Luke's Purpose in Writing

Luke 1:1-4

When Luke sat down to write his book, all kinds of people were already doing the same exact thing. It wasn't a new idea. It was something he planned to do differently that it had already been done--just like others, he planned to use eyewitness reports and careful investigation. He writes of no high hopes for his book, no visions of fame or fortune--he just wants to help his friend Theophilus be certain of the truth of what he'd been taught.

Luke was willing to sit down and write a whole book for the good of one friend.

A whole book written for one person.

Sure, God ended up taking that book and making it a part of the most-published book in history--but Luke didn't ever intend for that. He intended to help Theophilus so he could be certain of the truth of everything he was taught.

This speaks to me.

Awhile ago, during spring break, I got this weird itch--I wanted to ride a bike across the country all of a sudden. Then Crystal said, Hey, you should raise money for your field trip this summer (at the time I badly wanted to take my students on a cross-country road trip next spring break, an endeavor that would take nearly $100,000). And I said, Hey, I think I might ride a bike across the country to raise money for our field trip. And she said, Okay, Honey.

And I thought, Man, that might really show the kids how much I love them--that I'd be willing to ride a bike across the country to raise money for our field trip.

When we got back from spring break, I went to town trying to get this field trip approved. It was hard, because no one in our school had ever done a cross-country field trip before. All I could see was red tape. So I had another itch: maybe if I started a nonprofit for my kids, I could eliminate some middle men. I started looking into nonprofits.

About two days later I started to get overwhelmed. I had always kind of wanted to have a nonprofit for my classroom, because that's what a guy named Rafe Esquith in Los Angeles does, and he does some really neat things with his kids. But once I starting reading all the work that went into making one, I decided to look for a nonprofit that already did what I was trying to do with my kids. Why reinvent the wheel, I thought.

And that's how I found the Esperanza Movement Foundation--a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a revolution of hope for the homeless children of the world. It broke into my heart, and before an hour had passed I realized that this was what my kids needed to be plugged in to, the reality that there are 100,000,000 homeless kids in the world going through all this terrible stuff and there aren't anywhere near enough shelters and education centers for them. These kids are hurting bad, and next to my kids who just haven't had a chance to drive across the country to San Francisco... well, they made the apathy of my kids towards school and teachers and helping people was straight from hell.

So the next day I told the kids about the problem of homeless kids in our world. I told them about prostitution and slavery and military service and incestuous abuse and industrial glue sniffing--all of it involving kids their age or younger.

The next day we were talking about it again, because again I saw their apathy, and I told them there were two ways we were going to do something about the problem: raising awareness and raising money. I told Destiney to make a collection jar out of a box of highlighters. I'll never forget the miracle of seeing that classroom of children emptying their pockets. That day we raised $10.42 for the homeless kids.

Or the next day when I got the mike in the cafeteria. The kids were not all quieting down (again, that apathy), and I was unwilling to yell at them. I went back to my seat saying after saying they were missing out. A lot of kids were disappointed in me for that, because a lot of the kids were being quiet for me. Terrence passed the jar around the lunchroom and I passed it around my classes. That day we raised $12.91 for homeless kids.

The next day I decided no matter what I was going to say what was going on when I had that microphone, and whoever wasn't listening, oh well. Ms Maul got the whole cafeteria quieted down this time, and I started by telling them that 1 in 4 kids lives in absolute poverty in our world, and 100,000,000 kids in the world are homeless. I told them, as I looked around that packed cafeteria and hundreds of attentive eyes, that it's easy for us to say our cafeteria food is gross when we don't have to pick through a landfill to find dinner, and I told them it's easy for us to say school sucks when we don't have to be out on the streets doing God knows what instead of having the chance to go to it, and I told them it's easy for us to laugh at words like prostitute and sex when many of us have never been forced to do them before we learned what they were. And I ended by saying that if any of them could spare some change for the homeless kids, my students and I would really appreciate it.

The caf erupted in applause. I'll never forget that--it felt like something out of a movie, even though at the same time I knew most of them were just doing it because sixth graders like being loud.

We raised $17.10 that day for homeless kids. It seemed like a million dollars.

The next day, we raised $18.57 for homeless kids. It seemed like a million and ten dollars.

As of today, we've raised $69.40 for homeless kids. We've been at it for six days.

Meanwhile, I started telling a few kids about what I wanted to do this summer--ride a bike across the country to raise money for homeless kids. I think I told Rashad first. I was dropping him off at his house, and when I was finished telling him what I wanted to do, we just sat there in front of his house. He kind of stared at me with his mouth agape, and then he said I was crazy. Every minute he would ask me, Mr Stuart, are you really going to do that? You are crazy, Mr Stuart.

I started telling my classes. Each class I told, I started when I saw apathy. I talked about the 100,000,000 homeless kids who would probably like to be sitting in Mr or Ms Apathy's seat, and then, once again, I said we each can do something about this. Kid's would say, Well why doesn't George Bush do something for those homeless kids? What's Donald Trump doing with all this money? And I told them that we always have a choice, and that in this case we could point fingers at people who aren't doing helping the homeless kids, or we can worry about what we're doing for the homeless kids, trusting that God will be faithful in helping us do it if we ask Him.

For example, I said, I think I'm going to ride a bike across the country this summer to raise money and awareness for the homeless kids.

Haha, if only I could have recorded the questions and the disbelief of those kids. You'd have sworn I was in a room of 80 year-old know-it-alls! They scoffed. They guffawed. They mocked. It was beautiful! Again, like a scene out of a movie. My adrenaline pumped each time this happened in a class. I had some of the biggest scoffers write how far they thought I would get--had them sign and date their predictions.

Those are hanging above my dresser now.

- - -

When this all started, I only wanted to help my kids and do something I thought I'd enjoy. It turned into wanting to help the 100,000,000 homeless kids in the world, but, in a way, I think now it's even more of a love song to my students that before. This trip is about more than 100,000,000 homeless kids--it's about a couple classes of American kids seeing that there really are huge things that small people can do when they trust in God, that there really are things outside of ourselves worth giving more than our all for, that we really can create ripples on our walk with God through this vast universe.

And so, in a small, humble way, my soul resonates with Luke's when he sat down to write a book, a whole book, for the sake of his one buddy, completely content in doing something that all kinds of people were already doing. He didn't care that it wasn't a unique idea, that it wasn't going to be known by anyone other than Theophilas. He didn't have any big vision.

And God turned it into the Book of Luke.

Father, build in each my students a heart for you. Build in them humility, taking out pride. Build in them wisdom, taking out foolishness. Build in them truth, taking out lies. Build in them grace, taking out vindictiveness. Build in them a heart for you. Thank you, my God, my rock, my deliver.

Amen.