LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #25

Week 25: Luke 12:1-34

  • The Leaven of the Pharisees (1)
  • Courage under Persecution (2-9)
  • Sayings about the Holy Spirit (10-12)
  • Saying against Greed (13-15)
  • Parable of the Rich Fool (16-21)
  • Dependence on God (22-34)

Day #1

  1. Read 12:1-12, but focus on vv. 1-3
  2. Lectio with vv. 1-3
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Are the disciples being warned against an external or internal threat of hypocrisy? Both?
    2. Where do you find your innermost thoughts and external persona out of synch with one another?
    3. What motivates you to keep those things “under wraps”?
    4. Have you seen situations in the Church where this goes on? What do you think lies behind those situations?

Day #2

  1. Read 12: 1-12, but focus on vv. 4-7
  2. Lectio with vv. 4-7
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Here perhaps the disciples have experienced some opposition in their missionary endeavor. What kind of opposition have you experienced? What fears have surfaced for you?
    2. Do you sometimes feel like God is busy on another project, and has forgotten about you? What do you cling to instinctually when that happens?
    3. What kinds of opposition have Christians in your neighborhood/ country experienced for being vocal about their faith? For justice stands they have taken that are rooted in the gospel? Has that engendered more fear in the lives of others? Has it emboldened others?

Day #3

  1. Read 12: 1-12, but focus on vv. 8-12
  2. Lectio with vv. 8-12
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What role does the Holy Spirit play in situations of persecution?
    2. Notice the “when” in v. 11–not “if”. Opposition is assumed. Is this a part of your experience? Is it an integral part of your missionary expectations?
    3. On the sometimes problematic “unforgivable sin”, it may help to keep vv. 10 through 12 together in your thoughts. Then this sin is more clearly the obstinate refusal to accept the message which is preached by the Holy Spirit through the Christian community.

Day #4

  1. Read 12:13-21
  2. Lectio with vv. 13-21
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Note the question of the man in the crowd? What kinds of self absorbed patterns/requests recur in your life/ prayers?
    2. Which of your possessions could you be happy without? Which are more difficult?
    3. How does greed become an opponent of the gospel as hypocrisy does?
    4. What are expressions of greed among the people where you serve? In the Church?
    5. What kinds of “treasure” do you store up? The folks in your neighborhood/ country? At a national and international level? Who benefits? Who suffers?

Day #5

  1. Read 12:22-32
  2. Lectio with vv. 22-32
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What things cause you to worry? What happens in you when your support gets low or your job becomes uncertain?
    2. What things do “you set your heart on”? The people where you minister? What evidences do you see of where their hearts are?
    3. What does it mean for you to not be afraid, to trust, and to set your heart (or seek first) God’s Kingdom? When is that easy? When is it hard?

Day #6

  1. Read 12: 33-34
  2. Lectio with vv. 33-34
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Where is your treasure? When you look at your checkbook and calendar, are they consistent with the values you hold?
    2. How do you relate these verses to our commitment to simplicity? To purity? To service? To humility? To community? To prayer?
    3. What would happen if everyone in your neighborhood (and then in the entire country) sought their treasure in this way? What implications does this have for social justice? How might InnerCHANGE help effect change in the big picture? Who is already doing that in your area? Have you met them?

 

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #26

Week #26: Luke 12:35-59

  • Vigilant and Faithful Servants (35-48)
  • Jesus: A Cause of Division (49-53)
  • Signs of the Times (54-56)
  • Settlement with an Opponent (57-59)

Day #1

  1. Read 12:35-48, but focus on vv. 35-40
  2. Lectio with vv. 35-40
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Instead of thinking about this as an end-times passage, what might this passage imply for our moment to moment living?
    2. Are there times when Jesus presents himself to you in the person of the poor, and you aren’t ready?
    3. Are there times when you are so preoccupied with the things you have to do, that you may have been unaware of God’s presence. How might this relate to Brother Lawrence’s “Practicing the Presence of God,” in every moment/ activity?

Day #2

  1. Read 12:35-48, but focus on vv. 41-46
  2. Lectio with vv. 41-46
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What does this passage imply for church officials?
    2. Relate the attitude of these folks with the guy who built more barns? Similar? Different?
    3. Concretely, how have you seen church officials get caught up in self-absorbed activity which negatively affects others (directly or indirectly)? How should we respond? How can we avoid this ourselves?

Day #3

  1. Read 12:35-48, but focus on vv. 47-48
  2. Lectio with vv. 47-48
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What do these folks miss out on?
    2. Consider these verses in the light of a quote from St. Catherine of Siena: “It’s heaven all the way to heaven, and it’s hell all the way to hell.”

Day #4

1. Read 12:49-53

2. Lectio with vv. 49-53

3. Consider the following questions:

a. Where have you seen Christian faith bring peace in your life? Where has it brought division?

b In the lives of the people in the culture where you serve, what kinds of divisive responses have resulted? Are they all of the sort to which Jesus refers?

c. What reassurance might this give to the disciple-missionaries after their first forays?

Day #5

  1. Read 12:54-59
  2. Lectio with vv. 54-59
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Notice, now the crowds get lumped in with the Pharisees as hypocrites.
    2. What does it mean for us to judge the “signs of the times” as we apply the gospel to our situation? What do we have to be aware of? Where and from what sources can we get the kind of information we need to judge the signs of the times? (n.b. This was a major point in the Second Vatican Council of how the Church must read the signs of the times and reform itself accordingly).
    3. Notice how Jesus puts it back on the intelligence of the people. They don’t need to be told. They have the capacity to figure out the meaning of His coming. What keeps the Church (and you) from accurately reading the “signs of the times” today?

Day #6

  1. Read 12:35-59
  2. Lectio with whatever verse/ verses have most moved you to prayer.

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #27

Week #27: Luke 13:1-17

  • A Call to Repentance (1-5)
  • The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree (6-9)
  • Cure of a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath (10-17)

Day #1

  1. Read 13: 1-5
  2. Lectio with vv. 1-5
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Notice Jesus’ attitude toward Pilate in this situation. How is that consistent with Luke’s focus?
    2. Where do we fall into judging some of the folks around us, as if they are more guilty than others? Do you find yourself at times thinking, “Well she got just what she deserved”?
    3. How do Jesus’ words in v. 5 help us?

Day #2

  1. Read 13: 6-9
  2. Lectio with vv. 6-9
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How are mercy and justice combined in this passage?
    2. What implications does this have for your ministry? How long should you continue with someone who is not responding? (no absolute answer here–and no you can’t put manure on them!)

Day #3

  1. Read 13: 10-17, but focus on vv. 10-13
  2. Lectio with vv. 10-13
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What kinds of “crippling” (physical and otherwise) have you seen in the folks among whom you minister? What are some of the causes?
    2. How do you respond? Do some situations evoke more compassion in you than others?
    3. As those people come to mind, can you envision the kind of wholistic healing Jesus wants to bring to them? How about in your own life?

Day #4

  1. Read 13:10-17, but focus on vv. 14-17
  2. Lectio with vv. 14-17
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What kind of opposition have you seen from the church or others when efforts are made to reach out to folks with various kinds of problems? What structures keep people from becoming whole?
    2. Are there laws that prevent people or communities from being healed and “straightened” in the country/ neighborhood where you serve?
    3. How about unwritten norms in the society or even the Church?

Day #5

  1. Read 13: 16-17
  2. Lectio with vv. 16-17
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Where do you find double standards with regard to attention to the poor? What about subsidies/ “welfare” for the rich?
    2. How is “untying bonds” like this woman’s part and parcel of Jesus’ mission according to Luke?
    3. How does Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath bring out the deepest meaning of the Sabbath?

Day #6

  1. 1. Read 13:1-17
  2. 2. Lectio with whatever verse/verses most grabbed your attention.

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #28

Week 28: Luke 13:18-35

  • The Parable of the Mustard Seed (18-19)
  • The Parable of the Yeast (20-21)
  • The Narrow Door; Salvation and Rejection (22-30)
  • Herod’s Desire to Kill Jesus (31-35)

Day #1

  1. Read 13:18-19
  2. Lectio with vv. 18-19
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What are the characteristics of this seed? How long might it take to grow? How might this be an encouragement in times of opposition?
    2. The birds that are sheltered in the branches: to whom might they refer? Keep the broad perspective of Luke in mind.

Day #2

  1. Read 13:20-21
  2. Lectio with vv. 20-21
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What do you notice in common and different from the previous passage?
    2. Leaven was considered unclean. How does that resonate with the changing conceptions of clean/unclean in Luke?
    3. Leaven as a sign is hidden. What might that imply?
    4. This leaven is hidden in a quantity of flour here is the amount used to respond to a divine epiphany (Gen 18:6; Judg. 6:19). What might that say about the kingdom of Jesus?

Day #3

  1. Read 13: 22-24
  2. Lectio with vv. 22-24
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What does the narrow door mean in your experience? In that of your neighbors?
    2. What do we learn pastorally about the way Jesus responds to this question?

Day #4

  1. Read 13:25-30
  2. Lectio with vv. 25-30
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What does this passage indicate about true intimacy with Jesus? How might we deceive ourselves?
    2. How are vv. 29 and 30 consistent with the themes in Luke? Might this be a key to where the hearts of true followers are to be found? Notice how in Luke Jesus continues with the true renewed (and now inclusive) Israel vs. the false Israel.
    3. What does this tell us about “Upside-down Kingdom”?

Day #5

  1. Read 13:31-33
  2. Lectio with vv. 31-33
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Notice these Pharisees. Anything curious about them?
    2. What do you see about Jesus’ attitude toward Herod?
    3. What do you see about his sense of his own mission? Is this consistent with themes in these last two chapters? Why or why not? Any implications for your own life and ministry?

Day #6

  1. Read 13:34-35
  2. Lectio with vv. 34-35
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Notice Jesus’ attitude toward Jerusalem.
    2. Notice the image with which Jesus identifies himself.

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #29

Week #29: Luke 14:1-14

  • Healing of the Man with Dropsy on the Sabbath (1-6)
  • Conduct of Invited Guests and Hosts (7-14)

Day #1

  1. Read 14:1-6, but focus on vv. 1-3
  2. Lectio with vv. 1-3
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Where is the focus of the Pharisees? What do they miss?
    2. Where is Jesus’ focus? How does this relate to differing priorities of Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy? Which takes priority for Jesus?
    3. How does Jesus respond? How can we phrase prophetic questions such as that of Jesus?

Day #2

  1. Read 14:1-6, but focus on vv. 4-6
  2. Lectio with vv. 4-6
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Why don’t they answer?
    2. Do you ever find Jesus pointing out inconsistencies in your outlook and practice? How do you respond?
    3. Why does the Sabbath theme keep recurring?
    4. When are you tempted to miss out on opportunities that Jesus places in front of you? What fears or competing priorities cloud your discernment? How do you know when God is indeed calling?

Day #3

  1. Read 14: 7-11, but focus on vv. 7-9
  2. Lectio with vv. 7-9
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Notice the story-telling approach to bring up a heavy issue. Have you ever tried this? How can we find things that are common in the human experience of the people which can elucidate important lessons for them?

Day #4

  1. Read 14:7-11, but focus on vv. 10-11
  2. Lectio with vv. 10-11
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What kinds of honors have you received? How important are they to you?
    2. How can we recognize those subtle areas where we raise ourselves up?
    3. What does this passage teach us about humility? What does it have to do with incarnational ministry? Where might our temptations lie?

Day #5

  1. Read 14: 12-14
  2. Lectio with vv. 12-14
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How are these verses consistent with Luke’s themes? (think back on Luke’s version of the beatitudes in chapter 6, and the passages in ch. 12 on possessions, etc.)
    2. What implications does this have for our ministry?
    3. What are subtle ways we look to be paid back? What do we miss if we go down that road?

Day #6

  1. 1. Read 14:1-14
  2. 2. Lectio with a verse that grabs your heart.

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #30

Week #30: Luke 14:15-35

  • The Parable of the Great Feast (15-24)
  • Sayings on Discipleship (25-33)
  • The Simile of Salt (34-35)

Day #1

  1. Read 14:15-24, but focus on vv. 15-20
  2. Lectio with vv. 15-20
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Where is the mind of the person focused in v. 15? How does this relate to a sole focus on “getting to heaven”?
    2. Who might the expected invitees be in the Jews eyes? Note that the folks excluded from the “eschatological banquet” included the lame and the blind, etc.
    3. What kinds of cultural/ personal preoccupations keep you from the banquet day to day? What kinds of cultural trappings do you see around you which do the same?

Day #2

  1. Read 14:15-24, but focus on vv. 21-24
  2. Lectio with vv. 21-24
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Who ends up coming? Who misses the boat?
    2. Note: Don’t make too much of the fact that they had to be compelled to enter. Culturally it would have been the norm even for the poor to politely refuse, and to be gently ushered in.

Day #3

  1. Read 14:25-27
  2. Lectio with vv. 25-27
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Why does Jesus confront the crowds in this way? If he were speaking to the churches today with which you are familiar, how might he contextualize this?
    2. How can family mitigate against the gospel?
    3. Where have you experienced that? Where have your neighbors experienced that? Why does Luke relate it to the cross?

Day #4

  1. Read 14:28-33
  2. Lectio with vv. 28-33
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What’s the main point?
    2. What have you had to give up as a disciple? Christians in your neighborhood/ country?
    3. What kinds of questions does this provoke for you? How and where can they be answered?

Day #5

  1. Read 14: 34-35
  2. Lectio with vv. 34-35
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What does it mean to be salt (in Lukan context)?
    2. What does it mean to lose your flavor (given previous passage)?
    3. Why always this bit about having ears to listen?

Day #6

  1. Read 14:15-35
  2. Lectio with a verse/verses that moved you to prayer.

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #31

Week #31: Luke 15: 1-32

  • The Parable of the Lost Sheep (1-7)
  • The Parable of the Lost Coin (8-10)
  • The Parable of the Lost Son (11-32)

Day #1

  1. Read 15:1-7
  2. Lectio with vv. 1-7
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What prompts the complaints of the Pharisees?
    2. Why does Luke continue to emphasize the table fellowship?
    3. Would any shepherd in his right mind do such a thing? What does this say about the love of God?
    4. What has imaged this kind of love in your ministry and that of your team?

Day #2

  1. Read 15:8-10
  2. Lectio with vv. 8-10
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Would any woman in her right mind go through such a frenzy about a silly little coin? What does this continue to emphasize?
    2. What similarities differences do you note with the previous passage?
    3. What might the recurring theme of calling together the friends and neighbors signify about the Kingdom?
    4. How do these two passages respond to the complaints of the Pharisees?

Day #3

  1. Read 15:11-32, but focus on vv. 11-13
  2. Lectio with vv. 11-13
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What is the significance of the request for the inheritance? Timing a little off?
    2. What do we learn from the Father’s response? Does this communicate anything about the Kingdom?
    3. What passage does this echo from previous chapters?
    4. What kind of squandering do folks in your neighborhood do with what God has given them? How do you honestly respond when you see that occurring?
    5. How have you squandered what God has given you? How do you respond to yourself when you do that?

Day #4

  1. Read 15:11-32, but focus on vv. 14-20
  2. Lectio with vv. 14-20
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What did it take to bring the younger son to his senses?
    2. Have you ever hit bottom like this and come to your senses? Have you felt unworthy to be received by God, and tried to cut a deal with him?
    3. Where do you see people in your neighborhood come to their senses? What kinds of circumstances tend to provoke deep reflection?

Day #5

  1. Read 15:11-32, but focus on vv. 20-24
  2. Lectio with vv. 20-24
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Don’t let familiarity take away the full impact of this moment! What kind of father would respond this way in Jewish society? Only a crazy one! How crazy in love God is with us, and with each and every one of our neighbors.
    2. What kinds of things does the father do to restore his son, and make him feel restored? How can we live in that kind of love ourselves, and communicate it to our neighbors and the poor? What symbols communicate that love in your context?
    3. If we look at the societal level, what does this suggest for public policy? International debt in suffering 2/3 world countries? Prisons and penal systems? (Be creative in your thinking).

Day #6

  1. Read 15:11-32
  2. Lectio with vv. 25-32
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Whose attitude does the older brother’s represent?
    2. What underlies the beef he has with his father? Can you relate? When have you fallen into this kind of a view of God?
    3. Notice Jesus still allows for the Pharisees and the Jews in general(in the image of the older brother) to be “invited to the feast”.
    4. Let yourself feast on the crazy way God loves you. It is only inasmuch as we open ourselves to that kind of love (and steer away from the older brother’s attitudes) that we can effectively minister and communicate that love to those around us whom God also does back flips over!

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #32

Week #32: Luke 16:1-15

  • The Parable of the Dishonest Steward (1-8a)
  • Application of the Parable (8b-13)
  • A Saying against the Pharisees (14-15)

Day #1

  1. Read 16: 1-8, but focus on vv. 1-2
  2. Lectio with vv. 1-2
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What theme continues from the prodigal son (slightly altered)?
    2. Again, why would wastefulness be an issue?
    3. Where do you see wastefulness in society today? What results does it have at the local and global levels?

Day #2

  1. Read 16: 1-8, but focus on vv. 3-7
  2. Lectio with vv. 3-7
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What is the logic of the steward’s plan? If you were his boss, how would you respond to such shenanigans?

Day #3

  1. Read 16: 1-8, but focus on v. 8
  2. Lectio with v. 8
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Why does the master praise the steward? What is the character quality or insight of the steward that Jesus praises?
    2. Who are the children of light? The children of the world?
    3. What do you make of this?

Day #4

  1. Read 16: 9-12
  2. Lectio with vv. 9-12
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How are we to use money to win friends? (Try to bring the whole context of these chapters to bear).
    2. What lessons are being reiterated in different ways about money and possessions?
    3. How does the scene about “receiving into eternal dwellings” play out? What is Jesus getting at? What does it mean for our ministry?

Day #5

  1. Read 16: 13-14
  2. Lectio with vv. 13-14
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How have you struggled with this allegiance question in your own life? What has your own cultural background emphasized? What signs might we notice of love of money in our lives?
    2. In the society around you where you minister, what evidence do you see of love of money? What evidence do you see of love of God? Where do you see syncretism?
    3. Put your prophetic hat on. Meditate on the cultural, local, national, and international priorities you see with regard to money. How does this passage speak to those? Where do things line up more with God’s priorities? Where do they not?

Day #6

  1. Read 16:14-15
  2. Lectio with vv. 14-15
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How has money affected the Pharisees?
    2. What do we learn about God’s kingdom and perspective from these verses?
    3. How do you sometimes slip into seeking what is “highly esteemed in human eyes”?
    4. In this whole passage (from the beginning of the chapter) what is the implication for how money is to be used?

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #33

Week #33: Luke 16:16-31

  • Sayings about the Law (16-17)
  • Sayings about Divorce (18)
  • The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (19-31)

Day #1

  1. Read 16:16-17
  2. Lectio with vv. 16-17
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Who is entering the Kingdom?
    2. What might this entering by force be all about? Any parallels?

Day #2

  1. Read 16: 18
  2. Lectio with v.18
  3. Consider the following:
    1. Notice Luke’s placement of sexual sin alongside greed.
    2. How do we deal pastorally with these all to common realities today?

Day #3

  1. Read 16: 19-31, but focus on vv. 19-21
  2. Lectio with vv. 19-21
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Who are the “rich” and the “Lazarus’” of your community? Of the world?
    2. What are the lives of the Lazarus’ like? Of the rich?

Day #4

  1. Read 16: 19-31, but focus on vv. 22-24
  2. Lectio with vv. 22-24
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Any indication why the rich man goes to Hades, and Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham (just in these verses)? What Lukan themes are being continued?
    2. What parallels are there between the earthly life of Lazarus, and the after-life of the rich man?

Day #5

  1. Read 16: 19-31, but focus on vv. 25-26
  2. Lectio with vv. 25-26
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How do these verses elucidate the meaning of the fate of these two?
    2. What other passages from Luke come to mind that relate to this?

Day #6

  1. Read 16: 19-31, but focus on vv. 27-31
  2. Lectio with vv. 27-31
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How does the role of the law and prophets (from vv 16-17) get clarified here? What must the five brothers recognize?
    2. How might this passage relate to the Jews response to Jesus’ resurrection in the Lukan community (50 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus?)?

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #34

Week #34: Luke 17:1-19

  • Temptations to Sin (1-4)
  • Saying of Faith (5-6)
  • Attitude of Servant (7-10)
  • The Cleansing of Ten Lepers (11-19)

Day #1

  1. Read 17: 1-3
  2. Lectio with vv. 1-3
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. When have you been led astray by someone? What was it like?
    2. Do you see some people in churches leading “little ones” astray? What happens to a person who does that?
    3. Have you led anyone astray? What brought you to realize it? How did you follow up?

Day #2

  1. Read 17:4-5
  2. Lectio with vv. 4-5
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Look at this passage in the light of the previous one. What happens if one those who lead the little ones (or you) astray comes and asks forgiveness? See how big God’s forgiveness is!
    2. What’s the closest experience you have had to this one? How was it trying to forgive the seventh time?
    3. What backdrop on forgiveness do we have from previous chapters?

Day #3

  1. Read 17: 5-6
  2. Lectio with vv. 5-6
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Why do you suppose the apostles ask for more faith?!
    2. The impossible thing to forgive is forgivable with faith.
    3. Reflect on any wounds you might still be nursing. Ask God for more faith. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive….

Day #4

  1. Read 17: 7-10
  2. Lectio with vv. 7-10
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. In case you think you are impressing God, meditate on this!
    2. Note: we are far from worthless, but faith and salvation and everything are all sheer gift. Don’t need to impress God–it won’t work anyway. He loves us exactly the same.

Day #5

  1. 1. Read 17: 11-19
  2. 2. Lectio with vv. 11-19
  3. 3. Consider the following questions:
    1. a. Notice the social barriers. Who are the lepers in your community/ country? What are the barriers that keep them out?
    2. b. What responses does true faith provoke?
    3. c. Who’s the hero of the story? Any surprise? (Luke is pretty consistent on this, isn’t he?)

Day #6

  1. Spend time reflecting on the forgiveness, healing, and acceptance you have received in Jesus. May it lead you to rejoicing, praise, and thanks.

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #35

Week #35: Luke 17:20-37

  • The Coming of the Kingdom of God (20-21)
  • The Day of the Son of Man (22-37)

Day #1

  1. Read 17:20-21
  2. Lectio with vv. 20-21
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What happens when people get fixated on when the “kingdom will come”?
    2. Don’t miss the Kingdom which is already among us, by focusing on the future!
    3. Do you see over-emphasis on this in any of the churches you deal with? What fruit does it produce?
    4. Meditate on what it means for the Kingdom of God to be among us.

Day #2

  1. Read 17: 22-25
  2. Lectio with vv. 22-25
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What kind of advice is given here? Why does Luke have the mentioning of suffering and rejection occur in this context?

Day #3

  1. Read 17: 26-28
  2. Lectio with vv. 26-28
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What happened in Noah’s day? How do people in your cultural/ religious context view the culmination of history? Or do they even consider it?
    2. If they do, do they prepare in some way? Do ancestors help? Spirits?

Day #4

  1. Read 17:29-30
  2. Lectio with vv. 29-30
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What happened in Lot’s day? How does one prepare?

Day #5

  1. Read 17:31-37
  2. Lectio with vv. 31-37
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Notice how Luke has the statement about trying to preserve one’s life enmeshed in this apocalyptic passage. Why do you think that is? Does it provide some clue about the ongoing preparation for the Day of the revelation of the Lord?

Day #6

  1. Take time to meditate on those things that help you stay aware of God’s presence and Kingdom, and those things that distract or lull you to “sleep”. Do the same for those factors which affect your neighbors (if they are different).

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #36

Week #36: Luke 18:1-17 END OF 3RD QUARTER

  • • The Parable of the Persistent Widow (1-8)
  • • The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (9-14)
  • • Saying on Children and the Kingdom (15-17)

Day #1

  1. Read 18:1-8, but focus on vv 1-5
  2. Lectio with vv. 1-5
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What’s the stated point of the parable? When do you find it difficult to keep praying, and not lose heart?
    2. What moves the judge (this is argument from lesser to greater)?
    3. Who is appealing to the judge, and what is she asking for? What do we know about the situation of widows?
    4. When do your neighbors get discouraged about hoping for and praying for justice?

Day #2

1. Read 18:1-8, but focus on vv. 6-8

2. Lectio with vv. 6-8

3. Consider the following questions:

a. How does God respond? Is the assurance helpful to you and your neighbors? Where do you still struggle?

b. Why the question about finding faith on the earth? How does it relate to the former?

Day #3

  1. Read 18:9-14
  2. Lectio with vv. 9-14
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Try to modernize this, and place one of the most upright Christians in your church (or even yourself) in the role of the Pharisee, and one of the most notorious “good-for-nothings” of your neighborhood in the place of the Tax Collector. Does that make the message hit home any stronger?
    2. When do you fall into judging yourself by comparison and/or fulfilling a set of “rules” of good conduct?
    3. Where does Jesus point us here?

Day #4

  1. Read 18: 15-17
  2. Lectio with vv. 15-17
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What is the power of touch for the babies and children? How can we imitate Jesus in our love for children around us? (Is there a fear factor in your neighborhood about touching children, because of prevalent abuse/ inappropriate touching?)
    2. What do we learn about Jesus’ value of children? When do we behave like the disciples and miss the point? How are children valued in your ministry area? Are abuse and neglect common? Is there a very high value of children? Who attends to them? Men, women, or both?
    3. What does it mean to welcome the kingdom of God like a little child? Is it difficult for you to let that child-likeness come out? Is it difficult for your neighbors?
Day #5 and Day #6
  1. Spend time asking God to gently reveal to you places in your life where you resist being a child in his presence, or where you value yourself by comparison, or by what you do “for” God. Let his healing presence transform you.

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #37

Week #37: Luke 18:18-43

BEGINNING OF 4TH QUARTER

  • The Rich Official (18-23)
  • On Riches and Renunciation (24-30)
  • The Third Prediction of the Passion (31-34)
  • The Healing of the Blind Beggar (35-43)

Day #1

  1. Read 18:18-23
  2. Lectio with vv. 18-23
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What is the tone of Jesus’ response? (notice the phrase, “there is one thing you lack”)
    2. Remembering Luke’s focus, what is Jesus offering the man? What is the consistent them of discipleship with regard to possessions and the poor?
    3. Does he condemn him when he goes away?

Day #2

  1. Read 18:24-27
  2. Lectio with vv. 24-27
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Does this passage resonate with you? Does it create a tension for you, or others around you? Does it come into conflict with theological perspectives you have witnessed?
    2. Why is it difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God? Does this square with your observations in your neighborhood/ country? What trappings tend to come with wealth in your observations/ experience?
    3. Does Jesus eliminate the possibility of the rich entering the Kingdom? Do you?

Day #3

  1. Read 18:28-30
  2. Lectio with vv. 28-30
  3. Consider the following questions:
  4. Why does Peter respond this way? Can you relate?
  5. Is Jesus’ response a comfort to you? To your Christian neighbors?

Day #4

  1. Read 18:31-34
  2. Lectio with vv. 31-34
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Notice how Luke connects this with the previous passage, indicating Jesus’ modeling of the sort of life to which they have been called.
    2. How have you experienced some of the things Jesus experienced? (In your Christian life or pre-Christian life).
    3. How about your neighbors? The people in your area/country? Can they or their families relate to this kind of treatment (whether or not it had to do with their faith).
    4. Is receiving this sort of treatment as part of living out your faith part of the way you understand the normal Christian life? Do you sometimes scratch your head with the disciples?

Day #5

  1. Read 18: 35-43
  2. Lectio with vv. 35-39
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Who are the people that come to mind when you think of the “blind man sitting beside the road begging”? Is this a common sight in your neighborhood/ area? Are there people in similar circumstances (i.e. begging)? What do you know about their lives and stories?
    2. Notice that the blind man seems to know something about Jesus that those “in front” don’t. What is that?

Day #6

  1. Read 18: 35-43
  2. Lectio with vv. 40-43
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How does Jesus respond? What do you see about the character of Jesus here? Are there times when you feel you might be “leading Jesus” when Jesus is stopping?
    2. Are there ways you can see the Church passing by when Jesus is stopping? How about the government and the leaders? (Compare with the little children passage and the Good Samaritan).
    3. What kind of faith does the blind man exhibit? Does this echo any thing for you in this chapter?

LUKE DEVOTIONAL COMPANION #38

Week #38: Luke 19: 1-27

  • Zaccheus the Tax Collector (1-10)
  • The Parable of the Ten Gold coins (11-27)

Day #1

  1. Read 19:1-10, but focus on vv. 1-5
  2. Lectio with vv. 1-5
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Reflect on the characteristics we already see in Zaccheus, and compare with the rich man from the previous chapter. How about the section on the little children?
    2. It must have been quite a sight for this well known (notorious) rich man to be up in a tree with a crowd around!
    3. What does Jesus’ public response to Zacchaeus suggest for your ministry?

Day #2

  1. Read 19:1-10, but focus on vv. 6-10
  2. Lectio with vv. 6-10
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. How does Zacchaeus respond to Jesus? (Side point: the name Zacchaeus means “clean”)
    2. How does the crowd respond?
    3. What do you think of Zacchaeus’ active response? What does it have to do with salvation coming to his house ‘today’?
    4. Why does Jesus emphasize that this man is a “son of Abraham”? How does this episode fit in with the mission of Jesus (v.10)?
    5. Reflect on Zacchaeus and the “rich man through the eye of a needle” passage.

Day #3

  1. Read 19: 11-27, but focus on vv. 11-14
  2. Lectio with vv. 11-14
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Notice in v.11, how Luke makes this a continuation of 1-10 (they were “listening to this”). How is Jesus preparing the people with this parable?
    2. In the context of these recent passages, what do you think is being set up here? Who is the king? What are the pounds? What might it mean to be “trading” with the pounds? (Think back to the crafty steward passage).
    3. What do you make of the “compatriots” who do not want this man to be king?

Day #4

  1. Read 19:11-27, but focus on vv. 15-21
  2. Lectio with vv. 15-21
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. Big returns on investment normally involve risky investments. What kind of risky investments are servants/disciples called to make? How have you experienced risky investment? What risks have you faced? What risks have your Christian neighbors faced?
    2. Notice the generous response of the king to the two first servants (think back to the last chapter when Peter asks Jesus about everything they have left to follow him).
    3. What kinds of fears may have deterred the third servant? Are their echoes of previous passages that you sense here? How do your concept of God and your fears sometimes inhibit you in Christian risk-taking?
    4. Note that Jesus as King will continue his faithfulness to his mission, enduring incredible risks, and ultimately his suffering and death. It is from that vantage point, that he calls his servants to imitate him in this risky kind of life. Does your own leadership follow this pattern?

Day #5

  1. Read 19: 15-27, but focus on vv. 22-23
  2. Lectio with vv. 22-23
  3. Consider the following:
    1. Note even here the latitude for a minimal risk investment. (Luke’s inclusiveness again!)

Day #6

  1. Read 19:15-27, but focus on 24-27
  2. Lectio with vv. 24-27
  3. Consider the following questions:
    1. What are the consequences of our responses to King Jesus? NOTE: This passage concludes the “Journey to Jerusalem” section which began in 9:51, but the journey continues to its final culmination in Jesus’ return to the Father.