Friday, Day
27
Reading for today:
Mark 12:41-44
Luke 21:1-4
What a contrast from what we read yesterday. Yesterday Jesus excoriated the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, telling us how they put on a show of being religious but devour widow’s houses....
And today he gives us a glimpse into giving all. Only he would have known that what the widow gave was all she had. The lesson in this isn’t about disparaging what the wealthy gave – but the contrast. In reality, if all she had left was a fraction of a penny, she wasn’t going to live long on that anyway – but what this gift reflects is an attitude and a model for us. Truly all we have is the Lord’s – a gift from His hand. We are stewards. Our resources – whatever they are – are to be at His disposal – or else we make them our security and our god. It is ‘living on the edge’ when we submit all to Him.
Reading for today:
Mark 12:41-44
Luke 21:1-4
What a contrast from what we read yesterday. Yesterday Jesus excoriated the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, telling us how they put on a show of being religious but devour widow’s houses....
And today he gives us a glimpse into giving all. Only he would have known that what the widow gave was all she had. The lesson in this isn’t about disparaging what the wealthy gave – but the contrast. In reality, if all she had left was a fraction of a penny, she wasn’t going to live long on that anyway – but what this gift reflects is an attitude and a model for us. Truly all we have is the Lord’s – a gift from His hand. We are stewards. Our resources – whatever they are – are to be at His disposal – or else we make them our security and our god. It is ‘living on the edge’ when we submit all to Him.
We are saved by grace – but we are saved to do good works.
True religion helps orphans and widows in their distress. True religion heals
wounds and binds up the broken-hearted. True religion feeds the hungry and
clothes the naked. Love is not a suggestion. It is a command.
Love is an action verb. Love responds to God’s call – whether it is to
go or to give. That’s why I prefer Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27 over Matthew’s
quote in Matthew 22:37, as he leaves out the last component. Both Mark and Luke
challenge us to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. The
strength part is the action. All the others are internal.
In my 38 years as a Presbyterian, one of the many things I loved was the charge given to us as we were commissioned each year to serve in our various capacities. Our charge and resulting promise was ‘to serve with energy, imagination, intelligence and love.’ It was a wonderful annual reminder that we were about the Father’s business, whatever area we were serving in.
Jesus was doing precisely that. He is walking toward the cross – and beyond that toward Resurrection – but the reality of what he will have to endure is on his mind. Giving all is on his mind. He could have focused on the reality that if the widow gave her all she would be going home to die. He didn’t. He focused on the gift. The same is true for Him. He could have focused on his death. He didn’t. He focused on the gift and on Easter morning – His story didn’t end with death, but with resurrection.... Ahhhhh...I keep getting ahead of the story.
Humor for today:
The company’s boss was complaining in a staff meeting that he wasn’t being shown proper respect. Later that morning he went to a local sign shop and bought a small sign that read “I’m the boss!” He took it back to his office and taped it to his office door.
Later, when he returned from lunch, he found a note taped to his sign. It stated, “Your wife called. She wants her sign back.”
In my 38 years as a Presbyterian, one of the many things I loved was the charge given to us as we were commissioned each year to serve in our various capacities. Our charge and resulting promise was ‘to serve with energy, imagination, intelligence and love.’ It was a wonderful annual reminder that we were about the Father’s business, whatever area we were serving in.
Jesus was doing precisely that. He is walking toward the cross – and beyond that toward Resurrection – but the reality of what he will have to endure is on his mind. Giving all is on his mind. He could have focused on the reality that if the widow gave her all she would be going home to die. He didn’t. He focused on the gift. The same is true for Him. He could have focused on his death. He didn’t. He focused on the gift and on Easter morning – His story didn’t end with death, but with resurrection.... Ahhhhh...I keep getting ahead of the story.
Humor for today:
The company’s boss was complaining in a staff meeting that he wasn’t being shown proper respect. Later that morning he went to a local sign shop and bought a small sign that read “I’m the boss!” He took it back to his office and taped it to his office door.
Later, when he returned from lunch, he found a note taped to his sign. It stated, “Your wife called. She wants her sign back.”
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