The Field is the World (Matt. 13:38)

Friday SOAP: When I come across a line of Scripture that has inspired a gospel song, I often spend the rest of the day with the song echoing through my head, even if I last heard it thirty years ago. Today's reading reminds me of a precious one, written to reassure us and inspire us to "make the message clear and plain" that "Christ receiveth sinful men, even me, with all my sin." S: And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. (Luke 15:2) O: Here's an interesting contrast. Only a few chapters ago, Jesus warned about those who had once been faithful stewards, but decided in their hearts, "my Lord delays His coming" and began to beat their fellow servants and eat and be drunk (the Matthew version says) with the drunken. The implication of the scribes and Pharisees was that Jesus Himself was fellowshipping in this comfortable sort of way with those devoted to sin. (See Matthew 11:16-19) A...

Thursday SOAP: Jesus has every right to chop down a tree that isn't bearing His fruit. Does it happen right away, or does it take a while? Several hints in the Gospels coalesce in the two chapters of my devotional reading for today. S: I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig-tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig-tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig round it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” (Luke 13:5-9). So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. (Lu 14:33). Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to y...

Wednesday SOAP: A faithful servant isn't just (as Dr. J. Vernon McGee used to say) someone who would "vote for" Jesus, but someone who knows His master's will and is attentive - and entirely devoted - to His interests. A well-trained servant knows His master so well that he may be guided without a word - only a simple look, (Psalm 32:8), in contrast to willful animals who must be controlled by leashes, bits and bridles. (Ps. 32:9) S: Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. (Luke 12:37) O: Here's a promise that really sounds like too much. Jesus sounds like He is describing John 13:3-5 - but He is describing a future celebration for those followers who have been "awake." Christ was free to make any promise He wanted - or make no promise at all - so rather than adopting Peter's false humility that wo...

Tuesday SOAP: Jesus was invited to dinner with a Pharisee and the man noted that He did not first perform a ritualistic washing according to the Jews' oral tradition of interpreting the Law. Jesus uses the opportunity to contrast the traditional emphasis on detailed external performance with the internal reality the commandments of God were supposed to reflect. S: But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. (Luke 11:41) O: This is one of those rare cases in which the KJV, NIV, (1984), along with GNT, CEV, NCV and several others, obscure the full meaning by interpreting the passage rather than conveying the literal meaning. The KJV renders it, "give alms of such things as ye have," while the NLT goes too far by saying, "clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over." In context, Jesus is talking about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, focusing exclusively on those acts which men can s...

Monday SOAP: How easy it is to "justify myself," as the legal expert did in Luke 10. The gospel call is to repent, to believe and to love. At their core, none of these things is a work. But James challenges, "SHOW me your faith... (James 2:18) Because faith shows in good works, or, as it has often been abbreviated, "faith works." If, instead of obedience to Christ's example and teaching, I have long lists of qualifications, rationalizations and excuses, it is time to "examine myself, to see whether I am in the faith." (2 Corinthians 13:5) Let's see how the lawyer fared under cross-examination. S: But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewi...

"Let the weak say, 'I am strong'" (Joel 3:10) I like movie previews. The best ones give us a tantalizing look at the film they summarize. The funny parts. The drama. Just an impression of intense emotional struggle or sudden relief. An expertly-crafted preview can even make a mediocre movie look entertaining. But for the best films, a tiny glimpse of the highlights could never oversell what's in store. Movie previews are like testimonies. A committed Christian's testimony can only represent a few of the highlights—glimpses of God's intervening grace in their lives that they've been privileged to perceive and interpret for us. One of the best parts of helping with the approval and training process for new Online Missionaries is getting to review the testimonies of the applicants. Often the story starts out like a tragedy. For instance, one applicant was molested by her biological father. She felt immense pain and self-loathing. Then...