Luke, page 2
The Inclusive Gospel Luke 15.1-10
Today no one would be surprised
that Jesus met with sinners and tax collectors, but they would be surprised
that he expected them to repent
There is a picture of God, quite
prevalent today, that essentially equates the Almighty with a big cuddly teddy
bear. This God accepts people from every tribe, race and nation, sinners, tax
collectors, and indeed people who follow each and every lifestyle with no
questions asked. All mankind are warmly embraced by him and he makes absolutely
no demands on anyone.
He is the ultimate soft touch. He
is rather like ‘young Mr Grace’ in the 70s sitcom “Are you being served?”
- that elderly gentlemen who
appeared at the end of each programme to announce ‘you’ve all done very well’
But this god does not exist. He is
a figment of our imagination . He is the product of 21st century
wishful thinking. The undemanding god of the liberal mindset is as real as the
cuddly teddy bear he resembles
The real, living God, of the Bible
is altogether different: infinitely loving and kind, but the Sovereign Lord who
makes absolute claims on our lives. In the Narnia stories as one of the
children hears about Aslan the Lion one of the children says ‘Is he – quite safe?
I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.’ Mr Beaver replies ‘Safe? Who
said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.’
Luke 15 brings us face to face with
the God who is not safe but good
Jesus reveals to us in this passage
two things about God:
It seemed strange to the Pharisees
that Jesus associated with the criminal underclass. Their comment in verse 2 is
not just an observation, not just a statement of fact: it is an accusation:
1
Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around
to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and
the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with
them." Luke 15.1-2
This man is suspect. Just look at
the company he keeps. What kind of moral leader is he?
It was a surprising choice of
company unless you realised what Jesus was really about, but that was the very
thing the Pharisees didn’t understand, and so he told them three parables:
about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. All three taken together
form Jesus own explanation of why he was so often in the company of sinners
Each of the parables is about
something lost being found – today we consider the first two. A farmer loses a
sheep and goes off to find it and returns rejoicing when he does. A woman loses
her a coin and searches the house until she finds it and then rejoices. It’s
the kind of scene re-enacted in our homes everyday – usually in connection with
the car keys, the TV remote control, the baby’s dummy, or somebody’s maths
homework. We all know what it is to search for something lost. We all know the
joy that accompanied the cry ‘I’ve found it.’
But why is God searching? Because the sinful people are far from him.
They are spiritually lost .
It is not the case by and large
that people are searching for God. They may be searching for all kinds of
things but they are not searching for him. Generally speaking, from the days of
the Garden of Eden, mankind has been hiding from God, trying desperately not
to find him. In Francis Thompson’s autobiographical poem The Hound of Heaven
he describes himself on the run from God: I fled him down the nights and
the days: I fled him down the arches of
the years; I hid from him.
In the Garden of Eden the words ‘where
are you’ are spoken by the Lord God, not by the first man and the first
woman. Adam & Eve are certainly not searching for their maker – quite the
reverse – in fact, they are hiding from him, but, and note this, he is already searching for them.
Like the shepherd looking for the
lost sheep, or the woman sweeping the house to find the lost coin, God is
searching for lost people.
Recently I attended a conference
where a Pakistani Christian spoke of his conversion from revolutionary Marxism.
He could have said ‘on the 21st October 1976 I came to Christ’, that
would have been a perfectly accurate statement, but what he actually said was
something like this: ‘on the 21st October 1976 the Lord found me’
If you are a Christian, you are a
Christian because the Lord has found
you. He went off in search of you, like the shepherd in verse 5, brought you
back joyfully on his shoulders
(CS Lewis surrender to Christ from
John Stott Why I am a Christian, p25, also recounted in his book Surprised
by Joy)
When I was lost you came and rescued me
reached down into the pit and
lifted me.
O Lord, such love,
I was as far from you as I could
be.
Thank
God we have a searching, rescuing God
There
are two questions
A child is lost, and a whole
community turns out to join in the hunt.
That’s how the church should
be –
a whole people mobilised in search of those who are lost
One of the largest churches in the
US, Willow Creek Community Church, has built on the slogan ‘lost people matter to
God.’ If lost people matter to God, they should matter to us. Its always rather
shocking to find Christians who believe that mission and evangelism are
optional extras or just for those who are into that sort of thing. No, Jesus
came to seek and save the lost and he continues that work through each of us
who know him.
Do you notice the note of rejoicing
in this passage? When the farmer finds his runaway sheep what does he do? He
rejoices. When the woman finds her lost coin what does she do? She rejoices.
And each time that rejoicing is compared to the rejoicing in heaven when a
sinner repents:
I tell you that in the same way
there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15v7
In the same way, I tell you, there
is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who
repents." Luke 15v10
The rejoicing is God’s rejoicing,
but what is it that the Lord is rejoicing about? That sinners have repented
It is a misleading half truth to
say that God welcomes everyone. He does, but on his terms not ours. No one can
swagger into his presence, claiming a right to be there, no one can come to him
without being changed by him. No one can enter his family without first
repenting.
But when a person does repent,
there is rejoicing in heaven
The question for all of us is: have
we repented? It’s a different question from: do we go to church or even do we read
the Bible and pray. It’s a different question from do we believe in God. It’s a
deeper more searching question; it’s a question about how we live as well as
what we believe, about motivation and lifestyle, as well as religious practise.
And may I say it is a question for
all of us, because repentance remains an issue for all of us. To come to Christ
each of us need to repent, but that won’t be the last we will have to do with
repentance. If we have gone astray in any area of our lives, we need to turn
back, and we will need to repent, and if we do, there will be rejoicing in
heaven
***************
So why did Jesus mix with the tax
collectors and sinners? Because he came to seek and save the lost, and we will
be after his heart if we share his compassion with the lost
But he came to find us and then
transform us. Not to pat us on the head and endorse our lifestyle, but to bring
us to repentance, a spiritual u-turn, a changed life, and when that happens
there is rejoicing in heaven because God’s kingdom is advancing.
A Fairytale Christmas? Luke 2.1-14
A Christmas
Eve sermon preached by Mick Hough
There’s
something marvellous about Christmas eve isn’t there? A sense of anticipation and
air of expectation. A sense of relief that the preparations are over…just relax
and enjoy what’s to come.
But
what is to come tomorrow? Is it just the enjoyment of presents and pudding; is
it the Magic and Sparkle (to borrow a phrase) that Christmas brings that you
can’t quite put into words, but somehow gives you a sense of wellbeing?
How
important is it to you that the 25th Dec is a celebration of the
birth of Jesus Christ? May seem like an
odd question to ask, but for many, Christmas and Xn faith in general is nothing
but a rather sophisticated fairytale.
Something to give to those who need it a warm feeling inside; something
to bring comfort to kids and frightened adults in a threatening world. A jolly good thing, but not to be explored
too deeply.
Sometimes
the Christmas story, and Xty in general, is presented in such a sentimentalised
way that it can all seem like a big fairy story. But the real thing, the Xty of
the bible, the Xty of the creeds has nothing to do with a fairytale.
To help
us see that we’re going to look at 3 marks of a fairytale and compare it with
the reality of the birth of Jesus!
3
marks of a fairytale:
1. Fairytales
are all make-believe.
They
are all made up – not meant to believe that they really happened. As soon as we
hear the words ‘Once upon a time in a land far, far away…’ we know what sort of
story we’re dealing with. Not set in any definite date in history – wouldn’t be
in the spirit of it to ask ‘Well, when, exactly?’!
Just
use your imagination – it’s only make-believe.
But the
Christmas story is quite different: Look with me at Luke 2:1-4 Luke is
keen that we should know exactly when and where this happened.
“In
those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the
entire Roman world (This was the first census that took place whilst Quirinius
was governor of Syria).”
He is
keen to show that this is an event set in real history – not a once upon a time
story. Gives details that will allow every reader to come a chance to date it to
within a couple of years.
In fact
Luke’s whole approach to telling the story of Jesus is like this (Luke 1:1-4)
All historical – checked out the facts.
In the
1940’s Dorothy L Sayers wrote a series of radio plays about the life of Christ
- and in the introduction she points out that many eastern religions are based
upon myths about gods who became men – Hinduism has many such gods, but she
goes on to say this:
‘For
Jesus Christ is unique – unique among gods and men. There have been incarnate
gods a plenty, and slain and resurrected gods not a few; but he is the only God
who has a date in history. Plenty of founders of religions have had dates, and
some of them have claimed to be prophets… of the divine; but only this one of
them was personally God.’[1] Jesus is the only God with a date in
history.
Church
has sometimes been guilty of adding to the reality: think of some of the words
we sing; In the bleak midwinter (unlikely!) Oxen standing by / lowly cattle
shed (manger, yes…) Children’s carols have even greater license: Little donkey;
Little Lord Jesus no crying he makes
That is
all made up – we won’t find that in Luke’s carefully researched account – or
the other gospels! BUT The baby born in Bethlehem in Judea, Laid in a
manger, Visited by shepherds / magi
That’s
all true. Luke is convinced of it.
These
things are just the details though – the really important thing about this baby
is Who He was!
The
baby laid in the manger is no less than God the Son become man - astonishing thought!
Beagle due
to land in a few hours - 250 million miles to Mars….if they find life there,
some of us may have a longer journey than usual to visit our relatives next
Christmas…250 million miles, and that’s one of the nearest planets to earth.
The creator of that and everything beyond becomes a tiny baby.
Astonishing
claim, yes, but that’s why Luke and his fellow NT writers wrote these things
down. – because these things happened – they saw them, they heard them.
There
isn’t time to go into all the evidence tonight, but worth mentioning: Luke was
a physician, a doctor – even he was willing to write about the virgin
birth of this child. Imagine we could interview him now, standing before us: He
wouldn’t be surprised that some find it all hard to believe – he must have
struggled with it himself – but he was convinced that the evidence was true.
REAL
CHRISTMAS STORY IS MARVELLOUS, MIND-BLOWING, BUT NOT MAKE-BELIEVE.
2.
Fairytales are sheer escapism
They
are set in a world where houses are made of gingerbread, and icing sugar
mountains tower over lakes of chocolate.
Fairytale
land is where frogs turn into princes and pumpkins turn into golden coaches.
It’s all sheer escapism into a magical world where anything can happen - A
world full of wonder and delight.
Christmas,
too, can be escapist: Dreary winter, so light up the High St. with Christmas
lights – open the shops up late so we can all go and treat ourselves. Harsh
world, so we escape it all with a big feast – escape the grim reality of life
through party games, charades and pulling crackers. Forget the real world for a
day or two until we have to go back to reality. Then of course there’s the
famous ‘Christmas spirit’ – where we are all friendly and generous – willing to
greet complete strangers and even try to get on with our family – for a few
days, anyway.
BUT!
The Christmas story is far from escapist:
A
pregnant woman has to travel 3 days on the back of a donkey so she can register
for this census – when she arrives in the town it is so crowded that the
husband can’t find anywhere for them to stay – no-one willing to give up their
room – so the baby is born outside.
Then
there is King Herod’s reaction to the news that a baby has been born who some
say is the King of the Jews – so he slaughters every male child under the age
of two. You probably haven’t received a Christmas card with the slaughter of
the Holy Innocents on it…that part of Christmas story is put to one side.
The
real Christmas story is far from escapist.
In fact
Christmas tells us something about ourselves that we may not want to hear. When
we ask the question ‘why? Why was this child born into the world? Bible says
this – Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Jesus himself said ‘I
have come to call sinners to repentance.’
Christmas
reminds us of our broken relationship with God – our sinfulness, and the
seriousness with which God views it. The seriousness with which we need to view
it. Unpleasant truth – but if we are honest, perhaps we can see it within our
own lives and in the lives of those around us.
We can
escape this unpleasant reality by leaving the baby in the manger and not
allowing him to grow up – a baby is not too threatening.
But if
we allow ourselves to be exposed to more than that – to see how the child grew
up and to listen to what he said – then we are faced with the problem of having
to respond to him. To respond to his claim that, as sinners, we need him to
bring us back to God.
Are we
willing to accept that we are sinners – separated from God and in need of a
saviour? If we’re not prepared to admit that, then there’s no real
Christmas for us – we’ve cut the heart out of it.
The
real Christmas is not escapist: it makes us face up to reality – the reality of
our broken relationship with God, and our need of a Saviour.
3.
Fairytales all have happy endings
·
Prince Charming no
longer trapped inside the body of a frog. Cinderella becomes a princess.
Sleeping Beauty wakes up and marries the hero. Jack cuts down the beanstalk,
kills the giant and makes a fortune in golden eggs. And they all lived happily
ever after
But
Christmas isn’t like THAT!
Christmas
tells us how the story begins, but also points us to a not-so-happy ending:
Jesus… Born to save us from our sins: ends life dead on a cross. Wrapped in
swaddling cloths when born: stripped naked when he died. Worshipped by angels
and wise men at his birth: spat upon and mocked at his death. Watched by his
mother in the crib: forsaken by his Heavenly Father on the cross.
The
focus of the Christmas story isn’t Bethlehem, but Calvary, the hill outside
Jerusalem where he was crucified – because that is where he did what he came to
do. He came to die. That’s why
tonight and tomorrow morning as we celebrate Christmas we do it in a HC
service. On his birthday we celebrate his death!
Not a
happy ending! He was born to die - became a man to die for man’s sin, to carry
our sin to the cross, and to restore our relationship with God.
Of
course, the cross is not the very end. Those who met Jesus, who saw him and
were eyewitnesses to the events of his life, also claim that he was raised back
to life by the power of God, and that he ascended to heaven.
Xns
live in the light of the Bible’s promise that he will return and rule over an
eternal Kingdom when God brings history to a close. Now that is a happy ending!
But it
won’t be a happy ending for everyone – because our sin and separation from God
is a serious thing – seriousness to separate us from God for eternity.
Whether
this story has a happy ending for us depends on our response to Jesus’ offer –
his offer of a restored relationship with God through him. Will we
recognise the baby whose birth we celebrate as Lord and God?
Or will
we just indulge in the fairytale Christmas, the Christmas that you can put away
with the decorations? A bit of Magic and Sparkle in Midwinter?
If you
haven’t acknowledged Jesus for who he really is – haven’t looked to him for a
fresh start with God can I encourage you to do so this Christmas. In the pews,
in front of you, you should find one of these… (Reason for the Season). It
explains how to respond to Jesus…a prayer to pray to begin the Xn life. Also
details of how to contact us to let us know. You may want to consider joining
us on a Xty Explained course to find out more.
Disappointment
& Discovery on the road to Emmaus:
Luke
24.13-35
It is good to rejoice, to give thanks to God, to cultivate an
attitude of gratitude but how do you handle ‘disappointment?’ What do you do
when things go wrong, when things you have hoped for and prayed for simply
don’t happen?
It’s particularly hard for Christians because sometimes we
find it hard to admit to feeling disappointed. Somehow we feel we are letting
the side down, even letting God down, if we admit that things haven’t worked
out as we hoped
I knew a man who was so resolutely determined to be positive
in all circumstances that he once told a meeting that though he had been healed
of his illness he still had the symptoms. It would have been far more honest to
simply admit that the prayed-for-healing simply hadn’t happened, because that
was the truth.
Christians aren’t exempt from disappointing experiences. It
may be that sitting here today you are grappling with s deep spiritual
disappointment in your own life.
The Bible is very honest that disappointment can be a real
experience for God’s people. In fact, it gives us a moving picture of it in the
very passage we are looking at this morning.
It’s Easter Day. It’s the most amazing event in the history
of the world. In the memorable words of Michael Green, it’s the day death died.
The trouble is, the two disciples walking to Emmaus don’t realise it. In fact
they are a picture of disappointment and dejection
Luke describes their facial expression and body language
In their discussion with the man who has joined them on the
journey - it’s Jesus, of course but they don’t realise it – they reveal the
cause of their despair. The phrase ‘we had hoped’ sums it all up:
‘We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem
Israel’
(v21)
1. They were disappointed because they had false
expectations of what God would do
They had hoped he was the one who was going to set them free,
the one who was going to defeat the Romans and restore national pride and
dignity to the people of Israel - a sort of cross between Admiral Lord Nelson
and David Beckham. Almost certainly they were looking for a military hero, a
political saviour, the man who would make Israel great again.
We had hoped.
Now we realise we have backed a loser
2. They were disappointed because they hadn’t realised what
God had done
How could they be so blind! How could they fail to see what was literally staring them in the face. Jesus was there. They were talking to him. The man they thought was dead and buried was there right beside them:
25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his
glory?"27 And beginning with Moses
and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures
concerning himself.
How foolish. How stupid. How obtuse. How slow to believe.
Jesus had predicted the very things that had happened over that historic
weekend. The Bible was full of prophecies which if they had believed them,
would have been prepared for the crucifixion. It wouldn’t have taken them by
surprise. It wouldn’t have plunged them into despair
And they would have been ready, waiting, for the first news of
the resurrection rather than appearing puzzled and dismissive of the testimony
of the women
As it is, the greatest events in the history of the world
have occurred under their noses and they are disappointed!
1. You won’t ultimately be disappointed if you have real
expectations of what God will do
I am not saying you won’t ever have
disappointing experiences because of
course you will but if you have real expectations of God, based on what he has actually
promised in his word, you won’t ultimately be disappointed in him.
Let me explain. I knew a person who went through the
agonising process of his mother dying of cancer. Many prayers were offered for
her but apparently to no avail. Her son gave up his faith and never went to
church again.
But were his expectations realistic? Did he have any
grounds for believing that his mother wouldn’t fall ill or die? Does the Bible
say that Christians can avoid illness or bereavement? Does the Bible say that
healing in this life is guaranteed?
The answer must be ‘no’ in every case
Our expectations must be realistic, they must be
based on what God has actually promised and not on just what we might hope.
2. You won’t ultimately be disappointed if you realise what
God has done for you in Jesus
We all experience disappointment and some of us experience it
more than most.
The disappointment
·
of
applying for a job and not getting it
·
of
being made redundant
·
of
a broken marriage
·
of
rebellious children
·
of
long held hopes coming to nothing
·
of
declining health, or bereavement
·
of
opportunities missed
·
of
prayers seemingly unanswered
I remember the woman in her eighties who told me her life
story, a sorry tale of deprivation, and
of missed opportunity, who without a trace of self-pity said to me, in
all honesty, vicar, my life has been a disappointment. I felt for her and I
realised how much in my own life I had taken for granted
Yes, you will experience disappointment, but if you
realise what God has done for you in Jesus, you won’t ultimately be
disappointed:
That brings us back to the Emmaus road. To disappointed
dejected men were about to have their lives transformed. Jesus drew near to
them. Jesus opened the scriptures to them. Jesus revealed himself to them.
They knew that Jesus was alive. Tey knew that in his death he
destroyed death and in rising again had opened the way to heaven
They knew that Jesus
had won and they were on the winning side -
we are too, and we shall be with the Lord for ever
Let us close with the words from Pilgrim’s Progress
read at the Queen Mother’s funeral. Who ultimately could be disappointed if
this is their destiny:
I SEE myself now at the end of my journey,
my toilsome days are ended. I am going now to see that head that was crowned
with thorns, and that face that was spit upon for me.
I have formerly lived by hearsay and faith
but now I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be with him in whose
company I delight myself.
His voice to me has been most sweet; and
his countenance I have more desired than they that have most desired the light
of the sun. His word I did use to gather for my food, and for antidotes against
my faintings. 'He has held me, and hath kept me from mine iniquities; yea, my
steps hath he strengthened in his way.'
Glorious it was to see how the open region
was filled with horses and chariots, with trumpeters and pipers, with singers
and players on stringed instruments, to welcome the Pilgrims as they went up,
and followed one another in at the beautiful gate of the city
|
. |
A new king, a new kingdom, a new way to live: Luke 4.16-21
A
sermon preached following the terrorist attack on New York and Washington in
September 2001
I’ve
been thinking
I’ve
been thinking about the extreme ugliness of evil
¨
I’ve been thinking of the horrific scenes that have
filled our TV screens and newspapers for nearly two weeks
¨
I’ve been thinking about the lives lost, the
children orphaned, the families torn apart
¨
I’ve been thinking about what makes someone want to
destroy thousands of innocent lives
¨
I’ve been thinking about the sheer level of hatred
that would lead someone to hijack a civilian plane and fly its terrified
occupants into an office building in which thousands of people make their
living
¨
I’ve been thinking about the perverted mindset that
could believe this terror could serve the purposes of God and religion
¨
I’ve been thinking about a world where hatred and
violence, discrimination and injustice are rife
And
I’ve been thinking about the loveliness of
Jesus
I’ve
been thinking
¨
how the sick were brought to him and he laid his
hands upon them and healed them
¨
how small children ran to him and he welcomed them
and took them in his arms and blessed them
¨
how sinners came to him and he forgave them
¨
how the poor, the foreigner and the insignificant
were his special concern
¨
how he wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus
¨
how when they spat at him, mocked him, verbally
abused him, and falsely accused him, he never said a word
¨
how when they nailed his hands and a feet to a
block of wood, stripped him naked and left him to die, he prayed for them
¨
how in his final moments he turned to the convicted
criminal beside him to promise him a place in heaven
And I’ve been thinking
¨
how they placed his body in a borrowed tomb but how
on the third day he rose again
¨
how he appeared to his faithless doubting disciples
and said ‘ peace be with you’
¨
how breathed on them and said ‘Receive the Holy
Spirit’
¨
how he breathed his forgiveness and life into their
hearts
¨
how wherever he is at work in lives today, he
brings peace, joy, hope, and forgiveness to restless and troubled souls
¨
how his love inspires countless people the
world over to selfless acts of service,
love and mercy on behalf of humankind
And
I’ve been thinking how he picked up the scriptures in the Nazareth synagogue
and read:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord
is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent
me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,19 to proclaim
the year of the Lord's favour."
And
how he said
"Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (verse
21)
How,
in those words, he announced his manifesto to the world
¨ he
announced himself a new kind of ruler, a new kind of king, a king who came to
serve, a king who came to offer his life as a ransom for many, a king who came
to set the prisoners free and bring good news to the poor
How he launched his kingdom, a new kind of
nation
¨
a kingdom marked by righteousness, peace and joy in
the Holy Spirit
¨
how the invitation has gone out into all the world,
including to me and to you
¨
an invitation to join his kingdom, to leave behind the
old way of living and follow him:
15 "The time has
come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the
good news!"
Mark 1.15
And
I’ve been thinking about the children who have been baptised this morning
¨
how special and precious they are
¨
how much their parents and their families love them
¨