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Mt Olive Lutheran Church February Sermons |
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It is no coincidence that Luke places the passage of Jesus and the children immediately preceding the verses on the rich ruler. What a contrast! On the one hand, babies who can do little or nothing not only enter the kingdom but provide a pattern for all who would enter. On the other, a rich ruler who has kept all the law from his youth; still Jesus asks him to do one more thing – sell all and give to the poor. I believe the way to understand what is necessary for entrance into the kingdom is to look at the attitude of the disciples and the attitude of Jesus in regard to the babies and in regard to the rich man. What is the attitude of the disciples toward those who are bringing their babies to Jesus? They rebuked them. What is Jesus’ attitude toward the infants? The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. And whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Now what is Jesus’ attitude toward the rich ruler? How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. What is the disciples’ attitude toward the rich man? If rich people – who are obviously blessed by God and therefore must be valued by Him – cannot enter the kingdom, then who can be saved? Interesting! What do we learn about entering the kingdom from these two texts? 1. Little children, including infants, are certainly not going to stand up and say the Ten Commandments. They can do little or nothing. So faith and kingdom membership must be a gift of God’s grace. 2. Jesus, in accepting little children, teaches that the essential thing for deserving entrance into the kingdom is being undeserving. 3. The rich ruler, in contrast, not only can recite the Ten Commandments, he is proud of his efforts to live according to those commandments. In addition, he is wealthy. The disciples, along with prosperity preachers today, think that wealth is an outward confirmation of God’s favor in a person’s life. 4. Therefore, Jesus must show the rich man and us that we can not do what it takes to enter the kingdom on our own steam. Jesus makes an impossible request of the rich man. I always wish, when I read this text, that the rich man would say, “I can’t.” So Jesus could share the key to these two texts with him. 5. What is the key? Jesus’ words: The things impossible with men are possible with God. Faith is not a matter of my doing, my decision, my accomplishments, my achievements; faith is a matter of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Isn’t that great. My salvation depends on God totally. What Jesus did on the cross. And what the Holy Spirit does bringing me to faith. Two stories. When the going gets rough, focus on Jesus; not on your faith. We do not have faith in our faith but faith in Jesus. When you are looking for confidence and courage, look to Jesus; not to your commitment or strength of conviction. It is God’s commitment to us that counts; not the strength of our commitment to Jesus
Luke 18:9-14 I believe the deepest need all of us have is to feel worth and value in our lives, to feel that we are worthwhile people who live significant lives Now, there are two ways to attain worth and value. 1) by myself, my own self-promotion and self-justification 2) from God, from His gift of worth and value in Christ. This is demonstrated in Jesus’ parable. The Pharisee boasts of his own righteousness. The tax collector begs God’s mercy. The Pharisee does not need God’s gift of righteousness; he justifies himself. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. He cements his worth by comparing himself to others, including this nearby tax collector. The tax collector has nothing to claim as far as doing and accomplishing. He simply begs for mercy like a starving man begging for bread. And God justifies him; declares him righteous. Let’s get something straight. Let’s be honest. I am sinful. You are sinful. None of us deserve God’s forgiveness and mercy. We are all beggars like the tax collector. Our natural tendency to justify ourselves condemns us. And add to that our ready tongue to critique others. Throw in our sensitive thin-skinned ego that so often defends ourselves at the expense of others. Add a dash of pride. We should not even lift our eyes to heaven. If we are to have any worth that is worth anything, we need Jesus. We need His cross, His forgiveness, His love. His righteousness. This being honest business is crucial. M. Scott Peck has written a book about evil. He claims that the essential starting point of evil is self-justification. We can not face up to or admit our own sin. M. Scott Peck says that the seeds of the evil in this world are one’s incapacity to honestly see themselves, that is, to be self-critical. Jesus says it this way: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:19-20) But self-justification is not content with hiding from criticism. We always blame everything and everyone. Jesus told this parable to people who were confident of their own righeeousness and looked down on everybody else. Or think about your parents. Adam says, “It is the woman’s fault, you know, God, the woman You gave me.” And Eve says, “Well, don’t blame me; the devil tricked me.” And world history has been off to the races ever since. Can you imagine one day – living in the power of Christ’s righteousness? You feel valued, right, and eternally worthwhile in God’s eyes. Someone cuts you off in traffic. You do not curse them or complain. Someone criticizes you for something you did or failed to do. You do not excuse yourself or retaliate with blame or scape-goating. Something does not go the way you planned or expected. You are disappointed. But you do not take your frustration out on someone. Imagine how your life could be transformed by Christ’s righteousness. Honesty to face your own sins and guilt. Freedom from scape-goating and self-justifying. Imagine how it could improve your workplace, your family life, your church life. Just by taking Christ’s righteousness to heart.
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