The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

  Luke 10.25-37             Psalm 82             Deut 6.1-9             James 2.8-26   Prayer of Invocation   Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us faithfulness; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.   Prayer of Illumination   Lord, bless the hearing of your word by equipping us to do what you say, for the life of the world, and for the sake of your reputation.    Proclamation               Introduction (before the reading of Luke 10.25-37) The story of the ...

* From David Lyle Jeffrey,  Luke (The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible), pgs. 150-151) The theme of the conjoined commandment to love God in a total, all-encompassing way, and out of that to love the neighbor as oneself, was regarded by medieval writers as one single and basic rule for the Christian life. They referred to it as the law of love. There is much biblical warrant for this compression...The good Samaritan story casts a practical light on the love of God for the kosmon ("world") (John 3:16), which those who reciprocate his love are called to imitate at many levels. There is a polyvalent aspect to the good Samaritan, who reminds us by his action that on the biblical definition, "God is love" (1 John 4:16) is a wider sense than might occur to us. Since Jesus himself is the "image of the Father" (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15; 3:10; Heb. 1:3), what he is teaching us in such passages is primary theology, intensifying what he has already told his ...

Many have heard the term "Good Samaritan". It is often used in our contemporary culture to describe a helpful person, someone who goes out of her own way to meet another's dire need.  The story of the "Good Samaritan" only occurs in the Gospel of Luke. And it's actually (more accurately) a story about an encounter between Jesus and a religious scholar (Luke 10.25-37).  The good Samaritan makes an appearance in this encounter as the means by which Jesus responds to the religious scholar’s question about neighbor love.  In order to hear this story afresh, this encounter between Jesus and the legal scholar, it is helpful to know that it falls within a larger literary context (Luke 9.52-19.48) sometimes referred to as the "journey section". In this larger portion of the Gospel, Luke highlights Jesus' approach to Jerusalem, where his confrontation with religious and political leaders will come to a climax, where he will be considered an outsider...

* Lecture notes prepared for a discussion on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's chapter on "Community" in Life Together for a course on Christian Vocation and Community Development ------------------------------------------------- It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful scene than the one described for us at the end of Acts 2: Spirit-birthed togetherness, harmony, devotion to the Scriptures, awe and wonder; gratitude, radical generosity, hospitality, prayer, the breaking of bread,  and heart-felt worship. For almost two thousand years, this scene has inspired churches throughout the ages to “get back to its roots”. Is this not ultimately what we all long for, to be in a community like this? It feels strange to read this passage today in our time of social distancing and isolation, and in our age of increasing tribalism. In my church, we flash Acts 2.42-47 up on the big screen each Sunday before the Prayers of the People as a reminder of why we structure our corporate gathering the way...

What is salvation for? It is not hard to lose the forest for the trees in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. The letter opens with some very complex themes that, because they meet us first, tend to occupy most of our attention and interest as we come to the letter for guidance and edification: election (1.4), predestination (1.5), adoption (1.5),  redemption (1.5), inheritance (1.11), salvation (1.13), the role of the Spirit, to name a few.  As important as all of those themes are (and they are indeed foundational), its seems to me that part of what Paul is doing in his letter to the Ephesians is trying to get his readers to ask the question, What is this (election, adoption, redemption, salvation)  all for?  What are we chosen for ? What are we predestined for ? What are we adopted for ? Why have we been redeemed? And how does this all reveal God's glory and grace? Those who have been shaped by the Reformed tradition will likely respond that all of this--election, pred...