Friday 7th March 2025  

St Luke 16: 1 – 13

Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property.  So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” 

Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.  I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” 

So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” 

He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.”

He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” 

Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?”

He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.”

He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” 

And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.  And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 

‘‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.  If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?

No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’

Reflection

It would be easy to miss that this parable comes right after another one that we often call the parable of the prodigal son. This is a consequence of the absurd way we tend to read the Bible, cut up into disconnected fragments. When we read them together maybe something other than complete perplexity is possible.

The much beloved parable that precedes this one tells of a son who squanders his inheritance and of a father who squanders his own property by letting it fall into the hands of his dissolute youngest. This parable is also about squandering. A manager is accused of squandering his boss’s property, and when he is accused (falsely or truly, we aren’t told), he decides to squander it anyway by cancelling much of the debt owed by various creditors to his accusing boss. ‘How much do you owe?… a hundred? Make it fifty… a hundred? Make it eighty and quits.’ The boss can’t help admiring his (former) manager for his style, even though he might have lost some revenue. (There follow some potential ‘morals of the story’ that don’t quite seem to fit the story, but maybe some wiser readers will work it out one day). 

Is this story continuing to unfold Luke’s favourite theme – forgiveness? We still talk today of forgiving debts, and debts still serve in church circles as metaphors for failures that need forgiving. So just maybe, as the father in the previous parable was, with hardly a thought of doing different, generous and lavish with forgiveness, this parable too is about the way that forgiveness comes to us, like a debt wiped out, a surprising release from a burden we carry. The accounts of our lives don’t balance and never could, because God’s style is to squander forbearance and grace. And, like those surprised creditors, we are made friends. 

Prayer

God of grace,
your scandalous mercy
matches the scoundrel’s style
as you strike out the debts we owe. 
Thank you for outrageous mercy,
incomparable forbearance
and immeasurable love.
Give us the grace,
not to squander what you have given,
but to make friends with mercy,
be generous in our judgements of others
and have the nerve
to write the book differently,
when the chance comes.
Amen.

St Luke 15: 11 – 32

Then Jesus  said, ‘There was a man who had two sons.  The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. 

A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.  He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.

But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!  I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’”  So he set off and went to his father.

But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 

Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” 

But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;  for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.  He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.  He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” 

Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.  But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” 

Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”’

Reflection

Let’s meet the older son, the one we imagine walking away at speed, appalled at the lavish feast that was being prepared.  He didn’t care where he was going, anywhere to escape that raucous music. 

How he despised his brother.  The cheek of siphoning off so much family wealth… How dangerous the curiosity that had drawn him away from home.  He has never had any moral compass.  Why would a father be so stupidly lenient? Dark thoughts swirled around.  The father had always favoured the younger.  What a precocious fool.  He had never been shown boundaries, and now, with this ridiculous show of remorse, he was still running rings round their gullible old man.

He himself had hurt his father. He’d  told him straight how offensive he found the party.  Those expletives were not out of order.  What choice is there when someone takes leaves of their senses?  Home didn’t feel like home any more.  His own labour was a waste of time, year upon year of hard graft and no reward, other than keeping the farm going.  Fool me, I have subsidized the self-indulgence of that wretched brother!  You’ll never find me going back in the house. 

Some hours later that older son was sitting out as night fell, his cloak pulled around him.  He had found solace in heavy work, as many of us do when faced with challenging circumstances.  His own strength had surprised him:  a week’s tasks completed in half a day.  

He was almost asleep when he felt the slender hand on his shoulder.  Whose voice was that, familiar, but so weak.  You might even say it was humble.

“I did you wrong.”  Father had got tired out and the younger son decided to slip away.  “I took off the ring and the robe.” His words were stumbling.  “I understand how you hate me for what I’ve done these past few years.  I’m not asking you for anything.” 

The two kept silence under the starlight.

Prayer
  
Holy and beautiful God,
the joy of your welcome startles us.
They turn up,
those missing, presumed dead.
They rattle our complacency. 
Their eagerness is unnerving.
Give us grace to examine our own lives:
we trudge the daily round so dutifully,
grudges dragging down our shoulders
Take our anger, our remorse.
Kindle in us the flames of joy.
Lead us also from death to life.  Amen

St Luke 15: 8 – 10

‘Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.”  Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’

Reflection

Today’s reading is the second of three parables in Luke 15 about God’s deep concern for those who are ‘lost’. All three parables invite us into the tension in the story: will the search end happily?

Of these three parables, this one uniquely has a ‘lost’ item, the coin. We have all mislaid something: the car keys, a purse/wallet, mobile-phone – and we can maybe empathise.

Does the coin represent a significant amount of money? Elsewhere in the Gospels, the silver coin represents a day’s wage. Losing so much money would cause anyone to interrupt the day and search until the money is found!

But in the text, what did the coin mean to this woman? Some scholars suggest the silver coin might be part of the woman’s dowry. Others suggest that the coin might have been part of a headdress given by her betrothed. Loss of either could scupper her wedding plans – hence her searching fervour!

The point is maybe that it matters that the set is complete. All or nothing!

The woman in the parable reaches out to others only once the coin is found. Why not invite friends and neighbours to assist in the search? Maybe she was embarrassed to have lost something so valuable, but once the coin is found, she can rejoice and can now share in the funny story with a happy ending.
Whichever of these readings of the text resonates with you – or maybe one of your own –the central message once again is the value and importance with which God considers every human.

The Bible has many passages which reflect God’s specific connection with every human. Two examples – Isaiah 43:1: “I have called you by name, you are mine.”  Psalm 139:13: “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

Today is Shrove Tuesday. While in the UK, we may limit our ‘festivities’ to pancakes, other countries have far more exuberant celebrations like ‘Mardi Gras’. Sometimes, we just need to celebrate our salvation, just as we read about the angels’ joy, just as the woman celebrated her find.

Prayer

Loving God,
thank you that you are the Shepherd,
the Shepherd who does not give up on a lost sheep.
Thank you that you are the Searching Woman,
the Woman who will not stop looking.
You place great value on each one of us,
you call each one of us by name.
Help to realise the joy afresh,
the joy of the angels when we are found. Amen.

St Luke 15: 1 – 7

Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he told them this parable:  ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?  When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.”  Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

Reflection

I have two roles in my life. First, I serve as a URC minister in the North West of England. Second, I work with motorcycle groups as part of a specialist ministry. This lets me connect with bikers who, except by divine providence, would likely never visit one of our churches.

We all have different roles in life. One role might be our spiritual or religious life, which I’m guessing is important to you since you’re reading this Daily Devotion! We also have other roles in our everyday lives, like our jobs, family responsibilities, or hobbies.

When we really think about this passage, it reminds us to represent Jesus in everything we do every day, particularly with life’s fragile and marginalised people. This isn’t just about Sunday church – it’s about how we live our whole lives. People learn about Christianity by watching us., Whether we like it or not, we are walking adverts for Jesus.

So wear your faith on your sleeve. Show it through gentleness and kindness. Be ready to share your faith when asked. Remember to share this warmth with everyone you meet – both friends and strangers who might never think of going to church. Who knows? Maybe your friendship, prayers and caring spirit might help someone journey closer to the God of love.

Prayer

Creator of all,
Your presence is like gentle rain.
Guide our eyes to seek You
in shadows others pass by,
in corners where hope seems dim,
in hearts that wait in silence.
Let us be Your vessels of light,
carrying Your endless love
to paths less traveled,
only to discover,
like dawn breaking over mountain,
You’ve been there all along
arms open, heart waiting,
in every space we dare to tread. Amen

Transfiguration Psalm 71

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, free me;
pay heed to me and save me.

Be a rock where I can take refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me;
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free me from the hand of the wicked,
from the grip of the unjust, of the oppressor.

It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth;
from my mother’s womb you have been my help.
My hope has always been in you.

My fate has filled many with awe
but you are my strong refuge.
My lips are filled with your praise,
with your glory all the day long.
Do not reject me now that I am old;
when my strength fails do not forsake me.

For my enemies are speaking about me;
those who watch me take counsel together.
Saying: “God has forsaken him; follow him,
seize him; there is no one to save him.”
O God, do not stay far off:
my God, make haste to help me!

Let them be put to shame and destroyed,
all those who seek my life.
Let them be covered with shame and confusion,
all those who seek to harm me.

But as for me, I will always hope
and praise you more and more.
My lips will tell of your justice
and day by day of your help
(though I can never tell it all).

Lord, I will declare your mighty deeds,
proclaiming your justice, yours alone.
O God, you have taught me from my youth
and I proclaim your wonders still.

Now that I am old and grey-headed,
do not forsake me, God.
Let me tell of your strength and justice to the skies,
tell of you who have worked such wonders.
O God, who is like you?

You have burdened me with bitter troubles
but you will give me back my life.
You will raise me from the depths of the earth;
you will exalt me and console me again.

So I will give you thanks on the lyre
for your faithful love, O God.
To you will I sing with the harp,
to you, the Holy One of Israel.
When I sing to you my lips shall rejoice
and my soul, which you have redeemed.

And all the day long my tongue
shall tell the tale of your justice:
for they are put to shame and disgraced,
all those who seek to harm me.

Reflection

Until opting to write this Devotion, Psalm 71 was one of those I scooted over, instead preferring the more muscular and butch (eg 27), the reassuring (46) and the triumphant (124) alternatives. After all, 71 reminds me of WB Yeats’ poem ‘When You Are Old’. Rather crepuscular. A little wearying. Somewhat sad.

But on closer inspection, it is far more complicated than that.  It’s a marvel of competing and all-too human emotions being worked through in the mind of someone who has seen and done a great deal. We read of fear, vulnerability, defiance, recollection yet, ultimately, hope and trust in God. It urges me to put things into proper perspective.

I must admit to being ambivalent about the ageing process. I enjoy the reasoned, classical assurances of Cicero’s A Treatise on Old Age, although I cannot shake off the manner of his demise. Yet, my own atheist parents are grimly belabouring under significant health burdens – whilst remaining feistily independent. I wonder if their striving for independence is another and unnecessary weight for them to carry?

The Psalmist’s theme here is surely dependence? His dependence throughout his life on God. He recalls that God has provided safety, and this proven reliance gives hope for whatever the future holds.

In our fellowships we are also dependent or interdependent on each other. Most of our churches are undergirded by those of advancing years. In our keenness to try out new forms of worship or to reach out to newer, younger people, we musn’t sideline those who’ve lived long lives. And sometimes long lives in faithfulness to God.

I think that we need to do more to record and share the Psalm 71 life and faith stories of our older brothers and sisters-in-Christ. I think we are missing an evangelistic opportunity by not reinforcing our muscle memory by listening more closely to others’ life of challenge, faithfulness and true hope. In them, lies real hope.
 
Prayer

O Lord, we thank you for the gift of the older members of our fellowships and wider society. Attune us to listen to their stories. Of faith. Of challenges. Of bad times. And of good. Ensure that we do not forsake them, but recognise our mutual interdependency as we strive to witness to your glorious Love. Amen.
 

St Luke 14: 34 – 35

Jesus ‘Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure heap; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

Reflection

In an age where we worry about having too much salt, we forget how useful it is.  Through salting, brining, or pickling food is preserved.  Salt makes the unpalatable more tasty and is essential for life.  In the ancient world it was prized and taxed.  Religious ceremonies used salt – underpinning its importance and, even now, in traditions which use holy water, salt is added to the water as a sign of purification.  In our contemporary world the rise of ultra processed food has meant that salt is added to enhance taste and ensure it lasts longer.  Doctors worry we eat too much salt leading to a range of health problems.  So we become suspicious of salt.  Yet, salt is needed and if spoiled it’s useless.

In this passage Jesus doesn’t tell us we’re the salt of the earth.  Instead his salty comment comes at the end of the parable of the Great Banquet and after some musing of the cost of discipleship.  I think Jesus is warning us, as disciples and as the Church, not to lose our saltiness as, if we do, we’re useless. But what might it mean to lose our saltiness?  

When we ignore the plight of the poor, cosy up to power, concentrate on spirituality at the expense of the earthly realities around us, when we love power more than the weakness of the Cross we’ve lost our saltiness and aren’t even fit for the sewer.   When we forget the spiritual dimension to our mission, when we try to be just another social service, and when we forget that God is made known in both the broken Word and broken bread we lose our saltiness and are fit only for the tip.  

To be salty means to tread that space between heaven and earth, to navigate both the secular and the profane, to remember our calling in this world is empowered by the next.  Then we may be both salty and useful.

Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, 
you have created salt to preserve and sustain life,
bless us, that wherever we may be sprinkled
and whatever we may touch,
is set free from all impurity,
preserved in all goodness,
and flavoured with eternal life.  Amen.

 

St Luke 14: 25 – 33

Now large crowds were travelling with him; and he turned and said to them,  ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?  Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him,  saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.”  Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?  If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.  So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

Reflection

I’m writing this in Advent 2024 when John the Baptist forms part of the Church’s preparations for Christmas. He too did some straight talking about the religious folk of his day.

‘It is one of the supreme handicaps of the church that in it there are so many distant followers of Jesus and so few real disciples’ (from William Barclay’s DSB of Luke’s gospel,1953). That harsh verdict is justified by the text before us. Would he have written that of the church in Britain in 2025? Of our society today?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (in The Cost of Discipleship) wrote ‘The disciple is dragged out of his relative security into a life of absolute insecurity, from a life which is observable and calculable into a life where everything is unobservable and fortuitous, out of the realm of the finite, into the realm of infinite possibilities’.

Where in all of this are we to take encouragement? Faithful folk need  encouragement as much as chastisement. Jesus gives us a clue based on two well known activities of the human race, building construction and war making. To succeed in either needs intentionality. By that I mean all our awareness (physical, mental, spiritual) needs to be focussed on the endeavour in which we’re involved. In this way our lives are open to the leading of God’s Spirit. This shouldn’t be interpreted as a plea for greater effort, the kind of effort that can lead to ‘burn out’. It is the disposition of heart, mind, body and spirit focussed on following the gospel of Jesus Christ, together, day by day.

Prayer 

Gracious God
grant that what we sing with our lips,
we may believe in our hearts;
and what we believe in our hearts,
we may practice in our lives.
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

St Luke 14: 15 – 24

One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many.  At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.”  But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” 

Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” 

Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.”  So the slave returned and reported this to his master.

Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.”  And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.”  Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.  For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.”’

Reflection

Remember Jesus has just challenged the guests to invite those who would never have been invited to a meal at the house of a Pharisee – the poor, crippled, blind and lame. Pharisees would not have been able because of their beliefs about purity at mealtimes to invite outsiders to eat. It seems that the blessing is to smooth over an awkward moment.

Jesus’ parable carries on regardless, undermining the concept of the kingdom of God which his host and guests found familiar. The behaviour of the invited guests in Jesus’ parable is rude in the extreme. All are people of social standing – but they refuse to come. So the host does just what Jesus has just asked the actual guests to do and invites all in town who are normally excluded to come – and then when there is still room, gentiles and real outsiders are called in.

The parable shows that the Kingdom of God is open to all. There are no barriers of sin or of religion to overcome to eat at God’s table. How shocking to the invited worthies of Jesus day.

We too should be troubled. Our Communion table is a reminder of the feast we hope to share with God one day. Do we create barriers to those who are outsiders to our faith, refusing to share until enough entry conditions have been fulfilled? Have we just expected people to come to us and not gone out of our way to make our worship inviting and relate what we do to those who seem not to share our views?

Prayer

Challenging God stir us from our comfort, 
send us out to find you in those who are not like us 
but need the nourishment and the promise you give.
Surprise us all by your welcome and the joy of your great feast.
Enrich us by including others, 
so that our worship together can become 
many coloured, different and limitless, 
just as your kingdom has a wider welcome than we can imagine.
For nothing is impossible for you! Amen

St Luke 14: 7 – 14

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable.  ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place.  But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.  For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

Reflection

Welcome to our church – we hope you will find a home here.  This is your service sheet that tells you how we do things here.  This is your hymn book that contains all the music we include here.  Feel free to sit anywhere – but not there as that is someone’s seat.  Oh, and not there unless you have a good voice as that is where the choir sit.  Oh and don’t sit at the back because our regular members sit there.  But welcome.

Sound familiar?

So often we think we are welcoming as we greet people at the door, but then immediately set restrictions on what they can do, where they can sit, and how they need to behave.  We have reduced our welcome to a “hello” and then insist that anyone new becomes like us.

This is so far removed from the “Church” that Jesus was going to build on Peter the Rock.  If we never allow for difference, how will we change?  If we never allow for change, how will we grow (and not just in numbers)?  Worship is not about a God who is hidden behind the altar while we get on with what we have always done.  Worship is about a God who has done amazing things in our lives and we want to shout about it, or sing about it, or dance through it – but can’t, because that is not “done” here.

Rather than restricting change because it is different, let us embrace diversity because it is from God.  New ideas, new voices, new music bring a new perspective and a new challenge to our daily lives that we may not have seen before.  It can consolidate what we already believe or challenge us to think differently – but only if we are open to it.

May our welcome be open and genuine, our worship be expressive and real, and our God be allowed out of the box to work in our lives and those of our community.

Prayer

God of welcome, as we come to your table, may we welcome diversity – not to relegate those who are different to the “cheap seats” but to embrace all into the full fellowship of your meal that we may learn from each other and grow more in our worship of you.  For you are worthy of all praise for all you have done for us, within us and in those around us.  Amen.