Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri
Morning Worship · March 18, 2007
Fourth Sunday in Lent
Lord, we have come here this morning full of deep questions and looking for deep answers. Grant us the grace this hour to set aside our questions, and instead come up with your answer – our lives transformed and lived well before you. Amen.
Scripture
Luke 13:1-9
Rick Frost
Did you hear that story? Perhaps? It happens all the time, you know. We hear what we want to hear. Or we hear part of what is said. Sometimes we take things we hear, and we turn them around to suit us, in ways that fit our understanding, our liking. Sometimes we just forget what we heard altogether. It’s called denial. Sometimes we just make stuff up. It happens all the time. It’s amazing.
You may have seen the “Best of Everything Kids Say” this week that was floating around. They are answers that fifth and sixth graders in Ohio gave to little history quizzes. There are a lot of them. Here are three. They are amazing. You know people hear stories about history, and here is what they remember.
One fifth/sixth grader said, “Socrates was a famous old Greek teacher who ran around giving people advice. They killed him. He later died of an overdose of wedlock, which is apparently poisonous. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.”
I love this one. “Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper, which was very dangerous to all his men.”
How about this one? The Greeks were a highly-sculptured people, and without them we would not have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a young, female moth.”
Just make stuff up. I taught history in another life, and these answers don’t sound too far off actually. It’s amazing what we hear, what we choose to hear, and what we don’t hear.
Today’s gospel is a challenge for the people of God to hear. Perhaps it is hard for us to hear. What I want to do is to see if we can hear it, and if we can get it right. For the fact is, this is the fourth Sunday in Lent. It is the fourth week of the Christian season of seeking honesty about ourselves, honesty about our people, honesty about our rebellion, be it conscious or unconscious rebellion against the Creator of all that is, and our honesty in looking at ourselves about our need to make changes. That’s what Lent is all about.
Last Sunday, you will remember if you were here, we talked about God’s amazing love for God’s creation, and how the Creator ardently desires to have a love affair with each and every one of us on this earth, and how we felt when we walked out the door. This Sunday’s gospel presents us with another side of that Creator. It presents us with a God who is God and not creature. A God that will not be mocked. A God whose will shall ultimately be done. It presents us with one whose wrath over injustice, and violence, and evil, and other forms of rebellion is very, very real. It presents us with a rather unsettling, unfamiliar, uncomfortable, quite frankly, judgmental Jesus.
Now, in order to hear that, I think we have to get the context. We have to listen to what Jesus actually says, according to Luke, and to see if we can hear it, see if we can get it. Let’s begin with Chapter 12 of Luke’s Gospel.
When we go there, we find Jesus teaching his disciples, and they are surrounded by huge crowds of listeners. That was not uncommon. The great literal translation is “10,000 people.” Not all of them were disciples. Only a handful of them were actually disciples. Now that’s what I call a good “AWA.” Do you know what “AMA” is? “Average Worship Attendance.” Ten thousand is good. That would be wonderful.
The nature of Jesus’ teaching, according to Luke, is a series of warnings, on one hand, and encouragements, on the other. These words are for disciples, not for the general public. But the general public can listen in, as it still does today. This is not classified information. This is not a secret society. The circle of discipleship is not closed. Anyone can listen. Anyone can learn what it actually takes to be a disciple of Jesus. He will tell us what that is. All are welcome to choose to take a place at the feet of Jesus, or to sit at his table. It’s open. But they have to choose. If anyone here would like to become part of the Body of Christ at Broadway, simply come stand next to me. You know the drill.
Warning Number 1: Be on guard, said Jesus against hypocrisy (Chapter 12, Verse 1). Hypocrisy, when most of us think of that, we think of pretending to be something that we’re not. Pretending to be believers when, in fact, our hearts and our minds are set on other things. And that’s true. That’s one definition of hypocrisy.
But in this case, Jesus is talking about a reverse hypocrisy – pretending not to be a disciple, when in fact you have made a commitment to Christ, to follow Jesus. That is the hypocrisy that Jesus is speaking of in Chapter 12. Those of us who are followers, who have chosen to follow him, but pretending that we’re not.
When in the world do such things happen? How does that happen? Well, for instance, you know, and I know, and everybody in this room knows, in fact everybody in the world knows that as a Christian, our Lord sets a very high standard of behavior for his disciples. Indeed, we are taught not only to love ourselves, but also to love each other, and even to love those who hate us. And to pray for those who persecute us, and yet we remain silent. How does that happen?
I’ll tell you how it happens. It happens when you’re under pressure. It happens when you’re called to stand up for something that is controversial or unpopular. It happens when you’re put in a fear-producing situation. Simon Peter, the great apostle, (you remember him) pretended not to be a follower of Jesus. He denied him three times. We all remember that. It happened so easily.
Controversial or not; popular or not; Jesus calls his followers to be open about our faith and about his teachings. There will be occasions, he says, when that will not be popular. There will be threats. There will be trials for sure, but disciples are not to be intimidated into silence.
Indeed, at two o’clock this afternoon, you and I can choose to join others at the courthouse who believe there are better ways than war to solve our problems in this world. It’s a choice.
“I tell you, my friends,” said Jesus, “do not be afraid of those who can kill the body. No, fear the one who, after the killing of the body, has the power to throw it into hell.”
So much for the 19th century “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild.” Not in Chapter 12. According to Luke, Jesus warns his followers that it is God, not human beings, but God the Creator, the Lord of all that is, who is the one to be feared if necessary, because it is God, and not man, who holds sway over our eternal destiny. That’s the warning.
The encouragement is, said Jesus, this is a God who has counted every hair upon your head. This is a God who is mindful of even the birds in the trees. This is the one who can be trusted to care for his beloved disciples. Bottom line: whoever acknowledges Jesus and his teachings before others, Jesus will acknowledge before God. And anyone who disowns Jesus and his teachings before others, Jesus will disown before God. Those are his words.
According to Scripture, in the court of heaven, our final acknowledgement of Jesus and his teachings or our denial of Jesus and his teachings is going to get worked out right here before we leave this earth.
Warning Number 2: Concerning possessions. In Warning Number 1 that I just told you about, Jesus addressed the fears that produce silence and intimidation among the Christian community. In Warning Number 2, Jesus addresses the fears and anxieties that produce greed. “Watch out,” warns Jesus. “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, because your life does not exist in the abundance of your possessions” (Luke 12:15).
To make the point, Jesus tells a parable. A rich man produces a wonderful, great crop. He thought to himself, “I’m out of storage space. I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to build some more barns. And then I’ll say to myself, ‘Hey, you got it. You’re covered. You have plenty. Kick back, relax, take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.’” (Luke 12:18)
But God said to him, “You fool.”
Fool? Why, what’s the problem? Doesn’t that sound like good wealth management? Isn’t this financial planning?
Folks, this guy goes against everything the Bible stands for. There’s nothing in this passage that indicates he’s a thief. There’s nothing in this passage that indicates he mistreats his workers. There’s no criminal act here that we know of. So, what’s the problem? The problem is very simple. He lives completely for himself. He talks to himself. He plans for himself. He congratulates himself. And all of a sudden, one day he drops dead.
So what? Folks, he missed it. That’s what. “For what does it profit a person,” said Jesus, “if that person gains the whole world and loses their life?” Possessions were his life. What he possessed was his god. To put possessions in the place of God has been, is today, and always will be a rebellion against God – an act of total disregard for the needs of other people.
That’s the warning. The warning is, to do so, said Jesus, has immediate, real, and eternal consequences.
Here’s the encouragement. “Store up for yourself, instead, things that make you rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). Then he goes on in his gospel to tell you what those things are. For those of us who follow Jesus, that means voluntary, cheerful, joyful sharing of our resources with God, with others for God’s purposes.
The question today, and we’re going to ask this question every single week: Have you put your bow on the kite tail yet?
“Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild” just goes on, and on, and on. Warnings. Encouragement. Encouragement. Warnings. By the end of Chapter 12 in Luke, Jesus says something very clearly. He says, “I have come to bring fire to the earth. Do you think I came to bring peace? No! I came to bring division.”
Oh, that’s great. Does that mean Jesus came to bring prejudice, or violence, or war? Absolutely not. By no means.
What this means, say the scholars, is that Jesus is the crisis of the world. His very presence, his very nature, his teachings, his actions, his ministry, by definition, create a crisis. Crisis, here, does not mean emergency. It means rather that occasion, that situation, that moment of truth when it’s all on the line, and you have to make a decision. That decision you make is, by and large, in fact going to determine a great deal about your future.
Picture, if you will, a gable of a house. Two raindrops fall on the gable at the same time. At that moment – the moment they strike the gable – it could be concluded that one drop will end in one ocean, and the other drop in another ocean.
For Jesus, decision-making is critical, because to turn toward a person, or a goal, or a value, or a path, means you have to turn away from another person, and another goal, and another path, and another value.
Folks, we live in a world that keeps telling us we can have it all. And they’re just pulling your leg, because the truth is, “it ain’t so.” Choices have to be made, and those choices have consequences. They always have. They always will.
According to Luke, God is acting toward the world in Jesus of Nazareth in such a way that a crisis is created. That is to say that Jesus is making a difference, causing choices to be made even in our own families. You know this.
If by “peace,” you think he’s talking about affirming the status quo, you can forget that. Jesus’ presence, his teachings, his actions, all disrupt the status quo. We sang about it today in the old hymn:
To us all, to every nation, comes the moment to decide,
in the strife of truth with falsehood,
for the good or evil side;
some great cause, God’s new endeavor
offering each the bloom or blight,
and the choice goes by forever
‘twixt that darkness and that light.
That’s the context. That’s the setting. That’s what Jesus actually said, according to Luke, and that context, I think, gives meaning to today’s text that I read to you earlier. It goes something like this.
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans who Pilate butchered as they were worshiping in their sanctuary, while they were going to church at the Temple. Jesus responded, “Do you think these folks suffered in this way; do you think they were any greater sinners than any of the rest of us? I tell you, no. They were not, but unless you repent, unless you have a change of heart, you too will perish, suffer, die as they did. And of those eighteen people who died the other day when a tower in Jerusalem collapsed in on top of them, do you think they were more guilty, worse offenders than any other people who lived there in Jerusalem? I tell you, no. They were not, but unless you repent, unless you turn, unless you harness your ego to God’s will, unless you align your mind and imagination to God’s divine vision, unless you change your whole outlook and use your considerable energy, and strength, and influence to achieve God’s purposes in this life on this earth, you too will perish.
And then he told a parable. “A man had a fig tree. He came looking for fruit on that tree and didn’t find any. So he said to his gardener, ‘You know, for three years I’ve been coming to this tree looking for fruit and haven’t found any. Cut it down. Why should it use up valuable soil?’
“And the gardener replied, ‘Sir, just leave it alone for one more year. Give it one more chance, and I’ll dig around it, fertilize it, give it special attention, and if it bears fruit by next year, great, and if not, they you can cut it down.’”
Would you pray with me for just a moment?
Lord Jesus, in this season of honesty, strip us of our illusions. Let us be absolutely dependent upon your grace. Clothe us with your truth. Harness our amazing egos with your divine will and use our strengths, our energy, our resources to bear fruit, to achieve your purpose this very day and in the days to come – the days you grant us, that come to us from your hand and by your grace. This we humbly ask in the name of Jesus.
And we all say together… “Amen.”
Thank you for the healing, redemption, salvation, and friendship that you bring to us. Thank you for being a loving guide who is in a meaningful relationship with each of us. Thank you for holding us accountable to you and to your purposes. Thank you for your constant call to repent and follow. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Help us to walk in your ways. Amen.
