Bob Maddox's Blog

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

Does Jesus not care who gets Granny’s mantle clock? Why does he refuse to arbitrate the family dispute over inheritance? If I may speak for Jesus, I don’t think he cares who gets the clock or the china or the shotgun. And I wish you and I did not care who got these things, especially at the expense of a long, drawn out family fight. Does Jesus not care that an injustice might be perpetrated? I believe he does care about that especially if some deserving member of the family gets out maneuvered by a sharper relative. But Jesus is not going to get pulled into such family fights. It is always sad when members of the family get tangled up over stuff. Family life, love among the members are far more important and lasting than all the china and money that Grandpa might have left. I suppose every family has had times like the one to which the text points. It’s happened in our family. You make the best of a bad situation. Fortunately, no one went hungry or got dispossessed because of the greed of a cousin who managed to get power of attorney over a mentally failing relative.
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Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-44; John 12:1-8
Church School for Everyone, 10:00-10:40
Adults in the Chancel with Bob Maddox
Youth with Jessica Petersen in Youth Room
Children in Mabry Room
Music with Alejandro in the Choir Room
Art with Amy Gray in the Libarary

Luke 10:38-42
Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

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By Bob Maddox
No class discussion; Fellowship Breakfast at 8:30 AM
Acts 19:1-7

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the inland regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?’ They replied, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ Then he said, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ They answered, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ Paul said, ‘John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied— altogether there were about twelve of them.

This short passage offers some further insights into Paul’s missionary travels through Asia Minor of the Roman Empire. His Jesus-way colleagues, Priscilla and Aquila had previously met Apollos a Jewish convert from Alexandria, Egypt. A city of great importance in the Roman world, Alexandria was the home of one of the largest communities of Diaspora Jews in the Empire. Renowned for its great library and universities, scholars from around the world and all religious persuasions regularly came to the city to study. Some have said the library contained the “complete” learning of the world at that time. A series of tragic fires and unbelievably stupid rulers over several decades destroyed this incredibly valuable source of learning. Read the rest of this entry »