Reading Luke 5

Links: my other postings on Lent ; our church's reading plan

The other day, I was parked behind a car whose license plate read "LK 5 31" or something like this. I wondered, was that the one about "I have not come to call the righteous?"

Well, today's reading included Luke 5:31 -- I just read Luke 5, due to sloth; it involved a lot less page flipping than this list from our reading plan (read down, then across):

Mark 2:1-12; Matthew 9:1-8; Luke 5:17-26; Mark 2:13-17; Matthew 9:9-13; Luke 5:27-32;

Mark 2:18-22; Matthew 9:14-17; Luke 5:33-39; Mark 2:23-28; Matthew 12:1-8; Luke 6:1-5

I don't want to discourage anybody who wants to read that, but I'm afraid I'd still be looking for the next selection when the train arrived at my stop.

Anyway, Luke 5 is a terrific chapter. We've got Jesus teaching Simon how to fish, Simon saying "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" (Luke 5:8) -- I can certainly identify with that! Suddenly coming to see that someone you thought you knew is actually totally other and totally holy -- it was a terrifying experience, and he wanted to run and hide. Yet when Jesus told him to follow, Simon and his crew left everything to follow him (Luke 5:11).

Then there's the man with leprosy ("If you are willing, you can..." he said). What a great example for us today! Some fault the leper for doubting God's goodness, but I say the man had faith (the "you can make me clean" part) and guts, and like today's 27 million slaves, had reason to wonder whether God is actually good, whether Somebody out there cares about him. And Jesus healed him, right there.

As he did the guy lowered through the roof. And it's not just the physically sick Jesus cares for, but those who, like Levi (aka Matthew) the tax collector, have other kinds of problems (Luke 5:27-32). In case you didn't know this about tax collectors in those times, they collected tax for the hated Roman oppressors. They collected money from each person or household, and sent part of that money to Rome. The rest was their profit, or service fee, or whatever you want to call it. They were well-hated by their countrymen.

Yet Jesus called him to follow -- think of it, the Son of God, taking on a sinner like Levi (or like me) as a disciple. Wow! By the way, that's where Luke 5:31-32 fall: "It is not the healthy who need a physician, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners [to repentance]."

A few words on marriage. And sex.

We drove a couple of hours into the valley yesterday for a wedding -- the last remaining single nephew of the lovely Carol is now officially unavailable. Besides the important point that marriage is for "as long as we both shall live," the pastor gave the rest of us a short reminder regarding our duties to support the marriage: the point I remembered was not to ah, "talk steenk" (as we used to say as kids) about one partner to the other.

This could be a very poisonous thing to do -- particularly if we suspect there's some strain in the marriage. I mean, if "Don" and "Mary" might be having some issues, and we send Mary the subliminal (or not-so-) message that if she decided to dump Don, we could certainly understand, what with all the stunts he's pulled recently, etc. -- that could be a terribly destructive thing to do. (On the other hand, it could also be a brilliant support of the marriage, if we know for sure that she'll rise up to defend her husband from these unfair accusations, etc., but that's a risky proposition.).

Instead, we should remind each other that the vow is "for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health" and that it really is a permanent deal, a promise.

This morning I heard a brilliant sermon on "I believe in God but I'm in charge of my sex life," where our pastor reminded us of the concept of "chastity" and how it applies to all of us, whether single or married. He explained that the exhortation to us in 1 Corinthians 6:18 ("Flee immorality... ") was not because sexual sins are more heinous in God's view; it's because the consequences are greater upon me, the sinner. It's a helpful reminder to me about the importance of chastity -- I don't want to be hobbled in my pursuit of God any more than I already am.

Something else I liked from this morning's sermon was a bit of dialog between a young, "modern" person who expressed incredulity at the idea of saving sex for marriage. "Nobody's a virgin when they get married these days. I mean, were you and your wife virgins when you got married?" Upon hearing that in fact John and Nancy were, he replied: "No way! There is no way I could live like that!"

So John asked, "How's your way working out for you?" It wasn't working very well at all, as it turned out. Another pastor, Andy Stanley, was quoted as asking a congregant, "Has having sex outside of marriage made your life better, or just more complicated?" Just more complicated. A lot more complicated.

Not everyone can see the damage that's being done; some just enjoy the pleasure of the experience. But as Cameron Diaz's character says in Vanilla Sky, "[W]hen you sleep with someone, your body makes a promise, whether you do or not." Something profound happens there. "Casual sex" is an oxymoron.

Or, as Lauren Winner writes in Real Sex, "in Christianity's vocabulary the only real sex is the sex that happens in marriage; the faux sex that goes on outside marriage is not really sex at all..." (38). Don't take that too literally! Of course it's real in the sense that it can produce a child, that your body makes a promise, that it can destroy relationships and families, that it can produce intense pleasure. But it's out of place; it's wrong in a fundamental way because it's out of context.

Christmas stories

Links: my other postings on Lent ; our church's reading plan

Yesterday's Scripture reading according to our church's reading plan included verses from Matthew and Luke: Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38; Luke 2:21-40. Why just Matthew and Luke, and why ordered like this?

Well, Christmas -- the birth of Christ -- is only mentioned in these two gospels. That's right -- Mark and John do not talk about the Lord's birth at all. All four gospels talk about Christ's death and resurrection, but only two talk about his birth. Yet, as Buechner says, Christmas is as much of a miracle -- it's the invasion of the Creator into his created order.

Why start with Matthew 1:18-25 and then do 1:1-17 afterward? I guess it's so that the day's reading starts with some action. Here's how Jesus was born, Matthew tells us, recounting the unexpected pregnancy, Joseph's thought of possibly divorcing Mary quietly (rather than having her shot), the various revelations Joseph got through dreams, the Magi's visit, the flight to Egypt, and so on.

Next we get Luke's account, the passage millions of Americans heard and perhaps memorized from A Charlie Brown Christmas: Luke 2:1-20, including the shepherds' visit. An interesting thing I heard recently, from a Christmas eve sermon actually, is that "no room at the inn" (Luke 2:7) might be better be translated "guest room was already occupied." Apparently, in towns like Bethlehem, people might have an upper room or guest room. The entire family (including domestic animals) might live on the lower level. And a manger (Luke 7) is where a newborn child might normally be placed.

So the message of Luke 2 isn't so much about rejecting Jesus (as John 1:11) -- that came later -- as it is about how when Jesus came, he came in the way any peasant child might come, wrapped in cloths ("strips of cloth" or "swaddling clothes" in other translations) and placed in a manger, as any peasant child would be.

The genealogies come next; tradition has it that Matthew's list describes Joseph's lineage whereas Luke's list describes Mary's. This is consistent with a totally uninformed theory of mine, viz., that Luke got a lot of his information through interviews with Mary, and that she lived long after Joseph had passed away. (Here's a short piece summarizing my understanding of what Matthew's genealogy tells us about Jesus's identity.) In any case, I think the editors of the reading list did well to give us the genealogies after the birth story.

What I got out of these readings is Jesus's radical identification with us: he is at once the Savior and Sacrifice, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and yet also came through a line of ancestors that included Rahab and Ruth and Tamar, arrived as any peasant child, fled like a criminal in the earliest part of his life.

What an amazing love our God has for us, to enter into this sorry world during a dark time, to have to flee for his life, and eventually to die for our sins. How fortunate and blessed we are to be loved like that!

Not giving anything up for Lent

Links: my other postings on Lent ; our church's reading plan

Our pastor is encouraging us to focus on some Scriptures during Lent, and I think this is a terrific idea. A few years ago I heard an essay on NPR (yes, on National Public Radio) about Lent: the speaker was talking about giving up this or that when he was in college (I think beer was one of the things he gave up). But decades later, he wondered if the focus of Lent ought to be "more _________" rather than "giving up __________". For example, rather than drinking less, or going to the movies less, he thought he would pray or meditate or serve the poor more.

So I like this "more Scripture" idea. Yesterday's reading was Luke 1 and naturally I'm already behind. I read Luke 1 this morning, and Mary's song impressed me, again -- particularly Luke 1:52-53:

He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.

I can't imagine how this must have sounded to its first-century hearers, She switches the order in the two couplets:

• brought down rulers... lifted up the humble
• filled the hungry... sent the rich away empty

and I think the folks in the middle -- the humble and the hungry, rather than the rich and powerful -- are the focus of this song.

And I suppose it felt like bad news to the rich and powerful; in a way it's unsurprising that the Guatemalan government banned its recitation in public for a while in the 1980s. Considering recent events in northern Africa and western Asia, the Magnificat is as timely today as it was in the first century. "He has brought down rulers from their thrones" -- I'm sure many people are longing for that today. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Today's reading is is Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38; Luke 2:21-40. I'm not sure about the order, but more on this later.

Gratitude

The transition to being "empty nesters" is not instant, but it is inexorable: within a month, our sole remaining teen-ager will start her third decade.

It is bittersweet, this transition. We raised our girls to go off to college and become independent, and they've done the first. The ex-teenager will be married within the year, and that's good, too; I just hadn't thought all this would happen so soon. It was nearly three years ago that I wrote this sentimental piece about the then younger teen, and I certainly miss the days when I'd come home to the lovely Carol, and also to little (and later not-so-little) girls, who would sit on my lap, or want to be carried around ("運んでもらう!"), or tell me about their day.

Which reminds me of a story. One day, a man came down the street and gave me a hundred-dollar bill. The next day, he did it again. For something like twenty years he did this. I got accustomed to it.

Then he stopped coming so regularly. He'd come during the summer, then stop. He'd come again toward the end of November, and then in January he'd stop. Sometimes he'd show up for a week in March or April.

These hundred-dollar bills (an inadequate metaphor but please bear with me) were not earned or deserved, so the appropriate attitude is gratitude. We are so fortunate to be able to enjoy these exceptional girls (I imagine every parent thinks his or her kid a genius, a spiritual giant filled with zeal and compassion; I am no exception) -- and to know that they're gone doing what we raised them to do.

Though I sometimes mourn the passing of those truly wonderful days, I know that I've received more and better than I deserve, and when I remember this, I can be thankful.

"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!" Amen.

Is your firefox3 slowing your computer down?

Apparently firefox can slow down not just firefox, but your whole Linux computer, according to the results posted in this thread. I read the "vacuum" tip here and tried it on my computer at home. Here's the "before" picture:

-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     7168 2011-02-16 19:50 content-prefs.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users   576512 2011-03-05 21:56 cookies.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     5120 2011-03-05 20:30 downloads.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     4096 2011-03-05 21:56 formhistory.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     2048 2010-12-28 10:54 permissions.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users   446464 2011-03-05 21:56 places.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     2048 2011-03-05 21:41 search.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users    18432 2011-01-18 18:39 signons.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users 15332352 2010-11-02 16:04 urlclassifier2.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users 46837760 2011-03-05 21:44 urlclassifier3.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users   412672 2011-03-05 20:29 webappsstore.sqlite

And here's the "after" one:

-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     7168 Mar  6 08:02 content-prefs.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users   445440 Mar  6 08:02 cookies.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     2048 Mar  6 08:02 downloads.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     4096 Mar  6 08:02 formhistory.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     2048 Mar  6 08:02 permissions.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users   151552 Mar  6 08:02 places.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users     2048 Mar  6 08:02 search.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users    18432 Mar  6 08:02 signons.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users  3257344 Mar  6 08:02 urlclassifier2.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users 35360768 Mar  6 08:03 urlclassifier3.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 collin users   412672 Mar  6 08:03 webappsstore.sqlite

Just a few files had a significant reduction, but I thought I'd tell you about this anyway.

So, if your computer is slow and you use firefox3, this might help. btw there are instructions at the link above for how to "vacuum" firefox on Windows, too.

How to Overcome Envy -- expanded

I'm giving this talk Friday 04 March 2011 to a group that's just finished hearing a series on mission.

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How to Overcome Envy

I understand from Jeff that you've been hearing lately about mission: the reason you're sent, the message you bring, and the mission you're to accomplish. Sounds like a great series.

My topic for this evening is about envy. Envy will slow you down: it will dilute the reason, compromise the message, and impede your mission.

What Is Envy?

Envy is pain at the good fortune of others. (Aristotle, Rhetoric)

Envy is like this: My friend wins a brand new Mercedes-Benz in a raffle — a raffle that I also entered. If that makes me unhappy, if that makes me less contented, that's envy.

What if my friend's kid gets into an elite university, or gets a 100% scholarship to an elite university, and I'm unhappy about that? Or if a colleague gets a promotion or an award? If I was happier before I heard about their good fortune, that's what makes it envy.

Why Do We Envy?

Let's look at an old example from Psalm 73, a psalm of Asaph:

Psalm 73:1-5

    Surely God is good to Israel,
        to those who are pure in heart.
    But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
        I had nearly lost my foothold.
    For I envied the arrogant
        when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
    They have no struggles;
        their bodies are healthy and strong.
    They are free from the burdens common to man;
        they are not plagued by human ills. 

Psalm 73:12-14

    This is what the wicked are like—
        always carefree, they increase in wealth.
    Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
        in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
    All day long I have been plagued;
        I have been punished every morning.

(Psalm 73:1-5,12-14)

The psalmist sees others with good things he doesn't have. He sees his own problems and thinks others don't have them.

It's like that with us, too, and by the way the person you envy doesn't have to be arrogant or wicked. Here's an example, a guy I'll call "Nick." Nick wrote a novel. His agent called one day, "The publisher wants to offer you a million dollar advance." Nick quit his day job and wrote one best-seller after another. Nick is a real person, by the way; I think he's a Christian. I'll tell you more about him later.

So I compare myself with somebody who has more than I do, and I feel envious. What would happen if I compare myself with somebody who has less? I might thank God for blessing me with abundance. I might be more contented. I might become more generous. I might wait a little longer before buying my next expensive toy.

What's Wrong With Envy?

I'm an engineer, so here's an engineering answer: envy doesn't take all the facts into account. Asaph knew this too:

Psalm 73:16-18

    When I tried to understand all this,
        it was oppressive to me
    till I entered the sanctuary of God;
        then I understood their final destiny.
    Surely you place them on slippery ground;
        you cast them down to ruin.

(Psalm 73:16-18)

In other words, in the case of the arrogant and wicked who seem to have no troubles—at least for now—their end won't be all that good. I'm not saying to rejoice when calamity hits them; I'm just saying that their situation isn't as good as it looks.

Even if someone isn't blatantly evil, arrogant or wicked, we don't usually know much about their problems. I mentioned "Nick" — that's Nicholas Sparks, who wrote The Notebook. Have you read it, or seen the movie? He's written a bunch of best-sellers, and they're pretty good reads. He also wrote Three Weeks with my Brother, where I learned about...

his marriage in 1989; the loss of Nick and Micah's mother two months later after a horseback riding accident; the death of Nick's first baby and the physical problems of his second son; the death of their father in a car accident; and the passing of their younger sister from a brain tumor.

(from Publishers Weekly Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Whoa, Nick was about 25 when his mother died; the rest of that stuff happened before he was 40. I'm a lot older than that, but I still have both my parents; my sisters are still alive, my children are both healthy and following the Lord. I would not trade places with him.

Psalm 73:21-22

    When my heart was grieved
        and my spirit embittered,
    I was senseless and ignorant;
        I was a brute beast before you.

(Psalm 73:21-22)

Senseless and ignorant that's not a good way to be. Or like a beast.

Here's the thing: it's hard to follow God when I'm coveting or envious and embittered. In other words, like other sins, envy makes us stupid.

Envy is the enemy of just about any good thing I can think of. It even goes against the Ten Commandments.

What To Do About Envy?

I'm indebted to Kathy Collard Miller for most of these steps.

Remember that God is in control.

Charles Swindoll wrote,

Sovereignty means our all-wise, all-knowing God reigns in realms beyond our comprehension to bring about a plan beyond our ability to alter, hinder, or stop.

(also quoted on p.103 of Becoming Myself; Becoming His: Living the Life God Designed for You, by Kay Watson — per Google Books)

When I recognize that God is at work, that he's in full control, and that he will accomplish his plan concerning me (Psalm 138:8 NASB), envy will lose some of its steam. He's got good plans for me.

Here are some more verses; you probably know them. Daniel 4: "All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth." There are a lot more — Isaiah 14:24 says "As I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand." Isaiah 40 talks about how all the nations are regarded as nothing. Psalm 75 says that he brings one down and lifts up another. He is the one who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will — from Ephesians 1. And so on.

Decide to Bless

Kathy suggested a prayer along these lines: “Lord, bless them. Give them many more opportunities. Expand their ministry.” This is a way of applying 2 Corinthians 10:5 — one method we can use to "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (NASB).

Since Jesus told us to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44), how much more should we bless those who didn't hurt us in the first place?

I would like to suggest that we ask God even before we face the situation, to make us the kind of people who can bless rather than get mad.

Remember that we each have a role

The Apostle Paul talked quite about this in 1 Corinthians 12; here's verse 17 from the NIV: "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?" There is no "appendix" in the body of Christ!

In particular, you have a role, and your role is essential.

Grow in Grace

On my blog I write, "do the above for 20-30 years and repeat as needed", which also applies here. I've put in the handout some helpful commands from the Scriptures...

If I'm practicing these, it's hard to be envious:

• Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5)
• Rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4)
• Let your mind dwell on: whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely... (Philippians 4)
• Remain in Christ, and let his word remain in you (John 15)
• Love one another as he has loved us (John 13)
• Bless your enemies, and your peers and friends (Matthew 5)
• Humble yourself under God's mighty hand, and he will exalt you at the proper time (1 Peter 5)

Really important: There is no condemnation

Romans 8:1-4

Summary

• Remember God's in control
• Be determined to bless your rivals
• Remember that your role is essential
• Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
      When you fall, remember there is no condemnation!

My prayer for you is: that you may grow in the knowledge of God's will through all spiritual wisdom and insight... (Col. 1:9-12)

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Addendum: How it Went

I had 40 minutes to deliver plus Q&A. Last year I talked way too long, but this time I was done in about 25 minutes. Afterward someone stood up at the mike and said, "We're definitely gonna invite you more often."

During the question/answer section, someone observed that "victory" in this area comes and goes. I replied that there is no magic formula, but we practice the disciplines, we grow in grace, we do it for 20-30 years and repeat as needed.

Another question was: How do you respond if somebody is envious of you? Maybe you don't think you're in such an enviable position, but suddenly a harsh remark comes out from someone who thinks they know you well? What came to mind was the idea that we often feel that we have to act like we've "got it all together" and don't have any problems. If someone shares with me that they're feeling envious, it may be time for me to be a little more transparent, tell them about my struggles, ask them to pray for me.

Now that I think of it, someone remarked how our kids got along so well together. "It wasn't always this way," I replied. "There was a while when we couldn't turn our backs or one of them would be biting the other. We prayed a lot in those days." Which reminds me of this verse from 1 John 1:

If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin.