Hard Questions: “How can we trust the Bible – Don’t you know what’s in there?!”
Psa. 19:7-14
Three needs to be addressed:
1. For the believer who has been deeply shaken by someone else’s questions.
2. For the believer who wants to answer questions genuinely blocking faith in a friend.
3. For the skeptic who hears that there are such problems in the Bible and wants answers before proceeding.
Importance of Scripture:
1. Our means of knowing the Story.
2. The medium of knowing about Jesus and his life, suffering, death, and resurrection.
3. The source of all our hope.
Authority & Reliability of Scripture
2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Hebrews 4:12 NASB
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Credibility of Scripture
1. Questions about the history narrated in the Bible.
2. Questions about the miracles described in the Bible.
3. Questions about the apparent contradictions in the Bible.
4. Questions about the ethics of…
a. Hoping for the deaths of babies among the Babylonians
b. God’s desire both for the repentance and for the destruction of the wicked.
Objections to the reliability and therefore the potential authority of the Bible fall into three categories:
1. Premodern objections:
a. Muslims and Hindus will object to the Bible based on their commitment to their own sacred writings.
b. A typical objection by Muslims…Jews and Christians changed the story.
Solution: In 1948, scrolls and scroll fragments were discovered near the Dead Sea in Palestine; those scrolls confirmed the content of the Old Testament Hebrew texts and are dated some 1,000 years before the earliest documents previously known. They preceded the time of Jesus, so there were no Christians around to change the stories in the Old Testament. The earliest New Testament documents were close enough in date to the first century original documents that “changing the story” would have been impossible: there were too many eye-witnesses still living to get away with invention.
2. Modern objections:
a. Historical contradictions: Luke’s record of Jesus’ birth declares that Quirinius was the Governor: prote = “prior”, or an early role of Quirinius there, now lost to us.
b. Scientific impossibilities:
Joshua stopped the sun in the sky to extend the time required to win a battle? 10:12-14
3. Postmodern objections:
a. Who can know what the Bible says, since everything is a matter of interpretation?
i. Either—everyone seems to have a different take on the same statements.
ii. Or—words have no meaning in themselves, only the reader gives meaning.
1. Rooted in Nietzsche and Wittgenstein—since there is no God who can declare reality and therefore give meaning to words, there can be no meaning intrinsically a part of words.
2. BUT—if there is no meaning other than the meaning that I give a text, how could you object to any meaning that I give to the text????
b. Who can teach me, since teaching implies knowing and implies authority and all authority is an EXPRESSION of POWER and is therefore wrong.
i. All the problems of the world stem from this desire to exert power over other human beings.
ii. BUT—how can YOU, then, TEACH me that NO ONE teach anyone else; do YOU have a special authority over us, to TEACH US that WE CAN’T TEACH or exert influence over others?
iii. If there were a BENEVOLENT GOD, wouldn’t it be right and moral if He were to teach us, to influence us to care for the earth, to care for one another, to love Him back?
c. Can’t we all just get along? What about unethical commands in Scripture/what about vengeance verbalized?
i. The perceived difficulties are many…
Psa. 137:8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who repays you
With the recompense with which you have repaid us.
Psa. 137:9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.
ii. BUT—careful attention, reading the NT for insight, considering the wisdom of others who have given their lives to similarly careful study of Scripture…
1. Hard Sayings of the Bible, by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce and Manfred T. Brauch.
2. Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Gleason Archer
3. Big Book of Bible Difficulties, The: Clear and Concise Answers from Genesis to Revelation, Thomas Howe & Norman L. Geisler
4. Is The Bible Intolerant? Amy Orr-Ewing
4. Practical objections:
a. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
b. Love your neighbour as yourself: encourage, nurture, care for, weep with, rejoice with…
c. Take up your cross and follow me.
d. Give ten percent of your income (22.3), give generously.
GK. Chesterton: not that Christianity has been tried and found wanting, but that it has been found hard and not tried.
Consequently, many reject the Bible’s authority because of its moral demands, only using supposed historical, scientific issues as smokescreen.
1. Make sure you understand the question
2. Make sure you understand the questions behind the question.
3. Make sure you are reading the Bible…in order to love the Bible…
Jeremiah 15:16 NASB
“Thy words were found and I ate them,
And Thy words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Thy name,
O Lord God of hosts.”
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Deacons: How does this work?
Deconstructing Church: Form for the Function
* Membership
1. In faith, a part of the Body of Christ
2. In place, a part of a local assembly of believers.
3. In practice…
a. Confirm our faith “in front” of other faithful ones
b. Affirm our accountability to others of the same faith
c. No membership: missing both confirmation and accountability
d. Fill out the form today!
* Leadership
1. No leader is indispensable; leadership is.
2. Leaders are made, not born.
a. We are renewing our commitment to apprenticeship; each serving role must have an apprentice learning and sharing the work.
b. We must make sure to limit the number of slots taken up by long-termers, so that everyone gets a chance to serve; HIGH percentage of volunteers here.
c. We are developing leaders quietly: 14 in the first group, 15 in the second group;
i. Servant Leadership & what it means to be and do church
ii. Biblical studies
iii. Biblical theology—putting Scripture together
d. Mike will be deepening the commitment to training SG leaders;
e. Joe is developing leaders among teens and young adults.
f. Sara is training and mentoring worship leaders and musicians.
* Deacons
1. Qualifications: 1 Tim. 3:8ff.
2. Identification: Qualified men and women are recognized by the congregation, affirmed by the Elders (Acts 6:6), then released to do their work (no mention either in Acts 6 or 1 Timothy 3 of design or form, only the function and qualifications).
3. We formerly recognized deacons; they formed a board and joined with the Elders to form a General Board. That ended in 1994, with adoption of a new constitution. We have no wish to restore a Deacon Board and a General Board. It’s good to have a simple, rather than a hierarchical organization.
4. We do need to more personally connect to those who cannot be a part of a small group.
a. What if? We identified men and women to look after those not in small groups?
b. What if? We identified those who serve us already in diaconate roles?
c. What if? We did all this following the pattern of Acts 6?
i. The need is identified by the congregation.
ii. The elders/apostles respond with a clear set of qualifications.
iii. The congregation identifies those people who are qualified.
iv. The new serving leaders do their work.
1. No mention of any structure; no committees.
2. We can rightly conclude that those who are serving may choose to establish forms, but are not required to do so.
d. What roles are needed?
i. Ceiling—need a Facility Team.
ii. Tech Team—rotation for worship services and special events.
e. How are the deacons to work together?
i. IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT Work under leadership of Elders
ii. Work with Staff
iii. Focus on functions, describe a form that is effective.
Elders
1. Qualifications in Titus 1:5-9; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Acts 6:4 (apostles)
a.
Acts 6:4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
2. Identification: Qualified candidates are appointed by the current Elders.
a. Qualifications, recognition by serving leaders.
b. Nominating committee consists of two elected members, three board members and the senior pastor; names are considered, interviewed, and presented to the congregation.
c. Congregation affirms the list at our Annual General Meeting.
i. Accountability: who can challenge the decisions or behaviour of elders?
ii. Decisions: Acts 15:22
σὺν ὅλῃ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ = “with the whole church”
iii. Character and Behaviour:
1Tim. 5:19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
(addressed to Timothy, as a leader among the elders; this may mean that the team of elders should consider charges against a fellow elder to be false unless they are confirmed by two or three witnesses—nevertheless, the principle is established that a charge against an elder can be leveled and, if confirmed by several witnesses, would be considered by the group of elders).
3. Structure
a. Shepherd the flock/Oversee the function and form of the congregation.
i. Prayer for the saints
ii. Teaching of the Word
b. Fiduciary responsibilities as required by the government.
(1 Corinthians 12:14–27 NASB)
Questions??
* Membership
1. In faith, a part of the Body of Christ
2. In place, a part of a local assembly of believers.
3. In practice…
a. Confirm our faith “in front” of other faithful ones
b. Affirm our accountability to others of the same faith
c. No membership: missing both confirmation and accountability
d. Fill out the form today!
* Leadership
1. No leader is indispensable; leadership is.
2. Leaders are made, not born.
a. We are renewing our commitment to apprenticeship; each serving role must have an apprentice learning and sharing the work.
b. We must make sure to limit the number of slots taken up by long-termers, so that everyone gets a chance to serve; HIGH percentage of volunteers here.
c. We are developing leaders quietly: 14 in the first group, 15 in the second group;
i. Servant Leadership & what it means to be and do church
ii. Biblical studies
iii. Biblical theology—putting Scripture together
d. Mike will be deepening the commitment to training SG leaders;
e. Joe is developing leaders among teens and young adults.
f. Sara is training and mentoring worship leaders and musicians.
* Deacons
1. Qualifications: 1 Tim. 3:8ff.
2. Identification: Qualified men and women are recognized by the congregation, affirmed by the Elders (Acts 6:6), then released to do their work (no mention either in Acts 6 or 1 Timothy 3 of design or form, only the function and qualifications).
3. We formerly recognized deacons; they formed a board and joined with the Elders to form a General Board. That ended in 1994, with adoption of a new constitution. We have no wish to restore a Deacon Board and a General Board. It’s good to have a simple, rather than a hierarchical organization.
4. We do need to more personally connect to those who cannot be a part of a small group.
a. What if? We identified men and women to look after those not in small groups?
b. What if? We identified those who serve us already in diaconate roles?
c. What if? We did all this following the pattern of Acts 6?
i. The need is identified by the congregation.
ii. The elders/apostles respond with a clear set of qualifications.
iii. The congregation identifies those people who are qualified.
iv. The new serving leaders do their work.
1. No mention of any structure; no committees.
2. We can rightly conclude that those who are serving may choose to establish forms, but are not required to do so.
d. What roles are needed?
i. Ceiling—need a Facility Team.
ii. Tech Team—rotation for worship services and special events.
e. How are the deacons to work together?
i. IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT Work under leadership of Elders
ii. Work with Staff
iii. Focus on functions, describe a form that is effective.
Elders
1. Qualifications in Titus 1:5-9; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; Acts 6:4 (apostles)
a.
Acts 6:4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
2. Identification: Qualified candidates are appointed by the current Elders.
a. Qualifications, recognition by serving leaders.
b. Nominating committee consists of two elected members, three board members and the senior pastor; names are considered, interviewed, and presented to the congregation.
c. Congregation affirms the list at our Annual General Meeting.
i. Accountability: who can challenge the decisions or behaviour of elders?
ii. Decisions: Acts 15:22
σὺν ὅλῃ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ = “with the whole church”
iii. Character and Behaviour:
1Tim. 5:19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.
(addressed to Timothy, as a leader among the elders; this may mean that the team of elders should consider charges against a fellow elder to be false unless they are confirmed by two or three witnesses—nevertheless, the principle is established that a charge against an elder can be leveled and, if confirmed by several witnesses, would be considered by the group of elders).
3. Structure
a. Shepherd the flock/Oversee the function and form of the congregation.
i. Prayer for the saints
ii. Teaching of the Word
b. Fiduciary responsibilities as required by the government.
(1 Corinthians 12:14–27 NASB)
Questions??
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Deconstructing Elders
Deconstructing Elders
1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9
Markers: for them; how to recognize them, respond to them, serve with them;
for us; how am I doing on this quest to incarnate Jesus/become like Jesus/serve like Jesus?
1. We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
Hebrews 13:17 NASB “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
EBC, Leon Morris
“They keep watch over you” is more literally “they keep watch for your souls,”
They are concerned, because they must render account. Leaders are responsible, and God will call them to account one day. The writer pleads that the readers will so act that keeping watch will be a thing of joy for the leaders
The alternative is for them to do it with “groaning” (stenazontes ; NIV, “a burden”), which, he says, would be “of no advantage” for the readers.
NIBC, DONALD A. HAGNER
But obedience to the leaders is not merely for the sake of making their work easier. The failure to submit to them cannot benefit the readers. Indeed, the implication of this understatement is that disobedience and insubordination will put the readers in peril.
APPLICATION:
• Pray for the Elders—have them come to the front and lay hands on them.
• Confession and affirmation-- Confess any spirit of rebellion, etc.
a. Past difficulty with oppressive leaders,
b. or soft leaders
We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
2. We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.
Titus 1:5-9 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man be above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”
1 Timothy 3:1–7 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?); and not a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
a. They are placed in leadership because of their character.
b. They lead or influence us by their modeling.
Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, David Lim
Though the main task of the elders …was to build up the Christian community so that all members discovered and used their spiritual gifts; they also served as exemplars in doing evangelism (2 Tim 4:5; cf. 1 Pet 5:3), just as Paul set this evangelistic concern as a model for the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:18–28). One of their qualifications for church “office” was a good reputation before unbelievers (1 Tim 3:1–7).
We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.
3. We are to aspire to the same spiritual marks of maturity.
a. “It’s a fine work” you aspire to…
b. It’s an impossible standard…grace functions to rework every niche.
i. Above reproach
ii. Husband of one wife
iii. Temperate--
iv. Prudent
v. Respectable
vi. Hospitable
vii. Able to teach—only gifting on the list?
1. Apt to teach
2. Titus 1: holding fast the faithful word…
a. able both to exhort in sound doctrine and
b. to refute those who contradict
viii. not addicted to wine
ix. not pugnacious
x. gentle
xi. uncontentious,
xii. free from the love of money
xiii. Household managed well
xiv. Keeping children under control with all dignity
xv. Not a new convert (not listed in the requirements on Crete, where all were new converts)
xvi. Good reputation with those outside the church, avoiding reproach & the snare of the devil.
We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.
We are to aspire to the same spiritual marks of maturity.
4. Dealing with me: my own spiritual state.
Recognize their servant’s hearts and service to our own good.
HOPE: CR Story—
APPLICATIONS
a. Look to Jesus, who said he came to serve.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His 1life a ransom for many.”
i. The One whom we will serve for all eternity said that he came here to serve first.
ii. He served until the end.
iii. As we look to Christ, the Spirit of Christ promises to reconstruct us into the character of Jesus.
1. The Spirit will make us Servants.
2. When the Spirit makes a servant, that servant serves to the end.
b. Look to Jesus, whom the Holy Spirit will reproduce in each life.
c. Identify your own gifts for serving.
i. Look to the Word for definitions: Eph. 4; Romans 12
ii. Practice those gifts till the end.
d. Engage yourself and your gifts with being and doing church.
1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9
Markers: for them; how to recognize them, respond to them, serve with them;
for us; how am I doing on this quest to incarnate Jesus/become like Jesus/serve like Jesus?
1. We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
Hebrews 13:17 NASB “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
EBC, Leon Morris
“They keep watch over you” is more literally “they keep watch for your souls,”
They are concerned, because they must render account. Leaders are responsible, and God will call them to account one day. The writer pleads that the readers will so act that keeping watch will be a thing of joy for the leaders
The alternative is for them to do it with “groaning” (stenazontes ; NIV, “a burden”), which, he says, would be “of no advantage” for the readers.
NIBC, DONALD A. HAGNER
But obedience to the leaders is not merely for the sake of making their work easier. The failure to submit to them cannot benefit the readers. Indeed, the implication of this understatement is that disobedience and insubordination will put the readers in peril.
APPLICATION:
• Pray for the Elders—have them come to the front and lay hands on them.
• Confession and affirmation-- Confess any spirit of rebellion, etc.
a. Past difficulty with oppressive leaders,
b. or soft leaders
We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
2. We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.
Titus 1:5-9 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man be above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”
1 Timothy 3:1–7 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?); and not a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
a. They are placed in leadership because of their character.
b. They lead or influence us by their modeling.
Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments, David Lim
Though the main task of the elders …was to build up the Christian community so that all members discovered and used their spiritual gifts; they also served as exemplars in doing evangelism (2 Tim 4:5; cf. 1 Pet 5:3), just as Paul set this evangelistic concern as a model for the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:18–28). One of their qualifications for church “office” was a good reputation before unbelievers (1 Tim 3:1–7).
We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.
3. We are to aspire to the same spiritual marks of maturity.
a. “It’s a fine work” you aspire to…
b. It’s an impossible standard…grace functions to rework every niche.
i. Above reproach
ii. Husband of one wife
iii. Temperate--
iv. Prudent
v. Respectable
vi. Hospitable
vii. Able to teach—only gifting on the list?
1. Apt to teach
2. Titus 1: holding fast the faithful word…
a. able both to exhort in sound doctrine and
b. to refute those who contradict
viii. not addicted to wine
ix. not pugnacious
x. gentle
xi. uncontentious,
xii. free from the love of money
xiii. Household managed well
xiv. Keeping children under control with all dignity
xv. Not a new convert (not listed in the requirements on Crete, where all were new converts)
xvi. Good reputation with those outside the church, avoiding reproach & the snare of the devil.
We are to follow those whom God has placed in charge of our souls.
We are to carefully recognize those who should lead us.
We are to aspire to the same spiritual marks of maturity.
4. Dealing with me: my own spiritual state.
Recognize their servant’s hearts and service to our own good.
HOPE: CR Story—
APPLICATIONS
a. Look to Jesus, who said he came to serve.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His 1life a ransom for many.”
i. The One whom we will serve for all eternity said that he came here to serve first.
ii. He served until the end.
iii. As we look to Christ, the Spirit of Christ promises to reconstruct us into the character of Jesus.
1. The Spirit will make us Servants.
2. When the Spirit makes a servant, that servant serves to the end.
b. Look to Jesus, whom the Holy Spirit will reproduce in each life.
c. Identify your own gifts for serving.
i. Look to the Word for definitions: Eph. 4; Romans 12
ii. Practice those gifts till the end.
d. Engage yourself and your gifts with being and doing church.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Deconstructing Deacons: Deacons R Us!
Deconstructing Deacons:
Deacons R Us? Acts 6:1-6; 1 Tim. 3:8-13
It’s time for us to DECONSTRUCT CHURCH, to reexamine the point of church in Jesus’ own words, from Paul’s direct statements as to the meaning of church.
What is the church?
A field to be cultivated; a Building to be Inhabited; a Household to be protected; a family to be nurtured; a people who proclaim; a flock to be fed; a Body to express the will of Christ; members & parts of a whole; WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST!
What makes us a part of the church? A common faith, a common life; a common confession
What does “membership” mean? Or, Should we “join” a church?
The NT assumes that all believers are “members” of the congregation where they worship.
We are NOT customers or consumers, but members…
How do we experience “life together”? a common transparency; common commitments
o Use the spiritual gifts God has given to build up the body (1 Cor. 12:7).
o Live out the Mission of God
o Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb 13:17).
o Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
o Financially support the church’s work (Gal. 6:6).
“Engaging membership” means at least these five things:
• Be in transparent relationships with other church members in which they care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
• Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb. 13:17).
• Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
“being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
• Financially support the common service efforts (Gal. 6:6).
• Use the spiritual gifts God has given them to build up the body however they can (1 Cor. 12:7).
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Last week, Mike: your church leaders in the past might have been autocratic, or bunglers, or too-sweet to be effectively protect the church, or ministry divas who are self-absorbed. Lots of examples of poor leadership.
We must avoid the extremes of severe criticism or disengagement.
The problem is NOT leadership, but BAD church leadership.
No Leader is indispensable, but leadership is.
Every pastor is a shepherd; but NOT every shepherd is a pastor.
Shepherds exist so that the church will be full of mature disciples of Jesus.
Today, we are DECONSTRUCTING CHURCH with a word about MINISTRY; another word for ministry is SERVice…Both of these words translate the Greek word-root, diakonos; we transliterate DEACON, one who serves. I want to answer three questions:
WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT DEACONS?
WHAT IS A DEACON?
WHAT DO I DO, THEN?
1. Why should I care about deacons?
a. These ministry qualifications for deacons are also maturity distinctives.
b. God is concerned about function; we are concerned about form.
c. We are all called to serve!
i. I Peter 4:10-11
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
ii. Two sorts of gifts: speaking and serving.
iii. Luke quotes the apostles, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” or, the SERVICE OF THE WORD.
2. What is a deacon?
Acts 6--“Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
And the statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.”
a. Acts 6:1-6—
i. the term “deacon” does not occur here.
EBC, Ralph Earle--Although the term deacon is not used in this connection, it would seem that these men were the forerunners of the deacons in the church.
ii. The word “the serving” does in verse 1: διακονίᾳ
EBC, Ralph Earle--The simple meaning of this word is “servant,” and it is used that way many times in the Gospels. Specifically, it was used by Josephus and other writers of that period for those who wait on tables.
Robert Banks, IVP Dictionary of Paul and His Letters
Emphasis upon Function rather than Position. Alongside the verb serve (diakoneō), or its nominal form servant (diakonos), verbs rather than nouns tend to be used more frequently of those making a fundamental contribution to the church. This means that it is the functions people perform rather than the positions they occupy which is crucial.
iii. In verse 2: infinitive or verbal form does: διακονεῖν
Walter G. Hansen, IVP Dictionary of the Later New Testament
3.5. Emphasis upon Function rather than Position. Alongside the verb serve (diakoneō), or its nominal form servant (diakonos), verbs rather than nouns tend to be used more frequently of those making a fundamental contribution to the church. This means that it is the functions people perform rather than the positions they occupy which is crucial.
iv. So that we (elders & apostles) may devote ourselves to the ministry (διακονίᾳ) of the Word
1 Tim 3:8ff: “Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”
b. 1 Timothy 3:8-13
i. A man or a woman
ii. A position or a function
NIBC, GORDON D. FEE The word diakonos, in fact, is a favorite of Paul’s to describe his own and his fellow workers’ ministries (e.g., 1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 16:1; Col. 1:23; 4:7) and is so used of Timothy in 4:6. However, as with “prophet” and “teacher,” the word seems to fluctuate between an emphasis on a function and a description of a position; by the time of Philippians it describes an “office” (Phil. 1:1), whereas in the relatively contemporary Ephesians and Colossians diakonos still describes a function. Here, as in Philippians 1:1, it refers to a position of some kind.
iii. To be tested, then recognized
Renn, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words
δοκιμάζω dokimazō is a verb found nearly thirty times, with the principal meanings “prove,” “approve,” “discern.” In several places, however, the meaning “examine” is evident. (APPROVE)
The action of “examining” one’s newly-acquired oxen is noted in Luke 14:19. The exhortation to let a person “examine” himself or herself prior to taking the Lord’s Supper is recorded in 1 Cor. 11:28. Another exhortation to “test” or “examine” oneself to see if one is holding to the faith is noted in 2 Cor. 13:5. See also Gal. 6:4; 1 Thess. 5:21. The “testing” or “examining” of potential deacons to determine their suitability for office is indicated in 1 Tim. 3:10. The charge to “test” or “examine” the spirits to see whether they are of God is found in 1 John 4:1.
Psa. 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psa. 19:8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
iv. A person of character, “above reproach”
Above Reproach: Renn, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words
ἀνέγκλητος anenklētos is an adjective found in five places meaning “blameless,” or unable to be accused. Such is the moral destiny of the people of God, made possible by the work and person of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 1:8; Col. 1:22). It is also the quality required of spiritual leaders in the local congregation of believers (cf. 1 Tim. 3:10; Titus 1:6, 7).
1. Dignity
2. Not double-tongued—not “two-worded” says the same thing in every circumstance—integrity is our word
3. Not addicted to much wine—lots to avoid, no means to escape
4. Not fond of sordid gain—money hungry; cf. 1 Tim 6; greedy; contrast with 3:3 for elders—not envious
5. Holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience
EBC, Ralph Earle ‘mystery’ In the NT it signifies the secret of salvation through Jesus Christ, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit to all who will believe. Today the word mystery implies knowledge withheld; in the Bible it indicates truth revealed.
Gordon Fee-- as 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 makes plain, it refers to the essential truth of the gospel, especially the saving character of Christ’s death, which was once hidden (in God) but now revealed by the Spirit…
6. Husband of only one wife
7. Good managers of their children and households—APPROPRIATE HOME LIFE; not without conflict, but skilled at conflict management.
8. Women: add not malicious gossips, temperate, faithful
Why should I care?
What is a deacon? ONE WHO SERVES The Body of Christ
3. What should I then do?
a. Look to Jesus, who said he came to serve.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His 1life a ransom for many.”
i. The One whom we will serve for all eternity said that he came here to serve first.
ii. He served until the end.
iii. As we look to Christ, the Spirit of Christ promises to reconstruct us into the character of Jesus.
1. The Spirit will make us Servants.
2. When the Spirit makes a servant, that servant serves to the end.
b. Identify your own gifts for serving.
i. Look to the Word for definitions: Eph. 4; Romans 12
ii. Practice those gifts till the end.
c. Engage!
i. If you find yourself walking away from a worship service with a list of all the things that didn’t work that day, then you can be fairly certain that you are NOT PRACTICING YOUR GIFTS, you have disengaged from ministry, YOU HAVE BECOME A CONSUMER of church, a customer only.
ii. If you ask yourself the question: WHY DON’T THEY…? You are probably DISENGAGED.
iii. If you ask yourself a different question: HOW MIGHT I…? you are on the road to ENGAGMENT, and the Spirit of Christ is guiding you, energizing you, and will empower you to…
iv. Identify your part, as Jesus took up his role…
v. Step up to do your part, as Jesus laid aside his former role…
vi. Serve until you can’t, as Jesus served until his ascension.
Psa. 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Psa. 17:15 As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;
Deacons R Us? Acts 6:1-6; 1 Tim. 3:8-13
It’s time for us to DECONSTRUCT CHURCH, to reexamine the point of church in Jesus’ own words, from Paul’s direct statements as to the meaning of church.
What is the church?
A field to be cultivated; a Building to be Inhabited; a Household to be protected; a family to be nurtured; a people who proclaim; a flock to be fed; a Body to express the will of Christ; members & parts of a whole; WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST!
What makes us a part of the church? A common faith, a common life; a common confession
What does “membership” mean? Or, Should we “join” a church?
The NT assumes that all believers are “members” of the congregation where they worship.
We are NOT customers or consumers, but members…
How do we experience “life together”? a common transparency; common commitments
o Use the spiritual gifts God has given to build up the body (1 Cor. 12:7).
o Live out the Mission of God
o Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb 13:17).
o Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
o Financially support the church’s work (Gal. 6:6).
“Engaging membership” means at least these five things:
• Be in transparent relationships with other church members in which they care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
• Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb. 13:17).
• Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
“being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
• Financially support the common service efforts (Gal. 6:6).
• Use the spiritual gifts God has given them to build up the body however they can (1 Cor. 12:7).
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Last week, Mike: your church leaders in the past might have been autocratic, or bunglers, or too-sweet to be effectively protect the church, or ministry divas who are self-absorbed. Lots of examples of poor leadership.
We must avoid the extremes of severe criticism or disengagement.
The problem is NOT leadership, but BAD church leadership.
No Leader is indispensable, but leadership is.
Every pastor is a shepherd; but NOT every shepherd is a pastor.
Shepherds exist so that the church will be full of mature disciples of Jesus.
Today, we are DECONSTRUCTING CHURCH with a word about MINISTRY; another word for ministry is SERVice…Both of these words translate the Greek word-root, diakonos; we transliterate DEACON, one who serves. I want to answer three questions:
WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT DEACONS?
WHAT IS A DEACON?
WHAT DO I DO, THEN?
1. Why should I care about deacons?
a. These ministry qualifications for deacons are also maturity distinctives.
b. God is concerned about function; we are concerned about form.
c. We are all called to serve!
i. I Peter 4:10-11
“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
ii. Two sorts of gifts: speaking and serving.
iii. Luke quotes the apostles, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word” or, the SERVICE OF THE WORD.
2. What is a deacon?
Acts 6--“Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. “But select from among you, brethren, seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. “But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
And the statement found approval with the whole congregation; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. And these they brought before the apostles; and after praying, they laid their hands on them.”
a. Acts 6:1-6—
i. the term “deacon” does not occur here.
EBC, Ralph Earle--Although the term deacon is not used in this connection, it would seem that these men were the forerunners of the deacons in the church.
ii. The word “the serving” does in verse 1: διακονίᾳ
EBC, Ralph Earle--The simple meaning of this word is “servant,” and it is used that way many times in the Gospels. Specifically, it was used by Josephus and other writers of that period for those who wait on tables.
Robert Banks, IVP Dictionary of Paul and His Letters
Emphasis upon Function rather than Position. Alongside the verb serve (diakoneō), or its nominal form servant (diakonos), verbs rather than nouns tend to be used more frequently of those making a fundamental contribution to the church. This means that it is the functions people perform rather than the positions they occupy which is crucial.
iii. In verse 2: infinitive or verbal form does: διακονεῖν
Walter G. Hansen, IVP Dictionary of the Later New Testament
3.5. Emphasis upon Function rather than Position. Alongside the verb serve (diakoneō), or its nominal form servant (diakonos), verbs rather than nouns tend to be used more frequently of those making a fundamental contribution to the church. This means that it is the functions people perform rather than the positions they occupy which is crucial.
iv. So that we (elders & apostles) may devote ourselves to the ministry (διακονίᾳ) of the Word
1 Tim 3:8ff: “Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their own households. For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”
b. 1 Timothy 3:8-13
i. A man or a woman
ii. A position or a function
NIBC, GORDON D. FEE The word diakonos, in fact, is a favorite of Paul’s to describe his own and his fellow workers’ ministries (e.g., 1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 16:1; Col. 1:23; 4:7) and is so used of Timothy in 4:6. However, as with “prophet” and “teacher,” the word seems to fluctuate between an emphasis on a function and a description of a position; by the time of Philippians it describes an “office” (Phil. 1:1), whereas in the relatively contemporary Ephesians and Colossians diakonos still describes a function. Here, as in Philippians 1:1, it refers to a position of some kind.
iii. To be tested, then recognized
Renn, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words
δοκιμάζω dokimazō is a verb found nearly thirty times, with the principal meanings “prove,” “approve,” “discern.” In several places, however, the meaning “examine” is evident. (APPROVE)
The action of “examining” one’s newly-acquired oxen is noted in Luke 14:19. The exhortation to let a person “examine” himself or herself prior to taking the Lord’s Supper is recorded in 1 Cor. 11:28. Another exhortation to “test” or “examine” oneself to see if one is holding to the faith is noted in 2 Cor. 13:5. See also Gal. 6:4; 1 Thess. 5:21. The “testing” or “examining” of potential deacons to determine their suitability for office is indicated in 1 Tim. 3:10. The charge to “test” or “examine” the spirits to see whether they are of God is found in 1 John 4:1.
Psa. 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psa. 19:8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
iv. A person of character, “above reproach”
Above Reproach: Renn, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words
ἀνέγκλητος anenklētos is an adjective found in five places meaning “blameless,” or unable to be accused. Such is the moral destiny of the people of God, made possible by the work and person of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 1:8; Col. 1:22). It is also the quality required of spiritual leaders in the local congregation of believers (cf. 1 Tim. 3:10; Titus 1:6, 7).
1. Dignity
2. Not double-tongued—not “two-worded” says the same thing in every circumstance—integrity is our word
3. Not addicted to much wine—lots to avoid, no means to escape
4. Not fond of sordid gain—money hungry; cf. 1 Tim 6; greedy; contrast with 3:3 for elders—not envious
5. Holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience
EBC, Ralph Earle ‘mystery’ In the NT it signifies the secret of salvation through Jesus Christ, which is revealed by the Holy Spirit to all who will believe. Today the word mystery implies knowledge withheld; in the Bible it indicates truth revealed.
Gordon Fee-- as 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 makes plain, it refers to the essential truth of the gospel, especially the saving character of Christ’s death, which was once hidden (in God) but now revealed by the Spirit…
6. Husband of only one wife
7. Good managers of their children and households—APPROPRIATE HOME LIFE; not without conflict, but skilled at conflict management.
8. Women: add not malicious gossips, temperate, faithful
Why should I care?
What is a deacon? ONE WHO SERVES The Body of Christ
3. What should I then do?
a. Look to Jesus, who said he came to serve.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His 1life a ransom for many.”
i. The One whom we will serve for all eternity said that he came here to serve first.
ii. He served until the end.
iii. As we look to Christ, the Spirit of Christ promises to reconstruct us into the character of Jesus.
1. The Spirit will make us Servants.
2. When the Spirit makes a servant, that servant serves to the end.
b. Identify your own gifts for serving.
i. Look to the Word for definitions: Eph. 4; Romans 12
ii. Practice those gifts till the end.
c. Engage!
i. If you find yourself walking away from a worship service with a list of all the things that didn’t work that day, then you can be fairly certain that you are NOT PRACTICING YOUR GIFTS, you have disengaged from ministry, YOU HAVE BECOME A CONSUMER of church, a customer only.
ii. If you ask yourself the question: WHY DON’T THEY…? You are probably DISENGAGED.
iii. If you ask yourself a different question: HOW MIGHT I…? you are on the road to ENGAGMENT, and the Spirit of Christ is guiding you, energizing you, and will empower you to…
iv. Identify your part, as Jesus took up his role…
v. Step up to do your part, as Jesus laid aside his former role…
vi. Serve until you can’t, as Jesus served until his ascension.
Psa. 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Psa. 17:15 As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness;
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Deconstructing Church: What IS Church?
Deconstructing Church:
Membership: What’s The Point?
Introduction: why should we bother with church?
Church SUBTITLES: A Church for those Not Comfortable With Church
A Church for those Not Into Church
A Church for those Tired of Their Church
IF some THE LARGEST CHURCHES ON THE CONTINENT CHOOSE THESE STATEMENTS FOR SUBTITLES, then perhaps it’s time for us to DECONSTRUCT CHURCH, reexamine the point of church Jesus’ own words, from Paul’s direct statements as to the meaning of church.
CHURCH: Why should we bother?
What makes us a church?
How do I become part of a church?
Here, we have another reason to ask and answer these questions, because we just completed 40 DAYS OF COMMUNITY.
Community only happens in a context, with other people; CHURCH IS GOD’S IDEA, DESIGNED TO MEET MANY NEEDS AND FULFILL MANY OF HIS INTENTIONS.
We know that because so many different METAPHORS ARE USED TO DESCRIBE THE CHURCH…
What is the church?
What makes us a part of the church?
What does “membership” mean? Or, Should we “join” a church?
How do we experience “life together”?
1. What is the church?
• Multiple metaphors:
o Field
1Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field… TO BE CULTIVATED
o Building TO BE INHABITED
1Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Eph. 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
o Household TO BE PROTECTED
Matt. 10:25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!
o Family TO BE NURTURED
• Matthew 12:48-49
Matt. 12:48-49 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!
o Nation/People TO PROCLAIM
1Pet. 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
o Flock/Sheep TO BE FED
John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
1Pet. 5:2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
o Body TO EXPRESS HIS WILL
Ephesians 4:11–12 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;”
o Members PARTS OF A WHOLE
Matt. 10:25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!
1Cor. 12:12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
1Cor. 12:22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
1Cor. 12:23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
Eph. 5:30 because we are members of His body.
Col. 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
• Body of Jesus: WE ARE CHRIST’S BODY!
1Cor. 12:27 ¶ Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
2. What makes us a part of the church?
• Common faith (Eph 4), which connects us to the…
o Universal church
Eph. 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
1Cor. 12:12-13 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
• Common life (Acts 2:42ff.), which connects us to a…
o Local assembly = most common NT usage
Acts 2:44-45 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
* Common confession (Rom. 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Rom. 10:10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
3. What does “membership” mean? Should we “join” a church?
• At the gym? At Costco?
• Is secular membership the same as biblical membership?
• Why do contemporary congregations ask for membership, when the NT says nothing about such a thing?
1. The NT assumes that all believers are “members” of the congregation where they worship.
a. Membership means “of faith in Christ.”
b. Today: if you have placed faith in Christ…
i. You are a member of the congregation where you worship and serve
ii. You are subject to the elders of the congregation: Hebrews 13:17
Hebrews 13:17 NASB)
“Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
iii. In a small house group, we speak of Christ either as people with faith or without faith.
iv. In a larger congregation, the elders must know you are of faith if they are to…
1. Pray for your growth (Acts 6:2,4)
2. Teach you the word (Acts 6:2,4)
3. Encourage you to follow Christ/Keep watch over your soul (Hebrews 13:17)
2. Assumes, maybe; but does it TEACH that we are to be members?
i. Acts 5:12-13: “Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.” There seems to have been a qualifying choice made in Jerusalem: some chose to be a part of the church, some not.
ii. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside.” …This passage makes no sense if the Corinthian church didn’t have some public, formal means by which people identified themselves with the church.
iii. I Corinthians 5:1-2: the fellow who was sleeping with his father’s wife was to be expelled from the congregation, not from the Body of Christ (no human can do that).
1Cor. 5:1 ¶ It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
1Cor. 5:2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
iv. The fellow apparently repented and was restored to the congregation (not to the Body of Christ). 2 Corinthians 2:6: Paul writes again about the fellow, “For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” This man’s exclusion from the church was a punishment by the majority. You can’t have a majority unless you have a definite set of people from which a majority is constituted.
If one can be removed from the congregation and restored to the congregation, without gaining or losing position “in Christ”, then we have the essence of “membership” in a local assembly.
v. Matthew 18:15-17: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault…if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you…If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” The ability to exclude someone from “the church” presupposes that it’s known who belongs to “the church” as a member in the first place.
vi. Scripture repeatedly commands Christians to submit to their leaders (Heb. 13:17; 1 Thess. 5:12-13). The only way to do that is by publicly committing to be members of their flock, and saying in effect, “I commit to listening to your teaching, following your direction, and to submitting to your leadership.” There’s no way to obey the scriptural commands to submit to your leaders if you never actually submit to them by joining a local church.
Therefore, I am a member of this congregation, for the health of my soul.
1. I am subject to the elders.
2. I am subject to you.
4. How do we live well in/with the Body? How do we experience “life together”?
• Common transparency: care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
Hebrews 13:17 NASB
“Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
• Common commitments: I am no longer making all my life decisions alone
o Use the spiritual gifts God has given to build up the body (1 Cor. 12:7).
o Walk in sync with the Mission of God
o Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb 13:17).
o Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
o Financially support the church’s work (Gal. 6:6).
“Engaging membership” means at least these five things:
• Be in transparent relationships with other church members in which they care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
o Eph 4:15-16
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
• Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb. 13:17).
• Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
“being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
• Financially support the common service efforts (Gal. 6:6).
“And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.”
• Use the spiritual gifts God has given them to build up the body however they can (1 Cor. 12:7).
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Romans 12:1–13 NASB
For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;
give preference to one another in honor;
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope,
persevering in tribulation,
devoted to prayer,
contributing to the needs of the saints,
practicing hospitality.”
Membership: What’s The Point?
Introduction: why should we bother with church?
Church SUBTITLES: A Church for those Not Comfortable With Church
A Church for those Not Into Church
A Church for those Tired of Their Church
IF some THE LARGEST CHURCHES ON THE CONTINENT CHOOSE THESE STATEMENTS FOR SUBTITLES, then perhaps it’s time for us to DECONSTRUCT CHURCH, reexamine the point of church Jesus’ own words, from Paul’s direct statements as to the meaning of church.
CHURCH: Why should we bother?
What makes us a church?
How do I become part of a church?
Here, we have another reason to ask and answer these questions, because we just completed 40 DAYS OF COMMUNITY.
Community only happens in a context, with other people; CHURCH IS GOD’S IDEA, DESIGNED TO MEET MANY NEEDS AND FULFILL MANY OF HIS INTENTIONS.
We know that because so many different METAPHORS ARE USED TO DESCRIBE THE CHURCH…
What is the church?
What makes us a part of the church?
What does “membership” mean? Or, Should we “join” a church?
How do we experience “life together”?
1. What is the church?
• Multiple metaphors:
o Field
1Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field… TO BE CULTIVATED
o Building TO BE INHABITED
1Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Eph. 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
o Household TO BE PROTECTED
Matt. 10:25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!
o Family TO BE NURTURED
• Matthew 12:48-49
Matt. 12:48-49 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!
o Nation/People TO PROCLAIM
1Pet. 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
o Flock/Sheep TO BE FED
John 10:16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
1Pet. 5:2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
o Body TO EXPRESS HIS WILL
Ephesians 4:11–12 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;”
o Members PARTS OF A WHOLE
Matt. 10:25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!
1Cor. 12:12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
1Cor. 12:22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
1Cor. 12:23 and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
Eph. 5:30 because we are members of His body.
Col. 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
• Body of Jesus: WE ARE CHRIST’S BODY!
1Cor. 12:27 ¶ Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
2. What makes us a part of the church?
• Common faith (Eph 4), which connects us to the…
o Universal church
Eph. 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
1Cor. 12:12-13 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
• Common life (Acts 2:42ff.), which connects us to a…
o Local assembly = most common NT usage
Acts 2:44-45 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
* Common confession (Rom. 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; Rom. 10:10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
3. What does “membership” mean? Should we “join” a church?
• At the gym? At Costco?
• Is secular membership the same as biblical membership?
• Why do contemporary congregations ask for membership, when the NT says nothing about such a thing?
1. The NT assumes that all believers are “members” of the congregation where they worship.
a. Membership means “of faith in Christ.”
b. Today: if you have placed faith in Christ…
i. You are a member of the congregation where you worship and serve
ii. You are subject to the elders of the congregation: Hebrews 13:17
Hebrews 13:17 NASB)
“Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
iii. In a small house group, we speak of Christ either as people with faith or without faith.
iv. In a larger congregation, the elders must know you are of faith if they are to…
1. Pray for your growth (Acts 6:2,4)
2. Teach you the word (Acts 6:2,4)
3. Encourage you to follow Christ/Keep watch over your soul (Hebrews 13:17)
2. Assumes, maybe; but does it TEACH that we are to be members?
i. Acts 5:12-13: “Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.” There seems to have been a qualifying choice made in Jerusalem: some chose to be a part of the church, some not.
ii. 1 Corinthians 5:12-13: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside.” …This passage makes no sense if the Corinthian church didn’t have some public, formal means by which people identified themselves with the church.
iii. I Corinthians 5:1-2: the fellow who was sleeping with his father’s wife was to be expelled from the congregation, not from the Body of Christ (no human can do that).
1Cor. 5:1 ¶ It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
1Cor. 5:2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
iv. The fellow apparently repented and was restored to the congregation (not to the Body of Christ). 2 Corinthians 2:6: Paul writes again about the fellow, “For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” This man’s exclusion from the church was a punishment by the majority. You can’t have a majority unless you have a definite set of people from which a majority is constituted.
If one can be removed from the congregation and restored to the congregation, without gaining or losing position “in Christ”, then we have the essence of “membership” in a local assembly.
v. Matthew 18:15-17: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault…if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you…If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” The ability to exclude someone from “the church” presupposes that it’s known who belongs to “the church” as a member in the first place.
vi. Scripture repeatedly commands Christians to submit to their leaders (Heb. 13:17; 1 Thess. 5:12-13). The only way to do that is by publicly committing to be members of their flock, and saying in effect, “I commit to listening to your teaching, following your direction, and to submitting to your leadership.” There’s no way to obey the scriptural commands to submit to your leaders if you never actually submit to them by joining a local church.
Therefore, I am a member of this congregation, for the health of my soul.
1. I am subject to the elders.
2. I am subject to you.
4. How do we live well in/with the Body? How do we experience “life together”?
• Common transparency: care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
Hebrews 13:17 NASB
“Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”
• Common commitments: I am no longer making all my life decisions alone
o Use the spiritual gifts God has given to build up the body (1 Cor. 12:7).
o Walk in sync with the Mission of God
o Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb 13:17).
o Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
o Financially support the church’s work (Gal. 6:6).
“Engaging membership” means at least these five things:
• Be in transparent relationships with other church members in which they care for, encourage, rebuke, teach, and learn from each other (Eph. 4:15-16).
o Eph 4:15-16
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
• Submit to the church’s leadership and teaching (Heb. 13:17).
• Promote unity in the body (Eph. 4:3).
“being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
• Financially support the common service efforts (Gal. 6:6).
“And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.”
• Use the spiritual gifts God has given them to build up the body however they can (1 Cor. 12:7).
“But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
Romans 12:1–13 NASB
For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;
give preference to one another in honor;
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
rejoicing in hope,
persevering in tribulation,
devoted to prayer,
contributing to the needs of the saints,
practicing hospitality.”
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The Older Brother
Keller's outline, my sermon.
The Elder Brother
Luke 15:25-32
Introduction: THE STORY DOESN’T END WITH THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL! Almost half of the story is about the older son. The story is about two sons, who are both alienated from the father, who are both assaulting the unity of the family. Jesus wants us to compare and contrast them.
The younger son is “lost”—that is easy to see. We see him
shaming his father,
ruining his family,
sleeping with prostitutes, and we say, “yep, there’s someone who is spiritually lost.”
But Jesus’ point is that the older son is lost too. Let’s learn from the text:
1) a stunning new understanding of lostness,
2) what the signs of it are (so we can recognize it in ourselves), and
3) what we can do about this condition.
The younger son has assaulted the integrity of the family.
The older son is assaulting the integrity of the family.
By despising the younger son.
By refusing to rejoice with the father in his delight over the brother’s return.
By preferring the father’s wealth to the father’s joy.
Central Issue: the nature of the Father’s heart
1. Younger brother—the father is not even-handed, I will never inherit leadership in this family.
2. Older brother—the father is not fair or just.
1. A stunning new understanding of lostness—verse 28.
““Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry, and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began entreating him.”
a. The elder brother would have known that the day of the prodigal’s return was the greatest day in his father’s life.
i. The father has “killed the fattened calf”, an enormously expensive extravagance in a culture where even having meat at meals was considered a delicacy.
ii. The older son realized his father was ecstatic with joy.
b. Yet he refused to go into the biggest feast his father has ever put on.
i. This was a remarkable, deliberate act of disrespect.
ii. …his way of saying, “I won’t be part of this family nor respect your headship of it.”
c. And the father had to “go out” to plead with him.
i. Just as he went out to bring his alienated younger son into the family, now
ii. he had to do the same for the older brother.
d. Do you realize what Jesus is saying? The older son is lost.
i. The father represents God himself, and
ii. the meal is the feast of salvation. In the end, then,
iii. the younger son, the immoral man, comes in and is saved, but
iv. the older son, the good son, refuses to go in and is lost.
e. The Pharisees who were listening to this parable knew what that meant.
i. It was a complete reversal of everything they believed. You can almost hear them gasp as the story ends.
ii. And what is it that is keeping the elder brother out? It’s because: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed...” (v.29).
iii. The good son is not lost in spite of his good behavior, but because of his good behavior. So it is not his sin keeping him out, but his righteousness.
iv. The gospel is neither religion nor is it irreligion; it is not morality nor is it immorality. This was completely astonishing and confusing to Jesus’ hearers at the time—and it may even be astonishing and confusing to you.
v. Why is the older son lost?
1. The younger brother wanted the father’s wealth, but not the father. So how did he get what he wanted? He left home. He broke the moral rules.
2. But it becomes evident by the end that the elder brother also wanted selfish control of the father’s wealth. He was very unhappy with the father’s use of the possessions—the robe, the ring, the calf.
3. But while the younger brother got control by taking his stuff and running away, we see that the elder brother got control by staying home and being very good. He felt that now he has the right to tell the father what to do with his possessions because he had obeyed him perfectly.
4. So there are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord.
a. One is by breaking all the laws and being bad.
b. One is by keeping all the laws and being good.
If I can be so good that God has to answer my prayer, give me a good life, and take me to heaven, then in all I do I may be looking to Jesus to be my helper and my rewarder—but he isn’t my Savior. I am then my own Savior.
The difference between a religious person and a true Christian is that the religious person obeys God to get control over God, and things from God, but the Christian obeys just to get God, just to love and please and draw closer to him.
2. The Marks of this sort of Lostness—verses 29-30.
a. Some people are complete elder brothers. They go to church and obey the Bible—but out of expectation that then God owes them.
i. They have never understood the Biblical gospel at all.
ii. Grace is a stranger to them.
iii. They have developed a GOSPEL OF SIN-MANAGEMENT.
b. Keller: But many Christians, who know the gospel, are nonetheless elder-brotherish. Despite the fact that they know the gospel of salvation by grace with their heads, their hearts go back to an elder-brotherish “default mode” of self-salvation. Here’s what the elder-brotherish attitude looks like. It is:
i. A deep & abiding anger (v.28—“became angry”). Elder brothers believe that God owes them a comfortable and good life if they try hard and live up to standards—and they have! So they say: “my life ought to be going really well!” and when it doesn’t they get angry. But they are forgetting Jesus. He lived a better life than any of us—but suffered terribly.
Sources of Anger with God.
1. God didn’t answer my cry for help—innumerable stories of desperate prayers in childhood to heal a brother from leukemia or to save a sister from an abusive uncle. GOD DIDN’T ANSWER, SO I DON’T BELIEVE.
2. Younger brother conflict produces even more anger (good things happen to bad people rather than to good people like me!)
3. Jesus offers grace: will you be transformed or grace destroy you.
a. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo.
b. Jean Valjean vs. Inspector Javert
c. Valjean, the thief, finds grace and forgiveness from God. His life is gradually transformed into the pursuit of justice and grace.
d. Javert, who has arrested, tracked, and sought his punishment for years, discovers that Valjean has truly become a just man, a good man.
e. the Inspector traps Valjean, but then cannot rightly arrest him, because he is mesmerized by the thought that an irredeemably evil criminal can become a good man, one deserving of mercy.
f. Javert the police inspector can arrest Valjean, more, he must arrest him because the Law requires him to do so - Valjean was on the barricade and is therefore a traitor deserving death; but Javert the moral judge witnesses the absolute goodness in the redeemed convict at the sparing of Javert's own life and that of another, and therefore must not arrest him, or else he must question his own moral judgements.
"Javert is faced with the situation where to act lawfully would mean to him acting immorally."
g. Valjean, embodying the perfect moral dilemma for a man like Javert, shatters the rigid codes by which Javert has governed his own life - and at the breaking of those behavioral dictates, Javert finds no other course but to kill himself. His worldview cannot tolerate even the notion of redemption, and as such, it has no room for mercy, nor grace.
h. the Inspector steps backward into the Seine and drowns; he chooses to die rather than arrest the man he has obsessively pursued for decades. JAVERT CANNOT HOLD BOTH IDEAS IN HIS MIND AT THE SAME TIME: THIS MAN DESERVES JUSTICE & THIS MAN HAS BECOME JUST.
i. God’s grace has destroyed Javert.
ii. A joyless and mechanical obedience (v.29—“I’ve been slaving for you”). Elder brothers obey God as a means to an end—as a way to get the things they really love. Of course, obedience to God is sometimes extremely hard. But elder brothers find obedience virtually always a joyless, mechanical, slavish thing as a result.
1. Elder brother—I’m still angry, I’ve done what you’ve asked, get off my back.
2. Superficial obedience to get God off my back.
3. Similar to the younger brother, the elder brother just wants the father to leave him alone, to be away from him.
4. I filled out the small group signup, leave me alone, etc.
a. I will be there at the starting time, don’t ask more.
5. Elder brothers can morph into self-loathing life.
a. You don’t love yourself, but at least you know it.
b. Jesus offers you something more.
iii. A coldness to younger brother-types (v.30—“this son of yours”). The older son will not even “own” his brother. Elder brothers are too disdainful of others unlike themselves to be effective in evangelism. Elder brothers, who pride themselves on their doctrinal and moral purity, unavoidably feel superior to those who do not have these things.
From my blog…
Yes, those of us who are broken younger brothers are not mystified by the behaviour of our older brothers …but it does hurt to be around their resentment. I'm VERY grateful for the father's forgiveness but the older brother is so distant and cold.
iv. A lack of assurance of the father’s love (v.29—you never threw me a party). As long as you are trying to earn your salvation by controlling God through your goodness, you will never be sure you have been good enough. What are the signs of this?
1. Every time something goes wrong in your life you wonder if it’s a punishment.
2. Another sign is irresolvable guilt. You can’t be sure you’ve repented deeply enough, so you beat yourself up over what you did.
3. Lastly, there is a lack of any sense of intimacy with God in your prayer life. You may pray a lot of prayers asking for things, but not sense his love.
v. An unforgiving, judgmental spirit. The elder brother does not want the father to forgive the younger brother. It is impossible to forgive someone if you feel “I would never do anything that bad!” You have to be something of an elder brother to refuse to forgive.
3. What we can do about this spiritual condition.
a. Notice that the parable doesn’t end, it merely STOPS.
b. Second, we have to see the shocking nature of the gospel.
i. Jesus ends the parable with the lostness of the older brother in order to get across the point that it is a more dangerous spiritual condition.
1. The younger brother knew he was alienated from the father, but
2. The elder brother did not.
a. If you tell moral, religious people who are trying to be good, trying to obey the Bible so God will bless them—that they are alienated from God, they will just be offended.
b. If you know you are sick you may go to a doctor;
c. if you don’t know you’re sick you won’t—you’ll just die.
ii. Moralistic religion works on the principle, “I obey, therefore God accepts me.”
iii. The gospel works on the principle, “I am accepted by God through Jesus Christ, therefore I obey.” These are two radically different, even opposite, dynamics.
iv. Yet both sets of people sit in church together, both pray, both obey the Ten Commandments, but for radically different reasons. And because they do these things for radically different reasons, they produce radically different results—different kinds of character.
1. One produces anger, joyless compliance, superiority, insecurity, and a condemning spirit.
2. The other slowly but inevitably produces contentment, joy, humility, poise, and a forgiving spirit.
v. Unless a person and a congregation knows the difference between general religiosity and the true gospel, people will constantly fall into moralism and elder-brotherishness.
1. And if you call younger brothers to receive Christ and live for him without making this distinction clear, they will automatically think you are inviting them to become elder brothers.
c. Third, we have to see the naked vulnerability of Jesus.
i. Jesus is addressing his mortal enemies, the men who will soon kill him. …He’s talking to those who want to kill him and telling them that they are lost, that they fundamentally misunderstand God’s salvation and purpose in the world, and that they are trampling on the heart of God.
ii. But at the same time, he is also being so loving and tender. When the father comes out to the older brother,
1. that is Jesus pleading with his enemies. He is urging them to see their fatal error. Jesus does not scream at his enemies, or smite them, but lovingly urges them to repent and come into his love.
2. And so we have a foreshadowing of that great moment on the cross when he says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). This love toward his enemies made him vulnerable and cost him his life.
3. On the cross, instead of blasting his enemies, he lovingly took the penalty of their sins on himself. While we were his enemies, Christ died for us (Rom 5:10).
iii. Knowing what he did for us must drain us of our self-righteousness and our insecurity.
1. We were so sinful he had to die for us.
2. But we were so loved that he was glad to die for us.
3. That takes away both the pride and the fear that makes us elder brothers.
iv. Solution:
1. “I am lost because I am so good.”
2. I have the favour of God because of who God is.
3. God finds me useful, even restoring me to himself.
4. God finds me fascinating, He loves me with an EXCESSIVE, a PRODIGIOUS LOVE!!!!
v. The END of the Story…
John MacArthur—ends the parable…the elder brother hates the father so much for being unloving, that he seizes the father and kills him.
Transition to prayer and communion…
Marriage Supper of the Lamb:
The Son is our host and our meal.
The Elder Brother
Luke 15:25-32
Introduction: THE STORY DOESN’T END WITH THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL! Almost half of the story is about the older son. The story is about two sons, who are both alienated from the father, who are both assaulting the unity of the family. Jesus wants us to compare and contrast them.
The younger son is “lost”—that is easy to see. We see him
shaming his father,
ruining his family,
sleeping with prostitutes, and we say, “yep, there’s someone who is spiritually lost.”
But Jesus’ point is that the older son is lost too. Let’s learn from the text:
1) a stunning new understanding of lostness,
2) what the signs of it are (so we can recognize it in ourselves), and
3) what we can do about this condition.
The younger son has assaulted the integrity of the family.
The older son is assaulting the integrity of the family.
By despising the younger son.
By refusing to rejoice with the father in his delight over the brother’s return.
By preferring the father’s wealth to the father’s joy.
Central Issue: the nature of the Father’s heart
1. Younger brother—the father is not even-handed, I will never inherit leadership in this family.
2. Older brother—the father is not fair or just.
1. A stunning new understanding of lostness—verse 28.
““Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry, and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began entreating him.”
a. The elder brother would have known that the day of the prodigal’s return was the greatest day in his father’s life.
i. The father has “killed the fattened calf”, an enormously expensive extravagance in a culture where even having meat at meals was considered a delicacy.
ii. The older son realized his father was ecstatic with joy.
b. Yet he refused to go into the biggest feast his father has ever put on.
i. This was a remarkable, deliberate act of disrespect.
ii. …his way of saying, “I won’t be part of this family nor respect your headship of it.”
c. And the father had to “go out” to plead with him.
i. Just as he went out to bring his alienated younger son into the family, now
ii. he had to do the same for the older brother.
d. Do you realize what Jesus is saying? The older son is lost.
i. The father represents God himself, and
ii. the meal is the feast of salvation. In the end, then,
iii. the younger son, the immoral man, comes in and is saved, but
iv. the older son, the good son, refuses to go in and is lost.
e. The Pharisees who were listening to this parable knew what that meant.
i. It was a complete reversal of everything they believed. You can almost hear them gasp as the story ends.
ii. And what is it that is keeping the elder brother out? It’s because: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed...” (v.29).
iii. The good son is not lost in spite of his good behavior, but because of his good behavior. So it is not his sin keeping him out, but his righteousness.
iv. The gospel is neither religion nor is it irreligion; it is not morality nor is it immorality. This was completely astonishing and confusing to Jesus’ hearers at the time—and it may even be astonishing and confusing to you.
v. Why is the older son lost?
1. The younger brother wanted the father’s wealth, but not the father. So how did he get what he wanted? He left home. He broke the moral rules.
2. But it becomes evident by the end that the elder brother also wanted selfish control of the father’s wealth. He was very unhappy with the father’s use of the possessions—the robe, the ring, the calf.
3. But while the younger brother got control by taking his stuff and running away, we see that the elder brother got control by staying home and being very good. He felt that now he has the right to tell the father what to do with his possessions because he had obeyed him perfectly.
4. So there are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord.
a. One is by breaking all the laws and being bad.
b. One is by keeping all the laws and being good.
If I can be so good that God has to answer my prayer, give me a good life, and take me to heaven, then in all I do I may be looking to Jesus to be my helper and my rewarder—but he isn’t my Savior. I am then my own Savior.
The difference between a religious person and a true Christian is that the religious person obeys God to get control over God, and things from God, but the Christian obeys just to get God, just to love and please and draw closer to him.
2. The Marks of this sort of Lostness—verses 29-30.
a. Some people are complete elder brothers. They go to church and obey the Bible—but out of expectation that then God owes them.
i. They have never understood the Biblical gospel at all.
ii. Grace is a stranger to them.
iii. They have developed a GOSPEL OF SIN-MANAGEMENT.
b. Keller: But many Christians, who know the gospel, are nonetheless elder-brotherish. Despite the fact that they know the gospel of salvation by grace with their heads, their hearts go back to an elder-brotherish “default mode” of self-salvation. Here’s what the elder-brotherish attitude looks like. It is:
i. A deep & abiding anger (v.28—“became angry”). Elder brothers believe that God owes them a comfortable and good life if they try hard and live up to standards—and they have! So they say: “my life ought to be going really well!” and when it doesn’t they get angry. But they are forgetting Jesus. He lived a better life than any of us—but suffered terribly.
Sources of Anger with God.
1. God didn’t answer my cry for help—innumerable stories of desperate prayers in childhood to heal a brother from leukemia or to save a sister from an abusive uncle. GOD DIDN’T ANSWER, SO I DON’T BELIEVE.
2. Younger brother conflict produces even more anger (good things happen to bad people rather than to good people like me!)
3. Jesus offers grace: will you be transformed or grace destroy you.
a. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo.
b. Jean Valjean vs. Inspector Javert
c. Valjean, the thief, finds grace and forgiveness from God. His life is gradually transformed into the pursuit of justice and grace.
d. Javert, who has arrested, tracked, and sought his punishment for years, discovers that Valjean has truly become a just man, a good man.
e. the Inspector traps Valjean, but then cannot rightly arrest him, because he is mesmerized by the thought that an irredeemably evil criminal can become a good man, one deserving of mercy.
f. Javert the police inspector can arrest Valjean, more, he must arrest him because the Law requires him to do so - Valjean was on the barricade and is therefore a traitor deserving death; but Javert the moral judge witnesses the absolute goodness in the redeemed convict at the sparing of Javert's own life and that of another, and therefore must not arrest him, or else he must question his own moral judgements.
"Javert is faced with the situation where to act lawfully would mean to him acting immorally."
g. Valjean, embodying the perfect moral dilemma for a man like Javert, shatters the rigid codes by which Javert has governed his own life - and at the breaking of those behavioral dictates, Javert finds no other course but to kill himself. His worldview cannot tolerate even the notion of redemption, and as such, it has no room for mercy, nor grace.
h. the Inspector steps backward into the Seine and drowns; he chooses to die rather than arrest the man he has obsessively pursued for decades. JAVERT CANNOT HOLD BOTH IDEAS IN HIS MIND AT THE SAME TIME: THIS MAN DESERVES JUSTICE & THIS MAN HAS BECOME JUST.
i. God’s grace has destroyed Javert.
ii. A joyless and mechanical obedience (v.29—“I’ve been slaving for you”). Elder brothers obey God as a means to an end—as a way to get the things they really love. Of course, obedience to God is sometimes extremely hard. But elder brothers find obedience virtually always a joyless, mechanical, slavish thing as a result.
1. Elder brother—I’m still angry, I’ve done what you’ve asked, get off my back.
2. Superficial obedience to get God off my back.
3. Similar to the younger brother, the elder brother just wants the father to leave him alone, to be away from him.
4. I filled out the small group signup, leave me alone, etc.
a. I will be there at the starting time, don’t ask more.
5. Elder brothers can morph into self-loathing life.
a. You don’t love yourself, but at least you know it.
b. Jesus offers you something more.
iii. A coldness to younger brother-types (v.30—“this son of yours”). The older son will not even “own” his brother. Elder brothers are too disdainful of others unlike themselves to be effective in evangelism. Elder brothers, who pride themselves on their doctrinal and moral purity, unavoidably feel superior to those who do not have these things.
From my blog…
Yes, those of us who are broken younger brothers are not mystified by the behaviour of our older brothers …but it does hurt to be around their resentment. I'm VERY grateful for the father's forgiveness but the older brother is so distant and cold.
iv. A lack of assurance of the father’s love (v.29—you never threw me a party). As long as you are trying to earn your salvation by controlling God through your goodness, you will never be sure you have been good enough. What are the signs of this?
1. Every time something goes wrong in your life you wonder if it’s a punishment.
2. Another sign is irresolvable guilt. You can’t be sure you’ve repented deeply enough, so you beat yourself up over what you did.
3. Lastly, there is a lack of any sense of intimacy with God in your prayer life. You may pray a lot of prayers asking for things, but not sense his love.
v. An unforgiving, judgmental spirit. The elder brother does not want the father to forgive the younger brother. It is impossible to forgive someone if you feel “I would never do anything that bad!” You have to be something of an elder brother to refuse to forgive.
3. What we can do about this spiritual condition.
a. Notice that the parable doesn’t end, it merely STOPS.
b. Second, we have to see the shocking nature of the gospel.
i. Jesus ends the parable with the lostness of the older brother in order to get across the point that it is a more dangerous spiritual condition.
1. The younger brother knew he was alienated from the father, but
2. The elder brother did not.
a. If you tell moral, religious people who are trying to be good, trying to obey the Bible so God will bless them—that they are alienated from God, they will just be offended.
b. If you know you are sick you may go to a doctor;
c. if you don’t know you’re sick you won’t—you’ll just die.
ii. Moralistic religion works on the principle, “I obey, therefore God accepts me.”
iii. The gospel works on the principle, “I am accepted by God through Jesus Christ, therefore I obey.” These are two radically different, even opposite, dynamics.
iv. Yet both sets of people sit in church together, both pray, both obey the Ten Commandments, but for radically different reasons. And because they do these things for radically different reasons, they produce radically different results—different kinds of character.
1. One produces anger, joyless compliance, superiority, insecurity, and a condemning spirit.
2. The other slowly but inevitably produces contentment, joy, humility, poise, and a forgiving spirit.
v. Unless a person and a congregation knows the difference between general religiosity and the true gospel, people will constantly fall into moralism and elder-brotherishness.
1. And if you call younger brothers to receive Christ and live for him without making this distinction clear, they will automatically think you are inviting them to become elder brothers.
c. Third, we have to see the naked vulnerability of Jesus.
i. Jesus is addressing his mortal enemies, the men who will soon kill him. …He’s talking to those who want to kill him and telling them that they are lost, that they fundamentally misunderstand God’s salvation and purpose in the world, and that they are trampling on the heart of God.
ii. But at the same time, he is also being so loving and tender. When the father comes out to the older brother,
1. that is Jesus pleading with his enemies. He is urging them to see their fatal error. Jesus does not scream at his enemies, or smite them, but lovingly urges them to repent and come into his love.
2. And so we have a foreshadowing of that great moment on the cross when he says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). This love toward his enemies made him vulnerable and cost him his life.
3. On the cross, instead of blasting his enemies, he lovingly took the penalty of their sins on himself. While we were his enemies, Christ died for us (Rom 5:10).
iii. Knowing what he did for us must drain us of our self-righteousness and our insecurity.
1. We were so sinful he had to die for us.
2. But we were so loved that he was glad to die for us.
3. That takes away both the pride and the fear that makes us elder brothers.
iv. Solution:
1. “I am lost because I am so good.”
2. I have the favour of God because of who God is.
3. God finds me useful, even restoring me to himself.
4. God finds me fascinating, He loves me with an EXCESSIVE, a PRODIGIOUS LOVE!!!!
v. The END of the Story…
John MacArthur—ends the parable…the elder brother hates the father so much for being unloving, that he seizes the father and kills him.
Transition to prayer and communion…
Marriage Supper of the Lamb:
The Son is our host and our meal.
The Younger Brother
Keller's outline, my sermon.
Give Me Mine!
Luke 15:11-24
The third parable in Jesus’ response to the Pharisees is a story about a family—a father, an older son, and a younger son. The story begins when the younger son comes to the father and says, “Give me my share of the estate.” In ancient times, when the father died, the oldest son always got “a double portion” compared to the other children. Here, there are two sons, so the older would get two-thirds of the estate and the younger one-third. The story begins with the younger son asking for his share NOW.
1. A stunning request sets the story into motion. 15:11-12.
a. The younger son’s request was stunning, because the inheritance, of course, was not divided up and distributed to the children until the father died. As Kenneth Bailey writes: “In Middle Eastern culture, to ask for the inheritance while the Father is alive, is to wish him dead.”
i. The request would therefore have been a disgrace to the family name, because of the younger son’s extraordinary disrespect for his father. The father would have been expected to slap the impertinent son and send him packing.
ii. It would have also been a blow to the economic standing of the family, since the father would have to sell part of his estate in order to give him his share. In short, this request ripped the family apart. It was a relational and economic act of violence against the family’s integrity.
iii. It would have damaged the soul of the father: “assets” translates “bios” livelihood, or life. The LIFE of the father had to be divided!
b. Why would the younger son make such a request?
i. In his Confessions, Augustine gives us a theory of why we do what we do, and especially why we sin. He makes this startling observation: “A man has murdered another man—what was his motive? Either he desired his wife or his property or else he would steal to support himself; or else he was afraid of losing something to him; or else, having been injured, he was burning to be revenged.”2 Augustine goes on to say that even a murderer murders because he loves something. He loves romance or wealth or his reputation or something else too much, inordinately, more than God, and that is why he murders. Our hearts are distorted by “disordered loves.” We love, rest our hearts in, and look to things to give us the joy and meaning that only the Lord can give.
ii. The younger son LOVED HIS FATHER’s Things, rather than his father. Keller…His heart was set on the wealth and on the comfort, freedom and status that wealth brings. His father was just a means to an end. Now, however, his patience was over. He knew that the request would be like a knife in his father’s heart, but he obviously didn’t care.
iii. The two sons look very different, Yet at the end,
1. the older son is furious with the father and humiliates him by refusing to go into the great feast.
2. This is the older son’s way of saying that he will not live in the same family with the younger son.
3. So again the family’s integrity and the father’s heart are under assault—this time by the elder brother.
4. Why?
a. The elder brother objects to the expense of what the father is doing, as we will see.
b. He shows that he has been obeying the father to get his things, and not because he loves him, since he is willing to put him to shame. Both the older and younger sons love the father’s things, but not the father.
2. The father’s response to the request is shocking vv.12b, 20-24.
a. The younger’s son request to the father would have shocked Jesus’ listeners, but the father’s response is even more remarkable. This was a patriarchal society, in which you were required to show deference and reverence toward those older or above you. This kind of contempt and insolence would have ordinarily met with outrage.
i. The listeners would expect the father to explode in wrath, to drive the son out with blows.
ii. Instead, we read the simple words, “so he divided his property between them.” We need to put ourselves into the historical context. In those days, most of a family’s wealth was in their land and property. Indeed, their family land was part of their very identity. It is likely that the father had to sell some of his land in order to become “liquid” and give his younger son his share.
1. This is reflected in the unusual Greek word used in verse 12 translated as “property.” It is the word “bios” which means “life.” It says, literally, he divided his “life” between them. Why use that word? Probably it was a way to convey what it felt like for the father to lose his land, his family’s good name and status, and the presence of one of his two sons. The father is being asked to tear his very life apart—and he does.
2. The older son and anyone else in the community would have thought that the father was being foolish to give in to the younger son’s request. But looking back, we know better. If the father had become embittered, and had perhaps beaten the young man or done something else severe to him, no restoration would have ever happened. The father’s heart would have been too hardened to ever receive him back, and the son may never have expected or wanted the father to do so.
3. By bearing the agony and pain of the son’s sin himself, instead of taking revenge, instead of paying the son back by inflicting pain on him, the father kept the door open in the relationship. The father was willing to suffer for the sin of the child, so that some day reconciliation would be possible.
3. The painful generosity of the father turned into a disaster.
a. The younger son took all he was given and left.
i. He left the family.
ii. He left the region.
iii. He left the faith.
b. The younger son left his family broken in order to buy a new family.
i. Lots of cash flowing, lots of friends.
ii. When the money’s gone, his friends were gone as well.
Billie Holiday…
Money, you've got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you're gone, spending ends
They don't come no more
Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don't take too much
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own
iii. Loss of money and friends reduces him to poverty…
1. Spent all he had.
2. A severe famine developed in the region.
3. He “attached himself” to a citizen in the far country…
a. Fed his livestock: swine, a humiliation for a son of Israel.
b. Hungry enough to long for the hog’s food.
Luke 15:14–16 ““Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. “And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.”
iv. He showed signs of repentance.
1. “When he came to his senses…”
2. He concocted a plan to return to his father.
3. His plan included a
a. CONFESSION of SIN AGAINST HEAVEN AND
b. IN HIS FATHER’S SIGHT.
c. A Confession that he was no longer worthy of family membership.
d. An intension to repay what he had wasted by his work.
Luke 15:17–19 ““But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’”
4. He did NOT understand forgiveness and grace.
a. I will pay you back.
b. I will not expect to be treated as a son.
c. Humility, confession, restitution, but
d. grace neither assumed nor expected.
4. The disaster is transformed into delight.
a. The father is discovered awaiting the return of the son.
b. The father sees the returning son, recognizes him, and runs to him. Nouwen: “Parable of the Running Father.”
i. Children ran, women ran,
ii. Everyone ran to the father.
iii. but the head of the clan WOULD NOT RUN.
5. So what?
a. We recognize ourselves in these self-concerned obsessions.
i. We, too, find ourselves impulsively self-expressive; our culture is built around…
1. self-actualization, becoming all we can be for our own sake.
2. Possessing the latest and the best.
3. Full of Augustine’s “inordinate love” for things other than God.
ii. Recognize these things for what they are. Do you see them in your own heart and life? Once we see these things for what they are, what can be done about them?
b. We recognize Jesus in the story in that our Lord has done for us what the father in the parable did for his son.
i. When God came into this world, we would have expected him to come in wrath, to appear and drive us out with blows. But he did not. He didn’t come with a sword in his hand, but with nails in his hands. He didn’t come to bring judgment, but to bear our judgment.
ii. Jesus went to the cross in weakness, and there, voluntarily, his life was literally torn apart. And for his only property left, his garment, they cast lots. But he did it so that, when we repent, like the younger son, forgiveness and reconciliation is now available.
iii. And how does this help us with our “disordered loves”?
1. Objectively, it means there is real, true forgiveness for them. Our guilt is dealt with by Jesus’ blood.
2. Subjectively, when we see the absolute beauty of what Jesus has done for us, it captures our hearts.
a. Money can’t die for us, popularity can’t die for us.
b. There is nothing more beautiful in all of reality than the picture of a perfectly happy Being, leaving all the bliss of heaven, and sacrificing everything for the sake of rebellious, undeserving, ungrateful people.
c. The more you look at Jesus doing that, the more you will love him above anyone or anything else. He will capture your heart so that nothing matters more than he does. When you see what he’s done for you, it makes the worst times bearable and the best times leave-able.
3. This story is about the dissolution of a family. Two assaults put the family under attack. The first comes from the younger brother, the second from the older brother.
a. The first assault is on the dignity of the father.
b. The second assault is on the financial stability of the family.
c. The third assault is on the family’s status in the area.
d. The next set of assaults comes from the elder brother, which we will carefully study next week.
4. Jesus, though, was not on a quest to raise the flag for families in the first century. Underlying the story of a broken family, Jesus is answering the question “who belongs to our community?”
a. Idolatry, preferring the father’s things to the Father, destroys community.
b. We might think, “I’m not a younger brother, I’m here!”
c. When “love”, power, money, status comes available, you check out. That tells me I am a younger brother.
Give Me Mine!
Luke 15:11-24
The third parable in Jesus’ response to the Pharisees is a story about a family—a father, an older son, and a younger son. The story begins when the younger son comes to the father and says, “Give me my share of the estate.” In ancient times, when the father died, the oldest son always got “a double portion” compared to the other children. Here, there are two sons, so the older would get two-thirds of the estate and the younger one-third. The story begins with the younger son asking for his share NOW.
1. A stunning request sets the story into motion. 15:11-12.
a. The younger son’s request was stunning, because the inheritance, of course, was not divided up and distributed to the children until the father died. As Kenneth Bailey writes: “In Middle Eastern culture, to ask for the inheritance while the Father is alive, is to wish him dead.”
i. The request would therefore have been a disgrace to the family name, because of the younger son’s extraordinary disrespect for his father. The father would have been expected to slap the impertinent son and send him packing.
ii. It would have also been a blow to the economic standing of the family, since the father would have to sell part of his estate in order to give him his share. In short, this request ripped the family apart. It was a relational and economic act of violence against the family’s integrity.
iii. It would have damaged the soul of the father: “assets” translates “bios” livelihood, or life. The LIFE of the father had to be divided!
b. Why would the younger son make such a request?
i. In his Confessions, Augustine gives us a theory of why we do what we do, and especially why we sin. He makes this startling observation: “A man has murdered another man—what was his motive? Either he desired his wife or his property or else he would steal to support himself; or else he was afraid of losing something to him; or else, having been injured, he was burning to be revenged.”2 Augustine goes on to say that even a murderer murders because he loves something. He loves romance or wealth or his reputation or something else too much, inordinately, more than God, and that is why he murders. Our hearts are distorted by “disordered loves.” We love, rest our hearts in, and look to things to give us the joy and meaning that only the Lord can give.
ii. The younger son LOVED HIS FATHER’s Things, rather than his father. Keller…His heart was set on the wealth and on the comfort, freedom and status that wealth brings. His father was just a means to an end. Now, however, his patience was over. He knew that the request would be like a knife in his father’s heart, but he obviously didn’t care.
iii. The two sons look very different, Yet at the end,
1. the older son is furious with the father and humiliates him by refusing to go into the great feast.
2. This is the older son’s way of saying that he will not live in the same family with the younger son.
3. So again the family’s integrity and the father’s heart are under assault—this time by the elder brother.
4. Why?
a. The elder brother objects to the expense of what the father is doing, as we will see.
b. He shows that he has been obeying the father to get his things, and not because he loves him, since he is willing to put him to shame. Both the older and younger sons love the father’s things, but not the father.
2. The father’s response to the request is shocking vv.12b, 20-24.
a. The younger’s son request to the father would have shocked Jesus’ listeners, but the father’s response is even more remarkable. This was a patriarchal society, in which you were required to show deference and reverence toward those older or above you. This kind of contempt and insolence would have ordinarily met with outrage.
i. The listeners would expect the father to explode in wrath, to drive the son out with blows.
ii. Instead, we read the simple words, “so he divided his property between them.” We need to put ourselves into the historical context. In those days, most of a family’s wealth was in their land and property. Indeed, their family land was part of their very identity. It is likely that the father had to sell some of his land in order to become “liquid” and give his younger son his share.
1. This is reflected in the unusual Greek word used in verse 12 translated as “property.” It is the word “bios” which means “life.” It says, literally, he divided his “life” between them. Why use that word? Probably it was a way to convey what it felt like for the father to lose his land, his family’s good name and status, and the presence of one of his two sons. The father is being asked to tear his very life apart—and he does.
2. The older son and anyone else in the community would have thought that the father was being foolish to give in to the younger son’s request. But looking back, we know better. If the father had become embittered, and had perhaps beaten the young man or done something else severe to him, no restoration would have ever happened. The father’s heart would have been too hardened to ever receive him back, and the son may never have expected or wanted the father to do so.
3. By bearing the agony and pain of the son’s sin himself, instead of taking revenge, instead of paying the son back by inflicting pain on him, the father kept the door open in the relationship. The father was willing to suffer for the sin of the child, so that some day reconciliation would be possible.
3. The painful generosity of the father turned into a disaster.
a. The younger son took all he was given and left.
i. He left the family.
ii. He left the region.
iii. He left the faith.
b. The younger son left his family broken in order to buy a new family.
i. Lots of cash flowing, lots of friends.
ii. When the money’s gone, his friends were gone as well.
Billie Holiday…
Money, you've got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you're gone, spending ends
They don't come no more
Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don't take too much
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own
iii. Loss of money and friends reduces him to poverty…
1. Spent all he had.
2. A severe famine developed in the region.
3. He “attached himself” to a citizen in the far country…
a. Fed his livestock: swine, a humiliation for a son of Israel.
b. Hungry enough to long for the hog’s food.
Luke 15:14–16 ““Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. “And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. “And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.”
iv. He showed signs of repentance.
1. “When he came to his senses…”
2. He concocted a plan to return to his father.
3. His plan included a
a. CONFESSION of SIN AGAINST HEAVEN AND
b. IN HIS FATHER’S SIGHT.
c. A Confession that he was no longer worthy of family membership.
d. An intension to repay what he had wasted by his work.
Luke 15:17–19 ““But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’”
4. He did NOT understand forgiveness and grace.
a. I will pay you back.
b. I will not expect to be treated as a son.
c. Humility, confession, restitution, but
d. grace neither assumed nor expected.
4. The disaster is transformed into delight.
a. The father is discovered awaiting the return of the son.
b. The father sees the returning son, recognizes him, and runs to him. Nouwen: “Parable of the Running Father.”
i. Children ran, women ran,
ii. Everyone ran to the father.
iii. but the head of the clan WOULD NOT RUN.
5. So what?
a. We recognize ourselves in these self-concerned obsessions.
i. We, too, find ourselves impulsively self-expressive; our culture is built around…
1. self-actualization, becoming all we can be for our own sake.
2. Possessing the latest and the best.
3. Full of Augustine’s “inordinate love” for things other than God.
ii. Recognize these things for what they are. Do you see them in your own heart and life? Once we see these things for what they are, what can be done about them?
b. We recognize Jesus in the story in that our Lord has done for us what the father in the parable did for his son.
i. When God came into this world, we would have expected him to come in wrath, to appear and drive us out with blows. But he did not. He didn’t come with a sword in his hand, but with nails in his hands. He didn’t come to bring judgment, but to bear our judgment.
ii. Jesus went to the cross in weakness, and there, voluntarily, his life was literally torn apart. And for his only property left, his garment, they cast lots. But he did it so that, when we repent, like the younger son, forgiveness and reconciliation is now available.
iii. And how does this help us with our “disordered loves”?
1. Objectively, it means there is real, true forgiveness for them. Our guilt is dealt with by Jesus’ blood.
2. Subjectively, when we see the absolute beauty of what Jesus has done for us, it captures our hearts.
a. Money can’t die for us, popularity can’t die for us.
b. There is nothing more beautiful in all of reality than the picture of a perfectly happy Being, leaving all the bliss of heaven, and sacrificing everything for the sake of rebellious, undeserving, ungrateful people.
c. The more you look at Jesus doing that, the more you will love him above anyone or anything else. He will capture your heart so that nothing matters more than he does. When you see what he’s done for you, it makes the worst times bearable and the best times leave-able.
3. This story is about the dissolution of a family. Two assaults put the family under attack. The first comes from the younger brother, the second from the older brother.
a. The first assault is on the dignity of the father.
b. The second assault is on the financial stability of the family.
c. The third assault is on the family’s status in the area.
d. The next set of assaults comes from the elder brother, which we will carefully study next week.
4. Jesus, though, was not on a quest to raise the flag for families in the first century. Underlying the story of a broken family, Jesus is answering the question “who belongs to our community?”
a. Idolatry, preferring the father’s things to the Father, destroys community.
b. We might think, “I’m not a younger brother, I’m here!”
c. When “love”, power, money, status comes available, you check out. That tells me I am a younger brother.
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