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Life: God’s Version of ‘Take Your Child to Work’ Day Week 5: Work Priorities–A sermon on Luke 14:1-14
Life: God’s Version of
‘Take Your Child to Work’ Day
Week 5: Work Priorities
Luke 14:1-14
† IHS †
May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ embrace you as your priotities in life begin to reflect Jesus’ priorities!
I wanna Do it My way!
There is an old phrase that comes into play when children go to work with their dads. It is that someone grew to big for their britches
You know the attitude, when the child tells God they know exactly how to get the work done, and they don’t need the Father, or their God’s direction or oversight
I can hear the cries…
“I can do it…!!!!”
“I know what I’m doing..”
And of course the famous, “I did it my way!!!”
Yeah, I remember a couple of projects I did my way…. I am amazed my dad let me – and even more amazed he didn’t laugh over the completed work….
The biggest lessons I would learn in those moments was that there was an order to do things, a priority, and that usually included doing the hardest and most challenging thing first.
In today’s gospel, there is a couple of priorities set by Jesus, or priorities reset by Jesus.
Higher Priority – People over Practices
The first priority is seen at the home of the one of the chief pharisees.
There’s a man there in pain, and it time for fellowship after they had worshipped together, they are ignoring him. I don’t know how long he’s had edema, but I know the pain the man was enduring. His issue was caused by a poorly functioning heart, which gathers in the legs and chest to cause more tension so that blood can return to the heart. Edema is a symptom, but it makes it harder to walk, harder to do anything – and as it turns to congestive heart failure, it can result in a brain fog.
And the poor guy is all but ignored by the pharisees.
Jesus notices him, not just like, ‘there’s Joe,’ but, ‘there’s Joe, and he’s in a lot of pain!” I Compelled to do something, Jesus also realzies that he can help—and yet there are other hearts that need to be healed.
Other hearts that are struggling and under pressure, and whose answer to Jesus’s question about healing on the Sabbath, shows that they are in a fog as well. They were so focused on proving their holiness, by keeping all the rules – God and their own, that they forget about God. Their hearts were far from them, and the harder they worked to keep the rules, the more pressure they put on their heart and soul.
They had spiritual edema!
Instead, excess water being stored in their legs, they had so much that caused them to lose focus on God’s love. You see pharisees and those who were “experts in the law” knew more, and tried to live life perfectly, and they added all these rules that would prevent them from accidently breaking any commandment. If you’ve ever seen the Jewish people who were all black, have the really cool hats and the men have long rair with ringlets – the are Hassidic, the modern Pharisees who say they keep the law. They would even tithe their spice rack, Jesus said “23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Matthew 23:23 (NLT2) Can you imagine yelling at your ids or your parents for interrupting your count of garlic salt and dividing one in 10 grains to give to the church kitchen?
A lot of those rules were attempts to keep safe the Lord’s name, and to keep holy the Sabbath.
When they wer faced with a decision not covered by their rules, scripture says, “they could not answer…”
Jesus’ didn’t just heal the man with physical edema. He would die to heal them of their spiritual edema to do, as he promised through Ezekiel. “26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NLT2)
That is the promise of baptism, what starts as God claims us as His own and cleanse us of all sin…
That new heart gets rid of all the edema, and more importantly it heals the cause of it. In the process, we see others with spiritual edema – and we want to see them find the cure we do… and that is more a priority…than our man-made rules and routines.
Prioritizing People
Even as we look at how Jesus teaches us to prioritize people’s hearts and souls over the the systems and structures we have put in place, He also teaches us how to prioritize people.
It starts by talking about our own place in the world, and not assuming we get the best position—even though God promises we are His prized possession, but like Jesus leaving heaven, embracing the lower position isn’t a big deal.
Nor is making sure you have done proper networking, making sure you get all the “best” people over for dinner. Jesus said it this way,
12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
The cool thing is you, when you do such things, are doing what Jesus did. Giving up, even sacrificing the easy life, ot make sure those with edema, or spiritual edema, are taken care of, even it is takes a little more effort. Some of those are physically disabled, but look out as much for those who are spiritually disabled, cripped by past experiences, blinded to the truth.
In need of a healer, in need of Jesus.
For once we in need of His healing… and most of us still are. But He is here, caring for us. As we go to work, as we do things the Father’s way, we find ourselves caring for them, as they, like we, are to be His work of art, created anew in Christ Jesus. AMEN.
Who is Your Man? Luke 14:1-14
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Who is Your Man?
Luke 14:1-14
† I.H.S. †
May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bring you comfort and peace, allowing you the chance to look around, and see others need for that comfort and peace!
Who is “this man”… for you?
As they settled down for dinner, all attention was on Jesus, the “honored” guest.
I say “honored” that way, because the Greek is clear, they were on guard, not sure about what he was going to say. They had heard cool things about His ministry, the miracles, the crowds. But they also heard about the concerns, that people had claimed he was a blasphemer, that there had been mobs that had tried to stone him, and that many of the pharisees stood against them, perhaps even the one who invited him this night!
and off in the back, was a man no one noticed.
How he had gotten there, it doesn’t say. The pain levels he was encountering were severe. Whether the swollen legs were cause by heart failure, or by blood clots, or diabetes, we don’t know. But they didn’t have water pills in those days, and his legs were many times larger than they should be.
Even still, he was there, this man that was overlooked, and not one noticed.
Except Jesus. He did, and despite the opposition, he performed a miracle, and healed this man!
Which brings us to
my sermon question for this day.
If we apply this passage to your life, who is “your” man? Who is the person in need that you are
overlooking? Who is in need? Into whose life had God drawn you, so that you
could help them?
The Parable and the Man
After Jesus heals the man, he sends him off. Then he talks to the pharisees and the experts in religion about what He had done and whether it was kosher to do it on the Sabbath. They had a paradox to work through, an ethical dilemma. Minister to someone in need, and break man’s interpretation of God’s law, or obey God’s law and leave the man in pain and in danger of dying?
They can’t answer.
So Jesus tells the parable, and gives them direction. We need to realize that Jesus wasn’t changing the subject, this is the same context, the same conversation.
So who is the more distinguished person Jesus advises everyone to leave the best seat for?
Looking at the text of the entire passage, I think it is the man who is hurting, the one whose body is broken. The reason I say this is the words from verse fourteen,
Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
The most distinguished people in God’s way of thinking, are those in need. Whether it is because they are physically broken, mentally broken, or spiritually broken by sin and its partners, guilt and shame, these are the people that have value in God’s mind.
For when you care
for them, you are caring for Jesus
I mentioned those broken by sin, by guilt and shame. I think we need to examine
how we treat those people. I am not just talking about sinners like murderers
and rapists, I am talking about those who have trouble with envy, or gossip,
lust, or using God’s word in the wrong way, to curse or swear. We can add those who don’t use God’s name to
praise or pray to Him as well, or who run to other gods, like drugs or sex or
work, rather than depend on God to bring healing to their brokenness.
They are the people, these people that are broken and crushed by the weight of
sin, that we need to be aware of, that we need to see, that we need to
serve. They are the people that we need
to invite to feast, and it was for such people that this place, this altar was
put here.
Not for people who think they have a right to them
But for those who are broken, for those who are sinners
For you and I…
.
The Gospel – for Jesus, “this man” is for you
You see, you and I can have several roles in this story. Far too often, we
are like the ones who try to get the best seats in the house. That needs to stop! We can be like Jesus,
seeing those who need to see and hear and find healing. That should be our goal, and every single one
of us needs to become accustom to seeing and inviting those God is preparing,
those who God would see us help.
But before we are ready to imitate Jesus, we all need to see our role in this
story as being the man with the swollen arms and legs, the man who is broken
and needs healing.
The sinner who Jesus comes to and says, “Friend, we have a better place for
you!”
We have to realize that is where we start, and as you come to communion this
morning, hear Jesus’s voice calling to you, bringing you here, and remember
that He is healing your brokenness.
For that is why He died on the cross, to take than sin from us. That is why we
united to His death and resurrection in baptism. That is why the book of Hebrews echo’s Jesus
invitation,
16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our
gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help
us when we need it most.
Hebrews 4:16 (NLT2)
My friends, we need to think through what He’s done, to remember this death we proclaim every time we commune, to remember the forgiveness that is ours because His blood was shed for us.
As we look around this room, and around our community, looking for these broken people God values, may we never forget He looked around, saw us broken, and invited us to dine with Him. AMEN!
