Homeward Bound

Luke 6:17-26

Transcript

Well, over the last few weeks, we've journeyed with Jesus through the beginning of his ministry. If you remember, as Jesus is baptized, his father comes from the clouds and says, this is my son with whom I'm well pleased. And immediately he's taken into the wilderness. He's tempted by Satan. He overcomes those temptations.
And then he goes to his hometown. He goes to his hometown, goes into the synagogue, goes to church on Sunday, reads from the word of God about the Messiah, and then sits down and declares himself to be the Messiah who is here to fulfill the prophecy that the blind are going to see, the oppressed are going to be freed. And then what we see Jesus doing is being rejected by that hometown. And then they are trying to take his life, but he walks through them and he moves on to what he's been called to do, to be the Messiah and to save people. So he goes to Calpurnum and he begins to teach and heal people.
All sorts of walks of life are coming to him, pressing in on him. And then last week, we began to see how Jesus, in his church growth strategy, begins to build his church with people in unfamiliar places, people from. With people that have come from the outskirts of town. He begins to minister to them, and then he begins to call disciples to come and follow him in the rest of his ministry. We looked at how he's begun to teach Peter before he was even a disciple, how he was going to go to.
To those deep, remote places, those unfamiliar places to catch men and to bring them into the kingdom. And so now, here at the beginning of our gospel lesson for today, we have all of those disciples that are gathering that Jesus has called to himself who are following after Jesus, and he's been teaching the word of God to them. But the question becomes, now that Jesus has a following, what next? What's next for these disciples? What are we to do?
Jesus, as you are leading us into the kingdom, see Jesus in this gospel lesson today, has just saved these people from the world and is bringing them home to the kingdom. What does that look like? What's that journey look like? And that's what we're going to talk about today. That's what Jesus is going to reveal to us today.
What do you do when. When Jesus has taken you and is pulling you from this world and bringing you to the kingdom? What's that journey look like? What's that process going? What are we gonna experience in that process?
But before we can dive into that, there's a couple things I wanna remind you of. Two Things I need you to put into your suitcase. As we travel this journey with Jesus of what he's going to tell us, what we're going to experience in this new life that. That he has called us into. The first thing I would call your attention to is the old story.
One of the greatest stories of salvation in the Old Testament, and actually still to this day is the most prominent story of all of Israel and Jews. It is their salvation from Egypt. So if you remember this right, God comes down, he raises up Moses as a leader to free his people from the oppression of Pharaoh. In Egypt, the people are enslaved. The whole nation, which outnumbers all of Egypt, is enslaved to Pharaoh.
And he will not release him. He will not let his God's people go. And so he raises up Moses. And God through Moses, works wonders, signs and miracles before Pharaoh in order to encourage him to let his people go. But to no avail.
Those don't take place until finally that last miracle, that last miracle that God performs. Then it convinces Pharaoh to let his people go. And God leads his people, he goes before his people and. And leads them out of slavery and bondage into the wilderness, into a new life of freedom. And you remember this, when they get into the wilderness in their new life of freedom, immediately they're led to Mount Sinai, where God descends upon the mountaintop and gives Moses their instructions to live out their new lives and freedom.
Moses comes off the mountain and declares it to the people, gives them the law, the ten Commandments on two tablets, right? And so God has already given them instructions and is guiding them and leading the way. And if you remember, in the wilderness, the people of Israel begin to grumble. They begin to say, you've let us out here to die. We have no food, we have no drink.
And so the Lord provides food for them. And the Lord brings water from a rock in the midst of the wilderness. But still Egypt is still left in the hearts of Israel. That though God has just performed all these wonderful things for them and is leading them from a life of slavery into a life of freedom. And God having delivered them, they grumble, they whine, they complain, because Egypt's still in the heart.
Matter of fact, they say, we. We wish we were back in Egypt. We want to taste their food. We don't like this food. We want to go back to Egypt.
And that reveals the type of hearts that are in the gen in that generation of Israel. And God promises that they would not enter into the promised land to which he is leading them towards. So I need you to Keep that in the back of your mind as we move forward with how Jesus is going to guide and lead his new disciples who have gathered around him on the life that he is leading them towards. Another thing I would ask you to have in your mind is something that I personally experienced every time when I was little. Every.
And my mom took me to a candy aisle. When I went to a candy aisle, I had one thing in the back of my mind. I was getting a treat. My mom had already told me about that. But when you walk in a candy aisle and you are just overwhelmed by the choices that you have.
To me, I whittle it down to one. What is the biggest piece of candy that I can get in this aisle? Right. And it always ended up being the three Musketeers. Cause the Snickers of bars like this size, the king size is like this.
But you get a king size three Musketeers. It seemed like a foot long. And I didn't like it as much as the Snickers. Right. But it was the biggest.
And that was always how I made that decision in the candy aisle. I always looked for that king size candy bar because the fun size didn't appeal to me. We all in our lives are wanting more. We all are wanting the best thing for our lives. This is something that we are all wired with.
Sometimes we look at other people's lives and we think that they have what is best and better. And so we covet after those things. The reason why I'm saying this is because in order to understand this journey that Jesus disciples are on, you have to understand that Jesus is comparing a fun size candy bar to a king sized candy bar. This is the world, this is the kingdom. I'm leading you there.
But if you crave the fun size candy bar and the Egyptian food, you, you're probably going to get a little frustrated and you're going to find a lot of failure on this journey. What he's saying is keep the king sized candy bar in the forefronts of your minds and let that be the hope of what you aspire to attain to. Don't look back for the fun size candy bar because you're starving and you just need a little treat. Use your hunger and your appetite and go this way to the king size candy bar. I'm sorry for the poor analogy, but, but food is my analogy for all of life.
So now we come to what we all refer to as the Beatitudes. And Jesus is demonstrating and teaching his disciples about this journey. They have begun to Experience with him leading the way. And so we come to the first beginnings of the journey where Jesus, as we're told, he turns his face. I believe it's verse 20.
He turns his face to his disciples and he says, blessed are those who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. This is the best place to start. This is number one. The journey on the road to home, the true home to the kingdom begins with humility. It begins with having a poor in spirit.
Every one of those disciples gathered around Jesus who are following him have left their lives behind because their life had nothing to offer them. They are bankrupt spiritually, they have nothing offered. This isn't just being poor financially, this is being poor spiritually in all of life. They recognize the world has nothing for them. And they see that Jesus bears truth, Jesus bears hope.
And Jesus bears a home that they all want to go. And so Jesus says, you must be poor in spirit. This is how the journey begins. There is nobody that stumbles into the kingdom. Everybody comes into the kingdom by hearing about it, hearing the good news of the kingdom of Jesus Christ and believing and trusting.
And that can only take place when you recognize that you are a sinner, that this world has nothing for you, that you need salvation. And Jesus is him. So he says, the journey begins the way everybody, the reason why everybody's here is cause you're all poor in spirit. You can't save yourself, the world can't save you, but I can. You're bankrupt.
But you see that I have the riches to fill your account. You come and follow me. And so Jesus says, the poor in spirit, what do they get? The poorest of this world, the lowly of this world, the ostracized, those in the unfamiliar areas that are falling after Jesus. You have nothing right now.
And you don't need anything for this journey because you have everything in me. But you are going to inherit more than you can ever hope or imagine. So right from the get go, he says, if you have nothing, you're in the perfect place. Because you're about to have everything. That's the king size candy bar he's leading to believe.
But not only that. This message, this journey isn't for everybody. It's only for those who are poor in spirit. You cannot tell about this journey to someone who has not placed their faith in Jesus, who has not been a disciple. Jesus turns his face and teaches, not just crowds, but his disciples were told.
Luke is intentionally telling us he is talking to his disciples, not just anybody. So this message of what Jesus is about to tell them about the journey homeward can only go to those who have placed their faith in Jesus. If you were to give this message to somebody who has not yet placed their faith in Jesus, they're going to get a little frustrated and they're going to end up trying to apply something that doesn't ultimately hasn't started out with Jesus. They're going to find themselves trying to work their way to the kingdom rather than being led to the kingdom by Jesus. And that's just not how it works.
The second thing that Jesus communicates about this journey is that there's going to be a new appetite, that it's going to take place in you, that your taste buds are going to start changing, that your relationship to rules and the law is even going to change. Jesus is letting them know that blessed are those who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. And we know that in the Beatitudes in Matthew, what he's ultimately talking about is blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. This isn't just an earthly hunger with hunger pains that you just need food for. This is a spiritual nourishment.
And the ways of the world do not offer you sustenance because they don't offer you righteousness. But you are going to have an appetite change. Your taste buds are going to change. I remember growing up, I was on a steady diet of hot chocolate, orange juice, and milk. And then my dad would try to feed me a little bit of coffee or cake to drink a little bit of coffee, and I spit it out.
It was the grossest thing I've ever tasted in my whole entire life. Then I became a man. I got to drink some coffee. And now I don't drink hot chocolate. I drink coffee.
And if I want it a little bit sweet, I grab a cookie and go back and forth and enjoy myself, right? My taste buds have changed. I try to give Beau a little bit of coffee. I know that's really poor parenting because that kid has more energy and coffee would just probably propel him upward. But I gave him.
He's like, dad, this is disgusting. I go, one day your taste buds are going to change, big guy, right? But we even do this. When I was little, I did not like certain types of vegetables or certain types of foods that somehow my parents were finding very pleasant. And we have this battle.
It seems like every dinner time when I made some really good chicken bake, if I may say so myself. And I meant wonderful spices and little breading and Everything. And Boaz is like, can I be done? I'm like, dude, are you serious? This is great stuff.
His taste buds are just a little bit different. But. And that's the example that Jesus says, blessed are those who now hunger and thirst, have an appetite for righteousness because they're going to be satisfied. Because your relationship to the law, right, the law, the commandments, the guidance that God has offered to us. Prior to your faith in Jesus, your relationship to the law is the fact that you can't keep it.
Oh, man, you look at the law and you say, yeah, I'm just a sinner. But now that you have faith in Jesus and he has saved you, your relationship to the law changes. It's something you begin to see, like, oh, now that I'm saved and my sins have been forgiven, now God uses the law to direct me on what's the right way to live in my freedom. The relationship changes. It moves from I have to.
To. Now it's, I get to, ah, I have to tell the truth to. Now I get to tell the truth. I have to go to church this Sunday to I can't wait for church on Sunday. I can't wait to worship the one true and living God.
The relationship to the law changes. He says, the good news is now that you're with me, now that you've trusted in me, now that we're on this journey together, your appetites are going to change, your taste buds are going to mature, and now you're not going to desire the things of the world, you're going to desire the things that only the kingdom can provide. And good news, you are going to have your fill. You're going to get those little sleepy moments because you're gonna be so full of my righteousness working out in your life.
So Jesus reveals that not only do those who are poor in spirit, who offer nothing and want everything that Jesus has to offer, that now their taste buds are going to change. And good news, they're going to be filled with Jesus. But not only that, he does kind of offer some sober advice along this way. He tells us, now, look, this journey that we're beginning on, we're all here at the very beginning of this journey. I'm going to lead us.
But I want to tell you there are some rough patches up here, and if you have weak ankles, you might find yourself rolling your ankles. I can testify to that. I have extremely weak ankles. This is why I don't hike a whole lot anymore. Jesus says the road's going to be Hard.
It's going to be difficult. And it begins with verse 21. Blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh. This road will have moments of sorrow, if not a lot of sorrow. But trust me, those who are mourning, it's going to turn into laughing.
It's what he's promising. And again, you're going to be surrounded by realities that are not of the kingdom, they're of this world. Your eyes have changed, your mind has changed, your taste buds are changing. And everything you begin to look around is not gonna be bright and skittles and unicorns. It's gonna be challenging, it's gonna be tough.
You're gonna face rejection, you're gonna face suffering, you're gonna face isolation. The world is going to do some things to you as they're watching you run by that you're not going to like. And you're going to feel all alone in this world. But keep the king sized candy bar in front of you because they're going to be sitting there eating what looks like fun sized candy bars, saying, if you're hungry, just come over here and eat. Jesus says don't, don't celebrate the things of the world mourn because they don't lead to the kingdom.
So you're on this journey. He says it's going to turn into laughter. But you have to trust me because it won't seem like that right off the bat. You're going to be ostracized, you're gonna be insulted. It's gonna be a marathon race.
Have you ever watched a marathon race or ran a 5k or anything? You have the runners, the people that are participating and then you have their family and their friends running or not running, but hanging on the side in the crowd. That's the race to the kingdom. The world is sitting here watching you run by saying you are one big pathetic loser. What are you doing?
You're gonna be running past billboards that are gonna say, hey, if you exit now, you can feel that stomach of yours. Just for the night. There's going to be billboards that are going to say, hey, pull in here and you'll find rest for a few days. And Jesus is going to say there's no rest here. Don't exit off, stay on the road.
I know, I know, it's sorrowful. The reason why it's sorrowful is because you are being pulled from this world. Something we're all born into, something that we are at this point, at this point in the disciples life that they're brand that they're used to and they're brand new to this new way of life, of freedom. And they're being pulled from this world and they have to mourn the relationships that, that they have to let go. They have to mourn the appetites that they once had that they found satisfaction in.
They're going to have to mourn the fact that they got to let go of their past and they can't have it carrying on with them anymore. They mourn all of that and it's mournful because they are in the process of dying. Because if you die to yourself, guess what you find? The newness of life. And there's joy and laughter here.
That's the king size candy bar. This is the fun size candy bar. It's temporary, it's little, it's pathetic because it's gross and it's riddled in sin and it hurts to be pulled from it. But I promise you, those pains turn into joy everlasting.
Blessed are those who weep now, for they shall laugh.
Death is not a pleasant thing. I'm going to try to get through because I'll be honest, I'm really holding my emotion back on Larry. Death is not. Death is one of the hardest realities that this world ever faces. But you need to look at it.
It's sobering. It reminds you that what this world offers you is death. That's the outcome. No matter how much fun you have, how many days you can calculate, like, ooh, that's good, that's good, that's good, that's bad, that's bad. No matter how much you want to calculate and be an accountant about that, it all ends in death.
And there's only one way to life, and that's through Jesus Christ. An eternal life, A life everlasting. A life full of joy, A life full of wiping those tears away so they can stream tears of joy. That's what Jesus offers us. And death isn't easy, it's sobering, it's hard.
And Jesus says, leave behind your vocations. And now what Peter did, we looked at it last week, left everything behind, a family business of being a fisherman. He left to follow Jesus. Leave behind your relationships, leave behind your memories. Leave behind the gross sin that has caused you to be poor in spirit.
You're forgiven now. You're a citizen of a new place. I'm taking you there. Trust in me. Follow me.
And this journey that you're going to be on is going to be watched by the world. They're going to offer you distractions and temptations to lure you to pull off. But stay the course. Recognize that they are going to insult you. They're going to think you to be a buffoon for following after me.
Because your life will not look like anything like theirs. What you do to them will look like utter and complete foolishness. I was a chubby boy. My great grandma, Mama Saunder, sweet old lady was, you know, the one who actually probably, I would say, made me chubby because she would always bake me nachos and pizza, followed by, like, all the cookies I'd ever want. But she was just the most amazing woman in my whole entire life.
But I was it. And I was just like, man. Well, kids are making fun of me at school. She says, bruce, sticks and stones may break your bones, but names can never hurt you. And I would say that no matter how many times I would say that.
I just had a hard time believing it. And that's what Jesus says. Jesus says, blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you and insult you and scorn your life as evil for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets, they're going to ostracize you because of who you're following.
Your life looks so drastically different that they're going to feel maybe a little convicted. Like, why is that person doing that? They think they're better than me. They're gonna hate you. But here's the comfort.
They hated Jesus and they killed him.
The God of all comfort, the God of all rest, the God of all goodness and kindness and mercy and joy, the sinless Son of Man. And they hated him. And if you are following after him, they're going to hate you, too. They're going to ridicule, ridicule you, insult you. It's gonna be hard.
It's gonna hurt. But Jesus says, rejoice in this. Use that as the mark, as the measuring stick that can tell you how far along this journey you are. Let that motivate you to continue to run for the prize by fixing your eyes on Jesus. I'm going to lead you to a kingdom.
And unfortunately, we got to pass through towns and villages that are of this world to which you're not a citizen of. You're a citizen there. I'm going to lead you there, and you're going to have to endure quite a bit. But I promise you, it is going to give you the Greatest reward.
Your journey to the kingdom will be a walk out in front of the world you seek to leave behind. Like crowds gathering on the sidelines of a marathon race, you will receive all sorts of hate and insults as you run after Jesus and towards the kingdom.
And lastly, Jesus warns those who have not placed their faith in him. This is what Jesus distinguishes between the journey that all his disciples are about to take and and what is left for those who have not following after him. He offers them a very sober warning. He says, woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well fed now for you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you. For they, their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way. And what Jesus is saying is that don't be distracted by them. They're getting their full now and you're going to be pursuing a completely different place.
But they're getting theirs now and you're getting yours to come. So don't compare your life and your journey to them. You're on a completely different path. Follow me. And just so you know, this is where they lead.
If you like a steady diet of fun size, well then enjoy your fun size. But you'll never get the king size candy bar. And that's the greatest hope. All of us want what is better and that's it.
So Jesus teaches these disciples, what's next Jesus for here we're following after you who placed our faith in you. So what's next next for us? Jesus says, pack up, we're going home. I'm going to lead you there. I pulled you out of slavery, out of slavery to sin.
And now I'm leading you to the promised land. And there's a few rules along the way so that you don't get sidetracked. There's a few hopes and promises that I want to stir your heart's content on so that your pace is steady. Keep your eyes on me. Follow me.
And I don't want to be so quick though, to dismiss some of the struggles that are going to be real in all of our lives that are following after Jesus. There are going to be people who are at different mile markers along the way. There are going to be people that are just starting out on this journey towards the kingdom and they have no clue how to walk it. They have no clue and they're still stepping out of their old ways of life in the world, but they don't know how to move forward. They're@lollipop1.
Is that what they call mile markers? Lollipops? Let's just pretend they do. Mile marker one. But some of us have been on this journey and we're at 12.
Others are at 50. Others are at 233. All of us. And those are all counting up the miles that we've been treading until we arrive at the celestial city, the kingdom of heaven, which Jesus says is already ours. He's just leading us there.
So we need to be mindful, we need to be encouraging, we need to be patient with those who are not at our mile marker. They might be further behind and they need us as examples to say, just keep walking. Just keep walking. You're doing great. We need that.
We do also need to recognize that some may be pulled off by those distracting billboards that say, hey, come get some rest for the night. Come have your bellies full. Not quite there to the kingdom yet. I got something for you. And you got that steakhouse.
Just saying, like, you know, a 12 ounce New York strip steak for $8.99. All right, let's go over there. That sounds like a good cost, right? Filling our bellies with the things of the world when we're going to a place that is not of this world. So we need to recognize that some people may end up pulling off on an exit, being lured away by the billboards promoting a night's rest and good food, only to discover that it was all a lie.
Should they pull a ue and go back? Or can we say, hey, good news, God always provides a way out. There's an on ramp. Back on the journey took a detour. Doesn't mean you have to start over.
Let's get back on, start walking again. And we need to be like that for each other. And there are those who have made it far. Entering their last stretch before they walk through the kingdom gates, their complete joy awaits. They will soon see Jesus with arms wide open.
And all they have left is to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, only to find themselves walking by calm waters and coming to rest in green pastures.
Though I'm sad about Larry, I'm also excited because every time I saw him, he says, if the Lord wants me to live a few more days or if he wants me to come and see him, I'm ready. Either way, that's encouraging. That's how a life walking with Jesus ends. With the greatest prize in the treasure of your heart, Jesus Christ himself. What would keep you from receiving the warm embrace of King Jesus?
What appetite could steal you away from embracing that?
So I challenge you, if you're on this journey, to keep walking. If you got off, get back on. If you just started, let's go. If you've been doing it for a while, help others.
Do you desire to go home to the kingdom? A lot of you are already citizens of the kingdom, but maybe we're acting like we're still citizens of the world. I think it's important that Jesus begins by saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom. That's a present reality. He's not saying like the kingdom is a future reality.
You have the kingdom of heaven and we're on a journey to make that realistic in your life. It's a now, but also not yet.
So I challenge you to think about these things, to consider what Jesus is teaching his own disciples. What's next? Would you consider that this morning? Would you think about this? I guess the challenge is, unlike Israel, may we be a people that are completely satisfied with the food and the water that God gives us in the wilderness.
That we don't desire anything from Egypt anymore, but we desire everything that the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey is going to afford us. And that's the prize. And everything we do on a day to day basis moves us closer and closer to that place. Let's pray.