This past Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at my parent's church, and my home church - the Lawton Evangelical Mennonite Church - www.lawtonemc.com The church has begun the new year going through a series on the unity of the Scriptures, looking at "God's passionate pursuit of a prodigal people" throughout the Bible. They had just completed their journey through the OT, so my assignment was to speak on the life and ministry of Jesus. I was really challenged as I thought of all of the "material" I could choose from to preach just one message. I had ended 2008 and begun 2009 reading through the gospels. I had also been reading through "The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Philip Yancey. The one thing that I have been struck with afresh is the paradox of the King of kings and Lord of lords coming down to us, living among us, and loving people who His society deemed as "unlovable." On Sunday,I took a look at His Majesty, His Humility, & His Saving Work.
When looking at the humility of His incarnation, consider the facts that when Jesus came to earth, He...
-was born in a manger – Luke 2:6-7
-was a refugee in Africa – Matthew 2:13-14
-grew up in a poor family – Luke 2:22
-grew up in Nazareth – John 1:46 = Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?
-was not a home owner – Matthew 8:20 = Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
You see the heart of our Savior, when you consider...
(1) His Credentials
When John the Baptist was in prison (Luke 7), he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, "Are you the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Jesus lays it out to them, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and good news is preached to the poor."
-Luke 4:16-19; Luke 7:20-21; Isaiah 61:1-2
(2) His Company
Jesus ate, spent time with, and even invited a "tax collector" to be one of his disciples. Tax collectors were bitterly hated by their own countrymen and regarded as little more than traitors. In the eyes of the Jewish community, their disgrace extended even to their families.
-Matthew 9:9-12; Luke 19
Jesus ate with, spent time with, and even touched lepers. Lepers were classified as "undesirable." They were unclean, cast aside, looked down upon, pitied.
-Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Mark 14:3-9
Jesus had an intentional conversation with a Samaritan woman - during which he offered her forgiveness and eternal life. Jews would not even travel through Samaria. They despised Samaritans. Samaritan women were deemed unclean from birth. The prejudices of the day prohibited conversations between men and women and Jews and Samaritans.
-John 4:4-26
Jesus chose twelve perfectly ordinary men to be His disciples. They were Galileans. Galileans were deemed low-class, rural, uneducated people. They were fishermen, tax collectors, and one political extremist. These are the men He chose to "be with Him" that He might send them out to spread the gospel and establish His church.
-Mark 3:13-14
Philip Yancey has a powerful quote in his book "The Jesus I Never Knew." He states, "Normally in this world we look up to the rich, the beautiful, the successful. Grace, however introduces a new world of logic. Because God loves the poor, the suffering, the persecuted, so should we. Because God sees no undesirables, neither should we. By His own example, Jesus challenged us to look at the world through what Irenaeus would call "grace-healed eyes."
(3) His CallThroughout the gospels you see two simple words repeated by Jesus as an invitation to others, "follow me." Follow me in a lifestyle of repentance and faith. Follow me in a lifestyle of humility and compassion. Follow me amongst the lost and the least of these.
-Matthew 4:18-20
I concluded the message thinking on how God, assumed a different identity to identify with hurt and sick people, and gave His life so that we might truly live. I am challenged by Jesus - challenged by His words, challenged by His life, challenged by His act of love...
9 comments:
Dave-- we appreciate what we know must have been a lot of study that you did in preparation for this sermon, and for sharing it with us on your blog. The person of Jesus shows us a great deal about God's heart, and I'm left challenged thinking through all that you've shared. We miss you here at the AR House! --Rebecca
Dave, sometimes I sit in church and miss the sermon given at my church because they don't talk TO me - they talk AT me.
I sit there and stare at the cross and imagine the scene as it took place - I'm afraid to let go and mentally leave my seat and be IN the scene, don't know if I'd make it out.
Being a mother, I wonder what it must have been like. You have told it from a man's point of view - I want to tell it from a mother's point of view - to feel what it felt like - to leave my seat and be in the scene - but I'm afraid I'll never make it back...
Dave, along with all this great reading and study that you are doing, I think you may also be interested in Tim Keller's recent book "The Prodigal God". The dictionary definition of prodigal = giving or yielding profusely. Perhaps, I contend and so does Keller, the parable was mis-labeled. Instead, this parable is about God's extravagant grace towards His people. A key distinction that I know think should not go unnoticed and that brings only more life to the story.
Rebecca,
Good to hear from you. There is so much to process when you think on Jesus, so challening.
I miss you guys too. Please tell everyone I said hi.
God bless,
Dave
Anonymous,
Do you mean you wonder what it was like for Mary to see her son on the cross??
Lauren,
I have heard some pastors of late saying that the emphasis of the parable should be on the graciousness of the Father rather than the waywardness of the son. I would definitely be interest in that book! Thanks for sharing that...
NO Dave, I meant that a mother suffers more than imaginable watching her child being unhappy, suffering or in pain - it is heart-braking - unbearably so! So to tell Mary's story - watching her precious child from the immulate conception to the death on the cross would be challenging, but so rewarding.
Mary is usually forgotten in all the stories. Some times one forgets how much YOUR mother has given towards who you are AND continues contributing to your life long after she's gone.
Think about the sports players when the camera pans them... what do they do???? HI MOM !
She is the Mother of GOD... stop and think about THAT for a moment! What must that be like...
Yeah, that is a pretty crazy thought to think about the position that Mary found herself in. I love the scene in the passion of the Christ where Mary walks up to Jesus on the cross and kisses his bloddy feet.
One of my favorite verses is Mary's response to the angel in Luke 1 (I believe) - when she says, "Be it unto me, according to Your Word." She modeled a submissive heart.
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