Luke

As He was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and reclined at the table. When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that He did not first perform the ritual washing before dinner. But the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil. Fools! Didn’t He who made the outside make the inside too? But give to charity what is within, and then everything is clean for you. – Luke 11:37-41 (HCSB)

How often are we as Christians guilty of being so focused on our outward appearance that we totally neglect our inward spiritual health? As long as people see us doing and saying the right things, as long as we look spiritual to those around us, we are content with our dedication to Christ. But this isn’t dedication at all; rather it is pharisaical. God has no more tolerance for such hypocrisy now than Jesus did when He walked among us.

It is time we rid ourselves of the kind of Christianity that is focused on ritual and tradition, the kind of Christianity that is focused on a list of do’s and don’ts. What matters to God is our inward cleanliness and our inward attitude. If we are seeking to love others and to serve them in that love, then we will achieve the outward appearance of holiness that we are so desperately trying to project by our current piety. Jesus never called us to strive to be worthy of Him; rather, He called us to love everyone we encounter, to serve them and show them mercy.

When we learn to love as Christ loved, from the inside out, our outside will shine just as brightly as our love from within. People will notice. They won’t be able to help but notice. This is the kind of worship our Lord demands and demonstrated in His own life. Let’s reject all forms of outward devotion and learn to let our devotion be self evident by the love of Christ we extend to others.

“No one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see its light. Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. Take care then, that the light in you is not darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, the whole body will be full of light, as when a lamp shines its light on you.” – Luke 11:33-36 (HCSB)

Why does Christ focus on the eye in this passage? It has always read a bit strange to me. If our eye is the lamp, how do we control the amount of light we give off? For most of us, our eyes are on the front lines of everything we experience. As we weave in and out of our daily lives, it is the eye that receives much of our input and triggers reactions in the brain. Those triggers store images and feelings and launch reactions. The things we see will affect everything we are. If we allow our eyes to constantly look upon sinful things, our light will dim; as we look only on things that darken our light, we ourselves will be darkened. If we rather train our eyes to only look on good and holy things, the light of those things will enhance our own light. The things we take in directly affect our ability to reflect God (the light) to others. Therefore, the things we allow ourselves to be exposed to become of the utmost importance. If we are constantly exposed to light, then the inevitable exposure to anything dark will immediately be drowned out by the light, and the same light will reveal a path around the darkness. Since exposure to sin is virtually guaranteed in our dark world, we must be very careful and certain to only look upon light things whenever we have a choice. This will protect us when we must navigate the darkness.

As they were traveling on the road someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go!”
Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
”Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”
But He told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”
But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:57-62 (HCSB)

Following Jesus is all or nothing. We must at once let go of everything that is of this world and follow Him; no turning back.

We must be willing to give up our comfort. We must be willing to be homeless. We must be willing to be outcast from our families, perhaps being looked upon as rude and disrespectful. We must value Christ above all. We can never look back, but instead press forward at all times.

Lord, thank You for Your holiness and goodness toward me. Let me hold loosely to all the things you have allowed me to manage in this world. I give You my house, my family, my life, for only You are worthy. I need, and I desire, nothing else but You Jesus.

As He was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “The womb that bore You and the one who nursed You are blessed!” He said, “Even more, those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed!” – Luke 11:27-28 (HCSB)

Why did Jesus reply as He did to the woman in the crowd? Was it a rebuke? Was it a correction? It seems as if Jesus is attempting to refocus the attention of the woman. She is focused on His mother and the honor Jesus brings to her. Jesus wants the woman to focus elsewhere. He wants her to hear what He is saying and, after hearing, go out and put those words into action.

It’s easy to get caught up in the words of a good sermon or in the excitement of a Christian concert. We need to make certain there is more than simply emotion in play, however. We need to take the lessons we learn and apply those to our lives. When you are involved in a great church, particularly in the mega-churches today, it’s easy to look forward to the next service simply because of the atmosphere, the people you will see or the production of the service itself. The above passage can serve as an admonition against this type of attitude.

We must never lift up anything or anyone. Only Jesus should be lifted up into a place of worship. Don’t look forward to the next sermon; look forward to applying what you will learn to your daily life. Don’t look forward to the next performance from your worship band; look forward to the conversation you will have with God as the band leads you into the Lord’s presence. Take what the Lord reveals to you and simply obey. It’s never about the vehicle; it’s about obedience to the message. If we are walking in pure devotion, our very lives will cry out in praise to the Father without any additional help from us. We need to simply focus on His Glory and then obey.

Father, give me the discipline to obey You in every moment of my life. Forgive me when my focus gets distorted and I turn away from You. Help me see everything through Your eyes.