Now that we’re fully convinced of our need for grace and our utter inability to follow Christ without God’s aid, we are given a parable that is not about prayer or the honing of an interior state, but about action, or the lack thereof. Traditionally this is known as the parable of Dives and Lazarus, … Continue reading Luke 16:19-31 No Better Crucible
I was sitting with other clergy in a Bible Study, and we were arguing about this passage. After awhile I became indifferent to the argument, and began to think about the dishonest wealth that I had received in my life. I took out a sketch book and wrote this poem for my wife: Eternal Habitations … Continue reading Luke 16:1-18 Eternal Habitations
Starving, grimed with the dirt of the pig sty, the Prodigal Son came to himself. Maybe he hadn’t really believed in himself until that moment - believed that there was a real self, a soul, that was being obscured by all of the needs and wants of his false self. He had been living a … Continue reading Luke 15:11-32 When He Came to Himself
After Jesus calls the disciples to the near-impossibility of leaving behind their families (Jesus says they should hate their families, just to let the toughness sink in), Luke’s Gospel seems to make an abrupt turn. The Pharisees point out that the people who Jesus is hanging out with aren’t rigorous at all in their faith … Continue reading Luke 15:1-10 Being Sought After
I am not a disciple of Jesus. I have not given up family, and home, and possessions, for his sake. It is important to admit this from the outset, to set aside the hypocrisy and vanity of claiming that I’m something that I’m not. The handful of people who followed Jesus were better at this … Continue reading Luke 14:25-35 Asking for Terms of Peace
KPB Stevens 