RICH: the reality of encountering Jesus
In this short 117 page book, Peter Dickson and David Gibson offer sharp and dangerous commentary on nine+ passages from the book of Luke. Sharp because the short chapters cut precisely into the meat of the meaning of what Luke shares/writes. Have you ever been playing with a little pocket knife and underestimated its ability to penetrate or slice you? Well, Luke's many glimpses into who Jesus is should never be underestimated. Also, this little book by a couple of guys I have never heard of could be overlooked in the midst of awesome popular books and commentary series. RICH offers wonderful insight that could help any seeker of truth as supplement to personal Scripture reading of Luke.
It's dangerous because they remind us that we are saved by grace alone by a lover of sinners, not saved by works by a lover of the self-righteous....although he does love repentant self-righteous folks...that's all of us. Jesus came to help us see that we are needy, that we are dead in our sins, that we are bankrupt with a debt that we can not pay. As he shows us this we see that he offers himself to be our riches, our salvation, our substitute, our hope, and our Lord that can bear our worship...who can be our God unlike any other, including ourselves. We crumble under the weight of self-worship along with all idols.
Many of us want to instinctively want to point to the good things we have done, the kind of things we hope might just haul us out of the spiritual red into the black and tip the scales in our favour...But the problem with even the best that we can bring is that it is like offering the bank a handful of copper coins to repay a £1m mortgage. It is Jesus who came to help us see our bankruptcy.
Chapters
1. A Rags to Riches Story, Luke 4:14-22
...encountering Jesus is a hazardous business. There is no neutral position to occupy once he has addressed us. Either we hear what he says and believe him, or even our indifference and our apathy counts as a rejection of him.
2. God in the Dock, Luke 1:26-35, 2:1-15
There is no Christian view of God that does not recognize that we can only talk about God meaningfully if we talk about Jesus.
3. The Real Jesus, Luke 4:31-44
Luke presents us with a sobering fact: it is dangerous to be dazzled and amazed by Jesus' deeds and to be totally oblivious to the priority and meaning of Jesus' words.
4. The Scandal, Luke 7:36-50
It is dangerous to have fixed ideas about people-and especially about Jesus. With compassion and grace, with perfect insight and understanding, he (Jesus) spots the attitudes that are skewed and says 'let me tell you why your thinking has to change'.
We separate people into artificial categories of good and bad even though everyone is in need of God's forgiveness. This was Simon the Pharisee's mistake. Luke is showing us that God's forgiveness offends those who think it is only relevant for others.
5. The Greatest Mistakes You Cold Ever Make, Luke 12:13-48
at this point in Luke..."Jesus' popularity is sky-high. He's the latest, greatest thing and everyone wants in on the action. But Jesus isn't interested in admirers, however sincere in their admiration; he wants devoted followers.
What a terrible error to be afraid of the terrorist who can kill but to not give a second thought to standing before Almighty God on judgment day (12:4).
The person who embraces Jesus loosens their grip on everything else. They give their money to others. They share their home with strangers. They are not obsessed with their own nearest and dearest. They spend time with the unlovely. They shift their priorities from themselves to others. Their worries about the present shrink while their hopes for the future grow... All because Jesus Christ is the greatest treasure they possess.
6. The Back to Front Kingdom, Luke 14:1-24, 18:9-14
...the person who has nothing to offer God but their sin is the person who finds that God offers them everything.
7. Finders Keepers, Luke 15:1-32
In regards to the older brother in the story of the prodigal son.....Self-righteousness is the breeding ground for deadly muttering, and deadly muttering when full grown is the spiritual equivalent of a terminal disease that leads to the kind of anger that refuses to go into the party, and sits outside in a huff.
8. The Price of Freedom, Luke 22:14-23, Luke 22:54-23:49
Subtitiles...His blood, my forgiveness. His trial, my freedom. His death, my life. His life, my future.
9. The Big Picture, Luke 4:14-30
It is easy to spend some free-time reading a book about Jesus giving sight to the blind without ever realizing that I am the one who is blind.
It’s Zine, not Sai.
Update from Sherry.
Phonetics can be tricky sometimes but nonetheless, Zine (I had earlier asked you to pray for Sai, this is the same girl) prayed to receive Christ yesterday!! Praise the Lord! Please be praying for her, that the Lord will protect her from the lies of the Evil One, the intimidation of her friends and family and that she would stand firm in her new faith. Please continue to pray for the other girls as well: Im, Rock, Gung, Boo, and Jum.
Just a reminder: Im is on the left, Blaa is in the middle (older Christian who is one of my dearest friends), and Zine in on the right.
is “free” free?
There I am, sitting at the table at a major car/truck/van dealer in KK and the deal is looking ok. I ask the salesperson if the quoted price is the true lowest they can go and she proceeds to tell me that if I don't want all the free stuff then the price will be lowered by about $600.
"I thought it was free stuff," I said politely with a smile.
"It is free," she said in the same manner.
"So, if I don't want the free stuff I get to keep $600 of my money?" I said a little confused but trying to get absolute clarity.
"That's right," she said.
"But, if I give you $600 more you will include the free stuff?", I said being somewhat of a dork trying to make a point.
"Yes!", she said victoriously having broke through to my understanding.
"How is that free, if I have to buy it?" I asked.
"It is free, but maybe we can give you the free stuff and lower the cost by $600, will that make you happy?" she asked honestly.
"That may work out just fine," I said as I laughed to myself.
No wonder it is hard for people to understand the concept of free, and how to use "free" correctly. Granted, all the free stuff must cost someone, but not the one who is receiving it as free.
This will help me to attempt to be as clear as possible when I explain to my friends the free grace of God and then the cost of following him. It cost Jesus, but we receive salvation without cost, and then we join in with Christ and His death and consider the cost of sharing the love we have found with others. As Jesus gave out of freedom and love, so do we, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is free, it is paid in full by Christ. Joining in the work of the gospel costs. It may cost you your job, your relationships, your image, even your preference of hymns or modern worship music. You may even join in with the saints before us and all over the world today who are willing to die because of the superior love of Jesus. So, it is important to know what is free and what costs, especially when it comes to faith in Christ, so we can clearly consider the costs of following Jesus as a privilege and joy, not as payments to receive His forgiveness, power, and life. We don't love others and desire for them to know Christ in order to win the affections of God, but because of them. We give out of our new ability to give. The costs are real, but they are different, they submit to a greater joy, love, and calling in order to see more truth, experience more joy and love, and bring others along as we go. The costs I am talking about are the things we are willing to forgo or leave behind in order to live as those who have been set free. So in the end we are set free to see how free "free" really is.
So maybe I need to consider how my life can be lived in more freedom. Just because we have left family, friends, and much of the familiar does not mean that we are doing so in faith and with freedom. We must daily pour our lives out, seeing that we need to die to our selfishness day by day, and live in God's free love, by His free Indwelling, for the freest being, God Himself, so that He will be glorified and we and those around us may be full of unmerited satisfaction.
