Yesterday we talked about persistent prayer, which reminds us of faith. Often we’re like the disciples, “I wish I had more faith!” But what does Jesus say?

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17.5 – 6, ESV)

It’s not the size of our faith, it’s the size of the object of our faith.

Faith is only as valid as its object. You could have tremendous faith in very thin ice and drown… You could have very little faith in very thick ice and be perfectly secure. – Stuart Briscoe

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us… (Ephesians 3.20, ESV)

We’re still in Luke, and I apologize for skipping around a bit… Let’s circle back to Luke 11 for a lesson that’s echoed in Luke 18: persistent prayer.

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Luke 11.5 – 9, ESV)

This was right after he taught them what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” – not something just to repeat every Sunday in church, but a model for prayer which is to be prayed…persistently. That’s what he said here, and that’s what he said in Luke 18:

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily…” (Luke 18.1 – 8, ESV)

In both parables the God figure comes across negatively with the idea that if these flawed people will help you if you persist, how much more will your loving Father? (I’ve written about this before.)

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11.11 – 13, ESV)

Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5.17, ESV)

We’re thinking about productivity or fruit. An economist observed that in the U.S., productivity is down while employment is up – an observation of opposites. In the church, we normally measure attendance only – “employment” – with no real way of measuring fruit, even though fruit is very important.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last… (John 15.16, NIV)

What happens when there’s no fruit?

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away…Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (John 15.1 – 6, ESV)

Those of us raised with some version of “eternal security of the believer” don’t really like these verses. My Navigator friend, the late Skip Gray, used to say,

I don’t know exactly what that means, but I know that it’s a bad scene and I don’t want to make it!

The parable of the fig tree that we looked at yesterday twice uses the phrase “cut it down.”

To whom is this directed? Theological purists would say, “He’s talking about the nation Israel, often referred to as ‘the fig tree.’ Israel rejected her Messiah and was cut down by the Romans in 70 A.D.” Fine, but are there any modern-day applications? People? Churches? Cities?

Consider ancient Ephesus, a thriving city and home to an early Christian church. What did John say to the church at Ephesus?

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (Revelation 2.4, 5, ESV)

“I will remove your lampstand…” I’ve been to Ephesus. It’s a tourist site now. Some famous buildings are there, including the 25,000-seat amphitheater of Acts 19, but no people live there. Nearby is the small Turkish town of Selcuk. I’ll never forget our guide pointing to “Harbor Street,” so-called because it went to the harbor (duh!). But the harbor today is six miles away! Do you know the word “meander”? It comes from the river near Ephesus which changed course. And when it changed course, it took the harbor with it.

When God removed Ephesus’ “lampstand,” he didn’t just remove the church. He removed the entire city!

More often than we should we read of mega-churches whose pastors go off the rails. And sometimes, a church of thousands or tens of thousands goes away. Europe is filled with Christian cathedrals, many of which have now been re-purposed. No fruit? Cut it down!

In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. (Matthew 21.18 – 19, ESV)

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15.8, ESV)

Yesterday, we discussed an economist’s observation that employment is up and productivity is down. This is probably the state of many churches (some don’t even have increasing membership), but we don’t know since we don’t normally measure “productivity” or, we could say, “fruit.” But we should, but Jesus is clear that fruit is important:

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13.6 – 9, ESV)

Here are some simple observations:

• Fruit is important. A tree with no fruit is unacceptable.
• Fruit cannot be tacked on. It has to come from within. Hence, a bunch of sermons telling you what to do without telling you how to build-in those behaviors doesn’t work.
• The vinedresser must be intentional about helping the fig tree bear fruit. Fertilize it! That’s one of the reasons I write often about our daily time with God. Fertilizer is food for trees – the Word is food for followers of Jesus.
• We don’t know if this fig tree responded to the treatment.  

This is too important to rush through…more tomorrow.

In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit. (Isaiah 27.6, ESV)

And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. (Isaiah 37.31, ESV)

I’ve started reading a 70-word daily blog from economist Elliot Eisenberg. Here’s what he wrote on July 12, 2022. (It’s not an excerpt – the whole blog is only 70 words! Don’t say it: “Bob, can you get yours down to 70 words?!”) Anyway, back to Dr. Eisenberg:

GDP in 22Q1 was -1.6% annualized, 22Q2 looks to come in at -2% annualized. Yet job growth in 22H1 was superb, averaging 456K/month. How can this be? Are firms hoarding workers despite falling sales because bosses expect a mild downturn or because hiring is so tough? Maybe the GDP data will be revised up or employment data downwards. Otherwise, productivity must be sinking at 6%/year which is historically unprecedented

He calls it opposite observations. Employment up, productivity down. This raises an interesting question with respect to churches except we have no clear way to measure “productivity.” It should be in terms of “fruit,” which I have written about before. Here’s a list of possible kinds of fruit (“how God can use me today”) from Mark Green’s book Fruitfulness on the Frontlines:

• Model godly character
• Make good work
• Minister grace and love
• Mold culture
• Be a Mouthpiece for truth and justice
• Be a Messenger of the gospel

Most churches measure only attendance, along with income. But attendance or membership translates roughly into “employees.” Even the celebrated metric “baptisms” is only measuring employee growth. We’re not measuring employee productivity or fruit. And yet, fruit is of paramount importance: more about that tomorrow.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last… (John 15.16, NIV)

I’ve written about the Good Samaritan before including describing the research study that suggested that when we’re in a hurry, we often don’t take time to do what we should do. But reminders never hurt.

The Chosen presents the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.25 – 37) as a true story, Season 2, Episode 1. Whether it’s true or a parable, Jesus uses a priest and a Levite as negative examples.

Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man. (Luke 10.30 – 32, MSG)

The Samaritan had compassion. It doesn’t matter how much I know or how many “religious” works I do if I don’t love my neighbor. 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13.1 – 2, ESV)

Here is a fascinating exchange:

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10.17 – 20, ESV)

The usual take on this is that when Jesus “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven,” he was talking about their casting out demons. But I heard an old pastor in a small group setting give a different interpretation: He said, “The 72 were proud and excited about what they had done. Jesus warned them of pride. ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ Why did Satan fall? Because of his pride. ‘Don’t rejoice that the spirits are subject to you but rejoice that you’re on the team.’”

But Jesus rejoiced that so many “little children” – probably the ordinary people who were following him – were getting it. 

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Luke 10.21 – 24, ESV)

Yesterday we looked at an excerpt from John Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life” sermon, which included this vignette from Readers Digest:

Bob and Penny . . . took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball, and collect shells.”

John decries, and I agree, the “dream” of early retirement. Here is support from a recent Wall Street Journal article about Buchholz, an ordinary high school in Florida, that turns out championship math teams. Read the article if you enjoy reading about innovative ideas in education. I just want to highlight this section about the math coach Will Frazer:

A bond trader on Wall Street in the 1980s, Mr. Frazer retired young and moved to Florida, where he became a scratch golfer and lived the dream for a decade. Then he got bored.

He took a job at Buchholz coaching golf, switched to teaching math, quickly formed a math team, applied the lessons of his experience in finance and turned a bunch of teenage quants into a fearsome winning machine.

“The difference between what I do now and what I did on Wall Street is that I used to get paid money,” said Mr. Frazer, 63. “Now we get trophies.” – Wall Street Journal, July 14, 2022, emphasis mine

My friend and Navigator mentor, the late Skip Gray, used to say:

The happy Philistines [unbelievers] roaring around out there lack only one thing: purpose.

People do better when they have purpose, and Jesus provides that for us abundantly!

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. (Philippians 1.27, ESV)

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way… (Philippians 3.13 – 15, ESV)

Yesterday’s blog about burning the plow and leaving the nets felt like it needed a caveat… But the scriptures I used didn’t offer one so neither will I.

My intense “friend” John Piper whose word on the “prosperity gospel” I shared last week preached a very influential sermon on May 20, 2000, to 40,000 college students. Here’s a portion of that sermon as reported in an article by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, March 20, 2017. I offer this excerpt without further comment and commend the article in its entirety. John said:

You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world.

You don’t have to be smart, or good-looking, or from a good family. You just have to know a few, basic, glorious, majestic, obvious, unchanging, eternal things, and be gripped by them, and be willing to lay down your life for them…

Three weeks ago, we got news at our church that Ruby Eliason and Laura Edwards were killed in Cameroon. Ruby Eliason—over 80, single all her life, a nurse. Poured her life out for one thing: to make Jesus Christ known among the sick and the poor in the hardest and most unreached places.

Laura Edwards, a medical doctor in the Twin Cities, and in her retirement, partnering up with Ruby. [She was] also pushing 80, and going from village to village in Cameroon. The brakes give way, over a cliff they go, and they’re dead instantly. And I asked my people, “Is this a tragedy?”

Two women, in their 80s almost, a whole life devoted to one idea—Jesus Christ magnified among the poor and the sick in the hardest places. And 20 years after most of their American counterparts had begun to throw their lives away on trivialities in Florida and New Mexico, [they] fly into eternity with a death in a moment. “Is this a tragedy?” I asked…

It is not a tragedy. I’ll read you what a tragedy is.

[From Readers Digest, ] Bob and Penny . . . took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball, and collect shells.”

That’s a tragedy.

And there are people in this country that are spending billions of dollars to get you to buy it. And I get 40 minutes to plead with you—don’t buy it. With all my heart I plead with you—don’t buy that dream. . . . As the last chapter before you stand before the Creator of the universe to give an account with what you did: “Here it is, Lord—my shell collection. And I’ve got a good swing. And look at my boat.”

I’m reading the book that came after that sermon, Don’t Waste Your Life. I can’t say that I’ve burned all my plows, but I can say that I’m 75 and not retired. A couple of weeks ago I was able to visit with my friend Matthias from Kalimpong, India. His father, founding pastor of a church that will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, is 87 and still going strong. Last month I mentioned (again) Jim Downing, who passed away at the age of 104 1/2, six weeks after completing a ministry trip.

¹²  The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³  They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴  They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵  to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92.12 – 15, ESV)

I’ve always found this short vignette intriguing:

Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9.61, 62, ESV)

The most common interpretation here is that “the plow” is the work of the kingdom, and you shouldn’t start the work while looking back at what you’ve left behind. After all, when you plow, you must look forward. That works as an interpretation and application, but I think it could be the other way: the plow is the plow. One puts his hand to the plow and just “looks” back at the work he could be doing for God.

The exact conversation occurred between Elijah and Elisha:

So [Elijah] departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. (1 Kings 19.19 – 21, ESV)

This story seems to support my interpretation. Elisha is the one with the plow! Elisha burned the plow to cook the oxen! Don’t put your hand on the plow and wish you could join in God’s work. Burn the plow! Leave the nets!

And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5.11, ESV)

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19.21 – 23, NIV)