difference! The house built on rock stands confidently and securely, while the one that was foolishly built on sand gets swept away by the storm. It’s just the same in life. When everything is going smoothly, you cannot easily tell the difference between those who

Luke 6:46 The title ‘Lord’ is far more than just a term of respect. It is to affirm that they have authority, and deserve to be worshipped and obeyed. That was the reason the early Christians felt that they couldn’t possibly declare: “Caesar is Lord”, even when they were compelled to do so by law. They knew that Caesar did not have ultimate authority and didn’t deserve to be worshipped and obeyed. The person who comes to Jesus and declares him to be Lord is saying he deserves to have first place in their life. So Jesus asked his hearers what they meant when they called him Lord but failed to do what he said. Christianity is totally misunderstood if it is just seen in terms of words. Saying the creed, singing Christian songs or hymns, listening to sermons (even preaching them) is a total waste of time if the words are not converted into life-long obedience. Jesus made this point forcibly in the Sermon on the Mount when he said: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of He

Luke 6:45 Whether we like it or not, our words give us away. They reveal the kind of people we really are. The person whose words are always gentle, positive and encouraging gives us a window into their heart. But so, too, does the person who is forever complaining and cursing. Jesus’ observation might well sound obvious, but it needs our most careful attention. If we agree with him, it is clear that we need to direct our energies at ensuring we continually fill our minds and hearts with good things. Paul summed it up well when he said: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8). In a world in which we all have instant access to an ocean of information, these words have never been more important. Within moments, we all have access to content which has the potential to damage or inspire us. The choice is ours. In the vast country of Australia, there is apparently a roa

Luke 6:42 I am quite sure that Jesus was smiling when he spoke these words. The picture he gives is like a cartoon. It’s plainly ridiculous to pick out a tiny speck in someone else’s eye when you have a huge log stuck in your own. Jesus’ point is absolutely clear: we need to make sure that we are not being hypocritical, because it is very easily done. The danger of hypocrisy was one that greatly troubled Jesus. He often pointed out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They gave the appearance of being devoted to their Jewish faith. They worshipped at the Temple regularly and gave their tithes faithfully. I have no doubt that most people in Jerusalem saw them as the best example of Judaism. Unlike so many people in the city, they really took their faith seriously. But Jesus saw through their performance. He could see that it was all an act, and he loved them too much to let them get away with living a lie. While having a good laugh at Jesus’ illustration, we need to own up to the fact that we can all be

Psalm 139:23-24 One of the reasons many people read daily newspapers is to find out what terrible things other people do, in order to feel a little bit better about themselves. I won’t ask you whether that has ever been your motivation! In this psalm, David reflected on the wickedness of other people. He expressed his hatred of people who hated God. But he didn’t hide from the fact that he was also a sinner. He knew there was absolutely no point in pretending with God, as God already knew the whole story. So he ended this amazing psalm by inviting God to point out anything that might be wrong in his life. He knew God could put his finger on those things that needed to be changed. I recently had an MRI scan on my back. I was placed in a large white metal tube for a full hour while the noisy magnets whirled around me. It was an amazing process and, at the end of it, I knew a phenomenal amount of data had been collected. The surgeon had a full picture of my far from perfect spine. To be honest, when I w

Psalm 139:13-14 Our bodies are simply amazing. Here are a few random facts: Every second our bodies produce 25 million new cells. The tongue is covered in about 8,000 taste buds, each containing up to 100 cells. The entire surface of our skin is replaced every month. If we live to 70, our heart will have enjoyed about 2.5 million beats. The human brain possesses about 100 billion neurons with roughly one quadrillion (that’s one million billion) synapses wiring these cells together. That means your brain is more powerful than any supercomputer! I struggle to understand how anyone can think about the human body without bursting out in worship to our great God. That was exactly how King David responded in this glorious psalm. I challenge you to spend time today specifically thanking God for your amazing body. We so often focus on the bits we don’t like or that don’t work; they clamour for our attention, and visits to the doctors absorb an increasing amount of our time and attention as we get older. But

Psalm 139:1-2 These days, we are incredibly sensitive about protecting our personal data. Quite rightly, we don’t want everyone to know everything about us. We have no doubt all received emails or letters from organisations who know far more about us than we would want. However, this psalm reveals, with breath-taking clarity, that there is someone who knows absolutely everything about us – and I mean absolutely everything! God not only knows our name, address, phone number, bank account and medical details but also what we are thinking, feeling and what we are going to say next. Nothing is hidden from him. If you are hearing this for the first time, I realise it might sound alarming. You may not like the idea of having absolutely no secrets. But that’s how it is. It’s simply a fact. God created you and knows everything there is to know about you. If God had bad intentions, it would be horrifying that he is so well informed. But the exact opposite is true. He loves us completely, and so the fact that he kn

Psalm 138:8 When you sing about it or listen to a sermon on the subject, guidance can often sound very straightforward. But life rarely runs in a straight line. King David, who wrote this psalm, was definitely aware of that. He got himself into endless scrapes and was always up against determined opposition. He was never without external enemies but, in addition, there were often many within Israel, and even within his own family, who were determined to bring him down. He was acutely aware of his need to rely upon the Lord for guidance. I am convinced that God has good plans for our lives, but those good things won’t happen without our full cooperation. God won’t enforce his plans upon us, good as they are. It has been wisely said that there is no point in asking God to guide our footsteps if we are not willing to move our feet. Sitting in an armchair, waiting for guidance, is rarely the way to discover God’s will. We need to get up and start walking. As we do so, I believe God will lead us in the right wa

Acts 2:44-45 It’s fascinating to see the impact that the Holy Spirit had in the earliest days of the early Church. He transformed every part of their life. Yes, they were committed to teaching, fellowship and prayer but they also looked at their possessions with new eyes. They were eager to find opportunities to share their resources with one another, according to people’s needs. This was revolutionary stuff. It is really important to ensure that a church’s teaching, fellowship and prayer life are strong. But if they don’t affect our attitude towards our material possessions, something has gone seriously wrong. I don’t believe that there is just one way of doing this. This very brief description of the early Church gives the impression that all the Christians lived together in community. It sounds very simple and straightforward, however, I don’t think anyone who has lived in community would describe it as either simple or straightforward! I remember one Christian leader, when asked to pick one word to de

Acts 2:42 The first weeks of the early Church must have been amazing. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit totally transformed the situation. From a small group of disappointed and frightened believers, there was now a large number of people fired up with a determination to change the world. These verses in Acts give us the first clues of what the Church looked like - and this verse spells out three key aspects. Firstly, the believers needed teaching. The Christians in Jerusalem were probably all from a Jewish background, and so they needed to be shown how Jesus was the fulfilment of their scriptures. They also needed to be reminded of Jesus’ teaching because they may well have all heard different parts of it. We need to remember that it was decades later that the Gospels were written, however at this point in time, people had almost certainly started to write down some of Jesus’ sayings. Secondly, Christians gathered to eat together. Sharing meals is a wonderful way of deepening relationships and this was

Acts 2:37-38 A sermon is worth nothing if it doesn’t lead to action. Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost powerfully described the reason for Jesus’ death. In words that would have shocked many in his audience, he pointed out that they had been responsible for it. It was their sin that had driven Jesus to the cross just five weeks earlier. Having heard this, the people were deeply challenged and knew that they needed to take action. Peter’s response is interesting because of the way in which it speaks of the covenant partnership that God wants with us. There was something that the people needed to do, and then a response that God would make. Firstly, they needed to repent. They needed to recognise they had done wrong and head in a new direction. This would be powerfully symbolised by baptism and would show their clear intention to live a new life. The result would be that their sins would be forgiven, and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. God loves to bless us, but he will only do so w

Acts 2:16-17 When Peter spoke these words, he was addressing the huge crowds of Jews who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival known as Pentecost. On that day, the first fruits of the wheat harvest were offered to God. It was known as Pentecost because it occurred 50 days after the sabbath that followed the Passover. It was one of three annual pilgrimage festivals, and Jerusalem would have been heaving with people. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus’ 120 followers. He had previously told them to stay in Jerusalem until the Spirit came and, so, they must have been wondering what was going to happen. When the Spirit arrived, there was the roaring of an enormous wind, and flames appeared to settle on all the believers’ heads. As the Spirit filled them, they started speaking in tongues, which meant that the pilgrims, who had come from many neighbouring countries, were all able to hear God being praised in their own language. It isn’t surprising that onlookers were strug

Luke 6:38 The metaphor used here would have been clear to Jesus’ listeners, but may mean little or nothing to us today. Let me explain: at the time, a person’s outer tunic had a large fold in it, which could be pulled out above the belt to make a pocket. Jesus is asking people to imagine a huge amount of grain being poured into this pocket. His message is clear: if you learn how to give, you will receive generously in response. Giving is the language of love, and is characteristic of all of Jesus’ ministry. He came as a servant to pour himself out for other people. This was what marked his ministry as he taught and healed people. Then, as he hung on the cross, we see the full extent of his love. As we walk in his footsteps, giving is still his way for us today. Churchill put it well when he wrote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Jesus’ teaching about giving runs completely counter to the materialism of our society, where the assumption is that acquisition is what rea

Luke 6:27-28;32 I could be wrong, but I suspect that most of us will struggle to identify any enemies. But I suspect that most of us can readily come up with a list of people whom we find difficult or awkward. Jesus very strong command means not just putting up with these people, but choosing to love them. Loving will involve us in deliberately going out of our way to help and encourage them. It will cause us to pray regularly for them, so that we know how to bring blessings into their lives. And if they turn into out-and-out enemies, bent on destroying us, we need to pray harder, and continue to show them love. You may need a moment to gulp, because this is really tough teaching! In practical detail, Jesus spelt out what his command involved, so that no one could misunderstand what he was saying. If someone slaps you on the cheek, you should offer them the other one. If someone asks for your coat, give them your shirt as well. Those specific situations may never happen to us, but Jesus’ point is clear. I

Luke 6:24-25 These words would have come as a huge surprise for Jesus’ hearers. They had been taught that being wealthy and well fed now were signs of God’s blessing. Jesus was seeking to wake his disciples up to the fact that you can’t have it both ways. If your single goal is to be wealthy now, you can’t expect to have God’s blessing. If becoming materially rich is your god, there is no space for the one true God, and disaster will inevitably result. This teaching was entirely consistent with Jesus’ revolutionary message. He was turning everything upside down. The key question for us is a persistent one: What is our goal in life? What are we really seeking to achieve? It isn’t wrong to earn money and to seek success in our work. It isn’t wrong to have possessions or to seek to own more possessions. But when those things become our reason for living, we have missed the boat, and we put ourselves in a dangerous place. These are important issues for us to be clear about. Our society will continually peddle

Luke 6:22-23 These are amazing words and, once again, they turn our normal human thinking upside down. That’s what Jesus did all the time. The idea of being hated, excluded, mocked and cursed is a horrible one. We spend much of our lives deliberately seeking to avoid such terrible experiences. But if we face those reactions because of our love for Jesus, we should be supremely happy. Jesus said we should “leap for joy” because we are living in obedience to him. And, as usual, he reminded his followers that they would be generously rewarded for their trouble. For many of us, these words may feel very remote and disconnected from our present circumstances. But for some, these words accurately reflect daily life. Perhaps your family, work colleagues or neighbours are continually unkind about your Christian faith. They take every opportunity to belittle Christianity and laugh at the way in which you waste your time going to church with that “bunch of hypocrites.” If this is your experience, first of all, I want t