is understand what God wants (Luke 11-12)

I will admit right off the top that I have no idea what I am talking about.  In yesterday’s post, I talked about what Jesus said was required to gain eternal life.  He said to love god and to love your neighbour.  He then used the parable of the Good Samaritan to show that everybody is our neighbour.  And we can show our love for them by being kind, compassionate, forgiving, understanding, and tolerant.  But I get confused by what he means by loving god.

First we have to believe in him.  And then we have to show our love.  And how do we do that?  Worshiping him with songs of praise?  Thanking him for everything we have?  Even when we are poor and miserable?  Or just following Jesus’ teachings of being kind to others? 

 

In the next few sections of Luke, Jesus reminds us that God can give us everything; all we have to do is knock.  He tells us that those who hear the word of God and obey it will be blessed.  (Again, I ask what are we obeying?)  Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy and warns that they will be punished because their teachings were meant to keep people away from Kingdom.  (What teachings?)  He tells us not to fear people who can harm only the body but to fear god who can not only kill but throw the body into hell.  (This is hardly the image of a loving, forgiving god.) 

Jesus tells of the foolish rich man who built extra barns to hold all his possessions only to realize that he could die tomorrow so what was the point of building up this wealth but not being rich in god’s sight. This certainly makes sense, but can’t a rich man be rich in the sight of god without having to sell everything he has?  In fact Jesus tells us to trust God, that God will care for us just as he cares for the birds and the flowers.  So he tells us to sell our belongings and give it to the poor as we will find more riches in heaven.   

He then warns about being prepared for the coming time using the parable of the faithful and unfaithful servant.  The faithful servant continued to do the master’s work even though the master had been gone a long time while the unfaithful servant looked out for himself and took advantage of the situation.  

And as in Matthew, Jesus warns that he didn’t come to bring peace but to divide father against son etc.  He says he has brought a baptism of fire.  He wonders why people can predict a coming storm but cannot see what is happening in the world right now.  He then warns to settle with others before being taken to court as the judgment will be harsh.  I am assuming that this parable refers to following the teachings of Jesus because God’s punishment will be severe otherwise.

After all this, I am still stumped.  I can understand most of what Jesus is telling us to do in our relationship with others.  I am still not sure what he expects from our relationship with god.