More Non-Doctor Thoughts

I’m not a doctor like Luke was, but I am working on my Doctor of Ministry degree.  I completed the Scriptures I had prepared for this week’s blog posts, so I found myself praying about Luke and going back to my notes from one of my classes.  I was required to write a three page summary of the book of Luke.  It started out like this:

Luke's Gospel, traditionally attributed to the traveling companion of Paul the Apostle, is the first volume of the two-volume set: Luke-Acts. Luke is written by an educated Greek who appears to be writing to a Gentile audience. The author is not, like claimed by two of the other Gospels, one of the original twelve Apostles nor is he an eye-witness to the events he relates. Instead, Luke gives an account from the information he compiled when he “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” (Luke 1:3 [NIV]).

It was fun to read through the summary again this morning.  I saw what I considered to be the highlights of the text at the time.  Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Zechariah all set the stage.  John the Baptist plays a big role in the early part of Luke’s narrative, but the real hero of the story is clearly Jesus – the Messiah, the Son of God, and God.

We use the word “epic” a lot in recent years.  Luke, however, takes 24 chapters to tell a truly epic tale of the Son of God.  His carefully detailed, orderly eyewitness account takes us from the proclamation of His birth to his ascension into heaven.  When I finish reading the book, I can almost hear my children saying, “Read it again, daddy.”  Luke’s Gospel is a masterpiece to read and gives strength to my faith.  I finished my summary by saying:

Luke finishes part one of his accounts with Jesus ascending up into heaven with his disciples worshiping him. They return to Jerusalem with joy and stay at the temple praising God (24:50-52). The stage is set for part two of Luke's epic tale, where he will shift from the biography of a hero to the history of his movement.

How about you?  Have you read this epic account?  Have you read his second volume: Acts?  Take the time.  It’s worth it.

A Reason

Luke’s words aren’t powerful just because he carefully investigated what happened by speaking with eyewitnesses of Jesus and then wrote it down in an orderly account.  Some of the power comes from the stories he chooses to share and the words he chooses to use.

...so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught…(Luke 1:4 NIV)

Luke wanted to build our confidence in the truth of these stories.  He worked hard to get the facts correct.  He tried very hard to get the story straight.  He labored over putting the events in the right order.  All of this was for our benefit: that we may be certain of what happened, even two millennia later.

Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. (Acts 16:16-18 NIV)

The power of God was shown as demons were cast out, people were healed, thousands were fed, and people were raised from the dead. 

When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. (Acts 16:19, 23 NIV)

A paralyzed man on a mat, a woman with a jar of perfume, a model prayer, Jesus’ teachings, Jesus’ death, and even the day of Pentecost all teach us that our sins can be forgiven. 

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" (Acts 16:25-28 NIV)

A sorcerer named Simon teaches us that we can be set free from the captivity of sin.

The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household." Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. (Acts 16:29-33 NIV)

And story after story reminds us that a life walking with God is far better than any time lived without or against Him.

The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole household. (Acts 16:34 NIV)

All of these accounts come from Luke and they were written so we will be certain that they happened.

When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: "Release those men." (Acts 16:35 NIV)

How about you?  When you share stories about God, do they build peoples’ confidence in the truth?  Do your words help people walk together with God?

An Account

Luke wrote some of his writings as an eyewitness.  He travelled with Paul during part of his ministry journeys.  Then, he wrote down his account.

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. (Acts 16:13-14 NIV)

Much of Luke’s writing, however, was not from his own experience.  He did not walk with Jesus as a disciple and eyewitness.  Much of the early church accounts were also without Luke in attendance.  How did he get his information then?  What was his approach to writing this information?

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account… (Luke 1:1-3a NIV)

First, Luke carefully investigated everything.  He got his information from eyewitnesses who were there.  Finally, he wrote it down in an orderly fashion.  Luke worked to get the information as accurate as possible, then he wrote it down in a way that was easy for us to follow.

How about you?  Do you give an account of God’s workings around you?  Do you investigate first to make sure the information is accurate?  Do you find reliable eyewitnesses who were there?  Do you give an orderly account?  Luke gives us many reasons to trust his account.

A Travelling Companion

I spoke yesterday about Luke, the writer of both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.  Luke, Paul tells us, is a doctor.  I asked the question yesterday, “Are you a doctor,” knowing that 2 to 3 percent would answer “yes” in the United States.  The question wasn’t asked to weed out all the non-doctors reading these blog posts.  On the contrary, I asked the question to help make a point.

Doctors are “made” by having a group of other doctors who agree, “She is one of us.”  The work, the lessons, the practice, and the testing is all set at a level that only other doctors know and agree upon.  Once a person has done this level of work to the satisfaction of other doctors, that person can also be called, “Doctor.”

I share all this because Luke is referred to as a doctor and, for all of us non-doctors, he becomes one of the elite.  He knows a bunch more than we do.  He is smarter than we are.  He is more capable, too.  We put Luke on a pedestal and think we can’t be like him and the ministry he did as a part of God’s Kingdom.  The rest of this week, though, we are going to debunk this myth.  Luke was a human being just like the rest of us.  Much of what Luke can do, we can do.  God can work in and through us just like God worked in and through Luke. The first thing Luke did that we can also do is this: Luke was a travelling companion to Paul.

After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. (Acts 16:10-12 NIV)

Notice the language in the sentences above, “we got ready,” “we put out to sea,” “we went on to Neapolis,” etc.  Luke was with Paul and other travelling companions as they went around and started up churches, encouraged existing churches, and built people up in their faith.  Luke was right there.  He was one of the team.  He showed up.

How about you?  Do you show up?  Are you a part of the team?  Do you get to see God at work from the front lines?  You can by simply going where God calls you to go.

A Doctor

Over the past weeks, we’ve looked at Scripture writers who are untrained fishermen, untrusted tax-collectors, well-loved disciples, well-trained Pharisees, friends, mentors, and protégés.  Today we will begin looking at a travelling companion of Paul who wrote more of the New Testament than any other human author. 

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16:6-10 NIV)

Did you notice the shift in that last sentence?  The author of this book shifted from talking about “Paul and his companions,” to “we got ready” and “God had called us.”  The author of the book of Acts was there.  This person was travelling with Paul.

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. (Acts 1:1-2 NIV)

Looking at the beginning of the book, we see some clues as to the author of the book.  This author writes to Theophilus and refers to an earlier book written to the same person.  This earlier book talked about the life of Jesus.  We can use our electronic (or paper) Bibles to see where the word “Theophilus” shows up.  It’s only found in one other book.

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4 NIV)

This book bears the author’s name.  It’s the book of Luke.  Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke as Volume 1 and The Book of Acts as Volume 2 in the set.  The first book was about the life of Jesus.  The second book was about the early Church.  Both books come from a thorough and relatively well-educated man.  Luke was a doctor.

Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. (Colossians 4:14 NIV)

So, how about you?  Are you a doctor?  Do you know doctors?  What might we find different about the writings of a doctor?