Category: sermon

STAY REAL

Luke 12:1-12 NET.

Today I want to talk about a problem that has caused more loss in the kingdom of God than anything else I can think of. The problem is hypocrisy, dishonesty, and lack of integrity among those who claim to be men and women of God. That problem has destroyed individual believers, ministers and their ministries, denominations, and entire gospel movements. It has brought shame and dishonor to Christianity as a whole and is currently one of the main reasons that people who have been exposed to the gospel give when asked why they reject it and are not believers.

It stands to reason, then, that Jesus would have spent some time with his disciples addressing this problem. One of the places where Jesus did so is right here in today’s text. I want to walk through this text this morning and ask ourselves how Jesus motivated his disciples to remain true to him and their profession of faith in him.

There is one thing we need to keep in mind, and that one thing is dramatically demonstrated for us in the story as it unfolds in the life of Jesus and his disciples. One of the twelve was proven to be untrue, unfaithful, and an unbeliever. He had been pretending for the three years that he sat at the feet of Jesus, being trained by him. Yet, on the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus listened to each of his apostles ask him the same question — “Is it I?” After three years of serving our Lord, listening to his truth, and even preaching the gospel themselves, none of the apostles were confident that they were not imposters.

One of the reasons the problem of hypocrisy is such a problem is that it is very easy to fool most of the people most of the time. As children, we learn to lie when the truth is not convenient. As adults, we perfect that talent. We also learn that even the truth sounds better when we embellish it. So, even when we are telling the truth, we are tempted to dress it up with a few lies to make it more exciting or interesting. We learn that appearance is more important than essence. If we are not careful, even our preaching of the word of God or living it out by our witness will become infected with dishonesty and lack of integrity.

In today’s text, Jesus zeroes in on the problem of hypocrisy among professed believers and gives us all some motivations to stay true, stay honest, and stay real. He highlights several reasons that we as believers have to hold on to our integrity.

Stay real because all hidden sins will be revealed (1-3).

¹ Meanwhile, when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. ³ So then whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.

Luke starts out by describing the scene of the discourse Jesus was having with his disciples. There was a crowd so large that many thousands were stomping on one another, trying to get to Jesus. Have you ever noticed that it is easier to hide in a large crowd than it is in a small group? A good illustration of this is “Where’s Waldo?” Waldo is a strange-looking dude, and he is easily noticed with his bug eyes, striped shirt, and ugly hat. But when the illustrator puts his picture of Waldo among a large crowd of others, suddenly it becomes a puzzle to find him.

What makes finding Waldo so puzzling is that he is hidden in plain sight, but there are so many others around him that have some similarities with him, it is hard to spot the real thing. The problem that Jesus is talking to his disciples about is similar because he knows that they will be tempted to look like everybody else.

He had challenged them to be salt and light in this world. But they would be tempted to live on the edge of that challenge. They would be tempted to be the blandest salt and the darkest light possible. The other day I was looking in the cupboard and I noticed the salt container we had just bought. It was dark blue, and it was made by the same company that usually produces the salt we buy. But I looked at the ingredients, and I noticed something missing. There was no iodine. I felt gypped. Here I am, taking medicine to produce thyroid hormones, and that is something that iodine helps with. What we had bought looked like salt, but it was missing an ingredient that we usually get from salt.

Jesus was encouraging his apostles to stay real because there will come a day when all the hidden elements of our lives will be revealed. Some day everyone is going to know all the ingredients in your salt container. They will know what was there and what was missing.

Jesus used the Pharisees as examples of hypocrisy. The Pharisees were the people in Judean society with a reputation for being super-spiritual and meticulously obedient. They didn’t just tithe their crops, they went to the small plants in their container gardens and harvested a tithe of them too. But Jesus knew all the sins and omitted acts of righteousness that these Pharisees had kept hidden.

So, Jesus challenges his apostles to stay away from the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and stay true to their commitment to him and the gospel. He wanted them to say real because all the unreal is going to be exposed.

Stay real because all hypocrites will be destroyed in hell (4-5).

⁴ “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more they can do. ⁵ But I will warn you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

One of the reasons we are tempted to blend in is that we are afraid of what others might think of us if we stand out. We fear the judgment of others. That is a real problem. Nobody likes to be criticized. Nobody wants to be belittled. We want other people to like us, and we are careful not to offend them if possible. The problem is you can’t always please everybody. Trying to please everybody might work for a while, but we will eventually realize that we left somebody out of the count.  And that somebody is the one who counts the most.

The hell that Jesus is describing in today’s text is not the made-up hell that people talk about. It isn’t a place where the souls of bad folks go when their bodies die. No, Jesus is talking about the fiery hell into which God is going to throw unbelievers after judgment day. This is the place in which God is going to finally destroy all sinners. It is not just a place for disembodied souls to suffer. It’s a place where bodies and souls will be destroyed. Matthew’s version of this statement has Jesus saying, “Fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Jesus’ point is that if we are going to fear somebody, we should fear the one who can do the most damage.

If we are being real, we are going to offend some people. That is a done deal. It’s going to happen. We shouldn’t worry about that because the gospel is offensive to them. There’s no sense crying over spilled milk. One of Penny’s relatives painted a picture of some people crying over spilled milk in their house, but outside their window, you can also see an approaching tornado. Those people in the house were so busy crying about what they couldn’t prevent (the spilled milk) that they failed to see the danger they could prevent (dying from the tornado.

Stay real because you matter to God (6-9).

⁶ Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows. ⁸ “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before God’s angels. ⁹ But the one who denies me before men will be denied before God’s angels.

In this section of the discourse, Jesus abruptly switches from talking about God as the one whom you should fear (because he can destroy you in hell) to why you should not fear because God will not forget you. The logic of what he is saying is this. Those who are faithful in their mission to share the gospel will not be forgotten. But those who are unfaithful and untruthful and hypocritical and deny God by their words and actions will find that God will deny them before his angels on judgment day. So, he’s still talking about the reality of hell. But he’s saying that true believers who stay real have nothing to worry about from God. If we stay true to him, he will stay true to his promises to us.

I’m not sure that you can buy five sparrows for two pennies anymore. In fact, I think the hunters here spend a lot more than that on shotgun shells so that they can shoot the doves. But Jesus’ point was that sparrows were cheap, but that does not mean they don’t matter. Everyone matters to God. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost. He has invested himself in us and he wants to see us succeed. That is why Jesus warns us to stay real because nothing will destroy our chance at permanent life like hypocrisy. God has poured out his grace on us. Christ has shed his precious blood for us. It would but the utmost shame if after all that The Father and Son have invested in us, we end up short by means of hypocrisy.

Stay real because the Holy Spirit is in you (10-12).

¹⁰ And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.¹¹ But when they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you should make your defense or what you should say, ¹²  for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say.”

The Holy Spirit is also investing himself in us, enabling us to say what we need to say when the devil sends his servants to accuse us. We have a power at work in us that can help us overcome and triumph even if we are persecuted. So, once again, Jesus tells us not to worry.

But I need to explain what Jesus says about blasphemy in verse 10. Pay attention to the context. According to verse 12, the Holy Spirit is God at work in the life of a believer who is sharing his faith when brought to trial. So, in that context, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to reject that testimony and punish believers anyway. To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to condemn people for believing the gospel. There is no way for a true Christian to “accidentally” blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in us, and that is another reason for us to stay real.

We live in a world full of sheep and goats, and it is sometimes very hard to tell the difference. But in today’s text, Jesus challenges us to be so authentic that the people around us have no doubt that we belong to him. He wants us to stand out, not to hide. He wants us to fear God but be fearless among his enemies. He wants us to understand how valuable we are, and how much has been invested in us. He wants us to stay real, so people will be drawn to the Christ we serve and the gospel we preach.

JUSTIFIED BY HIS GRACE

Romans 3:20-24 NET.

²⁰ For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. ²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed — ²² namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. ²⁴ But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Today’s message is about the basics of the gospel message. Every Christian should know what the gospel message is so that she or he can share the gospel with others. A believer should also have confidence that she or he has a relationship with God that cannot change and know the reason for that confidence. So, I have decided to investigate the gospel message as it is presented in various places in the Bible and examine these texts one by one.

The book of Romans is a good place to start because the Apostle Paul laid out the gospel message and its implications throughout that book. Today’s text has five verses, and what I plan to do is summarize the message of each verse.

The Bible cannot save you (20).

Paul told the Romans that no one is declared righteous before God by the works of the law. Paul had been making a point in his letter that no one can come to God by means of their own righteousness. But he knows that some of his readers are Jewish by birth, so he answers an objection that they might bring. Some Jews might think that they already have a relationship with God because of being born Jewish. Others might think that God has already adopted them by reason of their having the Jewish law and obeying some of it.

That kind of argument can go through our minds as well. Some might think that because they own a Bible, and sometimes go to church, and sometimes pray – maybe they will be accepted on judgment day. But when Paul says that no one is declared righteous before God by the works of the law, he is speaking to us as well. Anything we try to do to become a Christian without putting our faith in Christ is just a work of the law. That includes reading and studying our Bible, or listening to a teacher who has done it. The Bible itself cannot save you. Church attendance cannot save you. Church membership or baptism or communion or any of the other trappings of Christianity – all these things are lumped together in that phrase “works of the law.” They are all good things, but they are not good enough to erase the stain of sin from our lives. They are all healthy activities, but they cannot arrest the corruption of sin from our inner beings.

Then what is the Bible for? Paul says that through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The word he uses for knowledge here indicates more than a simple understanding that there is such a thing as sin. It indicates an awareness of how sinful sin is and how much it has permeated our whole being – like yeast permeates the whole loaf of bread. Even the good things we do are imperfect, so even they cannot reverse the corruption that we are presently experiencing. Sin is not something that we have the power to stop.

Paul would later write to Timothy these words: “We know that the law is good if someone uses it legitimately, realizing that law is not intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, sexually immoral people, practicing homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers — in fact, for any who live contrary to sound teaching” (1 Timothy 1:8-10).

The Bible cannot change sinners into righteous people. It is not intended for that purpose. It can only make a lawbreaker realize how many laws she or he is breaking. It can only make it clear how rebellious a rebel is. Even so, having a Bible is a good thing because …

The Bible has revealed how you can be saved (21).

Paul says that the Bible has disclosed a means of righteousness from God. God has provided a means of salvation for us and has revealed that message in his word. So, even though we cannot get saved by obeying the commands in the Bible, we can get saved by accessing the means of salvation that the Bible reveals. What is this means of salvation? It is not a prayer that we can pray. It is not a gift that we can give. It is not a promise that we can make. In fact, the means of salvation is not anything that we can do. We are condemned sinners, and we deserve to be permanently destroyed for our sins.

Nevertheless, the Bible assures us that salvation is possible, not by means of something we can do, but by means of someone. Jesus himself is the means of salvation that the Bible has revealed.

Believing in what Jesus Christ did can save you (22).

God’s righteousness through Christ is available to us as revealed in the Bible. Jesus has done what needed to be done. All we are told to do is believe it. That is the essence of the gospel of grace. That is why Paul says that this righteousness is available through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. It is not our faithfulness to Christ that makes salvation possible. It is his faithfulness.

In what ways was Christ faithful? He faithfully lived a sinless life. He faithfully taught God’s perfect will. He faithfully sacrificed himself on the cross to pay the price for our unfaithfulness. Christ is the means of salvation because he obeyed perfectly. He did not deserve to die, but he took our place on the cross. His death purchased for us something that we could not afford to purchase for ourselves – an eternal future.

We access the promise of eternal life by believing in Christ – who he was and what he did for us. Note the words “all who believe” in verse 22. It is important that we pay attention to those words because they indicate that the subject has changed. In verse 20, we read that no one is declared righteous before God. Another way of saying that is that everyone is declared unrighteous before God. So, the subject in verse 20 is everyone. But in verse 22, the scope is narrowed. The subject is now “all who believe.” So, when we get to verse 23, we read “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Most people read that verse as if it is talking about all human beings. It is true that all human beings are sinners. But remember that Paul had changed the subject.

Every believer has sinned and falls short of God’s glory (23)).

What Paul is doing here is saying that every saved believer begins his life as an unsaved sinner. He talks about sin in our past by saying that we have sinned. Then he talks about sin in our present by saying that we presently continue to fall short of God’s glory. He did not say that believers used to fall short before they were saved. He said we have sinned, and we do fall short – even now. Salvation is not based on our getting ourselves right with God. It is not picking ourselves up by our own bootstraps, straightening up, and flying right. We have sinned and we keep falling short of God’s glory. According to Romans 2:7, the glory of God is something believers are seeking, but presently fall short of.

That means that no matter how sincere we are, no matter how hard we try, we are not going to be able to save ourselves. We don’t have what it takes. If salvation is going to happen, it will have to come from outside us. The good news of the gospel is that it did.

Every believer is justified freely by God’s grace through Christ’s redemption (24).

When Paul says “They are justified” he has not changed the subject. The “they” in verse 24 is the “all who believe” in verse 22. So, the subject is every believer. The message is that every believer is justified. The promise is not that we might be saved. The promise is not that we are potentially saved. God does not put believers on a waiting list to see if they measure up. Every believer stands justified.

But what does it mean to be justified? It is important that we ask that question because the English word justified can mean different things. We sometimes use the word justified to mean that someone has committed a crime, but they are excused from paying the penalty for that crime because of the circumstances. For example, we say a person has committed justifiable homicide because the deed happened in such a way as to make the person not criminally guilty. That is not what Paul meant when he said that all believers are justified.

If you look back up in the text to verse 20, you will see the words “declared righteous.” That phrase translates the same Greek verb as the word “justified” in verse 24. A person who is justified is not excused for a crime that she or he has committed. We are not justified in the sense that God simply refuses to punish the crimes we have committed. We are justified because God has taken the punishment for those sins and placed that punishment upon Jesus as he hung on the cross.

Think about every sin you have ever committed. Now, look at Jesus as he hangs upon the cross at Calvary. When he hung upon that cross, all your sin hung there with him. When he died on that cross, all your guilt died there with him. He did not excuse your sins, he paid for them.

Paul says we are justified freely. We have problems understanding that concept today as well because we are used to all kinds of “free” things that come with strings attached. I got a text the other day saying that I qualified to get a free iPad, and all I had to do was fill in a survey. I filled in the survey, and they said I got the free iPad, and all I had to do was send some money for shipping. That’s not getting something freely. We are justified as a gift. Nothing we could do would ever pay the price for that gift.

Paul says we are justified by God’s grace. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace has no qualifications. Grace is “God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” We are justified by grace. If you are in Christ today, it is because God made a choice to draw you to him, and he didn’t make that choice based on what you deserve.

Paul says we are justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. He would later write to the Galatians that the only thing he can boast about is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14). Christ’s death on the cross is the only means of redemption. It is the only answer to our universal condemnation. It is the only reason anyone anywhere can ever say “I am saved.”

In what way did Christ’s death on the cross redeem us? The term “redemption” comes from the world of bondage and slavery. You redeem someone by paying a ransom to release them from their bondage. Our redemption is in Christ Jesus. Christ’s death on the cross paid in full the debt that had kept us in bondage to sin. We are redeemed because of what he did for us. We will still struggle with sin in this life. Paul did. That is what Romans 7 is all about. But thanks be to God, we have God’s assurance that he will not condemn us. That is what Romans 8 is all about. That chapter begins with these words: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Why? Because of what Jesus did for us, we are redeemed from the permanent consequences of our sins. We have been set free from the law of sin and death and can now walk in the law of the Spirit of life.

Are you justified by his grace? Do you believe? If you cannot positively answer those questions, then don’t wait another minute. Come to Christ today.

LAWFUL LISTENING

Luke 10:38-42 NET

³⁸ Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. ³⁹ She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, ⁴² but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.”

The reason I wanted to stop and look at this story in the life of Jesus is like the reason we stopped and looked at the parable of the Good Samaritan last week. This will become more evident as we look at the story. It is a simple story, and you will notice that there is no direct command from Jesus in the story. In fact, in the story, Martha asks Jesus to command Mary to do something, but he refuses her request.

Notice the characters in this story.

The first character we see in the story is Jesus. He is stopping at a certain village. Luke does not mention the name of the village, but we know from John that the sisters lived in Bethany. Luke tells us that Jesus stopped as “they went on their way.” Jesus is stopping for a rest while his missionaries continue their outreach to the towns and villages of Judea in the south. Even though Jesus is invited into this home for a meal and a rest, he continues to teach the good news to everyone who is willing to hear it. We already know that preaching the message is crucial at this time because this will be the last chance for many of these Judeans to hear the gospel.

The second character in the story is Martha, who welcomed Jesus as her guest. Martha is apparently a wealthy woman, and she might be one of the women who supported Jesus and his apostles as they ministered. She appears to be unmarried but owns her own home. She opens her home to Jesus (and whoever else is with him at the time). She is all about serving the Lord. She has gifts in business management. She is one of those people who is always busy doing something. Her task at hand is to make sure that Jesus has all he needs while he is in her home. She is also task oriented. While Martha and Jesus know each other, it is also clear that Martha is so busy doing things for Jesus that she is not taking the time to get to know him better.

Martha is focused on meeting a need. As such, she is acting like a character we met in Jesus’ parable we recently read about the Good Samaritan. That story did not give us any dialog between the Samaritan and the victim that he rescued. All we read about is what the Good Samaritan did for the victim. He was busy saving the life of this Judean robbery victim. His love for his neighbor was entirely manifested by what he did for his neighbor. That was an important lesson for us because it was intended to show us how to obey the command to love our neighbors. We don’t manifest love by saying “I love you” but by showing our love through our actions.

The apostle James teaches that “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself” (James 2:15-17). Martha’s faith was not dead. It was demonstrated by the care and concern she had for Jesus. If she had anything to do about it, Jesus would not go hungry, and he would get the rest he needed.

We need Marthas in this world. We need people who can see the need and –- like the Samaritan – use their resources to meet those needs. That is how loving our neighbors is done. When Penny and I go to work at the food bank on Thursdays, we are putting our faith into action. We have had the privilege of helping hundreds of local families and it feels good to do that. We also get to see the smiles of those men and women who realize that they are being blessed – and they know that ultimately God is responsible for the blessing. All of you who are able are invited to join us. All it takes is time and energy, and it’s only one day a week. That’s a good thing, because it is hard work, and it is tiring.

Martha was apparently getting tired, too. She looked around at all she was doing. She was busy in this room and needed to be busy in that room. She needed an extra pair of hands. That was when she looked at her sister Mary. Mary hadn’t lifted a finger to help her. She thought that there was something wrong with that picture. Here she is doing everything for everyone while Mary just sat and listened.

Mary is the third character in today’s story. The text says that Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said.” That sounds simple, but it reveals something quite extraordinary. You might remember that the man the Lord delivered from the legion of demons sat at his feet as well. In fact, sitting at someone’s feet was an expression that indicated that you had committed yourself to be his disciple. Mary was not just interested in what Jesus had to say. She was devoted to him. She recognized what a tremendous gift it was to just be in the Lord’s presence and to hear his words.

Notice the command which was NOT given.

We have been looking at the commands of Jesus, but today’s text has Martha asking Jesus to give a command which he refuses to give. Martha wants Jesus to command Mary to get up and help with the hospitality. There are meals to prepare, rooms to clean, tables to set, animals to tend to, supplies to buy, water to fetch – things to do! Lord! Tell her to get up and help!

“But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things…” Martha was distracted. She was worried about things. Jesus loved Martha. You can tell that by the way he responds to her. He called her name twice. That’s called the double vocative construction and it is a way of expressing emotion to the person you are addressing. Jesus is concerned about this lady. She asked Jesus to get her some extra help, but he understood she needed something more than that. She needed to redirect her life. She had been distracted by her many projects and she had missed out on something that should have been her priority.

So, he told Martha “One thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.” Martha had been so busy with many things that she had missed the one thing.

What had Mary discovered that Martha missed? Mary had discovered the one thing that mattered most in that situation. It was not the home that needed looking after. It was not the meal that needed to be prepared or the table that needed to be set. It was not the things that needed to be done. It was the heart that needed to hear the word of God.

Notice the context of the story.

Last week we saw that Jesus had been interviewed by a theologian who had asked him what the greatest commandment in the law is. “An expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” The expert answered, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28).

Love is the greatest commandment in the Law. If we want to obey God’s Law, we need to focus on loving God and loving others. The Ten Commandments are a summary of what God called Israel to do so that they demonstrated love for God and their neighbors. Here in Luke 10, we have a parable that Jesus told to show us what a person does if that person loves his neighbor. That is the parable of the Good Samaritan. But stuck at the end of Luke 10 – in the same context – is this real-life story that demonstrates for us what it looks like when a person has committed to loving God with all her heart, with all her soul, with all her strength, and with all her mind.

Mary is wholeheartedly devoted to God and so she is listening to his word coming from the mouth of his Son.

The Law was the word of God to the people of God. In Deuteronomy 5, “Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them!” (Deuteronomy 5:1). Then, God gave the commandments. Then, in Deuteronomy 6, we read the Shema (which means, listen!): “Listen, Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You must love the LORD your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength (6:4-5).

Mary had a choice. She could have chosen to pick up an apron and follow her sister Martha and to be worried and troubled about a lot of things. But she chose not to be distracted from her primary purpose: to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to the word of God.

Now, brothers and sisters, each of us faces the same choice every day. I’m not telling you this because I am a Mary. I’m telling you this because I am naturally a Martha. It is so easy for me to set a schedule and work on a task and do a deed. It is so easy for me to get distracted with all the things I must do and not take time to sit at the feet of Jesus. When I get too busy, I’m inclined to look around and see all the Marys who I think are not working hard like I am. So, today’s message is first to me, and if it applies to you too – then we will have to join in changing our priorities.

Our Master taught us “Don’t worry saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the unconverted pursue these things, and our heavenly Father knows that we need them. But above all we should pursue his kingdom and righteousness” (Matthew 6:31-33a). How do we pursue God’s kingdom and righteousness? By sitting at his feet, listening to his words, reading his book, and spending undistracted time with God in prayer and meditation. Since most of us are Marthas, we are going to find that we have priorities that are getting in the way of this priority.

Even good things are the enemies of loving the LORD our God with our whole mind, our whole being, and all our strength. God’s message to all of us Marthas is to put the apron down, pick up our Bibles and join Mary at the feet of Jesus. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her. The good things in life are the enemies of the best thing in life because we do not have time to prioritize both.

Now, we will have time to love others and serve others and do a lot of things. But we need time to get to know the LORD our God because we cannot love others without the supernatural empowerment that comes from a heart completely dedicated to knowing and loving God.

MISSION FIRST

Luke 9:57-62 NET

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” ⁶² Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

We are continuing to study the commands of Christ as they appear chronologically in the Gospels. Today’s text begins with the words “As they were walking along the road” and that gives us the setting for the commands that Jesus gives. Jesus had been involved in a major ministry in and around the region of Galilee, but then he set his heart to change his location. He was on his way to Jerusalem. When the Samaritans learned that he was heading to Jerusalem, they rejected him. But Jesus was bound and determined to go to Jerusalem.

On his way, Jesus is recruiting evangelists to spread the gospel — to go ahead of him as he passes through southern villages on the way to Jerusalem (10:1-2).

• ¹ After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go. ² He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

Just like Jesus had commissioned the twelve to preach the gospel in Galilee, he is now recruiting followers to preach the gospel in Judea. He is also apparently recruiting people to recruit others to continue the work of evangelizing this region. That is why he is telling them to pray for more harvesters. Jesus knows that for many of these towns and cities, this will be their last opportunity to respond to the gospel.

As I read commentary after commentary this week in preparation for this message, it occurred to me that most of them read this passage out of its context. They treat this passage as if it is a general conversation between Jesus and people who are considering becoming Christians. They miss out on the fact that Jesus is recruiting people for a specific mission: the mission to reach the Judean villages and towns with the gospel.

The big idea that this passage is talking about is that when the Master calls you to a mission, the mission comes first. All other commitments must take second place because of the urgency of the harvest.

When you plant your crops, you expect the harvest at a certain time. When it’s time to harvest, you can’t be involved in something else. If you are, the harvest will go bad before you have a chance to get it. Jesus told these the new recruits (the seventy-two) that the harvest was already plentiful. It was time for all hands on deck.

But, as we see from today’s text, there were a few of these potential evangelists who thought that they should be excused from this mission. Each of these men thought that he had a reasonable excuse. But Jesus essentially told each one that their excuse was not acceptable. The mission must come first.

I don’t know why, but the Lord wants me to talk about these three sections in the opposite order in which they appear in the text. So, the first section would begin in verse 61.

• ” ⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.”

That is not an unreasonable request. In fact, you may remember that in the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah called Elisha to follow him, but Elisha asked for permission to go and say goodbye to his family first. Elisha said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And Elijah said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” So, this potential evangelist probably thought that this would be a good precedent for him to be excluded from this mission.

But Jesus didn’t think so. The mission comes first. In fact, Jesus was also aware of the Elijah and Elisha story. In that Old Testament text, Elisha is plowing with some oxen at the time, and he slaughters his oxen and has a feast with his family and then goes back to Elijah and follows him. Jesus tells this potential evangelist:

•  ⁶² “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

In other words, the time for the mission is now. Your hand is to the plow and if you look back you are going to miss your opportunity. The mission must come first.

Mission first means leaving past entanglements behind (61-62).

For this potential evangelist, the entanglement he was not ready to leave behind was his family. For others, it might be their job, or their community, or their home. Jesus was calling on the seventy-two to leave all these things behind. He was telling them to pack up and go on the road to the southern villages of Judea. That was where the harvest was. That was where the mission was. Jesus needed evangelists who were willing to leave their past entanglements because the present need was in the villages of Judea.

The seventy-two probably came from the region of Galilee. That was where they considered home. They were not culturally attached to the residents of the Judean villages that Jesus wanted them to go to. They would probably be considered outsiders in those villages. The Judeans did not think very highly of Galileans. They didn’t think anything good could come from that region.

But Jesus was challenging these Galileans to think about the harvest – to concentrate on the mission. The mission had to come first, so that meant their own past entanglements – even their family identity had to take second place. The past is not wrong. It’s not bad to be a Galilean. But it is wrong to let your past keep you from doing what your Master wants to do today.

• ⁵⁹ Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

Here is another excuse slip that seems like a sure thing. Surely Jesus will give this potential evangelist time to go make funeral arrangements? But that is not what Jesus does.

• ⁶⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Now, the scholars are divided on what is taking place here. Some think that the man’s father is not dead yet – that what this young man is saying is that his father is dying, so he must stick around until he can settle the estate.

But even if that is the case, why would Jesus be so insensitive as to deny his request? Why? Because the mission comes first.

Mission first means leaving present responsibilities behind (59-60).

Jesus wasn’t being insensitive to the man. He was being sensitive to the fact that the man was needed to “proclaim the kingdom of God.” He was being sensitive to the thousands who needed the gospel in those towns and villages of Judea. This man’s mission was not to take second place even to his present responsibilities as a son. The Judean villages cannot wait until he wraps up all his commitments. The harvest is ready now. Somebody else can bury the dead. Any unbeliever can do that. He must reach the living with the gospel.

• ⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

I think this man really believes that Jesus is the king of the Jews. He thinks that eventually when Jesus gets to Jerusalem he is going to be accepted as the new king. He thinks that there is a palace in Jesus’ future. He wants some of that.

How does Jesus respond to this poor guy, who thinks that ministry is a road to riches?

• ⁵⁸ Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Jesus and the apostles had some borrowed rooms in Peter’s house at Capernaum, but they were not at Capernaum anymore. They were not going back to Capernaum. They were headed south. They were going to the villages of Judea.

Mission first means leaving future expectations behind (57-58).

Jesus did not want this man to think that if he just followed the yellow brick road he would eventually get to fame and fortune. He had told the twelve that …

• “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).

If you take up a cross, you are not going anywhere but to your death. That is what crosses were for. Jesus was recruiting evangelists to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom in the villages of Judea. He himself was on the way to Jerusalem, not to a palace, but to a trial, and then a tomb.

Mission first means leaving your future in the hands of God. What matters most is the mission, not its outcome. We are not guaranteed a positive outcome in this life.

Paul told the Philippians that…

• “It has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him” (1:29).

Now, the good news for those who did join the seventy-two is that their mission was extremely successful. They “returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!”” (Luke 10:17). But to be accepted to be part of that mission, each of those people had to be willing to be rejected, ridiculed, and even killed by their target audience.

When the Master calls you to a mission, the mission comes first. All other commitments must take second place because of the urgency of the harvest.

It is the same way for our evangelistic missions today. Jesus wants men and women who are willing to leave their past entanglements behind, leave their present responsibilities behind, and leave their future expectations behind. He wants missionaries and local evangelists who dare to put the mission first.