Previous Sermons

Introduction about the black/gold dress or blue/black dress. What about a very confusing movie that only makes sense in light of knowing the end?

In this story, we’re going to be answering three questions that arise:

1.      What keeps us from recognizing Jesus?

2.     What has Jesus done to help us see?

3.     How should we then live our lives?

As we leave this place, you’ll see that the resurrection of Jesus demands a decision from us.  

These three questions get answered as we move through one of the most detailed and beautifully weaved recordings of Jesus’ appearance.

What keeps you from recognizing Jesus?

Explanation: As we were reading this story together, did anyone think this was somewhat comical? As we read this story, some of you may have been wondering: goodness, these guys seem clueless. How could they not tell that it was Jesus was walking alongside them? Frankly, Luke, the author of this gospel, doesn’t give us a clear-cut answer. There could be a few reasons that most folks agree on:

1.      The Holy Spirit prevented them from seeing Jesus as who he is. Why would the Holy Spirit do this? There’s a lot of opinions out there to answer this question and as much as I would live to delve deep, it’ll distract us from what God, through Luke’s writing, is trying to convey. So, we’ll put that one on a shelf for a future sermon.

2.     Their deep sadness and regret – they are heading to Emmaus, which is away from Jerusalem. They can’t take it anymore and need to get out of the city. They’ve been crushed and in despair because of the events that have happened in the last 3 days. Perhaps they met Jesus 1-2 years ago, they sold all their goods to the poor and traveled with their Rabbi Jesus. They were there when they saw him bring Lazarus back to life. They were there when Jesus delivered the greatest teaching the world has ever and will ever know in the Sermon on the Mount. They were there when Jesus was joyfully welcomed in as a King to Jerusalem just a week ago. And they were there when Christ was crucified and died. Was it all a lie and a  sham? Was Jesus some sort of sorcerer who somehow faked his miracles? Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be different? That’s why the text says they were downcast. Their whole world was falling apart. But they felt this way because of their…

3.     Unmet expectations of what Jesus was going to do – as they begin to talk to Jesus, they reveal their hand at what they expected Jesus to do.  In verse 21, they shared that they had hoped Jesus was going to redeem Israel. In their minds, most likely, they would have believed that to redeem Israel, Jesus would conquer the Roman Empire through a military victory similar to Judas Maccabeus in 160 BC. But that word ‘redeem’ is critical. In the bible, redeem is used to describe how God liberates or frees people who were slaves so that they can become free people. He redeemed his people when they were freed from the oppressive slavery in Egypt through the Passover feast.  

God gave Pharoah multiple opportunities. The plague of the firstborn was the last option. Passover gave people a way to escape judgement through the blood of the lamb.

That’s what Jesus did though. He was the Passover lamb who was sacrificed to liberate his people who are slaves to sin and through the spirit, we can live life according to the Spirit not to the powers of the flesh. His followers thought redemption would come through Jesus

Illustration: You still may feel

Argumentation: There’s a lot of people in this room but we all have blinders up in our eyes. Holy Spirit, Lack of Faith, Post-Modern Lies, Life’s pains, Expectations of What He Was to Do,

The problem is us.

Transition: So, we’ve covered some ways that we may be blinded by seeing Jesus for who he truly is. But, how do we get the blinders off? How can we see him truly? We’ll keep walking through our story to find out.

What has Jesus done to help you see?

Jesus draws near in the questions, demonstrates his purposes through the Scriptures, confirms his resurrection with others, and offers you life.

Explanation: In this story, we don’t see a God who is aloof of life’s miseries or distant from his followers pain or the pains of this world. Instead, we see Jesus drawing near to his two followers in this story. As I’ve mentioned, these two followers are in a bad place. Their faces are downcast. Their dreams and entire life likely feels meaningless. If you have a caricature of God that says God is always angry at people and just ready to zap you with lightning from the sky, remember this story. He enters into these two people’s story and begins to walk alongside them. He starts to ask questions to better understand what is going through their minds. When they share their struggle with him, you may have been taken aback a bit by Jesus’ rebuke. He calls them foolish and slow of heart.

Why foolish? Jesus isn’t calling these guys stupid. When he calls them foolish, he’s calling them out on their faulty beliefs about Jesus. They’re foolish because they cannot see how Jesus death would accomplish God’s purposes. They’re foolish because despite Jesus’ attempts to tell his friends: hey guys, the messiah is going to have die and raise to fulfill God’s plan. They didn’t get it. So, what does Jesus do after calling them foolish? He writes them off and says you’ll never get it.

No, of course not. Jesus patiently walks them through the entire story of the bible. We don’t get the full details of how he walked them through but I imagine he would’ve likely shared that in the beginning, God created. In love, he desired to share his creation with image-bearing humans who would rule and reign on God’s behalf. But, those humans wanted to be in charge instead – they desired to define what was good, true, and beautiful after being swayed by the Satan. They hid from God in their error. Before they became exiles from the garden, God made a promise to them: one day, God would send someone who would crush the serpent’s head meaning this someone would undo the damage that the serpent had unleased. The Old Testament displays God’s commitment to save and to be with his people: despite massive failures, God demonstrates his faithfulness through saving a remnant

Enter Jesus

Illustration: “I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering. 'The cross of Christ ... is God’s only self-justification in such a world” as ours....'

Argumentation: Some of you may be thinking: why didn’t these two believe the previous testimony?

Application: ???

Transition: This story ends with Jesus offering new life through the breaking of the bread. After they break bread with Jesus, they realize

How should you then live your life?

You have a burning in your bones. You jump in to the dance. You break bread with Christ at the table. You share it with others.

Explanation: The late Dr. Tim Keller would often say: The most important question we all must answer is – did Jesus really rise from the dead? If he didn’t, why bother with anything that he said? He was just another spiritual teacher like so many others. But if he did rise from the dead, we must make a decision about him.

Jesus himself would press his followers with a question: who do you say I am?

We’re in the final week of our Costly Confrontations series as we prepare our hearts in this Lent season. We’re looking at encounters that Jesus had with various religious leaders of his day. These aren’t just normal, ordinary encounters. They are explosive encounters that lead to religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus. So far, we’ve read stories of Jesus forgiving sins, healing someone who is paralyzed, allowing a sinful woman to weep at his feet, healing someone who had a severe back disability, a tax-collectors and pharisee prayer, and the wee little man named Zaccheus. So, today, we’ll be using the kids story as our main teaching text. For your reference, it’s on your notes as well.

To start, I want to talk about expectations. If you’re a McDonald’s fan, you see their marketing photos like this photo of a big mac. If you’re hungry, while ordering, you think to yourself: this is going to be the greatest burger I’ve ever eaten. It takes you about 5 minutes to order these days because you have to use the screen. You grab a number, sit down, and wait. 10 minutes later, this arrives at your table. It looks drastically different than the previous photo, right? When you ordered it, you expected it to be juicy, meaty, full of fresh lettuce, and tasty. Instead, you wound up with this stale bread, strange burger patties that are thinner than a sheet of paper, browned lettuce, and lukewarm French fries. You leave feeling disappointed and vow to never return to McDonald’s and eat exclusively at Chick-Fil-A where you are never let down. Why do you feel that way? It’s because your expectations weren’t accurate or realistic, they were wrong.

Today, we’re going to be talking about a story where people had expectations about Jesus – expectations about who he was and what he was about to do. Today, we’ll see how Jesus defies all expectations by showing that God keeps his promises, that God’s character is backed up by his actions, and that if Jesus is our King, we gotta have him on his terms. So, let’s dig in!

Jesus’ entry shows that God will keep his promises.

There are a few things that Jesus is wanting the people in the crowd to see from Old Testament imagery and prophecies:

1.      This is likely the most well-known imagery because Matthew quotes it directly. But, Zechariah 9 tells them:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

    righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,

    and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations.

    His rule will extend from sea to sea

    and from the River to the ends of the earth.

So, why does Jesus choose to ride on a baby donkey? It’s to fulfill what Zechariah 9 written hundreds of years before Jesus, had said. This is a key verse for us to understand Jesus didn’t just think to himself: I guess it’d be kinda cool if I rode a donkey. This wasn’t an accident. He cleverly orchestrated this event to have his followers and the people connect the dots that Jesus is the long-awaiting King who will usher in a new Kingdom for Israel but it may not look like what they’re expecting. But, this is why some the crowd erupts in worship and why the Pharisees ask Jesus to rebuke his disciples for worshipping.

2.     Isaiah Chapters 40-55 tell of God’s promise to bring about salvation, comfort, and victory to his people through the role of the suffering servant. Isaiah tells us that this suffering servant who is a King and like a good shepherd. It tells of a future where the people will be exiled no longer and that a messenger would come down from the mountains bringing good news, proclaiming peace, bringing good tidings, and proclaim salvation to Israel. Doesn’t that sound like what Jesus just did?

3.     In Ezekiel, God reveals that the nation of Israel has reached such a state of disrepair and sin that God’s glory will not stay in the temple. This is a judgement on their city for their failure to live up to the covenant they established with God. Ezekiel tells us that God’s glory left the Temple and left the city. God promises that one day his glory will return to be with his people. He says that he’ll put a new Spirit in them, give them a heart of flesh not one of stone.  God’s glory hovered east of Jerusalem. Wanna know where Jesus started riding the donkey? Bethpage which is east of Jerusalem. As Jesus journeys from Bethpage to Jerusalem, he’s in effect saying: the glory of the Lord is returning to his people. The temple isn’t going to be a building where I dwell anymore but rather, I am the new temple. I am going to give them the Holy Spirit that can transform their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.

Across Zechariah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, we see one thing clearly: God makes promises, and in Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, He keeps them.

As I share that phrase of “God will keep his promises”, I imagine it can be hard for some of us to really believe it. It could be because you’re going through something difficult right now or it could be because you’ve been praying for a long time for a certain situation to change and it hasn’t.

This morning, I’d encourage you to reflect on the bigness of God’s plans. And what I mean by that is: humbly remembering who you are and who God is. As Job wondered aloud to God, why is all this happening to me? If I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t run things this way. God lovingly challenges Job and asks him: where were you when I measured the distance from the sun to the earth? How did I calculate the exact distance to create and maintain life? Where were you when I created the foundations of the world? God tells Job this so Job can see how wise, meticulous, and loving God is. That gives Job hope and a reason to believe that God knows what he’s doing. In the same way with Jesus’ entry, we see it. It took a few hundred years for God’s promises to come true to Israel but many of them didn’t even notice it.

Could that be you? God never promises us an easy life. As much as name and claim it people proclaim, God doesn’t guarantee physical miraculous healing or loads of wealth. God promises to never leave us nor will he forsake us. God promises that he can ultimately use everything that’s happened to us for our good and for his immense glory.  But, you only start to believe and trust that when you appreciate how big God is and how small we are.

In Lord of the Rings, Return of the King, Theoden who is a King of a Kingdom called Rohan made an alliance with Denethor who is the Steward aka pretend king of the strongest Kingdom called Gondor. In their alliance, Theoden promised to come to Denethor in his hour of need and fight alongside Denethor. Theoden had proven extremely trustworthy in the past and Denethor trusted him to arrive in their time of need.

Fast forward a few years, there’s a massive war going on between men and orcs. A brave hobbit who is more or less imprisoned in Gondor lights some torches on mountains that acted as a signal to Rohan to say: “Denethor and Gondor need help, please come asap.” After the beacons have been lit, Denethor and his capital city get completely surrounded by the largest army of Orcs, Trolls, and mercenary men. Denethor looks out his window and despairs: he believes that Theoden had betrayed him and broken his promise. Denethor loses his mind as a result. But little did he know that Theoden was only a day’s ride away. I wonder what would have happened if he knew that instead?

And it’s the same way for us who need to remember that God will keep his promises. Don’t fall into despair and lose your mind like Lord Denethor. God is operating on his own time but you can take heart knowing he will keep his promises to you. He’s proven trustworthy in the past so he will demonstrate his faithfulness and trustworthiness in the present and future. It could be tomorrow or 40 years from now that you experience the promise being kept but it will happen. Take heart that Jesus kept this promise made to Israel by arriving in Jerusalem as the long-awaiting King.

So, we’ve seen that God keeps his promises so far. But, why does God do this? It’s because…

Jesus’ character is revealed by his actions, not by his words.

In this story, we three core components of Jesus’ character:

1.      We see that he is gentle and lowly. In our culture, the most important people typically have a red-carpet treatment. They roll up to the movie premiere or awards show in a limousine. They can’t be bothered by anybody so they have a large security group around them. In Jesus’ days, the kings would often travel around with a large caravan and escort. The King would ride on a well-adorned horse with jewels.  But, what does Jesus do? He rides a donkey which aren’t really used for riding to places in the ancient world, they’re used to carry cargo. So in some ways, Jesus is the King who arrives at his palace in a U-Haul truck when you’d likely expect a Limousine. Why?

Jesus does this because he is gentle and lowly. He’s a man of the people. He is accessible to people like no other king or president has ever been. There weren’t these hoops to jump through, security squad to get through, or even needing to clean yourself up. Jesus is accessible and wants to show that we don’t need to burden ourselves anymore, we can come to him because he is welcoming, approachable, and kind. That’s why he arrives on a donkey.  

2.     We see his defense of the vulnerable. When Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, people of all kinds and kids of all kinds were calling Jesus king. The Pharisees are quick to ask Jesus to rebuke his disciples and even ask Jesus to silence the children who are worshipping him. Jesus defends them and elevates their praise as special. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus consistently stands by the vulnerable and oppressed of society. He becomes friends with the outcasts and friends with those that society has deemed as unlovable and unwanted. In this critical moment of Jesus showing he is the long-awaited King, he demonstrates a special commitment and love for the poor in spirit while also rebuking the ones who think they know better and are better than others.

3.     We see his sorrow over lost sinners. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because they have failed to see that this is the moment when God will rescue them. It’s more likely that Jesus burst into tears over Jerusalem. The nation of Israel is so lost and blinded by what they expected this long-awaited King would do that they miss out that the promised day of victory and salvation was finally here. But, victory and salvation wasn’t going to come from the government or the military, it was going to come through the way of death on a cross. Jesus is filled with sorrow over this because his heart is to rescue all men but in his weeping, he also pronounces judgement. In their refusal to submit to the kingship of Jesus, he pronounces that Jerusalem will be sacked and the temple will be destroyed. This comes true in 70 AD when the temple is destroyed by the Romans and the city is burned.

For example, when people start bragging about how humble they are, you know they’re not actually humble. Right? On the flip side, Jesus’ actions demonstrate that he is accessible or approachable, he is a defender of the vulnerable, and his heart breaks for people who are lost. He doesn’t just say those things but his actions back them up.

For you today, if you call yourself a follower of Jesus, do your actions up your claim? Do you weep or feel sadness over people who aren’t followers of Jesus? Do you work to build relationships and plant seeds of faith within their hearts? Do you speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves like Jesus does? Do you advocate and defend the orphan, the widow, and the vulnerable like Jesus? Are you a welcoming person, even to ‘sinners’? Or can people tell you’re judgmental from your stares? If we are to be like Christ, let’s be people whose actions speak louder than our words or belief systems.

And if that is challenging for you, I totally get it. But, our faith requires us to grow in Christ likeness even in areas that are hard for us because…

If Jesus is King, you must accept his terms.

Through this story, it’s clear that Jesus sees himself as the long-awaited King who is going to bring victory for the people of God. You’d expect this to be a day where all people gathered are rejoicing that this day has finally arrived but that’s not what we see. We see a mixed response: first, we see people breaking palm branches down and waving them. Why palm branches? Palm branches were a nationalistic symbol of Israel. In 166 BC, Judas Maccabeus was a Jewish priest who led a successful revolt against Sil-LEW-Sid empire which was a Greek Empire state, this empire had desecrated the Jewish temple with pig sacrifices. Judas led a group of rebels who cleansed the temple, killed their opponents, and continued a war. When Judas and his troops would arrive places, crowds of people would wave palm branches as they walked through. So folks who are grabbing palm branches are likely thinking Jesus will do the same: he’s going to bring triumph over the Romans, he’s going to start a war to free Israel. Jesus will bring triumph but it won’t involve war. It won’t involve hurting or killing his opponents. It will involve Jesus laying down his life for his opponents for he said: “If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.” These are people who are excited about Jesus being a conquering, military ruler.

Second, we see Pharisees in the crowd following Jesus who have seen him perform miracles. But as the crowds start worshipping Jesus as king, they get uncomfortable and tell Jesus that he needs to rebuke his disciples. They like Jesus as a nice prophet who heals people but they don’t like him as Messiah who’s come to change things up.

Third, we see groups of people who are proclaiming Jesus as the king. But what does that mean to them? All the groups of people who are seeing this have some sort of idea about who Jesus must be…they have expectations on what a king looks like.

But here’s the thing: they don’t get to give Jesus their list of terms or expectations, Jesus is the one who sets those. But, is it possible for us to do the same thing to Jesus?

Here’s what I want to make clear: Jesus became your king when he laid down his life for you, when he did what you could not do, and when he freely offered you forgiveness and you believed in him. He’s not a King that requires you to obey perfectly or to never struggle with sin ever again after you’ve professed faith. But when we’ve received his free love, grace, and mercy, it’s not right for us to make demands of him.

Are we guilty of effectively telling God: I’ll follow you as king IF you bless me with good health? I’ll follow you as king IF you bless me in this way? I’ll follow you as king so long as you don’t require too much of me? I’ll follow you as king so long as I don’t really have to change my life? If I can be real with you guys, when we attach an If statement to our allegiance to Jesus, we are in a really dangerous place. Jesus saves and Jesus also changes lives – both of those statements are true. The bible teaches we are justified or made right in God’s eyes by our belief that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. But it also teaches that when we profess faith, the Spirit of God begins the process of making us look more like Christ which is called sanctification.

So, are you giving Jesus your list of terms or expectations or conditions as you follow him? Or are you trusting that if he’s your King, he’s the one who sets the pace?

If you hear these questions and feel convicted or discouraged, hear this clearly: growth takes time. Jesus is patient. The very sorrow he felt over Jerusalem shows how deeply he longs to rescue people, not reject.

Worship team, come on up.

Today, we’ve seen that Jesus defies the expectations that those in the past and some of us in the present have about him. Throughout the next week of Jesus’ life, he would demonstrate this in some radical ways. As his closest friends and many of his followers were riding high after a triumphal entry, Jesus knew where this was going. While many were excited to say goodbye to the Romans, Jesus was preparing to say goodbye to his friends. Some people had expectations that Jesus was going to bring victory to the Jewish people and crush their enemies. They had expectations that their new Kingdom would be founded on power and strength.

They didn’t realize that their biggest enemy was their sin. They didn’t realize the Kingdom would be founded on weakness, on self-giving love, and on humility. As we enter Holy Week, I’d encourage you to reflect on Jesus’ journey: from the ecstatic joy of his entry into Jerusalem to the utter betrayal by his friends, from the anointing of his feet at Bethany to his crucifixion. Through the last week, you will see that God does keep his promises, you’ll see that his character is backed up his actions, and you’ll see that we have to have him as our king on his terms.

Because although Jesus defies all expectations, he exceeds them and he’s better than any of us ever expect. So if you need forgiveness, he’s going to give you all that you need. If you need his love, he’s going to give you his heart - freely. If you need to know that he can bring good out of the hard things of your life, he’s going to remind you that his death paved the way for his resurrection and new life. If you just need to know that he’s not giving on you, look no further than the agony he endured on the cross. Amen?

As a reminder, we have people available to pray over a need you may have or someone else may have in the corners. God responds to faith and he will grow you through your boldness and humility by asking for prayer. So if there’s something heavy on your heart, do something about it.

STAND and I’ll pray.

We’re in week 5 of our Costly Confrontations series as we prepare our hearts in this Lent season. We’re looking at encounters that Jesus had with various religious leaders of his day. These aren’t just normal, ordinary encounters. They are explosive encounters that lead to religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus. So far, we’ve read stories of Jesus forgiving sins, healing someone who is paralyzed, allowing a sinful woman to weep at his feet, healing someone who had a severe back disability, and a tax-collectors and pharisee prayer. So, today, we’ll be looking at a Luke 19:1-10 that would have led to a few powerful folks getting angry with Jesus again.

Luke 19 introduces a character whose notoriety needs no introduction, only a brief recital of a Sunday school song that goes like this: Zaccheus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. It’s catchy and great. But there is so much more going on in this story that a kids song can’t possibly include. So, today we’re going to be answering three questions from this story

1.      Why was Zaccheus lost?

2.     Who is God, really?

3.     How does an encounter with Jesus change you?

Let’s read Luke 19:1-10.

The lost are blinded by their faith in a false god.

Zaccheus is given the high title of “Chief Tax Collector.” That phrase is only used one time in the Gospels and it’s used here. That means Zaccheus is the top dog. Jericho was a massive trade hub in Judea, it served as a crossroads for all kinds of products and was a wealthy place. Translation: there’s a lot of money to be made if you’re the chief tax collector.

Zaccheus was of Jewish descent as well. His name is of Hebrew origin and means “the pure, innocent, or righteous one” which is somewhat ironic. But because he was of Jewish descent, it’s a massive betrayal to his people to serve as a tax collector. He would have likely been disowned by his family, alienated from most of society due to his role and wealth, and he would have been verbally abused whenever he was in public. Why would Zaccheus go through with all this?

He lacked faith in the God of his ancestors and instead, embraced faith in a false god of worldly success or wealth. I imagine it felt pretty good to be called the chief tax collector and seen as an important person from the most powerful empire in the history of the world. Zaccheus thought he had it made. He had put his faith and trust that his possessions and his position could bring him deep satisfaction in his life. But before Jesus arrives, I think something happened that caused him to ask: is this what my heart needs? And the reason I think something happened is because Zaccheus was out there trying to see Jesus – even if everyone in the town hated him.

And we can all be like Zaccheus. It just depends on our own inclinations. As I’ve said before, we’re all worship machines. We’ll either worship the true God or we’ll worship of something else or someone else. Think to yourself right now: what are those things or those people who fill up most of your thinking time? How often do you think: “When I finally have that or am in this good situation then I’ll be happy”? Those are good indications of what you truly worship.

Scottie Scheffler is the greatest golf player in the world who’s won all the big tournaments. After his win at the British Open last summer, he was in the press conference afterwards. Often times, athletes will share about how good it felt to win or how all their hard work paid off to get them to this point. But, Scottie asked a deep question that went viral: he asked, what’s the point?

He went on to share: this isn’t a fulfilling life. It’s fulfilling when you accomplish something but it’s not fulfilling in the deepest parts of your heart. He pointed out how silly it would be for him to look for this win as the ultimate measure of his satisfaction. Even though he finds joy in the game and the process, he knows there’s always going to be another tournament that he wants to win. He comes back to the fact that he doesn’t get his identity from the accolades, the wins, or the sponsorship dollars, he gets his identity from being a follower of Jesus Christ and his identity as a husband and father.

For those of us who have other idols on the thrones of our heart like Zaccheus, I’d ask you to consider what Scottie Scheffler said: what’s the point? What’s the point of having lots of money if you have no friends or family? What’s the point of working so hard if it destroys your family or your marriage? What’s the point of spending 5 hours a day watching YouTube Shorts or Facebook Reels if your mental health is crumbling? If we worship the idols of our hearts, we will be destroyed.

To fight against idols, you need to replace them with better things. But it takes effort. For Zaccheus, he had wealth and social status as his false god. So, what did he do? He dedicated 50% of his wealth to go to the poor and wanted to pay back those he wronged by 4x the amounts. And these are just some examples as we all have various struggles:

·       If you struggle with working too much, you need to practice sabbath.

·       If you struggle with greed or desiring more money, you need to practice generosity.

·       If you struggle with lust or self-control with food or technology, you need to practice fasting.

·       If you struggle with receiving praise or being the center of attention, you need to practice doing things in secret so no one can give you praise.

It’ll take effort on your part and these aren’t quick fixes. But with the spirit’s help, you will begin to see transformation over time.

We’ve established that Zaccheus certainly has some heart issues just like us. We can become just as lost as Zaccheus but thankfully, we serve a God who doesn’t write off people like us. Instead, we find that the Bible shows us that…

Our God is a God who seeks and saves the lost.

The focus of this story isn’t Zaccheus. The focus is actually Jesus. Jesus is the hero of the story. In this passage, we see a real-life example of many of the themes of Jesus’ parables found in Luke’s Gospel. In chapter 15 of Luke, Jesus tells three well-known parables: The Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin, and the Parable of the Two Sons or Prodigal Son. All three parables are different but drive a main point home: God is a God who seeks and saves those who are lost or who are far away from him.

In Luke 19, we see Jesus living that out in a very real way. He’s on his way to Jerusalem, knowing he will be meeting his death there as he’s alluded to it multiple times. But he has to go through Jericho. Why? Well, it is the most direct route to Jerusalem, but it wasn’t just geographical convenience that led him there. He must pass through because he knows Zaccheus is there. Jesus has decided to seek and save someone who is far away from God so that this story would provide hope for those of us here who feel far away from God.

Jericho is full of people wanting to see Jesus. I’m sure there were many influential people or others vying for Jesus’ attention in Jericho but he was focused on one person: Zaccheus. If you’ve ever been to a parade, it’s hard to get through the sea of people but somehow Jesus does it and looks right up at Zaccheus to ask him to have dinner at his home.

By all standards, Zaccheus is the last person Jesus should be asking to have dinner with. And yet, that’s exactly who Jesus is meeting with. Why? Jesus is displaying that he didn’t come to save the righteous or the healthy, he’s come to save those who are sick. I imagine that there were teachers of the law around who were really hoping to have Jesus over for dinner. There may have been important government officials who were hoping to have Jesus over. That’s why in verse 7 it says: “ALL the people saw this and began to mutter.” Everyone knew this was scandalous and disapproved. But Jesus didn’t care – he came to redeem people who were viewed as irredeemable.

When we say the lost, we often mean non-believers and often times, that is what the bible means too. But isn’t it possible for Christians to adopt lost tendencies as well? We can become so lost that we forget that God still needs to seek and save us from our worst tendencies. If you’ve been a Christian for some time, you can fall a trap that the Pharisees and teachers of the law fell into which is: You confuse avoiding bad things or bad people as holiness and growing to be more like Christ. Meaning, if you stay away from bad things or bad people, you’re more like Jesus.

Frankly, I get it. It’s easy to put on a façade of holiness or a checklist to make sure you’re not doing anything bad. Am I cheating on my spouse? No. Am I abusing drugs? No. Am I hanging around with other people who do? No. Great! I’m growing in holiness. But, you’re not. You can become so afraid of lost people having a negative influence on you that you don’t even consider how much of a positive influence you could have on them. Jesus didn’t avoid sinful people, he ate dinner with them.

Thankfully, Paul provides us with a great example in Acts 13. There’s a roman Pro-Consul named Sergius. Sergius is a top dog, pro-consuls have immense power, command troops, collect taxes, etc. By all accounts though, Sergius is a lost person and not someone that you really want to associate with. He’s an enemy of God and God’s people. Does Paul allow that to stop him? No, Acts 13 tells how Sergius was about to be led astray by a sorcerer and false-prophet named Bar-Jesus. So, Paul rebukes Bar-Jesus and actually asks the Lord to blind him for some time which happens. After seeing the power of the God that Paul preached, Sergius believed.  We don’t hear of Sergius ever again in Acts but his story is included in Acts so the early church could have asked Sergius about this encounter. I imagine Sergius made some serious life change and shared the Gospel with his fellow Romans. But that could only happen because Paul interacted with a sinner and believed Jesus had come to seek and save the lost.

As you reflect on how God is the God who seeks and saves the lost, ask yourself: who are the lost in your life? How are you joining God in seeing them come to faith in Christ? Are you praying for them? Are you building bridges with them and having them over for dinner? Are you telling them about Jesus? Are you inviting other people to our Easter service? Now, you’re not responsible for them coming to faith in Christ – that’s on God. Sometimes, you just help get them closer to the Lord. But, you are responsible for sharing the message with them just like Jesus did with Zaccheus and Paul did with Sergius.

But what happens next? What happens after you believe in Jesus and you find he’s been looking for you this whole time?

An encounter with Jesus leads to repentance and reconciliation.

What does Zaccheus do when he finally meets Jesus? He joyfully comes down from the tree and welcomes Jesus. Then Zaccheus does something crazy: he offers up half of his wealth to the poor in the present moment but also for the future. He then seeks to make amends from those he exploited by offering to pay back four times the amount. Why does he do this?

These actions are evidence of a heart changed by the love of Christ. Zaccheus could have just had dinner with Jesus and not changed anything about his life like so many others. But, Zaccheus makes some very radical life changes after his encounter with Jesus.  Don’t think of repentance as this singular act, repentance is the act of consistently turning away from that which brings evil, death, and sin and instead turning to that which brings life, love, and fellowship with God. You didn’t just repent when you came to faith in Christ. You repent every day by your actions which is what Zaccheus did.

For reconciliation, I love how Zaccheus owns up to the fact he has likely cheated some people out of their funds. He doesn’t downplay it and say, maybe I wronged some people. I’ll seek their forgiveness maybe. He puts his money where his mouth is. For Zaccheus, reconciliation with those he had wronged was also a part of his new found faith. He wasn’t going to make light of his wrongs, he was going to make those right at least as much as he could control. I think of Paul’s command in Romans 12 where he says: “¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Peace in that verse means absence of conflict. I imagine Zaccheus had plenty of conflict if he cheated people out of their hard-earned money. So, this act is deeply inspiring and bold.

Why is it necessary to pursue reconciliation then? Think of the power of the Gospel that’s displayed when Zaccheus approaches someone he’s wronged and shares: “I need to tell you that I’m sorry for cheating you out and humbly ask for your forgiveness. It was wrong. I am paying you back 4x the amount I cheated you of. I’m doing this because I met Jesus and his love has radically changed my life. I can’t go back in the past but I can work to make things right with you. After all, that’s what Jesus has done in my life – he’s come into my life, forgiven me, and made it possible for me to be made right with God again.” Do you sense the power of the gospel in that?

Zaccheus’s acts in this story are evidence of his heart change.

You may be thinking to yourself though: didn’t Anthony spend a lot of time last week talking about the idea that we are made right in God’s sight when we profess faith in Christ? Indeed, I did. And it’s true but what’s also true is from James which tells us that faith without works is dead. Faith and action are inseparably linked together. As Westerners, we think faith is just belief in our heads but it’s belief in every facet of our existence. It’s mental assent but it’s also met with behaviors, heart transformation, etc. That’s why Jesus tells us to love God with all our strength, all our mind, all our hearts, and all our soul.

I have faith and belief that there is such a thing as gravity. Because of that, I will not act like gravity doesn’t exist. I know that if I jump off this stage, my knees are going to hurt and I’m not going to float way. Likewise, I have faith and belief in Christ. Since I’ve been dearly loved by him and believe that deep in my bones, I know that he demands me to change my ways through the power of his spirit. You may have raised your hands to get saved but whether you know it or not, you also raised your hand to die to yourself and follow the crucified king. As Dietrich said, When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die. Faith demands action.

Later on in the New Testament, there’s another example of radical repentance and reconciliation displayed. Paul wrote a letter to Philemon who is a follower of Jesus but who also owns slaves (if you want to know more about slavery and the new testament, let’s talk after because this is a weedy topic). Onesimus is a former slave of Philemon. Onesimus fled from slavery and stole some of Philemon’s money as well.

Eventually, Onesimus becomes a Christian. He meets Paul and they begin serving the Lord together. At some point, Onesimus tells Paul that he had actually fled from a Christian slave owner named Philemon. Paul tells Onesimus that you made a mistake when you left Philemon. We need to make things right with him. So, Paul pens a letter to Philemon urging him to receive Onesimus, to forgive him for fleeing, and to welcome him as a brother not a slave because of the gospel. Paul says if Onesimus has stolen anything, Paul will pay Philemon back. The toughest part? Paul asks Onesimus, the former slave, to deliver the letter to Philemon, the slave master.

Why does Paul do this? Does Paul and the New Testament support slavery like so many folks try to convey? No, Paul had a desire to demonstrate the power of the Gospel through this moment of repentance and reconciliation. In Paul’s eyes, if Onesimus and Philemon could reconcile, it would serve as a powerful witness to the life-changing reconciliation that Jesus Christ made between us and God.

For us today, if you’ve encountered Jesus, it means your life should be marked by repentance and reconciliation like Zaccheus’s was. Does that mean you’re some perfect person? No, of course not. Here’s what I would ask you to do though: take a good, hard look at yourself and your flaws or sinful tendencies. First, praise and thank God for his forgiveness that is offered through Jesus Christ. But second, ask yourself: how do I turn away from these things every day? If you struggle with pride, how do you turn towards humility instead? If you struggle with anger, how do you turn towards peace instead? Sometimes, it is as simple as becoming aware of it and praying that God would transform that part of you every single day.

After you’ve repented, I’d invite you to see how your sin may have impacted others. Sin has a tendency to not just isolate us from God or to hurt ourselves, it also tends to hurt others. Sin multiplies. Have you sought reconciliation with them? Have you shared and acknowledged that you hurt them but you want to make things right? If you haven’t, you must do so in light of this story.

We’re in week 4 of our Costly Confrontations series as we prepare our hearts in this Lent season. We’re looking at encounters that Jesus had with various religious leaders of his day. These aren’t just normal, ordinary encounters. They are explosive encounters that lead to religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus. So far, we’ve read stories of Jesus forgiving sins, healing someone who is paralyzed, allowing a sinful woman to weep at his feet, and healing someone who had a severe back disability. So, today, we’ll be looking at a parable from Luke 18:9-14 that would have led to a few powerful folks getting angry with Jesus again.

A few months ago, our family watched the hit blockbuster, Air Bud. In case you don’t know, Air Bud was a film from the late 90’s involving a dog who could play basketball extremely well. Buddy, the dog, became a much-needed support for the main protagonist, Josh whose dad died. Through the story, Josh gets on the basketball team and meets his worst nightmare: a boy named Larry. Larry is prideful and arrogant, thinks he’s super talented at basketball. On the other hand, Josh knows he’s not the best player and is just thankful to play.

Eventually, Larry goes to a different school and they play against Josh’s team in a game. Larry thinks he’s all high and mighty. But, Josh, Buddy (the dog), and his team end up winning the game. Larry is embarrassed because he thought he was so much better than Josh.

And so today, we’re going to be looking at a similar story of two people:

1.      The first person thought they had it all together but really didn’t just like Larry in Air Bud

2.     The second person who was humble just like Josh in Air Bud.

Read Luke 18:9-14

Comparing yourself to others leads to pride and self-reliance.

In this parable, Jesus is asking us to consider deep things that go on inside of our hearts as his followers.

But in this parable, I want us to take a look at the Pharisee because his prayer is so interesting. First, did you catch the detail that Jesus includes “he stood by himself”? In my personal reading of this passage, I think Jesus includes that detail in there to pride and self-reliance. If you think with me to the story of the sinful woman weeping at Jesus’ feet and wiping his feet with her hair, I shared that falling at someone’s feet was a sign of heartfelt humility. It was a sign of total dependence and acknowledgement that you can’t save yourself. But, this Pharisee is standing by himself as if to say: I don’t need to throw myself at the mercy of God, I’ve done such great things for him. I can stand justified in your presence because I’ve done great things for you.

What does his prayer do next? He thanks God that he’s not like these other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or tax collectors. He’s comparing himself and counting himself as a significantly better person. I do find something ironic about this comparison. Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus calls the Pharisees robbers, evildoers, and adulterers. In Mark 12:40, Jesus says they devour or rob widow’s homes to take the income for themselves. In Matthew 12:38-40, some of the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign and Jesus replies by saying: Only a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! Multiple times, Jesus calls some of the Pharisees a crooked and corrupt generation which is extremely similar to being called an evildoer.

Why does he believe all this and pray this way? The final part of his prayer gives us a hint: he focuses on the good things he’s done for God as a justification for his right standing with God. And truly, Jesus would likely say that this Pharisee has done good things for God. According to the law, Jewish folks only had to fast once a year for day of atonement and they had very specific instructions for tithes. This fella does more than the Law requires – by fasting twice a week and tithing more than is needed! He’s the real deal and he’s pointing to the evidence to tell God and to others: “Look, how great I am.” “I know I’m better off in your eyes because my works demonstrate that.” When he prays to God, there’s no plea for mercy or asking that God would provide his daily bread, he has everything he needs and God owes him that much since he does so much.

Surely, we are a group of people who have grown so much that we don’t compare ourselves to others? Surely, we don’t judge our brothers and sisters who may be less mature in the faith? Surely, we don’t look to our own works as evidence that God has justified us and saved us? Or do we? Unfortunately, we do and I find myself struggling with this very thing. It’s easy to act like the Pharisee and list out all the good things you do for the Lord then compare yourself to someone that seemingly doesn’t do as much. You start to think you’re more of a Christian than them. If we start to go down that road, our souls take a turn for the worst as we’ve forgotten the truth that Paul teaches in his Galatians letter in chapter 2:16: “We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” If you don’t believe that deep in your bones, you don’t believe what the bible teachers about justification or being made right with God. Without believing that, you start to draw lines in the sand of describing who’s in and who’s out in the Kingdom.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” When you become blind, you can’t see your own flaws. You begin to think you’ve got it all made and figured out. Sure, you have some issues maybe but you’re not as bad as that person. Since you have it all figured out, who needs God’s help with anything? This pharisee has become blind by judging others and comparing himself to others. Will you follow his example?

How do you apply this to your life then? I’d recommend you take the heart posture of the tax collector in this story. What does his prayer look like instead? He stands in a posture of humility, complete surrender to God. He doesn’t go into the Temple really. He doesn’t look up to heaven. All he asks is: “have mercy on me, God, a sinner.” He realizes that his most essential need is God’s mercy and he realizes that it’s true for others too. In the Emotionally Healthy Leader, Pete Scazzerro actually shares that one of his spiritual disciplines is a daily repeated prayer of the tax collector. I’ve tried to adopt that discipline as my own as well.

And what I’ve found is that this prayer re-centers you to realize that apart from God’s mercy (remember: mercy means you do not get something that you deserve. Ie. Sin leads to death but through God’s mercy and Christ’s sacrifice, we do die), we are sinners without hope. But because of God’s mercy, we can find the forgiveness and redemption that we need. And since it is God’s mercy, we don’t get to brag about it. We realize we are totally reliant on God’s mercy for our right standing and can then extend that same mercy to others. If we’re further along in our faith journey than others, it’s all because of God’s mercy. So if you struggle like the Pharisee in the story, try saying the tax collector’s prayer on a daily basis. Or every time you begin to think prideful thoughts.

But, what happens when we pursue humility from an impure standpoint? If we deem humility as the better way as this parable wants us to, is it possible that we begin to view non-humble people in a similar way to how the Pharisee viewed evildoers, robbers, and adulterers?

Humility pursued for the wrong reasons can become pride

As we read, did you find yourself thinking: “Man, this Pharisee is a mess.” Be honest. Did you think: “I would never pray this way!” This parable is almost like a trap as we read it because Jesus makes it very clear that we should pursue humility. But in pursuing humility, it can start to deform your heart the opposite way.

Instead of thanking God that you’re not a robber, evildoer, adulterer, or tax collector, you start to thank God that you’re not a Pharisee. When we try to act with humility because we view it as superior to those who act with pride, we’re also exalting ourselves. If we pursue humility out of that context, we start to believe we’re better than others. This can show up when you begin to say things like: “I love serving but I wish more people would do as much as I do.” Or “If you use your gifts and continue to downplay them vs. giving praise to God.”

In this parable, Jesus is portraying the tax collector as the ideal person who is truly humble. But imagine if there was a second parable with these characters where we get an insight into the tax collector’s heart. We may find out that the tax collector wouldn’t look up because he wanted to look humble so that others would think to themselves: “Wow, he is such a humble guy.” He may have called out to God’s mercy only not out of humility but because he’s obsessed with being right and having proper theology. His humility was actually just for show or pretend.

Whether we admit to it or not, we have standards for our version of Christianity. There are specific things that we’ve come to value and treasure after humbly searching the Scriptures. And we seek to obey them but is our heart always pure? We may believe Jesus’ words that the first shall be last and the last shall be first meaning we should not seek importance but rather seek to serve. So, we do that ourselves in trying to be humble. Then, we look down on our brothers and sisters who maybe get in line first for the fellowship meal who didn’t even help like you helped. In pursuing humility or biblical truth for ourselves, we’ve begun to judge others who don’t adopt the same posture as us.

In this church’s history and the broader BIC, there was often some consensus on ways that Christians should dress. Rather than take cheap shots at our brothers and sisters, I believe that this started out with good and humble intentions to follow what the bible taught in their given context. But as a result, the humility to follow what they believed to be right soon started to become a division. Soon, it became a way to determine who was the real Christian and who was just pretend. The real Christians didn’t cut their hair if they’re a woman or wear ties if they’re a man. If you did cut your hair as a woman, you’re not a real Christian. Is that true humility? Of course not.

That humility begins to deform itself into pride. Our hearts do messed up things even though we’re being conformed into the likeness of Christ. Our best intentions can still have impure motives.

So, what do we do? Do we despair because our humility can actually also make us prideful? No, of course not. The answer to this can be found in the verses after this parable.

Folks are bringing children to Jesus. His disciples try to stop that from happening and Jesus corrects his disciples. Jesus wants the little children to come to them because the Kingdom of God belongs to them and that we need to become like children if we want to enter the Kingdom. A lot can be said on these passages. But for today, let’s focus on a child’s self-forgetfulness. What I mean by self-forgetfulness is that kids aren’t seeking to justify themselves in other people’s eyes. Kids aren’t yet thinking things that adults think of: what will this person think if I don’t do that or if I do that? Does this particular action or belief make me look good or bad? Kids forget about all of that. So when they serve or help, it’s often out of pure humility.

And to joyfully follow Jesus, we must receive God’s mercy like a child. You delight in that so much that you stop caring what others think of you. That means you can serve solely because of God’s mercy and not care how others are serving. You can serve from a place of true humility. It won’t come naturally at first, but over time the Spirit reshapes us. Remind yourself that you’re not that important.

To close our time, I want to answer a question that you may be thinking which is: how can we get to a place of true humility? We’ve spent time looking how we can be like the pharisee or adopt a fake humility. So, how do we get to the good stuff or true humility?

True humility rests in the daily reminder of your identity in Christ

For the Pharisee in this story, his identity was based on his good deeds. For the tax collector with his heart in the right place, his identity was based on God’s mercy and his need for it. If we fall into the trap of humility actually leading to pride, we also start to build an identity based on good deeds and right belief. What’s behind all this?  

At the end of the day, we all want to matter. We all want to know that we have value. So, what do we do? We put ourselves on trial every single day to find out if we are valuable. As a result of that, we’re constantly trying to justify ourselves that we do matter and that we do have value. Here’s what begins to happen with that: we begin to think of ourselves way too much and look within ourselves to determine if we matter and have value. When you begin to think of yourself so much, you can go to two places:

1.      Think too high thoughts of yourself which leads to pride. Wow I’m so much better than other people.

2.     Think too low thoughts of yourself which leads to self-hatred. Wow, I’m just a piece of trash.

Either place has its issues. If you think too highly of yourself, you’re going to live with a fragility and in a glass house. Can you imagine how the Pharisee would feel if a life circumstance meant he couldn’t fast as much as he used to or if he couldn’t tithe as much as he once did? What if someone criticized him for not doing enough? He’d likely start doing more because his good deeds and high view of himself necessitates that he needs to. People’s opinions matter so much to him. What does he do when he finds someone who is doing even more than him for God? He falls backward and spews hatred or annoyance at the other person. C.S. Lewis said: “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”

If you think too lowly of yourself, you’re going to live a life of pessimism and cynicism. Nothing ever goes your way. You’re just the worst. I can’t do anything right. Why am I not gifted in that way? Why am I not like this other person? Why is my life so hard? You’re so fixated on yourself just in a different way. If the tax collector continues to rest in his identity as just a sinner, he would go to this place. We can’t just identify as sinners, we should identify as other terms like: stumbling saint or sinner saved by grace when you’ve placed faith in Christ. That’s what some of you were but now you’ve been washed and sanctified.

So where should you go to seek justification then? Jesus Christ is the one who gives us the ultimate verdict on the fact that we matter and have value. The verdict is yes: we can find justification by professing faith in Christ. That verdict comes before we do anything as well.

Jesus ends this parable by saying if we humble ourselves, we will be exalted. To humble ourselves means we stop thinking of ourselves (whether that’s too highly of ourselves or too lowly of ourselves). True freedom can be found when we stop thinking of ourselves. It’s not about anything we have done, what we have accomplished, or how that compares to others. It’s based on what Jesus done on our behalf.

<worship team, you can come on up.>

At the heart of the tax collectors prayer, is an admission of that. All you need to do is throw yourself at the mercy of God and because of Christ, he will accept you. Ultimately, Jesus’ opinion of us is the only one that matters. Stop looking at yourself if you want to find real humility, value, and satisfaction with life. Start looking at Jesus and rejoicing in how he has heard your cry for help and has made you valuable through his life, death, and resurrection. From there, you can live for his glory no matter what others say or do or even how we feel about ourselves.

When you stop looking within yourself, true humility arises because you’re serving out of heart that’s been loved and accepted by Christ. Tim Keller would often say: “Humility isn’t about thinking less of yourself, it’s about thinking of yourself less.” You don’t have do these special things to earn God’s favor nor do you have to do things to make yourself look good nor do you need to adopt a false sense of humility where you’re nothing special, Jesus makes you special. He’s given you gifts, skills, and experiences that he wants you to use for his glory. You don’t get the credit for those.

But, the choice is yours: will you continue to compare yourself to others like the Pharisee? If you do, beware – it’ll lead you to isolation from God, pride, and self-reliance. Will you fall victim of the trap that humility can lead to pride if you’re not careful? How do you stop that? You stop it by not looking within yourself but looking outward to Jesus. You look at him and see that he calls you his precious child whom he loves. Now, you can serve out of a humble and thankful heart to make your father in heaven happy. Amen?

Let me pray.

Good morning, friends! It’s great to be with you. To start, I want to share with you one of my biggest fears from high school. At Delone, we had your standard cafeteria. Towards the one end, there was the tray return place. You’d drop your silverware in a tub and set your tray down for it to be picked up by the cafeteria workers. If you were an unlucky person who dropped his or her plate, the entire cafeteria of students would begin to clap for you. I can remember feeling second hand embarrassment when I saw others drop their trays and plates. I made it my mission in high school to never drop my tray. By God’s grace, I never did…why was I so afraid of dropping my tray? It was because I was going to be so embarrassed and I knew everyone would be staring at me. It’s such a small thing but it reveals something profound in all of us I think: most of us do not like to be the center of attention, especially when the reason is something embarrassing has happened.

We’re in week 3 of our Costly Confrontations series as we prepare our hearts in this Lent season. We’re looking at encounters that Jesus had with various religious leaders of his day. These aren’t just normal, ordinary encounters. They are explosive encounters that lead to religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus. So far, we’ve read stories of Jesus forgiving sins, healing someone who is paralyzed, and allowing a sinful woman to weep at his feet. So, today, we’ll be looking at a story from Luke 13:10-17.  A quick note: there are a lot of things that can be preached upon from this passage. Any good preacher makes hard choices to leave out things for another time and that’s what I did for this one as well.

Just like I was terrified of dropping my tray and being embarrassed, we’re going to read a story of a woman who was terrified of standing at the front of the synagogue with her physical disability. But through Christ’s compassion and how this woman embraced vulnerability and her weakness, she saw a great act of God’s power. Let’s read.

Christ’s compassion led to action, even when it cost him.

I want to highlight something that we likely just glance over. Jesus saw this woman. He saw her as a human being, not a nuisance or someone to avoid. Imagine you could have heard a pin drop as he did this. There were likely whispers of: “Why is Jesus calling this woman up?” “Why is a woman standing at the front of synagogue? She’s not a man.” Jesus saw this woman and called her forward. This woman had no idea what Jesus was going to do but he saw her. Whenever the gospels share that Jesus saw someone, his compassion urges him to action even if that means others will get angry with him. That’s exactly what happens.

Jesus heals this woman even when he knows what it’s going to cost him. Jesus has such compassion for this woman and others who have disabilities that he heals her on the Sabbath. This leads to an uproar amongst the religious leaders in the synagogue. They said their issue was that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath but their real issue was: their man-made rules had blinded them from seeing and sharing God’s love with this woman. Jesus endured their hatred and wisely replied them. He defended this woman when it seemed like things were getting out of hand.

So, Jesus moved out of compassion even though it cost him something. That woman was there as part of God’s plan for a specific reason. It was no accident she was there. She had been bound by Satan for 18 years – I imagine Jesus’ heart was just exploding with compassion for her.

When we get face to face with those who are hurting or those who need help, it’s easy to start to feel overwhelmed. I get it. At the same time though, I’ve heard too many Christians say things along the lines of: “I don’t feel called to do that” or “I want to help but it just felt like a lot.” Sometimes, there are valid reasons. In the story of the Good Samaritan, did the Samaritan stop, pray, and ask God: “God, am I called to help this person?” No, he just did it. Why? That person was directly in front of him. I worry that too many of us would be like the people who walked by the man in need. If God brings a particular need or a person in need in front of you, it’s likely a sign that God wants you to do something about it. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Jesus saw this woman in need and he acted, so should we.

William Wilberforce was a British politician in the 18^th and 19^th century. Of all the politicians, I’d probably trust him most. William came from big money and his family were nominally involved with the Church of England. William was known to be a powerful and persuasive speaker, he was a cheery guy. Quite simply, he was the type of guy that everyone liked. But at the age of 25, he came to a genuine faith in Christ while on holiday with his family. His faith soon began to influence every facet of his life. In particular, there was one issue that began to eat away at his conscience in light of his faith: the transatlantic slave trade. At the time, the British Empire was the biggest player in the slave trade. With their impressive navy, they’d transport ~40,000 men, women, and children from Africa, sell them as slaves in their colonies and other European countries, and pick up goods to sell back in Britain. The slave trade represented around ~80% of Britain’s income in the late 1700’s.

Despite that, William became aware of the horrors of the slave trade. For the next 40 years, he’d dedicate much of his time advocating for the total eradication of the slave trade in the British Empire. He used his family’s money, he used his giftings, while in politics he used his position, he used his connections and network, and more to outlaw the slave trade. In 1833, his dream finally became a reality: the British Empire outlawed slavery across their empire. William died a few days later. His most well known quote is: “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” I share his story because like Jesus, William saw a tragedy. He had compassion and he decided to do something about it, even though it cost him money, reputation, and more.

For you, what things has God brought to your attention? What specific needs are right in front of you? What areas of injustice get you excited and passionate? Or to take Jesus’ example: what things do you see that make you want to take action? Jesus saw that woman and knew he needed to help her. Imagine with me for a moment: what would it look for our church to see the needs that exist in our community and we do something about it? Last week, I met with the principal from Clearview Elementary and he said so many of their students are in single parent households and just need a role model in their life. What if some of us gave up 1 hour a week to mentor a child at Clearview? Since we know it’s a reality, we can’t look the other way.What could happen? There’s some groundwork myself and the board still need to lay…but imagine the impact with me!

Because Jesus saw this woman and had compassion on her, her life was never the same. That said, she also had a responsibility: she needed to trust Jesus and be vulnerable so he could work which leads us to our next point.

Vulnerability leads to powerful transformation.

I want you to imagine this situation with me. If you are this woman, you’re attending the weekly worship gathering in synagogue. Week after week, you hear readings from the Old Testament about the wondrous powers of God and yet, you have a physical disability. You hear of how the people of God should live with one another, but you feel alienated by your fellow believers because they blame you or your parent’s sin for your disability. You hear how God commands your people to care for those who are poor and lame but you do not experience that in your synagogue. You sit in the back, closest to the door so you can slip in and out. That way, you avoid the looks of pity or murmurs of others asking: what happened to her?

But one day, there’s a new teacher in the synagogue. He’s unlike any of the other teachers as he teaches with authority, almost as if he is the mastermind behind the Old Testament. Rather than avoiding eye contact with you, Jesus looks right at you. He sees you, he doesn’t look at your disability, he just sees you as a human being and that makes you feel loved. During his teaching, you find out his name is Jesus and he calls you up to the front. You’re terrified but you listen and come to the front. He then shares that you’ve been set free from your infirmities, and you feel your back loosen and you can stand up straight for the first time in 18 years. You cannot believe it and all you can do is praise God.

Now, I want you to think to yourself: is there a part of you that you hope others don’t notice? Is there a part of you or something you do or have done that you hope never gets discovered? Is there a struggle or patten of sin you’re going through that you’re afraid of sharing? Do you feel the weight of that in your chest?

If you’re this woman, she doesn’t want her disability to be noticed or called out. She doesn’t want to be up front in the synagogue with everyone looking at her hunched over posture. But, she’s there. She’s being vulnerable or being open about the thing she is most ashamed of. And what happens after she displays such vulnerability? She experiences a deep transformation.

Why is vulnerability needed? 1 John tells us that if we walk in the darkness, we don’t have true fellowship with Jesus or fellowship with one another as the church. But if we walk in the light, we do have fellowship with Jesus and his blood purifies us from all sin. How does that happen? Sin thrives in secrecy. Struggles are amplified when they are not shared. Things do not get better when you hide them. How many of you love it when your kids or spouse have tried to hide things from you? Why do you do the same for your sin and struggles?

That’s why Adam and Eve try hiding from God when they ate the apple, their sin led them to hide their wrongdoing and not bring it to the one who would make it right. The NT tells us to carry one another’s burdens so we can fulfill the law of Christ which is to love one another. But we can’t carry each other’s burdens if we’re all pretending that everything is okay. We can’t do that if we’re hiding things from one another.

As some of you know, I’m a pretty big hip-hop fan. There’s a song by a Christian rapper named Christopher Syncere where he raps:

If I really wanted to see any actin' I'd go to the theater
But I get it free in the church
We ain't even actin' like peoplе
Smile and wave boys, smile and wave
I get back and I'm cryin' in secret
Smile and wave all the way to the grave
'Cause we was playin' church instead of tryna be like Jesus.

Is that what we do? We play church. We smile and say everything is going fine but in reality, it’s all falling apart. If believers aren’t marked by honesty and vulnerability, what’s the point? We don’t have fellowship with Jesus or with each other if we’re not honest with each other. We may as well close up shop.

Do I promise you that honesty and vulnerability will always be received well? No, I’m not so be wise in choosing who you share things with. But, I am saying you should share these things with others who have demonstrated compassion and trustworthiness. What it would look like for you to display vulnerability like this woman? When’s the last time you told someone about a sin that you struggle with? When’s the last time you confessed to a wrongdoing? When’s the last time you said you’re not doing well and asked for help? Imagine what God could do in you and through those around you if you’re vulnerable and honest.  

But if we bring these hard things we’re struggling with, we should find healing and hope and love in a church community. There may be some of you who feel afraid to be vulnerable because it makes you feel weak or powerless. Can I tell you some good news about that in our final point for today?

God demonstrates his power in your weakness.

I’m going to hop out of this story and head back to a previous story in Luke. It’s somewhat similar to this one where Jesus heals a man who has a withered hand on the Sabbath. Jesus sees the man, calls him to the front, and asks him to stretch out his hand – since his hand is withered or severely damaged, he really can’t do that. His weakness is demonstrated in this moment and Jesus demonstrates his strength by healing him.

In the same way, in our teaching text for today, this woman had no ability to heal herself. No matter how hard she tried, she could not stand up straight. This went on for 18 years, can you imagine how she felt?  

I’ve heard those really cheesy Christian sayings (and if you’ve said these and believe them, please, with all the love in my heart, stop. They’re just not true): “God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers” or “God never gives you more than you can handle.” Can I tell you something? God most definitely gives you more than you can handle. Why? So, you learn to rest in God’s power and admit your powerlessness.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians how he begged God to remove this perpetual sin or temptation in his life but God responded to Paul’s prayer with a no. With a no but with a reminder that God’s power was made perfect in Paul’s weakness. Meaning, without God’s power, Paul really was hopeless. Paul goes on to say that when he is weak, he’s actually strong because of God’s power. It’s only when you’re at the end of your rope that you truly see God’s power. If you’re not at the end of your rope, you start to think you’re the powerful one. You start to rely on your own gifts and your own powers.

But for our woman with the hunched over back in this story, she’s weak. She’s totally helpless but she experiences the power of God in her weakness and her life radically transforms.

John Ortberg has a concept he calls: “The Fellowship of the Withered Hand.” He gets the title from the story found earlier in Luke’s gospel. The main idea is that a church should be a community of people with withered hands. We’ve been called to do what we cannot do on our own, we admit our need for Jesus. We don’t hide our pain or brokenness, we bring it to the light so that it can be transformed. We expose our withered hands so that we can see God’s power. It’s about humility, love, and grace. When we bring our pain and brokenness to the light, we can see God’s power as he transforms it.

A month or so ago, I shared how impactful George Mueller’s autobiography has been on me. He was a man who opened up multiple homes for children who were orphaned, 10,000+ kids stayed in those homes. He evangelized and discipled thousands of children and adults through his Sunday school efforts. And he did it all by never asking for any donations because George knew this. He knew that by relying on God fully, he would see the power of God as he provided for every single need they had.

For some of you today, you may be feeling like you’re trying so hard to hold it all together. Others of you may feel like you’re strong and doing okay but are you really? (repeat) What have you been trying to control? What have you been wanted to share with someone but have been afraid to do so? What has just been a really hard thing that you’ve been walking through lately? Have you considered bringing it to the light and sharing it with someone in our church family? Have you considered that it could be an opportunity for you to admit your weakness and lean into God in a new way? I’m not promising an easy fix here nor is Jesus. It may take 18 years or longer for you to see God’s power but his power will be made perfect in your weakness in God’s time. If we share in Christ’s sufferings and weaknesses, we will also share in his glories.

Worship team, you can come on up here awhile.

I invite you to take this seriously. I want you to see more of God’s power and mercy when you admit your weaknesses and vulnerabilities just like this woman saw God’s power in her weaknesses. If we’re a community of believers marked by that, we’ll also be compassionate in our responses to others just like Jesus.

I want you to imagine what could God do with a community of believers like that? Brothers and sisters who were unafraid of being real with one another. Brothers and sisters who knew the struggles or sins of the others but had compassion on them and walked alongside them. Can you imagine with me the freedom that people would be finding here? The healing? Can you imagine what things would look like as we all commit to walking in the light?

As we prepare our hearts to worship through song, I’m going to invite you to ponder some things: is there something you are struggling with? Is there sin you’re carrying in your heart? Is there someone in this body who you can trust to share that with? If so, why don’t do you do it as we sing? And if someone shares something with you and you feel totally ill-equipped to respond, remember God’s power is made perfect in your weakness. So, I would invite you to move around if you’re feeling something stirring. If you don’t or you need prayer for something else and feel something stirring, there’s a team of people available to pray with you in the corners and myself in the front. It’d be an honor and a joy to pray with you.

But, my dear friends, let us have compassion and see those who are hurting. Let us be vulnerable and see how God’s power is made perfect when we admit our weaknesses. Amen?

Let me pray for you guys.

Good morning, friends! We’re in week 2 of our Costly Confrontations series as we prepare our hearts in this Lent season. We’re looking at encounters that Jesus had with various religious leaders of his day. These aren’t just normal, ordinary encounters. They are explosive encounters that lead to religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus. So, today, we’ll be looking at a story from Luke 7:36-50.

In our family, we love the newer Grinch movie – the one with Benedict Cumberbatch and it’s animated. There’s such fun scenes and it’s entertaining for kids and adults alike. It’s also extremely heart-warming. To summarize the film for those of you who haven’t seen it, the Grinch is a buzzkill. He hates Christmas, wants it gone. He encounters a little girl named “Cindy Lou-Who” who annoys the Grinch first. But as he’s stealing all the toys, Cindy Lou Who wins the Grinch over with kindness and deep love because Cindy just wants Santa to help her mom.  As the Grinch is about to destroy all the Christmas things, he has a change of heart because of Cindy Lou Who’s love and kindness. Cindy Lou Who invites The Grinch over for Christmas dinner that night too. Now if I’m the Grinch, I’d be terrified: I’m going to a party full of people who know what I’ve done. He debates on going, agonizes over his tie selection, and hesitates on ringing the doorbell. But, he does it anyways and his entire life changes.

Today, we’re going to talk about a somewhat similar story of a woman whose heart was changed because of Jesus’ love and kindness. And as a result, she went to a party feeling unsure how she’d be received.

As I mentioned, we’ll be reading Luke 7:36-50. Let’s read this together.

Since God’s word is active and alive, what can we gather from this today?

Your identity in Christ is more important than your past or what others say about you.

A woman is joining this dinner party who lived a sinful life – we don’t know what that is. Some bible scholars advocate it means she was a prostitute but it’s all speculation. There are similar accounts of this story in other gospels but the one in Luke is unique and is a different event. Whoever she was, she was not known as a godly woman that knit sweaters for the homeless. She was known in the community as a sinful woman. In these times, dinners would often be held in a courtyard with a door opened so anybody could walk in. So this woman hears that Jesus has come into her town, she knows she needs to go see him. She’s heard the stories of Jesus that are earlier in Luke’s Gospel.

She’s heard that Jesus said: he came to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor where all debts were forgiven which is a prophecy from Isaiah about the Messiah or the Christ. She heard that Jesus then began healing those who were sick, driving out demons, and he eats with tax collectors and sinners which are people just like her. She heard that he even forgave someone’s sins which she desperately needs. She takes a leap of faith that this is indeed the Christ and he came to seek and save people just like her.

Because of that, she is more than willing to endure the looks or the murmurs as she enters the room. I imagine as she walked in, she heard people murmur: “isn’t this the woman who is a prostitute?” or “isn’t this the woman who owns the local bar?” or “isn’t this the woman who slept with Judah from the town’s market?” or “isn’t this the woman who abandoned her children?” She may have done any of those things but she likely encountered resistance as she approached Jesus. She may have had thoughts in her head of: “is this worth it?” When she falls at the feet of Jesus, that’s an act of faith – a throwing of herself at the only one who can give her what she needs, forgiveness and a fresh start. She’s throws herself totally at Jesus and he gives her a new identity. He tells her that her many sins are forgiven, that her faith has saved her, and to go in peace.

Through my time with Compassion, I got to work with a church called COE22 in Florida led by a funny but committed man named Joby Martin. They sponsor like 15,000 kids with Compassion. Before Joby served at COE22, he was a youth pastor in South Carolina and also worked at a local gym selling memberships. The local gym was located next to a strip club. Joby is one of the boldest pastors I know so he gave free gym memberships to the workers of the strip club to entice other men to sign up for gym memberships. I’m not saying that’s ideal but it’s what he did and it worked. But as he got to know the women from the strip club when they worked out, he began to hear their stories: they had real names. They had kids and were terrified of their kids finding out what they did for money. Many had gotten into that workplace by being forced into it by a partner or took it temporarily but were stuck due to struggles with addiction.

One Sunday, Joby brought one of the women with him to his church. When they entered the church, Joby shared that you could’ve heard a pin drop as folks were shocked to have a woman like that in their building. After the service, the senior pastor and deacon pulled Joby aside and told the woman to wait in Joby’s car. The church leadership asked Joby: what do you think you’re doing? Bringing a person like that to church? As the youth pastor, your job is to protect our families and kids from people like her. Joby left, hopped in the car, and tried to lie about the meeting. But, the woman knew the meeting was about her and how she wasn’t welcome there because of her past. Joby she wept for hours. Did that church model Jesus’ response or did that church model Simon the Pharisee’s response more? How would you respond if a woman like that arrived here?

In this story or stories like this, we really are supposed to be see ourselves in the characters. If you relate more to the woman, you may be thinking to yourself: I’ve messed up so much in the past that there’s no way God wants anything to do with me. You may be thinking that those voices in your head or voices from others in your past are right about you: that you are unloved, that you can’t be forgiven, or that you are hopeless. My dear friend, if that’s you today, hear the good news in this story: Jesus Christ sees you as you are. Fall at his feet and find yourself totally known and loved by him. Pour your heart out to him. Ask him for his forgiveness because sin is a serious thing and mercy to come into your life. And he will show up – God is the God who loves compassion and mercy, who delights in forgiveness, and is thrilled to redeem our biggest mistakes.

If you felt yourself acting like Simon the Pharisee or Joby’s previous church in South Carolina, Jesus warns you to check your heart in Luke 11. The outside of your cup may be squeaky clean but what about the inside of your heart? Are you full of greed and wickedness? Are you full of pride and arrogance that you have the knowledge of God to know who’s in and who’s out in his Kingdom? Do you look down upon others who struggle with sins that you don’t struggle with? And the real kicker: do you display as much devotion and worship as this woman to Jesus? Pharisee type folks can only dwell on a person’s past record, Jesus is always looking at the potential of love and forgiveness deeply changing someone. My dear friends, if this is you today, Jesus’ invitation to fall at his feet is for you too.

If you find yourself believing the lies from the enemy or others that you are worthless, you must fight back with truth. You must familiarize yourself with the word to know what the Bible does say about you. C.S. Lewis wrote: “I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.”

A few weeks ago, I gave you a list of what God does say about you. I’m not going to go through the whole list but two stick out to me:

1.      He tells me I am holy and beloved-still a sinner, but a sinner who is forgiven, loved, and made holy by the gospel (Colossians 3:12; Ephesians 1:1).

2.     He tells me I am his child, one who has been adopted into his family and loved by the Father (1 John 3:1).

If you find yourself acting like Simon the Pharisee, find ways to talk to and share life with others who are different than you. Ask more questions, don’t give lectures. Humble yourself by realizing that you may look clean from the outside but there are things that go in your heart that are just as sinful as more ‘noticeable sins.’ If you take these things seriously, something begins to change in your walk with the Lord which leads us to our second point for today.

Devotion to God flows from a heart of faith changed by God’s love and forgiveness.

In reading this story, it’s easy to miss a few details or just take a glance at them. I want to show how this woman let it all out. In group settings, we often get uncomfortable if folks start weeping. We get uncomfortable when folks break cultural norms. This woman is weeping loudly, she’s kissing Jesus’ feet, and her hair is down which would have been seen as extremely inappropriate. Why does she do this? She does this because she is so devoted to God, she is wanting to give God everything. Her tears, her expensive perfume, and her life.

Why is she so devoted to God? Because she has received God’s love and forgiveness in faith. It’s not her devotion that earned her God’s love and forgiveness. It’s all by grace or God’s kindness, favor, and mercy. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. Not by works so that you may not boast.

Unfortunately, we can misread stories like this one and start to get things mixed up. Jesus says: “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – as her great love has shown.” Jesus is saying as you realize and accept that your sins have been forgiven, you can’t help but to become more and more devoted to God and to love him and to serve him.  Devotion to Jesus was evidence of her love for him because she is so thankful to have found forgiveness in him. Receiving God’s forgiveness was the motivator for her love and devotion to Jesus.

I’ve sometimes heard people say the Gospel is the beginning of Christianity – it’s too elementary. Once you accept the Gospel and experience God’s forgiveness, you don’t really need it anymore. It’s considered milk and you need something meatier. You move onto more important spiritual things like serving, praying, giving, etc. But, my friends, if we move on from the Gospel, our hearts are so prone to wander. We start to try staying devoted to God without abiding in him, without making ourselves at home with him. If we move on from the good news and stay devoted to God, you won’t have enough fuel. You’re lying to yourself. it’s like trying to drive to New York City on a quarter tank of gas. It’s not going to work. You never graduate from the Gospel, your life must be saturated in it. If it’s not, you’ll start to measure your devotion in all the wrong ways: am I praying enough? Am I kind enough? Do I read my bible enough? Devotion is fueled by faith and abiding in Christ.

So, today, I’d invite you to ponder: am I devoted to God like this woman? I’m not asking you to ponder that in the sense of comparing yourself to her and I’m not asking you to do exactly what she did. But, is your heart like this woman’s heart? Is your heart willing to give Jesus everything? Is your heart willing to endure the looks and murmurs of others just so you can be with Jesus and make him proud? Can your heart truly rest in the good news that Jesus Christ came to save sinners and offers you mercy and forgiveness?

As Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Is your heart restless? Find the rest you need in Christ just like this woman had finally found. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about this woman, shall we talk about Simon the Pharisee? We shall with our last point.

The closer you are to Jesus, the more you see your sin – and the more you see his mercy.

There are three characters in this story: Jesus, the woman, and Simon the Pharisee. When you hear the phrase “he who has been forgiven little, loves little” – does that make you think that if you’ve done the right things (go to church, got baptized, etc.) that you love little? Does it make you think that somehow people who have made a train wreck of their lives, find Christ, and then automatically love others more? No, that’s not what Jesus is getting at.

In much of Jesus’s stories and interactions, he is getting us to compare two different types of people – religious leaders and people who struggle with public sins or disabilities. They each have problems, but he invites them all into repentance. This story is another encounter – you have the woman who worships Jesus. She was far away from God in some publicly known sin. She draws near to him. She kisses him. She cleans his feet with her tears. She freshens them up with her perfume.

On the flip side, Jesus rebukes Simon for failing to display common courtesy. In this culture, it was hospitable to offer your guests a kiss, offer your guests oil to be anointed with, and more. For us today, it’d be akin to failing to take our guests coats when they visit or offering someone a drink or a snack. Why does Simon neglect these things? It’s because he’s far away from Jesus. We’re unsure the real reason why Simon invited Jesus over for dinner but we get a hint when he thinks to himself: he makes the conclusion that Jesus is not likely a prophet. It could be that he had Jesus over for dinner because he wanted to be in the know or to brag to his friends that he had Jesus over before it was cool. He wanted the social recognition of doing so. Are those pure motives? Are those motives of someone who is devoted to Jesus?

Simon is far away from Jesus because he doesn’t really think he needs any of God’s forgiveness. He’s a Pharisee. He’s done the right things: he’s studied the Old Testament, he goes to Synagogue, he stays away from sinful people, and he is faithful to his spouse. He looks clean on the outside and doesn’t recognize his own pride is in the way of seeing the long-awaited Messiah. When Jesus says: “whoever has been forgiven little, loves little” – he’s pointing a finger at Simon to say: your love is not great because you have not appreciated the depth of forgiveness that I have made available to you.

If Simon’s love was great, he would’ve been at Jesus’ feet with the woman. For Simon, he felt like he didn’t need saving. But undernearth his clean exterior, there was dirty interior filled with: impure motives, pride, and arrogance. It’s like kids who try to hide their mess in a closet.

Whenever I’m at the beach and close to the ocean, I look out and am struck by how enormous it is and how tiny I am. In the same way, the closer we get to God, reality also sets in that God is so holy and so righteous while noticing that I am the opposite – I have flaws, I sin, etc. But when you’re also up close with God, you also see more of his mercy and experience more of his forgiveness. This is why the woman was weeping – tears of sorrow over her sin but tears of joy because of the forgiveness Christ gave her.

If you’ve been reading our Easter devotional, Paul David Tripp hits at this as well: the cross is where God’s holiness, our sin, and God’s mercy all connect and ultimately, Jesus reconciles all those things. But we only experience God’s mercy by coming up close to his holiness.

The closer you get to Jesus, you start to see his immense patience with people and you realize you’re not that patient. The closer you get to Jesus, you start to see how serious he took sin and how we think it’s a bit too extreme. The closer you get to Jesus, you start to see how he cares more about what’s going on inside of someone’s heart than the ‘right’ actions outside of the heart. But if you’re not getting close to Jesus, you probably think you’re doing just fine. You probably would hesitate to fall at his feet like the woman did. Ask yourself: what would be going through your head when you saw this woman walk into the party and begin to weep? Would it be: Thank you, Jesus! Or would it be: this is so embarrassing, she’s so gross.

In our church, we can be both people: we can be the woman or we can be Simon the Pharisee. Jesus invites all of us into a life of faith and forgiveness which is how this story ends.

Worship and prayer team, you can start making your way up.

As Jesus finishes up his dialogue with Simon, he tells the woman: “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Go in peace. When we think of peace, I often think of giving folks a peace sign. But, Jesus is saying so much more: peace. It’s a Greek word called εἰρήνην (Eye-RAY-NAY) which in the Old Testament is used to convey the idea of Shalom. Shalom is peace, harmony, or full human flourishing without the effects of sin or the fall. When God created, Eden was a place of Shalom or peace. Shalom is really the peace of heaven.

So when Jesus is forgiving sins, he is bringing us back to the garden. He is fixing what went wrong all those years ago with Adam and Eve and setting things right through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. He is bringing Shalom back to earth in his people and ultimately Jesus returns to usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth. That’s going to be a big moment when it happens but it’s not here yet. So in this now and not yet season, we see smaller moments of Shalom like Jesus telling this woman to go in peace. She can now have peace. She has peace with God because she has been forgiven by him and no longer worries about God’s mercy not being enough. She has peace because Jesus has given her a new identity and that matters more to her than what people say about her. She has peace because she can now walk in the light and not walk in the dark or shame like she once did. She has peace because she has faith that God loves to forgive sins and display mercy.

Jesus is the one who can forgive sins. No one else can. So if you’re the feeling the weight of this whether as the sinful woman or Simon the Pharisee, turn to Christ in this time. Sit at his feet, give him your all, and allow his mercy to wash over you. Amen?

So at this time, we’re going to transition to our time of communion. If you are a follower of Jesus and have professed faith in him, we invite you to share in this time with us. If you’re not, be at peace but I humbly ask that you just pass the plate to the next person after you. As the elements are being passed out, there are going to be folks available in the corners of the sanctuary to pray with you like usual. If you are struggling with a sin or have a heavy prayer need, it would be an honor for any of us to pray for you. Let me pray for you all and we’ll begin our time of communion.

Good morning, friends! As I said last week, we’re going to be starting a Lent series entitled: “Costly Confrontations.” In this series, we’ll be sending the next few Sundays looking at some encounters Jesus had with the Pharisees and experts of the Law. These are the tough encounters that ultimately lead to Jesus’ death. After all, that’s what Lent is really about: Lent is a season that Christians have observed for the last ~2,000 ish years. It’s a 40 day prep season where we commit to things like additional scripture reading, fasting, prayer, and meditation on Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

To help us prepare our hearts, I wanted us to look at some encounters that Jesus has with the religious leaders of this day. Because here’s the thing: Jesus’ death was not a spur of the moment decision. There are decisive events that happen in his ministry that led to religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus because he’s either rocking the boat, claiming to be God, or upsetting their interpretation of the Law.

So with that in mind, our first costly confrontation will be looking at Luke 5:17-26. I actually put that on the back of your notes sheet for easy access. No bible apps allowed ;) This is a well-known bible story but I’m really excited about it because it is just so beautiful. Let’s read God’s word together.

This is the word of the Lord. Since God’s word is active and alive, what can we learn from these passages of Scripture?

Faith will lead you to obstacles but they can be overcome.

At the heart of this story, you’ll find bold faith displayed by the man who was paralyzed and his friends. They encountered numerous obstacles that needed to be overcome. You can see this in a few ways:

1.      They carry their friend an unknown amount of distance to be healed but really, they have no idea if he will be healed. If you have ever carried another human being, you know how exhausting that is even if there are others helping you.

2.     When the crowd is too big for them to pass through, they decide to climb up to the roof. Destroy some tiles in the process (tiles were only available to rich people so this is a rich person’s house and they’re likely very particular about their roof), pull out the mud and straw that was underneath, and lower the man down to Jesus.

3.     Jesus is in an extremely crowded house that is extremely tiny by our standards. Rather than putting their friend anywhere, they lowered him down right in front of Jesus – almost as if to say, now you can’t ignore him Jesus. You need to do something.

4.     In most ancient cultures, people who had a physical disability were often second-tier citizens and treated extremely poorly. It’s why most of the healings that Jesus and the early church did featured people who had physical disabilities and were also homeless. That’s why one of the questions folks asked Jesus before he healed someone else was: Jesus, since this man has a disability, who sinned – the man or his parents? And Jesus says, you guys are totally missing the point. So, this man who needed healing and his friends are willing to endure the looks from the crowd or the ridicule that they may have encountered.

5.     When Jesus tells the man that he should get up and walk, the man believes him and does it. I don’t think we grasp how scary that would be. The man could have thought that Jesus was some scam artist and he could have believed the lies that God had punished him with this. But he doesn’t believe those lies, he believes and trusts Jesus and he walks.

Despite these obstacles facing them, the man and his friends worked to overcome them. Why? They had faith that perhaps the stories about this teacher from Nazareth were true. Maybe they had heard about Jesus’ powerful statements in Luke 4 where he says he came to help the lame or paralyzed walk. Or that Jesus came to save and heal those who are marginalized by society. The point is: they had faith even when they encountered valid obstacles. They trusted that the challenges weren’t going to matter in the end once a healing took place. And they were right – Jesus saw their faith and responded to it.

For us, I think we sometimes think that obstacles mean God’s not in favor of something we’re pursuing. Or we think obstacles are just a plot of the enemy. Those things can be true sometimes. But how many examples in Scripture do we see obstacles but the person has faith and the obstacles are taken care of by God? Moses leads his people out of Egypt only to find the Red Sea and their enemies breathing down their neck – that’s a valid obstacle. Moses has faith. God parts the Red Sea. As Paul continues his missionary journeys, he gets imprisoned with his pal, Silas – prison is a massive obstacle. But they have faith and they sing and pray all night long only to cause an earthquake. Paul ends up sharing the Gospel with the jailer who professes faith in Christ and gets his whole family baptized in the same night. What would have happened if Moses or Paul saw those obstacles and just given up?

Obstacles can be opportunities for us to exercise our faith. Or as the Figs sing in Lemonade by Forrest Frank “if life is always, you’re probably doing something wrong.”

Additionally, what are you willing to do to get people to Jesus? Are you willing to encounter obstacles in hopes that they will be changed? Are you compelled by Jesus enough to bring people to him or at least share him with them?

If you fix your eyes on Jesus, you’re willing to endure those challenges because you trust he’s got your best interest at heart. When God sees your faith, he is going to show up for you – just not always in the way you may have been hoping for. With that in mind, we can learn something else from this story:

Jesus gives us what we need, not what we may have expected.

Now, we pick up in the middle of this story. The man has just been lowered in front of Jesus. The friends and the man are likely on the edge of their seat waiting to see what Jesus is going to do. They can’t wait to see what he’s going to do but then Jesus does something unexpected. Instead of jumping in to healing this man, he says: “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” I imagine the man and his friends being like: dude, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because of my legs, I can’t walk.

Why does Jesus do this? Jesus often has deeper and bigger purposes than we can fully comprehend. When Jesus tells the man his sins are forgiven, he’s acknowledging a few things:

1.      This man’s biggest problem was not something physical. His biggest problem was in the spiritual realm. Like all of us, he was still in need of forgiveness for the wrongs he has done.

2.     Because of the forgiveness Jesus offered the man, he calls him: “Friend.”Son in the ESV. For those of who have professed faith in Christ, Jesus calls us friends too.

3.     Jesus can forgive sins because sin is an offense against him as he reveals that he is the long-awaited Son of Man that Daniel saw in a vision from Daniel 7. You can’t offer forgiveness for something that’s not done to you. If one of you told me that you are cheating on your spouse and I said: “I forgive you.” That would make zero sense. Only your spouse can forgive you. The only person who can offer forgiveness is the one who was sinned against. So when Jesus offers forgiveness, he is saying he is God because sin is an act of rebellion against God.

4.     To demonstrate that he is indeed the Son of Man, Jesus doesn’t just address the heart issue. He goes a step further and physically heals the man. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, healings served a two-fold purpose: one they demonstrated what life looks like in the situation where Jesus is reigning in the situation and where life isn’t marked by sin or death and two they confirmed his authority as the son of God. Moses authority was confirmed by the miracles he could do. Elijah same deal. Early church same.

So, Jesus is taking this opportunity to accomplish a lot. He’s reversing the effects of sin and hell by offering forgiveness + healing someone who was paralyzed as sicknesses are an effect of the fall. But, he’s not stopping there – he wants to make a point that he is doing this because he is the long-awaited Messiah. So, Jesus gives us what we need but not what we may have been expecting. The man came to be healed but he found out that he had just met the Messiah and needed forgiveness.

As we prepare our hearts for Jesus’ death and resurrection, this is ultimately at the heart of our faith.

When Jesus died, his closest friends were in mourning. They were expecting Jesus to usher in a new kingdom for Israel by living not by dying. But Jesus knew better – he knew that is in his death, he would absorb the punishment for his people’s sin and break the chains of hell’s power over us. And then in his resurrection, he would create a new Kingdom – not one founded on war, political power, or worldly strength but a kingdom founded on humility, self-giving and sacrificial love, and peace between God, man, and one another.

Some of you may be thinking that you’re pretty good at knowing what you need. Let me tell you something: you’re not. When we get the things, we think we ‘need’, we’re often left wanting more. If we get a raise at work, we often wishing we had just a little bit more. If we get a good dessert, we’re often wishing we had just a little bit more or that we ordered something else. When we get what we say we need, we’re often dissatisfied with the outcome eventually and then we have new needs. Jesus knew this with the man he healed which is why:  he offered him forgiveness first and insight into who Jesus second and then physical healing third.

Likewise, this truth that Jesus gives us what we need but not what we may have expected applies to our lives. There may be times where we are laboring in prayer for God to respond one way but he ends up responding in a different way. God never withholds good things from us but sometimes a valid response to our prayers is no, there’s something better or not yet. In prayer, God will either gives us what we ask for OR he will give us what we would have asked for if we knew everything he knows. How many of us can say we were dealt a bad hand in something and felt almost abandoned by God in the moment? But now, we can see how God gave us exactly what we needed even if we couldn’t see it at the time.

When we look back and see what God has done, that leaves us with only one option: to praise him!

When God receives the glory, our lives receive a joy that multiplies.

How does this story end then? The experts of the Law seem extremely ticked off by Jesus’ claim that he can forgive sins. The Law experts rightfully assert that no one can forgive sins but God alone. They rightfully accuse Jesus of blasphemy, if Jesus is not God.

Jesus asks them: which is easier to say sins are forgiven or to heal someone? In theory, it is easy for me to say sins are forgiven than to totally heal someone who is paralyzed. Right? Just to prove that Jesus is indeed God, he does both. I wish I could say with confidence that the experts in the Law saw that and joined the crowd in praising God. But in further reading of Luke 5, it tells us that they continued to criticize Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. They didn’t want to give God the glory for this healing; they deceived themselves into thinking it was something else. They seemed apathetic towards his power and perhaps you yourself have grown apathetic towards Christ.

On the other hand, when the man was healed, he stood up and went home praising God. Can you imagine the joy that this man felt? He was paralyzed for who knows how long. And he has an encounter with Jesus Christ that radically heals him in a variety of ways: spiritual healing because his sins are forgiven, physical healing because he can walk, social healing because he is no longer an outcast, and economic healing because he will now be able to work. And the coolest thing? He walks out praising God and that joy spreads to others.

Luke says everyone was amazed! Everyone was praising and glorifying God when this took place. This happens elsewhere when Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman at the well. She is so full of joy that Jesus knows her, the joy spreads to the village. And the people of that village come to faith in Jesus. This is how the Jesus movements started.

Worship and prayer team, you can start making your way up here.

Now, my dear friends: you may not have a testimony that this man had. You may not be able to say: I couldn’t walk and Jesus healed me. But, you have a story that is worth sharing. If you are a Christian here today, you have a story of God intervening in your life – not on account of anything that you have done but solely on account of what Christ has done for you. That way, God gets the glory and praise for that. As you share that and remember that, it leads you to joy as you remember that you’re not what you once were or what you could have been. The old is gone, the new has come.

When’s the last time you shared that story with someone? If we want to see an act of God like the one we just read about, perhaps it’s time for us to start sharing testimonies with each other and with non-believers. I wonder what God could do.

Like I’ve been mentioning, we are holding a Good Friday and Easter Sunday service. This is a perfect avenue for you to take a step of faith and invite someone who is not a Christian to those services. You can share your story with them and you’ll give glory to God. You can express real joy at what Jesus has done in your life. Who knows what could happen? In the story we read today, it led to everyone present to praise God. Let’s pray that the same could be said for us with those we invite to Easter.

Let’s show that our faith isn’t just a set of beliefs but rather something that we take action on to get people to Jesus. Let’s believe that Jesus will show up for us and give us what we need. And let’s believe that this is all for God’s glory and our deep joy.

Amen? As we prepare our hearts to sing once again, if something is stirring in your heart or you need prayer, there are folks who are ready to pray with you. If you don’t have a prayer need, sing your heart out. Joyful makes God happy, you know that right?

Let me pray as we prepare our hearts to sing once again.