We just needed to let you know that we are currently experiencing technical difficulties, as the saying goes. Our laptop (and only computer) is falling apart and though we bought it only 6 months ago, HP doesn’t want to help us out. We are just wanting to let you know so that you can pray for us and the situation as this is our main lifeline to all of you and people in the States. Also, we just wanted to make you aware so you know why you aren’t seeing us on Facebook, Skype, email, here, etc. God bless!
Currently experiencing technical difficulties…
The Sermon on the Plain
In Luke 6:17-49, Luke gives us his representation of the more well known Sermon on the Mount. Since Luke was written later, this is more than likely a compilation of much of Jesus’ teaching with a lot of being delivered on the Plain as Luke describes here.
What especially stuck out to me in my reading this morning is Jesus’ teaching of love and mercy. Fundamental to ethics is love — not a love like the world’s, but a unique love that endures. These exhortations are expressed with reference to enemies in verses 27-28, from a human perspective in verse 31, and as a divine standard as in verse 35. Love evidences mercy, just like the Father, so that the result is a hesitation to judge and a readiness to forgive.
Four exhortations in verses 27 and 28 make the key point. The special objects of love are one’s enemies. The love Jesus commands is not an abstract love tucked away in the person’s inner recesses, but a love that demonstrates itself in concrete action. The disciple should do good to those who hate them, bless those who curse them, and pray for those who abuse them. The exhortations expect action, not just a private expression to God. In the context of rejection, Jesus calls for extraordinary trust in God. Disciples should reflect such love constantly.
Lest there be any doubt that Jesus calls his followers to active, visible love for their enemies, four illustrations guarantee that this is his focus. Turning the cheek pictures a person slapped on the cheek in rejection. Numerous examples of this kind of use of violence appear in Acts. Yet the early church consistently turned the other cheek by continuing to share the gospel with those who rejected them. They have never fought back in kind, but attempted to overcome evil with good.
To exemplify love in a hostile world is difficult. It takes a supernatural perspective and a change of thinking. The world is used to dealing with people either on the basis of power, utility, or equal exchange. The idea of simple service and unconditional love are not in vogue. When Jesus calls us to love our enemies, I have a hard time seeing that love in the way we communicate with those who possess different values from our own. We must hold to our convictions while communicating a sensitive, loving concern. The world may misunderstand us, but that does not allow us to be insensitive or to harbor misunderstanding towards them.
Love, doing good, blessing, and praying for those who are our enemies also assumes another reality, that we are in relational contact with the outside world. The ability to be struck on the cheek means we are in striking distance and have risked making the effort to have contact. The fortress mentality that sometimes invades the church is a form of retreat, as well as a denial of what Jesus calls for from disciples in this sermon. It is an abandonment of the very relational ground that can turn a Saul into a Paul. To give to those who beg means we know where they can be found. To love as we wish to be loved means acknowledging the dignity of other people as made in the image of God. To love in a way that does not reflect some personal payback is to offer the world a different kind of love that is not based on what the self receives but on what we can give. It is to love in a way different from sinners.
Sadly, often we cannot love so selflessly even within the community of God, much less to our enemies. By failing to love, we fail to reveal the loving and merciful character of God. Perhaps one reason evangelism fails is because people cannot see the grace of God evidenced in the church’s relationship to herself. To accomplish such an outreach and evidence such love means to depend totally on the Father, who will reward those who reflect his character to a needy but hostile world.
The connection between God’s blessing and our ability to love should not be missed. Because of his blessing to us and our appreciation for him, we are able to love others. Because he gave, we can give. Because we know the joy of receiving from him, we are motivated to give to others. The actions Jesus calls for in his sermon apply to others what he has already applied to us. The deeper our understanding and appreciation of what God has done, the better prepared we will be to reflect his character to others.
Bock, Darrell L. “Contemporary Significance” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Luke. By Darrell L. Bock, 197-198. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.
Simeon at 5 months
Back by popular demand, pictures of Simeon. We know you all like to see pics of him and see how he is developing, so enjoy!
The Gospel According to Luke 4
Luke 4:
14 JESUS RETURNED TO Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
This passage from Luke 4 has extreme implications for us as Christians. Primarily, from an apologist’s standpoint for those who wonder if Jesus really thought He was the Messiah, this passage plainly shows who He thought He was. In addition to that, for those of us who when thinking of mission, mostly think about evangelism, this passage has important consequences. We share again from the commentary that we are reading:
Jesus’ task involves a message, and that message has an audience: the poor. It cannot be denied that “poor” here refers to those who live in a socially and economically limited environment. But according to the use of this term in the Old Testament and in Luke, that is not all that is intended here. The Old Testament background points to the anawim, the “pious poor,” the afflicted (2 Sam. 22:28; Pss. 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29; Amos 8:4; Isa. 3:14 – 15). These are the humble whom God will exalt (Luke 1:51 – 53) and who like the prophets suffer for being open to God (6:20 – 23; cf. the description in 1 Cor. 1:26 – 29; James 2:5). They are open to God and his way since they are frequently the first to recognize how much they need God.
To such spiritually open folks, Jesus proclaims release, recovery of sight, and freedom from oppression. The background to this imagery is the Year of Jubilee, in which all debts were declared null (Lev. 25:8 – 17). Just as the Year of Jubilee initiated a new start, so Jesus proclaims a new start through his offer of divine deliverance. He both proclaims that release and accomplishes it. His setting free of the blind probably alludes to both his miraculous work of the physically blind and his spiritual work of salvation, since Jesus brings light to those in darkness (see Luke 1:78 – 79).
The idea that Jesus actually brings liberty rather than merely proclaiming it alludes to Isaiah 58:6. Jesus actually uses this text in a contrastive way from its original setting. In Isaiah 58, God is making a complaint against the nation of Israel for not living out her calling in proper Sabbath worship. She has failed to be a source of liberty for those who are oppressed. The rebuke and call are especially clear in 58:13 – 14. Jesus will therefore do what Israel has failed to do: He will bring about the salvation of God and free those who suffer from the oppression that is a part of life. This is why Jesus can speak of the arrival of “the year of the Lord’s favor,” the phrase that explicitly alludes to the release that came in the Jubilee Year.
In sum, Jesus makes three points here: (1) He is anointed by the Spirit to perform a specific ministry; (2) he is a prophetic figure who declares the arrival of the new era; and (3) he will actually bring about the release that he proclaims. The combination means that Jesus functions as both prophet and Messiah. .
The major application emerging from the scene where Jesus preaches in the synagogue involves the nature of his mission. The church’s call is but an extension of Jesus’ mission. The fulfillment he proclaims is part of the fulfillment that the church proclaims. Values reflected in this mission should be reflected in the church’s outreach. For example, the church should engage in its preaching and evangelistic task with an understanding that the gospel message is more suited to those who are poor and already live in a dependent context. Independent, well-to-do people often have a false sense of security about life, as if it is really within their control. Our culture tells people to take control of their own lives — as if they can grab life by the reins and steer their own way. The poor, however, live under no such delusions and are usually better prepared to turn toward God.
Despite this potential openness of the poor and the suitability of the gospel for them, ministry groups often target the wealthy. Ministry in the inner city or in less visible locales are often hard to launch and sustain. The church, of course, is called to offer the gospel to all people, so ministry to these other social groupings is not wrong. But the text does raise the question of whether more effort should be made to minister to those groups for whom the gospel may be an easier fit.
We ought also to raise the question about how best to reveal our concern and compassion for those in need. Sometimes in saying, “God loves you and has a plan for your life,” an act of compassion illustrates our claim more than any opening evangelistic line. True, the gospel is not primarily a commitment to change society but hearts. Yet when hearts are changed, compassion emerges and society is changed. Expressing concern for people can become a powerful tool in evangelism. Jesus communicated this sense of redemption to notorious sinners and those who stood in dire need. His relating to people’s pain had much to do with it. The people not only heard his message of repentance, forgiveness, release, and fulfillment of promise, but they also saw his compassion and care.
Another major application of this passage centers on the nature of salvation. The one metaphor that dominates Jesus’ declaration of fulfillment here is release. The picture of Jubilee, which foresees a total release from all enemies and debt, wonderfully describes the essence of salvation. The books are wiped clean; all legal obligations are removed through the grace Jesus provides. In addition, there is a new way of seeing, so that life from the old perspective is now appreciated as darkness and blindness. One needs only to look at Jesus’ compassionate ministry through miracles to see the sense of release that so many experienced from what he did.
According to this passage, the church must care about the oppressed. There is much discussion today about how our culture fails to take responsibility for its actions, becoming instead a culture of victims in which everyone else is blamed for my problems but there is no recognition of the sin and responsibility I bear for the present situation. Whether it be bad parents, the other gender, a poor environment growing up, or some other outside constraint, our culture says I am who I am because of outside forces.
It’s our role as Christian’s to have this understanding of the Gospel message. It is to easy to look the other way and let others or the government take responsibility for the pious poor. Our understanding of salvation must come with it a burden for the poor as Jesus illustrated in His life and His actions and words in this passage.
Bock, Darrell L. “Original Meaning” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Luke. By Darrell L. Bock, 136-137. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.
Spanish Cooking Lessons: Making Empanadas!
- Joel rolling out the dough
- Pressing out the dough
Frying them up!
For one of our Spanish lessons this week, Olgita and Ricardo taught us how to make homemade empanadas from scratch! It was a great time and we had so much fun!
Native Ecuadorian Dance
Our fmaily had the opportunity to be a present at a “going away” party for a mission team from Denver who was heading back. It was a fun time. One of the coolest parts was when some ladies from the church provided everyone with a wonderful representation of a prayer for the harvest dance that the natives of Ecuador perform in the morning, usually for corn. Here you can get a taste for it.
Willling to be Used by God
We will start transitioning this blog from being just an “updates and pictures website” to also be a blog. We know that updates and pictures are what a lot of you will be coming here for but we also want to be able to provide an opportunity for learning along with us. We have a long road of learning and ministry ahead of us, which we are excited about, and we want to provide the opportunity for those who are interested to learn along with us.
On that note, I just wanted to share a word from the Word in my devotions this morning. In reading from Luke 1, we see how Mary is called by God to be a servant of His use. This message, of course, comes via the angel Gabriel.
The announcement in Nazareth shows that Mary came from humble, agrarian roots. Galilee was not a respected region. It was hardly the expected locale for one sent from God. Gabriel, the same angel who spoke to Zechariah, brings the divine message. Mary reflects the person whom God unexpectedly chooses to use. She brings no outstanding credentials to the task and lives on the edge of the nation. She brings nothing on her résumé other than her availability and willingness to serve. But those characteristics are the most basic ones anyone can offer God. So he puts her to use in his plan, taking her through a process for which she has had no training or preparation. He simply promises to be with her in the journey, and she responds by being willing to go on the ride. The angel, faithful in his task, wants Mary to know just how favored she is. With God’s grace behind her, Mary knows that she can do what God asks. The text’s description of her as a virgin reveals that she had grown up with a sense of personal responsibility and integrity.
The humble setting of Jesus’ birth not only reveals the nature of God’s plan, it also reveals the character of God’s heart. God loves those who are humble in spirit. Even his Son, as the King of Israel, the Promised One of all time, is born of a humble, country maiden. This example of God’s unpretentiousness is an attitude that we as his children should possess. We might expect great things from God and anticipate that he will work through the great in society. But God shows his greatness by working with anyone on the street who is willing to be used by him.
This text and understanding of the text speaks volumes to me (Joel) this morning. In the process of my call, I definitely did not have an angel Gabriel type moment, but surely had God has spoken to me and my wife about our lives. What’s interesting to me is my response to my call compared to that of Mary. My response was “let’s do it God! but first, let’s go to school for 8 years!!!” Now, I do feel strongly that God brought us to Chicago for schooling and to bring us into the Covenant and to Northwest Covenant Church. But I am amazed at Mary simple and perfect response, “
I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”
How often do we not feel qualified to serve? How often does inadequacy and insecurity step in? Mary had no reason to feel adequate to her task at hand. But she embraced it. She responded simply and perfectly with her servant like heart, which is why God chose her.
Do you feel God calling you to be used by Him? I think you do or your not listening or asking. God is always speaking to us and calling to us to respond to Him. Don’t let your feelings of inadequacy step in the way. Let your response be as simple and beautiful as Mary’s.
Bock, Darrell L. “Original Meaning” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Luke. By Darrell L. Bock, 57. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.
Meeting with IPEE
We met with the Executive Board of IPEE on Saturday. IPEE is the Covenant National Chuch of Ecuador. It was basically a meet and greet where we had the oportunity to introduce ourselves to everyone and tell them about ourselves. They were very open and warm to meeting us and prayed for us at the end our time.
The conclusion from the meeting is that they would like us to get back with them with our resumes and what we would like to do while in Ecuador, as well as our start date since we are in language training right now.
This meeting was a huge answer to prayer for us. We felt like it couldn’t have gone any better. We are thrilled to be partnering with IPEE in helping out however we can over the next couple of years. We are feeling very encouraged right now. Thank you so much for your prayers!