I just wanted to cover off one part of last weeks sermon concerning what Leonard Ravenhill said about the 6 month shelf life of a prophet because of the hard message they may bring. In context, that was when Jesus spoke a hard word to the religious leaders, that in spite of their opposition, he would press on to Jerusalem where he prophesied he was going to die. And in the Parable of the Fig Tree which is applicable to PCC in the season we are in, while God is doing a new thing, there is a warning that comes through continuing to not bear fruit. There is a time limit.
But that is not to conclude that a prophecy will always be harsh in the Church. It depends on what God wants to say at any point in time ultimately to build up the Church, in many cases it will be encouraging, sometimes rebuke and correction. That is what Paul instructed Timothy to do;
2 Timothy 4:2
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
Whether it’s the right season or not, we preach the Word and that will sometimes be to convince, sometimes to rebuke and sometimes to exhort or encourage.
But whatever Word we bring, it needs to be done in humility for the benefit of others in order to build up the Church;
1 Corinthians 14:26,40
How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification…Let all things be done decently and in order.
We have now added 1 Corinthians 14:26 and 40 to our Share, Care and Prayer time slide as a reminder of the purpose of our open time. That applies to anyone bringing a message including the Preacher, and especially to be in tune with what the Holy Spirit wants to say to us each Sunday. Because it is too easy to get bound up by our own ideas about Church rather than what God may want to do in our Service.
During the week, Robin and I spent some time trying to navigate through the mental health system on behalf of someone, only to go around in circles. I don’t blame the people but based on the evidence of this week, the system is not functioning as it should quite possibly because it is overloaded.
Regardless of that, there is only so much that doctors can do in some cases. We need an intervention from the Lord.
That is exactly the problem the Pharisees had and Jesus needed to correct as we shall read today.
Luke 14:1-6
Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” And they could not answer Him regarding these things.
Luke the Doctor gives the medical diagnosis and it’s a serious one. Dropsy is the abnormal buildup of watery fluid in the body's tissues, cells, or cavities pointing to such serious illnesses as congestive heart failure, kidney disease, liver cirrhosis, or severe malnutrition. This man did not have long to live.
But Jesus intervened. He took hold of the man and healed him. Is there a situation that you are facing which you need the Lord to take hold of. There are some situations which are beyond medical expertise, Luke knew that being a doctor. But there is no situation to hard for Jesus and he healed the man.
It was a great miracle and something to be very happy about but instead the focus shifted to the wrong thing. I’m afraid that is the problem with blindly following procedures because it’s easy to forget what the purpose was in the first place. Hospitals are for sick people to get well. Church is for people to get saved. Processes should aid that purpose not put barriers on the way.
The religion of the Pharisees had people with serious conditions jumping through religious hoops. The man was desperate. There was no time to be lost. The religion of the Pharisees placed restrictions that God had not intended. The Sabbath was for the benefit of man. For rest and to be a day to connect with God. If God wanted to heal on the Sabbath, so be it. In fact, the Pharisees were prepared to save an animal but not a person. Does that sound a little bit like Greenpeace to you?
This should have been a great day but the Pharisees poured cold water on it. What was wrong with them?
Luke 14:7-11
So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them: “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
They were more concerned with status and how things looked to others than a person with a critical need right in front of their eyes. Helping someone with a medical condition or casting out a demon is not pleasant work. It’s tough and it takes a lot out of you because you are entering a battlefield.
They didn’t consider to stoop down low and get their hands dirty. The problem was their pride.
There are a few people in society who get on with the dirty work, and they often go unnoticed or unrecognised because they don’t make a noise about what they’re doing but they are getting things done. It’s the same in the Church. But the Lord sees and they will get their reward.
Luke 14:12-15
Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
God’s Grace is not conditional, it extends to everyone but especially to those who need it the most.
It is easy to include people just like me, my friends, my family, my culture. It is harder to reach out to people who are not like me, not part of my circle who probably can’t return the favour. If it wasn’t for the words that Jesus spoke in passages such as this, probably I never would have. Jesus teaches that all people matter to God, from the very highest to the very lowest. Look around this Church, we are a mix of people that God has chosen from across the spectrum of society. That’s the way it is in God’s Kingdom. PCC has always been a church for the broken, for the outsider as much as for the people who have done well in life. We are part of God’s family, and we take care of each other. Now at this time, God is wanting us to grow and that does mean stepping out of our comfort zone, reaching out to people who may not be like us but also are ones God wants to invite.
Luke 14:16-21a
Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master.
A strange thing happened when it came time for the party. Those invited began making excuses as to why they couldn’t come. They were busy with life. One had bought some land and had a plan to build on it. Another had invested in an oxen to plow his field - in modern day language, he had a new tractor, and he wanted to test it out. The last said he had just got married. But normally a newly married couple would go to a party, so it was strange to turn down the invitation. They were all engrossed in their own pet projects.
What were the 3 things that held them back?
- Their possessions
- Their plans
- A relationship.
Isn’t that just like a lot of people today. They would find it hard make the Lord their priority.
It may be time to reprioritise one of those things. Our possession, our plans, a relationship even. Because the party is going ahead whether we’re there or not. Don’t forget the one who invited you to his party.
Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
If we turn him down, he brings in others who were the least in society instead. We don’t want to lose our place to someone else.
What was happening right before their eyes was that the least in their society - the poor, the sick, the disabled were entering the Kingdom, and the Pharisees were missing out because of blind faith in tradition, their hypocrisy and their pride.
Don’t let your pride stand in the way!
I can’t think of something much worse than missing out on Heaven because I had my priorities wrong. We need to hold the things down here lightly. Our plans, our possessions, our relationships.
Seek first the Kingdom of God Jesus said.
The invitation was extended further to those in the highways and byways. That’s the people of all the World, the Gentiles like you me.
So look around you. Is there someone you know who seems the least likely candidate. That’s someone God wants to invite.
But even that time, the Age of Grace will come to an end and the door to the Party will be shut.
Don’t let it shut on you!
Let’s Pray.
