We didn't get a chance on Sunday to discuss the rest of Luke chapter 11, but there is a very interesting section from verses 14-28 where Jesus talks (on the surface at least) about demon possession. the underlying conversation seems to be about the strongholds within each person's life. In verse 23, Jesus says, 'Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.' In a world that doesn't like black and white issues, this appears to me to be a very simplistic thing. Like a light switch that must be either off or on, Jesus says, you must be with him or scatter. I think the additional possibility is that if your hands are full of your own 'stuff', then you can't gather the things or people Jesus has called you to gather.
Jesus then goes on to say, 'When an evil spirit comes out of anyone, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.' I think, of this whole chapter, this might be the most relevant portion for us today. When I decide to lose some weight, and start watching my eating habits, but DON'T exercise in addition to changing my eating habits, the change never lasts. To change a bad habit, you must REPLACE the habit with another practice, as well as all the circumstances that surround the bad habit.
Finally, we read: 'As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. He replied, blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.' Jesus seems to be speaking to all these people He meets throughout the book of Luke about the things they hold dear...family or friends or possessions or whatever, and he consistently turns their whole world upside down. Someone says something definitive that seems to make sense and Jesus says the opposite. I don't think he's being obstinate, I think He is consistently challenging his listeners to look at their world in a completely new and different way from the norm in their society.
How might Jesus be asking us to look at our world in a fresh way today?
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