I want to think out loud for a few moments. I'm teaching Sunday School (ok, sorry, new terminology: Bible Study Ministry) tomorrow, and I'm processing the take-aways from a familiar story.
We'll be in Luke 5 where Jesus is teaching in a home with Pharisees and other teachers present. Apparently it's so crowded that some folks who want to get their friend in to see Jesus come up with a rather innovative way to break through the crowd: from the roof! Jesus is impressed and points out that, because of their collective faith, the paralytic's sins are forgiven.
Wait a minute, Jesus, that wasn't the point of their over-the-top effort. Plus it highly offended the religious leaders in the house. Jesus, of course, knew that and used it as an opportunity to challenge them to a heart check and, for good measure, offered Mr. Paralytic physical healing as well. Whoop! Whoop! Lots of praising and happy dances all around!
Then, instead of heading to the Jerusalem Starbucks for a coffee break, he moves into town where he encounters Levi, a tax collector, and invites him on the ride of a lifetime. Levi signs on, leaves the money business, and follows Jesus. In celebration, he throws a party, invites all his friends, and includes Jesus as the guest of honor. Jesus comes and, as a result, gets the Pharisee guys even more frustrated with Him. What's a Savior to do? Just what Jesus did . . . focus on His purpose for being around and doing what He was sent to earth to do!
OK, so that's the synopsis . . . but what will make it come alive for college students? For starters, the Holy Spirit! It's up to You to bring Your Word to life so that all who read it, including and especially young adults, can find direction and purpose for their lives.
What else? How about the friends' "Whatever it takes" attitude? How many times do I rethink what God might have been directing me to do because the situation is a little too hard? I pray for a passion so great that I will move ahead in such a way that I don't see obstacles, just opportunities.
What about the order of Jesus' healing: first, his sins; then, his body? Jesus knew the point of the paralytic's greatest need and started there. Sometimes I get distracted by the "obvious" when God's up to something so much deeper. Oh, that I can be that attuned to His ways!
I can't forget His disregard for the Pharisees' criticisms. He certainly heard their questions. He couldn't miss their displeasure. Shouldn't their use of the word "blasphemy" (an accusation that could result in death) have toned Him down just a bit? Nope. It didn't. Jesus was on a roll with heavenly consequences so He kept right on doing His thing, not theirs . . . whether it was forgiving sin, receiving the praise of grateful people, or dining with sinners.
Speaking of the bit about dining with sinners, how cool is it that Levi left behind a very lucrative (though unpopular-with-the-people occupation) to follow Jesus! And then he threw a party to celebrate, inviting a bunch of other tax collectors and 'sinners' so they could have a chance at following Jesus too. Interesting that the story doesn't tell us whether they did or not, which is okay with me because sometimes I just need to know that someone tried something for Jesus, not that it had huge success.
Lord, Your Word speaks for itself. I hope I don't get in the way tomorrow. I pray those students get a good night's sleep and will be ready to dig deeper into a familiar story with some challenging sidebars. Who knows? Maybe we'll be celebrating a new Jesus follower after the story is explored! Now, that's worth whooping over!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I had another thought on the way home from teaching (why does that happen? why do I think of what I didn't say?). Anyway, isn't it interesting that, when Jesus healed the paralytic, he told him to go home and tell others what had happened. But when he approached Levi, he invited the tax collector to 'follow me.' Instead of being challenged to go home, Levi left everything behind and followed Jesus. There's no cookie cutter way we are to respond to Jesus ... except that we're all supposed to say yes.
Post a Comment