Reading Plan for Aug. 16 - 22

August 16, 2026 | Luke 13:22-35
Reflection:
Someone asks Jesus, “Will only a few be saved?” Notice that Jesus doesn’t really answer that question. He tells some parables. What does it mean to “strive to enter the narrow door?” We have to read all of Jesus’ teaching to discover what that is. In this passage, the only thing that marks those who get “in” and those who don’t is that those left outside are called “evildoers.” Knowing the “owner of the house” doesn’t get one in. It’s one’s behavior. And the critique seems to be laid against the unfaithful of Israel, because we hear that those who come from the north, south, east, and west will stream into the kingdom. It sounds like outsiders and “the last” will be in the company of the blessed. Remember that Jesus is speaking parabolically. This isn’t an exact science. It is an act of the imagination to interpret and understand Jesus. What does it mean to you when you hear him imply that not all will experience the kingdom, and on what is this determination based? Jesus most of all is addressing hypocrisy. Is that what he sees in the “someone” who asks how many will be saved? Even when Pharisees come to warn him about Herod, Jesus continues to speak in riddles and parables. Only in hindsight do we begin to hear what he means when he says, “You’ll see me when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” Is this about Palm Sunday…or the end of time? Or is it whenever we call out in faith?

August 17, 2026 | Luke 14:1-14
Reflection:
Jesus doesn’t shy away from the Pharisees, even though they criticize him. In this scene, Jesus is dining at the home of a leader of the Pharisees. Jesus continually steps into the lion’s den. And while he’s in that lion’s den, he provokes the gathered lions with an act of compassion: he heals a man with edema (dropsy). [The Greek word here is hydrops, which means swelling with water.] Jesus doesn’t even wait for them to complain. He anticipates their criticisms and asks, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” No one answers. “Would you not rescue your child if he fell into a well on the Sabbath?” No one answers. Jesus’ compassion will always overrule the rules. And no one dares answer. Then Jesus teaches on humility and hospitality. These are linked. Notice the way Jesus teaches. His words are memorable because they address real-life situations. Jesus doesn't teach on humility in the abstract. He addresses the situation where it will make the most impact. It’s two thousand years later, and Jesus’ teachings are still vivid and memorable.

August 18, 2026 | Luke 14:15-24
Reflection:
People often worry a lot about who’s in and who’s out in terms of the kingdom or heaven. Jesus tells a parable that sounds like he’s one of those folks. What Jesus is most concerned about is hypocrisy and how one’s behavior needs to match with professed beliefs. If your actions separate you from God and one another, then you will not experience the kingdom. Notice how Jesus responds to someone who says, “Blessed is anyone who will be in the kingdom!” We can almost hear Jesus say, “The kingdom is happening now. You all are probably missing out on it.” If you read the parable and start to worry about all the excuses you’ve made in your life, take a step back and remember that Jesus is telling a parable to startle us awake, so that we can live out the love to which we are called. The one phrase to take note of is “compel people to come in.” We could read this with a sense of “forcing” people into the banquet (or kingdom). Another sense of the word is “urgently persuade.” The most compelling invitation is love, not force. The house will be filled with those who lay aside hypocrisy and enter at Love’s urgent appeal.

August 19, 2026 | Luke 14:25-35
Reflection:
If we look at Jesus' admonishments to the crowds as a way of sifting out hypocrisy, then they make more sense. Notice that the crowds are “large”; not everyone following Jesus understands the cost of discipleship, especially as Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem. Not everyone is genuine. Human beings haven’t changed all that much in 2000 years. Look at large churches, with 20,000 to 60,000 attendees. What are they there for? The spectacle? Even a church of 1000 people may have only a handful of those who have fully counted the cost of discipleship…even if that cost is unique for each person. Jesus isn’t calling us to judge others in their “walk” of following in his footsteps. We are to examine ourselves. Root out hypocrisy. And develop habits that help us keep our “saltiness,” that which is our essential nature as followers of Christ and lovers of our neighbors. Worry less. Love more.

August 20, 2026 | Luke 15:1-10
Reflection:
A couple of days ago, we remarked that Jesus didn’t shy away from spending time with Pharisees. He also spends time with the folks at the opposite end of the social and moral hierarchy, at least in how the “tax collectors and sinners were viewed.” Jesus never seems to get criticism from the latter crowd. He only gets this from the “moral minority”...aka, the scribes and Pharisees. In response, to no one’s surprise, Jesus tells a series of parables, all about the lost being found. Remember this: all three parables are about the lost being found, not the lost finding their own way out of lostness. Sheep and coins. Things everyone understands. These first two parables are about things getting lost that have to be found with diligent, even negligent, abandon. These are stories. Parables. Interpreting them is not an exact science. They are meant to startle the imagination. After telling them, Jesus says, “You know how people rejoice and celebrate when everyday, ordinary things are found? Well, even more so, is rejoicing in heaven over those who appear lost are found, turning their whole lives toward God.” Spend more time seeking the lost.

August 21, 2026 | Luke 15:11-24
Reflection:
In the third parable about the lost being found, we have a young man who does a lot to get himself lost. He’s not a sheep that’s wandered off. He’s not a coin that’s slipped from a woman’s pocket. He’s acted deliberately, severing ties to home and finding himself destitute and far from home. The young man gives the impression that he gets himself found, but if we read the parable carefully, we notice that the only thing he’s done is put himself in the vicinity of the father. The boy doesn’t even get the chance to apologize or bargain before the father comes running, embracing and making plans to celebrate. The apology seems superfluous in light of the father’s wanton and lavish love. Before the boy can enact his plan to get back into the father’s good graces, and the father’s larder, the father’s love overflows. They begin to celebrate. Different from the lost sheep or the lost coin, the young man does make an approach toward to the father, even if his motives are driven by the extremes of hunger and poverty. Is he genuinely remorseful? It doesn’t seem to matter. The father loves bridges the gap and “finds” the young man, even though the young man has made an approach. One interesting exercise would be to imagine the father searching all those years for the son, only to find him at his own gates. What has been meaningful to you about this parable?

August 22, 2026 | Luke 15:25-32
Reflection:
Jesus’ parable would have been complete if it had ended with the celebration (like the parables of the sheep and the coin). But it goes on. This “rest of the story” addition helps us see the story of the father’s wanton and reckless love from the older brother’s perspective. Instead of our having to imagine how the “good” son reacted, we hear that he is angry that the brother has been so lavishly welcomed back by the father. Any one of us could be the older brother. His anger seems justified. His presence in the story helps us have more empathy for the Pharisees. They’re mad that God’s love extends to all those who seem to have put themselves, by their actions, outside the pale of God’s love. What Jesus does in this parable is to move the boundaries of the pale, including far more than the “good” people of his day. Whom would you be angry about knowing that God’s love included that person? Sit with that for a while. And be grateful God’s love includes those of us who would “limit who’s in” in terms of the kingdom.