#luke should reimburse me $10 + tax

[an-ivy-covered-summer]

i was going through my makeup and i found my most useless purchase of 2024:

blue glitter eyeshadow 🤡🤡🤡

[brucesimpkinsblog]

Going Nazirite - The Roman Connection

Last week we saw that taking the Nazirite vow meant separating yourself for God.  Num 6:2.  Most people would take this vow for 30,60, or 90 days, but there were some who were set apart for a lifetime.

You Have Been Set Apart

Just as Samson and Samuel were set apart in their childhood for a lifetime, from a prophetical point of view, Jesus has also set apart every one of us who will take up their cross and follow Him for a lifetime of separation.  New Testament scriptures tell us that God’s mercy is upon anyone who will set themselves apart by denying the pattern of this world so that we can then grow closer to the Lord and obtain an understanding of His truth that the world can never understand.

Paul writes about this lifetime of being set apart and what it means in Rom 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, (None of the following works without the view of God’s mercy) to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your reasonable act of worship.  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Paul begins this passage with the statement, “in view of God's mercy”.  What “mercy” is he speaking about?  Mercy is: “not getting what we deserve in spite of our sins.”  In our secular world, when you are guilty and everyone knows it, the only option you have left is to throw yourself on the mercy of the court.

In a court of law, there isn’t much mercy to be had . . . but God’s mercy is unlike any other mercy in this world.  In terms of our study in the book of Numbers, God’s mercy was, for God Himself to drink that bitter cup which we learned about in chapter 5.

That cup would have brought us suffering and death but when God saw that we were guilty, He loved us so much, He made Himself flesh so that He could take the punishment for us. His mercy is unlimited.

Your Reasonable Act Of Service

So, in view of God's mercy, how grateful should we be?  In view of God's mercy, what do we have to offer in thanks to Him?  What would be our REASONABLE act of service in view of God's mercy?  How much more obvious can it be?  Our REASONABLE act of service back to Him is to give Him our body, mind, and soul, which He has saved.  He makes us holy and pleasing to Himself when we could not do it for ourselves. Our REASONABLE act of service is to give Him our all.

Jesus gave a parable that showed what is reasonable before God compared to what is reasonable to the world.

Luke 10:30-37 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers.  They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.  Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'  "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."  Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

That would be a crazy thing to do, for people living by the world’s standard.  Some worldly people today might be willing to dial 911.  But to put the person in your car, and take him to a hotel, and wash his wounds, and pay for the hotel and amenities, and ALSO for the days following . . .

That’s extraordinary!  To a follower of Christ . . . it just seems a reasonable act of service.  

Being set part as living sacrifice can be so radical at times that the religious people will start to gossip.  Jesus went to the house of Zacchaeus the tax collector one day.  Tax collectors were notorious for taking advantage of other people and taking money that was over and above the required taxes for their own use.  They were legally robbing them.  So, Jesus decided to make a call on this tax collector.

Luke 19:7-10 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"  But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord!  Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."  Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

Because of his FAITH, (not his lineage) Zacchaeus discovered the joy of exchanging material wealth for spiritual treasures.  It makes perfect sense to me, but it makes NO sense to the world.  They would call a person who does this a fanatic.

When I worked for Hewlett Packard there were 3 of us who took turns sending out an Our Daily Bread readings every day to people who requested it.  We had 100’s of people getting it 1st thing every morning when they got to work.

The Human Relations Department found out and put an immediate stop to it.  We spent over a year working to get permission to re-establish it.

My worldly friends said, “Why are you fighting for a silly thing like that”?  It was just the REASONABLE thing to do in light of God’s mercy.  It’s LOGICAL.  What seemed extraordinary and above the call of duty to some, was just common place and logical to us.  Its logical to us but not the world.

This “lifetime vow” to follow Christ is not NOT drudgery though.  Sometimes it’s hard work, but never a drudgery.  Just as the lifetime vows Cathy and I made to each other is never a drudgery.  Sometimes its hard work, and sometimes there’s conflict.  Sometimes there’s tragedy, but both of our minds (it is important to have BOTH) have been transformed from thinking about our own selfish welfare to thinking about our unified welfare.

It is logical / reasonable to do whatever it takes to keep the relationship strong . . . and so it is in our relationship with Christ.  He IS my marriage, and my family, and my job, and my hobbies, and my neighborhood, and the grocery store checker, and other drivers on the road, . . . (Am I meddling now?)  

When the world sees a person or a family going to church every Sunday, it might seem reasonable.  But going to church AND a Bible Study AND a prayer meeting AND doing daily devotions AND volunteering to help with the all church Dutch oven cook off AND volunteering at Love INC AND raking leaves for an elderly person through Love Caldwell, AND . . . whatever it is . . . JUST MAKES SENSE TO A BELIEVER.

Let me close with a little story that archeologists found about Cyrus, the leader of the Persian Empire 600 years before Christ.  He had captured an enemy prince and his entire family.  He asked the prince, “What will you give me if I release your wife and children?  The prince replied, “I will give you myself as your slave for life”.  Cyrus was so moved by the prince’s response, he set them all free at no cost.  On the way home, the prince remarked what a handsome and generous man Cyrus was.  But his wife responded, “I didn’t notice.  I couldn’t  take my eyes off of the man who was willing to give his very life for me”.

Believers are like that wife.  We can’t take my eyes off of the one who gave His life for us.  Anything He asks is unquestionably reasonable, and it is a privilege to give every bit of my life to Him in anyway He asks for it for as long as I live.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

What Happens When The Nazirite Vow Is Complete

Your blessings will be multiplied by infinity.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

I don’t think its a coincidence that the most famous Godly benediction in history immediately follows the Nazirite vow.

Numbers 6:24-26 The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Go Nazirite.  Honor God.  Be set apart for His purpose . . . what ever it takes . . . it’s worth it.

Amen.

[howwerun]

Your Enemy is Your Neighbor

The United States seems to be experiencing a more public split than at any other time in my life (I turned 30 this month). My parents and grandparents may have experienced similar, if not far more intense, things, but for people in my generation and younger, everything that's happening politically and socially in our country right now is probably the closest thing to a civil war we've ever experienced. This is truer in some places than others, particularly those places where disagreements have turned into violence, or where racism and ethnocentrism and religious aggression are displayed openly. Still, the effects from those places ripple across the entire nation, and fear and anger and hatred are welling up in people who sympathize with one side or the other. And, while I would love to say that Christians have risen above such things, the reality is that we're right in the thick of it, on both sides. There are as many outspoken Christians justifying acts of hatred, fear, and prejudice with Scripture as there are Christians condemning such actions. We are as quick to judge and make rash decisions as anyone else, and the world will hold us more accountable for it. I know many people who have lost friends and had relationships destroyed over what's happening. I know people who have been persecuted or had family members and loved ones persecuted simply for being who they are. I have seen the fear in people's eyes and heard the hatred in their voices, and I have seen the confusion and dangerous acceptance in our children. So, I want to revisit what I believe is one of the most powerful passages, for believers, in the New Testament. I want to examine, with you, how God calls us out of our narrow worldview and commands us to take up a new position, a new stance, that is opposed to fear, rage, and hatred, because I believe that if Christians cannot master this one thing, we will only succeed in hurting the Kingdom and making the world a worse place.

Love Your Enemies...

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48, NIV

Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. This is such a fantastic passage. I think this is one of the most important ideas in the whole Bible. Understanding this passage isn't just about obeying a command to love and pray for people, it gives us powerful insight into the nature of God. I think people understate the significance of what Jesus is saying here, and I think that has a lot to do with how we understand the word "enemy."

The problem with thinking of our enemies as enemies is that it interferes with our loving them as human beings created in the image of God. What Jesus is pushing us toward is not just love for our enemies. It's an actual shift in our perspective. He draws a parallel between our neighbors and our enemies. "Love your neighbor as yourself" is a command his audience would have been very familiar with, and Jesus says, "Love your enemies." You have heard it said, "Love your neighbor, and hate your enemies," but I'm telling you that your enemy is actually your neighbor, and those who persecute you require your prayers. So, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, and in this, you are made perfect in love as your heavenly father is perfect.

When I used to train in martial arts, we tried not to refer to anyone as our enemy. We used the word "opponent" for hypothetical situations, because the word opponent implies disagreement and opposition or resistance. The word enemy implies hostility. While an opponent may be openly hostile, we didn't want to feed on that hostility, and we certainly didn't want to assume hostility. What I noticed was that the more time a person spent imagining an enemy, hostility and all, the more likely they were to become angry and impulsive in their training, which is dangerous for everyone. Imagine how much more out of control they would become in a real confrontation. We did our best to avoid that even more in real life practice, where we didn't even want to use the term opponent for anyone in the room. We were all partners, even when we were fighting each other. It re-defined how we approached training. My goal is not simply to overcome you; I'm here to help you better understand yourself, even if that leads you to eventually overcoming me.

In the military, they use this concept to the opposite effect. Instead of nurturing empathy, they intentionally distance soldiers from their opponents as much as possible. They are always the enemy. They are always unified, not individualized. They are almost always given a nickname, which is often used in a derogatory way. Psychology studies have shown us that human beings don't like to kill each other, despite popular belief. In fact, humans are more resistant to killing humans than almost anything else that we do, so when soldiers are created, they make a conscious effort to overcome those psychological barriers. And, we know from decades of psychological studies, and thousands of years of experience, that how they talk about the enemy affects how they deal with the enemy.

Do you understand how the language we use and the position we take in our meditation and in our imagination can affect the way we act in practical application? How we imagine the world to be has a profound impact on how we act toward the world. Jesus doesn't just call us to be kind to our enemies; he calls us to an entirely new worldview.

The Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Luke 10:25-37, NIV

Notice, in verse 36, that Jesus doesn't ask, "Who is the Samaritan's neighbor?" Instead, he asks, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The question is posed from the injured man's perspective. not the Samaritan’s, and in verse 37, the expert in the law answers, "The one who had mercy on him," which Jesus implies is correct.

Who our neighbor is depends on who we show love to. Most people approach the command “love your neighbor as yourself” in the same way as the expert in the law: who is my neighbor? If I can identify who my neighbors are, then I’ll know who to love. Jesus doesn’t do that; he says, essentially, which of the three men passing by chose to be a neighbor to the injured man? The difference is this: instead of asking, “Who is my neighbor,” we ought to be asking, “Who have I loved?” When the question is dependent on us, all of the burden of responsibility falls on us. If someone is my not my neighbor, it is because I have not chosen to love them. Moreover, Jesus commands him to "go and do likewise." Now, Jesus puts us on the spot: if we thought we could simply turn a blind eye and pick and choose our neighbors, we should think again. The command is to go and do what the Samaritan did: make someone your neighbor without any clear personal gain. Love people for no particular reason, whenever the opportunity arises.

In Romans 12, Paul makes a similar plea.

Overcome Evil with Good

19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:19-21, NIV

Do we try to do good for one another, for our brothers and sisters? Of course we do. We do good for the ones we care about, those closest to us, the ones we feel love for. Paul says not only should we do that, we ought to do good for our enemies.

A lot of people like to focus on the line, “In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Let’s make something clear: if we do good for our enemies so that it will “heap burning coals on his head,” we are acting out of a vengeful spirit, not a loving one. That attitude would be the opposite of what Paul is advocating. In verse 19, he plainly states, “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

The emphasis is not on the burning coals. The emphasis is on verse 21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” In other words, we ought to be doing good for everyone, loving everyone, even our enemies, and Jesus says that in our doing good for others, we determine who our neighbors are. It is our mercy toward others that defines who our neighbors are, and we ought to be including everyone in that. Understanding this idea that our neighbor is anyone we choose to love, let's re-examine Matthew 5:43-48.

Your Enemy is Your Neighbor

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48, NIV

“Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy” cannot work, because our neighbor ought to be everyone. Since we choose who our neighbors are by how we love them, and since we ought be doing good for enemies, everyone ought to be our neighbor. Who is there left to hate?

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Moreover, “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you" is a part of our identity as children of God. It actually embodies everything that God does for us, which Paul points out in Romans 5:8-10.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Romans 5:8-10

“While we were still sinners...God’s enemies,” God chose to love us and reconcile us to Himself through the death of Christ. He did for us exactly what Jesus commands us to do: love our enemies.

In fact, remember the conversation just before the parable of the Good Samaritan:

25b “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

Luke 10:25b-28

The path to eternal life involves two things: loving God and loving your neighbor. Your enemy is your neighbor, and if we can't get to a place where we stop thinking of people as our enemies and start thinking of them as our neighbors, we're going to have a very difficult time with loving them.

Consider Jesus's crucifixion in Luke 23.

26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”    and to the hills, “Cover us!”’

31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Luke 23:26-31

Even on his way out of the city to be nailed to a cross, Jesus's heart goes out to others. He warns the women of the coming suffering and tells them not to weep for him; he wasn't saying, "woe is me." Matthew 26 and 27 tell us that by this point, Jesus had already been abandoned by all of his disciples; spit on, beaten, and mocked by the Sanhedrin, as well as being accused of blasphemy; beaten by the Sanhedrin guards, disowned by Peter, flogged, stripped of his clothes and made to dress up, crowned with thorns, mocked, and beaten some more. As if that weren't enough, Luke 10:32-33 tell us that after everything, they crucified him between two criminals, at least one of whom also mocked him, according to the other gospels, along with the Jewish leaders, while he's hanging there dying on a cross! Yet, in Luke10:34a, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” In the midst of all of that, Jesus cries out to God, not on his own behalf, but on there's.

Christians Against Christians

I want to offer one last thought to meditate on: these ideas don't just apply to believers and non-believers. They apply to anyone and everyone in every context, including other congregations. I am often astonished at the amount of distance that Christians place between themselves and other Christians by doing exactly what the military does with their soldiers. We create categories that make it easy to label “us” and “them.” We lump other Christians into convenient, unified groups, like Baptist, Catholic, Church of Christ, Presbyterian... Some may argue that Christians place those labels on themselves, which is true, but we then use those labels in derogatory ways against each other; they don't just identify a person's place of worship. More often than not, we're calling to attention all of the things they believe that we think are wrong. “Those Baptists...” “Those Catholics...” “Those Church of Christers...” When we talk about Christians who believe something different than us, who have an opposing interpretation of some part of Scripture, it's often simply to point out differences between us and them. Yes, Baptist churches have a unifying creed that defines them as Baptist churches, but the members of those churches are individual people with as much variation in actual beliefs, perspectives, and worldviews as any other group of people. What’s more, we disguise this distancing language and distancing attitude as Scriptural purity, when really it's rarely more than interpretive superiority. We feel that our interpretations of scripture are correct; that’s why we believe them. Therefore, opposing interpretations are incorrect, by default. This is a foolish assumption of superiority.

Don't be deceived: there is selfishness and resentment toward other sects in every congregation I have ever been a part of, because, at the very least, I know I have been a part of it, and I am not proud of that. I have been to churches of many different denominations, and I have rarely, if ever, heard congregations refer to other denominations out of love and unity. I've also heard such things from the children, which suggests to me that they've heard it from us.

This is not okay, and today, more than ever before for young Christians, we need to strive for unity in our Father, unity in our belief that Jesus Christ was the son of God, who died for our sins and was raised from the dead, and unity in the Spirit. Now, more than ever for young Christians, the church, singular, needs to take a stance of love toward our neighbors. All of them.

There will always be people hostile toward others because of skin color, religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, ancestry... You name it, and there are people prejudiced against it. But, God calls us to completely reshape our worldview, and to take up a position of love where we choose to love every single person the way that God has loved us, to stop distancing ourselves from people with our language and our thoughts.

This week, I am challenging myself, and I invite you join me in this challenge: to make a list of every person or group of people who has ever been hostile toward you or who believes in something that you think is wrong, hateful, or built on fear and pray for them every day. It could be your boss, your coworkers, some protest group on the other side of the country... It could even be members of your own family; there are a lot of broken families in America. But let’s challenge ourselves to stop thinking of anyone as our enemy and start thinking of everyone as our neighbor.