Life: God’s Version of
‘Take Your Child to Work’ Day

Week 5: Work Priorities

Luke 14:1-14

 † IHS †

May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ embrace you as your priotities in life begin to reflect Jesus’ priorities!

I wanna Do it My way!

There is an old phrase that comes into play when children go to work with their dads. It is that someone grew to big for their britches

You know the attitude, when the child tells God they know exactly how to get the work done, and they don’t need the Father, or their God’s direction or oversight

I can hear the cries…

“I can do it…!!!!”

“I know what I’m doing..”

And of course the famous, “I did it my way!!!”

Yeah, I remember a couple of projects I did my way…. I am amazed my dad let me – and even more amazed he didn’t laugh over the completed work….

The biggest lessons I would learn in those moments was that there was an order to do things, a priority, and that usually included doing the hardest and most challenging thing first.

In today’s gospel, there is a couple of priorities set by Jesus, or priorities reset by Jesus.

Higher Priority – People over Practices

The first priority is seen at the home of the one of the chief pharisees.

There’s a man there in pain, and it time for fellowship after they had worshipped together, they are ignoring him. I don’t know how long he’s had edema, but I know the pain the man was enduring. His issue was caused by a poorly functioning heart, which gathers in the legs and chest to cause more tension so that blood can return to the heart. Edema is a symptom, but it makes it harder to walk, harder to do anything – and as it turns to congestive heart failure, it  can result in a brain fog.

And the poor guy is all but ignored by the pharisees.

Jesus notices him, not just like, ‘there’s Joe,’ but, ‘there’s Joe, and he’s in a lot of pain!” I Compelled to do something, Jesus also realzies that he can help—and yet there are other hearts that need to be healed.

Other hearts that are struggling and under pressure, and whose answer to Jesus’s question about healing on the Sabbath, shows that they are in a fog as well. They were so focused on proving their holiness, by keeping all the rules – God and their own, that they forget about God. Their hearts were far from them, and the harder they worked to keep the rules, the more pressure they put on their heart and soul.

They had spiritual edema!

Instead, excess water being stored in their legs, they had so much that caused them to lose focus on God’s love. You see pharisees and those who were “experts in the law” knew more, and tried to live life perfectly, and they added all these rules that would prevent them from accidently breaking any commandment. If you’ve ever seen the Jewish people who were all black, have the really cool hats and the men have long rair with ringlets – the are Hassidic, the modern Pharisees who say they keep the law. They would even tithe their spice rack, Jesus said “²³  “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Matthew 23:23 (NLT2) Can you imagine yelling at your ids or your parents for interrupting your count of garlic salt and dividing one in 10 grains to give to the church kitchen?

A lot of those rules were attempts to keep safe the Lord’s name, and to keep holy the Sabbath.

When they wer faced with a decision not covered by their rules, scripture says, “they could not answer…”

Jesus’ didn’t just heal the man with physical edema. He would die to heal them of their spiritual edema to do, as he promised through Ezekiel. “²⁶  And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. ²⁷  And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”  Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NLT2)

That is the promise of baptism, what starts as God claims us as His own and cleanse us of all sin…

That new heart gets rid of all the edema, and more importantly it heals the cause of it. In the process, we see others with spiritual edema – and we want to see them find the cure we do… and that is more a priority…than our man-made rules and routines.

Prioritizing People

Even as we look at how Jesus teaches us to prioritize people’s hearts and souls over the the systems and structures we have put in place, He also teaches us how to prioritize people.

It starts by talking about our own place in the world, and not assuming we get the best position—even though God promises we are His prized possession, but like Jesus leaving heaven, embracing the lower position isn’t a big deal.

Nor is making sure you have done proper networking, making sure you get all the “best” people over for dinner. Jesus said it this way,

¹² Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. ¹³ Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

The cool thing is you, when you do such things, are doing what Jesus did. Giving up, even sacrificing the easy life, ot make sure those with edema, or spiritual edema, are taken care of, even it is takes a little more effort. Some of those are physically disabled, but look out as much for those who are spiritually disabled, cripped by past experiences, blinded to the truth.

In need of a healer, in need of Jesus.

For once we in need of His healing… and most of us still are. But He is here, caring for us. As we go to work, as we do things the Father’s way, we find ourselves caring for them, as they, like we, are to be His work of art, created anew in Christ Jesus. AMEN.