Luke 22:24-30

TRUE GREATNESS:

OVERCOMING ILLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

What is the true measure of greatness? Who is qualified to bestow greatness on anyone?

            One of the most well known boxers when I was growing up was Muhammad Ali. I don’t care for boxing but everyone had heard of Ali, or Cassius Clay. Ali was known for bragging, “I’m the greatest.” He often declared, “I float like a butterfly; sting like a bee.”

            On one occasion, just before take-off on an airline flight, the stewardess reminded Ali to fasten his seatbelt. “Superman don’t need no seatbelt,” Ali replied. The stewardess retorted, “Superman don’t need no airplane, either.” Ali fastened his seatbelt.[i]

            Some of us, like Ali, suffer from the illusion of grandeur. That is, we think more highly of ourselves and our achievements than we ought to. This is a serious medical disorder, but I think it is a spiritual disorder also. I have noticed an odd paradox in the spiritual sense: many have a dual self evaluation where they at once think they are not good enough and at the same time are quite proud. In other words, their greatness is not being acknowledged and self-pity sets in.

            We all suffer from the “Greatness” syndrome at one time or another. We all want to be great at something: a great parent; a great employee; a great boss; a great Christian. But achieving greatness in the Kingdom of God takes a different path than the one the world suggests.

            What we learn from the life of Jesus, and specifically from Luke 22:24-30, is that if you want to be great in God’s sight, you must learn to be a humble servant of others.

            This is the lesson Jesus drives home in the Upper Room event, the last night of his life before the crucifixion. It was a poignant lesson considering the argument the disciples were having over which one of them was the greatest in their little group. The absurdity of the argument sets the stage for a relevant teaching, especially today.

1. Stop acting like the world

No one knows what started the argument. It might have been that their master’s talk of leaving had spurred thoughts of succession. Who will take over for Jesus while he’s gone? Perhaps the seating arrangement was a hot topic, like kindergartners all wanting to sit next to teacher. If Peter thought he deserved more respect because he was the eldest, John, the youngest, got to lay his head on Jesus’ shoulder while they talked.

            One thing is certain: they all avoided the wash basin and towels for washing feet. Getting a good seat at the supper was more important than washing feet. And each one thought of themselves too highly to stoop to do this servant’s job.

            So a dispute broke out. The Greek word for dispute is “loving strife.” It sounds like they enjoyed this argument. Jesus did not. He tells them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors,” (22:25).

            In short, Jesus tells them to stop acting like the world. “Gentile greatness,” he said, is where Gentile kings use their greatness, letting others know they have it, flaunt it and dominate with it. They don’t lead; they lord it over others. What does a person of the world think?

a) “You are beneath me.” This is the result of the dispute. If I am the greatest, then you are beneath me. It is an inevitable result. In Olympic hockey the silver medal is called the “loser medal” because it means you lost the gold. You are not as good as me. Competition breeds this attitude. Not that competition is always wrong, but it can inflate the ego or incite resentment. Is it really that important to be first?

b) “You work for me.” If I am greater than you, then you serve me. That’s the attitude of “greatness.” Some celebrities give this impression: they expect to be catered to. But it isn’t just celebrities. We are all capable of carrying this attitude into a restaurant or any place of service and expecting top quality attention.

c) “You owe me.” Those who exercise authority over them call themselves “Benefactors.” This is the only place in the NT where this word occurs. It seems that it has a negative face on it because, though a benefactor can be a great support, in this context the Benefactor seems to expect recognition for the good they have done. When a “benefactor” has this attitude, you know they do not have a servant heart.

2. True Greatness calls for Extreme Servanthood

Jesus contrasts Gentile Greatness with his own Kingdom definition of greatness. He said, “But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves,” (22:26).

            What Jesus is calling for is quite radical. It is extremely opposite of what the world thinks of greatness. What is Jesus asking? What is he calling for?

a) Called to be counter-cultural – Jesus said quite emphatically, “you are not to be like that.” As a follower of Jesus you are called to live a counter-cultural life. Everything about the Christian life is opposite of the norm: confessing sin, declaring Jesus Lord, denying oneself for the Kingdom. It’s all odd – it’s quite peculiar. The KJV uses a word that sounds offensive and is yet appropriate: we are a peculiar people.[ii]

            There is nothing more peculiar in our world than Paul’s charge to the Roman believers: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you,” (Ro 12:3).

b) Called to turn leadership upside-down – Next, Jesus gives two illustrations of how leadership looks in his kingdom.

            The first illustration is of a child. Earlier in Luke, the disciples had argued over this greatness question (9:46-48) and Jesus had taken a small boy and said, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me.” Jesus also told them that if anyone wants to enter the kingdom of God they must become like a child. Small children are dependent on their parents for necessities and direction. They have perfectly needy hearts that drive them to their parents for all things. This is how a leader should be, Jesus says. The leader goes to the Heavenly Father for all things and depends on his grace when things go awry.

            The second illustration is that of a servant. If you have watched Downton Abbey, you will notice the division of classes between the nobility and the servants of the house. It is stark. Servants do not speak unless spoken to and at great pains avoid mishaps with serving dishes. Jesus said that a leader is to be like the footman, the butler, the maid, but not at all like the Earl or the Duchess. A leader is a servant above all.

c) Called to be like Jesus – Jesus then makes a statement about himself. “For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves,” (22:27).

            Who is the greatest in the room? Jesus answers that by saying he had full rights to sit at the table and be served. He is the Son of God. He is the Messiah, and they acknowledged that. Now if he is the Messiah that is the Jewish way of saying Jesus is the King. So who is the greatest in the room? Jesus is. But he came to serve. Again in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is recorded as saying, “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many,” (Mt 20:28). “Son of Man” is another term for “king.”  

            What does the king do? Somewhere in the course of the evening, perhaps after this dispute and in the middle of supper, Jesus gets up and takes that lonely basin of water, wraps a towel around his waist and begins to horrify the disciples…by washing their feet. This is the job of the lowly servant. This is the epitome of leadership. And the next day he would wash their feet again, as it were, he would die for them.

            When we practice footwashing – and I hope I don’t scare you away from it by saying this – but what we are really saying by washing each other’s feet is, “I would die for you.” For what Jesus did in the act of footwashing was foreshadow the cross. Jesus said if we want to follow him we have to take up our cross daily and deny ourselves. Well here it is. We are called to be like Jesus – this is what it means.

3. Jesus’ reward for those who serve

While it appears that Jesus is downplaying greatness, a correct reading of this text shows that Jesus is promoting greatness – it’s the “getting there” that is revolutionary. Jesus doesn’t rebuke the disciples for wanting to be great – he shows them what true greatness really is. And there is a reward for following Jesus’ example.

a) Jesus rewards faithfulness – First, Jesus says, “You are those who have always stood by me in my trials,” (28). When men of Nazareth wanted to throw him off a cliff because of his preaching, the twelve stood by him. When the popular Pharisees got angry with him, the twelve didn’t abandon him. Through various hardships and challenges they stuck with him.

            There are challenges in following Jesus today, times when we could abandon him. In those times of temptation, let us acknowledge, “I have been vain and self-promoting and foolish. I am frequently desperately ashamed of how I have been, but this one thing I know, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and my Savior, and I am going to cling to him whatever. I shall stand by the Lord. I shall identify with him. I will not be ashamed of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ when it is the most unfashionable thing in my culture and in my job to believe in Jesus. Even then I shall stand by Christ in his trials.”[iii]

b) Jesus promises something better – Jesus rewards faithfulness and promises something better. We may be giving up a lot in this world by bending our knees to serve, but we are gaining something far better. In this kingdom, the losers win. If we lose our reputation for the sake of someone else’s advancement, if we lose our social status for standing with the least of these, if we lose financial security to better someone’s life, if we lose friends to love the loveless, we lose a great deal. But that loss gains you a kingdom.

            Jesus said, “And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me,” (29). This is spoken in covenantal language, which means it is a promise. A life lived in giving to others is a life of greatness that does not go unnoticed by God. A life of sacrifice is a great life. But more than that, we lose in this life to gain in the next.

c) Jesus invites us to his table – Here’s the best part: Jesus invites us to sit with him at his table in his kingdom. One of my favorite images comes from Revelation where Jesus knocks on the door and promises to come in and eat with us.[iv] I imagine a long drawn-out meal, with good wine (its okay – its heaven), and great conversation with my Lord. Well here it is more than that. Here it is the consummation of the entire Gospel story from Genesis to Revelation.

            In Genesis humankind fell because Adam and Eve listened to a serpent and betrayed our kingly and priestly roles. Instead of representing God to the creature, the pair gave up their authority to rule to elevate themselves to God’s role. They lost so much for the human race as a result. The way up was down.

            Now Jesus invites us again to take on that role as kings and priests in his kingdom, to fellowship at his table, and to rule again. And Jesus shows us that the way down is the way up. So get down on your knees and serve. That’s what kings do.

Conclusion

Paul took the life of Jesus as his sole focus. This is the reason he wrote verses like the following: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves,” (Phil 2:3).

            No matter how great we think we are, or are even perceived to be, Christ calls us to stoop and serve. A large group of European pastors came to one of Dwight L. Moody’s Northfield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.

            Walking the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and determined not to embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses. Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world’s famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.

            When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined. They never know by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, different men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret. Perhaps the episode is a vital insight into why God used D. L. Moody as He did. He was a man with a servant’s heart and that was the basis of his true greatness.[v]

            Jesus calls us to true greatness. He calls us to humbly serve.

                       

                                                AMEN

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[i] The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes, ed. By Clifton Fadimon

[ii] 1 Peter 2:9

[iii] Geoff Thomas, sermon “Who is the Greatest?”

[iv] Revelation 3:20

[v] Gary Inrig. A Call to Excellence. (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1985), p. 98

Luke 21:5-38

GOD IS BUILDING HIS HOUSE

Almost four years ago, when Sharon and I were on our sabbatical, Randy and Ang invited us to go to Chicago for the weekend. They graciously suggested that we choose the sites we would want to see. The first place I wanted to go was to a church service at Moody Memorial Bible Church.

            The church had been built in the 20’s so Dwight Moody would never have seen this building with his name. But other famous preachers filled the pulpit there, preachers like Harry Ironside, R. A. Torrey, Alan Redpath and Warren Wiersbe. So there was both a historical and spiritual nature to my desire to see this place of worship.

            Having never seen any pictures of the church before, I was amazed at the architecture and the ambiance of the place. I could not stop taking pictures of everything. That is, until a very authoritative lady usher came and told me to stop it. Apparently the flash messed with the TV cameras (which I could not locate).

            Nevertheless, between the singing and the preaching, I glanced around frequently in awe of the building we sat in. But it strikes me now that the building itself is meaningless. Without Christ-centered, God-worshiping believers, a building like this can easily serve as a community hall, a convention center, or even a museum (much like Hagia Sophia in Istanbul). So the building itself loses its aura when the purpose for which it is built ceases.

            Everything in our world is temporal; it all has an end. When we build something we expect it to be useful for a long time. But the truth is that our buildings are disposable.

            God, however, is building a house that will last for eternity. That house is a place of worship where God will be given his worth forever and ever. Using Luke 21 as a starting point, I would like to tell you about this house.

1. Admiring the trees; ignoring the forest

You have heard the expression: “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” The idea behind it, of course, is that someone is looking too close at the details to see the big picture.

            Jesus was spending a lot of time in the temple at Jerusalem teaching and making his presence known. Some of his disciples, many from Galilee, likely had not see the temple before. They remarked how beautiful it was and might have said, “Don’t you think so, Master? Don’t you think it’s awesome?”

            The temple was a sight to behold, for sure. It was not the first temple on this site – that would be Solomon’s temple 900 years earlier. Then there was the second temple built 100 years after the destruction of the first temple by the Babylonians. This second temple was renovated by Herod fifty years before this particular moment with Jesus, and was still being renovated. It would take another thirty years to finish.

            Even so, at the time of Jesus, the temple was covered in gold plates so that when the sun shone on it, the temple was impossible to look at. Other parts were built with blocks of white marble so that from a distance it looked like a mountain of snow. And then, wealthy patrons continued to add costly touches, such as a gold sculpture of a vine set with clusters of grapes which were precious stones.

            But the significance of the temple to the Jews was beyond measure. To them it occupied the central place in their national, religious and cultural life. It signified a thousand years of God dealing with them; it signified the very presence of God among his people.

            So as the disciples focused on the trees, what was the forest they were missing?

2. Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple

“But Jesus said, ‘As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down,’” (21:6).

            The temple was rotten to the core. Jesus had driven out the money changers; he had exposed the hypocrisy of the priesthood; and the spiritual leaders of Israel were plotting to kill Jesus – the Messiah they had been waiting for. Even the disciples failed to see that the reality of the temple was standing right in front of them.

            Jesus was saying that the usefulness of the temple had come to an end with his arrival. The sign of God’s presence was the temple; the reality of God’s presence was Jesus. God would put his Shekinah glory in the temple in the OT; now the glory of God stood in flesh, the man from Nazareth. Everything that the temple represented was found in Jesus.

            What the temple had been saying in glittering gold and religious ritual was now see and heard in a living man. No more need for signs. The temple’s table of showbread was unnecessary – they had the Bread of Heaven now. The temple’s candelabra signifying the light of God was now outshone by the Light of the World. Sacrifices of goats, bulls and pigeons were moot with the Lamb of God. The blood of goats is replaced now with the blood of Christ. No more signs are necessary; the temple served its purpose – tear it down.

            What Jesus predicted took place as he said it would. The temple was completed in 63 AD, but a Jewish revolt against Rome was boiling over. So the Romans sent troops to surround the city and choke it out. By 70 AD, the invaders breeched the walls and began a wholesale slaughter of the people.

            Josephus, the ancient historian, tells us that the temple caught fire and those gold plates melted into the cracks and crevices of the temple walls and floors. The soldiers dug up every stone to get at the gold, so that not one stone was left on another, just as Jesus said. 

3. What were the signs of this prophetic fulfillment?

The disciples do not react in unbelief for once, but with an amazed sense of wonder. When will this happen Teacher?

            Jesus goes to great lengths to explain the signs of this event. What is worth noting is that he does it in OT prophetic language which they would have understood very well. It is problematic for us, however, because we are not used to such language and so it sounds futuristic to us.

            Nevertheless, Jesus gives three signs that show us he was absolutely right and that it did happen:

a) Jerusalem surrounded – It was only 40 years later that this picture would become a reality. Jesus said, “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near,” (21:20). He tells them to run to the hills when they see this army coming. Many Christians were reviled for doing just that because the patriotic Jews stayed to defend their temple. But Jesus said that day would be hard on pregnant women and the sword would fall on many of them. “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled,” (21:24).

b) Signs in the heavens – The second sign that this time had come was the signs in the heavens. Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars,” (21:25a). This is that OT language I mentioned. You can find this exact type of symbolism in Isaiah and Ezekiel where the prophets talk about the judgment coming on the nations that attacked Israel.[i] Did they actually see signs in the heavens when this happened? No, this is highly figurative language describing the fall of nations. They would describe the rise and fall of nations as being like stars falling from the heavens.

            Now, what causes readers to think that this is Second Coming material is v. 27. “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Jesus’ Jewish disciples would have heard this and understood that he was talking about Daniel 7, one of the most popular prophecies of that day. It spoke about a time when God’s true people would be vindicated after their suffering at the hands of beasts. The “beasts” were pagan nations. Daniel writes about a scene of a great law court, in which God, the Judge, announces his verdict and finds in favor of ‘the Son of Man’ against the beast. Then the Son of Man is brought on a cloud to share the throne of God himself. So the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple is God saying to those who killed his Son, “You despised and rejected my Son, put him to death – your own Messiah. So here’s your judgment: Your temple is gone but Jesus is enthroned in heaven.”

            The destruction of the temple is at the same time the vindication of Jesus as Messiah.

c) “This generation” – How do we know that this is history and not future? Jesus says, “…this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away,” (21:32-33). One scholar said that “heaven and earth” were colloquial for “the temple and the Torah.” More importantly, Jesus said “this generation” will see the destruction of the temple. And they did.

            Some who see this passage as still to come may not be wrong. This may be a microcosm for the times leading to the Second Coming. But it is first fulfilled in Jesus who is proved right in his prediction, and confirmed as King of kings in the destruction of the temple.

4. What this means for us

What does this mean for us? All this history stuff is sort of interesting but how does it relate to me?

            John takes a slightly different perspective in his gospel on this temple event. After Jesus cleared the temple, the Jews demanded a sign from him to prove his authority to do what he did. Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. (John 2:19-22).

            Through this declaration we begin to understand how Jesus saw himself. Everything that the temple signified was now found in Jesus alone. He is the person and place of sacrifice where forgiveness is found and God’s voice is heard and God’s glory and presence are encountered. What the believers saw in the destruction of the temple and its rituals was a passing of the old imperfect order for the new and perfect order in Christ.

            Paul used temple imagery in writing to the Ephesians saying how there was no longer a barrier between Jew and Gentile. All are one in Christ. “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit,” (Eph 2:19-22).

            What is Paul saying? He is saying that there is a new temple and it is us. Where God symbolically dwelt in the temple, he literally dwells in the people of God. After the story of the vineyard, Jesus referred to himself as the cornerstone. Paul picks up on that and says the foundation and chief piece of this new temple is Jesus.

            Peter joins Paul in this imagery when he wrote, “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ,” (1 Peter 2:5). And then he also refers to Jesus as the chief cornerstone in the very next verse.

            There is no coincidence here but a deliberate reference to a significant reality: God doesn’t need a temple made with human hands. He lives in the body of Christ, the church. He is right here in the life of this community, and in the worldwide church that bears Christ’s name.

            If you look around you right now, you will see the faces of people you know. You see people who have flaws and who sin and who may have hurt you. You don’t see the glory of God. But if you look again and you look through the lens of the Grace of God, you see people who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. You will see a people who have been shown mercy and love. Can you see them now? These are living stones testifying to the power of Christ to take broken people and make them new again. We are being built (ongoing tense) into a spiritual house that is suitable for God to dwell in. One day that house will be finished and we will know the fullness of the presence of God. Until then, we keep striving to stand firm in our faith and reflect the mercy that has been shown to you.

            Christ is the high priest of this temple, the great and ultimate sacrifice for sin, the cornerstone that all we want to line up to. We are the reflection of God’s glory together as the people of God.

God is building his house.

The material of this house is you and me.

He has torn down the old house to make room for a new and lasting house.

This temple begins and ends with Jesus Christ.

We are that house where true worship takes place.

                                                AMEN

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[i] Isaiah 13:9-10; Ezekiel 32

Luke 20:27-40

“HERE COMES THE BRIDE”

Most people believe in life after death. According to a 2005 CBS survey, close to 80% of people believe in an afterlife of some sort. The popularity of near-death or after-death books like Heaven is for Real and the like suggests that people long for a glimpse of what waits for them after death.

            Many people find their hope in nothing less than the belief that if this life is imperfect and flawed, the next life will be better. We find hope in the belief that death will be no more, sin will be conquered for good, and pain will cease to exist. This is the Christian’s hope.

            If there is no life after death then death is really the end. If there is no life after death there is no heaven or hell. If there is no life after death there is no reward or punishment. If there is no life after death there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no life after death there is no purpose to living. We have one chance and you had better not mess it up.

            If there is no life after death, then those of us who believe in Jesus are, as the Apostle Paul said, living in futility. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people (1 Cor 15:19). We believe in a fairy tale and Jesus is a deceiver, if there is no life after death. Why follow Jesus and live a life of obedience to him if there is no hope?

            Shakespeare’s character “Macbeth” spoke these words in that famous play: “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” This is a life without the hope of Christ.

            Jesus had ruffled the feathers of the chief priests, elders and scribes when he entered Jerusalem. He taught with authority and told a story about a vineyard that implicated them in his impending murder. Consequently, the Jewish leaders got together and decided to trap Jesus in his own words. In this context, the Jews ask him a ridiculous question that produces a brilliant answer from Jesus. It is in these words of Jesus that you and I will find our hope that death is not the final word on your life and there is a resurrection.

1. What makes Sadducees so sad?

The Pharisees and the Sadducees hated each other. But in order to trap Jesus they joined forces to pose some questions to him that should have implicated him as a false teacher. Matthew’s gospel tells us that they took turns trying to trap Jesus.

            The Pharisees wanted to overthrow the Roman oppressors; they hated all things Roman. So they go to Jesus and ask a sticky question: “Should we pay taxes to Caesar?” Jesus asks for a coin, which they produce, thereby implicating them for possessing something they hate. Caesar’s face is on it so give it to Caesar, Jesus replies.

            Now the Sadducees had no problem with the Romans. They did not want to upset the applecart, cooperated with the Romans, and benefited by preserving their political clout and position as the ruling class. Sadducees were the wealthy Jews, the ruling elite, and they dominated the Sanhedrin. Oh, and they did not believe in the resurrection as the Pharisees did.

            This was the one doctrine that defined the Sadducees: they rejected the resurrection. They denied the immortality of the soul and did not believe in the judgment day. No heaven; no hell; no human immortality. The soul perishes with the body. It is possible that the Sadducees were influenced by Greek philosophy and balked at the idea of bodily resurrection. They denied eternal life because they thought all there was to live for was each day. Being the wealthiest people in Judea they focused on the pleasures of the “Now.”

            Sadducees no longer exist. After the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 they were wiped out. But the spirit of the Sadducees exists in North American culture of prosperity. Though people believe in some kind of after-life, they continue to live as if this life is all there is and indulge in it excessively. If eternal life were a true goal of these people wouldn’t they live with a view of heaven? Would they not abandon the pleasures of this life in hopes of a greater pleasure as promised by the Lord? But as it is, their lives are as sad as the Sadducees because they have an insatiable desire for what this life offers.

2. When partial knowledge leads to a complete ignorance

The Sadducees limited themselves to the first five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, also known as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. And in those books, they said, there is no mention of any resurrection.

            If they had read other parts of OT Scripture they would have heard Job say, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God…” (Job 19:25-26): or they would have read Daniel, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt,” (Dan 12:2). But they rejected anything that was not Moses.

            Countless times the Sadducees tripped up the Pharisees with a question about the resurrection that left them stymied. They now bring that question before Jesus.

            You have heard teachers say that there are no dumb questions? I say there are: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Can God make a rock so big he can’t lift it? Those are dumb questions. Here’s another: A man marries and woman and then dies without giving her children. According to the Law of Moses, the brothers have to marry her to help her bear children to make sure that the eldest brother’s line is preserved with descendents. But all seven die failing to give a child to this line (this is enormously important to the Sadducees). Then they ask, “…at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

            The story was intended to cause anyone believing in the resurrection look foolish. How stupid the resurrection would look in the light of this problem. How could the dead be raised, the Sadducees asked, if we are unable to tell who is married to whom? Seven brothers would be arguing over one woman. How absurd. You could hear the snickers in the crowd.

            When you base your knowledge on a limited passage of Scripture without considering the whole, you will be in error. You cannot ignore what Scripture says about Scripture. This is the first thing they teach you in Bible School: Scripture interprets Scripture. Otherwise you get books on the Prayer of Jabez – one little verse that forms a huge doctrine – and it’s wrong. Or you get Rick Warren’s Daniel Diet – and it’s become an American phenomenon. Or they begin to form strange ideas about heaven.

            The Sadducees were failures as Bible students. Read the whole word of God and then form your doctrine.

3. How life will be in eternity

According to Matthew, Jesus answered them aggressively, “You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures, nor the power of God,” (Mt 22:29). I love that answer.

            The Sadducees had made a huge error, an error based on what the Pharisees taught about the resurrected life, namely, that life in the age to come would be just like life in this age only much, much better. In other words, they were interpreting heaven from the viewpoint of earth. Jesus, on the other hand, was teaching that we must interpret earth from the viewpoint of heaven.

            Jesus went on to say, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage.” THIS age – not the age to come. In THIS age we marry and add the great proviso- “till death do us part.” In THIS age we recognize that marriage is for procreation, for the continuance of life through our offspring. To say as some couples do “I will love you for eternity” is erroneous if their thought is that marriage is forever. Marriage is for THIS age.

            “But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection of the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage…” (34-35). Jesus seizes on the Sadducee obsession with maintaining your inheritance and land and name. That need to continue your family line will disappear. Marriage, which is that awesome expression of love and symbol of our need to give and receive love, will no longer be necessary. The resurrected life will be so different from this earthly life that there will be no marrying.

            I have often thought that, if it were possible, I would like to be married to Sharon for eternity. Knowing my theology better than that, I hope to live next door to her. For I know that my need for love will be most satisfied in Christ. Marriage is a reflection of the covenant love God has for us and with us, which is why in the fulfillment of all things, marriage is nullified.

            Jesus throws in a challenge: only those who are considered worthy will enjoy this age of eternity. But when we look at ourselves and we gauge our worthiness we know that we come up short. We know that we do not love God as well as ought; we know that we do not love our neighbor as Christ commanded as purely as we should. We are unworthy of the sight and enjoyment of God forever. How then can we qualify for this age to come? The truth is, the only One worthy of taking part in the age to come is the One asking the question. Jesus is worthy and we need his worthiness. “This righteousness (worthiness) from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe,” (Ro 3:22).

            Only through faith in Christ will we be admitted to this eternal life and “no longer die; for they are like the angels.” Then we will be counted as God’s children, for Christ has made us worthy to be called such.

4. Why God is the God of the living

Jesus said that the Sadducees did not know the Scriptures or the power of God. He is not done showing them how wrong they are in their thinking.

            The Sadducees claimed there was no resurrection taught in the five books of Moses. So Jesus takes a page out of those five books and says this: “But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord, ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive,” (37-38).

            This is found in Exodus 3:6, where Moses discovers the burning bush and God tells him to take off his sandals. Note how God introduces himself: he does not say he “was” the God of Abraham, he says “I am the God of Abraham.” When we speak of loved ones who have died we speak in a past tense: “he was a good father,” “she was a good cook.” But the Lord does not speak that way of those who die. His promise to Abraham was to be his God forever, and God does not break his promise. He is the living God and they live too. Is he the God of the dead, the departed, or the God of the living?

            So then, as we think of our parents who died in Jesus, or your husband or wife, or that child whom you loved so much – all of them are alive. This is not some greeting card platitude but a real honest-to-goodness truth. We have the bodies, yes, but the person you knew is not disintegrated or vaporized – they are alive and living in the Lord’s presence. “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints,” (Ps 116:15).

            Remember Jesus’ promise to the thief on the cross: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” We don’t know the full extent of what Jesus meant when he said this to the thief but we know that because Jesus overcame the grave, that man was introduced to eternal life and it was beyond his imagination. It is beyond ours too. And I don’t think it is for us to conjure up some earthly perspective of what heaven/paradise will be like. Our focus is that Jesus is there, he who said, “Because I live you shall live also.”

I suppose that dumb questions can be turned for good purposes. We can be thankful that the Sadducees, in their misguided way, posed a question that Jesus would answer beautifully. And in so doing he gave us hope.

            Whose bride will she be? Ironically, the true bride is the church, and the wedding day is almost here. “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready,” (Rev 19:7). All we have to do is “say yes to the dress.”

            There is a song, a hymn that expresses nicely the truth of this passage and reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus. It does not focus on made-up ideas about heaven; it focuses ultimately on the joy of finally seeing Jesus face to face. Even that thought itself is hard to comprehend – how great that will be.

There is coming a day,

When no heart aches shall come,

No more clouds in the sky,

No more tears to dim the eye,

All is peace forever more,

On that happy golden shore,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

There'll be no sorrow there,

No more burdens to bear,

No more sickness, no pain,

No more parting over there;

And forever I will be,

With the One who died for me,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,

When my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face,

The One who saved me by His grace;

When He takes me by the hand,

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day that will be

                                                AMEN

Luke 20:9-19

THE SONG OF THE VINEYARD

For the next eight Sundays we are going to be looking at the final days of Jesus’ life through the eyes of Luke. We want to prepare our hearts for the gospel event known as the crucifixion of Jesus by reviewing those days.

            Jesus did some outrageous things. Some would say “crazy” things. When he entered Jerusalem on a donkey, he received the peoples’ joy at the coming of their king; Jesus proceeded to the temple where he upset the tables of merchants selling shoddy products to poor worshipers, saying, “You have made my Father’s house a den of robbers.” Jesus then set up shop in the temple and began to teach people about his Father.

            These are outrageous acts of a madman, if you happen to be a devout Jew in first century Judea. A pauper accepts the title of “king”; he declares God to be his Father; and he teaches in the temple courts without invitation. Outrageous stuff. Where does he presume to possess such authority?

            That is the question the leading Jews ask him. “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things. Who gave you this authority?”

            At first, Jesus doesn’t answer. He asks a question that the Jewish leaders can’t answer for fear of looking stupid. Jesus says he won’t answer them either about where he got his authority. But then he tells them a parable.

            Jesus told lots of parables. This one is different. It is the most allegorical of all his parables. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory depicting life as a journey. In an allegory every element represents a reality. Parables don’t necessarily do that. But in this parable, the vineyard, the owner, the farmers, the servants and the son all stand for real persons.

            What we have in this parable is the ultimate explanation of Jesus’ death, before he died. Everyone listening to Jesus that day knew what it meant. And we also know that this parable is a lively picture of redemptive history of the whole Bible. It is a picture of the loving God who took the initiative in creating, permitting the fall, sending his prophets, and finally his Son. We have here the climactic claim of Christianity that this Jesus is actually God’s own beloved Son. And, after all the blessings and privileges of God had been given to people, this parable tells how they killed God’s Son and what will happen to them as a result.

1. God planted a vineyard

To what would you compare your life? A barren field of weeds, nettles and thorns? Is there nothing fruitful, fragrant or nourishing about your life? Hasn’t God been abundantly good to you, giving you great gifts – your intelligence, your years of peace and prosperity, loved ones and friends? How do you respond to this? God comes looking for fruit – what does he find?

            “A man planted a vineyard…” This is God. It is an old story – one every Jew knew. The most famous prophecy telling of this vineyard is Isaiah 5:1-7 (read). The vineyard God planted is the House of Israel, a spiritual people, a blessed people – but the harvest was disappointing. God had pruned and watered and fertilized the vines, but the grapes were small and bitter. You can’t make wine from bitter fruit.

            God is the planter and owner of the vineyard. He owns it. And he has the right to expect a return on his investment. If the vineyard represents the people of God, whom he has blessed and nourished with good things, should he not harvest what he has planted? Every spiritual and physical blessing we have is a gift from God.

            God comes to us and he looks for some fruit from his goodness to us, the fruit of acknowledging him as God, the fruit of worship, service, keeping ourselves holy, keeping our tongues from foul speech and your life pure and your marriage sacred. What does he find?

2. God sent his servants to look for fruit

According to Jesus’ parable, the owner entrusted the vineyard into the care of the farmer-tenants. The owner himself went away for a long time allowing the tenants to work the vines without supervision. They were their own bosses it seems.

            But at harvest time, the owner sent a servant to collect “some” of the fruit of the vineyard. God is not greedy or demanding, but he does want to share in the fruitfulness of the vineyard. He deserves to as the major investor, as the owner.

            What do the tenants do to the servant? They beat him and humiliated him and sent him away. He had to return to the owner, bloodied and bruised with torn clothes to report that the tenants refuse to give the owner what he deserves. In his great patience and forbearance, the owner sends two more servants, who are likewise beaten and humiliated. 

            These tenants are the Jewish leaders, the shepherds of Israel and this is what they did to God’s prophets. God entrusted the leaders of Israel with God’s people – with his covenants, his laws, the feasts and sacrifices – to teach God’s ways. But instead they led the people astray. They twisted the laws for their own benefit; they preached ‘peace’ when there was sin in their midst and hostility towards God. We see this in two places:

            When Elijah stood before the people on Mount Carmel alone against 850 prophets of Baal, he said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him,” (1 Kgs 18:21). But the people said nothing.

            And secondly, all you have to do is look at this chapter in Luke. The chief priests, elders and scribes who taught in the synagogues, the same men who were supposed to nurture faithfulness in Israel and prepare people for the Messiah, were plotting to kill that same Messiah.

            What do the prophets say these caretakers did? “Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland,” (Jer 12:10).

3. God sent his Son and they killed him

This is the answer to the question the Jewish elders and priests asked Jesus – “where did you get your authority?”

            The owner, thinking aloud, says, “What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.” Only one person comes to mind when we read our Bibles and see those words “my beloved Son.” The beloved Son, the only-begotten, is the most precious of all persons to everyone who believes. We know who this is!

            In this same gospel, chapter 3:22, at Jesus’ baptism, we read the words God spoke, “You are my Son, whom I love.” So Jesus tells a parable with a son who is loved – this is Jesus. If you want to know the most elementary truth about who Jesus is, then this is it: he is the beloved Son of God. Here too is his authority – he is sent from the Father God.

            The owner of the vineyard sends his son, his beloved son, and here the tenants make a grave error. Since the owner has been gone so long, they assume he is dead. Under Jewish law, property not claimed within a specific time could be claimed by the first party to do so. Here comes the son – if we kill him, they think, they get the inheritance. Fools! People are fools if they think they can ignore God all their lives and then when they die they think they’ve won.

            Friedrich Nietzsche is largely responsible for the “God is dead” theology of the last century. He figured that humankind had killed God with reason and enlightenment so that there was no more place for God in our world. People go on with their lives today as though God doesn’t matter. Some might acknowledge a higher power but ultimately refuse to have a relationship with Christ, God’s Son. In a sense, they kill the Savior since he is of no consequence to their lives.

            The tenants took the Son and butchered him. Jesus is telling a story about what will happen to himself in a few short days. Jesus knew that he was the end of the line – the prophets had come, largely ignored and some killed – and he was the Father’s last and best Word to the people. That’s why he had the authority to say the things he said and do the things he did. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Heb 1:1-2).

            As we read this parable we see what is going to happen. We know that the son will be killed and we want to say to the owner of the vineyard “stop!” God replies, “I know. I know what they will do to my precious Son, Jesus. But that’s why I have sent him.” The Father knows. The Son knows. They knew before the creation of the world

            Do you believe in God? Do you believe in the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe that the Cross of Christ was planned out of love for you so that Christ would be an offering for your sins?

4. God condemns those who hate his Son

Jesus asks, “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?” Will he shrug and say, “I don’t judge.” God is love, so he won’t condemn?

            What would you do if someone took your dearly beloved child and murdered him? Wouldn’t you want to see justice done? I am not saying you should seek vengeance and gut the killer yourself. No, you would have to trust the authorities to bring about justice. You have to do the right thing. But you wouldn’t ignore the crime.

            Are we more loving than Jesus? No. So what did the loving Man say of his Father’s response to those who killed his Son? “He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” Jesus wept over Jerusalem when he entered it; he wept for the people who were blind to his coming; he would have then said this sadly. But he would say the wages of sin is death. Since we live in a moral universe with a holy God, we know that a person reaps what he sows. The Creator who blesses us richly with vineyards also expects us to keep the terms of agreement of living and moving and having our being in him.

            What Jesus said – God giving the vineyard to others – struck the Jews directly. They knew he meant that God would give his vineyard to the Gentiles. “God forbid,” they replied.

            So Jesus looks them square in the eyes and asks, “What do you make of this prophecy? ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?’” A Jewish proverb put it like this, “If the stone falls on the pot, alas for the pot; if the pot falls on the stone, alas for the pot!” (Midrash Esther 3:6). Either way, the pot loses and the stone wins.

            Jesus is that stone. He said, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son,” (John 3:18).

            The masons overlooked this strangely shaped stone; it didn’t fit their plans for the great building. Then one day they needed a capstone on their fine artifice and this stone was perfect. Christ does not fit most people’s design for living. He is loving and righteous, merciful and kind, yet full of hard sayings and talk of judgment and eternal punishment. But he can order demons to be quiet and still storms; he is the Rock of Ages, the chief cornerstone. He will either trip you up while you are trying to avoid him, or he will be the chief piece of your life that you have been missing for so long. That’s how Jesus ends this parable.

What do you think of this parable? Does it stir you to thought? Or does it offend you? These are the words of Jesus. And I would think that the words of the greatest man who ever lived, the man who died and rose again, would cause us all to stop and pay attention.

            Jesus was killed by the people who were supposed to receive him. In the next eight weeks we are going to visit the scenes of the murder again, as we tend to do at this time of the year. We are casual observers of this crime scene, as though we were watching an episode of Crime Scene Investigation or Law and Order. What we may be surprised to learn is that when the criminals are caught we will find that they are “us.”

            We helped put Jesus to death. The strange thing is, we will not be held to account for the murder of the Son of God if we put our faith in him alone. It is only those who refuse him who are left with this condemnation of hating God’s Son. The really peculiar thing about this Jesus is that he wants to shower us with forgiveness and grace. The real crime is in not accepting his love which he so freely gives. He is so loving and kind it makes no sense to refuse him.

            Will the Lord find good fruit in his vineyard? Yahweh has been singing the Song of the Vineyard for millennia. It is near to harvest time and we must get ready.

            Amazing grace to sinners who repent for killing the Son of God.

                                                            AMEN

             

Show me your faith #16

AN INVITATION TO COMMON PRAYER…

AND AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE

Stories of answered prayer can be both encouraging and discouraging. On the one hand, we are inspired by the prayer warriors who risked it all and prayed for the big stuff…and got it. On the other hand, we look back at our own prayers and find it hard to point out the successes. And we feel guilty.

            George Mueller (1805-1898) is one of those people whose stories have this dual effect. Muller was an evangelist and the director of an orphanage that cared for over 10,000 orphans during his life. Muller was the kind of person who spent hours a day praying.

            One evening he became aware that there would be no breakfast for them the next morning. Mueller called his workers together and explained the situation. Two or three prayed. "Now that is sufficient," he said. "Let us rise and praise God for prayer answered!" The next morning they could not push open the great front door. So they went out the back door and around the building to see what was keeping it shut. Stacked up against the front door were boxes filled with food. One of the workers later remarked, "We know Who sent the baskets, but we do not know who brought them!"

            These are hard stories to take. They make us feel like we should pray for hours on our knees but when we try, three minutes feels like an hour and we find we have run out of things to pray. Frustration sets in and we allow defeat to steal even our short prayer times from us.

            The Anglicans and Episcopalians have what is called a Common Book of Prayer. In it are prayers for every occasion and time of the day and season of the church. It is called Common because it is regular as opposed to mundane. I am not suggesting that we go out and buy one of these books for ourselves. What I am suggesting is that we adopt the attitude of Common prayer and pray about everything no matter how small.

            And rather than fret over the time spent in prayer or the success stories of the Muellers, we receive the invitation from God to common prayer to pray to him about everything. If we do this we will find that short, frequent prayers to God will make life extraordinary.

            James concludes his letter with this invitation.

1. Pray in all circumstances

Christians are invited to pray about all situations. James makes this very clear with two questions and answers. “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise,” (13).

            What other conditions are there in life? When you boil life down to the basics you are either happy or sad. So in short, pray in troubled times and pray in good times. The word in Greek for “songs of praise” is where we get the word “Psalms” from. So if you don’t know how to express your joy, read a Psalm out loud that rejoices in God’s goodness.

            Prayer is simply talking to God. What happens when we pray day by day is that in various ways we feel helpless. We are moved to pray every time the Spirit of God, which is the spirit of prayer, emphasizes to us anew our helplessness, and we realize how impotent we are to believe, to hope, to serve, to sacrifice, to suffer, to read the Bible, to pray, and to struggle against our sinful desires.[i]

            Helplessness is not a bad thing, though in our pride we recoil from the idea of being dependent. Where God is concerned, He who is the great source of all things, why would we not depend on his goodness for daily needs?

            So to pray when we are in trouble is to admit our helplessness. To praise God in good times is to celebrate his faithfulness to the helpless, giving us good times as a reprieve from the troubled times.

            Pray about the big things and the little things. One writer said to pray like this: “If it will glorify thy name, then grant my prayer and help me. But if it will not glorify thy name, then let me remain in my predicament. And give me power to glorify thy name in the situation in which I find myself.”

2. Pray when you are sick

Christians are especially invited to pray to God when they are sick. James gets more specific in this element of prayer. The availability of doctors or medicines in the first century was pretty slim. When Christians got sick they could expect to lose wages and daily food, not to mention the possibility of death. Perhaps they were in a context where prayer was the only recourse.

            There were four parts to this occasion of prayer:

-          The elders were called to the sick person. Family or friends would have called on the leaders of the church to come and visit the person who may have too sick to come to them.

-          The elders do all the praying. It is not expected that the sick person will pray; his or her task is to let them pray.

-          The faith is that of the elders. Prayer offered in faith refers to the elders’ faith. Note that the sick person is not required to express any kind of faith, so that “faith healing” is not about the patient but about the elders.

-          The elders pray over the person. This could refer to the fact that the person is so sick they can’t get up. More likely it means that the elders lay hands on the person after anointing them with oil. The oil represents the Holy Spirit and the setting apart of the person for healing by God.

            This is the only place in the Bible where we find this kind of instruction. It is a limited reference to the act of believers praying for healing. Does that mean we should disregard it? Not at all. Why wouldn’t we pray to God in our sickness? Yes, go to the doctor. Yes, take your meds. But commit also this illness to the Lord who cares for you. We have anointed several people with oil in this church and we invite you to call on us as pastors and deacons to pray for you.

3. Pray when you sin

Christians will be most effective in prayer when they confess their sins to each other. James wrote, “If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed,” (15b-16a).

            Extremists will go all the way and say that sickness is the result of sin, hands down. But note the “if” in this verse: if they have sinned. Where confession of sin is required is in cases where the illness is a direct result of sin. However, there is no indication here that you have to go and search your past memories for a forgotten or secret sin. The idea here is that the sick believer would know full well what the nature of his or her sin is and should confess it. And some illnesses are simply the consequence of living in a sinful world.

            Confession appears to have been a regular part of Christian worship in the early church. Corporately, the church would confess that together they stray from God; personally, it was encouraged to go to the person you hurt and confess your sin.

            In any case, I have often wondered what confession would look like in a Sunday morning service. Some of your sins and my sins are best not shared and only confessed to God, for the sake of the body. But where we have sinned against the body there may be a place for admitting this.

            Confession is the key to effective prayer. John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness,” (1 Jn 1:19). He also said that if we claim that we have no sin, we make God out to be a liar. If you were God and someone called you a liar, would you answer his request? Sin is like our helpless condition – in fact, it is the cause for it – in that as we confess our helplessness, we are really confessing that sin prevents us from doing good and we need God’s help.

4. Pray when the land is dry

God listens to the prayers of the righteous person. That’s what James wrote, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective…” (16b). Many of us, including me, would say that this leaves us out. But then James points to Elijah as an example. Great (sarcasm), the hero of the OT. But wait, let’s look at Elijah for a moment.

            Elijah was a legend by the time of James. The stories of his exploits are amazing. In 1 Kings we read how he marched right into king Ahab’s court and announced that it would only rain when Elijah said it would. And there was a drought for 3 ½ years. During that drought he was fed by ravens; he then moved into the widow of Zarephath’s house and the flour never ran out; he raised her son from the dead; he called down fire from heaven to consume a water-logged (remember the drought) sacrifice in front of 400 prophets of Baal.

            And then James makes a remarkable statement: “Elijah was a human being, even as we are,” (17a). The truth is, as you read the story of Elijah, you find that in spite of seeing God’s miraculous intervention, Elijah was fearful, he doubted at times, and was depressed. He was just a man. He had ups and downs, but he prayed and God answered.

            The other detail we must recognize in the Elijah story is the spiritual low of the nation under Ahab. The physical drought symbolized the spiritual drought in the land. Ahab and Jezebel worshiped other gods and provoked God by sinning overtly.

            Baal was supposed to be in charge of the rains, so people wondered why Baal did not answer their prayers. It caused the people to evaluate the power of their god and the choice to go their own way.

            Then Elijah prayed. James wrote, “He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops,” (17b-18).

            A wooden translation of the Greek would be “he prayed with a prayer.” What that means is that Elijah prayed earnestly. And if you go to 1 Kings 18:41-46, you will find that he had to pray seven times for a cloud the size of a fist to appear. But then the rains came.

            We live in a dry and thirsty land, a land spiritually impoverished because of its ignorance of God. The land of our nation is dry. Christians are invited to pray specifically when others do not. Elijah was just a man. George Mueller was just a man. But they were people who prayed and prayed earnestly.

5. Pray when others sin

Finally, Christians are invited to pray for the straying brother or sister who has fallen into sin.

            These last two verses are not really about prayer, but I think they could be. This is really about going after the sinning brother or sister and bringing them back to the truth of the gospel. The motivation is simple: “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins,” (20). First, what we tend to pass over is the fact that some people are going to hell for resisting God and his forgiveness; Second, we can help them to know the truth that all their sins can be forgiven.

            I believe that to go forth and approach a person in this state requires prayer. We must pray that our own hearts are covered by the grace of Christ and that this same grace will help us find the words to speak to the person.

            George Mueller spoke of his own prayers in this regard. He said, “I never give up. I have been praying every day for 52 years for two men, sons of a friend of my youth. They are not converted yet, but they will be. How can it be otherwise when we have the unchanging promises of God?”

            Mueller was an anomaly in the Christian faith, I think. At the same time, why couldn’t we rise up to the challenge of prayer? He was just a human being, as we are. And you know people who need the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I invite you right now to name them in your heart as a prayer to God.

Show me your faith

John Newton, author of Amazing Grace, had received from the Lord some almost unbelievable answers to his petitions, and so he often engaged in "large asking." In support of this practice he would frequently tell the story of a man who asked Alexander the Great to give him a huge sum of money in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage. The ruler consented and told him to request of his treasurer whatever he wanted. So he went and asked for an enormous amount. The keeper of the funds was startled and said he couldn't give him that much without a direct order. Going to Alexander, the treasurer argued that even a small fraction of the money requested would more than serve the purpose. "No," replied Alexander, "let him have it all. I like that fellow. He does me honor. He treats me like a king and proves by what he asks that he believes me to be both rich and generous." Newton concluded the story by saying, "In the same way, we should go to the throne of God's grace and present petitions that express honorable views of the love, riches, and bounty of our King!" We do honor to God by asking him.

            One further thought about your prayers is needed. John in Revelation 8 had a vision of our prayers (read Rev 8:1-5). Charles Spurgeon responded to this passage saying, “At this moment I believe that God’s Church might have inconceivable blessings if she were but ready, now, to pray. It would silence heaven to hear our prayers. And the impact is far beyond your imagination. Bring your prayers to God that he might set them on fire with Christ’s work – Then we will see the Lord at work.

                                                            AMEN

           

---

[i] O. Hallesby

Show me your Faith #14

PURSUING PROSPERITY:                                                                                                                               CHASING THE AMERICAN DREAM TO DEATH

Who here would like to be rich? How about well-off or prosperous enough to be comfortable? Who believes that hard work can accomplish almost all of our goals in life?

            If you sheepishly answered “yes” to any of these questions (because you’re not sure where I’m going) then you are chasing the American Dream. Even though we are Canadians, the True North Strong and Free, we have adopted the same pursuit as our Southern cousins.

            What is the American Dream? It is a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success. It also includes the opportunity for upward social mobility through hard work. James Truslow Adams, in 1931, defined the American Dream this way: “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.”

            The American Dream finds its foundation in the US Declaration of Independence which says, “all men are created equal” and are “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights” including “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Sounds pretty good, actually.

            But like all ideals, reality tends to spoil the pretty picture. Sin finds a way to take our human ideals and make them about us. So “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” become a pursuit of my life’s ambitions, my freedoms, and my happiness. The American Dream has become a pursuit of material goods, wealth, comforts and personal satisfaction. And at what cost?

            James sounds like an OT prophet as he comes down hard on the wealthy unbelievers in 5:1-6. In the previous passage he took a hard line with the Christian businessmen who made plans without a thought of God. Now James takes aim at the rich who are oppressing the poor believers.

            Why would James write to unbelievers who would never read his words in a letter to Christians? Some say James is using a rhetorical device known as an “apostrophe” to speak to people who are not present for the benefit of those who are.[i] Why would he do this? Two reasons: One is to assure the oppressed believers that God is going to do something about the wealthy who ignore God; and Two, don’t be like them.

            The thrust of our study this morning is this: Since wealth can be a dangerous trap we should be careful not to use it in an ungodly way.

1. How choosing prosperity over God leads to judgment

a) The short-sighted vision of the rich unbeliever – In the pursuit of wealth there are bound to be some circumstances that will test your ethics. Decisions will be made that affect a lot of people. In James’ day that meant that the rich took advantage of the poor. His response to them was this, “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you,” (5:1).

            It must be said that, ‘there is no sin in merely being rich; where sin exists among the rich, it arises from the manner in which wealth is acquired, the spirit in which it tends to engender in the heart, and the way in which it is used.’[ii] This is insightful. Wealth is not sinful. How it is gained, how it makes you feel towards others, and how you use it are the measures of its power for sin.

            Those who have fallen under the spell of wealth and have pursued it at all costs have not considered the consequences of their actions. James tells them to weep and howl for the misery coming upon them. They have been blinded by the allure of more.

            Paul warned Timothy, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs,” (1 Ti 6:9-10).

b) The fleeting nature of one’s wealth – One of the traps of wealth is its temporary nature. Wealth doesn’t last. To pursue temporary wealth over the eternal God as a solution to your deepest needs is foolish.

            At the time this letter was written there were three main indicators of wealth. James points to the temporary nature of each:

            “Your wealth has rotted.” The first indicator was grain or food. If you had a lot of food you were well off. But food that was stored away could easily rot and become useless. I read a report this week that said we thrown away 20% of our food at a cost of nearly 2 billion dollars a year…while people in other parts of the world starve.

            “Moths have eaten your clothes.” The second indicator of wealth was clothing. In a world where most of the poor had only the clothes on their backs, having several sets of clothes made you a rich person.

            “Your gold and silver are corroded.” Just to be clear: gold doesn’t rust. But this third indicator is said to spoil because when God brings judgment on them it won’t save them. We all know that money can’t save you and it certainly doesn’t raise your status before God.

c) Wealth comes back to bite you – The second trap of wealth is its treasonous nature: it will betray you. “Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire,” (5:3a). Wealth will stand as a witness against the rich on the Day of Judgment when God takes account of how they used his gifts. If they have gained it unscrupulously; if they have used it for our own betterment; if they use it as a mark of pride, then it will clearly tell God that they have chosen it over Him.
            Jesus said very plainly, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money,” (Lk 16:13).

            Weep and howl, James told the wealthy unbelievers, for their misery is mounting. What was the misery in store for these people? The imminent misery was ten years future for them when in 70 AD Jerusalem was under siege by the Romans. A million people died in this two year siege. And the first targets of the violence of the soldiers were the rich. But it was the eternal misery that had universal application: Divine judgment. God knows when our hearts turn to prosperity for deliverance instead of calling on his name. If people put their hope in money for this world alone, they will be miserable without God in eternity.

2. How to recognize the sins of Prosperity

James does not direct these words of judgment on the believers. We can assume that they were the poor and the oppressed. They were believers who may have been suffering because of their faith. To be a Christian in those days may have meant being kicked out of trade guilds so that a believer could not do business. James wanted to assure them that God knew their situation. In verse 4 he says that the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. God had not forgotten their oppression and he would act on their behalf.

            At the same time that James does not direct any exhortations at the believers, his harsh words to the ungodly rich provide an application for us who follow Christ. He gives four signs that help us to recognize the sins of prosperity:

a) Are you hoarding your money? (5:3c). Is there a difference between hoarding and saving? I believe so, though the definition may be slight. We need to save money to provide for our families and for some unforeseen eventualities. We save money for our children’s education; we save for retirement; we save for vacations. These are not sinful things.

            What James emphasizes is that we are living in the last days. We have been living in the last days since Pentecost. The question he asks is: Where is your treasure? Are we storing it up on earth so that we can live in comfort, planning for a long life here? Jesus tells a story about a man who had a good crop, built bigger barns and was going to take life easy – that night he died (Lk 12:13-21). Then Jesus says, “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God,” (21). John Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the world in the early 20^th century was asked, “How much wealth is enough?” He replied, “Just a little more.”

            The point is not that owning wealth or saving money is sin per se. Rather it is the act of hoarding it rather than using it for kingdom purposes. Hoarding is an act of doubt that God will not provide for you if you invest it in the kingdom.

            Instead, Jesus says, “…use your worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings,” (Lk 16:9).

b) Are you cheating your employees? (5:4). If you are like me you have to say, “I don’t have any employees.” James was speaking to wealthy landowners who were cheating their laborers out of daily wages. In those days a worker was paid at the end of each shift. If wages were withheld the worker literally had nothing to live on. It was hand-to-mouth living.

            God sees this evil. James writes that “the wages you failed to pay the workers” are testifying against the oppressor. How intimately is God involved that he knows when you are not being paid your full due? Is that not amazing? If you are underpaid, God notes it. If we are doing the underpaying he notes it.

            The point is that we must be fair and pay those we owe what we owe them. To be generous, even beyond what is fair, is to be like God. He gives us far more blessing than we deserve. So it makes sense for us to be generous with others in the same way.

c) Are you over-indulging yourself? (5:5ab). The imagery of this sign is not very nice. “You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter,” (5:5). This is a picture of a cow separated from the herd and placed in a stall to be fed the best grain. As far as the cow is concerned this is the life. What the cow is unaware of is she is being fattened for slaughter and to be cut into steaks.

            The rich were living a life of ease, a soft life, a life with no wants or needs. They have no cause for sacrificing or labor. But the rich person’s selfish indulgence and lack of compassion for the poor reflected his godless focus of life.

            When is it okay to indulge in a winter vacation?  As I asked someone this question recently the answer popped into my head. When we have given to God the firstfruits of our income (tithes & offerings), given to those in need, taken care of our family needs and debts, and don’t need to take out a loan to get away, then we can travel with a clear conscience. That’s my understanding.

d) Are you hurting others to get ahead? (5:6). Was James thinking of literal murder when he wrote, “You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you”? Probably not. But this may refer to a practical outcome of the failure of the rich to share their possessions and pay their workers. To take away a worker’s pay was to take the food out of his and his family’s mouth.

            If getting ahead in social standing, if getting a promotion at work, or if going into debt to appear affluent means hurting others to prosper, we break the Royal Law mentioned earlier in this letter: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Workaholics are not remembered for being good parents. Ambitious people tend to be lonely because they are always in competition with others. And going into debt to enjoy the good life does not make you any friends on earth.

            In our unavoidable pursuit of the American Dream, these are the dangers and traps of prosperity.

Show me your faith

Consider this loose paraphrase of James 5:1-6: “You think it’s good to be rich? Well, you’re wrong. Riches are a mess. It’s you poor who are fortunate. You think it’s good to be well fed now? You’re wrong. You’d be better off hungry. You think you should pursue laughter? That’s a mistake. Those who weep are ahead. You want to be respected and admired by everyone in sight? Well you’ve got it upside down. Respect is a problem. You’re fortunate if people despise you and won’t even let you into their churches and clubs. What Jesus is telling us is that we have it all backwards. The direction we’re headed does not lead home. What we need to do is to turn completely around and go the opposite way."[iii]

            The way up is down. Followers of Jesus live in the Upside-Down Kingdom of Christ. That means that the way to the top of the kingdom is to humble yourself and consider others as better than yourself. To be rich in this world is to be poor in the kingdom, because, as Scripture says, where your treasure is, there is your heart (Mt 6:21).

            In reaction to the pursuit of the first century “American Dream,” Paul urged Timothy, “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses,” (1 Ti. 6:11-12).

            We have been given a great gift in North America: the power to earn. What we do with it reveals whether it is our god or a tool to use for God.

                                                                        AMEN

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[i] Craig Blomberg & Mariam J. Kamell. James: Exegetical Commentary on the NT, 220.

[ii] A. Barnes quoted in Alec Motyer’s The Message of James BST, p. 169.

[iii] John Alexander