But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised (Luke 11:38 | NIV).

Inviting Jesus to dinner was never so dangerous. At least that is one impression you may get from text found in Luke (11:37-54) where Jesus turned religious convention on its head to pronounce six woes on his host and his guests.

Jesus was invited by a “certain” Pharisee to dinner, but that Pharisee should have considered what he was doing before extending his invitation. You kind of get the impression that the Pharisee wanted to put Jesus on the menu, by roasting Him, as immediately he marveled that Jesus did not wash up before dinner.

During those days religious Jews had a certain way of ceremonially cleaning themselves, but that observance was based on personal piety, not cleanliness. Most telling it was one of the laws the Jewish leaders established which ended up being a burden for the people.

In response to the marveling Jesus offered a lesson that would not soon be forgotten culminating in six woes. In verses 39 and 40 Jesus said, “…Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?”

Jesus then proceeded to talk about giving as unto God, pronouncing each woe to all within earshot. I’ll add some of my comments to make these woes relevant to today’s religious folk:

1. Woe to the Pharisees for wrong priorities (v 42) – The Pharisees had their tithing down pat, but they were lacking in justice and love for God. Are you diligently serving God by bringing forward your offering and doing the work of the ministry? None of this matters if you don’t care for God’s people or if you have lost your first love.

2. Woe for putting personal reputation above godly character (v 43) – Position was of utmost importance to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Today, we still see that in the church: people striving to be known and oftentimes taking short cuts instead of upholding godliness.

3. Woe for being defiled by religion (v 44) – The Pharisees not only practiced a dead religion, but they seemed unaware of their spiritual condition. Lots of people in the church today are operating similarly: their hearts are dead while their religious observations continue.

4. Woe for putting heavy burdens upon people without offering to lift them (v 46) – The law was a heavy burden, an extension of the ten commandments that went beyond the Torah (instructions) to include the Talmud and other Jewish writings. Indeed, there were 613 commandments for people to keep and although all were based on scripture, problems arose in their rigid enforcement. Worse, if you had a burden you had to bear it yourself. There are churches today who have come up with their own set of rules and commandments. Some have absolutely nothing to do with biblical teaching.

5. Woe for killing God’s messengers (v 47) – The prophets brought messages from God to the religious leaders but they were killed because their message was unpalatable, though true. Today, people who have itching ears do not want to hear the truth. Instead, they heap upon themselves false teachers who push whatever manner of doctrine that suits them.

6. Woe to the scribes for not entering into truth while also forbidding others from doing the same (v 52) – Some believe that the Pharisees did not know better. On the contrary they did and made sure that others did not hear or follow the truth. I see this playing out in some churches today: preachers know the truth, but they are in it for financial gain and want to keep their flock from coming to the truth.

Friends, we can look at what Jesus had to say to the Pharisees and miss out on what He may be saying to us. If you are walking apart from the Lord but playing “church” most certainly one or more of these woes may apply to you.

Return to your first love now and put aside anything that will hinder you or others from serving God faithfully. Don’t be counted among the hypocrites who will be found wanting on the judgment day.

Photo Credit: Lionel Titu

Special thanks to Pastor Rodney Finch whose recent two-part message on this topic inspired my article.

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He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done. (Proverbs 19:17)

Duane Zook, Global Chairman of Global Aid Network, prays for a young earthquake victim, whose mother and father could not be found.

The recent cataclysmic earthquake in Haiti has galvanized much of the world into action, an amazing response that includes a number of supernatural components including seeing the hearts of several world leaders moved (Proverbs 21:1). Though hundreds of thousands were killed, millions were spared with remarkable testimonies of survival being shared for many days afterward.

Did you know that when you help someone who is poor that you are directly making a loan to God? Not that God needs anything from us, but He has set things up in this world to work through the hands of women and men to take our ordinary talents and multiply them into extraordinary blessings to those who have nothing.

But God rewards us for our kindness to the poor whether they be someone who has been dug out of the rubble in Port-au-Prince; an orphaned child in a desolate, war-torn land; or an elderly neighbor who is desperately trying to hold onto her home. When you help the poor, you are ministering to God.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. (Matthew 25:35, 36)

Clearly, God gives us many chances to help people who are impoverished physically, spiritually, or both. Even if the world was somehow a place where everyone’s temporal needs were taken care of, the spiritual need would remain.

But our world is far from being that comfortable place as wars, famine, disease, corrupt governments, and a host of other reasons conspire to keep people down. Yes, you will even have a group of people who simply will not work, but I am not talking about them. Untold millions are poor, needing to be ministered to, but the workers are few though the harvest is great.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

You may not be called to go on a mission trip, but you certainly can be missional minded. That kind of thinking has you praying and taking action as the Lord leads, seeking for ways to make a difference in the lives of the poor, giving to God with the side benefit that you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Photo Credit: Global Aid Network (Campus Crusade for Christ)

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Recently, I had one of those mornings where my plans were rendered asunder which is fancy talk for my day didn’t go as I had thought that it would. Earlier in the morning I was online, going through my emails, deleting spam comments from WordPress and posting links to Twitter. Without warning my internet connection gave out and, despite my going through all the steps to reconnect, nothing worked. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Nothing.

Needless to say I was frustrated. Even angry. I had a full day of work ahead of me and I knew that at some point I was going to have to stop my work, pick up our youngest son from school and return home. Another interruption in my busy day. “Problem loading page,” was the message. Ugh.

I would love to tell you that I prayed my way through this problem, but I didn’t. Instead, I grew increasingly tense, frustrated and snapped at the cat who decided that the time for her to rub up against my leg had arrived. Wrong. Thankfully, my kids were not around or at least they weren’t in my line of fire.

With no internet connection I realized that I wouldn’t be able to complete my research for the articles I was writing. Funny, it wasn’t too many years ago that all of my research materials were offline. At the library. Or in a magazine I subscribed to. I can’t remember when I last set foot in our local public library. At least I still subscribe to a handful of magazines.

Thankfully, the Lord soon brought me to my senses. I picked up my study notes and looked over a sermon that our pastor had preached a few weeks ago: When Good Meets Evil. Using Luke 8:26-39 for his text, Pastor Rodney examined the account of the man possessed by demons — a legion of them — which means that he had more than six thousand ghoulish fiends within him. This man was under the brutal control of darkness, frequently cutting himself, running around naked, crying out like the mad man that he was, and living a tormented life among the dead.

Everyone was afraid of the demon possessed man, but not Jesus. The demons within him knew who Jesus was and begged that they wouldn’t be thrown in the abyss. Instead, they asked Jesus to permit them to possess a nearby herd of swine, a request Jesus granted. As the story goes the demons immediately took up residence in the swine who rushed maddeningly down a hill, plunged into the water and drowned.

As for the formerly demon possessed man, he was now in his right mind and wanted to follow Jesus. However, Jesus told him to stay around because everyone knew who the “crazy man” was – imagine what sort of living testimony this new follower was to the local community!

Which brings me to my point – are you being driven by the devil or led by the Lord? Sure, we’re Christians which means we always do the right thing, am I right? Not a chance. Our kids don’t cooperate, our bosses make an unreasonable demand, our computers fail to connect to the internet….life weighs in and sometimes we don’t respond in the way that we should.

And yet, Jesus still beckons us to follow him, laying aside the urgency of the moment and the tyranny of the devil who would push us in a direction we know that we shouldn’t go.

Be led by Jesus the Good Shepherd today – the world, your flesh and the devil want to drive you, but your spirit is eager to allow God to lead you to a peaceful and restful place.

Photo Credit: Elly Kellner

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