Be Still And Know

Luke 19:26 “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” In this parable, Jesus spoke about servants who had all been entrusted with some money. Two of them managed to multiply the original amount enormously, and the king was thrilled when he discovered this. However, the third servant played it safe – very safe. He hid the money and ensured that he could return it in full to the king. The king was furious and ordered that this preserved money should go to the most successful servant. Jesus’ message is clear: don’t play it safe! If God has given you a gift, use it. If you have a gift of caring, studying, administrating, teaching, healing, praying, writing or whatever it may be, make sure you are using that gift as productively as you possibly can. One day, the Lord will ask you what you have done with the gift, and you must expect a severe response if your answer is that you played it safe and did noth

Luke 19:5-7 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.” Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Everyone loves to be called by name. It is particularly special if you didn’t realise that the person speaking to you knew your name. Clearly, Zacchaeus was not only surprised that Jesus knew his name, but thrilled when he offered to visit his house. This changed everything for Zacchaeus, who realised that he had to turn his life around. The fact that Jesus came into the world to save sinners is amazing and wonderful, but it means little until you realise that he is addressing you personally. You matter to God. Incredibly, as Augustine stated long ago, if you had been the only sinner who had ever lived, Jesus would have died for you. As a teenager, I really st

Luke 18:35; 40-43 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road…When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too. Jesus knew that he was heading to Jerusalem where he would be killed. Despite what was ahead, he still had time for people, and when he heard a blind man call out, he stopped and gave him his full attention. From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he had declared that he had come to bring sight to the blind, in fulfilment of Isaiah 61. That didn’t mean he had come to impose his healing – he’d come to offer it, and that’s what he did when he met this blind beggar in Jericho. Jesus never barges into our lives telling us what’s best for us and imposing his w

Luke 18:31-33 Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus said, “Listen, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where all the predictions of the prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true. He will be handed over to the Romans, and he will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon. They will flog him with a whip and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.” A few days before Jesus’ death on the cross, he took his disciples to one side and give them a vivid description of what was going to happen. However, incredibly, they didn’t understand a word of it. It was a complete mystery to them, and the coming days were a total shock. They understood that Jesus was an amazing teacher and healer, but they hadn’t yet grasped the true meaning of his life - and didn’t want to think about his death. We live in a society that is equally unaware of the significance of Jesus’ death. This is a great tragedy, and we need to reflect on the ways we can help people to grasp its importance. We should be very glad that,

Luke 18:16-17 Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Jesus continually surprised people, but his reaction to children would have been particularly astonishing to his hearers. Children had no status in law and at best they were regarded as potential adults who needed to be seen but certainly not heard. The disciples were keen to protect their rabbi from the children so he could get on with the serious business of instructing the adults. However, as so often was the case, Jesus turned their thinking upside down. Not only did Jesus welcome the children, but he said they provided the role model for his disciples to follow. What was Jesus getting at? He wasn’t encouraging his followers to be childish. He wanted them to come to him with openness and simple trust. The beaut

Luke 16:10-12 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?” We all tend to be impressed by competent people who get things done, but competence isn’t everything. A person’s character is of far greater significance. Indeed, a person who has enormous competence but who has a bad character is very dangerous, and their activity is likely to lead to disaster sooner or later. Jesus’ words are wise ones and we need to listen to them carefully. Faithfulness is a key quality, and if someone has proved unable to be faithful in one area of life, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were unfaithful in other areas as well. If someone shows dishonesty in a trivial matter, it should come as no su

Luke 15:20-21 “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’” Of all the stories that Jesus told, the parable of the prodigal son is the most famous, and it takes us to the heart of the good news. The son was a complete embarrassment. Can you think of anything worse than a son asking for his inheritance while his father was still alive? He then, predictably, went off and squandered the money and ended up stony broke. He was so desperate that all he could do was find a job feeding pigs, and for a Jew, you couldn’t imagine a worse job – they were banned from eating pork. The people would have listened to Jesus with rapt attention, but when they heard that the son had resolved to go back home and ask for a job from his father, they would have assumed they knew what was going to happen

Luke 15:8-10 Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbours and say, “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.” Almost everyone has got a moving story to tell of the time when they lost something very precious. For me, it is normally my keys, glasses or mobile phone and, most of the time, the search concludes successfully within a few anxious minutes. I have never lost my wedding ring, but I have heard many heart-rending stories of people who have. The woman in this story had lost one of the ten silver coins that formed part of the headdress given to her when she got married. There was no point in telling her that she still had nine! The coin was of massive sentimental value, and losing it caused her great distress. The pain of losing something as precious as the silver coin is massive. It’s gut-wrenching and it dominates life. We

Luke 15:4-5 If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. This is such a beautiful story. You can picture the shepherd as he makes sure the 99 precious sheep are safe and warm and then trudges out into the wilderness to look for the one that was lost. It’s a heart-warming story, but it doesn’t make any sense. Economically, why would you run the risk of endangering the 99 by leaving them all alone in the desert while you go out and search for just one sheep, who constitutes only 1 per cent of your business? Surely the shepherd would have been better advised to protect 99 per cent of his business and hope that the silly lost sheep would wander home. The only explanation for a shepherd acting in this way is love. The shepherd sets out to search for the lost sheep for the pure and simple reason

Luke 13:18-19 Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.” A mustard seed is tiny – between one and two millimetres. You would hardly notice it because it so small, but it can grow into a huge plant, commonly more than two metres tall and sometimes even up to four metres. It’s understandable that Jesus described it as a tree. Inevitably, a mustard plant attracts huge attention from birds, who love to feed on the little black seeds. Jesus’ point is clear. When we see God at work in the world, it may not look impressive. It may be overlooked because it appears so small, but the kingdom of God is always in the growth business, so even though it might seem tiny, it will keep growing. In many parts of the world, the Church is small and struggling. I’ve visited many towns and even cities where there is only one Christian or just a small group. I’ve

Luke 12:21 Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God. I love the fact that most of Jesus’ stories are told in very few words. Our verse today is the punchline to a very brief story he told about a rich farmer who’d had such a successful harvest that he realised he needed to build more barns. He said to himself that he could now settle back and enjoy life. He could eat, drink and be merry. Jesus called the man a fool because he hadn’t considered that his life might come to an end that very night. Jesus doesn’t want us to drag our way through life long-faced with the morbid realisation that any day might be our last. He wants us to live our lives fully every day, enjoying the wonders of his creation and the miracle of being alive. However, he wants us to do so in the light of eternity. He wants us to invest in the things that last, and nothing is more enduring than our relationship with God. There is nothing wrong with making money, but there is something

Luke 10:41-42 The Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” It seems to me that some people are naturally activists. They are always up and doing. Other people are naturally reflective. They want to stand back from life and consider everything carefully. In this beautiful incident from Jesus’ life, we meet two sisters who are perfect examples of these different approaches to life. Martha is the activist. She knows that Jesus is having a very busy ministry and she has decided he needs a good meal. Martha is sure she is right and is therefore appalled when she spots her sister skiving! Mary is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening carefully to him, and Martha is fuming. Mary should be working as hard as she is, and so in a complete strop, Martha goes to Jesus and tells him to order Mary to help her. Jesus’ response must have been devastating for Martha. S

Luke 10:33-34 Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. I love the parable of the Good Samaritan, not least because it would have come as such a complete surprise to Jesus’ hearers. Jesus was being challenged by an expert in the law who asked for the legal definition of the word neighbour. He must have been expecting a sophisticated technical response, and instead Jesus told him a story. To any Jew, the parable was deeply shocking. The fact that a man had been ambushed on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho wasn’t surprising. The winding road that connected the two communities made it an ideal place to attack a traveller, all so different from the large straight highway that we see today. What was shocking was that the priest and Levite did nothing. No doubt they felt that t

Luke 9:51 As the time drew near for him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. There’s a wonderful description of the servant of the Lord in Isaiah 50:7, which says he set his face like flint. He was absolutely fixed on heading in one definite direction in obedience to the Lord. That’s precisely what we see here in this verse in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus knew exactly what was going on. He knew that the Jewish leaders were determined to kill him, and yet he headed to the city where his life would be under greatest threat. If anyone had done a risk assessment of the situation, Jesus would have been told to avoid the area and head back up north to Galilee. Jesus’ complete commitment to his Father’s will is awesome. He could have chosen to avoid the dangers, but his desire was to be obedient, so he strode down south to Jerusalem. He had no fear and took a route which no Jewish person would ever have been advised to take. He walked through Samaria, whose people hated and despised the Jews. Sure

Psalm 77:5-7 I think of the good old days, long since ended, when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now. Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? These are painful verses. Asaph, the psalmist, is in the pit of despair. He feels that God has rejected him completely. He looks back at how things used to be, but those memories are painful in themselves because his present predicament appears hopeless. His complete honesty is precious. There is no pretence. He tells God exactly how he feels. There is something incredibly healthy about this because strong relationships can only grow where there is honesty. Asaph feels completely let down by God, and he lets him know it. Christian worship can very easily be less than honest. When we sing of our complete confidence in God, does that always reflect the way we feel? It was the great Christian writer A W Tozer who wrote: “Christians don’t tell lies – they just go to church and sing them.”

Psalm 73:21-24 Then I realised that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant— I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. The psalmist had been struggling with his thoughts. In this psalm, he admits he has become very envious of wicked people who seem to enjoy a really easy life, avoiding many of the problems which good people face. He wonders whether following God has been a complete waste of time for him. However, the more he reflects, the more he recognises the foolishness of his thinking, because the wicked people are on a slippery path which is bound to end in their destruction. In our verses, Asaph the psalmist wakes up to his foolishness and recognises that what really matters is his faith in God. God has kept him secure and will guide him through the rest of his life. At the end of the psalm, he draws the conclusion: “But as for me, ho

Psalm 71:17-18 O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do. Now that I am old and grey, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me. Over the years, I have heard a number of people say they felt that in their ideal life, they would do whatever they wanted. Then, on their death bed, they would commit their life to God and receive eternal life. In this way, they figured, they would get the best of both worlds. King David would have completely disagreed with them! For him, the whole of life was made more special and precious through knowing God. He saw his life, from beginning to end, as an opportunity to proclaim how great God was and, in so doing, to ensure that future generations would also worship God. Succession planning is an integral part of any effective organisation. If there are no plans for the future, there is every possibility that the organisati

Psalm 69:16-17 Answer my prayers, O LORD, for your unfailing love is wonderful. Take care of me, for your mercy is so plentiful. Don’t hide from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in deep trouble! Waiting is never easy. Whether it is for a phone call, a parcel or medical results, waiting can be exhausting. If life is going really badly, waiting is even more agonising. That’s exactly how we find King David in this psalm. Things are going disastrously for him. He begins by saying that the floodwaters are up to his neck. He feels that he is sinking deeper and deeper into the mire and he can’t find a foothold. We’ve all had times like that, and it isn’t pleasant. David clearly felt overwhelmed and disorientated and, in his despair, he cried out to God. In his long life, David had learned to be completely honest with God, and this is one of many psalms in which he held nothing back. He is absolutely exhausted, and he gives a graphic account of his condition. He says that his eyes are swollen with weepi

1 Timothy 6:20 Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. The name Timothy is Greek and literally means ‘he who honours God’. As Paul drew his letter to an end, he challenged Timothy to live up to his name by looking after what had been entrusted to him. It was as if he had been called to look after a treasure chest, and he needed to ensure that it was passed on to others and wasn’t spoilt. We all have exactly the same responsibility. Our Christian faith is so precious and important that we need to look after it so we can hand it on to others, especially to the next generation. Looking after our Christian faith sounds simple enough, but Paul often reminded Timothy that his faith would continually be under attack. Timothy needed to keep away from time-wasting conversations. The Greeks loved nothing better than to engage in philosophical debate. There was one particular school of Greek philosophers called the Aca

1 Timothy 6:17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. If you have a look at the world’s stock markets over the past century, you will know exactly what the apostle Paul meant! They have gone up and down. Money is completely unreliable. The downs have often been dramatic and have led to misery for millions of people. The 1920s were a time of huge economic expansion. They were known as the Roaring Twenties and saw the advance of many technological innovations in radio, automobile, aviation and telephone. However, the growth was unsustainable, and in the Great Crash of 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 40 per cent, leading to the deep economic depression of the 1930s which caused incredible misery right around the world. More recently, the crashes of 1987 and 2008 saw massive losses on the stock markets with huge implications for the world economy