Luke 13:10-21: How to Live Well for God's Kingdom
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/07/1198252469/coast-guard-hamster-wheel-reza-baluchi-atlantic-ocean - an odd and consuming way to spend your time, but for this man - his hamster wheel mattered.
Your time/life will be consumed with something - and we all want our lives/time to be consumed with something that matters.
What matters to you? What gives your life significance/purpose? It’s the quest we are all on. We derive significance/purpose from wealth, career, education, etc. Or, leisure, vacations, travel, etc.
Nothing in this life will ever give you as much sense of purpose and significance than wholeheartedly following the King (Luke 9:23).
Following the king is costly, but following the King is worth the cost. Last week: You’ll never give up for Jesus more than He’s already given up for you.
Knowing the price that Jesus paid for us, how do we follow Him well? How do we live well for His Kingdom?
We live well for the King by imitating the King… The goal of the Christian faith is to be like our King has His Spirit works within us.
In this passage, something about Jesus that I want us to imitate. From this passage, I want to show two ways that we live well for the King and His Kingdom.
Trade your checklist faith for a compassionate faith.
Trade your checklist faith for a compassionate faith.
Chapters 11-12 - warnings from Jesus. The “hard sayings of Jesus.” We need the warnings of Jesus. We need to be reminded of what’s at stake, and we need to be reminded that following Jesus is costly because to follow Jesus align ourselves with the Kingdom of God and put ourselves in opposition with the Kingdom of this world.
Jesus warns us because He loves us… He warns us because He is compassionate. He takes the baptism of fire for us because He doesn’t want us to experience the fire of God’s judgment (Luke 12:49).
Hard teachings followed by a story of compassion.
A woman at the synagogue - been disabled by a spirit. Don’t think that all sickness/disease is because of a demon. Sickness/disease result of living in a fallen world. BUT, in the case of this woman, it was demonic (vs. 16).
For 18 years, woman crippled. Couldn’t walk upright. Likely chronic back pain. If she attended the synagogue every Sabbath, imagine the struggle to get out of bed and get there. Some of you understand. You fight chronic pain. A struggle for you to get to church on Sunday.
No indication in the text that she was seeking Jesus. Likely she had heard of Jesus, but maybe she hadn’t. Maybe this was the first time she ever heard Jesus teach.
After Jesus taught, Jesus sought this woman out. She didn’t come to Him. Imagine that most overlooked her. After all, she was an older lady struggling with physical disease. Many older people struggle with sickness and disease. Honestly, doesn’t seem like a prime candidate for healing. A prime candidate would be a blind person, someone who can’t walk, or someone demon possessed. Those kinds of healings would have been much more glamorous.
BUT… this woman mattered to Jesus. He created her. He knew her by name. He sought her out of the crowd. He called out to her: “You are free of your disability.” Reminder that Jesus is God. He speaks and she is healed. The God who spoke the universe into existence present in the synagogue speaking life over an older lady.
Then, He touched her. Reminder of humanity of Jesus. The Son of God physically touched this woman. Compassion.
Woman instantly restored and glorified God.
Synagogue leader - respected in the community - perhaps knew this woman and perhaps overlooked this woman. Should have rejoiced at the woman’s healing but instead is more concerned about Jesus “breaking” God’s Law. You don’t work on the sabbath, and this healing was considered work. (Doesn’t realize that Jesus IS God.)
Synagogue leader can’t even address Jesus. Instead he addresses the crowd: “Six days for work to be done but not the Sabbath. Healing can be done any other day but not today.”
BUT… Jesus decides when the healing is done. Jesus is God and Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. He created the Sabbath, and ultimately He is the Sabbath. Rest found in Jesus.
Synagogue leader no different than Pharisees: a hypocrite. Cares far more for rules than compassion but doesn’t even abide by the rules: “You’ll care for an animal on the Sabbath, but you won’t care for a person - a daughter of Abraham - one of your own.” Doesn’t abide by greatest command: love God, love others.
Any tradition/religion that keeps us from helping other is not from God.
Jesus’ words humiliate adversaries while the crowd rejoices.
Compassion of Jesus. Jesus was compassionate toward you, and we live well for God’s Kingdom when we imitate His compassion.
Problem: we settle for a checklist faith instead of embracing a compassionate faith.
We tend to be attracted to a religion where we can check the box rather than get involved in the lives of people for the sake of the Gospel. Check the box of church attendance, church service, etc. so we can feel like we’ve accomplished something. Put in the effort so we can get something out of it rather than realizing we’ve gotten everything we could ever want in Christ, and now we have the calling to share what we have with others.
BUT… We can’t keep enough rules to accomplish anything. Jesus accomplished everything for us, and now calls us to live with His compassion towards others.
How do you know if your faith is a checklist faith? Ask yourself these questions:
Are you more excited about God’s work or are you exhausted by God’s work? (Religious checklists are exhausting.)
Are you more joyous in your faith or more grumpy? (Joy in intimacy with Christ NOT performing for Christ.)
Are you more gracious or more judgmental? (Checklist people wonder why others aren’t keeping their checklists. Checklist people can’t be bothered by the real needs of others.)
Are you growing in fellowship with God or are you becoming more agitated by God? (Checklist faith is agitating because there’s always something else to do rather than a relationship to enjoy.)
Living for the Kingdom is NOT about a checklist faith - it’s about a compassionate people. Your need to have a checklist faith to make you feel like you’ve accomplished something prevents you from being used by God to extend compassion to people who need it.
Reevaluate! Is your faith “checklist” oriented or is it compassion oriented? How are you imitating the compassion of Jesus right now? Who is God calling you to show compassion to?
Luke’s mealplan - if i do it as a checklist I fail because I don’t see purpose for me… BUT if I were an athlete I’d see the purpose… Motivation… If I’m a follower of Jesus, I see my purpose… Motivation...
Trade your need for grandiose results for a desire to faithfully follow the King.
Trade your need for grandiose results for a desire to faithfully follow the King.
I love this miracle because it’s so “ordinary.” Or at least, as ordinary as a miracle can be. It’s not grandiose. It’s not raising someone from the dead. It’s not healing a blind man. It’s not doing something impressive in front of a massive crowd. It’s not flashy or grandiose. It’s simply helping an older lady in her moment of need.
BUT… ministry is not always flashy or grandiose. The Kingdom of God grows when we are faithful to meet individual people where they are with compassion and the hope of the Gospel.
We want flashy, big, instant results. That’s what Israel ultimately wanted: a flashy, grandiose Messiah who would overthrow Rome. Instead, God sent His Son, a suffering servant who ministered to hurting people like this woman, and then would go to a cross and die for people like this woman.
Story followed by two short parables that show us how the Kingdom of God grows.
Kingdom of God like a mustard seed… A mustard seed the smallest of seed that produces a large tree. How does it grow? Over time…
OR, Kingdom of God like a leaven that a woman kneeded into fifty pounds of flour. A little bit of leaven that ultimately took over the flour as the woman worked the leaven into the flour. It took time…
The point… The Kingdom of God on this earth starts small… Jesus, twelve apostles, and a few other followers. And here we are 2,0000 years later and untold billions of people over the last 2,000 years who have entered into the Kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ.
In the days of Jesus, people wanted a BIG display of the power of God - The KING on the throne in Jerusalem NOW! BUT… God’s plan for His Kingdom to grow through His Son working through the lives of His followers over time.
The BIGGEST act of power in the history of the world - the resurrection - only witnessed by a few people… BUT, we’ll see the BIG - on the day when our King returns and resurrects the dead, and we gather around the throne with untold billions of people from every nation, tribe, and tongue.
BIG is coming. In the meantime, trade your need for immediate, grandiose results for a desire to faithfully follow the King.
Know your tendency to want BIG now. We live in a culture that focuses on results here and now. Instant results - you expect that in your faith. You want God to fix all your problems right now, take away all your bad habits right now, save all of your family members right now not now, etc. Want our church to grow right now… Whole city to come to Christ right now… We want God to do something BIG right now, and if I don’t see big, God must not be at work… NOT TRUE… God works over time. How many of us miss what God wants to do right now because we want BIGGER instant results? This is why the Jews missed Jesus - they wanted “bigger” - an instant Messiah to overtake Jerusalem.
Know what’s BIG to God. What’s big to God is your faith. You trusting Him in the day to day. You imitating Jesus and showing compassion to others when it’s hard. You loving difficult people or reaching showing compassion to the person who everyone else ignores. That’s big to God because that’s obedience to God. Who cares what’s big/important to you? What matters is what’s big/important to God.
Know what should be BIG to you. Progress! Celebrate the progress! When you see growth in your walk with Jesus. When you see yourself becoming more aware of your own sin and ongoing need for repentance. It’s BIG when you share the Gospel. When you make the time to show compassion. When you grow in compassion. Celebrate that progress! Celebrate what God is doing in you day by day and celebrate how He is using you day by day in the lives of others as you walk by faith.
The BIGGEST work of God that can happen in your life today if you are not a follower of Jesus is salvation from your sins. Nothing bigger can happen in your life than going from death to life. Jesus loves you and He wants to show compassion to you today by inviting you to believe in what He did for you by dying in your place and rising again and inviting you to turn from your sins and turn to Him.
Follower of Jesus, are you living well for the Kingdom of God? Living well for the King is faithfully following the King day by day, imitating His compassion. How will you show His compassion this week?