jeffersonvann

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.

JUSTIFIED BY HIS GRACE

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. ²⁴But 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

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.

LOVE LESSONS

LOVE LESSONS

Luke 10:25-37 NET

Since we started studying the commands of Christ, we have been looking at those commands chronologically, that is – according to the time when the commands were given, from the first command to the last. But we have skipped a lot of content in the Gospels because those sections do not contain direct commands from Jesus.

We are going to make an exception to that practice in looking at today’s text. It mostly contains a parable that Jesus taught. I have been bypassing the parables because the parables are illustrations that Jesus used, and usually we can find the commands of Christ that relate to the parables and teach directly from the commands.

The parables are designed to illustrate a teaching found elsewhere. This is clear from the term “parable” itself. It comes from two Greek words: пαρα (meaning “alongside”) and βαλλω (meaning “to place”). A παραβολή is a story placed alongside a teaching to illustrate it – to give an example of what is being taught or taught against.

The parable we are going to be looking at today is the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. I’m making an exception in teaching from this parable today because the command that Jesus is teaching is so familiar to us that most of us assume that we obey it already. That was the case of the religious expert who was talking to Jesus. Jesus used the parable to show this religious expert that he was not doing what he thought he was doing.

In vss. 25-29, we see the context of the parable.

²⁵ Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” ²⁷ 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.”

²⁸ Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” ²⁹ But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

We are introduced to a certain expert in religious law. A νομικός was a person learned in the law, but not political or civil law. This person was an expert in the law of God. We would call him a theological scholar. I have known a few theological scholars, and they are usually quite intimidating. These are the kind of people who can quote chapter and verse on any biblical reference and have a keen understanding of any topic about which there is any controversy. You don’t want too many theological scholars in your congregation.

Anyway, this guy is a theologian. Jesus is not intimidated by theologians. Even when he was twelve years old, he was sitting among the teachers in the temple and amazing the listeners with his understanding (Luke 2:46-47). But this theologian stood up to test Jesus. That’s a bad idea by the way. He should have learned from Jesus like those teachers in the temple did. There is nothing we can ever say to teach Jesus anything, and we are never going to catch him in a mistake.

The actual question was “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” – which is a very important question to ask. This scholar did know his stuff, and he had chosen a question that gets to the point. It recognizes that this life is temporary, so the most important pursuit of human beings who find themselves in this mortal life is about what can be done to turn this mortal life into an immortal one. Unlike many theologians today, he does not assume that human beings were created immortal. The Bible does not teach that, and he knows it.

In answer to his question, Jesus turns the inquiry right back to him. He wants to know what this theologian thinks he should do in order to inherit a permanent life. The scholar is ready with his own answer, and it is directly from Scripture – Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18). The greatest command is to love, and we are to love God and our neighbor.

Jesus said to this theologian that he had the answer. It is a very rare occasion when Jesus says something like that to any of us. As we read through the Gospels, we keep coming to situations where Jesus asks his disciples a question, and they answer him, and you can just see him facepalming. In fact, he once said to his disciples “You unbelieving and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you?” (Matthew 17:17). Compared to Jesus, we are all doofuses.

But this theologian had the right answer. The problem was that he was not living the right answer. He ended up asking a follow-up question because he wanted to justify himself. In other words, he knew the right thing to do, but he wanted Jesus to give him permission to keep not doing it. His follow-up question was “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus taught him this parable as an answer to that question.

In vss. 30-33, we see the characters of the parable.

³⁰Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man he passed by on the other side.

³² So too a Levite, when he came up to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him.

The characters in this parable can be categorized like this: there was one stupid man, two important men, and one hated man.

The stupid man was the man who didn’t have the good sense to avoid traveling alone on the road to Jericho. It was a dangerous road, and anybody who must travel on it should take precautions. Apparently, this stupid man didn’t get the memo. He took off into the valley of the shadow of death with no protection and no company. That made him a sitting duck for bandits who love to prey on the unprotected. The robbers stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead.

As Jesus is telling this story, the Judeans who are gathered around listening are doing some facepalming themselves. They are saying in their minds, “What an idiot. You don’t take that road without protection. He deserves what he got.”

But remember – Jesus is having a conversation with this theologian. He is answering the question “Who is my neighbor.” The theologian is trying to keep up with Jesus’ story, and he is probably trying to figure out what the punch line is. So, he might have asked himself if this stupid man was the neighbor he is supposed to love.

The two important men are the priest and Levite. They are important in the Judean culture. They are important religiously – seen as men of God. They are important socially – seen as positive influences in the community. They are important politically because of their connection to the temple.

The theologian listens to Jesus talk about how these two important men choose to avoid the victim in the story. He probably recalls instances in his own life when he also avoided helping someone for similar reasons. These are men that he would be proud to have in his neighborhood because they bring honor and prestige to any place they live. In fact, he might have had a neighbor who was a priest and another one who was a Levite. But he must admit that they are not acting very neighborly to the victim of the robbers. Mr. Rogers, they are not.

Jesus often put an ironic twist to his parables. In this parable, the hero turns out to be the hated man, the Samaritan. Nowadays, we sometimes use the term Samaritan for someone who helps people in need. But this would never have entered the minds of that theologian or his fellow Judeans. The Samaritans were considered half-breed apostates. They were reviled and despised as enemies. Even the disciples of Christ thought it quite proper to ask him to rain down fire on the Samaritans. They had been flabbergasted when they found Jesus talking to that woman at the well – because she was a woman – from Sychar – in Samaria.

But of all the people in Jesus’ parable, it was a hated Samaritan who was obeying the command to love his neighbor as himself.

In verses 34-37, we see the command of the parable.

³⁴ He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.’ ³⁶ Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷ The expert in religious law said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” So Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

Everything that this Samaritan did in the parable shows us how to love our neighbor. Notice that the important men avoided the neighbor. They passed by on the other side so that they would not be contaminated or inconvenienced by the trouble the stupid man got into by his stupidity. But he “went up to him.” He dared to get close to the problem because he wanted to help. You can say you love your neighbor all day long, but if you never get close, you can never truly show love. Love cannot be practiced from a distance. You can say from a distance “Be warm and well-fed.” But Love comes with a blanket and a sandwich. You can’t email food and clothing. You must get close enough to bring it.

He bandaged the stupid man’s wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. If he hadn’t done that, the victim might have stayed right there and died. We would say he administered first aid. Our Samaritan was the first responder. Our society has some excellent first responders – police officers and firefighters and medical personnel – but this Samaritan was not a professional. He was just a Samaritan. He was a foreigner in that land, and he had no reason to volunteer other than the fact that he saw the need and had something that he could do to meet that need.

He put his bandaged patient on his own animal, took him to an inn, and took care of him. He planned for his ongoing care. He didn’t look for the man’s family, or try to get the local government to step in. He did what he could do. He showed mercy. Mercy is undeserved love. The Samaritan was not obligated to help this Judean. He was not a neighbor in the political or social sense. He became a neighbor in the moral and biblical sense.

So, when the theologian admitted that it was this Samaritan who was obeying Leviticus 19:18, Jesus told him to go and do the same. You must get past your own personal prejudice to show love to people who are not like you. Go and do the same. You must get past your own sense of importance to stop avoiding people with problems and let their problems inconvenience you. Go and do the same. You must get past your own selfishness when you see people with needs and realize that helping them is going to cost you some of the resources you thought you would reserve for your own needs and that of your own family. Go and do the same.

The command that Jesus highlights in today’s text is to love your neighbor as yourself. The parable exposes the difference between those who say they love and those who love. True happiness may be a warm puppy, but true love is a warm blanket and first aid. Friendship may be expressed by watching a game together. But true love is sharing a donkey and a trip to the nearest inn – and paying the medical bills.

Jesus demonstrated God’s love by meeting us on the road to Jericho. He refused to pass by on the other side. He came to us. He brought healing to us. He paid the price for our complete recovery. The Samaritan was a character in a story, but Jesus is the one who became a neighbor. He was not one of us, but that didn’t matter. He was the most important man ever, but he took the time to meet our needs. None of us deserve what he did for us. If you haven’t figured it out already, we are the stupid man in the parable. Jesus is the hero, and he challenges us to live as he did. The more we show love to our neighbors, the more they will be drawn to the one who we call Lord and Savior.