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STAY DIVIDED

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STAY DIVIDED

Luke 12:49-53 NET.

⁴⁹ “I have come to bring fire on the earth — and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished! ⁵¹ Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! ⁵² For from now on there will be five in one household divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

God has a plan. He is working out his plan in this world today because he has a purpose for this world. He is not a victim of his own creation. He does not sit on his throne, wringing his hands, with sweat pouring from his face, anxious about what is going to happen today. He knows what is going to happen today. He knows what is going to happen tomorrow. He has a plan, and that plan will come together.

Most of us are aware of God having a plan, and that awareness causes us more problems than it solves. The trouble is that we experience things in our personal, and family lives and as citizens that we cannot line up with God’s plan. Our church bulletins list people with problems that we pray for regularly. Sometimes those prayers are answered, and we have a reason to praise God for the answers. But many people just stay on the list because the problems don’t seem to go away. We have problems reconciling that fact with what we know about God’s sovereignty, his omnipotence, and his compassionate mercy.

The Book of Job helps us to deal with that inner conflict we feel. In that book, Job underwent a personal upheaval. He was attacked with a horrible and uncontrollable disease. He lost almost all his family members. He had tremendous wealth, and he suffered catastrophe after catastrophe all at once and lost everything. His wife told him to curse God and die. His friends got together to counsel him, and all they could offer to comfort him was accusation and rebuke.

Of course, that is not all that the book reveals. If it were, we would all despair. But Job goes on to tell us of God’s intervention. God vindicates Job and restores his health and all the aspects of his life. Job also points us to the fact that Job’s series of misfortunes were all caused by the devil. The problems Job was facing were not caused by his disobedience, but God allowed them to prove that Job was obedient and faithful.

What encourages us when we read Job’s story is that his problems did fit into God’s plan – just not in the way everybody else thought they did. The book of Job uncovers the secret to the things in his life that looked out of place.

Now, if we fast-forward from Job’s time to the first century A.D., we come to a portion of Jesus’ discourse as recorded in Luke 12. Jesus is doing for us a similar thing that the Book of Job does. He is uncovering some of the things that are going to happen in history because they fulfill God’s plan. He wants us to have an awareness of how certain unexplainable events fit into God’s overall plan.

He says that because of God’s plan, Jesus had to endure a baptism (50).

Jesus said he had a baptism to undergo, and that he would distressed until it is finished. We know that Jesus is not talking about his literal baptism by John in the Jordan River. That had already taken place.

Later, in Mark 10, we learn that this baptism is tied to Christ’s coming crucifixion. The sons of Zebedee — James and John — ask Jesus for places of honor at his right and left hand when he is glorified. Jesus replies by asking them if they can drink the cup that he is going to drink and can be baptized with the baptism he will experience. They said yes. Then he revealed that those two – James and John, the sons of Zebedee – would drink the cup that Jesus drank and be baptized with the baptism that he would experience. Both these men suffered persecution for their loyalty to Christ, and both eventually died because of their faith in Christ.

The baptism that Jesus predicted that he would experience would include all the opposition, persecution, false accusations, and trials that he would undergo, up to and including his crucifixion and death. In the Gospels, Jesus warns his apostles that he would suffer these things numerous times. He wanted them to know that these experiences were not just personal challenges they would have to face. He wanted them to know that they were part of God’s plan.

The apostles had a hard time getting their heads around that fact. Peter himself personally rebuked Jesus for saying that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed. Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.” (Matthew 16:23).

Peter could not figure out how Jesus suffering and dying could be in God’s interest. There are lots of things in God’s plan that you and I cannot figure out either. In today’s passage, Jesus reveals some other things that we will find difficulty with. They are things that don’t seem to fit. We have problems saying that God planned these things. They seem out of character with the God of love, mercy, and compassion that we read about in the Bible.

Because of God’s plan, the whole earth will experience catastrophe (49).

Jesus says that he has come to bring fire on the earth. His relative – John the Baptist – predicted the same thing. He was speaking to the Judean crowds and said that the one who comes after him would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and Fire. Then he goes on to say that the Messiah has a winnowing fork in his hand, and he is going to clean out his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into his storehouse and burning up the chaff.

John was revealing that Jesus would have two ministries to his own people – the Jews. He would pour out his Holy Spirit on some of the Jews and they would come to faith. They would be the harvested wheat. The remainder would experience the fire – the destruction.

The fire that Jesus predicts in today’s text is the same kind of fire. It is the fire of judgment and destruction. Jesus says he is going to bring it on the earth. He literally says he is going to cast it on the earth. That is a picture of fire coming from the sky. It is an Old Testament image of God’s judgment upon his enemies.

Isaiah says “as flaming fire devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust. For they have rejected the law of the LORD who commands armies, they have spurned the commands of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 5:24).

Jeremiah says “You must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the LORD and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. If you do not, my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you that no one will be able to extinguish” (Jeremiah 4:4).

Ezekiel says that Israel “was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground. The east wind dried up its fruit; its strong branches broke off and withered — a fire consumed them” (Ezekiel 19:12).

The crowds that Jesus was speaking to that day in Judea would all understand his prediction. He was saying that God was going to begin judging his own people. In fact, the way Jesus said it, the judgment would not be limited to just the Jews of Judea. Jesus was going to cast fire down onto the whole earth.

They understood that it was the whole planet who had rebelled against God, not just the Jews. So, they could probably justify that coming judgment. What they probably had problems with is Jesus’ other statement about it. He said, “How distressed I am until it is finished!” What Jesus is saying is that there is a purpose for the catastrophe to come. God has a plan to cleanse the earth of all its impurities to bring down the new Jerusalem and establish a new heaven and new earth, in which only righteousness dwells. The fire is not the end. The fire makes way for the new forest.

But then Jesus throws another wrench into the works. He says that there is still another thing that is going to happen as a direct result of Jesus and his ministry.

Because of God’s plan, families will experience division (51-53).

Our Christmas cards say that Jesus brought peace on earth. He did not. What the angels said on that Christmas night was “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14).

Herod did not experience peace when he found out about the newborn king. He “was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him” (Matthew 2:3). His fear sent him on a murder spree, bringing disorder, chaos, and catastrophe to all the families in or near Bethlehem.

The peace that Jesus brought only applies to those who put their faith in him. For the rest of the world, there will be division, and that division will affect our families. King Jesus cannot be ignored. We are all forced to take sides. No one is allowed the luxury of abstaining from the vote. Every family seems to have some believers and some unbelievers. Even some marriages are mixed.

This division among families is not a problem to be fixed. It is a reality to be recognized. It is essential that those who are true Christians stay separate from those who are not.

Because of God’s plan, Jesus wants us to stay divided, not to compromise.

Jesus had taught this before. He knew that sometimes our loyalty to our families would tempt us to be disloyal to him. Jesus was told that his own family had come to see him. He said, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35).

Jesus taught us that his mission comes first. Somebody told him “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” He told him “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:61-62). If family is your priority over the kingdom of Christ, you are not in the kingdom of Christ.

The Apostle Paul also knew that family – and society in general – would tempt us to compromise on the principles of the kingdom. That is why he wrote, “Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God — what is good and well-pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:1).

We will be tempted to find unity where we should not be looking for it. That is what I see in a lot of modern-day churches and families. People confess that abortion is wrong because it is the taking of an innocent life. Then someone in their family has an abortion. Then – suddenly – it is not so wrong. In fact, it is a person’s reproductive right. People confess that God’s design is a monogamous heterosexual marriage for a lifetime. Then, someone in their family comes out of the closet. Then they start talking about how God is a God of love, and he doesn’t care who you love.

Jesus’ command implied in today’s text is a hard one, but it is his command. We ignore this instruction to our own peril. He is telling us that when we face conflict between what the world is saying and what God says in his word, we should avoid compromise. Jesus is the source of the division. If the truth divides us, we need to stay divided. We are called to be salt in a saltless land. If we are saltless ourselves, how can people taste him? We are called to be light in a dark world. If we hide the light, who will be able to see him?

Get on Jesus’ side and stay on his side. Don’t switch sides. Don’t be paralyzed by indecision. “If the LORD is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” (1 Kings 18:21). If religion separates you, it also defines you. If we stay committed to him today, we will find that he has stayed committed to us on Judgment Day. God has not called us to make all our enemies friends by compromising. He has called us to reconcile God’s enemies to him by loving them as enemies, not by pretending to be their friends. The temptation is for us to avoid conflict by removing those aspects of our lives that unbelievers object to. Jesus teaches us not to give in to that temptation. We must remain 100% sold out to him. Compromise is selling out to the enemy.

ABRAHAM BELIEVED

ABRAHAM BELIEVED

Romans 4:1-5 NET.

¹ What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? ² For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast about — but not before God. ³ For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. ⁵ But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.

It’s that time again. The first Sunday of the month is when we take another look at the most basic doctrine of the Christian faith. We call it the gospel. It is the good news of salvation by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Last month we saw the gospel described in Romans 3:20-24, where Paul told the Romans that just having the Bible and doing what it says to do cannot save you. The good news of the gospel is not “do this and you can be saved.” But the Bible has revealed how we can be saved. Our salvation was accomplished for us by Jesus Christ, and we are saved not by imitating him, but by putting our faith in him and what he did.

Today we are also participating in the Lord’s Supper, or communion. Every time we reenact that ritual, we remember something. It is not designed to help us remember an idea. It’s not a pneumonic device. It is designed to help us remember an event: the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Our faith is in him and what he did for us. None of us was there when Jesus died. But by faith, we can still remember his sacrifice and declare our connection with him as our savior and his sacrifice as the means of God’s atonement for our sins.

The Book of Romans was originally a letter written by the Apostle Paul to explain his understanding of the gospel to the Christians in Rome. I mentioned last week that Rome had both Jewish and Gentile Christians. Paul was a Jewish Christian, and one of the things he wanted to explain in his letter was the relationship between the Jewish faith and his Christian faith. In chapters 2-3 Paul had made the case that everyone – Jew and Gentile alike – was a sinner, and no amount of good works could change them into saints. He explained that God is going to judge the secrets of all our hearts, and just being born as a child of Abraham according to the flesh is not going to account for anything on that judgment day. We are all lawbreakers, so just having a law against sin is not going to matter if you are constantly breaking it. Paul says that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin. So, since that is the case, why is there an Old Testament, and what purpose did God have in giving us his revealed word in the first 39 books of the Bible?

That is the question that Paul addresses here in the fourth chapter of Romans. He goes back to the record in Genesis and exegetes the story of Abraham’s call.

Paul tells us that Abraham discovered something (1).

Sometimes when we discover some important truth, we call it having a eureka moment. The word eureka is the Greek for “I have found it.” It is the same verb that Paul used in this verse describing Abraham. Abraham discovered something.

When Paul calls Abraham “our ancestor according to the flesh” he is addressing his fellow Christian Jews in Rome. They were Christians, but they were also Jews. Abraham was their ancestor according to the flesh. They were related to him physically. Paul knew what that was like because he also was Abraham’s seed. When God promised Abraham a seed, he was referring to the Jewish race.

Paul knew that every Jew was tempted to trust in his physical heritage and to assume that he belonged to God by virtue of being that seed of Abraham. But Paul also knew that the more you focused on yourself as God’s seed, the easier it would be to miss what Abraham discovered. Paul wanted to stress something else revealed in Genesis: Abraham’s eureka moment. His Aha moment. When Abraham had his encounter with the God of the Bible, he discovered something that went beyond the limits of his ancestry. He had a change inside himself that could not be traced to his DNA. His discovery was spiritual.

Now, what Paul is saying to those physical Israelites at Rome is that if you miss that spiritual discovery, it won’t matter how related you are to Abraham according to the flesh! It won’t matter how loyal you think you are to the Jewish Law and traditions. None of that will matter because God’s call on Abraham’s life had nothing to do with those traditions.

Paul says that Abraham was not justified by works (2,4).

Paul goes back to the Genesis account, and he has a look at how the Bible describes Abraham when God first visits him in Haran. What is interesting as you read the account in Genesis 12 is the fact that there is no mention of Abram’s character there. God speaks to him and tells him to leave his country, his relatives, and his father’s household. But God never says anything about any law, and he never tells Abram that he is being chosen because of his obedience.

God does not call Abram a great man here. In fact, he tells Abram that he will make him into a great nation and that he will bless him and make his name great so that Abram will “exemplify divine blessing” (Genesis 12:2). The focus is never on what Abram did to impress God. The focus is always on what God is going to do for Abram. Abram was obedient to the call, but that obedience was not the basis for the blessing. The focus is not on the fact that Abram obeyed and went, the focus is on why he obeyed and went.

That is why in Romans 4:2, Paul says “if Abraham was justified by works” – implying that he was not. He was justified. God saved Abraham the moment he responded to his call. But that salvation did not come to Abraham because of obedience to the Law. There was no Law to obey. Abraham had no Law. But Abraham did have something from God that was better than the Law. Abraham had a promise.

The Aha moment for Abraham – his eureka moment – his discovery that set him on a spiritual pilgrimage from that day on for the rest of his life – was his response to that promise.

In verse 4, Paul says that if a worker gets paid for his work, that is not grace. It is an obligation for an employer to pay his employee. If the employees don’t get paid, they go on strike. So, if God had approached Abram and said “Do this, this and this, and don’t do this, this and that, and THEN I will bless you” it would have been justification by the works of the Law. But God came to Abram with the blessing of a promise first.

That left Abraham with two decisions to make. He obviously had to decide whether he was going to obey the call of God on his life and leave all that he knew to go to Canaan which he did not know. But before Abraham could choose to obey, he had a prior decision to make. This was a more important decision because it would serve as the basis for the other decision.

Paul says that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness (3, 5).

Abram decided to believe the promise. He decided to put his faith in the God who had appeared to him. Centuries before Moses stood on a mountain and passed the tablets of the Law to the Israelites, Abram decided to trust his life in God’s hands. It was that decision to believe God that made Abram the father of all the faithful.

In verse 3, Paul quotes Genesis 15:6. That verse says that Abram believed Yahveh, and Yahveh “considered his response of faith as proof of genuine loyalty.” Based on Abram’s response of faith, God credited him with a righteousness that he had not earned and could never earn. It was an imputed righteousness. It was the righteousness of Christ, credited to Abram’s account.

It is unfortunate that we must explain what actual credit is to talk about this idea. Most of us have cards in our wallets that are called credit cards. They should be called obligation cards because what they really mean is that we can borrow money we don’t have to pay a debt we can’t afford. There are over 7 billion of these “credit cards” in the world, causing a tremendous debt problem for us.

Real credit is something that you have now. When Moses wrote that Abram believed God and God credited that faith as righteousness, he was describing the beginning of a spiritual heritage. This heritage pre-dated Abraham’s physical heritage. Paul would write to the Galatians that if a person belongs to Christ, then that person is Abraham’s seed according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). Not “according to the flesh” which applies to all Israelites. Belonging to Christ makes a person Abraham’s seed according to the promise.

There were lots of advantages to being a physical Jew, a descendant of Abraham according to the flesh. But being saved by grace was not one of those advantages. To be saved by grace, you had to respond to God’s promise by believing in his word. The good news to all of us is that the promise of salvation by grace is not limited to a certain race, skin color, or family. It is a promise of spiritual and everlasting blessing. It is a promise that is open to every man, woman, and child.

You can say “yes” to Jesus at any time – if you have the time to decide to believe what God has promised about him. Even as we take the emblem of the bread – symbolizing our Lord’s body on the cross. You can say “I believe that Jesus allowed his body to be broken for me so that I would not have to experience the second death I deserve.” You can take the cup, symbolizing the Lord’s blood shed on the cross. You can say “I believe that Jesus’ blood was poured out as a sacrifice to atone and purify me of my sins, so that I can have the forgiveness I need, but could not purchase on my own.” If you say these things and believe them in your heart, God will accept that faith and you too will be credited with Christ’s righteousness.

All of us who have declared that faith have discovered what Abraham discovered. We have found that God is not a puzzle to be solved by hard work and harsh discipline. He is a promise to be believed – a destiny to be trusted. He is a God of grace in whom we can put our faith.

STAY READY

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STAY READY

Luke 12:35-48 NET.

Penny and I have spent a lot of our time in our decades of ministry teaching others how to teach the Bible. For me, I always begin with four questions. First, “What is the Background of this text that I need to know in order to understand it?” Second, “What special words appear in the text that I need to understand?” Third. “What is the theological focus of the text?” Finally, “How should I apply this text?”

Today’s text is a continuation of the discourse Jesus is having with his apostles as the crowds of Judea look on. That answers one of the background questions. The speaker is Jesus, and his primary target is his apostles. But some of what he says will also be relevant for the larger crowd of disciples and potential apostles who are looking on.

But the background involves more than that question. It also consists of the culture that the speaker shares with the listeners. For example, when I say the words “Dale’s Store” everyone at Piney Grove knows what I am referring to. I don’t have to explain the history and background of Dale’s Store to you, because you all know it.

The people who were listening to Jesus on the day in which he spoke the words of today’s text knew some things in their cultural background that helped them understand what Jesus was talking about. We might be able to understand the gist of what Jesus is talking about by just reading the text as it is. But we will understand it much better and see its relevance if we also know what his audience did.

For that reason, I want to explain a cultural phenomenon that the Jews in the first century called the Shoshabin. The Greeks in the first century called it the paranymph. It had to do with weddings. After the wedding ceremony, the groom and the bride would enjoy a long wedding party that would last for several days. At some point during the party, the groom would tell his special friend – his Shoshabin – to take his bride to his house, so that she could get ready for their honeymoon. The Shoshabin was often a brother or other relative of the groom – someone he intrinsically trusted. Sometimes it was his chief steward – the slave that he trusted to manage his household. The Shoshabin would then organize all the other slaves in the household to stand watch and stay ready for their master to return from the party.

The Shoshabin also had another responsibility. It was not unheard of for some unscrupulous character looking for a wife to break into a house where a bride awaits her new groom and to steal the bride for himself. The Shoshabin was primarily responsible for protecting the bride from this thief.

My point in telling you this set of facts about the first-century culture is that it provides the background we need to hear the words of Jesus as someone living in that time and place would have heard them. It is easier for us to get what Jesus is commanding if we know about the Shoshabin and his role.

With that in mind, let us now listen to Jesus’ words from today’s text.

We should stay ready because we don’t know when the Lord will come (35-40)

³⁵ “Get dressed for service and keep your lamps burning; ³⁶ be like people waiting for their master to come back from the wedding celebration, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom their master finds alert when he returns! I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, have them take their place at the table, and will come and wait on them! ³⁸ Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, blessed are those slaves! ³⁹ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

The first command from Jesus we hear is the command to get dressed for service. Does he mean that we should get dressed for the worship service? It used to be common for those going to church to dress in their finest suits and most expensive dresses. Is that what Jesus is talking about/ Hardly. In fact, to be dressed for service means to be dressed appropriately to serve the master when he returns from the wedding celebration.

When I go out into the garden in the morning, I dress for gardening. I wear clothes that I can work in. I wear shoes that I don’t mind getting muddy and clothes that protect me from mosquitoes. I wear a hat to protect my head from the sun. I wear a bandana to catch the sweat. I don’t wear gloves because they interfere with pulling weeds.

When Jesus tells his apostles to be dressed for service, he is painting a picture for them. It is a picture of a group of slaves waiting for their master to come home from his wedding party. They know he will probably be tired from walking, and they are ready to provide him with the rest he needs. He might be thirsty, so they have a pitcher of cool water ready. He will need his feet washed. They have a new robe ready for him to put on before he retires to the bedroom where his new bride awaits him.

When Jesus tells his apostles to keep their lamps burning, he is telling them to provide enough light so that they can see their master the instant he returns. A burning lamp was also a way for a slave to keep himself from nodding off during the long wait for his master. They wanted to stay ready for their master.

In the story that Jesus told, he mentions the owner of the house. The οἰκοδεσπότης could refer to the owner of a house, and if it does so here, it means that the master has a trusted Shoshabin in place to protect his new bride from the thief. But an οἰκοδεσπότης can also be the chief steward who is charged with protecting the house and its contents while the master is away. Either way, when Jesus is talking about protecting the house, he is not changing the subject. He’s not introducing a new parable. Protecting the house from the thief is also the responsibility of the Shoshabin because the new bride is in the house and she would be the thief’s target.

We should stay ready because our Lord expects us to manage his household (41-44).

⁴¹ Then Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” ⁴² The Lord replied, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his household servants, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that slave whom his master finds at work when he returns. ⁴⁴ I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions.

Peter has a habit of blurting out statements and asking questions that turn out to be less than helpful. But his question here is right on the money. We have already seen that Jesus is preaching to his apostles, but the onlooking crowd is also listening. Peter wants to know who Jesus wants to stay ready. Is this a general command or is it specific to the apostles only?

Jesus reminds Peter that there are two levels of readiness in his story. There is the general readiness of all the slaves. All the slaves are required to be ready for their master when he returns. But among the slaves, there are some who are charged with being faithful and wise managers. These are the slaves who organize the whole household. They are the chief stewards. They are responsible not just to stay ready themselves. They are charged with seeing to it that the whole household is ready and stays ready.

So, to answer Peter’s question: the whole crowd is responsible for staying ready for Christ’s return. However, the spiritual leaders are responsible for managing and supplying the household, protecting the bride, and ensuring that all the slaves are ready for the Master when he returns.

Those who take this responsibility seriously are promised a great blessing when the master returns. The master will put them in charge of all his possessions. Proving faithful as a spiritual leader in this life will lead to a higher status in Christ’s kingdom when he returns. The leaders in the coming kingdom will not be arbitrarily appointed – like James and John’s mother wanted. They will be appointed based on the work that is being done to serve Christ now. Staying ready for the coming Christ and preparing his Bride – the Church – to meet him is a high priority for us.

We should stay ready because our Lord will punish those who are unfaithful (45-48).

⁴⁵ But if that slave should say to himself, ‘My master is delayed in returning,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat, drink, and get drunk, ⁴⁶ then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ That servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked will receive a severe beating.

⁴⁸ But the one who did not know his master’s will and did things worthy of punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.

Here Jesus introduces a scenario in which slaves charged with managing the household ignore the command. The bride is forgotten, left to fend for herself when the thief comes in to kidnap her. The other slaves are abused and mistreated. The chief steward focuses on his own wants. He eats all the food and drinks all the wine. What is going to happen to that household when the master returns from the party? The chief steward is cut in two. He failed his assignment.

His new assignment is the place where all the unfaithful will be sent. The other slaves will be punished as well. Some will be beaten severely, others lightly – depending on how much they knew about their responsibility to stay ready for the master and protect his bride.

Now, this story that Jesus taught is a parable, and it is not intended to teach us the details. But we can figure out that Jesus is talking about the lives we are to live today so that we are ready for his return – whenever that may be. The focus of the story is not the timing of Jesus’ return. We cannot discern from this story whether Jesus is going to come today or a thousand years from today. The focus of the story is what you and I should be doing in the period before Jesus comes back.

If we are not serving him now, we will not be dressed to serve him when he returns. Learning and following the commands of Christ help us to stay ready for his arrival.

If the light of God’s word is not shining in our minds today, our lamps will not be burning when he returns. Getting a steady diet of God’s word daily helps us to stay ready for his arrival.

If we are not providing for and equipping the rest of his servants in his household today, we will not be ready to do so when he returns. Learning to lead and disciple others helps us to stay ready for his arrival.

If we are not protecting the bride today, we will anger the groom when he returns. Keeping the church pure by watching our lifestyle and our doctrine helps us to stay ready for his arrival.

Stay ready. That’s the point. If we are not ready now, we need to get ready. If we are ready today, we need to stay ready because there just might be a long wait. So far, we have been waiting thousands of years. Jesus may not come in our lifetime. The point of today’s lesson is not for us to figure out when he is coming. The point is for us to understand what he wants us to be doing in the meantime.

STAY CALM

STAY CALM

Luke 12:13-34 NET

In the Anxiety Handbook, we read that the “symptoms of anxiety can be divided into four slightly overlapping categories of symptoms: the physiological (what your body is experiencing), the cognitive (your thoughts), the emotional (your feelings), and the behavioral (what your body is doing externally).”[1]

The physiological symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, and other gastric problems, frequent urination, flushing of the skin, light-headedness, headache, muscle tension, rapid heart rate, palpitation, recurrent localized pain, shortness of breath, sleeping problems, sweating, involuntary twitching of muscles and tingling sensations.

The cognitive symptoms include confusion, poor memory, decreased problem-causing skills, difficulty concentrating or paying attention, distorted perception, morbid thoughts, obsessions, and oversensitivity.

The emotional symptoms include anger, rage, lashing out, fear and even terror, fear of losing control, feeling as if one is not in one’s body, feelings of apprehension, loss of one’s sense of reality, and panic: an extreme need to escape the situation.

The behavioral symptoms include erratic behavior, failing to complete tasks by avoiding challenges or avoiding the tasks altogether, fidgeting, hand wringing, finger tapping, irritability, perfectionism, pressured and rapid speech, restlessness, pacing, nervous shaking or moving of the limbs, trembling, withdrawal from people and lack of participation.

Some of these symptoms may apply to you. I know some of them apply to me sometimes. Anxiety comes to us all at times. The problem is when anxiety stays. That is when it becomes a disorder. In today’s text, Jesus encounters someone with anxiety, and he uses that as an opportunity to teach his disciples how to avoid it. So, in addition to his encouragement for us to stay real in the first part of this chapter, he teaches us to stay calm in this part.

Stay calm because life is not about taking care of ourselves (13-21).

¹³ Then someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But Jesus said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator between you two?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶ He then told them a parable: “The land of a certain rich man produced an abundant crop, ¹⁷ so he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to myself, “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”‘ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ²¹ So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God.”

Last week, we saw the setting of this discourse. It is very similar to that of the sermon on the mount. Jesus is teaching his apostles, and there is a very large crowd looking on, and listening in. This section begins with a rude interruption. Someone from the crowd blurts out a request for Jesus to arbitrate a dispute over his inheritance. I think we can add rudeness and lack of consideration as symptoms of anxiety. This man interrupted the Lord’s sermon to his apostles with a personal request. It had nothing to do with what Jesus was preaching about. Jesus said as much in reply to his request. He essentially said to the rude interrupter that the man’s inheritance was none of his business.

So, Jesus turns back to the twelve, but he uses that interruption as a segway to a new topic. He warns the apostles to watch out for greed because life is not about taking care of yourself by getting as much as you can. By saying this, Jesus links two problems: greed and anxiety. Being greedy gives you something to worry about. Wanting more makes you anxious when you don’t get what you want. That was this man’s problem.

Jesus proceeds to tell another parable. Remember that parables are designed to illustrate something that is usually taught elsewhere. Avoiding the two related evils of greed and worry are identified by Jesus as the subject matter of this parable. He said in verse 15 for us to guard ourselves against greed, and he will go on to tell us not to worry in verses 22 and 29, and not to be afraid in verse 32.

The parable is about a farmer who has anxiety because he is greedy. As a farmer, he is a tremendous success. He had such an abundant crop that his current barns would not be able to hold his whole harvest. Now, if this man had not been greedy, he might have seen this as an opportunity to be a good Samaritan to all his poor neighbors. In so doing, he would have been obeying the second great commandment of the Law. But he was greedy. All he could think about was keeping all his harvest. So, he decides to tear down his barns and build bigger ones – to take care of himself at the expense of the needy all around him.

The rude interrupter was like that. He was anxious to get what was coming to him, and so worried about it that he interrupted the preaching of the gospel to feed his greed.

In the parable, the LORD calls this rich anxious man a fool. He had been a success as a farmer but a failure as a person. His greed for more stuff caused him to waste his life on stuff he could not keep. He would die, and all that stuff he had accumulated would go to someone else. You could call such a man stupid. He worried about the things of this life but never gave a thought to preparing for the next. That is what happens to someone who stores up riches for himself but is not rich toward God.

Stay calm because the ravens are teaching us something (22-26).

²² Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For there is more to life than food and more to the body than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add an hour to his life? ²⁶ So if you cannot do such a very little thing as this, why do you worry about the rest?

Jesus gives us three examples of those who are not overcome by greed and who are not eaten up by anxiety. The first is the ravens. These are birds of prey. They live in the same world that the rich fool lives in. But they don’t sow or reap, and unlike the rich farmer, they don’t have any barns. They find what they need because God feeds them.

Jesus asks a question in this section that is very revealing. He asks which of us by worrying can add an hour to our lives. We know that worrying does the exact opposite. Anxiety takes away from our lives. It doesn’t add to it.

Imagine if the ravens got together and decided that they needed to figure out how to plant berry bushes and build worm farms. If they spent their time worrying about doing what they could not do, they would not have time to hunt for what God has already provided for them. The best thing for the ravens to do is to be ravens.

Now, God knows what you and I need too. He wants to feed us, just like he feeds the ravens, but he is insulted if we keep trying to do his job for him.

Stay calm because the flowers are teaching us something (27-31).

²⁷ Consider how the flowers grow; they do not work or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these!

²⁸ And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you people of little faith! ²⁹ So do not be overly concerned about what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not worry about such things. ³⁰ For all the nations of the world pursue these things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ Instead, pursue his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

The flowers and the wild grass are two tremendous gifts from our creator. They adorn this world we live in. They give it a glorious color. I remember on our thru hike in 2018 I was talking to a young lady who was hiking with us for a time. We were looking out over a meadow of some of the lushest green grass we had ever seen. I said to her “That’s what God can do with only one crayon out of the box.”

In the culture in which Jesus and the apostles lived, the grass was also an abundant source of free fuel. It could be harvested, dried, and burned in the ovens to cook food. Imagine that – something to do with grass that doesn’t require spending thousands of dollars on a lawn mower!

Jesus tells us not to worry about the things that all the nations of the world pursue. In fact, the words “do not be overly concerned about” in verse 29 is the same word translated as “pursue” in verse 31. We are to spend our time pursuing God’s kingdom. The kingdom of God is either his rule in our lives today or his rule of the restored universe when Christ comes again. Either way, we are to be concerned about God’s will and his plan, not the mundane things like food and clothing. The contrast is that the nations of the world without God pursue mundane things. In fact, the word pursue is a stronger word in verse 30. The nations of the world eagerly seek the things of the world. When they don’t get enough to satisfy their greed, they become anxious.

Stay calm because the sheep are teaching us something (32-34).

³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out — a treasure in heaven that never decreases, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The little flock of verse 32 is not a flock of ravens. It is a flock of sheep. Jesus uses the shepherd and sheep metaphor a few times in the Gospels to describe his relationship with believers. For that reason, one of the words describing a church leader is pastor, another term for shepherd. Jesus is the chief shepherd, and we pastors are undershepherds.

I have seen actual sheep following their shepherds on four continents. I’ve seen it here in America, in Europe, in Oceania, and in Africa. Not once have I ever seen a sheep carrying something on its back. Sheep don’t have to collect things and carry them with them. No, the shepherd provides all the flock’s needs.

Sheep can teach us something about how to live our lives. Instead of pursuing all the things we might need or want, we would do much better if we focused on just being sheep. That is all a sheep is responsible for, so it leaves it to the shepherd to take care of all its needs.

Now, the sheep, the ravens, the flowers and the grass are all teaching us to calm down and trust God to take care of us. We can get nervous and excited and fearful and anxious about the stuff of this world. Or we can choose to let God take care of those needs. We can choose to focus our lives on being who God says we are. We are his creatures, and we glorify him when we choose to depend on him. Instead of building bigger barns for us, if he gives us more than we need, we will just share it with those who do need it. Instead of putting ourselves into early graves by anxiety, we can live our lives to their fullest – grateful that we have a Father who is fully capable of taking care of his children.

[1] The Anxiety Handbook: The 7-Step Plan to Understand Manage and Overcome Anxiety. Callistoga Press 2013. p. 10.

STAY REAL

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.