Sweetly Broken? / Weapon of THANKS

How I need to be reminded that I’m not here to simply go through the motions and watch time slip away… day by day… month by month… year by year. My life… and your life… is meant to be lived with an amazing purpose – to truly be grander and better than we could ever imagine. Our lives are meant to actually be USED BY THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE! That is awesome to think about. Each and every day, I want to seek for the LORD to interrupt my life… to reach down and disturb my plans… to bring those “GOD/KAIROS” moments. Why?       

Because I want my life to be about Jesus… nothing else. I want Him to smile. I want to bring Him glory. I want to accomplish all that He has planned… for me. 

I’m learning something though. As much as I say that… as much as in my heart of hearts I truly want all that… I’m often side-tracked. Two things, I believe, are huge distractions to those of us wanting to live on God’s KAIROS TIME… to live according to HIS PURPOSE:

                 1. Concern over worldly, materialistic stuff.
                2. Pain. 

That first one, is always a struggle. Just when I think I’ve gotten pretty good at not being selfish… I find myself wrapped up in things that, ultimately, don’t matter. I think the best way to combat this is by ‘being thankful’. When I see everything as a gift from God, I can better put it in perspective, and not get so wrapped up in it. So often I hear people say, “Be thankful”. During the Thanksgiving season, I’ll read that all over the place… “Be thankful”. But does that really make sense? WHO are we supposed to be thankful to? Well… as a Christian, I’ll tell ya: we're to be thankful to GOD. 

Deut. 8:10
“When you eat and are full, you will praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.” 

The second thing that often distracts me from seeking KAIROS MOMENTS in my daily life… distracts me from living according to God’s purposes… is PAIN. Much like if you’ve ever had a strained back… how it literally affects EVERYTHING you do. So too, when there is something painful happening in your life, it can become this over-shadowing thing that seems to darken your vision for anything else… especially the plan that God has for you. 

Most of you know my story… what my family is currently going through. Many of you have been such a blessing. But what if my little solution to #1… “being thankful to God for all that I have” can keep me from becoming too materialistic and being distracted from God’s purposes – is also the solution to #2? 

I mean, of course we should thank God for the blessings He’s lavished upon us… but what if we were to also be thankful for the hardships, trials, … and the pain? 

1 Thess. 5:18
Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 14:15-20
When evening came, the disciples approached Him and said, “This place is a wilderness, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” “They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. “You give them something to eat.”“But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to Him.“Bring them here to Me,” He said. Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces!

 This story is in every one of the four Gospels, and in each one it specifically says that right before Jesus fed the thousands He “blessed” the food. Some translations say, “He gave thanks.” Jesus took limited resources – five loaves and two fish – blessed them, gave them out, and fed five thousand. 

Notice, however, that in-between blessing and giving, there was breaking. 

I find this to be very true in life: Oftentimes, in-between God’s blessing us… and then giving us out to nourish and feed others… He allows us to be broken. 

You might say, “I don’t have much. My talents are limited. My gifts aren’t great.” That’s okay. In the Lord’s hand, a little goes a long way if you will let Him bless you and break you. 

I think of Mary with the alabaster box, anointing Jesus and ministering to Him. The box had to be broken before ministry could flow (Mark 14:3). I think of Gideon, whose three hundred men put torches in clay pots as they surrounded the hosts of the Midianites. On a given signal they broke the clay pots, and the light flooded out. Confused by the light, the Midianites fought one another and destroyed themselves. Israel was victorious because before the battle was fought, the clay pots were broken (Judges 7:19).

 People often say, “God has been good to me and I want to be used in ministry. Why then am I going through the pits and through such difficulty?” The answer is very simple:  

Before the Lord can use a person greatly,

He often allows them to be hurt

and broken deeply. 

There’s just no other way. Pride must go. Self-sufficiency must die. Why? I think maybe its to make way for the tenderness and compassion that comes only through the breaking process.

May I Be Excused?

Luke 14:15 – HCSB

15 When one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!”

As we’ve been studying recently here in Luke 14, we know that Jesus has been invited to dinner by some leading religious people. He has taken the opportunity to give them some much-unwanted advice concerning where they chose to sit… and their guest list. He has been pointing out their issues of pride and feelings of social superiority. He has challenged them to consider being humble… and to consider sincerely offering friendship to those outside their comfort-zones.

It is immediately after Jesus admonishes them to invite ‘social outcasts’ to their future get-togethers that a man interrupts and boldly says, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!” Sounds good, right? Well…

Remember, the last thing Jesus had said, in verse 14, was; “…for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous”? You see, the Jews had some pretty determined ideas of what the ‘resurrection of the righteous’ was… what it would look like when God finally broke into history.

They imagined, and endlessly discussed, how wonderful it was going to be. Not only would the bad guys in charge be overthrown and finally put in their place, but there would be other wonderful things that would accompany this ‘golden age’. One of those things would be a great feast, given by God to His own people, where He’d literally serve up Leviathan, the sea monster, as part of the food! (ideas like this came from obscure passages of Scripture [Isaiah 27:1 & Psalm 74:14] as well as fabricated legend that had been passed down from generation to generation).

This interrupting man was thinking of all this when he blurted out “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed”. You have to understand that, in his mind, he imagined ‘the one who will eat…’ to be the JEWS… only. In a sense, he is responding to Jesus’ admonishment that they actually invite ‘outcasts’ to their future banquets, by stating “Well… that’s all good and fine – I guess we could consider inviting the blind, poor, lame, and maimed to our future parties… but EVERYONE KNOWS that only we JEWS are going to be the blessed ones that get invited to the banquet that God is going to be throwing.” When he spoke up, everyone at the table, including Jesus, understood what he was inferring to.

That is why Jesus immediately tells the following story:

Luke 14:16-24 – HCSB

16 Then He told him: “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. 17 At the time of the banquet, he sent his slave to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’18 “But without exception they all began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. I ask you to excuse me.’19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out. I ask you to excuse me.’20 “And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’21 “So the slave came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’22 “‘Master,’ the slave said, ‘what you ordered has been done, and there’s still room.’23 “Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will enjoy my banquet!’”

In Palestine, when a person threw a party or a banquet, the date was announced way beforehand, and the invitations were sent out and accepted way beforehand. However, the hour wasn’t announced, because the host wouldn’t want people to arrive before all the food could be properly prepared, and without conventional ovens and microwaves, many times they were dependant on weather conditions and the amount of servants available, and so on… When the day did come, and things were ready, servants would be sent out to alert the invited guests. To accept the invitation beforehand and then refuse it on the day of the party was horribly offensive, because of the way that the food had been prepared! It was a serious insult to the host.

In Jesus’ story, the Master stands for God. The originally invited guests stand for the Jews. Throughout all of history they had been waiting for God to interrupt and break in… to rescue them and throw this big feast, and when He finally did, now that He had sent His Son, they tragically refused His invitation. The poor, maimed, blind, and lame people represent the tax-collectors and sinners who had welcomed Jesus in ways that the orthodox, religious folks just weren’t. Those gathered on the streets and in the alleys represent all the Gentiles (the non-Jews) for whom there was lots of room at God’s feast.

So… there was lots going on in Jesus’ parable. Lots of stuff that would have been pretty upsetting for those religious Jews and leaders sitting around the table that day.

And even though this was a very specific indictment to the Jews that were rejecting God’s invitation through Jesus…

And even though this was, at the same time, incredibly great news for all the non-Jews who were accepting of God’s invitation through Jesus…

                …there are some very powerful truths in this story of Jesus’… for us today:

In Jesus’ story, the invited guests had three excuses… excuses that aren’t too different than many of the excuses that many people will use today, as they decline God’s invitation to do whatever it is He’s asking them to do.

The first man said he’d bought a field, and was going to go see it. He allowed his own business venture to take the place of him accepting God’s invitation. Today we see this all the time, right? It’s not that people aren’t calling themselves Christian, or anxiously waiting for that place called ‘Heaven’ one day… but they become so immersed in the things of this world, that they have no time to worship, pray, read the Word, or really much of anything that would be considered something a “God-follower” would do. For them, work and business always seem to come first.

The second man said that he had “bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m going to try them out”. He let the new ‘stuff’ he had bought keep him from accepting the Master’s invitation. This happens a lot today, as well. Many times when people have purchased a new ‘novelty’ item – in this case it was ten oxen, strapped together in twos with a yoke, and probably for pulling a plow – so this guy is probably a farmer – today the man might say, “I just bought a new tractor and I want to get this thing out in the field”- they can get so taken up with them that their desire to worship or chase after God gets crowded out.

People have been known to acquire a boat… or a motorcycle… or a hunting license… and say, “Well, we used to go to church and worship and learn more about God on the weekend, but now we enjoy going for rides, or hanging at the lake… or tromping through the woods… I mean, we only get a couple of days off!”

I’m NOT saying that if you miss church occasionally you are less of a Christian! What I am saying is that it’s dangerously easy for a new game, a new hobby, even a new friendship to take up even the time that should be kept sacred, and separated, for deepening our relationships with God. When those things become an excuse that keeps you from accepting the Master’s invitation… be aware.

The third man said, “I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.” One of the coolest, most merciful laws in the Old Testament is found in Deuteronomy 24:5:

“When a man takes a bride, he must not go out with the army or be liable for any duty. He is free to stay at home for one year, so that he can bring joy to the wife he has married.”

Maybe this guy had that law in mind when he gave this particular excuse? Whatever was in his mind, if I’m honest, this is actually a pretty darn good excuse, right? I mean, the guy just got married! The truth is… no matter how good the excuse is, if it crowds God out of your life, then it ain’t right.

Today, we emphasize the ‘family’ so much in Christianity. We have wonderful ministries, like ‘Focus On The Family’, and we often talk about being better mothers and fathers to our children. We stress the importance of maintaining a good, healthy marriage – because it seems that Satan will always attack the individual family units in a church first. I think we SHOULD emphasize these things, because they are absolutely important!

However, there is no lovelier thing, than a home that is anchored in Christ. It has been said, “They live best together who live with God”. The atmosphere of a home is best when those who dwell within it never forget that they are also members of the great family and household of God. I am a huge believer in being at all your kids’ games. I’m a huge believer in scheduling a ‘date-night’ with your spouse. I’m a huge believer in having regular ‘family-nights’ and ‘family-dinners’ around the table. But I am also a huge believer that God and His Body – the Church – are also vitally important! When I hear a person say that they are no longer fellowshipping with a local church, because they want to spend more time with their families… I have a real problem with it. Why? Because the invitation from the Master has gone out… not only to have healthy marriages and quality kid-time, but to be a part of His BODY (1 Corinthians 12)… and to not ‘forsake assembling together’ (Hebrews 10:25).

Last week I mentioned how the dinner table was perceived in Biblical times. I told you that it was often said that “a shared table is a shared life”… and that an invitation to dinner was seen as an invitation to friendship.

• What about when it’s Jesus doing the inviting? How will you and I respond to His invitation to intimacy, life, and friendship with Him?
• Will we politely say, “May I Be Excused?”
• Will we offer up some random excuse that ultimately gives a pretty good picture of what we think about the One inviting us… in comparison to our business/work, our hobbies and our toys, and even our families?
• May you and I be those, - no matter where Jesus has found us, in the church our whole lives, or in the alleyways and streets as total outcasts – that enjoy the times spent with Him in friendship and intimacy whenever and wherever we are given the invitation. 

Jesus Was A Scumbag

 What if I told you that the reason Jesus Christ was murdered was because of the way He ate?

Throughout the story of Jesus, we see Him eating… a lot. There’s the time Jesus went looking to eat a fig and couldn’t find any on the tree, so He cursed it (that’s like me going to a Coke machine, depositing my money, pushing the button and nothing happens… it took my money, but supplied me no drink… and then me reducing it to a smoking heap of nuts and bolts). There’s the time He fed thousands of people on short notice with an inexperienced catering staff… Or the time He helped the bar-tender out during a big wedding… Or ate fish on the shore with Peter… Or the time He ate with Zacchaeus, the tax collector, in Zack’s own home.

The Gospels are bursting with meals and foods and daily bread. I say that the way Jesus ate is ultimately what got Him killed, because how He ate, when He ate, and especially WHO He ate with, really does represent what those that murdered Him hated most about Him. It was one of the main reasons He was looked upon as… a scumbag.

In the year 1925, if a wealthy plantation owner in Atlanta, Georgia, had extended a formal invitation to four colored cotton-pickers to come to his mansion for Sunday dinner, preceded by cocktails and followed by several hours of brandy and conversation, the Georgia aristocracy would have been outraged, neighboring Alabama ticked off, the KKK infuriated. The caste system at that time was unbreakable and even considered sacred, social and racial discrimination inflexible, and going against their ‘rules’ made the loss of reputation inevitable.

The scandal that Jesus caused in first-century Palestinian Judaism can scarcely be appreciated by the Christian world today. It was legally forbidden to mingle with sinners who were outside the law; the prohibition on table-fellowship with beggars, prostitutes, and tax-collectors was a religious, social, and cultural taboo.

One of the most striking features of Jesus’ ministry was the meals He shared with ‘sinners’ – that is, outcasts. Pharisees (and others) wouldn’t eat with someone who was impure, and no decent person would share a meal with an outcast.

Unfortunately, the meaning of meal-sharing is largely lost on our culture today. In the East, to share a meal with someone is a symbol of peace, trust, brotherhood, and forgiveness; the shared table is a shared life. To say to an Orthodox Jew, “I would like to have dinner with you,” is understood as “I would like to enter into friendship with you.”

Even today, members of Orthodox Jewry will share a donut and a cup of coffee with you, but when they extend a dinner invitation, they are saying, “Come to my mikdash me-at, my miniature sanctuary, my dining-room table and we will celebrate the most beautiful experience that life affords – friendship.” That is what Zacchaeus heard when Jesus called him down from the sycamore tree, and that is why Jesus’ practice of table-fellowship caused many to look down on Him from the outset of His ministry.

In our text, Jesus has been invited to be a guest of a leading Pharisee, a high-ranking guy in the religious community. We’re told at the beginning of chapter 14, that although Jesus has been invited… they were ‘watching Him closely’ (Luke 14:1). And apparently, Jesus is watching them closely too. Remember in our last study, Jesus was actually noticing where these folks liked to sit… the places of honor? So although He is being scrutinized… and judged… He continues to be exactly who He has always been – a truth-speaker – and a bit of a pot-stirrer.

It’s with all this in mind that we dive into our text today…

Luke 14:12-14 – HCSB

12 He also said to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid. 13 On the contrary, when you host a banquet, invite those who are poor, maimed, lame, or blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

So… catch this: “Not only are you not to be reserving the best seats for yourselves… but you need to reevaluate your guest list too. I look around and notice that the folks you’ve invited are only the ones that make YOU look good, or those that will be able to invite YOU back, or repay you in some other way.” In other words, “Here you are throwing a big nice meal, appearing to be very generous and kind… but in reality… the only ones you’ve invited are those that can repay you or make you look good to others!”

Ouch. Jesus sure has a way with dinner-conversation!

Of course, Jesus didn’t stop there. He went on to describe the types of people they should invite; the poor, maimed, lame, or blind. You know, the exact kinds of people that won’t help your reputation with the upper-class, the very ones who will NEVER be able to repay you or ever invite you over for anything close to what you’ve provided.

Can you imagine the freedom that could be experienced if you truly DIDN’T CARE what others thought of you? Can you picture a life where we weren’t always trying to ‘keep up with the Jones’? What if we could honestly lay down all of that, and begin to love ‘others’, especially those who were NOTHING like us… what would that do for us? What would it do for them?

The truth is… Jesus was a scumbag! In the eyes of the world, at the time He walked the planet, Jesus was considered by many to be a scumbag. The word “scumbag” refers to a person that is offensive, disgusting, disreputable or possessing of low-life characteristics. There’s no way we can read passages like Isaiah 53 and not come to this conclusion, for it is there that the prophet tells us that the Messiah would be despised and rejected; spat upon and cursed – and we would hide our faces from Him. Calling Jesus a scumbag may seem shocking to us, but it was how so many people viewed Him.

And you know what? He didn’t seem to really care. As a matter of fact, He then challenges you and me to be scumbags too. He asks us to consider taking the seats, NOT at the head of the table, and to invite those to fellowship with us… into friendship with us… that might not make us look better to the outside world. Why? Because… that’s what He’d do. Why would He do it?

Author Brennan Manning states: “The inclusion of sinners in the community of salvation, achieved in table-fellowship, is the most dramatic expression of the message of the redeeming love of the merciful God”(A Glimpse of Jesus HarperCollins Publishers - page 55).

It’s when we SWEEP AWAY all that is about ‘us’… all the ‘pride’… And as we let Jesus fill us up, by His Spirit, and lead us, guide us… we will begin to feel His heartbeat in ours… for others. We won’t give out of some selfish motive… but because we truly are swept away and allowing Him to love through us.