I’m not going to write about the evil and brutality of the Hamas attack on Israel. You’ve all seen the news. Just two simple observations:

There is evil in the world:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6.5, ESV)

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17.9, NKJV)

The horrific actions of Hamas are not new:

And [Elisha] fixed his gaze and stared at [Hazael], until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” (2 Kings 8.11 – 12, ESV)

We shouldn’t leave it there:

…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3.8, ESV)

I’m enjoying reading Luke, but I’m not going to write about everything I’m reading – a lot of it came up as I read Matthew or dipped into Mark from time to time. But in chapter 6, we have this verse which I memorized years ago for the wrong reason:

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. (Luke 6.38, ESV)

A lot of us took this verse as a promise about giving. Something like:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9.8, ESV)

But that’s not what Luke 6.38 is about! Jesus is telling us not to judge others:

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you…with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. (Luke 6.37, 38, ESV)

“With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Here’s a recent, concrete example. Sean Payton, head coach of the Denver Broncos football team is not having a good year. The team has won one game and lost 5 so far, and Payton is being called “the worst coach in NFL history.”

Is he? Probably not. But he’s called that. Why? Because last summer he called out the Broncos’ previous coach:

It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL. -That’s how bad it was. – Sean Payton, July 27, 2023

Give, and it will be given to you:

Pot, it’s time to meet kettle. His name is Sean Payton. And his Denver Broncos absolutely stink. After calling out former Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett for putting on one of the worst coaching jobs we’ve ever seen, Payton is promptly one-upping him.

I mean, maybe it’s too soon, so that might be a bit unfair. But, hey, man.  I didn’t see any of Hackett’s Broncos teams putting up 20 points just to lose by 50. At least Hackett’s teams won a couple of games to start the season. – Mike D. Sykes, USA Today, September 25, 2023

The local Denver writers are on him as well. Give, and it will be given to you.

Want to trash everyone in the building before training camp? Dish to some out-of-town scribe about how the previous guy submitted “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL?” Well, friend, you better back it up. And 0-3 ain’t that. Say what you will about Nathaniel Hackett, at least he waited until Week 16 to submit a total dud. It took Payton three weeks. – Matt Schubert, Denver Post, September 24, 2023

I was helping someone move once, and I thought (I didn’t even say it out loud!), “Wow. This guy sure has a lot of junk.” Within a year, I had some friends helping us move locally, and one of them said, “Bob, you sure have a lot of junk!” Jesus continues:

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. (Luke 6.41, 42, ESV)

Speaking of real people, real places, I’ll never forget the first time I paid attention to Luke’s genealogy. It starts with Jesus and goes backwards:

Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, … (Luke 3.23, 24, ESV)

I thought, “OK, he’s the Son of David, so this will stop with David.” Nope.

…the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon,… (Luke 3.31, 32, ESV, emphasis mine)

He blows right through David, and I thought, OK, this is going to go all the way to Abraham. And it does…

the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,… (Luke 3.33, 34, ESV, emphasis mine)

But it doesn’t stop with Abraham. Noah?

…the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,… (Luke 3.35, 36, ESV), emphasis mine)

Yep. Right through Noah, all the way to…

…the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (Luke 3.37, 38, ESV)

Jesus is a real person who came in time and place, and he is descended from real people, even those in the early chapters of Genesis. And Luke, the Gentile, writing to Theophilus, presumably a Gentile, wants us to know that Jesus is for everyone.

Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord. (Acts 11.19 – 21, NLT)

Two stories have come to light recently that bear sharing. Two people in their 80s, lifelong church members, moved from the passive sidelines to the active frontlines!

My friend Ray in New Hampshire talked about an 80-year-old lady who became a widow. The other ladies wanted to include her in a bible study for “fellowship” even though they didn’t expect her to do anything other than attend. She “has a Bible” – her old KJV given to her when she was baptized, and “if the pastor thinks I need to know something, he’ll tell me.” But within two years, she was reading her New Living Translation, memorizing verses, and having a daily time with God. She reminds me of the lady I wrote about in the blog “The Church Has Failed Us.”

The second story is about a fellow right here in our area that a friend told me about. Bob was saved at a Billy Graham Crusade in Denver in the mid-60s and didn’t remember getting any follow-up other than someone telling him to “Stick with it. The commitment you made is real.” He was then an active member of a good church from then until now. 50+ years. Sang in the choir, served on the deacon board, etc.

About two years ago, he went to a meeting and had, as he described it, an encounter with the Holy Spirit. In addition, someone met with him to personally disciple him. Amazingly, he has turned right around and begun to evangelize and disciple others!

Bob told my friend something like, “The power of the Holy Spirit and personal discipleship are new to me.” I said to my friend, “Well, there’s a story in itself!” To which my friend responded, “Well, that’s 95% of churches.”

That’s another story. Why do we take it for granted that learning to live the Christian life, experiencing true discipleship in the power of the Holy Spirit, and helping others do the same is not happening in our churches? A few years ago, I was preparing to go to India, and we told some folks we’d be teaching practical methods for making disciples. Everyone we told that to said something like, “We need that here!”

As Ray and I were sharing these two stories, we were asking ourselves, Why? I think this is part of the answer:

Our churches are not expecting anything other than attendance and enough volunteers to keep the church running.

These two stories of people in their 80s indicate that it doesn’t have to be this way.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2.1 – 4, ESV)

To follow up on the idea of Luke’s “orderly account,” a “narrative,” about which there is “certainty,” we learn in Luke 2 and 3 that these are not “once upon a time” stories. They are events that happened to real people in real places:

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. (Luke 2.1, 2, ESV)

• Caesar Augustus, emperor in Rome
• Quirinius, governor of Syria
• “the first registration” – there were at least two, and Luke wants us to know which one we’re talking about.

30 years later, we have this (bulleted for clarity):

• In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
• Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and
• Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and
• his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and
• Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
• during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,…

…the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. (Luke 3.1, 2 , ESV)

Again, take heart:

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1.16, ESV)

We go about our daily lives blissfully unaware in most cases what God is protecting us from. A train derailed just north of Pueblo, Colorado, Sunday at 4:45p. A driver of a semi-trailer was caught under the bridge that collapsed and killed.

As I write, the road is still closed. Mark and I, returning from the eclipse, passed this very spot about 25 hours earlier.

10 years ago this month, a rockslide at Agnes Vaille Falls near Buena Vista, Colorado, killed five members of a local family. June and I had stood at that very spot just 8 days before the slide.

May 26, 2002, a bridge collapsed on I-40 in Oklahoma, killing 14 people.

Our son David, driving to our home in Alabama from his college in California, drove over that bridge almost exactly 24 hours earlier.

Every day is a gift. Jesus was clear: there are no guarantees.

Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13.4, 5, ESV)

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19.1, ESV)

And there’s no better example of that than a solar eclipse, which Mark, Kesley, and I drove down to New Mexico to see yesterday.

Pictures by Mark. (They’re not great, but they’re ours! Shot with a phone through eclipse glasses.)

What made it fun was finding a place. We were going to drive all the way to Albuquerque where there would be over 4 minutes of totality. But we decided that 2 minutes of totality was enough, saving us 100 miles one-way. We pulled into an abandoned gas station at Ribera (not a typo) and watched it with some folks who had come all the way from New York.

Before totality, we saw two unexpected effects: our shadows were fuzzy around the edges, and light filtered through trees projected images of the eclipse on the ground and an electricity terminal.

The seediness of our surroundings (abandoned gas pumps, rusting gas tanks, deteriorating house) contrasted with the spectacle in the sky reminded me of…

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3.1, 2, ESV)

Off we go into the story of Jesus as told by Luke, giving us details no one else does. For starters, let’s compare and contrast the two main characters in Chapter 1: Zechariah and Mary.

• Zechariah was an old man / Mary was a young woman.
• Zechariah was a priest / Mary was an “ordinary” layperson.
• They both were visited by the Angel Gabriel.
• Both visits had to do with upcoming miracle pregnancies.
• Zechariah did not believe / Mary did believe.
• Both gave inspired prophecy.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name…” (Luke 1.46 – 49, ESV, from Luke 1.46 – 55)

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us…” Luke 1.67 – 71, ESV, from Luke 1.67 – 79)

There don’t appear to be any disqualifications: young, old, men, women, weak faith (the religious professional!), strong faith.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10, NIV)

As the baseball playoffs get underway, a shout-out to Yankee great Bobby Richardson is appropriate. Bobby played second base for the Yankees from 1955 to 1966. I’m not a Yankee fan, but I remember him well because he was from my home state of South Carolina. He was an 8-time all-star, won three World Series, and is the only man in baseball history to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for a World Series when his team lost. It was 1960, and the Pirates came from behind to win game 7 and take the title. But Bobby’s 0.367 batting average and 12 RBIs won him the MVP, and since he had four children, he traded his MVP Corvette for a Chevrolet station wagon! (I was in the 9th grade and listened to parts of game 7 on a new-fangled device called a transistor radio. It was a day game, and I was in class!)

I was delighted to learn a few days ago that he’s still around at age 88 and still with Betsy, his wife of 67 years.

Bobby at Yankee Stadium in 1960 and at the Old-Timer’s game in 2018

None of that would merit a blog. What does merit space in this column is his outspoken faith and lifetime of ministry. He’s a poster boy for “workplace ministry” – that is, God has people everywhere, even in professional baseball. There are way more believers in baseball today than there were in Bobby’s day, and that’s partly because of him. Here are some snippets from a nice piece by Michael Hughes of World Magazine: A Most Valuable Player: How One Man’s Faithful Witness Continues to Bear Fruit in Major League Baseball.

…his legacy has little to do with base hits or ­fielding prowess. Richardson left a mark on the game because of his faith. Not many outspoken Christians filled the clubhouses back then. “When I first started out, there were just two or three,” he said.

But everyone knew where Richardson stood. When the Yankees were on the road, he arranged to take willing teammates to church. On one weekend trip midway through his career, he got a phone call from Watson Spoelstra, a sportswriter with The Detroit News.

“Hey, Rich,” Spoelstra said, “would you like to attend church with me? We’ll be back in plenty of time for batting practice. I’ll come back to the park and pick you up.” “Count on it,” Richardson replied. “I’ll get some teammates to come with me.” Catcher Elston Howard and shortstop Tony Kubek were among the invitees, along with superstar Mickey Mantle.

Mantle rarely committed to Sunday mornings the first time he was asked. He would sometimes say, “Yeah, OK, but if I’m not there when you’re ready, go ahead without me. You know I’ll be out late the night before.”

But he did go to church that day. Ordinarily, Mantle attracted so much attention that it was hard to leave after the service and return in time to prepare for an afternoon game. This time, the players planned to slip out the back before the benediction. Still, several church members ­followed them out. Before the men could climb into their taxi, the pastor ran out and shouted, “I want my picture taken with Mickey!”

The players were late getting back. When team broadcaster Red Barber, who was also a lay minister, heard what happened, he had a suggestion. “Wouldn’t it be good if we could have a devotion right here in the clubhouse?” he asked Richardson.

The team soon gave Barber permission to lead Sunday services for the players. That was the start of Baseball Chapel, an organization that provides evangelical, non-­denominational chaplains to baseball teams at all levels. The ministry eventually became a model for Christian outreach in other sports.

… Baseball Chapel officially started in 1973. Every major league team had access to trained chaplains within two years, and every minor league team was involved by ’78. Over time, the group added weekday prayer services and Bible studies. The international organization now ministers to players’ families and the umpires as well. It also provides specialized ministry to the sport’s Spanish-speaking players. Richardson’s 10-year run as president of Baseball Chapel began in 1983…Today, the organization begins discipling players at the very beginning of their careers, a process that continues as they advance.

… Although his faith was rare in the majors at that time, Richardson had no trouble fitting in with his teammates. He and Mantle shared a strong bond despite their different paths and pursuits. Richardson abstained from strong drink and preferred the early hours and a good night’s rest. The famous slugger loved the nightlife, and heavy alcohol consumption hastened his death.

…Partly in response to Richardson’s ministry, Mantle ­professed faith in Jesus Christ before he died from liver ­failure in 1995. Richardson spoke at the funeral, which was broadcast on national television.

We just reminded ourselves a few days ago about “as you go, make disciples.” Bobby Richardson did just that.

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. (Acts 18.1 – 3, ESV. Aquila and Priscilla, trained by Paul while they were making tents, went on to make an impact in their own right. See Acts 18.18 – 26.)

Alert blog reader Barb Sims, who also follows the reading schedule, pointed out after my Sunday blog on Deuteronomy 2 that we were supposed to be in Luke, not Deuteronomy. I need to follow my own schedule!

So, we will return to Deuteronomy in November. In the meantime, look at this fantastic introduction to Luke:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1.1 – 4, ESV)

The Gospel of Luke, written by a Gentile, a medical doctor who traveled with Paul…

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16.9 – 10, ESV, emphasis mine)

Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. (Colossians 4.14, ESV)

…written by Luke, a Gentile…to a Gentile, Theophilus.

We don’t know anything about Theophilus, whose name in Greek means “lover of God,” leading some to believe that maybe he was a composite – it’s written to all lovers of God. But Randy Stinger has written a marvelous novel, The Advocate, which I read almost 10 years ago. Here’s part of the book’s blurb on Amazon:

Theophilus has proven himself in the legal ranks of the Roman Empire. He has survived the insane rule of Caligula and has weathered the cruel tyrant’s quest to control the woman he loves. He has endured the mindless violence of the gladiator games and the backstabbing intrigue of the treason trials.

Now he must face another evil Caesar, defending the man Paul in Nero’s deranged court. Can Theophilus mount a defense that will keep another innocent man from execution?

Randy portrays Theophilus as an attorney, appointed toward the end of the book to defend Paul’s appearance before Nero. In this imagined scenario Luke writes his two-volume set Luke/Acts to bring Theophilus up to speed on what Paul believes.

So let’s look at that introduction again:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile…

• a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were
• eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write
• an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
• that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

A “narrative” and “orderly account” from the testimony of “eyewitnesses” that “you may have certainty.” I reminded us a few months ago that without the resurrection there would be no “the Bible,” no Gospel of Luke because there would have been nothing to write about.

As we read these familiar stories again, let’s remind ourselves that Luke’s account is not a collection of fanciful tales, loosely strung together to teach moral lessons. It’s an “orderly account” of the life of a real person, Jesus of Nazareth, who, as we’ll learn at the end of the book, was put to death by the Romans and came back to life. It’s a story worth reading!

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1.16, ESV)