Advent - Luke Chapter 11

This is part of a series exploring Luke’s Gospel for the Advent season. One chapter a day for the first 24 days of December. (We’ll see how we go!) I hope you enjoy and that you know God near this season :)

- Jeff

Luke 11:37-44 speaks of hypocrisy. (Gotta be careful here - I don’t want to be found out!)

In modern leadership and self-help literature, there has often been a trend toward authenticity and sometimes integrity. Integrity has the same root as integer and integral - it speaks of ‘one-ness’, for something to be the same throughout its being or wherever it may be.

Jesus said, “did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?“ (Luke‬ ‭11‬:‭40‬ ‭KJV‬‬,

https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.11.40.KJV). God made us as full people. The outside to the inside - He breathed life into the first human, and sustains life for us.

We are made in His image (Genesis 1-2). For us to claim perfection without Him is lunacy, and for us to plead inadequacy with Him is dishonest. (And perhaps just plain rude.)

Who are we to dismiss what God has made? “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20-21).

In other words, ‘God, why did you make me this way?’ It’s such a ridiculous question when we stop to think about it - He has the authority to do what He will. The wonderful thing is that He invites us to partner with Him in good purpose, outside and inside.

There’s a story in Scripture where the prophet Jeremiah goes to see a potter (Jeremiah 18). The potter endeavours to make something, perhaps a beautiful thing, but the clay resists. It doesn’t form in the potter’s hands, and so he makes into something else more in keeping with the clay’s character.

We can be like that clay. God is able to make such a beautiful thing from our lives that we may not be able to fully comprehend it this side of eternity. However, the question is: will we let Him?

(I have a fun gift that comes out of the box at this time of year. It’s a fake snowman kit that is made of a sort of white putty. You mould it into the shape of a snowman and attach or insert a toy carrot and a hat, etc. After a few minutes it ‘melts’ back down into a puddle of semi-solid putty. I wonder if we can be like that sometimes. God calls us to great things, even if we don’t see them as great. The temptation is then to slip back to ordinary comfort. Let’s not give up the high calls He has for us.)