The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Week 5...Getting to some good stuff

Click here to download the free MP3 of the study

It is a story that could come from a Clint Eastwood western only someone would probably get shot.  King Duncan tells the story of a young man who bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. However when the next day arrived, the farmer reneged on his promise.

"I'm afraid the horse has died," he explained.
The young man said, "Well, then give me my money back."
The farmer said, "Can't do that. I spent it already."
The young man thought for a moment and said, "Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse."
The farmer asked, "What you going to do with a dead horse?"
The young man said, "I'm going to raffle it off."
The farmer said, "You can't raffle off a dead horse!"
The young man said, "Sure I can. Watch me.”

A month later, the farmer met up with the young man and asked, "What happened with that dead horse?"

The young man said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998..."

For a society that has sterilized our scoundrels and pirates, it is a wonder we still have a problem with this parable that Jesus tells in Luke 16:1-13 about the shrewd manager.  The reality is that it will hurt when God forces our hand. It is going to be uncomfortable "...it's in the pain that we discover our desire for God..." writes author Larry Crabb. The problem with a pirate's life long term is that it is a life lived a the cost of others, even ourselves. But the radical grace of God sometimes hurts and it gives you permission to go after God.
 

Posted by Ken L. Hagler

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The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Parables From Luke Week 4

Click here to download the MP3 of The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Week 4.

After spending time with Luke's gospel and the Parable from 14:12-24 and reading some of the things that were said about him, I'm left thinking that Jesus would have liked hanging with Toby Keith.  From all I can determine, he would spend more time with red solo cups than most of us give Jesus credit for.

Does that bother you?  I really don't mean it to BUT if it does you really need to consider the reputation Jesus had back in the day.  If you've missed some of what I've been talking about in these podcasts, you need to know Jesus' parables were meant to SHOCK us.  Some of his behaviors shocked people in his day as well.

You'll hear me share it if you listen today but I do want to make sure you hear this, "No healthy pleasure is forbidden to a Christian...for a Christian is like [one] who is forever at a wedding feast."   Those words from William Barclay in his commentary ought to wake us up to our call to be more 'party people.'  But how should that look?  Take a listen...

Oh yeah, three things I noted but certainly NOT the Cliff Notes from today's study...
1.  In three years of ministry, do you think Jesus used the same parable more than once?
2.  Be very careful about taking parables and turning them into church law.
3.  John Wesley did have some bad ideas.  He obviously never had children.

Posted by Ken L. Hagler

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The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Parables From Luke Week 3



Parables were intended to have shock value.  They were intended to illicit response; whether immediate or in time, it made little difference.   Surely we're missing something if a parable doesn't effect us right?  Maybe that is why GBU didn't get the critical acclaim it deserved when first released.  It needed time.

If you get a moment, read the parable in Luke 12:13-21

The easiest response is to think a parable applies to other people.  But as Dr. Roberta Bondi noted in The Five-Day Academy of Spiritual Formation in North Carolina this past fall, the early fathers of the church were, "...convinced judgementalism was about the greatest sin."


Don't put it on the clergy to make it easy for you either.  In Adam Clarke's Commentary on this passage, he writes about judging, saying, "...a minister of Christ ought not concern himself with secular affairs, any farther than charity and the order of discipline require it...He who preaches salvation to all should never make himself a party man; otherwise he loses the confidence, and consequently the opportunity of doing good to the party against whom he decides."


No, there is more going on here.  Take a listen to mp3 and be sure to also visit www.globalrichlist.com.  We could use a little shock. 



May I ask?  What response does this parable raise up in you?

May I suggest?  Take a Bible into your storage spaces.  Pull up a chair and then read it again out loud.  Look at your stuff.  What response do you feel now?

Posted by Ken L. Hagler

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The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Parables From Luke Week 2

Download the mp3 of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Week 2

So this week we look over at Luke 11:1-13 and let's be honest, all we really have done is look at this as "The How-To manual on prayer."  Because the Lord's Prayer is here, the parable is glossed over as are some significant connections to other scripture passages.

What is most often missing is context and when it comes to parables, they are often treated like fables, myths and simple wisdom sayings.  BUT they aren't and it is important to note the difference.  Dr. James Fleming, in The Parables of Jesus, writes, "The Koran and many oriental religions only have the sayings and there is no context to help interpret them...we can excavate...this is unique to the Judeo-Christian heritage."  Archaeology can and has excavated the homes of the first century (along with a lot of places and documents which confirm the accuracy of the Bible).  For a good look at what I'm talking about in the study, visit Women In The Bible for a better view of an 'insula.'

What it seems to me however, is the passage AND the parable is more than a "How-To."  Jesus is giving us the how and the what and the why and the when but most of all, Jesus is revealing to us an important relationship - the who we are praying to.

Posted by Ken L. Hagler

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The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Parables From Luke Week 1

Download the mp3 of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Week 1
When first released, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly received terrible reviews from critics.  Yet today, it is ranked among the 100 greatest movies of all time.  One of the things I believe makes it so unique are the smaller side stories hidden throughout the movie.  These reveal elements of the characters and, if we allow the power of story to work on us, those of us who watch the movie.  For us men (as this is primarily a men's study I'm leading), we are wired for stories not conversations.  We love the storyline of a football game, remembrances of a day fishing or hunting or simply recalling days gone by.

Dr. Edward Wimberly writes in his recent book, No Shame in Wesley's Gospel, "The power of Scripture is in its ability to get the hearer or reader to suspend his or her own way of seeing reality and, as the reader or hearer is drawn in, to take on the world as it is revealed in the text."  In an even larger way, this is the goal of Jesus' parables.  

Luke's gospel is unique among the four gospels in that it contains more parables than the other three.  Luke's gospel also contains a number of parables which are not found in the others as well.  Long thought to be nothing more than analogies, more recent scholarship has dismissed this notion and recognized parables as something different, a unique form of story contained in the Scriptures (Edwin Freed, The New Testament: A Critical Introduction).

In this first week, we're looking at Luke 7:36-50 and the parable contained in the story of Jesus, Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman.  Often what is examined is the interaction of Jesus and Simon.  I think what we discover is an example of the power of a parable.  We see how Jesus uses a parable to teach and the power of a parable to 'explode' in a person's life and soul, even when we do not want it.

Posted by Ken L. Hagler

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What If We Believed In Grace?


Two monks were making a pilgrimage to venerate the relics of a great Saint. During the course of their journey, they came to a river where they met a beautiful young woman -- an apparently worldly creature, dressed in expensive finery and with her hair done up in the latest fashion. She was afraid of the current and afraid of ruining her lovely clothing, so asked the brothers if they might carry her across the river.
The younger and more exacting of the brothers was offended at the very idea and turned away with an attitude of disgust. The older brother didn't hesitate, and quickly picked the woman up on his shoulders, carried her across the river, and set her down on the other side. She thanked him and went on her way, and the brother waded back through the waters.
The monks resumed their walk, the older one in perfect equanimity and enjoying the beautiful countryside, while the younger one grew more and more brooding and distracted, so much so that he could keep his silence no longer and suddenly burst out, "Brother, we are taught to avoid contact with women, and there you were, not just touching a woman, but carrying her on your shoulders!"
The older monk looked at the younger and said, "Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river miles ago.  Why are you still carrying her?"

Have you ever made a mistake someone would not let you forget?  Have you ever messed up and your own conscience wouldn’t forget?  How long have you held on to a hurt or a mistake someone else has made?  Somethings are hard to let go of ya know it?  It is so much easier to keep carrying things; mistakes, wrongs, offenses, and sins.  What if we could let it all go?  

AND what if we could put it ALL down AND THEN have the ability to walk away?  What if we could do it with our friends, our enemies and even our parents?

I grew up with the idea that God has a great big book of everything.  Have ya’ll ever gotten that idea...that God is up there making sure it is all written down, especially the screw-ups?  Where does that come from?  Yes, there are images of God’s judgement in the Bible.  There are mentions of lists too in the Bible and if not read carefully or with the perspective of key points, we miss the more subtle ones.

The Key Point is getting the right perspective of God.  

John 14:6-9  Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.  (7)  If you really knew me, you would know my Father too. But now you know the Father. You have seen him."  (8)  Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need."  (9)  Jesus answered, "Philip, I have been with you for a long time. So you should know me. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father too. So why do you say, 'Show us the Father'?

 What if you believed Jesus is who he says he is?  Most people like Jesus a whole lot, even unbelievers and atheists.  Then they point to the Old Testament and try to explain away Jesus’ words.  But Jesus is saying here we can’t do that!  “Anyone who has SEEN me has SEEN the Father too.”  Look at God in the Old Testament through Jesus’ glasses.  In Jesus, we see GOD.  Period.  He is quick to forgive.  He is quick to heal.  He is quick to teach.  He is quick to correct.  He is quick to love.  And all those things are true of God the Father.  And when we get that, we can face the subtle point.

The Subtle Point is the same God who forgives, is the same God who helps us live.

Luke 18:1-7  Then Jesus taught the followers that they should always pray and never lose hope. He used this story to teach them:  (2)  "Once there was a judge in a town. He did not care about God. He also did not care what people thought about him.  (3)  In that same town there was a woman whose husband had died. She came many times to this judge and said, 'There is a man who is doing bad things to me. Give me my rights!'  (4)  But the judge did not want to help the woman. After a long time, the judge thought to himself, 'I don't care about God. And I don't care about what people think.  (5)  But this woman is bothering me. If I give her what she wants, then she will leave me alone. But if I don't give her what she wants, she will bother me until I am sick.'"  (6)  The Lord said, "Listen, there is meaning in what the bad judge said.  (7)  God's people shout to him night and day, and he will always give them what is right. He will not be slow to answer them. (ERV)

So Jesus is comparing God to an uncaring judge, right?  Well, no.  James Moore calls this a “How Much More” story.  “If an unjust judge can help you when you ask HOW MUCH MORE will God help!”  Because we know the KEY POINT, we are more aware of that subtle point, that God is in the business of FORGIVING for LIVING.

The doctors and nurses who helped treat my cancer didn’t do that so that I would continue to live like I was diseased but so I could live.  Jesus doesn’t forgive us and heal us of the wound of sin so we wallow around all sickly and reminding ourselves of those sins.  Maybe you’ve seen that and felt that was what you were supposed to do but it isn’t that at all.

Like the older monk, we can sit down what needs to be left behind and walk on.  HOW MUCH MORE will God help us leave behind mistakes, regrets, failures and sins if we ask.  HOW MUCH MORE will God help us live like Jesus if only we ask, if only we turn from our way to God’s way, the way of Jesus.

Posted by Ken L. Hagler

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Finding Spiritual Direction Through Service


I stood rigid looking into the bathroom of the men’s homeless shelter.  Behind me were five teenagers who had followed my crazy idea to give up their spring break to go on a mission trip.  I doubt any of the fixtures had seen a scrub brush or bleach in a few months.   I dare not try to describe the smell.

I knew what I had to do but my thoughts had to do with how I move, motivate or manipulate these young people to step forward!  I had only arrived at this church seven months ago!  What on earth had I been thinking?  So, I stepped forward, grabbed the hose and a scrub brush and found the far corner.  Ever so timidly, the youth moved forward, following my lead.

As I worked, I sensed Jesus’ words asking me, “Didn’t I do a little cleaning work too?”  With the nudge, I asked the youth, “Do you remember a time when Jesus did some washing and cleaning?”  One young man said, “Oh yeah!  He got down on his hands and washed the disciples’ feet!”  In a moment, the Spirit transformed the bathroom of this homeless shelter into sacred space.  Joy enveloped us as we began to imagine making this the cleanest bathroom these men would ever know.  

In a recent interview, professor, pastor and author, Eugene Peterson mentioned, “Everything in the Gospel is livable not just true.” (see below for the full interview on PBS)  One of our roles as spiritual directors is helping those who come to us, see a livable Gospel not merely teachable truths.  It is true Jesus washed the disciples feet but is this the point?  “And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. (John 13:14)”  Missions and service take us to the dirty feet of our world, to places where truths taught become truths lived.

Watch Eugene Peterson on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Posted by Ken L. Hagler

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