Sermons From My Heart

What is the one thing that both the church and society need today?

The answer can be summed up in one word-revival. Not only will a revival bring us and society back to God, it will also allow us to remember what God has done for his people in the past, what he is doing for them now, and what he will do for them in the future.

The message of Psalm 107 conveys what God has done for his children and how lovingly he has dealt with them. God withholds punishment (which is deserved) and gives mercy and grace, which are not deserved. The psalm gives thanks for God’s enduring, steadfast love. He is willing to forgive his people even when they are unfaithful.

The psalm begins with a call to praise, followed by a warning to confess our sins. The psalm is concerned with the entire community giving thanks, but individual members of the community also give thanks. Specifically, they gave thanks to God for saving them from slavery in Egypt and guiding them to the Promised Land. The wanderers in verses 4 to 9 also represent those lost in a desert of loneliness, routine futility and affluence that never satisfies. They, like the Israelites, search without hope and without help, unable to find their way home until they return to God.  It nudges us to move from our comfortable lives to imagine the hearts and lives of refugees, wayfarers, pilgrims and others who are coming to the cross from all over the world. They were in bondage and are now free. Since we were also bound by sin, we will naturally have compassion with these pilgrims.

Like the people of Israel, we wander in spiritual darkness and are rebellious, fearful and wicked. We are easily distracted by the world, and this is understandable. The world is so attractive to us that it overwhelms us to the point where we neglect our relationship with God. In the end we are humbled by the consequences of our disobedience. We turn back to God who forgives us, but then we become complacent and find ourselves back in darkness. This is a never-ending cycle. In spite of this, God’s love is steadfast. He never turns us away when we return to him.

Today, we and the church need to return to God. We need revival. Many churches have seen a decline in membership and attendance. For example, a poll conducted by the Pew Research Centre found that the percentage of Canadians surveyed who say that they attend church at least once a month fell from 43 percent in 1986 to 27 percent in 2012. Society needs to pray to God that he will restore the church so that it can evangelize the people. Society needs to pray that God will pour out his Holy Spirit with a message of repentance and godliness. Society needs restoration and freedom from bondage. God was faithful to his people in the past, he is faithful to his people today, and he will be faithful to his people in the future. His faithfulness opens a gateway to repentance and revival.

There is a spiritual thirst in the world today. Both the world and the church need revival. They need to heed the words of the old song, “That Old Time Religion”:

 Give me that old time religion

 give me that old time religion

 Give me that old time religion

 It’s good enough for me

 Makes me love everybody

 Makes me love everybody

 Makes me love everybody

 It’s good enough for me

 It has saved our fathers

 It has saved our fathers

 It has saved our fathers

 And it’s good enough for me

 It was good for the prophet Daniel

 It was good for the prophet Daniel

 It was good for the prophet Daniel

 And it’s good enough for me

 Give me that old time religion

 give me that old time religion

 Give me that old time religion

 It’s good enough for me

 It was good for Hebrew children

 it was good for Hebrew children

 It was good for Hebrew children

 And it’s good enough for me

Revival can only begin when we claim God’s mercy. It will restore a proper vision of who God is, his goodness, his moral perfection and his mercy. If we trust that he is merciful, we will experience his mercy.

Adversity often forces us to admit our need for God. For example, the Israelites were wanderers in the desert with no home. They suffered from spiritual and physical hunger as well as physical and spiritual thirst. In their time of need, they returned to God. They had no illusions of grandeur or superiority. In contrast, sometimes the church lives under the illusions of power, money, traditions and rituals. God often uses adversity to bring us back to him. He wants us to rely on him instead of relying on ourselves. He wants the longing in our souls to drive us to him. He wants to satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst. He wants to give us hope for the present and the future. He wants to give us vision and direction. When we approach our situations with gratitude, it takes our focus off of our problems and puts it onto God.

Adversity often leaves scars, and all of us have them. We have received these scars in one of two ways: because of what has been done to us by others and because of what we have done to ourselves. These scars are nothing to be ashamed of if we are Christians. They are an invitation to share Christ’s healing power with the world, just like the psalmist showed the scars of the Israelites. If we are not ashamed of our scars, people will recognize Jesus, especially when we tell our stories of emotional, physical, spiritual and relational healing. If we are true children of God, we will say so publicly and not be ashamed of it. We will gladly tell everyone about God’s unfailing love, how he changed our lives and how he can change their lives.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, New King James Version (Brentwood, TN; Worthy Publishing; 2013, pp. 777-778)
2. Pew Research Centre, “Canada’s Changing Religious Landscape.” Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/2013/06/27/canadas-changing-religious-landscape/#decline-in-canadians-attendance-at-religious-services
3. ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.
4. Williams, D. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 14: Psalms 73-150 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1989, pp. 276-277)
5. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
6. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 810-812)
7. Sharon Janes, “The Power of Your Story.” Retrieved from www.girlfriendsingod.com
8. Rick Boxx, “A Walk of Gratitude.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
9. Scott Schauf, “Commentary on Psalm 107:1-3,23-32.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2490
10. Lisa Nichols Hickman, “ON Scripture: Immigration: Journey to a New Life.” Retrieved from www.day1.org
11. Houston, David: “Old Time Religion.” Retrieved from http://www.metrolyrics.com/old-time-religion-lyrics-david-houston.html
12. Craig Condon, “Memories, Faith and Forgiveness.” Retrieved from the author’s personal library.

A pilot was flying a single-engine airplane when the engine suddenly quit. He tried everything he could think of to restart the engine, but he wasn’t successful. He radioed the nearest airport, which was 100 miles away, and explained the situation. He asked the air traffic controller for advice. The reply he got was, “Repeat after me. Our Father, who art in heaven…”

Jesus often prayed. For example, He prayed at His baptism, in the wilderness, before the appointment of the apostles and at His transfiguration. The disciples were impressed by the excellence and fervor of His prayers. John the Baptist taught His disciples to pray, and Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray. Jesus’ answer became known as the Lord’s Prayer. It teaches us three things:

1. The gifts and graces of others should lead us to want them as well.
2. The true method of praying can be learned only by being properly taught by God.
3. It’s proper for us to think beforehand what we are to ask for.

Jesus did not say that the disciples should use His exact words whenever they prayed. He was suggesting a pattern. This pattern has six separate ingredients. This pattern can be easily remembered by thinking of the six letters in the author’s name-CHRIST.

1. C-Concentrate on the person you are praying to, and not on the prayer.
2. H-Hallelujah. Jesus says, “Hallowed be thy name,” meaning, “Holy be thy name.” The word hallowed defines the person of God.
3. R-Ruler.” Thy Kingdom Come.”  God is the ruler of the kingdom that will come some day.
4. I- “I need and I feed.” When we ask God to give us our daily bread, we are asking Him to give us what we need.
5. S-Saviour. Our prayer affirms that God is our Saviour. He will forgive our sins.
6. T-Triumph. “Lead us not into temptation.” We are asking God to try to keep us from sinning so often. We don’t have the strength to face our temptations. That’s why we pray to God and ask Him to deliver us from evil.

So why is prayer important? In his book, A Call to Prayer, scholar J.C. Ryle gave the following reasons:

1. A habit of prayer is one of the surest marks of a true Christian. The greatest people in the Bible were people of prayer. They took their problems, challenges, hopes and dreams to God regularly, and so can we.
2. A habit of prayer brings great encouragement to the one who prays.
3. A habit of prayer creates holy men and women. The more we seek out God, the more our hearts are aligned with what God desires for us and we become holier people in the process.
4. If we do not pray, we run the risk of backsliding in our faith.
5. A habit of prayer brings peace and contentment. We live in a sin-filled world where sorrows and troubles are plenty. How do we fight this? When we cry out to God, He offers peace that transcends our understanding.

The Lord’s Prayer should be called “The Disciples’ Prayer” because it provides a pattern for all disciples to follow: honour God, submit to His will, depend on Him to meet needs and forgive sins, and ask for strength to forgive others and to resist the devil. At the heart of it all is Jesus’ distinctive vision of God as Father.

The prayer teaches us to forgive others if we expect God to forgive us. It doesn’t mean that by forgiving others we deserve forgiveness ourselves, but that it is a state of mind without which God can’t consistently pardon us. We are to forgive everyone who has hurt us.

It’s also proper to persevere in prayer. God will answer our prayers after long and frequent requests. A good example is the parable of the widow and the unjust judge. God doesn’t promise to give blessings at once. He only promises that He will do what we ask or that He will answer our prayer in His own time and in His own way. He leaves people to persevere in prayer until they feel their dependence on Him. Sometimes we need to know the depths of our own desires, and we need to cry out to God with an enduring persistence. We have to keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking. Persistence is the key. When we see God answer those prayers, we are encouraged to continue praying for other things as well. Our persistence will be rewarded. God will give us what we need. All we have to do is ask. Sometimes we don’t even have to ask and it’s still ours to receive.

Prayer produces in us the character of waiting-the kind of waiting that brings us the answer and not the answer to us. Prayer reshapes us and our understanding. God brings good even from those prayers that have a different result than what we had hoped for.

God is almighty and He works mightily, but He will not and cannot work if we do not labour together with Him in prayer for His will and pray “with all prayer and supplication” (as written in Ephesians 6:18) to grant Him the maneuverability to work in our lives. God wants to do many things, but He can’t because we do not sympathize with Him and we have not prayed so as to prepare ways for Him.

Just like the man persevered in asking his neighbour for a loaf of bread late at night, Jesus challenges us to ask, seek and knock. God is always there, ready to help when we ask, seek or knock-unlike our friends. He wants to help us because we are His children and we ask Him for what we need. Seeking is intense asking and knocking is intense seeking. Jesus was not speaking of the forgiveness of sins or of faith. He was speaking of knowing God in a real and personal way. As we pray to God and get to know Him, we will be changed. God loves us just the way we are, but He refuses to leave us that way. He wants us to be just like Jesus, and one way we can be like Jesus is to pray like Jesus did.

One of our big problems with prayer is that we do not see God answer our prayers as fast as we would like, so we give up. Could the reason we have not seen answers be due to the fact that we have not persisted in prayer? God will answer our prayers at the right time. He will provide for our needs. He wants to show Himself mighty and strong in our lives. The greater the problem we are facing, the greater the glory when He comes through.  

Prayer is not a special activity reserved for special times, special places or special people. Prayer is not the private property; prayer is mercifully ordinary. Prayer is what we’re wired for. Prayer is what we as God’s children do. If we stop and think about it for a minute, prayer is a reason to relax and rejoice.

Getting to know God is the key to understanding the heart of God, which is the source of the abundance of blessings He pours out on our lives, unworthy as we are. While some are more interested in the help God provides, knowing Him is the key to understanding the nature of prayer and how this brings us into harmony with the will of God.

God is one friend who will never let us down. He is the friend who is always there, who never puts us on hold, and who never turns us away. Even though He doesn’t always give us what we want, or what we think we need, there is one gift He always gives: The Holy Spirit. In the words of that famous hymn:

What a friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer.

Showing hospitality was a moral obligation in the ancient world, and the man in the second part of Luke’s Gospel passage faced a responsibility he could not meet unless he received help. Likewise, believers should see themselves as people in desperate need before the only One who can meet that need. Those who come to God with persistence, as this man did with his neighbour, will know the power of prayer in their lives.

All of us have a hunger for God, including one person who wrote to Billy Graham a few years ago. He wrote,” My parents were atheists, and I’ve never believed in God. But I’m older now, and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m right. How can I know if God exists?” In his reply, Billy Graham wrote the following words:

“I can tell from your letter that you honestly want to know if God exists, and I commend you for this. All too often people say they want to know if God exists—but in reality they don’t, because they know He’d make them change their way of living. “

“But I also sense that you aren’t simply curious about God. You have within you a hunger for God—a hunger that God Himself has placed within you (even if you don’t see it this way right now). God made us, and our lives are only complete when we give Him His rightful place. Don’t suppress that hunger He has placed in your soul, and don’t try to fill it with anything less than God. Put Jesus’ words into action: ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.’”

The idea that prayer is a passive activity has no place in the word of God. Prayer is persistence, conflict and spiritual warfare. Prayer is at the very heart of the life of faith. Prayer is simply talking to God and listening to Him. It’s like falling in love. Suddenly your life takes on a whole new meaning. You’ve got a new centre, a new relationship with a person that gives you excitement and joy. You are talking to the person you love, and you can talk to him or her all through the day, driving, showering, walking down the aisles of the supermarket, going to sleep or waking up.

When Jesus was tempted by the devil while He was in the desert, He was able to defeat the devil by quoting Scripture. When we as Christians understand that we can pray directly to God, when we can take a passage of Scripture and understand it under the direction of the Holy Spirit, we are on the road to surviving victoriously in whatever set of hostile circumstances that may come along. One discovery will lead to another. We will let the Holy Spirit use us to touch the lives of others and minister to their needs.

Prayer is a matter of faith-taking God at His word and trusting His promise to work on His people’s behalf-even when His work is invisible, when the answers are long in coming, and when He seems to be withholding His blessings. The act of persistent prayer proclaims a believer’s commitment to Him.

In the Holy Spirit we partake of God’s friendship. Through His Spirit, God comes to be in us and with us, to talk to us and listen to us, and we to Him. It’s a sign of His friendship. God gives His Spirit to us if we ask, and then the dialogue begins.

We pray because Jesus wants us to. We pray because it’s what we as God’s children do. We pray because we want to and our yearning is precious to God. We pray because what we need the most is God’s Spirit in us. With or without words, and regardless of our circumstances, our prayers usher in God’s Spirit and remind us that we are not alone in this hurting world. God’s Spirit will be with us if we accept Christ as our Saviour and let Him into our hearts and lives.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp.1408-1409)
2. Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament. Part of Wordsearch 12 Bible software package.
3. Larsen, B. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 26: Luke (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1983; pp. 192-200)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 1417-1419)
6. “Day 22 These: Facing Temptation.” Retrieved from Onceplace@crosswalkmail.com
7. Pastor Dick Woodward, “The Pursuit of God.” Retrieved from crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
8. Paul Estabrooks, “Led by the Spirit.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
9. “Pray with Persistence.” Retrieved from info@dailydisciples.org
10. Pastor Jack Hibbs, “Persistent Prayer.” retrieved from devotion@reallifewithjackhibbs.org
11. Os Hillman, “A Remnant That Prays.” Retrieved from tgif@marketplaceleaders.org
12. “Are We Asking?” Retrieved from www.forthright.net
13. Rev. Billy Graham, “How Can I Know If God Exists?” Retrieved from https://www.arcamax.com/healthandspirit/religion/billygraham
14. Arthur Schoonveld, “A Friend at Midnight.” Retrieved from today@thisistoday.net
15. Dr. Harold Sala, “God’s Pockets.” Retrieved from guideleines@guidelines.org
16. Kelly Givens, “Do You Pray?” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
17. Dr. Jeff Schreve, “When Prayer Has Power.” Retrieved from www.christianity.com/devotionals/from-his-heart-jeff-schreve/
18. The Rev. Janet Hunt, “A Young Man, His Dog and How Much More Will the Father Give….” Retrieved from www.dancingwiththeword.com
19. Debie Thomas, “When You Pray.” Retrieved from www.journeywithjesus.net

When I led a weekly worship service at a local nursing home in 2016, I talked about memories and how they can be both good and bad, depending on the memories. I talked about how Joshua told representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel to take 12 stones from the Jordan River and make a monument after the Israelites entered the Promised Land. This monument was intended to help the Israelites remember God’s faithfulness to them during the forty years that they wandered in the wilderness.

The writer of Psalm 85 also talks about memories. Memories give us hope. For example, people who are grieving the loss of a loved one are often comforted by their memories of their loved ones. Memories let us recall with gratitude what God has done in the past, and they give us the hope that God will do good things for us again in the future. That makes our present sorrows and sufferings bearable.

Psalm 85 is a community lament. God was not pleased that his people were unfaithful, and he showed his displeasure. The people repented and asked God to forgive them. The six verbs-been favourable, brought back, have forgiven, covered, taken away, turned down-highlight God’s redemptive work in Israel’s history. God’s gracious dealings with Israel in the past justify the hope that He will once again show grace and forgiveness. The psalm closes with the confidence that God will forgive his people.

The psalmist also urges us to make sure that our repentance is genuine. He urges us not to make the same mistakes that caused God’s displeasure. The word mercy literally means “lovingkindness” or “steadfast love.” It is a powerful word used elsewhere in the Old Testament to describe God’s unconditional love and His covenant commitment. God’s promise of salvation is available to everyone who believes in him in faith, but that provision is not automatic. It only comes if we repent and turn to God in faith.

God’s judgment is the result of his righteousness and our sins. There will never be any reconciliation without repentance and forgiveness. Reconciliation was made possible by Christ’s death on the cross. Since he bore our sins and our punishment on his shoulders, we can come home to God. His wrath has been lifted, but it will return every time we sin. Every time we repent, God will forgive us, but that does not give us a license to sin.

Spiritual revival involves getting right with God and returning to a place in our lives where we can delight in God and celebrate his goodness, love and mercy. It will rescue us from the penalty of sin and the urge to practice our sins.

Jesus is like water. Both can go where we can’t go. Throw something against a wall, and it will hit the wall and drop. Throw water on a wall, and the water will spread. Jesus is the same. He is a spirit who is not limited by an earthly body. He enters our souls and quenches our spiritual thirst just like water quenches our physical thirst.

There is a spiritual thirst in the world today. Both the world and the church need revival. They need to heed the words of the old song, “That Old Time Religion”:

 Give me that old time religion

 give me that old time religion

 Give me that old time religion

 It’s good enough for me

 Makes me love everybody

 Makes me love everybody

 Makes me love everybody

 It’s good enough for me

 It has saved our fathers

 It has saved our fathers

 It has saved our fathers

 And it’s good enough for me

 It was good for the prophet Daniel

 It was good for the prophet Daniel

 It was good for the prophet Daniel

 And it’s good enough for me

 Give me that old time religion

 give me that old time religion

 Give me that old time religion

 It’s good enough for me

 It was good for Hebrew children

 it was good for Hebrew children

 It was good for Hebrew children

 And it’s good enough for me

The church needs to have the same impact that the church in the first century AD did. We and the church need to pray, evangelize and give faithfully of time, talent and treasures.

We need revival daily even though we may say to ourselves, “I’ve confessed, tried and failed so many times. Revival doesn’t last.”  Someone said the same thing to evangelist Billy Sunday in the early 1900s. He made the point that since personal revival wasn’t a permanent end to temptation, sin and failure, times of revival weren’t important. The man complained to Billy Sunday that revival just doesn’t last. Billy Sunday just smiled and replied, “Well, a bath doesn’t last either, but it’s good to take one occasionally!” Daily revival is like a daily bath. Both get rid of dirt and grime. A bath gets rid of physical dirt and grime, and daily revival gets rid of the spiritual dirt and grime called sin. When we are restored, we can rejoice at having been restored and forgiven. At the same time, we can anticipate with joy the fulfillment of prophecy and our promised salvation.

We can’t do anything to earn our salvation except repent and accept God by faith. Salvation is a gift from God that was paid for when Christ died on the cross. When God forgives us, we will know that God keeps his promises. God’s mercy and righteousness will always triumph over sin and death. Lovingkindness, righteousness and peace are characteristics of God, and they are also characteristics of our eternal, heavenly home.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, New King James Version (Brentwood, TN; Worthy Publishing; 2013, pp. 762-763)
2. Houston, David: “Old Time Religion.” Retrieved from http://www.metrolyrics.com/old-time-religion-lyrics-david-houston.html
3. ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.
4. Williams, D. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 14: Psalms 73-150 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1989; pp. 108-113)
5. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible, New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
6. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010, pp. 785-787)
7. Pastor Greg Laurie, “Revival is Personal.” Retrieved from www.harvest.org
8. Joel Osteen, “Ask to Hear Him Better.” Retrieved from www.joelsoteen.com
9. Dr. Stephen Davey, “Taking a Bath-Daily!” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
10. Dr. Billy Graham, “Does God Give Up on a Nation That Turns Against Him?” Retrieved from www.billygraham.org
11. The Rev. Margaret Leichester-Stoddard, “Bible study, Proper 12 (C)-July 24, 2016.” Retrieved from http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2016/07/11/bible-study-proper-12-c-juolu-24-2016/

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Have you ever had a problem that was so bad that you couldn’t solve it yourself? Did you wish that the problem would just go away? Well, the apostle Paul has the answer in Colossians 2:8-23. He argues that the cross is the answer to our deepest needs.

It took the sacrificial love of Jesus as expressed on the cross for people to come back to God. This change will provide us with the strength, wisdom, courage, love and other resources that we need to deal with our problems. The heart is the root of the problem. God understands this and he goes for the root cause of our problem. He promised to take away our hearts of stone, and he did this by joining us to Christ’s death.

Christ’s death was a sacrifice in the style of the Old Testament sacrifices. These rituals involved sacrificing animals to atone for the sins of the people. The problem was that the priests in the temple were human and they had to atone for their own sins as well as making sacrifices for the sins of the people. The view at that time was that God was an angry god who was only satisfied with sacrifices. Jesus was the perfect, sinless sacrifice for the sins of the people, and his sacrifice on the cross had a much deeper meaning than the Old Testament sacrifices.

When we have problems the cross meets us at the point of our deepest needs. First, the cross is love at its deepest and purest. It is the kind of love that allows God to forgive us and reconcile us to him. This love allows us to love others and receive the love others have for us.

The second need is for forgiveness. We are sinners, and in times of trouble this reality often hits close to home. Through the cross God forgives us and nails our sins to the cross. Once these sins have been nailed to the cross, God forgives them and forgets them.

The third need is for community. Families can be torn apart by our modern society. In larger towns and cities people often don’t know their neighbours. Our thirst for material happiness has isolated us. We need to be connected to other people. The good news is that we are all united and equal at the foot of the cross. Just like he was lifted up on the cross, Christ draws us to him and to each other.

The fourth need we have is a cause to live and die for. That cause is the cross. When we centre ourselves in Christ, the more sensitive we become to the needs of people around us. We die to self, sin and pride. The love that is motivated by the cross becomes our reason for living. God has taken the initiative through the Cross to unite us to him.

One of the problems we have to deal with in our spiritual lives is false teachers. They exist only to cheat us out of the life we have in Christ. They claim to know God, but they aren’t necessarily mature in the faith. There are countless people who know the Scriptures but don’t apply them to their lives. Their leadership is based on so-called visions and revelations. These claims are false because Jesus was God’s final and complete revelation to mankind. Jesus is the only person we can trust. He is the only one who warrants our allegiance and trust. The person who knows only one verse of Scripture and applies it is more spiritually mature than the one who knows many verses and applies none of them.

The recent information explosion caused by the Internet and the 500 plus TV channels we can receive has made it more difficult to know whom to trust, especially when it comes to biblical teaching. Many so called “preachers” and “theologians” have gained a platform by teaching things that are the opposite in what is written in the Bible. We must not let charm and charisma determine what teachings we will accept. We must put ourselves under solid, biblical teaching so we can be rock-solid in our faith.

One of the false teachings we have to be aware of is the legalism, or the rules and regulations of Old Testament law or fundamentalist denominations. Christ is the substance by which all things are measured out, not rules or regulations.

Paul rebuffs four deceptions that undermine Christianity-philosophy, deceit, the traditions of man and the basic principles of the world. He does this with a definitive statement regarding the identity of Christ. Believers have everything they need in Jesus. Believers are buried in Christ through the water of baptism and are raised to new life through faith. Sin, death and hell do not have a claim on us anymore. God made a public spectacle of his enemies when Jesus was triumphant over death. We do not have to submit to anything Jesus has conquered. Jesus has solved our biggest problem, and he can help us solve all of our smaller ones as well.

Jesus has united all believers through his death and resurrection. He erased our sin-debt. He has created a relationship with us, and that relationship allows us to live the Christian life. He gives us the resources we need to defend ourselves and to be successful in life.

Bibliography

1. Dunnam, M.D. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 31: Galatians/Ephesians/Philippians/Colossians/Philemon (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982)
2. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
3. Lucado, M: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 2010)
4. ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 10 Bible software package.
5. Pastor Jack Hibbs, “Be Filled.” Retrieved from wttw@calvarycch.org
6. Ron Moore, “The Real Thing.” Retrieved from www.ronmoore.org
7. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013)
8. Michael Youssef, Ph.D., “The Day I died.” Retrieved from mydevotional@leadingtheway.org
9. “The Danger of Many Bible ‘Experts’.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com

At first glance, the reading from Hosea 1:2-10 doesn’t seem to make sense. Would God really ask a prophet to marry a prostitute? Well, the answer is yes he can, and yes he did. You see, this was part of God’s plan, and we all know that God’s ways are not our ways, and sometimes God’s ways don’t make sense to us because we can’t see the overall plan God has for someone or something.

God wanted to teach Israel a lesson, so he told Hosea to marry Gomer the prostitute. When God used the word whoredom, he was not necessarily referring to prostitution. The word translated as whoredom is a broad term that refers to various types of sexual misconduct. It only refers to prostitution in certain cases. In the case of Hosea, it refers to a married woman being unfaithful to her husband. This was a metaphor for Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. Hosea’s marriage began well and ended badly, just like Israel’s relationship with God began well and had become bad by the time of Hosea.

Hosea probably asked God, “Why are you doing this to me? I am a good man, I try to be a godly man. All I want to do is have a family and raise children. Why should I be married to the wrong woman? Why should I be forced to raise strange children?” God’s likely answer was, “It is because you are my prophet that you are living through this situation. Who else could suffer like I suffer, grieve like I grieve, and understand what I understand? Israel abandoned me just like your wife abandoned you. You can grieve for Gomer like I grieve for Israel.”

God knew that Gomer would be unfaithful and he used that knowledge to teach Israel a lesson. He used the names of her children as statements of prophecy. The first child, Jezreel, was a reflection of 1 Kings 21 where Ahab’s wife Jezreel planned to murder Naboth so that Ahab could seize Naboth’s vineyard.  The licking of Ahab’s blood by the dogs was a metaphor for God’s future judgment of people who follow other gods.

The name of Gomer’s second child is translated as “No Mercy”. Scholars suggest that Hosea was not the father. He did not have the natural affection that a father has for his children. This was a metaphor for the lack of love that God had for Israel at this point in time.

The name of Gomer’s third child is translated as “Not My People”, and again scholars suggest that Hosea was not the father. It represents the breaking of the natural bond that God made with Israel at Mt. Sinai; however, this breaking of the bond did not nullify the promises God made to Abraham. Like Abraham, Israel’s salvation was by grace through faith and not through works of the law. The salvation would be offered through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  

God used Hosea’s family to call Israel back to him and his teachings. Paul said the same thing in Colossians 2:6-19. Both the Colossians and the Israelites had been led away from God. In the case of the Colossians, they were led away by false prophets. They were deceived. They forgot that in God and Jesus they were living new lives after being forgiven of their sins. They were united with Christ and shared his power over all earthly rules and authority. The only way they had to gain spiritual maturity was to hold fast to their faith in Christ and not to the man-made rules of the Pharisees.

The story of Hosea and Gomer is really a story about God and the covenant people. Hosea used his family struggles as a way to speak to Israel about its unfaithfulness to God. Israel paid a heavy price for its unfaithfulness. Reconciliation would not be easy, just like it was not easy for Hosea and Gomer to reconcile. Israel had to learn a hard lesson. We as Christians have to learn the same hard lesson when we forsake Christ for other worldly ambitions. Thank goodness God is stubborn and pursues us even when we turn from him in sin. This is Hosea’s ultimate message: God is faithful to his promises and can’t let us go. His faithfulness to us overcomes our faithlessness to him and to each other.

We as modern Christians are also called to faith in Christ as a way of gaining spiritual maturity. It is not gained by the liturgy of the church. It is not gained through hymns, prayers or the minister unless they are true expressions of faith. It is not gained through the Book of Common Prayer or the Book of Alternative Services. It is only gained through faith. Faith allows us to withstand life’s challenges. Faith will guide us to the end of our life’s journey. It will guide us into the time of Judgment Day when God will say “Welcome Home!” Without faith, we will quite literally go to hell.

God can’t give us up as his children regardless of how unfaithful we have been.  He loves us too much. At the same time, he can’t overlook our sins because of the damage sin does and will continue to do as long as we hold on to our sins. Our closeness to God is broken because sin offends God. Sin hurts us because sin always has negative consequences and cuts us off from others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ.  God had to find a way to comfort us and heal us-and the way he found was through Christ’s death on the cross.

Jesus came into the world for a purpose, and that purpose was to die on the cross, the just for the unjust. When Jesus died for us, he took away our sins and nailed them to the cross. He provided the redemption referred to in Hosea 1:2-10. We must not take that grace for granted like Israel did. We must not drift so far from God that we can’t cherish his grace. That’s what happened to Israel at the time of Hosea. When we accept Christ, our condition is changed from condemnation and death to forgiveness and life. We are given a new nature-one that wants to please God. We are then adopted into God’s family, but that adoption requires us to submit to Christ’s authority. He paid for us with his blood, and since we are now his, he has the right to rule our lives. We have to let Jesus have complete control of every area of our lives-every decision, every action, every word, every motive, every attitude and every thought.

Hosea’s family provided juicy gossip for Israel. It was the Old Testament version of our modern tabloids. If the National Inquirer had been around during Hosea’s lifetime, the story of Hosea’s family would likely have made the front page. As Israel listened to the gossip about Hosea’s family, they learned about God’s undying love for his people. God’s faithfulness combined with our faith in him gives us hope that we can be changed, forgiven and saved. He wipes the slate clean and renews the relationship he has with us. We are restored as children of God.

In the Letter to the Colossians Paul encourages us to be rooted in Christ. Israel in Hosea’s time didn’t have those firm roots, so it’s no wonder that they drifted away from God. Once we have this firm foundation, Colossians teaches us to continually renovate ourselves so that we become more Christ-like, but we must not become rigid. We do not have to follow a rigid set of rules. All we have to do is come to Christ in humble faith and prayer. Jesus gives us a good example of a prayer to use in Luke 11:1-13.

There are two forms of prayer: quiet contemplation or thanksgiving and petition. Jesus used both forms of prayer to seek God’s presence, guidance and provision for both body and spirit. His prayer life reflected the life of friendship with God. God met Jesus’ needs when Jesus prayed, and he can meet our needs when we pray.

When Jesus said, “Give us this day our daily bread”, he was referring to the manna that the Israelites received every day when they wandered in the wilderness. It reminded them of their daily dependence on God for the basics of life. Bread serves the same function in a primitive, agricultural society where hunger is never far away. This might seem to be trivial in our modern, affluent society, but the term “daily bread” represents the modern essentials of our lives- for example, a car or medical care. God our Father listens to our requests but he does not blindly grant every one of them, just like good parents do not grant every one of a child’s requests. To do so would please us in the short term, but it would also hurt us in the long run, just like granting every one of a child’s requests would hurt the child in the long run. Instead, God provides what is needed, including limits and discipline

When I was doing my research for this homily, I found this prayer, which I thought tied in quite nicely with the homily. It’s a prayer we should all pray when we don’t get what we pray for. It goes like this:

I asked for strength that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I had asked for,
but everything that I had hoped for.
Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered;
I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

When we turn to other people and things to meet our needs, we turn away from God just like Israel did. There are so many people today who believe that if they can simply do this or that, then their lives will be fulfilled. They are very disappointed when they reach their goals and discover that the view from the top isn’t as great as they thought it would be. They try to hide their disappointment with drugs, alcohol sex or material goods. They reached their goals without asking God if their goals were compatible with his plans for their lives.. God wants us to seek, ask and knock and in return he promises to answer our prayers. We need to plant our roots deep in the faith of who Jesus is and what he did for us. That way, when the storms of life hit us, we will remain strong.

If we are to be like Christ, we must also forgive others like God forgives us. We as Christians are to be faithful reflections of the image and values of God. How can the world learn of God’s forgiveness if we do not forgive others?

The story of the man who loaned the three loaves of bread is a metaphor for God’s promise to save his people. People in that area and culture took hospitality seriously at that time. Failing to show hospitality would bring shame on the host family because the traveller would go to other homes for help and tell everyone about the person who refused to show hospitality. God refuses to allow his name to be brought to shame, so he saves his people. In other words, he keeps his promises and shows his own version of hospitality.

So how do we keep our faith strong in the face of our modern, secular, godless society? One way is through studying the Scriptures and through prayer. Jesus said that genuine prayer depends on knowing God instead of on our own efforts. When we pray, we become God’s warriors in our battered world, and our main duty is to serve him. We fight our battles by being kind to people we come in contact with, being godly to those who are non-believers and by being an upright witness to the world for the glory of Christ who lives in us. Once we are alive in Christ we must be and do for others what Christ has done for us. In other words, we must be like Christ.

Society is filled with people like Hosea and Gomer-people whose lives are messed up, who don’t have it together, who make poor choices and live with the consequences. I know, because I’m one of them. When I was in university, I made the poor choice of listening to a “sales letter” from a department head and majored in Economics. I’ve been paying a heavy price since then-unemployment, underemployment, a return to school and part-time work that paid me an income that was well below the poverty line for a single person. We might pretend that we are prefect, but behind our perfect appearances lie deep flaws that exist in spite of our appearances to cover up our sinfulness.

Our Christian life is not to be confined to a closet. Our belief must be revealed in our practice. If we walk in Christ, then we must act as Christ would act because Christ is in us-our hopes, our love, our joy and our lives. We are the reflection of Jesus, and people will say of us, “They are like their Master. They live like Jesus Christ”.

Bibliography

1. ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 10 Bible software package.
2. Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 22: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1990)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible NASB (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 2009)
4. Daniel Clendenin, PhD, “Lord, Teach Us to Pray”. Retrieved from http://www.journeywithjesus.net
5. John Shearman’s Lectionary Resource, Pentecost 9, Year C. Retrieved from http://www.seemslikegod.org
6. Ron Hutchcraft, “Life-Saving Pain”. Retrieved from http://www.hutchcraft.com
7. Dr. Charles Stanley, “Eternally Secure in Christ”. Retrieved from http://www.intouch.org
8. Dr. Charles Stanley, “Salvation and Lordship”. Retrieved from http://www.intouch.org
9. Dr. Neil Anderson, “Walking by Faith”. Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
10. Billy Graham, “If Jesus Forgave our Sins, Why Do We Ask God’s Forgiveness?” Retrieved from http://www.billygraham.org
11. Kelly McFadden, “Rooted in Christ”. Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
12. Joni Eareckson Tada, “The Devil’s Real Weapon”. Retrieved from http://www.joniandfriends.org
13. Alistair Begg, “The Practice of Walking”. Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
14. Lee Ann Dunlop, “A ‘Somebody Done Somebody Wrong’ Song”. Retrieved from http://www.esermons.com
15. Chrysanne Timm, “A Marriage Made in Heaven?”. Retrieved from http://www.esermons.com
16. John W. Wurster, “A Match Made in Heaven”. Retrieved from http://www.esermons.com
17. James McLemore, “God Needs to Save This Family”.  Retrieved from http://www.esermons.com
18. Charles L. Aaron Jr., “When God Adds Insult to Injury”. Retrieved from http://www.esermons.com
19. Clayton A. Lord, Jr., “Changing Our New Life to Christ”. Retrieved from http://www.esermons.com
20. The Rev. Edward F. Markquart, “The Prophet and the Prostitute”. Retrieved from http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com
21. Howard Wallace, “Hosea 1:2-10, Year C, Pentecost 9”. Retrieved from http://hwallace.unitingchurch.org

“Come here, Mr. Wiggle Worm,” Peter said as he put an earthworm in a can. “Hey, Dad, are worms good for anything besides bird food and fish bait?”

“Yes,” said Dad. “They help the earth breathe.”

Peter laughed. “Like lungs?”

Dad smiled. “Not exactly, but as worms burrow through the ground, they let fresh air through the soil. The more they eat and digest the soil, the better it is for growing things. God has a purpose for everything.”

“Well, I’m glad one purpose for worms is to make bait,” said Peter. “We’ll catch more fish that way! This will be enough, won’t it?” Dad nodded, and they headed to the lake.

That evening the family enjoyed fish for supper. “Yum!” Peter said as he took a bite. “Fishing was so much fun! I wish I could skip school and go fishing every day.”

Mom laughed. “Now that would be overdoing it a little,” she said.

“Besides, you like school,” said Peter’s sister, Ann.

“Yeah, except science,” Peter said. “I don’t agree with some of the things Mrs. Moore says. She thinks the universe came about on its own, but the Bible says God created everything, right?”

“That’s right,” said Mom. “It’s amazing that people can’t see how the beauty and complexity of nature points to a God who planned everything and makes it all work together.”

Dad nodded. “Even though sin broke creation in deep ways, we can see the goodness of God in everything He made.”

“Like worms and how they help things grow?” Peter asked.

“Right,” said Dad. “The sun is another example of God’s goodness. It’s just the right distance away so we can live comfortably. And seasons follow one another in perfect order. Only God could have planned everything so well.”

“And He has a special plan for people too, right?” asked Ann.

“Indeed, He does!” Mom replied. “Jesus came and died for the whole world, and one day He’ll return and make all creation new so it’s no longer affected by sin. He has a purpose for everyone who trusts in Him–a plan for how He wants each one of them to be part of His Kingdom on earth.”

Dad nodded. “Because of Jesus, all of creation–down to the littlest earthworm–has a purpose in the Kingdom of God.”

Did you know that God is in charge of everything? He’s the one who created the whole universe and makes it all work together. Though the sin we brought into the world causes a lot of problems, it won’t be around forever. Jesus saved the world from sin when He died on the cross, and He has a purpose for everything–including you! Trust Him and His plan for your life.

In Paul’s day, people debated about what force brought and held the world together. Some philosophies taught that water was the ultimate agent. Others believed that it was air. Paul declared that this unifying, sustaining force was not a what, but a who: Jesus Christ. Christ is everything-Creator, Sustainer, Head, Beginning, Firstborn-and has preeminence over all life.  As Lord of the universe (“the one who is before all things”), Jesus has every right to be Lord of everything He has created. If Jesus is truly Lord in one’s life, there can be no limitations or conditions on that statement.

As a physical body gets its signals from the head, the body of Christ on earth-the church-gets its signals from Jesus, its head. The church has a hope unlike any other in that Jesus is the firstborn of the dead-the first to be raised from the dead in a glorified form. Because of His resurrection, there will come a day when all fallen creation will be re-created, and the elect in Christ will join Him in glorified, everlasting bodies.

The words in verse 19 are perhaps the strongest affirmation in Scripture of Christ’s divine nature: all the fullness of God was in Jesus. Christ was no mere man or teacher, or even an angel or another celestial being. He was, and is, fully God. Paul told the Colossians that Christ was uncreated and was Himself the Creator. He existed before time. He is one with God in personality. Christ has priority and sovereignty over creation. He is the sole mediator between God and man. He is the heartbeat of the created universe. When we try to sever our lives from Christ, everything falls apart. Every person who has severed themselves from Christ has been disappointed.

Sometimes in our efforts to grow closer to God, we end up diminishing Him. We try to contain Him. We try to define Him in a way that our limited human minds can understand. When we try to squeeze God into our limited human understanding, we miss the very essence of God as the Creator, overseer and Sustainer of all things seen and unseen in Heaven and here on Earth. God is a being and sometimes He can’t be understood. Instead of distancing ourselves from Him, that knowledge should inspire awe and reverence for God as the One who holds everything together, now and forever.

Paul says Jesus Christ was a representation of God the Creator-Father, but He was also God Himself in human incarnation. This flies in the face of those who say that there are many ways to get to God. Christ is God Himself, so He is the only way to God. We can’t have Christian principles without Christ. The validity of Christian principles depends on Christ’s authority. His authority depends on who He is-God in human form.

Christ shows us who and what God is. He shows us what all people are meant to be-the image of God. Christ is a window through which we see God’s nature. He is also a mirror that shows our human possibility, our fallenness and our destiny.

People are born alienated from God and are His enemies until they are reconciled to Him through the blood of Christ. No mere man could accomplish this peace; only the fully human and Divine God-Man could bring all things together through Himself. In Christ we are a new creation. All of our sins have been forgiven and covered by His blood. That does not mean that we are not to forget our sins, but we must not glory in them either. If we are Christians and if we are growing in Christ, we must never assume that we have always been what we are. What we are is Christians who have been saved by the grace of God.

We need to break through the modern disguises of sin. In the fourth century sin was identified as pride, anger, envy, sloth, avarice, gluttony and lust-also known as the seven deadly sins. Today, sin comes in the form of self-expression, self-fulfillment, assertiveness, identity, taking care of my own being, the right of my own space, therapeutic enhancement. All these terms express deep emotional, psychological and spiritual needs, but they become the easy snare of sin’s entrapment. We justify all non-Christian uses of sex by talking about self-expression and personal freedom. We become unavailable to others because we must seek our own space. We trample on the feelings and being of others because we want to assert who we are. We are our own centre of reference, so we are estranged.

Through Christ’s death and resurrection, the relationship between God and man is restored. God’s passionate yearning for His children’s return home is never abated. The fire of love that burns in His heart is unquenchable, constant and continuous. The theme of redemption is part of the fabric of everything Paul wrote.

God has been working on a deep plan with a secret purpose that can only be discovered in the light of the Holy Spirit. The mystery is Christ who lives in us.:

1. Christ lives in us. This is the hope of glory. That happens when we accept Christ as our Saviour and invite Him into our lives.
2. We are the recipients and communicators of this mystery. We are to tell other people about Christ.
3. We suffer so that the secret may be fully known. Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians from prison. With his words, Paul had courageously preached this life-changing message among the Gentiles: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Now, from prison, Paul was also preaching the riches of this glory with his life. This is how every Christian can fulfill the word of God. The faithful life speaks as loudly as faithful words. He saw his imprisonment as a natural extension of his mission. Christ’s sufferings are our own, and our sufferings are Christ’s sufferings. Christians throughout the world are often persecuted for their faith, especially in Third World countries.
4. Christ works in and through us. We must rely on Christ’s energy and not on our own.

Even amid imprisonment and persecution, Paul’s focus was not on himself but on the advance of the gospel. Christians can “rejoice in…sufferings” when they look for what God is doing rather than concentrating on how they are doing.

Christ is in us and we are in Him, like a branch is in a vine. We can hope and pray that when we come to the end of our lives we can say to Jesus, “I have glorified You on earth. I have finished the work You gave me to do.” Christ is a vine looking for branches today. Are we willing to be one of those branches? When we become one, or if we are already a branch, are we are finding and finishing the work He wants us to do for Him-work that glorifies Him?

At some point in time we separated evangelism from discipleship. We preach the gospel, but we don’t disciple people. We don’t get them on their feet spiritually. Discipleship and evangelism go together. Discipleship isn’t just talking about Jesus. It is also being a friend, which is what a lot of people need today. When we share the gospel, we talk about the promise of heaven and the reality of hell. There is a hell, but we don’t have to go there. God has made a way out of hell-if we believe in Jesus Christ.

It isn’t enough to say we believe in God. Are we willing to act on our belief? God is calling us to a relationship with Him. Will we answer the call? Whatever challenges we face in life, we can face them knowing we have an all-powerful God on our side. He’s big enough to be Lord of creation and loving enough to come to earth and die for our sins. We can trust that our all-powerful God is for us and will help us overcome any challenges we face.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp.1672-1673)
2. Dunnam, M.D.& Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 31: Galatians/Ephesians/Philippians/Colossians/Philemon (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; pp. 3341-354)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Bible (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Pastor Ed Young, “On Purpose, For a Purpose.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
6. “Trusting God’s Power in Your Pain.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
7. Pastor Dick Woodward, “Paul’s Spiritual Secret.” Retrieved from crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
8. Pastor Greg Laurie, “Be a Friend.” Retrieved form Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
9. Skip Heitzig, “Jesus-Plus.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
10. Adrian Rogers, “Actions Speak Louder Than Words.” Retrieved from devotions@lwf.org
11. Dr. Ed Young, “Don’t Clip the Strand.” Retrieved from ministry@winningwalk.org
12. “Incarnation of Christ.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
13. Pastor Greg Laurie, “The truth About Eternity.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
14. Harry C. Trover, “A Worm with a Purpose.” Retrieved from info@keysforkids.org

How many of you have ever prepared a meal for a large group of people and wished that you had at least one other person to help you? If you have, you can understand how Martha felt in the passage from Luke 10:28-32.

This story takes place while Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem and the cross. Luke presumes that Jesus and the disciples will encounter listening hearts and gracious hosts.  Mary and Martha represent the hospitality that Jesus and the disciples will need on their journey. When Jesus arrived in Bethany with many disciples, Martha knew she was going to have a lot of work to do. In the culture of that time, women measured their worth by how well they performed chores like cooking and cleaning. We as Christians are called on to extend hospitality both as hosts and as guests, and to fellow believers and nonbelievers alike. We are not called on to simply tolerate and endure those people who are not like us.

Every responsible person feels the burden of carrying more than his/her fair share, and Martha felt the same way. It is too much to expect that the responsible person will never feel resentment. The older son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son is a good example of this. We are often in situations when we have too much to do and not enough time to do it. We have trouble saying “no.” Christ did not come to encourage us to be superhumans. He came to give us an abundant life, rest, peace and joy. Our relationship with Jesus is more important than anything else in life.

Like Martha, we can be so obsessed with doing what we think we should be doing that we miss what God wants us to do. All of us face the pressures of daily lives because there is constant pressure on us to produce or succeed, especially if we are working. There are times when we have to set aside our “to do” lists so that we can spend time with God. We are to be more like Mary and less like Martha. If there is anything more important than serving Jesus, it is simply being in his presence. God wants us to learn to stop and rest once in awhile. He wants us to balance all the demands in our lives. He encourages us to ignore the distractions in our lives and concentrate on our lives with God.

Our main priority as Christians is to stay centered on Christ. One way we can do this is by searching God’s word. While Martha was busy preparing the meal, Mary was busy listening to Jesus’ teachings. Our relationship with the Bible reflects our relationship with Christ’s teachings. Scripture turns the world’s logic on its head. People might think that we are being unreasonable by listening to and obeying God’s Word, but the truth is that only people who study His Word will know what reason really is. God’s course and logic will ultimately prevail.

There is a balance that has to be struck in our Christian lives. Jesus urges us to do good deeds just like Martha was doing a good deed by preparing the meal, but he also urges us to engage in kingdom work. Doing good deeds as Christians has to be balanced with citizenship in the kingdom. That citizenship can only be received by grace through faith in Christ.

Martha’s name comes from an Aramaic word meaning “lady” or “mistress,” as in the “lady of the house.” It describes her personality: responsible, serious and intense. Mary is the opposite. When Jesus arrived, she sat down at his feet to listen to His teaching. That position was reserved for official disciples of a teacher, and never for a woman in the culture of that time. A rabbi’s disciples sat at his feet when he taught. That was the proper place for a disciple, and since Mary was a “disciple” of Jesus, she was in the proper place. On the other hand, Martha was not in the proper place to learn from Jesus. Mary was in fellowship with Jesus, and our proper place is to be in fellowship with Jesus.

Martha is like many of us. We focus on tasks when relating to others. We are so eager to serve that sometimes we spot needs without asking and supply what is needed without thinking of ourselves. That’s good up to a point. Without having a task-oriented temperament, our world would come to a halt, but if we pay too much attention to things that don’t matter and not enough attention to the person who matters-namely, Jesus-there is a problem. Martha had that problem, and instead of looking to herself for the solution, she lashed out at Jesus and Mary. She expected Jesus to rebuke Mary for being lazy and selfish, but Martha was the one who was rebuked for neglecting the most important thing-time with Jesus.

There is an old saying that “where your heart is, there will be your actions.” If our heart is with God, we will follow him. We will see God’s love. While Martha was preparing physical food, Jesus was offering spiritual food. Mary enjoyed this spiritual food. Her focus was on God, and in the words of Jesus, she chose the right thing to focus on.

This story deals with our goals in life, or what has our attention most of the time. Martha was focused on being a good hostess. She had no time to be with the Lord. Like Martha, we can easily lose sight of who we are and whose we are. The good things in life can choke out God’s life in us. Sometimes we have to get rid of some of our roles, identities and patterns of behaviour to become more fully who we are as Christians and be more fully into our Christian ministry. If we make God and his presence in our lives our primary focus, we will find that he is the key to everything in our lives.

Martha was worried about something that was good. She was literally serving God by having Jesus over for dinner. Her aim was to please God, but her work became more important than her Lord. Serving Jesus became a way to serve herself. Martha and Mary represent the two types of people who are needed to do God’s work-the doers and the followers. For example, Jesus knew that when he needed a place to rest, Martha would have the welcome mat out for him 24 hours a day. Mary and Martha are not mutually exclusive. Thinking, especially about God’s kingdom, can lead to action. God needs both types of people so that his work can be done here on earth.

The heart of humility is found in serving others. Martha was on the right path. Her heart was in the right place, but she was focused on the wrong thing. She was focused on the work she was doing when, like Mary, she should have been focused on Jesus. We are called to be listeners of the word, and we are also called to serve others. The key is to strike a balance between these two priorities.

There are many varieties of people in God’s kingdom. There are conventional people who keep things running smoothly, pay attention to detail and have hidden reserves of strength. There are also unconventional people who have lots of energy at times and have the ability and vision to change the world but are tired and helpless at other times. These different types of people argue from time to time because they approach life from different directions. Love forms the basis of God’s kingdom, and those who love each other will find that they compliment each other and that everyone’s gifts and strengths are needed.

When people are with us, we must be with them. When God is present with us, we must be present with him. When life gets complicated, simplicity is the best solution. We must make the choice to set aside time in our daily lives to be silent and listen for God’s voice. The best way to do that is to learn to say “no.” A kind, polite, respectful no is the key to unlocking the power of spiritual disciplines. Saying no to others frees us to say yes to God and listen to his word. Jesus and his disciples represent the kingdom of God that is coming near. Will we welcome it like Mary and Martha did? Will we welcome the kingdom with hospitality and service in the world?

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013, p. 1408)
2. Jeremiah, David: Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 2009, pp. 129-131)
3. Swindoll, Charles R.: Swindoll’s New Testament Insights on Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan; 2012; pp. 281-286)
4. ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.
5. Larsen, B. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 26: Luke (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1983, p. 191)
6. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010, pp. 1413-1418)
7. “The Bread that Satisfies.” Retrieved from donotreply@email.rbc.org
8. Greg Laurie, “Important in God’s Eyes.” Retrieved from www.harvest.org
9. Bobby Schuller, “First Movement.” Retrieved from www.hourofpower.cc
10. Karen Ehman, “Scurrying or Seated?” retrieved from www.proverbs31.org
11. Crystal Pine,” I Hate Saying ‘No’.” Retrieved from www.proverbs31.org
12. “The Greatest Thing.” Retrieved from donotreply@email.pbc.org
13. Joni Eareckson Tada, “Focus on Service.” Retrieved from www.joniandfriends.org
14. Jude Siciliano, OP, “First Impressions, 16^th Sunday, (C).” Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org
15. Mary Southerland, “Learn How to Sit Down.” Retrieved from www.girlfriendsingod.com
16. Exegesis for Luke 10:38-42. Retrieved from www.lectionary.org
17. Jude Siciliano, OP, “First Impressions, 16^th Sunday-C-, July 17, 2016”. Retrieved from www.preacherexchange.org
18. The Rev. Janet Hatt,” Sitting in the Presence of the Holy: Mary and Martha.” Retrieved from http://word.dancingwiththeword.com/2016/07/sitting-in-presence-of-holy-mary-and.html
19. Mikeal C. Parsons, “Commentary on Luke 10:38-42.” Retrieved from http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2917
20. Brian P. Stoffregen, “Exegetical Notes; Luke 10:38-42, Proper 11-Year C.” Retrieved from http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke10x38.htm
21. Sarah Dylan Breuer, “Proper 11, Year C.” Retrieved from http://www.sarahlaughed.net/lectionary/2007/07/proper-11-year.html.
22. Janice B. Scott, “Unconventional People.” Retrieved from http://www.sermonsuite.com/printer.php?i=788017582

All of us have one thing in common with the lawyer who questioned Jesus in Luke 10:25-37. We have a tendency to justify ourselves whenever we do wrong or fail to do what we know we should. For example, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company received the following list of explanations for car accidents:

1. “The pedestrian had no idea which way to go, so I ran over him.”
2. “The other car collided with mine without warning me of its intention.”
3. “I had been driving my car for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had the accident.”
4. “As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision.”
5. “I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.”
6. “The telephone pole was approaching fast. I attempted to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end.”
7. “The guy was all over the road. He had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”
8. “The indirect cause of this accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.”
9. “An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and vanished.”

The man who approached Jesus was a lawyer-a student of the Mosaic Law, also called a scribe. He did not ask his question sincerely but intended to trap or test Christ. The religious scholars of the time loved to discuss the urgent social problems of the day without ever wanting to solve them. To this lawyer, love was merely a concept to study.

The lawyer was trying to justify himself by obeying the law. He trusted in his own deeds. Jesus pointed out that the lawyer needed a righteousness that was better than Jesus’  own. The law is designed to help us see our own flaws. When we see them, we’re prepared to welcome Christ’s righteousness which is better than our own.

This lawyer had sufficient knowledge of the Word of God to answer Jesus’ question, but he did not know how to apply its truth. The question, “Who is my neighbour?,” gave him away. He demonstrated that his head knowledge had never penetrated his heart.

The scribes and the Pharisees believed that one’s neighbours were only people who were righteous. According to them, the wicked-including sinners, Gentiles and Samaritans-were to be hated because they were God’s enemies. They cited Psalm 139:21-22, which states that hatred of evil is the natural consequence of loving righteousness. The problem is that the truly righteous person’s “hatred’ of sinners is not spiteful, personal hatred of individuals. It’s a righteous hatred of all that is evil. God’s hatred is represented by grief over the condition of the sinner. This is tempered by genuine love for the sinner. To put it another way, God loves the sinner but hates the sin. 

Jesus used the Parable of the Good Samaritan to show the man the proper view of our sinfulness and how short his efforts fell in meeting the law’s requirements. Jesus made the lawyer his own judge and forced him to admit that the Samaritan-someone from a race hated by the Jews-showed the kindness of a neighbour, while the priest and the Levite denied it to their own countryman.

The fact that the Jews and Samaritans didn’t deal with each other rendered the Samaritan’s act of compassion so striking. It was in stark contrast to the conduct of the priest and the Levite. The Samaritan saw the wounded man as a neighbour, someone who needed help. The Samaritan made sacrifices to show kindness to the stranger.

How often do we do something similar? How often do we stop to help someone in need, especially if that person is a stranger or an enemy? Stories of people helping strangers in need are often in the news. In fact, as I prepared this message I heard a news story about a man who was filling his truck with gas when another man jumped into the truck and tried to drive off. The owner and another man who was in the garage subdued the would-be robber and held him until the police arrived.

Who is our neighbour? Neighbours come in different forms. They come from different races, social backgrounds and even different countries. When God puts someone in our path, it’s important to show love to him or her and help meet their need. It doesn’t matter if the need is physical, mental or emotional.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan, perhaps more than any other parable that Jesus told, illustrates what it means to love others. A follower of Jesus cannot separate his or her relationship with God from relationships with other people. Jesus showed what we should do to those who need our help. He showed us who and what a neighbour is and He did it in a way that disarms our prejudices.

The Jews had so many priests in Jesus’ day that each “team” served in the temple for only two weeks out of the year. Perhaps the priest in Jesus’ story did not want to risk missing his term of service by helping an injured traveler. Also, if the man was dead and the priest touched the body, he would be ceremonially unclean for seven days, making him unfit for temple duty. Levites led religious worship and maintained the temple grounds. Both men showed that religious work does not make someone a true servant of God.

The usual trio of characters expected in such a story would have been a priest, a Levite and a Jew. But when Jesus substituted a Samaritan for a Jew, He forced the lawyer to change his thinking. The thought of a kind Samaritan would have been intolerable.

The priest, the Levite and the Samaritan all noticed the man, but the Samaritan was the only person who saw the man with eyes of compassion. The word compassion means “a deep moving within the inward spirit.” Matthew’s Gospel uses this term three times to describe Jesus’ loving and active relationship with people.

Compassion is not the same as “fixing” people. Genuine compassion is first being willing to feel the pain of other people. If we can’t prevent pain, we can lessen the load with compassion. One of the reasons we are forced to deal with difficult people is because the more pain we experience, the more compassionate we will be.

The injured man saw love in action. Love bandaged the man where he hurt and took him to a place of safety. Love cared for him and paid to do it. Love acted without needing to be repaid. Love will do more than seems reasonable and do it with joy.

When people understand the depth of God’s love, they can learn how to love even the least loveable, becoming Good Samaritans to those around them. Compassion does not originate in religion or responsibility, but in a relationship with God. While people may have different opinions on the subject of religion, and while they are zealous for what they hold to be the truth, they should still be kind to each other and help each other when necessary. Christian kindness is not to be hindered by worship.

We are to give from a heart of love because God gave, not because someone deserves it. The heart of love doesn’t look to do as little as possible, but rather it goes as far as it can to express God’s love.

When we realize that we are loved by God now and forever, we can be like the Good Samaritan and say, “Whatever is mine is God’s and whatever belongs to God belongs to my neighbour because my neighbour belongs to God.” The Good Samaritan does what is instinctive and natural because of who he is.

If we want to find ourselves living with total freedom, we would find ourselves loving God with all our heart and our neighbours as ourselves. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Society is full of examples of people who have the attitude of “me first” or “What’s in it for me?” They rarely (if ever) show compassion by helping someone who is in need.

As Christians, we can be the best neighbours around because our love for others flows out of the life of the ultimate neighbour-Jesus Christ-who loved and sacrificed His life for us. Compassion is not based on wealth, social status or political party lines. It’s based on a willingness to help with whatever we have.

When Jesus entered this world, His priority was to save us. When the world’s representatives challenged Him, when Satan tempted Him, Jesus held on to His Father’s priorities. Nothing was able to move Him from His desire to save us from our sins. The empty tomb of Resurrection Sunday is God’s sign and seal that Jesus was successful in His work of saving us.

Now He wants us to have proper priorities. He tells us, even as He told His original listeners, that we should “go and do likewise.” Jesus wants us to be a witness to the world. He wants us to show that we love others because He first loved us. He wants us, through our words and our actions, to bear witness to the forgiveness, grace and salvation we have received. He wants us to show the world that the Saviour has changed our priorities.

This story tells us about another way to live-as people who are living as inheritors of eternal life and not as people trying to earn their salvation. We are to live lives that model the Samaritan in this story-as people who have no reason to serve others save for the love they have for God. It is the kind of love that spills into the world as mercy, love, kindness and compassion for the less fortunate people in society. What keeps us from living and loving as the Samaritan did? What might give us new hope or energy to more closely follow the Samaritan’s example?

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp.1407-1408)
2. Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament. Part of Wordsearch 12 Bible software package.
3. Larsen, B. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 26: Luke (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1983; pp. 189-190)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Mary Southerland, “I Feel Your Pain.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
6. “To Capture Our Heart’s Devotion.” Retrieved from dailyreadings@ransomedheart.com
7. Kelly McFadden, “Love Your Neighbour.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
8. Pastor Ken Klaus, “Proper Priorities.” Retrieved from lh_min@lhm.org
9. Richard Innes, “I Know It but I Can’t Explain It.” Retrieved form www.actsweb.org
10. Marvin Williams, “A Good Neighbour.” Retrieved from noreply@rbc.org
11. Dr. David Jeremiah, “Compassion for Your Neighbour.” Retrieved from turningpoint@davidjeremiah.org
12. Vikki Burke, “Love in Action.” Retrieved from dbm@dennisburkeministries.org
13. The Rev. Janet Hunt, “The Samaritan: Where is God at Work in the World?” Retrieved from http://dancingwiththeword.com/the-samaritan-where-is-god-at-work-in-the-world/

An old farmer sat on the steps of his small shack chewing on a piece of straw. He was approached by a passing stranger who was looking for a cool drink of water. Wishing to start a conversation with the farmer, the stranger asked, “How is your cotton crop coming this year?”

“I ain’t got none”, replied the farmer.

“Didn’t you plant any?” asked the stranger.

“Nope,” said the farmer, “I was afraid the boll weevils would get it.”

“Well,” asked the stranger, “how is your corn?”

“Didn’t plant any corn either,” replied the man, “I was afraid there wasn’t going to be any rain.”

“If you didn’t plant any cotton or corn, what did you plant?’ asked the man.

“Nothing,” said the farmer. “I just played it safe!”

Well, I guess if you don’t plant anything, it makes the harvest a lot easier, doesn’t it?

In our Bible reading today, Jesus sent out people to bring in the harvest. The harvest Jesus was talking about was not cotton, fruit or vegetables. He was sending out workers to bring people into the kingdom of God. He said that there were many souls who were ready to be harvested, but there were not enough workers. One reason it was hard to find workers was that it was very difficult work. Jesus warned that the workers in his kingdom would often be treated very unkindly.

The sending of the seventy mimics the sending of the twelve apostles in Luke 9, including leaving no essentials behind. The seventy were to focus on the mission at hand-the proclamation that God’s kingdom has come near.

The seventy were sent out to preach immediately and chiefly where Jesus was about to come. They were to prepare the way for His coming. The apostles were to be with Him; to hear His instructions, and witness the sufferings, death, resurrection and ascension that they might proclaim these things to all the world.

The seventy were sent in twos so they could help, counsel, sustain and comfort one another. Every Christian needs such a friend-someone to whom he can share his concerns, feelings and prayers. All of us need someone to help us live the life of Christ, someone to pray with, someone we can bounce ideas off, someone to hold our feet to the fire when we struggle, someone to watch our back when people oppose us. In ministry, to labour together is better than to go it alone. The God who is the Lord of the harvest reminded the disciples that their responsibility was to work diligently. His responsibility was to ensure they had something to harvest.

Greetings among the Arabs consisted of many gestures. These required time. The business of the seventy was urgent, so they were not allowed to delay their journey with long, formal greetings. The seventy were told not to go from house to house because of Arabic customs. When a stranger arrived, the neighbours (one after another) invited him to eat with them. There was a strict etiquette. Failure to observe this system was resented and led to alienations and feuds. It wasted time, caused distractions, and counteracted the success of a spiritual mission.

Jesus wanted the seventy to focus on the essentials. That’s why He gave them instructions. When the essentials are known, all decisions are simplified. The seventy were not to waste time on people who yawned or got angry or wanted to argue. Jesus advised them to tell the exciting news to people who were ready to hear it. This is good advice for us to follow today as we continue the mission of the seventy. Like Jesus, we have a limited amount of time. We have to spend that time spreading the Good News to people who are eager to hear it. We can’t afford to spend time on people who are opposed to it.

The message of the seventy was crucial. The mission was time sensitive. The seventy had to prepare the villages for Christ’s visit, which could happen at any time. We have the same mission today. We have to spread the message of the Good News of salvation before Jesus returns. Since we don’t know the exact date and time of His return, our mission is also time-sensitive.

The disciples were excited when they returned because the demons had submitted to them. For Jesus, this was not the most important thing. What was far more important for Jesus was that the disciples had been welcomed into God’s family. Jesus’ response to the report the seventy gave when they returned does not mean they should take no satisfaction in their ministry, which included successful exorcisms. Rather, they should delight more that God has chosen them to be part of His eternal family. Ministry success is wonderful, but it cannot compare to the eternal joys of calling the God of the universe one’s Father-assured that one’s name is written in heaven.

Jesus sent the seventy out to preach the Good News and do the Kingdom work. He knew they were ready because they were transformed by spending time with Him, following His instructions and receiving His authority. He sends us out today. He has prepared us. We have received His authority to spread the Good News.

Have we been transformed? How much time do we spend with Jesus? How much time do we spend reading or listening to His life-changing truths? How often do we allow His attitudes and words to flow into us and change our hearts so that His words flow out of us to others?

As believers in Jesus, we often feel weak and insignificant in the face of bad situations around us. Matthew 28:18 tells us that Jesus has all authority, and the passage from Luke tells us that He has delegated this authority to us if we are His followers. We should trust in that authority to stop unlawful actions, because we’re empowered to challenge the way the enemy is working when he or his forces are breaking God’s divine rules.

Evil forces may seem dangerous and far too scary to tackle when we feel small by comparison. We have to remember that we have Jesus’ authority and that His laws will stand for eternity. No matter how big and strong the evil forces seem, they must submit to the authority delegated by Jesus to His followers.

When we’re in the centre of God’s will and plans, we don’t have to be afraid. When we’re under God’s authority, we have His authority. The devil does not have any authority over us. The devil can’t take us out of the world. Only God can do that, and He won’t do it until our mission is complete.

The church can be compared to a giant hockey game, basketball game or baseball game where 20,000 people in the stands and watch a few people do the work on the ice surface, the court or the field. The church stands on the sidelines and shouts, “Go, team, go.” God is saying to us at the same time, “I want you down on the field, or the ice surface, or the court. I want you to carry the ball, throw the ball or shoot the puck. I want you to be a part of what I’m doing.”

In Luke 10:2, Jesus tells us to pray to the Lord to send out labourers. He does not say that we should pray for more observers, spectators or complainers. He says that we should pray that the Lord would send out more labourers.

No one can honestly pray for this work to be done if they are not willing to do it themselves. We must not say, “Yes, God, send more labourers into the harvest.” We must say, “Lord, let it start with me. I want to be a labourer. I don’t know what I can do or what I can offer. I don’t have a lot, but what I have is yours. I give it to you.”

The church’s job is to proclaim the kingdom of God. We’re always tempted to forget that. We’re tempted to believe that our job is to keep the doors open, or to preserve an historic tradition, or to be friendly. Many churches resemble a 21^st century civic club instead of a first century church. We gather together to do good works, but sometimes all we accomplish is keeping the building from falling down around us.

Jesus is still looking for people who will work for him and bring people into his kingdom. That is what the church is supposed to do. It won’t always be easy. In fact, it will be hard. Many people in the church are like the farmer in our story — they are “just playing it safe.” I have read that eight out of ten church members have never invited anyone to church and that nine out of ten church members have never won anyone to Christ.

We have so much work to do. We have to start by speaking the truth and offering mercy and love to God’s lost sons and daughters. Some have them have been badly hurt by the church, especially Native American children who attended residential schools. In those cases we have to offer additional understanding. We have to apologize for the pain the church has caused, even if we don’t completely understand it.

Jesus calls us today to discipleship-a discipleship that involves practicing Godly values among people who have other loyalties. We have to proclaim the message to everyone that the kingdom of God is here now. We have to expect that some will accept the message with faith and others will oppose us. We are preaching a message contradicts the ways of the world.

The seventy were the hands, feet, legs, heart and minds of Jesus. That was the way it was then, and it is still true today. For Jesus to complete His mission in today’s world, he needs hands, feet, legs, hearts and minds. The harvest is overwhelmingly great and Jesus needs willing hands, willing hearts, willing minds and willing spirits. Jesus gets work done today through his disciples who are committed to doing the work.

Our faith is not a private matter. We are told by Jesus to proclaim it in word and deed. When we are persecuted we are not to retreat. We are here to build God’s kingdom, not bury it in our hearts. We can stay in our comfort zones, safely hovering above real engagement with the issues of faith that call out in our time. But if we do, if we refuse to get our hands dirty and our hearts changed, then we risk missing the kingdom of God that has already come near in Jesus. We risk missing the terrifying and empowering journey that requires nothing but faith in God to sustain us and trust in fellow travelers to support us.

How about you? Are you willing to work for Jesus and invite people to come to church? Will you go and tell people about Jesus’ love and that He died on the cross so that they could have everlasting life? Are those around you surprised by the love you show? Are you a work-horse for Jesus? Are you sharing the hope of Christ with those who are lost or hurting? Are you looking for opportunities to bless others in practical ways? There are many souls who are need to be brought into God’s kingdom, but there just aren’t enough workers. When we say “yes” to proclaiming the Gospel and being a co-labourer with Jesus, there’s no limit to what God will be able to do in and through us.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp.1406-1407)
2. “Harvest Time.” Retrieved from www.Sermons4KIds.com
3. Barnes’ Notes on the New Testament. Part of Wordsearch 12 Bible software package.
4. Larsen, B. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 26: Luke (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1983; pp. 184-188)
5. Denise Cross, “Whose Voice Are They Hearing?” Retrieved from info@seedsofthekingdom.net
6. Dr. Ed Young, “A Daily Word with Dr. Ed Young.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
7. Denise Cross, “They Seem So Dangerous.” Retrieved from info@seedsofthekingdom.net
8. Pastor Greg Laurie, “Right Where you Are.” Retrieved form Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
9. Christine Caine, “The Adventure of a Lifetime.” Retrieved from no-reply@christinecaine.com
10. Gwen Smith, “a Challenge for the Changed.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
11. Richard Niell Donovan, “Exegesis for Luke 10:1-11,16-20.” Retrieved from www.sermonwriter.com
12. The Rev. Alan Brehm, “Contradictions.” Retrieved from http://thewakingdreamer.blogspot.com/2013/07/contradictions.html
13. David F. Sillery, “Love Among the Wolves.” Retrieved from https://us6.campaign-archive.com/?u=dbffd2070718c7bba1b9b7e0&id=387bb43a3b
14. The Rev. Edward Markquart, “Commissioning of the Seventy-Gospel Analysis.” Retrieved from http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_commissioning_of_the_seventy_GA.htm
15. The Rev. Christopher Henry, “The Nearness of the Kingdom.” Retrieved from http://day1.org/1030-the_nearness_of_the_kingdom.print

“What are you doing, Mr. Ward?” Scott asked when he saw his neighbor–who was also his Sunday school teacher–getting out some tools.

“I’m going to use my garden tiller to get rid of some weeds,” said Mr. Ward. “Do you want to help?”

“Sure,” responded Scott.

Mr. Ward started the tiller and showed Scott how it worked. “Start here, and keep your eyes on the space between the plants. Walk straight down the row,” said Mr. Ward, pointing to the other end of the garden. “When you come back this way, you can take the next row.”

Scott began eagerly, hoping he would do a good job. His confidence built as the weeds in row after row disappeared. He was almost finished when he heard someone call his name. Turning his head, he looked back and saw Mrs. Ward with a tall glass of lemonade. “Shut it off and take a break,” she called.

Grinning, Scott turned to shut off the machine. To his dismay, he saw that while he had been looking back toward Mrs. Ward, the machine had swerved and taken out a few garden plants.

Mr. Ward saw what had happened, too. “Don’t worry about it, Scott,” he said. “There’s not much damage. Come have some lemonade, and then you can finish the last row.”

As they sat under a tree with their lemonade, Scott mentioned a problem he was having with some of his old friends. “Those guys are always after me to do stuff I used to do,” he said.

“And why don’t you do those things now?” Mr. Ward asked.

“Well, I’m a Christian now,” Scott replied. He sighed. “I know it would be wrong to do some of that stuff, but . . . sometimes it looks like fun,” he admitted.

Mr. Ward gazed over the garden. “When you turned and looked back while working in the garden, it messed up a row,” he said, “and looking back at your old lifestyle could mess up your life. Instead of looking back to old friends, look to Jesus and God’s Word for direction in your new life.”

After a minute, Scott nodded. “In the end, I know that will bring me more fun anyway,” he said with a grin.

Up to this point, Luke’s Gospel has concentrated on Jesus’ deeds. From now on Luke concentrates on Jesus’ words. From this point forward, the focus remains on Jesus’ imminent death in Jerusalem. Christ did not run from this destiny but set His face toward Jerusalem and the divinely appointed consummation of His ministry. He begins the long road of teaching the disciples and us how to follow Him.

James and John thought they would please Jesus by calling down fire on the Samaritans who refused to offer Him hospitality. No doubt the disciples had in mind the story of the prophet Elijah calling down fire on the emissaries of the king of Samaria. They still had not learned that Jesus came to rescue people, not annihilate them.

The Samaritans’ refusal was not surprising because there was a good deal of animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. It began centuries earlier when the Assyrians took most Jews into captivity and re-populated Samaria with foreigners who intermarried with the remaining Samaritan Jews. The Samaritans became known for pagan worship and the Jews regarded them as tainted racially and religiously. When the Jews returned from exile, they refused offers from the Samaritans to help with the rebuilding of the temple. The Samaritans then built a rival temple on Mount Gerazim and tried to prevent the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.

Samaria’s location between Jewish Galilee and Jewish Judea made the situation worse. Jews often travelled through Samaria-many of them pilgrims going to or returning from the temple in Jerusalem-a temple whose validity the Samaritans did not acknowledge. It’s not surprising that the Samaritans would refuse to welcome a pilgrim whose “face was set toward Jerusalem,” as Luke wrote in Luke 9:53

The calling down of hellfire and brimstone still has appeal. Churches that take a strong stand against sin are prospering and people will flock to join them, but are these churches showing God’s love for sinners? Jesus loves the sinner, but He hates the sin. Jesus loved the Samaritans even though they rejected Him. The heart of most prophetic warnings in the Scriptures is time-time to repent. Sometimes we are too ready to call God’s wrath on our enemies.

Similarly, Jesus loves us even if we reject Him. Do people who reject Him deserve to be destroyed? It is not for us to decide, because our standards are different from God’s standards. People we reject can be acceptable to God (especially those who reject Him and later accept Him as their Saviour), and people we accept can be rejected by God. God’s glory is in everyone. As we go about our daily lives, we will find Him in every circumstance.

Christ’s response to the Samaritans reflects the attitude we should have regarding all forms of religious persecution. The Samaritans’ worship was pagan, and they were intolerant. Jesus could not retaliate or rebuke them. He came to save people, not destroy them. He responded with grace instead of destructive fury. He was on His way to die for people like them. His mission was one of love, not hate.

The unnamed man mentioned in verses 57 and 58 boasted that he would follow Jesus anywhere, but following the Son of Man involves great hardship. Even animals have more adequate and permanent provisions than Jesus did. Following Jesus is not easy. It’s a hard life with no place to call home. It means doing hard, ordinary work. It is in the ordinary things of daily life that God’s glory is found. If we want to follow Jesus, we have to go where He would go and do what He would do.

Have you made commitments and then backed out? Sometimes when things get tough, we just drop out. God challenges us to commit to Him fully right now. He wants to make sure we know that this is a serious commitment. He doesn’t want us to be rude to our loved ones or abandon family members who depend on us. The commitment to follow Jesus is not a commitment we can make half-heartedly. Jesus gave His all for us, and in return He expects us to give our all for Him. When we do, something remarkable and life-changing will happen.

The encounter in verses 61-62 reflects the story of Elijah commissioning Elisha. Elisha asked permission to return to his family and say goodbye before beginning his apprenticeship. His farewell to his family, however, expressed no reluctance about his new career. Instead, he slaughtered the oxen that had once plowed his fields and never looked back.

There are some pitfalls that we need to avoid when Jesus asks us to do something that we feel is beyond us-including making the commitment to follow Him:

1. We must not let fear stop us. We have to trust God and let Him lead us to things beyond our human limitations.
2. Don’t ask for clarity. When we ask Jesus for clarity, we aren’t really obeying Him. Saying “yes” means that we don’t have all the details, but we trust God and His plan.
3. Don’t use responsibility to avoid following Jesus. He is more important than our families, our jobs or any other responsibilities we have.

If we’re serious about being used by God, we have to ask God what we have to let go of. We need to ask God to remove the barriers that keep us from following Him. When we decide to follow Jesus, things that are of less importance have to be set aside or handed on to those who have a different calling.

This passage is about setting priorities, specifically Jesus’ priorities (which are to be our priorities as Christians). Jesus is not simply taking a walk in the country. He is marching toward Jerusalem and His crucifixion. He has a lot to do and not much time to do it. He was not going to let anything stand in His way. He was telling everyone that because of their excuses they were not fit to be His disciples. Today, He tells us that if there is anything in our lives that we believe is more important than our faith in Him, we are not fit to be His disciples.

Jesus calls us to follow Him on the path to our own crucifixion where we die to self and come alive to a new life in Christ. Every day we have to have our eyes, ears and hearts open to answer Jesus’ call, knowing there is no turning back.

We are called to discipleship not as individuals but as a collective Body of Christ. Each of us as individuals are part of God’s plan. God will use us as individuals in ways that will be the best use of our gifts. Jesus reminds us in Luke’s Gospel that we have to discern His will in our lives, and we have to remember that the world will try to work against us.

Following Jesus won’t be easy. Chances are we won’t receive approval or fame. We won’t be rewarded on earth with all the comforts of life in exchange for following Jesus. We have to be willing to do what Jesus wants us to do, even when and if it’s inconvenient. Our reward will be in heaven. Jesus doesn’t reject anyone, and we as His followers will have to do the same.

The commitment Jesus requires is radical. The life of a disciple is a journey, a steady pilgrimage to a cross. Those who follow Jesus on that journey can expect that what happens to Him will happen to them. Discipleship is a call to put Jesus above care of self, care of the dead, and care for our families.

Each of us as Christians needs to be attentive to Jesus’ invitation and think about how to respond to it. Following Christ should be at the core of our lives and the basis for the decisions we make. The reading we heard from Luke’s Gospel is about a moment of decision, not just for the people in the passage, but for each of us.

Bibliography

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3. Larsen, B. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 26: Luke (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1983; pp.181-183)
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