Advent 2019: Dec 14, Day 14

Luke 14

Summary

Again Jesus is found violating the Sabbath law by doing good and healing a man. The Pharisees are afraid to answer him or confront him about their stance.
Then Jesus teaches in two parables. The first is about guests at a wedding feast and Jesus reminds us to be humble. He teaches that if we honor ourselves, others will cause us to be humbled. If we humble ourselves, others will exalt us.
The second parable is from the perspective of the host. Jesus says we should do good for those that can't repay us.

Because they didn't get it, Jesus teaches that there will be those that are invited to a great feast that choose not to go. They will find excuses and place higher priority on other tasks or events and miss out on a great feast.

Jesus again reminds us that following him may not be easy. There will be people we love that will not want to follow him and we will have to choose -- stay with them or move on without them. We may need to set aside old behaviors and habits that will be difficult. We may have to change our way of thinking (repent) and unlearn what we have been taught and relearn life from a Jesus perspective.
It isn't going to be easy so consider well if following Jesus is for you.

My take away

Passages like this trouble me. I spent a lot of years teaching people (both adults and kids) that heaven was as simple as raising your hand and saying a magical prayer. Far too many churches teach something similar. Getting people to say they'll follow Jesus seems to be more important than teaching them how to follow Jesus.
And even when we teach them how, we teach them to follow rules rather than to follow Jesus.
I do pray that God will send someone to fix my messes. In my heart and in my head I believe that God wouldn't let my failures keep somebody else from the blessings that are waiting for them.

This Advent exercise is to help us to know Jesus; to be able to look at a record of his life and to know that he is God in human form. While most of my readers share similar beliefs, I know there are a couple of atheists and readers of different faiths. In yesterday's reading, Jesus said that the kingdom of God includes everyone. All of the birds gather in the tree; the leaven works its way through the entire loaf.
2019 has been an interesting year. Some will say I've regressed and fallen away from God. Personally, I feel closer to God than I have ever felt. And I feel closer to people, too. I am learning to see God in them. I am learning the lessons that Jesus teaches in today's reading -- to be humble, to give where no reciprocation is expected, to value people above rules.
And it hasn't always been easy.

I wonder what 2020 will have for me.

John <><