Author: Walter Pierce

Have you met someone who can’t stop talking about something? It could be about their families, careers, favorite sports teams or a new store in their neighborhood. They are so excited that they can’t hold it in! They can talk on and on about it. I was in the airport once and a gentleman I never met before talked incessantly to me about his favorite Los Angeles-based basketball team. He was so excited about this team (the Red and Blue one not the Purple and Gold for those of you in the know!) that he couldn’t keep silent!

As Jesus is approaching Jerusalem, the “whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen.” (Luke 19:37) Evidently this spontaneous exclamation of praise got the attention of the local band of Pharisees. They told Jesus, “order your disciples to stop.” Jesus answered, “If these were silent, the stones would shout out.” (Luke 19:39-40) Praising God is something that even excited nature! Unlike many of our own pursuits that excite us, the disciples were excited about all that Jesus had done. The disciples couldn’t keep silent!

How excited are we about what God has done in our life? Our gratitude and appreciation should begat praise and adoration. This week, let’s focus on God’s goodness to us. Let’s get excited about God’s promises. Let’s tell our families and friends about God’s goodness. Let’s be so filled with gratitude and appreciation that we can’t keep silent!

In Luke 18, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. While traveling, he tells a story to the disciples. Luke, the narrator, says the story is about “some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.” The story begins with a Pharisee praying in a self-righteous manner. He thanks God that he is not like “robbers, tax collectors and other ‘sinners’” because of his religious activities. A tax collector, conversely, humbly casts himself upon the mercy of God.

The Pharisee in this story was practicing what I call self-righteous confidence. Self-righteous confidence says “I am better than you because of my own good deeds or good heart.” As illustrated in this story, it is a dangerous spiritual sin. It is dangerous for two reasons. First, it undermines God. It undermines God because it devalues our need for Him. Self-righteous confidence focuses on our works rather than on God’s love and mercy. Second, it undermines our neighbor. It undermines our neighbor because it places ourselves above those who may not “measure up” to our own (self-defined) righteousness.

This Sunday we hope to delve into the details of this parable. For now, we can ask ourselves, “How have I practiced self-righteous confidence in my life?” Have I looked down upon others because of their status in society?” “Have I convinced myself that I don’t need God in most instances?”

“You cannot serve God and wealth.”- Luke 16:13

Everyone has a primary devotion. There is one ultimate in our lives, one thing that draws our attention and time. Of course, Jesus understood this. After speaking to his disciples about shrewdness and wealth, he concluded by telling them, “ You cannot serve God and wealth.” Jesus was speaking against a religious culture that equated blessedness with wealth and money. Wealth was seen as a “material witness” to the blessedness and faithfulness of its possessor. In other words, one’s wealth proved one’s fidelity to God and blessedness by God.

Wealth, however, doesn’t necessarily equate to faithfulness to God. In fact, wealth has its own demands separate from God. Wealth (or the more traditional rendering mammon) can be a demanding taskmaster that leads us to worship status and objects rather than God. Wealth can seduce us and lead us to believe that it is the sustainer of life and not God.

Jesus is being clear that there are no rivals to or replacements of God. Our devotion is to him first and foremost. All other devotions flow out of our devotion to God. Love of neighbor, family, nation etc. for the Christ follower starts with love and devotion to God. We either choose to put God first or we choose to live in idolatry of wealth.

I have a well-deserved reputation for absent-mindedness. The cliché, “He would lose his head if it wasn’t attached” is an apt description of my lack of attentiveness to things! As a result, I frequently lose keys, wallets, and money (As I write, my warmest hat and gloves are both missing. Right before writing this, I found my mask.) Inevitably, this sparks the need for a frantic search around the bedroom, living room, spare bedroom, kitchen, etc.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of a lost coin. Jesus describes the story of a woman who frantically searches for this lost coin. Upon discovering its “hiding place”, she eagerly tells her friends of her discovery. “Rejoice with me”, she says, “for I have found the coin that I had lost.” Jesus compares the joy of the woman to the joy God has when he finds one of his lost children. What a picture! God, rather than stoically hoping we find him or playing proverbial hide and seek with us, actively seeks us and rejoices when we are reunited.

The God described in this parable is a God who passionately loves us. It is the nature of God’s love to seek. It is a love that misses us, seeks us, and desires us. “He is jealous for me,” the songwriter David Crowder wrote in his song How He Loves Us. His love isn’t covetous or possessive like a scorned, jealous lover. However, his love is consuming, good, and powerful. This week, as we celebrate Valentine’s Day, let’s remember that God showed his love for us by giving more than just chocolate, roses, and cards. He gave himself, he continues to give to us today, and he will give to us into eternity.Walter Pierce

Taken from Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, pp. xi-xii

Day One – For thirty minutes, turn off all technology. Make a cup of coffee or tea. Begin with this prayer, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24) Then, be still. No writing. No talking. Nothing. The objective here is to clear away all “creaturely activity,” to use a phrase from the old writers.

Day Two – Again, for thirty minutes, become free of all technology. Today, take a walk, allowing your footsteps to fall into the rhythm of your whispering of the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Day Three – Again, all technology is off for thirty minutes. A good cup of coffee or tea and a comfortable chair are in order. Begin with the simple prayer I composed for coffee time: “O Spirit of God, blow across my little life and let me drink in your great Life. Amen.” Next, ever so slowly, pray the words of the Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6:9-13). With each phrase of the prayer add your thoughts or concerns a little like you are decorating a Christmas tree with your own ornaments. See if your extended prayerful meditation will bring you to the end of the Lord’s Prayer at about the thirty-minute mark.

Days Four, Five, and Six: Repeat the same rhythm of days one, two, and three.

Day Seven: Use Your Technology to Your Heart’s Content.