Author: Jim Cantelon

Key Verse: Luke 9:58 “…Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Read the last part of this chapter, and you get the distinct impression that Jesus didn’t have the foggiest idea, when it came to public relations. Before you get defensive (as if Jesus needs defenders!), think about it for a moment.

Suppose you had the greatest message the world has ever heard, but it wasn’t going all that well with the ratings. People were ignoring you at best, and persecuting you at worst. You’ve just had a bad day in Samaria when, along comes a bright-eyed idealist who just loves you and wants to follow you “wherever you go” (v.57). So what do you do? You sign him up! You give him your “now that I believe” follow-up manual, get his full name and address, put him on your mailing list, and make sure the nurture-group leader in his area gets him to the next house meeting. You pray with him and tell him he’s made a wise decision.

What you don’t do is highlight your personal poverty and imply in no uncertain terms that if he follows you he’ll be a pauper, too. Nor do you turn to other would-be followers and tell them that it’s either you or their bereaved families — “You go to that funeral and you can forget following me. You say goodbye to your family, and I say goodbye to you.” Was Jesus insensitive here or what?

It appears He was. But then appearances can be misleading. There is another cliché, “what you see isn’t always what you get”. It could very well be that at this point in Jesus’ ministry He was, in His eyes, becoming too “popular”. More and more wanted to follow Him, but they were doing so for the wrong reasons. Jesus had to do some sifting of wheat from chaff. And I suspect Jesus’ words to these idealists were meant not just for them but for the scores of would-be disciples who were within ear-shot.

Jesus wanted it to be known that there was a cost in following Him. He demanded singleness of purpose and maturity. He wanted people with an eye to the heavenly kingdom, feet on the ground, and back bent in doing good.

Grace isn’t cheap

Key Verse: Luke 8:15 “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”

Hear. Retain. Produce. That’s what “noble and good hearts” do. The object of hearing and retaining  is the Word of God (v.11). And “fruit” is the result.

What kind of fruit? Well, Jesus doesn’t say. What He does say is that the fruit produced represents “a hundred times more than was sown” (v. 8). We’re talking a 10,000 percent increase here! Pretty intimidating. Especially if we think of a single seed as one soul won to Christ. Is Jesus suggesting we’re to reproduce ourselves 100 times? What about those of us who’ve won maybe one or two people to the Lord in our entire lives? What about those who’ve yet to lead their first soul to Christ?

Before you’re overcome with a performance-anxiety attack, let’s think it through. Fruitfulness in the Bible is never described only in soul-winning terms. In fact, the apostle Paul talks of it in terms of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…”, the “fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23). Fruit, then, refers to the general quality, as well as the quantity, of your life. If we’re producing peace, joy, or goodness among our neighbours, we’re fruitful. If we’re leading a neighbour or two to the Lord, as well, then that’s fruitfulness, too. Indeed, if we’re brining our heavenly Father some joy, I daresay that’s fruitfulness as well.

The key is to be fruitful rather than parasitical. Be an extension of God’s love for the world. do this, and you’ll be one of those with “a noble and good heart”.

Key Verse: Luke 7:9 “…I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

Most everyone likes to know what others think of them. And if it were possible, to know what God thinks of them. What most of us know, however, is what we think of ourselves. Generally, when it comes to self-assessment, we’re not too impressed with what we see.

The centurion in this chapter certainly wasn’t stuck on himself. In fact, he didn’t even consider himself worthy to come to Jesus to request healing for his servant. Instead, he clearly sent some of the Jewish elders of Capernaum to present his case to Jesus. These elders had a high view of the centurion–“he loves our nation and has built our synagogue,” they said. So Jesus went with them to the centurion’s house.

But, before He reached the house, some friends of the centurion came to meet Jesus with this message, “Don’t bother yourself with the walk over here. Just say the word and my servant will be healed. After all, my commands are obeyed by my men–why shouldn’t your command be obeyed by the sickness?” Jesus was impressed; so much so that He said, “I have not found such great faith, even in Israel.” This Gentile was putting Jesus’ nation to shame in terms of his faith. His friends returned to the house and found the servant healed.

So the centurion was rather self-deprecating in his view of himself. The elders, on the other hand, were very high on him. And Jesus was impressed with his faith. The point? Simply that your self-assessment may not be entirely accurate. There’s something to be said for giving yourself the benefit of the doubt. After all, God loves you. And He’s a pretty good judge of what’s truly valuable.

Key Verse: Luke 6:47 “Whoever comes to Me…hears My sayings and does them…”

Verbal Christianity can be quite enjoyable. You talk about love, discuss theology, give to the poor at Christmas, get lots of “amens!” when speaking about faith to the converted–in fact, it beats most other service clubs all hollow. Mainly because a “Christian” club brings an abundance of self-satisfying righteousness as part of the territory. Your club dues are paid in right talking.

Right walking, rather than talking, is, of course, what Christianity is about. Especially in the 90’s. There are enough talking heads out there; it’s time for walking feet. Jesus thought so, then. No doubt, He still thinks so today.

He said there was a distinct relationship between hearing (and “parroting”, I’d expect) His sayings, and doing them. In fact, He used a powerful simile to make the point. The person who is a hearer and a talker without being a doer, is like someone building a house on an unstable foundation. Regardless of the dedication, the diligence and the time spent in construction, the house will collapse. It doesn’t even matter if they house was dedicated to the Lord’s work. If the foundation is shaky, the house will be shaky, and ultimately will be no more.

Conversely, the person who not only hears, but also puts Jesus’ words into practise, builds an indestructible house. Regardless of the forces that come against it the house will stand. Why? Because “doing” the word makes for an unshakable foundation. Perhaps no more or less effort will be put into the construction than the house built on sand, but the house on the Rock will stand forever.

In the final analysis, our talk doesn’t impress God. He can make the rocks cry out if Her wants to–so spare yourself and Him all the talk; rather give Him your will. Get out of that pew, and do!

Key Verse: Luke 5:38 “…new wine must be put into new wineskins…”

Let’s follow Jesus’ thinking here. New wine needs new wineskins–that makes sense. Old wineskins have already been stretched by the fermentation process. Stretch them any more and they’ll burst. So the old wineskins are useless now; they’ve served their purpose. But does that mean the old wine is useless? By no means. In Jesus’ own words, “the old is better”. Let’s pursue this a bit.

You’ve heard the term, “the old boys network”. I remember as a young pastor, attending church conferences and seeing the old pastor–in my mind, it needed a young, fresh, new approach: someone  in tune with the time. But what would the district officials do? They’d appoint one of the “old boys”, a friend of long acquaintance, to go in and continue the old traditions, stultifying the church even more. My disdain. The status quo seemed to be preferred to creatively pursuing the far horizon. The district officials chose men from the ark, while we younger pastors wanted someone from the cradle. We wanted style, they wanted character.

I see things more clearly, now that I’ve reached the hoary-headed age of 42. The brand new church needs a young pastor–while the young leader “ferments”, the church expands, relatively painlessly. On the other hand, if the young pastor is catapulted into an established situation, chances are there’ll be an explosion (not of growth, but of disintegration). The seasoned pastor, on the other hand, is the man to cultivate, prime, nourish, discipline, and guide the seasoned church in producing ongoing fruit. Of course, there are exceptions, but generally speaking, whereas character always has style, style doesn’t always have character.

Jesus’ teaching was new. The established religious system couldn’t bear the pressure of His expansive view of the kingdom of heaven; something had to give. But even while the establishment crushed Jesus’ life, His shed blood, like the released juice of the grape, created a whole new wine. And ultimately, it was the old wineskin that burst–and a new world, which will culminate in Jesus’ return, was begun.

But there’s something unique about Jesus’ new wine. It’s rooted in the old. It has the style of a new day dawning, and the character of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s the best of new and old.

Key Verse: Luke 4:24 “…no prophet is accepted in his own country”.

You’ve heard the old adage, “familiarity breeds contempt”. And if not contempt, familiarity breeds at least neglect. This was the case with Jesus. Interestingly, it was also the case with the nation of Israel. And, if we’re honest, it’s the case with you and me too.

In Luke’s account, the temptation in the wilderness is followed by Jesus’ return to Nazareth, His home town. There He attends the synagogue on the Sabbath, and when it’s His turn to read, He find Isaiah 61. After reading verses 1 and 2, He looks at the assembled men of Nazareth, all friends and acquaintances, and says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This obviously met with resistance, for Jesus goes on to say, “no prophet is accepted in his home town” (NIV). Then, as the anger of the home town men mounts, Jesus does nothing to diffuse it, rather He adds fuel to the fire.

He goes on to refer to Elijah and Elisha’s time. Prophets then were no more listened to by their own people than now, Jesus says in effect. During the three-and-a-half year drought, there were probably thousands of Israelite widows in need. But what does God do? He sends Elijah to a Canaanite woman, a heathen. During Elisha’s day, there were many sick with leprosy. But whom does God heal? Not an Israelite, but a Syrian. The implication was clear, and not lost on Jesus’ audience. So much so that they tried to throw Him over a cliff.

The people of God are often those least accessible to Him. We’re often in church, often praying, often talking about God. We’re very religious. In fact, religion is old hat. And that familiarity produces carelessness, boredom and neglect.

It needn’t do so. Not if we thank God every day of our lives for His wonderful gift of life in Jesus Christ. Not if we renew our love every morning, live it all day, and rest in it at night. You might call it “familiar freshness”.

Key Verse: Luke 3:8 “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…”

John the Baptist must have seemed a rather arrogant fellow to some–how may preachers do you know who address candidates for baptism as a “brood of vipers”? He was so opposite the typical evangelist/prophet with their promotional schemes and follow-up plans. In fact, when people (multitudes of them) showed up for his baptismal ministry, he seemed surprised that they’d come at all–“who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Nor was he above knocking religious and national heritage, “Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father’. For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” Imagine some preacher assessing your worth as roughly equivalent to a stone! He seemed to many to be an obnoxious man with an offensive message.

The whole point of John’s baptism was, “repentance for the forgiveness of sins”.  Notice it wasn’t “confession” for the forgiveness of sins. Without question, confession is vital to the redemptive process, but confession is relatively passive; once you’ve confessed, then what? Confess again? And again? Repentance, on the other hand, is active. What’s more, it’s creative.

For example, how’s this for active and creative: “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same…” To tax collectors, he says, “Don’t collect any more than you are required to.” To occupying soldiers, he says, “Don’t extort money…don’t accuse people falsely…be content with your pay.” This is the fruit worthy of repentance.

Repentance means turning away from a sinful choice and choosing or walking in the opposite direction. Yes, we must confess our sin–that’s step number one. But then comes the arduous and sometimes life-long challenge of choosing the new direction and the new values–every day until the day we enter His presence.

Key Verse: Luke 2:30,32 “My eyes have seen Your salvation…a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the story of  Your people Israel.”

I’m a Gentile; a Gentile who, with his family lived among Jewish friends and neighbours for seven years in Jerusalem. We speak Hebrew (Kathy and the children, fluently–I, not so fluently), and we have an intimate knowledge of, and great respect for, Jewish culture and religion. In fact, even after being back in Canada this past year and a half, our kids still feel more Israeli than Canadian.

Friends and acquaintances here have often remarked, “It must have been wonderful to live in the Holy Land! Especially at Christmas and Easter!” Well, yes it was–but not for the reasons you’d expect. Christmas is basically a non-event, at least in terms of the Israeli calendar. There are special events in “Manger Square” on Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, but in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and all places in between, Christmas day is just like any other day. At Easter you’ll see groups of Roman Catholic or Orthodox pilgrims carrying life-like crosses along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City, and Protestant groups holding a sunrise service at the Garden Tomb, but again, for Israelis, generally, it’s just another day. That’s the irony of Christian celebrations in Israel–her most famous son is remembered not by His own but by the “Goyim”, the Gentiles from the “outside”. Right now, Jesus is anything but “the glory of Your people Israel”.

But He is “revelation to the Gentiles”. Which suggests that Simeon, as he held the eight-day-old infant Jesus, spoke prophetically. The notion that Jesus would be a revelation to the Gentiles was definitely novel, and undoubtedly future. That future, however, is now–we Gentiles have received the message. And Israel has yet to embrace the baby. So, even as I write these words and you read them, we’re living in an historically dynamic tension between the “time of the Gentiles” and the day when Israel will recognize her Messiah. What a day that will be! And it may be soon. Simeon’s words will be fulfilled.