The spirit of ministry

Luke 10:29-37…

The lawyer was trusting in his ability to perform. The problem is that he knows that he cannot fulfill this requirement if it means all it could mean. In trying to justify himself, he sought an exact meaning of “neighbor”, so as to have a formula for righteousness. He wanted to know the letter of the Law. In other words, what he was really trying to do was get a license to be able to love only those he must in order to inherit eternal life, and to necessarily exclude all others, at his personal discretion.

To the letter, this is how mischievous children try to get around the restrictions of their parents.  Think about the child whose mother tells her that she cannot ride her bike to the park; she goes anyway, and when her mother scolds her, she cries, “I didn’t ride my bike, I walked”. Can you see how childish and utterly ridiculous this lawyer is being in this passage now?

Still, we see that today many have not taken this lesson from Jesus. He is interested in the spirit, not simply our actions but our attitudes, the truth in our hearts (2 Corinthians 3:3-6). Christians have been deceived into jumping through spiritual hoops, thinking that they have earned the favor of God (Luke 17:10). That is trusting in our performance, not trusting in Jesus.

By showing us the priest and the Levite specifically, Christ was definitely trying to convey something even more than the fact that being a neighbor means more than your own kind. Christ is putting his second commandment above prior duty. Be looking for God to send someone by at the “wrong time”. Your agenda is never as important as God’s. Remember, being faithful in a little thing is a big thing. Think of those that walked on by. They thought they had bigger and more important things to do, but they missed the ministry just lying there waiting to happen. 

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The wise guy

Luke 10:25-28…

It is instructive to see that Luke places this incident directly following Jesus giving thanks to His Father, “that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children”. The “little children” are Jesus’ disciples, His followers, who have just learned about spiritual power in His name. Now we meet the lawyer, one of the “wise and understanding”, a scholar schooled in all the intricacies and interpretations of the Old Testament Law. The children and wise are placed in sharp contrast.

The lawyer asks an important question, which is really the ultimate question, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” but he has an underlying motive. He was testing Jesus to see if He could trip Him up, make Him contradict Himself, or contradict the Law, perhaps ultimately trying to prove that His claims to be the Son of God were demonstrably false. Instead of answering the man, Jesus turns the question back on him, appealing to his self-perception of being an authority. The one who came to test is now being tested.

The lawyer was trying to set Jesus up so as to take Him down. But Jesus was setting him up so as to take down his self-righteousness. Jesus agrees that his answer describes the essence of the Law (Leviticus 19:18 / Deuteronomy 6:4-5 / Matthew 7:12, 22:35-40 / Mark 12:28-34 / Romans 13:8-10 / Galatians 5:14 / James 2:8-10). Jesus says that if the man does this he will indeed inherit eternal life.  

The problem is that no one can fulfill this requirement. The lawyer was rich in knowledge, and thought this meant he could achieve, accomplish, attain whatever it took to gain favor with God. In contrast, the disciples knew they were nothing without Jesus. They were learning true knowledge, not to be proud in their own selves, but to give glory to God.

You may grow and learn and be about all those good things you ought to do, but you mustn’t let those things make you think you are now somehow less needing of mercy and grace. You may be rich in your relationship with God, but that means you realize your poverty without Him.

Don’t be some smug wise guy, thinking you have it all figured out. Realize what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”.  

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The beginning of the future

Luke 10:23-24…

Jesus was turning from the larger group that was sent out and looking back to the twelve, saying that they were blessed to see the beginnings, the visible spread of the kingdom of God.

Our role is not the same as theirs. But our eyes and ears are also blessed if we have been given a spiritual birth; if we are born again we too can see the kingdom of God in manifestation. It may not seem as spectacular to the natural eye or sound as wonderful to the natural ear. Yet every time someone is delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, we are witnessing the spread of the King’s reign.

Elijah labored in prayer until he saw one tiny little cloud, and then he knew the downpour was coming (1 Kings 18:41-45). If you are moving with the Spirit of God, you can see the things others miss. But it is for the benefit of others; your reward is to be able to see it at all.

Future grace is what motivated the prophets (1 Peter 1:10-12). The future was revealed to them, but these revelations were given not for themselves mainly, but for our good in these Gospel times. This didn’t make them discouraged and inactive; it empowered them to unselfishly testify in the Spirit for the partial good of their own generation, and for the full benefit of posterity.

We must encourage life and work in the church that is motivated by selfless love. Engaging in ministry out of a need to feel self-worth will bear little eternal fruit. It is not only about serving ourselves, or even serving others, but serving others in service to God. We are working for the future, and we are blessed to be seeing and hearing about some of the fruit of it right now. 

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©