Tag Archives: outsiders

Who visits your church? (John 9:35-37), March 2, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Here’s an odd question that you probably shouldn’t know, but should make you think about the welcome your church provides. How many alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, and adulterers visit your congregation regularly?
Scripture
1. John 9:35-37
2. The religious leaders banished him [the blind man Jesus healed] from their presence. Jesus heard what had happened and sought out the man.

Jesus: Do you believe in the Son of Man?

Formerly Blind Man: I want to believe, Lord. Who is He?

Jesus: You have seen His face with your new eyes, and you are talking to Him now.

Devotional
1. In the Sunday School class I’ve been attending the last couple of weeks, we talked about the way the church has done exactly what the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did.
  1. Alcoholics
  2. Drug addicts
  3. Homosexuals
  4. We don’t want anything to do with “those” people
  5. We don’t want to tarnish our congregation with the wrong kind of people
2. We even take our dislike for anyone that doesn’t agree with us to the streets
  1. Protests
  2. Facebook
  3. Twitter
  4. But is God happy with our approach?
3. Jesus ate with tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves, the people the Pharisees and religious leaders wouldn’t come near
  1. Why?
  2. Until you build a relationship with someone they won’t listen to what you have to say
  3. He never condoned their sinful action
  4. But He still loved them as one of God’s creations
  5. Jesus saw the potential of what God could make them instead of what sin had made them
4. Remember the woman caught in adultery?
  1. Who can say they have never sinned?
  2. No matter how large or how small, disobedience separates us from God
  3. Look at that first act that banished Adam from God’s presence, he ate fruit from a forbidden tree, how horrible is that compared to the sins we think are so much more egregious than something we might do
  4. Paul’s list
    1. Gluttony
    2. Gossip
    3. Dissension
    4. These separate us from God as surely as murder, kidnapping, rape, homosexuality, or any other law you might bring to mind
5. With that in mind, how should we change our approach personally and as churches to all those Jesus would have befriended? Don’t you think it’s time we welcome them instead of tossing them out?
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Which side of the glass are you on? (Luke 13:24-30) November 27, 2016

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 John 1-3

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 13:24-30
Jesus: Strive to enter through the narrow door now, because many people—hear Me on this—will try to enter later on and will not be able to. Imagine you want to enter someone’s home, but you wait until after the homeowner has shut the door. Then you stand outside and bang on the door, and you say, “Sir, please open the door for us!” But he will answer, “I don’t know where you’re from.”
Then you’ll say, “Just a minute. We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” But he’ll say, “Sorry, I have no idea where you’re from. Leave me, all of you evildoers.” Then you’ll see something that will make you cry and grind your teeth together—you’ll see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves will be on the outside looking in.
And then you’ll see people streaming in from east and west, from north and south, gathering around the table in the kingdom of God, but you’ll be on the outside looking in. That’s how it will be; some are last now who will be first then, and some are first now who will be last then.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

As these words came from the Master’s mouth those centuries ago, the people around Him would not have received them very well at all. These were radical, brutal, vicious words coming from Jesus’ mouth. Why would I think that? Look at the end of the message. “You’ll see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you will be on the outside looking in. [and oh, by the way,] all the people you call outsiders now, those living in the east and west and north and south, all those Gentiles, will be gathered around the table with God, but you’ll still be on the outside looking in.”

Those were fighting words to the crowd gathered around Jesus.

We talk about racism and bigotry in our country, but despite a few pockets of radical racism, our nation really is one of the most diverse and tolerant in the world, if not the most diverse and tolerant on this planet. We cry about intolerance and we bemoan the slavery that happened in the early part of our country’s history, but today, for the most part, our citizens view humans as humans, not by the color of their skin or their nationality or gender or religion. We are fairly tolerant.

If you don’t believe that, buy a ticket to some of our sister countries around the world and make a few observations. First, you’ll find that no other country has as lenient an immigration policy as ours. Second, you’ll discover that as a whole we are not racist. Yes, there are some racists. Yes, there are some bigots. Yes, there are some extremists in just about every community. But frankly, I think that makes up a relatively small percentage of our nation.

Third, most other countries do have an intolerance problem. Whatever group is in power has little tolerance for the other groups in the nation, whoever they might be or whatever agenda they might have. Few other nations around the world have peaceful transfers of power from one party to the next. Although, this year, I’m beginning to wonder if we can talk about our peaceful transition of power anymore. But other countries openly practice genocide. Human rights are rights only for those that look and act and think the way those do that hold the seats of power in the nation. Everyone else is considered less than human and give few if any rights.

And it was the same in Jesus’ day. Racism abounded. The Jews believed they were better than anyone else. And here Jesus was telling them that all these other people would be sitting at the banquet table in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their patriarchs, while that looked in with their mouths watering and their eyes bulging. How could this be? They were the chosen? What was this radical preaching that Jesus gave? How could God let outsiders into His kingdom and exclude His chosen people, those with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob’s blood flowing through their veins?

But then and now, entrance into the kingdom of God has never been about pedigree. God doesn’t care who gave birth to you. He doesn’t care about your lineage. Then and now, God doesn’t care what church you belong to. These were temple goers. They partook in all the right rituals. They brought their sacrifices and put money in the offering plates. They sang their songs and prayed their prayers. These were not bad people, but for God, these men and women had become the outsiders looking in.

Why? Because they failed to build a relationship with God. They failed to understand He gave His Son out of love for them. They failed to understand the very heart of the message God wanted them to share with the world. The message that the kingdom of God is near and all the commandments can be boiled down to two, love God and love your neighbor. Just do those two things. But in their selfishness, they couldn’t. They couldn’t give up their selfish desires.

So which side of the glass will you be on? Will you sit at the banquet table or be staring through the glass on the outside looking in? Only you and God know the answer to that question.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

We can join the party (Luke 4:23-27) September 22, 2016

Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 25

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 4:23-27
Jesus: You’re about to quote the old proverb to Me, “Doctor, heal yourself!” Then you’re going to ask Me to prove Myself to you by doing the same miracles I did in Capernaum. But face the truth: hometowns always reject their homegrown prophets.
Think back to the prophet Elijah. There were many needy Jewish widows in his homeland, Israel, when a terrible famine persisted there for three and a half years. Yet the only widow God sent Elijah to help was an outsider from Zarephath in Sidon.
It was the same with the prophet Elisha. There were many Jewish lepers in his homeland, but the only one he healed—Naaman—was an outsider from Syria.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Have you ever tried to convince your brothers and sisters about some new information you’ve learned that would really benefit them? I remember my younger sister trying to tell me a few things along the path of life, but she certainly couldn’t know any more than me, right? She’s four years younger, so how could she have learned any life lessons ahead of me? I’m her older brother and should be teacher her.

It’s the same with parents and aunts and uncles and often with cousins and even with neighbors who watch you grow up. It’s really hard to convince those who know you best that you know something that will help them when they know all your faults. They watched you make all those mistakes when you were a teenager, so what could you add to the discussion?

That’s the story we’re faced with as Jesus reads the scripture from Isaiah that day in the synagogue. Those who knew Him best couldn’t believe He could be the long awaited Messiah. He was just a carpenter’s son. They knew Mary and Joseph and they knew the rumors about His birth. He came too soon after the marriage. There were some things that just weren’t right about this guy, so how could Jesus be the Messiah.

It’s kind of sad that we have such a hard time telling those we love the most about important things like how to find eternal life. If those closest to us can see Christ in us and see the difference He makes in our lives, maybe, just maybe, they will want that something different, too. But they will want to see the long term results, because they also know about the fads and false starts you’ve made in the past to try to straighten out your life on your own. Those didn’t go so well, so family and friends usually have a “let’s wait and see” attitude about a radical change in your spiritual life.

But the other things Jesus talked about really excite me. He pulled out two really important stories from the Old Testament to prove His point, but they tell us something about God that should make you want to sing and dance around the room for a while. The stories Jesus mentioned about Elijah and Elisha helping two widows during famines are significant. Those two prophets were two of the nation’s greatest prophets in their history. You’ll remember that in Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain, Peter, James, and John saw Elijah with Jesus and Moses in the garden that night. Elijah and Elisha were special men.

So what’s so great about these two stories? They went to help outsiders. Jews just didn’t do that. Devot Jews had nothing to do with outsiders. If they talked with or touched a non-Jew, they had to go through some ritual cleansing before they could participate in any of the worship activiites that surrounded their daily lives. So when Elijah and Elisha went outside their countrymen and helped these two widows from foreign nations, this was a really big deal.

And what it tells me is that God cares about the outsiders. The Jews are His chosen people. They are set aside for His special purposes, but He hasn’t forgotten the rest of us. He still loves us and cares for us. In fact, He cares for us so much, that during those two incredibly savage famines that swept through the countries surrounding Israel, Elijah and Elisha ministered to people outside their own culture and faith. God directed them to two women in foreign countries that were considered unclean by the Jews. These two men listened to God and determined even the outcasts needed God and His sovereign power in their daily lives.

And that means He cares for us. We are outcasts, outsiders, enemies, yet God still pours out His love and makes it known through His Son, Jesus, that He cares for us immensely. In fact, He cares so much, that He gave His only Son to die on the cross for our sins. All we have to do is believe in Him as the Son of God. Believe in Him for the forgiveness of your sins. Believe in Him for the guidance He will give you each day as you allow Him to live in your life and teach you His ways.

We don’t have to be outsiders anymore. Jesus made a way for us to join the party.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.