Tuesday 24th January - Luke 17
Today’s chapter is Luke 17
Tom writes:
Jesus is perplexed by the 9 non-returning lepers not because they lacked gratitude but because they failed to see who he is. Their lottery numbers came up… and they forgot to cash in the ticket. How could they have been so blind? These 9 lepers have been wasting away outside of the city, cut off from all prospects and relationships, permanently ringing a bell and saying “unclean, unclean” and watching their body decay before their eyes. Now they can live again - they are healthy and can marry and gain employment, they can rejoice and converse with others. But; if they are really smart; they will realise how much more they can find if they simply return to Jesus. The nine have received a tiny off-cut of grace and have been too thick or too distracted to come back to get the whole meal. Our cultural narrative tells us to be like the nine. It encourages us that we can live our dreams and be happy if we can just get free from the oppression of X. X might be the expectations of society, X might be a particular government or a particular relationship or a particular group of people who make us live a lie. X might even be a physical illness or a mental health issue. Our culture tells us all we need is to throw off that one thing and then “you be you” and you can step out into a life of unadulterated bliss. Jesus is puzzled by that idea. He knows we are oppressed by external factors like leprosy and he wants to set us free from them. But he knows we can only then thrive in our new found freedom when we have our hearts formed by him by sitting under his teaching.
The life of bliss - what Jesus called “blessedness” - is found in Jesus’ Kingdom when we make Jesus our King. How amazing would it be to copy the clever former-leper? What if when we snag a nice feeling from Jesus we follow the logic so that when we feel lonely, rather than trying to feel good about ourselves, we come to Jesus and receive affirmation beyond belief? What if when we stumble across an answered prayer for provision, we choose to move beyond hoarding our stuff for our goals, and instead open up our purses in generosity and trust God that he knows what we need? What if we decided to interact with Jesus not just to take temporary tonics but to lean into his long-lasting, life-transforming leadership? What if we chose to trust Jesus not just to give us delightful moments of deliverance but also to also lead us into the slower and equally delicious renovation of our hearts?
Question for reflection
What aspect of your heart is Jesus wanting to renovate? How could you let him do that?