More leads to more; less leads to less!

Luke 8:16-18

No one lights a lamp and then hides it under a vessel or puts it under a bed. No! he puts it on a lamp-stand so that those who come in may see the light. There is nothing hidden which will not be made manifest; there is nothing secret which win not be known and brought into the open. Take care, then, how you listen; for to him who has it will be given; and from him who has not there shall be taken away even what he thinks he has.

Food for thought!

Here we have three sayings of Jesus, each with its own warning for life.

(i) No one lights a lamp and then hides it under a vessel or puts it under a bed. No! he puts it on a lamp-stand so that those who come in may see the light.

This saying stresses the essential conspicuousness of the Christian life. Christianity is in its very nature something which must be seen. It is easy to find prudential reasons why we should not reveal our faith in the world's face. In all of us, there is an instinctive fear of being different; and the world is always likely to persecute those who do not conform to pattern. And yet this is exactly what Jesus calls us to be, different! A writer tells how he kept hens. In the hen house all except one hen were marked the same. The one different hen was pecked to death by the other hens. Even in the animal world, being different is a crime.

(ii) "There is nothing hidden which will not be made manifest; there is nothing secret which will not be known and brought into the open."

This one stresses the impossibility of secrecy. There are three people from whom we try hide things.

(a) Sometimes we try to hide things from ourselves. We shut our eyes to the consequences of certain actions and habits, consequences of which we are well aware. It is like a man deliberately shutting his eyes to symptoms of an illness which he knows he has. We have only to state that to see its incredible folly.

(b) Sometimes we try to hide things from our fellow men. Things have a way of coming out. The man with a secret is an unhappy man. The happy man is the man with nothing to hide. It is told that once an architect offered to build for Plato a house in which every room would be hidden from the public eye. "I will give you twice the money," said Plato, "if you build me a house into every room of which all men's eyes can see." Happy is the man who can speak like that.

(c) Sometimes we try to hide things from God. No man ever attempted a more impossible task. We would do well to have before our eyes forever the text which says, "Thou art a God of seeing." (Gen.16:13.)

(iii) "Take care, then, how you listen; for to him who has it will be given; and from him who has not there shall be taken away even what he thinks he has."

This lays down the universal law that the man who has will get more; and that the man who has not will lose what he has. If a man is physically fit and keeps himself so, his body will be ready for greater efforts; if he lets himself go flabby, he will lose even the abilities he has. The more a student learns, the more he can learn; but if he refuses to go on learning, he will lose the knowledge he has. This is just another way of saying that there is no standing still in life. All the time we are either going forward or going back; we are either getting better or getting worse; we are either getting more or getting less.

This law works in both spiritual and material things; it works in businesses and in family affairs. It works everywhere, every day, on everyone and in everything. If we really strive after more we will get more, if we don't strive enough, we will get less; if we strive for goodness and master this and that temptation, new heights of goodness will open to us; if we give up the battle and take the easy way, much of the resistance power we once possessed will be lost and we will slip from whatever height we had attained.

It is the law Jesus applied to the woman that anointed him with perfume: "So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; because she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

Be smart!

Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”

  Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty.” To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty.”

  ‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.

  ‘And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

  ‘No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’

Food for thought!

Jesus states that the sons of this world are wiser in their generation than the sons of light. He commenting on the story of dishonesty manager. What Jesus is saying is that, if only the Christian was as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his attempt to attain money and comfort, he would be a much better man. If only we would give as much attention to the things which concern our souls as we do to the things which concern our profession and business, we would be much better people. Over and over again we do expend twenty times the amount of time and money and effort on pleasure, hobby, garden, sport as we do on our soul. Our Christianity will begin to be real and effective only when we spend as much time and effort on it as we do on our worldly activities.

Another lesson is that material possessions should be used to cement the friendships wherein the real and permanent value of life lies. The rich help the poor in this world, but the poor help the rich in the world to come; charity given to poor people stands to our credit in the world to come; our true wealth does consist not in what we keep, but in what we give away. Let us use our wealth not selfishly but to make life easier, not only for himself, but for others too. Possessions are not in themselves a sin, but they are a great responsibility, and the person who uses them to help others has gone far to discharge that responsibility.

A man's way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of his fitness or unfitness to be entrusted with a bigger task. That is clearly true of earthly things. No man will be advanced to higher office until he has given proof of his honesty and ability in a smaller position. But Jesus extends the principle to eternity. He says, "Upon earth you are in charge of things which are not really yours. You cannot take them with you when you die. They are only lent to you. You are only a steward over them. They cannot, in the nature of things, be permanently yours. On the other hand, in heaven you will get what is really and eternally yours. And what you get in heaven depends on how you use the things of earth. What you will be given as your very own will depend on how you use the things of which you are only steward."

Challenge issued, challenge accepted!

Mat 9:9-13

9 Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, "Come along with me." Matthew stood up and followed him.

10 Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. 11 When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus 'followers. "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riff- raff?"

12 Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? 13 Go figure out what this Scripture means:' I'm after mercy, not religion. 'I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders."

Food for thought!

Matthew may have been what he has been, a tax collector, but there was one gift which Matthew would possess. Most of the disciples were fishermen. They would have little skill and little practice in putting words together on paper; but Matthew would be an expert in that. When Jesus called Matthew, as he sat at the receipt of custom, Matthew rose up and followed him and left everything behind him except one thing--his pen. And Matthew nobly used his literary skill to become the first man ever to compile an account of the teaching of Jesus, the Gospel according to Matthew. Jesus knows how to recycle people.

We must note what Matthew lost and what Matthew found. He lost a comfortable job, but found a destiny. He lost a good income, but found honour. He lost a comfortable security, but found an adventure the like of which he had never dreamed. It may be that if we accept the challenge of Christ, we shall find ourselves poorer in material things. It may be that the worldly ambitions will have to go. But beyond doubt we will find a peace and a joy and a thrill in life that we never knew before. In Jesus Christ a man finds a wealth surpassing anything he may have to abandon for the sake of Christ.

Jesus not only called Matthew to be his man and his follower; he actually sat at table with men and women like Matthew, with tax-gatherers and sinners.

Jesus' defence was perfectly simple; he merely said that he went where the need was greatest. He would be a poor doctor who visited only houses where people enjoyed good health; the doctor's place is where people are ill; it is his glory and his task to go to those who need him.

His answer was, "Whatever I may wish to do, I must stay where men need me most." It was sinners who needed Jesus, and amongst sinners he would move and later die.

As well as certain women!

Luke 8:1-3

After that, Jesus travelled through the country, town by town, and village by village, preaching the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, as well as certain women, who had been cured from evil spirits and from illnesses. There was Mary, who is called Mary Magdalene, out of whom there went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, who was Herod's agent, and Susanna and many others. It was their habit to minister to their needs out of their resources.

Food for thought!

Jesus is on the road. The synagogues were not now open to him, as once they had been. He had begun, as it were, in the church, where any man with a message from God might expect to find a responsive and receptive audience. Instead of a welcome he had found opposition; instead of eager listeners he had found the scribes and Pharisees bleakly waiting to catch him out; so now he took to the open road and the hillside and the lake shore.

And Jesus is not alone. Besides men, this passage lists a little group of women who served him out of their resources. But, as with the disciples, so with these women, we cannot fail to see how mixed a company they were. There was Mary Magdalene, that is Mary from the town of Magdala, out of whom he had cast seven devils. Clearly she had a past that was a dark and terrible thing. There was Joanna. She was the wife of Chuza, the official who looked after the king's financial interests. It is an amazing thing to find Mary Magdalene, with the dark past, and Joanna, the lady of the court, in the one company.

It is one of the supreme achievements of Jesus that he can enable the most diverse people to live together without in the least losing their own personalities or qualities. Only Jesus can make the lion lie down with the lamb, as Isaiah prophesied:

Isa 11:6-8

6 The wolf will romp with the lamb, the leopard sleep with the kid. Calf and lion will eat from the same trough, and a little child will tend them.

7 Cow and bear will graze the same pasture, their calves and cubs grow up together, and the lion eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens, the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.

This text is too lightly interpreted. It is constantly assumed ... that when the lion lies down with the lamb the lion becomes lamb-like. But that is brutal annexation and imperialism on the part of the lamb. That is simply the lamb absorbing the lion instead of the lion eating the lamb. The real problem is --Can the lion lie down with the lamb and still retain his royal ferocity? That is the issue; that is the miracle Jesus achieved and achieves. He can make different people live in harmony together. Jesus is our peace.

In this list of women we have a group whose help was practical. Being women, at that time as like today, they would not be allowed to preach; but they gave the gifts they had. They helped Jesus in his ministry. Yes, in the company of every great man, there is a great woman. Even in the company of Jesus there were great women. It is not always the person in the foreground who is doing the greatest work. Many a man could hardly survive one week without the help of a woman in his company! Many women today are in the background, unseen but essential to us men.  GOD said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." (Gen. 2:18)

None of us will judge any of us!

Luke 7:36-50

36 One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee's house and sat down at the dinner table. 37 Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume 38 and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him." 40 Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Oh? Tell me." 41 "Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. 42 Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker cancelled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?" 43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one who was forgiven the most." "That's right," said Jesus. 44 Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. 46 You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. 47 Impressive, isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal." 48 Then he spoke to her: "I forgive your sins." 49 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: "Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!" 50 He ignored them and said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

Food for thought

How much extravagant are you with Jesus? How much are you ready to do for love of Jesus? Look at this woman's extravagancy. She took the most precious thing she possessed and spent it all on Jesus. Love is not love if it calculates the cost. Love gives its all and its only regret is that it has not still more to give. What is most expensive to you?

"She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. This is the verdict that Jesus made of the woman!" GRATEFULNESS!

Do you awaken every morning with a song of praise on your lips? Do you feel full of appreciation for life as you live it every day? Or, do you have to think long and hard before finding something to be grateful for? Someone once said, “A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things.” An old adage states that “where your attention goes, your energy flows.” This means we tend to attract that to which we give our attention. The more good you can see and praise, the more you direct creative energy to positive results. So, practice waking up each day with an inherent expectation of good and with a wonderful feeling of thanksgiving for life itself. Your days will be filled with exciting adventures.

Be like Jesus. Even in situations that at first appear difficult or unpleasant, see all the good you can and bless the good you can see! Focus on the good and watch it multiply. While the Pharisee was seeing evil in the woman's act, Jesus was seeing goodness: "When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.'" Jesus on the other hand said: "Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my feet. 46 You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. 47 Impressive, isn't it?"

Some people are like the Pharisee; they only see evil in others' acts. But at the end of the day, who can and does judge all is Jesus, not man. It is only Jesus who will judge all of us. None of us will judge any of us. Thank God.

Jesus eats and drinks!

Luke 7:31-35

"How can I account for the people of this generation? 32 They're like spoiled children complaining to their parents, 'We wanted to skip rope and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk but you were always too busy.' 33 John the Baptizer came fasting and you called him crazy. 34 The Son of Man came feasting and you called him a lush. 35 Opinion polls don't count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

Food for thought!

Today's words of Jesus tells of the perversity of our heart. John had come, living with a hermit's austerity, and some people had said that he was too much less for their liking. Jesus had come, living the life of men and entering into all their activities, and they had labelled him too much for them. Jesus does not force himself on us; if you think you don't need him, he will not force you. (Rev 3:20) "Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you."

This is what Jesus did then and does now: knock at our doors and wait.

Jn 1:10-13

He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn't even notice. 11 He came to his own people, but they didn't want him. 12 But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made become children of God. 13 These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten.

Rev 3:15-18

"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot-- far better to be either cold or hot! 16 You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. 17 You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless. 18" Here's what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that's been through the refiner's fire. Then you'll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You've gone around half- naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.

Jesus saves us in life and in death!

Luke 7:11-17

11 Not long after that, Jesus went to the village Nain. His disciples were with him, along with quite a large crowd. 12 As they approached the village gate, they met a funeral procession-- a woman's only son was being carried out for burial. And the mother was a widow. 13 When Jesus saw her, his heart broke. He said to her, "Don't cry." 14 Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. He said, "Young man, I tell you: Get up." 15 The dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother. 16 They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful-- and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, "God is back, looking to the needs of his people!" 17 The news of Jesus spread all through the country.

Food for thought!

When Jesus came to Nain he met a sad scene by all standards. We are told that the victim is a young man. That he is “the only son of his mother”. And we are told that the mother was a widow. In other words, she had lost her husband, and now her son. Double tragedy!

Here is a young man whose life had been filled with great potential. He might have had hopes of marriage and of fathering children, but now he is dead. There may have been plans of going into business to support himself and his widowed mother, but now he is dead. Those eyes which had been bright with the gleam of youth are now dulled by death. That mind that had hoped and dreamed was now stilled by the cold embrace of death. That voice that had laughed and cried has been silenced forever. Death has come and it has brought with it all the cruelness and heartache it possesses.

You will notice the wording of the text: “there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.” Here is a woman who had already felt the icy hand of death as it took her husband from her life. The only things remaining from her marriage are a few memories and the only son that she and her husband brought into the world. Now, her precious son has been taken away by death, as well.

But, there is more here than just the death of a beloved son. This poor woman had no one left to care for her in her old age. In that day there was no welfare or assistance available to widows like her. It was up to a woman’s children, especially her sons, to see that she was cared for in her declining years. But, she has no one left! She is all alone, helpless and caught in a desperate condition.

If yesterday it was a desperate centurion that Jesus helped by Jesus, today it is a desperate woman. If yesterday it was sick man that Jesus healed, today he raises a dead man back to life, back to dreaming, back to living! The gospel says that the dead man began to talk AGAIN! Jesus is not only the Lord of life; he is the Lord of death also. This miracle, as the miracle of his own resurrection, is what makes Jesus stand out of all the other religious figures. As you know, Jesus raised three dead people from the dead. One had just died (Luke 8:40-56); the second is this one of today's gospel, who was being carried to be buried; the third is Lazarus that had been in the tomb four days (Jn 11:1-44).

What is noteworthy about all of them, is the moment they were brought back to life: one had just died; another was on the way to the cemetery; the last was in the cemetery already for four days. It means that, for Jesus, time means nothing. He will rise those who died long ago, those who died recently, and those who will have died. He will rise us all who believe that he will.

It also means that for Jesus it is never too late. With Jesus, we can rise up from where we fell, regardless of when. If and when we fall into sin, into hopelessness, into helplessness, into confusion, into desperation, He can bring us back to normality, regardless. It means that never lose hope in Jesus, with Jesus never write yourself or anybody off. You are never too dead of anything to rise up again. There's no sin, no state he cannot rescue us from. To him be praise and honour and glory, both for now and for ever. Amen.

Liked and likeable person!

Luke 7:1-10

1 When he finished speaking to the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A Roman captain there had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly and didn't want to lose him. 3 When he heard Jesus was back, he sent leaders from the Jewish community asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 They came to Jesus and urged him to do it, saying, "He deserves this. 5 He loves our people. He even built our meeting place." 6 Jesus went with them. When he was still quite far from the house, the captain sent friends to tell him, "Master, you don't have to go to all this trouble. I'm not that good a person, you know. I'd be embarrassed for you to come to my house, 7 even embarrassed to come to you in person. Just give the order and my servant will get well. 8 I'm a man under orders; I also give orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; another, 'Come,' and he comes; my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." 9 Taken aback, Jesus addressed the accompanying crowd: "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works." 10 When the messengers got back home, they found the servant up and well.

Food for thought!

We are beginning our work week with a civil servant, a Roman soldier; and he was no ordinary man. The mere fact that he was a centurion meant he was no ordinary man. A centurion was the equivalent of a regimental sergeant-major; and the centurions were the backbone of the Roman army. Wherever they are spoken of in the New Testament they are spoken of well (compare Lk.23; Lk.47; Ac.10:22; Ac.22:26; Ac.23:17,23,24; Ac.24:23; Ac.27:43).

He had a completely unusual attitude to his slave. He loved this slave and would go to any trouble to save him. The attitude of this centurion to his slave was quite unusual, and should help us shape our attitude towards our house girls, our maids, our servers, our assistants or even our colleagues at work. When his slave fell ill, he sought Jesus, because "He prized him highly and didn't want to lose him." We all know the importance of those people who work for us; the day they don't show up at work, some of us are completely lost, unable to do anything.

He was a liked and likeable man. He was not a Jew, but Jews liked them. They came to Jesus and urged him to do him a favour, "He deserves this. He loves our people. He even built our meeting place." This is what we should be, liked and likeable. As you know, it is what people really think of you, not what they say TO YOU, that matters!

He was a humble man. He knew quite well that a strict Jew was forbidden by the law to enter the house of a gentile (Ac.10:28); just as he was forbidden to allow a gentile into his house or have any communication with him. He would not even come to Jesus himself. He persuaded his Jewish friends to approach him. This man who was accustomed to command had an amazing humility in the presence of true greatness.

He was a man of faith. His faith is based on the soundest argument. He argued from the here and now to the there and then. He argued from his own experience to God. If his authority produced the results it did, how much more must that of Jesus? He came with that perfect confidence which looks up and says, "Lord, I know you can do this." If only we had a faith like that, for us too the miracle would happen and life become new.

Taken aback, Jesus said of him to the people: "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust anywhere in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works." Sometimes, non-Christians behave better than we Christians!

God according to Jesus Christ!

Luke 15:1-32

The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them: ‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” he would say “I have found my sheep that was lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.

  

‘Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’

  

He also said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.

  

‘When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.

  ‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.

  

‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.”

  

‘The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’

Food for thought!

The parables in today's gospel arose out of real life situation. It was an offence to the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus associated with men and women who, by and large, were labelled as sinners. So Jesus told them the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd's joy, in order to tell us something about God. This story should correct our false notions about God.

God the Father, says Jesus, is as glad when a lost sinner is found as a shepherd is when a strayed sheep is brought home. As a great saint said, "God, too, knows the joy of finding things that have gone lost."

There is a wondrous thought here. God is kinder than men. Many of us write off many people we label as sinners or worthless, and as deserving of nothing but hell; not so with God. We may give up hope of a someone; but not God. God loves the saints, but in his heart there is love for sinners.

What is the difference between a crisp $20 bill and a soiled and rumpled $20 bill? A preacher showed his congregation a crisp $20 bill and asked who wants it. All hands went up. Then he crumpled it in his palms and asked who still wanted it. Again all hands went up. Lastly he threw it on the ground, marched on it and repeated his question. Still the hands went up. Then he explained to them that the difference between a new, crisp $20 bill and a rumpled and soiled $20 in our eyes is the difference between a good person and a bad person in the sight of God. Both are equally acceptable. Basically both stand equal before God "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Henri Nouwen says it differently: "We are all handicapped; some are more visibly handicapped than others."

Today's gospel is the family story of a man and his two sons. At the beginning of the story we see that the younger son is the bad boy and the elder son the good boy. But by the end of the story we see that both of them are bad. The problem begins with the younger son. Without waiting for his father to die he asks for his share of the inheritance. Then he abandons his duties and responsibilities in the family estate and goes abroad to live a life of fun. His reckless lifestyle drains his fortunes and he finds himself reduced to abject poverty and misery. But no matter how far sinners stray from the father's house, the loving heart of the parent always follows them, gently whispering in their hearts, "Come home! Come home!"

The wild, fun-loving sinful youngster has one good thing: he is not too proud to go back and say, "I have erred; I am sorry." And this is precisely what he decides to do. Parents, are you ready to receive back home your strayed children? Spouses are you ready to receive each other back? If you are ready make the first step. Did you notice that both the father and the young son each took the first step? As the son was coming, the father too was waiting. Do the same.

I can imagine how the young son's heart was pounding as he approached his father's house, not knowing whether his father would take him back or not! But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. I imagine how the young man begins to read his prepared confession, while his father, so overjoyed he does not listen. But also he does not accuse. He instead says to his slaves, Quickly, bring out a robe -- the best one -- and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! And they began to celebrate.

This story tells us also that it is a thousand times easier to come back to God than to come back to humans. I wish the story ended here, but it does not. It continues to show us the flaws of the good elder brother. Instead of rejoicing that his brother who was presumed lost has come back, he is angered by the fact that their father has received him back with a celebration. In anger he distances himself from his own family and from the party. As he leaves he mutters to himself, "This is unfair. This is unfair" – a word that is often used to justify anger, intolerance, self-righteousness and violence.

Which lessons do we take from this story? Many. One of them is that we are all sinners. Whether your sins are more visible like those of the younger son or more hidden like those of the elder son, the message for us today is that we all need to repent and return to the father's heart.

Did you know that the speck you judge in someone else's eye may very well be a reflection of the plank in your eye?  When you judge someone for being prejudiced, could it be because you struggle with prejudice yourself? The older son says, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been fattening.” Until now, no one knows anything like "his women" until the elder son mentions them; the gospel talks of "a life of debauchery" not of women, as the elder son puts it. He thinks his sins are every body's sins.

The Cross of Jesus reminds us of the Jesus of the Cross!

John 3:13-17

13 "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. 14 In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up-- 15 and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. 16" This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. 17 God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

Food for thought!

On 14th of September, we mark the Feast of the Holy Cross. To understand the significance of this feast, let's go back to the Old Testament. There, in the Book of Numbers, we read: Num 21:4-9

4 They set out from Mount Hor along the Red Sea Road, a detour around the land of Edom. The people became irritable and cross as they traveled. 5 They spoke out against God and Moses: "Why did you drag us out of Egypt to die in this godforsaken country? No decent food; no water-- we can't stomach this stuff any longer." 6 So GOD sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit them and many in Israel died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke out against GOD and you. Pray to GOD; ask him to take these snakes from us." Moses prayed for the people. 8 GOD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it on a flagpole: Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live."
9 So Moses made a snake of fiery copper and put it on top of a flagpole. Anyone bitten by a snake who then looked at the copper snake lived.

This incident is rather puzzling in view of the fact that the Bible absolutely forbids to make and use graven images. And in this text, the Lord explicitly commands Moses to make one and present it before the people. "Make a snake and put it on a flagpole: Whoever is bitten and looks at it will live." So, what's all this about? How can we explain this and the images / statues in our churches and homes?

First and foremost, it was not the serpent that gave life. So long as Moses lifted up the serpent, the people believed in him who had commanded Moses to act thus. It was God who healed them, not the serpent. The serpent served only as visual aid, as icon, as reminder. The healing power lay not in the brazen serpent; it was only a symbol to turn their thoughts to God; and when they did that they were healed.

Man is an animal of symbols. We use symbols all over, like marriage rings, flowers, road signs, etc. All these are intended to lift our mind to what they stand for; symbols point beyond themselves to what they represent. They're just pointers to something invisible. This is what that bronzen snake became for the Israelites. The same with the holy cross of Jesus: it lifts our mind to Jesus; it points beyond itself to whom it represents, Jesus.

For that reason, the crucifix we carry on our chest, in our cars, homes, etc, is intended not for others to see how religious we are; it is for us to remember Jesus and his sacrifice of love for us! We don't use religious images to show off, but to lift our mind and heart to the Lord. The same with wedding rings, they're reminders to the bearers that they're committed. The husband or wife that forgets that s/he is married and committed, will always run into not a few problems! The holy cross of Jesus is a constant reminder of Jesus of the cross!