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Mt Olive Lutheran Church Aug Messages Luke 9:28-36 Jesus appears in His glory. As bright as a FLASH OF LIGHTNING. And two biggies from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, appear in glorious splendor and have a chat with Jesus. They talk about His exodus which He will soon bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem. A CLOUD ENVELOPS THEM. A voice from heaven tells us the point of Jesus’ transfiguration: ‘This is My Son, whom I have chosen, listen to Him.” Jesus is the true Son of God. He is God. Listen to Him. I gotta tell ya, I would be ALL EARS! If I saw Jesus with clothes as bright as lightning, I would take notice. And if a voice from heaven said, “This is My Son, listen to Him,” by golly, I think I would. This account is SMACK DAB BETWEEN two of Jesus’ passion predictions. Two weeks ago, we heard Jesus say, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (v. 22) And next week we will hear Jesus say, “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” (v. 44) Jesus says many things and all of them are important. However, we should listen with both ears when Jesus speaks of His suffering, death, and resurrection. Peter, James and John need to be encouraged to listen when Jesus speaks of these things. Why? LOOK AT PETER. He wants to build some permanent structures so as to prolong the experience of this place. He enjoys this glory stuff. The suffering and dying stuff is not his cup of tea. Luke tells us that Peter did not know what he was saying. Peter did not understand that GOD WOULD ACCOMPLISH His greatest work through suffering and the cross. Do we? Suffering and pain come our way and what do we do? We throw up our hands and say, “God, what did I do to deserve this?” DAVID AIKMAN WROTE a book entitled Hope – The Heart’s Great Quest. In that book, he writes, “Because the cross is so totally hopeless; the cross is the source of all hope. If God can accomplish forgiveness, peace, and life from the hopeless cross so overflowing with suffering, pain, and death; imagine what he can do when your situation is hopeless, when you hurt, when you are dying.” Just imagine! ONE FINAL THOUGHT. Notice the word “exodus” in verse 31. The cross is Jesus’ exodus. Moses’ exodus was about freeing 1-2 million slaves. Jesus’ exodus will be about freeing us from sin, fear, hopelessness, and death. Listen to Him. His words have power. His words encourage and challenge us to live in view of the cross. I know of no other religion that invests the pain and suffering of our lives with such meaning, such significance. Only Christianity and the cross accomplish that.
Luke 9:37-45 When they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. A MAN IN THE CROWD CALLED OUT, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.” “O UNBELIEVING and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?” Those are some of the harshest words spoken by Jesus. Who are they addressed to? What precipitates such sharp language? What is the point for us? Luke does not tell us much about the crowd or about the man who needs help. But through the man’s plaintive plea, we learn that he begged the disciples to drive out the evil spirit and they could not. Therefore, I believe Luke wants us to see these words as directed primarily at Jesus’ disciples. AT THE BEGINNING OF CHAPTER 9, Jesus gave the Twelve power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. What happened? Where did the power go? REMEMBER WHEN YOUR KIDS WERE SMALL and they depended on you? Then, one day, they push you away and say, “I want to do it myself.” It is the same with Jesus’ disciples. The disciples received power and authority from Jesus. After a time, they thought they could do it themselves, by themselves. Rather than looking to Jesus and trusting Him, they began to look to themselves and to rely on their own strength. Unbelief is a matter of trusting in ourselves. The same thing happens to every Christian and every church. IN LUTHER’S SMALL CATECHISM, we say, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” But how many Christians actually believe that faith is a gift of God and not their own doing. If you ask a person if they are sure they are saved, they usually say, “Why, yes, on such and such a day, I made a decision for Jesus and received Him as my Lord and Savior.” People look to themselves and their own decision. Seldom does anyone look to Jesus and say, “Why, of course! Jesus died and rose again for me. The Holy Spirit has worked faith in my heart.” When we focus on their believing, our sincerity, our conviction, we will have no power. The gift of faith and the power of the Holy Spirit in this faith is eliminated because we believe our faith is a matter of the strength of our believing. Story of young man in Soda Springs. THIS IS NOT A TRICK QUESTION. Whose church is this? Jesus says, “I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Yes, but, we built this church, we pay the bills, we change the light bulbs, etc. We think it is our church. And then we wonder why the church has no power and no vision. WHAT ABOUT CHRISTIAN LIFE? Do you have power in your Christian life? Paul says, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Christ is the power of our Christian life. Yet, so frequently, pastors encourage people to rely on their own strength when it comes to Christian life. Yes, we do have a part in Christian life; but the power is from God. Christian life is like this: A flea is riding on the back of an elephant. They cross one of those rope bridges you see in the movies. The flea says to the elephant, “Man, we really shook that thing, didn’t we?” I am the flea. Christ is the elephant. Without Christ, I do not make much of a difference with my life. IN CONCLUSION: The disciples were powerless because of their unbelief. That is, they trusted themselves and not Jesus. They could not drive out the spirit because they looked to themselves and their own strength. That is unbelief. It is perverse. Faith looks to Jesus. And such faith has power to shake things up.
Luke 9:46-56; 22:24-27 “For he who is least among you all – he is the greatest.” AN ARGUMENT arose amongst the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. This argument started soon after Jesus had predicted He would be betrayed into the hands of men. Jesus is talking about His humiliating death and they are jockeying for position. JESUS TOOK A LITTLE CHILD and had him stand beside Him. A little child?!! “CHILDREN IN THAT SOCIETY had no status at all – they did not count.” [Albert Nolan] AND JESUS SAYS, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. For he who is least among you all – he is the greatest.” Jesus stands greatness on its head. Real greatness is not being greater than others but being the one who is considered least. Pride and position do not lead to greatness. Being least is the key. THE DISCIPLES ARE A HOOT. Jesus has just told them the secret of greatness. Next, John’s ego bristles because a man who is not part of their group is driving out demons in Jesus’ name. A JOKE that has an element of truth to it is told about Lutheran Church Missouri Synod folk. A fella dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter is showing him around. He sees a big high wall and asks about it. Oh, says St. Peter, behind that wall is where the LCMS folks go; they think they are the only ones up here. AND THEN JAMES AND JOHN WANT TO DESTROY a Samaritan village because they do not welcome Jesus. How will we ever be great if our pride keeps taking the throne in our lives? How often do we want fire to rain down on folks because we felt snubbed? FAST FORWARD to the night of Jesus’ arrest. Jesus tells His disciples one final time that He will be betrayed by someone sharing the Meal with Him at the Passover Table: “The hand of him who is going to betray Me is with Mine on the table.” After puzzling about who Jesus meant, a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. JESUS SAYS, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 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. I am among you as one who serves.” HOW ARE YOU DOING with your pride? “Through pride the devil became the devil.” [C. S. Lewis] Other sins – addiction, adultery, murder, child abuse – are mere flea bites compared to pride. Why? Because pride is the source of all sin. WE HAVE A NEED to be accepted, valued, even praised by others. We will never be worth a plug nickel in the kingdom until this is dealt with. The only way I know to deal with it is to go to the cross and see God’s forgiveness, acceptance, and love – giving us eternal value and true greatness. Only when we accept that we are accepted, can we begin to serve others, even humbling ourselves as Jesus did when He went to the cross. It is such service that truly makes us great. The cross is not just a nice idea; it is necessary. Without the cross we cannot battle the greatest enemy of all – ourselves, our pride.
Luke 9:57-62 WHAT IS YOUR GOAL in life? What is it that is your purpose in life? What are you aiming for? MOST PEOPLE don’t have a goal in life. It is like the fella who throws a dart at the wall and wherever it hits, HE DRAWS A BULLS-EYE around it and says, “Wallah!” The same is true of churches. Churches don’t usually have a definitive goal that guides all their activities and priorities. We do what we do and then say that is our goal. WHEN I PLOWED the first furrow in a field, I would pick out a tree or a fence post to aim for. I had to have a target, and keep aiming for it, if the furrow was to be straight. This was crucial. Often, when I plowed, OUR GOLDEN LAB would run about. You know how dogs are. They are easily distracted by whatever interests them at the moment. They run this way and that. A rabbit might pop up. Off they go. A pheasant would fly up. They follow its flight path. Someone drives by with a dog in the car. That captures their attention for a moment. I often wondered what that first furrow would look like if I followed my dog instead of aiming for a target. A goal, purpose, or target for your life had TREMENDOUS POWER. When I went to the University of Iowa, I had no idea what I wanted to do in my life. I had no target. My grades showed it. Then, after talking to my pastor, I decided I wanted to do something that would make a difference and being a pastor was an opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives for eternity. I FOUND MY PURPOSE in my life. My grades improved. I knew what I was aiming for. Being a pastor, for me, was not just a vocation, it was my purpose, my goal in life. I have seen the same thing happen with churches. RICK WARREN wrote The Purpose-Driven Life. Before that, he presented seminars on the Purpose-Driven Church. Some churches are driven BY TRADITION. “We’ve always/never done it that way!” Others are driven BY FINANCES. “How much will it cost?” Some churches are driven by THEIR FACILITIES. We are shaped by the shape of our facilities. And other churches are driven by THEIR PROGRAMS. The pastor goes to a seminar or to a conference and comes home with a new program. And some churches are driven by all THE EVENTS they schedule each week. They fill their schedule with a multitude of different events. WHAT IF THE PURPOSE of following Jesus defined our traditions, our finances, the facilities, our programs, and all our scheduled events were to follow Jesus? It the whole church would be focused on following Jesus I wonder where He would lead us? CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING. Luke wants us to know that following Jesus means following Him to the cross (9:51) so that our lives are changed for all eternity and we are given the purpose of making a difference in the lives of others for all eternity. (10:1ff) If context does not convince you; the overarching purpose of Luke’s Gospel should. At the VERY END OF THE GOSPEL, Jesus says, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third ay, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations.” (24:46-47)
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