Sermon Title: The Kingdom Community
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:12-36
This is an excellent message to be preached during an
election week. Although OPBC makes no political endorsement, many Christians
were infuriated and discouraged by the election results. Again, we understand
that the body of Christ is diverse in their political beliefs – that is good
and welcomed here. What I am pointing out is that when things don’t go the way
you desire, that often reveals what you place your hope and trust in.
The Gospel gives us upside down values. The tendency of
the “left” is to say markets are the problem and the government is the answer.
The tendency of the “right” is to say the government is the problem and markets
are the answer. The Gospel says the government and markets are comprised of
people. People are the problem and Jesus is the answer. The Gospel should give
us simultaneous optimism and pessimism. Understanding our depravity makes us
deeply pessimistic and distrusting of the “left” and the “right” without sinking
us into cynicism with an optimism that knows the king is channeled by the will
of God (Proverbs 21), God does all things for our good and His glory (Romans
8:28-29), and this world is not our home (1 Peter 2:11).
- Timothy
Keller in his sermon “How the Gospel Changes Our Hearts”
We will not get into the specific details of each
individual disciple’s background and life this morning or the significance of
the order in which they are listed. There is much to learn here that we will
touch on throughout our study. I am not covering this information this morning
because it is not the subject of the text.
However, I would like to share one important note about
Judas Iscariot that I read by J.C. Ryle this week that I found especially
insightful:
One reason our Lord chose a traitor to be an apostle was that the choice finally supplied a powerful indirect evidence of the purity, blamelessness, and faultlessness of our Lord’s behavior and ministry. When our Lord was accused before the high priest and Pontius Pilate, if anything could be proved against him, the traitor Judas Iscariot was exactly the witness who could have proved it. The mere fact that Judas never came forward to give evidence against our Lord is perhaps the most convincing evidence that nothing could be proved against him.[3]
What is Jesus doing here? Is it that He foresees the
mounting opposition and hastily begins developing a posse so that He isn’t all
alone? Why move from being an independent itinerant preacher and performing
miracles to identifying twelve leaders from a group of followers?
Is there OT significance in Jesus’ selection of the
twelve immediately followed by the teaching of the Word? Yes.
Read Exodus 24:1-8
- The writer of Hebrews likens Moses to Jesus. Moses is a “type” or “shadow” of Jesus (Hebrews 3:1-6).
- In Exodus, Moses goes alone to the mountain to meet with God (Exodus 24:2), acknowledges the twelve tribes (Exodus 24:4), gives God’s people instructions on how to live within the covenant community (Exodus 24:7), and sprinkled blood on the people, signifying cleansing from sin so that people might live within the covenant community (Exodus 24:8).
- In our text this morning, Jesus goes alone to the mountain to meet with God (Luke 6:12-16), acknowledges twelve leaders (Luke 6:13-16), gives His people instructions on how to live within the new covenant community (Luke 6:20-49), and then “sprinkles His blood on them” to cleanse them from sin so they might live within the new community (Luke 23:26-49).
Now, notice how Scripture draws a clear parallel between
Israel and the Disciples:
“Then Peter said
in reply, ‘See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we
have?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son
of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit
on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has
left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands,
for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last first’” (Matthew 19:27-30).
This leads us to what we need to know this morning:
The Kingdom of Heaven is already here now, but not yet.
The Scripture tells one story that progressively unfolds like a rolled up rug
or blooming flower. The story is the establishment of an eternal Kingdom with
citizens who have been redeemed by King Jesus.
Hannah asked me this week, “Daddy, what is Heaven going
to be like? Are we just going to fly and walk around on the clouds? The best I
could, I tried to help her understand that Heaven is a community “like” the one
we live in now. By “like” I mean a sinless society with elements that are now
incomprehensible with city and culture and rule and community.
- “He put another parable before them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.’ He told them another parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened’” (Matthew 13:31-33).
- The Kingdom of Heaven at that point in history appeared to be nothing in comparison with Rome, yet it would prove to be much greater. The picture of a tree with birds nesting in the branches recalls Ezekiel 17:23, where the birds represent the Gentile nations taking refuge in the Messiah and enjoying the blessings of the covenant.[1]
What should you do because of what you now know?
There is one point of application in two parts, one at a
macro level and another that drills down into specifics:
- We must learn how to live within the community. People who will live in the “not yet” Kingdom live that way right now. In other words, your values point to your treasure and your treasure tells of your eternity. What you treasure determines, regardless of circumstances, culture, social status, class, etc. how we think of ourselves and treat each other.
Blessings
We must take great care that we do not misunderstand our
Lord’s meaning when we read these words. We must not for a moment suppose that
the mere fact of being poor and hungry and sorrowful and hated by men will
entitle anyone to lay claim to being blessed by Christ.[3]
This passage is contrasting what “Kingdom of this World”
and “Kingdom of God” people live for by pointing to what they prize.
The point Jesus makes here is that there are people who
live for “then” (the blessed) and people who live for “now” (the woes).
So, if I am rich, I can be rich without “clinging” to my
riches and finding my security, identity in them. I can also look across and
not down on the poor, because we are both living for, identified by, secured
by, given worth by the same thing: A Commitment to the Kingdom of God.
In other words, those in the Kingdom are freed by the
power of Christ of being controlled by the things of the world. You learn the
secret of contentment. You know how to weep and yet rejoice, how to lack and
how to abound. Jesus is saying: I give you a blessedness that is impervious to
your circumstances.
Woes
We are not to suppose that the possession of riches
(Abraham and David) and a rejoicing spirit (Paul and Silas) and a good
reputation (a command of 1 Timothy regarding Elders and Deacons) are
necessarily proofs that people are not Christ’s disciples.
So, who are the people to whom our Lord says, “Woe to
you”? They are the people who refuse to seek treasure in heaven because they
love the good things of this world most and will not prize Christ as a greater
Treasure.
Additional thoughts:
Is Luke recording an abbreviated version of the Sermon on
the Mount (Matthew 5-7)? There is a lack of consensus amongst respected
theologians concerning this question. Why does the question matter? For one
reason, it matters because if it is an abbreviated version of the Sermon on the
Mount, Matthew 5-7 would be helpful in interpreting Jesus’ words in Luke 6.
After careful thought and examination, my “loose”
conclusion is that this is not an abbreviated version of the same sermon, but a
different sermon with different a different intent, therefore carrying some
different interpretations. Why?
- Matthew’s beatitudes speak of the spiritual condition of man’s heart (poor in spirit; hunger and thirst for righteousness; meek; etc.). Luke’s 4 beatitudes are contrasted with the 4 woes, emphasizing values, treasure, and priorities. The purpose of the beatitudes use in each respective account is the main evidence for my reasoning.
- Matthew and Luke wrote primarily (not exclusively) to Jewish and Gentile audiences respectively. Therefore, it is clear Jesus’ sermon in Matthew’s account is calling religious Jews to denounce their trust in adherence to the law (the 6 uses of the law in chapter 5 [“you have heard it said” is Jesus showing the Jews that cannot attain righteousness by the law]). Luke’s account is calling the licentious Gentiles to denounce their trust in the world and it values, thereby contrasting four sets of values that represent the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God. Jesus speaks prophetically and eschatologically in Luke and evangelistically in Matthew. Yes, I understand the primary audience in both accounts are the disciples. However, both writers mention a wider, secondary audience, of which Luke includes Tyre and Sidon (Gentiles).
- What about the material that is stated and interpreted the same (Luke 6:27-45). It is my opinion that Jesus could have certainly taught the same principles in both sermons (love your enemies; hesitation to judge; etc.). Preachers use illustrations and teach principles all the time at multiple venues/occasions.
- Points 1-3 being said, I hold this view with an open hand and concede it is very possible Luke is giving an abbreviated version, omitting the parts of the Sermon which hold particular Jewish emphasis in his account.
- We must learn how to treat those who are outside the community.
Live the Value of the Kingdom Community
One often thinks of 1 Corinthians 13 as the “love
chapter” in the Bible, but Jesus’ remarks on love in Luke 6:27-36 form the
center of his ethic and are even more profound.[2]
Before we can “love” our enemies, we have to define love.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God,
and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love
does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made
manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might
live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved
us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so
loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:7-12).
The Scripture defines love as an act of the will (a
choice) that does not expect equal reciprocation nor is it predicated by
deservedness.
By what method can we accomplish this?
- Prayer: “Prayer is the inner discipline which drains you of any ill will towards another person. If you pray for their flourishing, you will want it rather than their pain” (Timothy Keller).
- A humble, loving, and vulnerable pursuit: Jesus is speaking in hyperbole. You would cause someone to sin if you encouraged them to steal from you or beat you up.
- The Cheek: In this culture you didn’t shake hands, you offered your cheek for a kiss if you wanted to be friendly and cordial. You move towards them with you cheek, not to be punched, but to maintain a loving and humble disposition.
- The tunic: Jesus did not want the disciples to be naked. Jesus was speaking a willingness to make yourself vulnerable and for it to cost you something to reach others.
How? By the Power
of the King
Jesus is speaking of “sinners” in a “them” vs. “you” type
manner to set them up.
You don’t want to be like sinners do you?!
If you don’t want to be “sinners” like “them” think about
how the Sovereign God (the Most High) is kind to you (the ungrateful and evil).
Then, and only then, will you have the power to pursue with love and mercy like
this.
In this election week, let me caution you to place your
hope in God.
I am not saying we should drift into indifference.
However, there comes a point when complaining about circumstances is to deem
yourself wiser than God. If you complain against a politicians policies more
than you weep over his soul, there is a problem with your priorities.
- “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Romans 13:1-2).
- “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).
- “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
- Sproul, R.C. The Reformation Study Bible. Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005.
- Brock, Darrell. Luke 1:1-9:50. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1994.
- Ryle, J.C. Luke. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1997.
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