Sunday, July 20, 2008
SERIES: Parables: Slanted Stories with a Kingdom Intent - Today: “The Sheep & the Goats” (2)
1. Yesterday something special came to Canby – Canby Cares. A 1 day health fair where The Canby Center clients experience the love of Jesus through the provision of basic health & dental care, social services networking, education, and fun. The fair offers an opportunity for the Canby community to reach out and establish relationships with members of the community who find themselves in need.
2. on site were 2 dental vans, a vision van (45 pairs of glasses given), a hearing van & a medical van. Hearing tests were conducted & free hearing aids were given out. Blood pressure, blood sugar & diabetes tests were given as well. A free lunch was served – hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, tacos, rice & beans + a cookie an ice cold drink. Volunteers made all of this possible.
3. 13 churches were involved. St Patrick Catholic Church, Southgate Chapel, Pacific Covenant Mennonite Church, North Marion Fellowship, New Life Four Square Church, Calvary Mennonite Church, Canby United Methodist Church, Canby Evangelical Church, Canby Christian Church, Canby Alliance Church, Calvary Mennonite Church, Butteville Community Church & Bethany Evangelical Free Church.
4. I saw lots of CAC people working – thanks for volunteering!
5. Canby Cares was motivated in part by the teaching of the parable of the sheep & the goats. Kristin Payne is going to come & read the parable for us this morning.
25:31:
1. the Son of Man – Jesus – is the central character in this parable. Notice that he’s coming in glory with his angels. This refers to his 2nd coming at the end of the age. Jesus is returning to finish what he started at his 1st coming.
2. throne means that Jesus is all-powerful. Think authority. Drop down to 25:34 – we read here that Jesus is the King.
3. notice the emphasis upon glory. Jesus will come in glory & sit in glory on his throne.
4. whoever this Jesus is, says the parable, he is a powerful person to be reckoned with.
25:32-33:
1. from his throne he will judge all the nations gathered before him. The nations will be broken down into people – he will separate the people one from another.
2. the people are likened to sheep & goats. The sheep are put to his right; the goats on his left.
25:34:
1. the Son of Man, who is Jesus, who is the King, is also the Son of the Father. The King acts as the judge. The sheep, those on Jesus’ right hand side, are given an inheritance.
2. the inheritance is the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. The sheep are given entry into the King’s kingdom. This is an eternal kingdom.
3. up to this point no explanation is given for why some people are sent left & other right.
25:35-36:
1. King Jesus brings up his need for food, water, community, clothes, medical attention & visitation. The people on his right, the sheep, had showed him mercy & compassion in his need.
25:37-39:
1. the sheep, those on Jesus’ right, are now called the righteous. They give Jesus another name – Son of Man to King to Son of the Father to Lord.
2. they are confused. They can’t recall having encountered a hungry Jesus, a thirsty Jesus, a stranger Jesus, a naked Jesus, a sick Jesus & a prison Jesus.
3. Lord, when did we see you in these conditions?
25:40:
1. King Jesus replies – I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. The whole parable revolves around this statement.
2. who are the least of these brothers of mine? They are the poor & needy & disenfranchised of Jesus’ day.
3. the startling truth of this statement is this – there is a much deeper dimension to acts of human compassion than we think. Jesus is identified with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick & the imprisoned. Whatever you did for one of these, you did for me.
4. Canby Cares was all about reaching out in Jesus’ name to the least of these brothers (sisters) of mine. Same with our Food Panty that opens its doors the 1st & 3rd Saturdays of the month.
25:41:
1. now the parable turns to those on Jesus’ left, the goats. And what we hear coming from the mouth of Jesus are some harsh words – depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
2. this speaks to us of a judgment that is real. This speaks to us of 2 kingdoms – the kingdom of God & the kingdom of the devil. Light & darkness. Good & evil. Blessings & curses.
3. what’s the basis for this judgment?
25:42-43:
1. we’re back to people in need of food, water, community, clothes medical attention & visitation. These people failed to give them. Jesus was BUT they didn’t.
25:44-46:
1. Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?
2. I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.
3. acts of mercy & compassion were absent in the lives of these people. They passed up the needy.
4. then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. Jesus speaks of the great divide between death & life. Judgment awaits us.
comments
1. followers of Christ are to be known for their acts of mercy & compassion.
2. to serve the poor is to serve Christ.
3. what does this parable teach about eternal life? Do we earn eternal life by our good works? At face value this is what the parable teaches. But 1 principle of Biblical interpretation is – we interpret the Bible by the Bible. A parable such as this must be interpreted in the context of the whole Bible. And the whole Bible is crystal clear that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ NOT by our works.
4. James 2:14-19 helps us. The Parable of the Sheep & Goats is an illustration of faith shown by ones deeds. A living faith cares for the least of these.
5. I John 3:16-20 teaches us the same thing. Living faith loves NOT just with words or tongue BUT actions.
6. we love & serve the poor in Jesus’ name NOT to earn our salvation BUT to express the fruits of our salvation.
7. acting in loving care to needy people fulfills the Great Commandment of loving God & loving our neighbor as our self.
how is CAC doing?
1. mission is one of our 5 church values – we desire to advance God’s kingdom locally & globally.
2. 1st locally – we want to be a center for missional living in our community that releases our people and resources to the lost, the poor, and the needy as an extension of our love for God and others. How are we going about this?
® Food Pantry: 80 people were served providing food for 390 individuals. 28 people were involved in yesterday’s pantry: 2 ordered the food and picked it up; 5 stocked the shelves; 4 divided the bulk food; 2 wrote and translated the devotion; 2 picked up bread & 2 and set bread out; 2 set up tables and chairs; 3 greeted & checked in people; 3 prayed for people: 5 served in the pantry itself; 1 delivered extra bread & everyone present cleaned up! PLUS all those who give money, donate food, bags & pray! Pantry workers yesterday came from CAC, Southgate, St. Patrick’s & Woodburn Church of God. We also have regular helpers from Bethany Iglesia, occasional helpers from First Baptist Church, and a translator (no prayer) from La Luz del Mundo. Also, we have many who help with the pantry as a family, and what a great way to teach kids about service, giving and working together as a community of God’s servants. The CAC Food Panty is a 1st Church of Canby Thing!
® Habitat for Humanity: we are 1 of several churches building a new Habitat home in Gervais. Last Saturday we provided lunch for the workers. 8/9 is our church build day, Saturday from 8:30-4:30pm. Sign up on the kiosk in the Great Hall or see Bill Nelson. 9/27 we’ll provide lunch again & 10/4 is another work day.
® The Canby Center
® Pregnancy Care Center: $200 month
3. 2nd globally – we want to be a center for missional living in our world that releases our people and resources to serve in select long-term national & international partnerships as an extension of our love for God and others.
® LINC: Mike Higgs
® Justin & Jessie Oster of CCC on the campus of the University of Montana
® Great Commission Fund of the C&MA: supports the missions work of the Alliance around the world! Jolene Kinser (China) & Phil & Kristin Stombaugh for example.
® Susu partnership in Guinea & Sierra Leone: 3 Alliance couples = Stombaughs + Dubes + Classons; Paulo & Heather Rehn (So Baptist from Brazil); Sam & Josephine Sesay (So. Baptist, SL) = coming 9/10-24
® Foundation for His Ministry: annual Mexico mission trip
® Greg & Aggie Tharp (France)
® John & Marie Champ (Wycliffe Bible Translators): leading a team of people from Tony Evans’ church in Dallas right now in PNG
4. why do we do this? Because we have a living faith that leads us to reach out to the least of these my brothers (sisters). And what we do for them we do for Christ! It can’t get any better than that!
Music i listened to while sermonizing – ennio morricone; u2; sting;
Books i read & studied while sermonizing – a step from death by larry woiwode; true story: a Christianity worth believing in by james choung; the lazarus life by Stephen w. smith; stories with intent by klyne Snodgrass;
Sermons, podcasts I listened to while sermonizing – jeff towne, broken, complete; earl palmer, to live out the life of Christ in us
Sunday, July 06, 2008
SERIES: Parables: Slanted Stories with a Kingdom Intent -- “The Lost Sheep, Coin & Sons”
1. have you ever lost anything that was valuable to you?
2. this past week I flew to Boise & went camping with my dad (87 yrs old), 2 brothers, nephew & niece. Our favorite spot is an isolated campground next to the head waters of the Crooked River in the Boise National Forest – no electricity, running water or toilet facilities. It’s wonderful, heaven on earth! My younger brother Brent was bathing in the river a few years ago & accidentally lost his wedding ring. It slipped right off his soapy finger. He searched for the ring but didn’t find it. My dad even took his metal detector into the water to look for it but Brent’s ring is still in that river somewhere, lost.
3. today we start our summer series on the parables of Christ: Slanted Stories with a Kingdom Intent. We begin in Luke 15 – the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin & the 2 lost sons.
tax collectors & sinners vs. Pharisees & teachers of the law (15:1-2)
1. the temptation in Luke 15 is to skip over verses 1-2. Don’t let that happen to you. These verses contain the interpretative key to the 3 parables that follow.
2. the Pharisees & teachers of the law are upset with Jesus. He wasn’t spending enough of his time at church potlucks. INSTEAD he hung out with the wrong kind of people – tax collectors & sinners. He invites himself to backyard BBQs with people who are failures – people who fail to keep the law, fail to observe the Sabbath, fail to keep the marriage bed pure & fail to drink in moderation.
3. he doesn’t just eat their BBQed ribs, he welcomes these people into his life. In Jesus’ time & culture, to welcome & eat with tax collectors & sinners is to embrace them as some of your best & closest friends.
4. Jesus is breaking the rules here & the keepers of the rules (Pharisees & teachers of the law) are upset. Jesus tells 3 stories to set things straight – of 100 sheep, 10 silver coins & 2 lost sons. Sheep, coins, sons.
the lost sheep (15:3-7)
1. God is like a shepherd who searches after 1 lost sheep until he finds it. He calls his friends & neighbors together & says – rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.
2. and then the punch line – I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over 1 sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.
3. the tax collectors & sinners are the 1 lost sheep. That’s why he eats with them. IN CONTRAST the Pharisees and the teachers of the law are the 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent, at least to their minds.
4. when we went to Europe 5 years ago we visited the catacombs outside of Rome. The catacombs are underground cemeteries. Christ-followers were buried here. But more important Christ-followers worshiped in hiding in the catacombs during times of persecution. The one predominate image of Christ found on the catacomb walls
is of Jesus the good shepherd who joyfully puts (the lost sheep) on his shoulders and goes home.
5. in the face of persecution & death those 1st followers of Christ recognized that apart from Christ they were lost. He was their shepherd. They were the lost sheep that he had found.
6. who do you identify with this morning? The 99 righteous sheep or the 1 lost sheep?
the lost coin (15:8-10)
1. God is like a woman who searches her house for a lost silver coin until she finds it. She calls her friends & neighbors together & says - rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.
2. and then the punch line – In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
3. the tax collectors and sinners, Jesus’ friends, are the one sinner who repents. That’s why he eats with them.
4. there are some common themes running through these 2 stories: 1st something is lost – 1 sheep & 1 silver coin. 2nd someone is searching for the lost – the shepherd & the woman. 3rd there is rejoicing when the lost is found – friends, neighbors, heaven. 4th God himself is the searching shepherd & the lighting-the-lamp, sweeping-the-house woman.
5. Jesus’ point is unmistakable – tax collectors & sinners matter to God & everyone like them matter to God.
the lost sons (15:11-32)
1. in this parable God is like a waiting father who welcomes his lost son home AND he is like a pleading father who reasons with his lost-at-home-son.
2. the younger son – 15:11-24:
® takes an early buy-out on his share of the estate
® blows it all in Las Vegas on wine, women & song
® gas prices go up, housing prices go down – he ends up with nothing & gets a job busing tables
® he came to his senses = point of repentance in the story = Father I have sinned against heaven & against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men
® younger son heads home & father sees him walking down the front lane
® while he was still a long way off, his father saw him & was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him & kissed him = picture of God = the seeing Father, compassionate Father, running Father, embracing Father, kissing Father & then the feasting & celebrating Father!
3. the older son – 15:25-32:
® hears the music & dancing for the younger brother
® became angry & refused to go in
® now we see the pleading father = so his father went out & pleaded with him but it didn’t work
® the self-righteous behavior of the older brother kicks in = all these years I’ve been slaving for you, never disobeyed your orders, you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends = sounds like the Pharisees & the teachers of the law = when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!
® the father sets things straight – you are always with me, and everything I have is yours, we had to celebrate & be glad, this brother of yours was dead & is alive, was lost & is found
4. if we read this parable in light of 15:1-3, the parallels become crystal clear: the older son/brother represents the Pharisees & the teachers of the law. The younger son/brother represents the tax collectors & sinners.
5. sin often splits into 2 different expressions. 1st legalistic righteousness – the Pharisees & the teachers of the law. These are the people who try to ‘do good’ their way into God’s favor. Rules & standards of behavior are important. They keep score. People are either in or out, black & white people. Thick judgmentalism.
6. then there’s the live & let live version – the younger son. Those who run from laws, rules, expectations. They love freedom & personal autonomy. No one is going to tell them how to run their lives.
7. and both are lost. And both desperately need the searching, forgiving, embracing Father.
8. Jesus is speaking to the people who will eventually kill him. But look what he does. Through the father in the story he comes out & pleads with the Pharisees & older brothers to relent & come to the feast of salvation.
9. the feast, music, dancing & joy of salvation wrap its arms around both types of sin – licentiousness or legalistic righteousness.
so what?
1st who do you identify with in these stories?
1. the younger son? If so its time to come to your senses & come home to your Father.
2. the older brother? If so it’s time to listen to the pleading Father & leave your life of legalistic righteousness.
3. do any of us identify with God the Father in these stories? Do we have a heart for lost people? Are we seeing, compassionate, running, embracing, kissing, feasting & celebrating people?
4. do these words burn in our hearts? – this son of mine was dead & is alive again; he was lost & is found? This friend of mine, co-worker, father, wife, brother, neighbor. This is how God views people – do we? Dead, live; lost, found; rejoicing in heaven.
2nd CAC mission
1. I am praying for 10 people to say “yes” to Jesus for salvation through our church this year. If you’ve said “yes” to Jesus for salvation this year please let me know.
2. in our Summer of Service as we feed the hungry, build a house for the homeless, clean up our city & reach out to Canby with social & medical services, we need to pray & serve with this in mind – lost sheep, lost coins, lost wayward sons & lost legalistic sons are precious in God’s sight. He came to find them & he died to save them.
3.
Music i listened to while sermonizing – ennio morricone; bruce springsteen; joni mitchell; neil young;
Books i read & studied while sermonizing – a step from death by larry woiwode; choosing to love the world by thomas merton;
Sermons, podcasts I listened to while sermonizing – fresh air: pete hamill remembers robert f. kennedy; fresh air: sedaris bares body & soul in engulfed;
SERIES: Living through the Lord’s Prayer (8) “Last Words on the Lord’s Prayhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifer”
June 22, 2008
(with thanks to Darrell Johnson)
[Gabriel’s Oboe by Ennio Morricone]
Dear God, Almighty God, Father God, Savior God, Compassionate God, Just God. Help me to preach your Word this morning. Help all of us to receive your Word. Give us eyes to see that your church is part of the answer to thy kingdom come, thy will be done. We are to be the embodiment, the sign, the agent, the witness of your kingdom where we live, work & play. Don’t let us miss what you have for us today. Amen.
1. this is our 8th & final sermon on the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus takes just 52 words for the Lord’s Prayer (57 in the Greek). He makes every word count.
2. 1st I want to say something about the boldness & the ending of the prayer. Then zero in on the last phrase left to be unpacked – lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.
boldness
1. the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to be bold in our praying. There are 6 verbs in the prayer. The 1st 3 have to do with God –
® hallow (name)
® come (kingdom)
® be (will)
The next 3 have to do with us –
® give (bread)
® forgive (sin)
® deliver (evil)
2. hallow come be give forgive deliver. Get this - all 6 verbs are in the imperative mood. They are commands! Jesus teaches us to command God in prayer. To command God to do what only God can do.
3. our Father who art in heaven –
only you can hallow your name, so do it!
only you can cause your kingdom to come, so do it
only you can make your will to be done, so do it
only you can provide us with daily bread, so do it
only you can provide forgiveness of sins, so do it
only you can keep us from the evil one, so do it!
4. Notice, Jesus did not teach us to pray like this.
Our Father who art in heaven –
we can hallow your name
we can bring in your kingdom
we can do your will
we can provide bread
we can forgive sins
we can deliver from the evil one
5. we need to let this one sink in. The Lord’s Prayer majors on the God-part of living the Christian life. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us a sky-scraping view of God. God is all powerful, all mighty. He is the King of the universe. This is anything but a cute little prayer. This is a God-infested, God-intoxicated, God-saturated, God-infused prayer.
6. a prayer where we can be so bold to pray – hallow your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, give us bread, forgive our sins, deliver us from evil.
the ending
1. for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. This ending was added later, after Matthew wrote his gospel. It is not found in the earliest manuscripts.
2. this ending appears to be from I Chronicles 29:11. King David’s prayer at the crowing of his son Solomon as king –
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness & the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven & earth is yours.
Yours, 0 Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
3. why this ending? This is a statement of why God can be trusted to answer prayer. Kingdoms, power & glory are his. His forever. This ending exalts the Father of Jesus as the King of the universe. He can accomplish what Jesus commands us to pray.
temptation & the evil one
1. James 1:13 – When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. God does not tempt us.
2. but then Jesus teaches us to pray our Father, lead us not into temptation.
3. how do we resolve this seemingly contradiction? Darrell Johnson points to the way in his book on the Lord’s Prayer.
4. the word translated temptation – pei/ras/mos – has 2 different meanings. One is test & the other is temptation. A test is something meant to prove & improve a person’s character. A temptation is meant to entice a person to sin, to bring a person down in some way.
5. which meaning does Jesus have in mind?
6. we need to keep reading. But deliver us from the evil one. This little word but ties the 2 clauses together. The 2nd clause is meant to interpret the 1st. Deliver us from the evil one interprets lead us not into temptation.
7. so here it is – the evil one seeks to turn tests into temptations. Satan wants to take what God means for good & turn it into bad.
8. it works like this. Stuff happens to us. God our Father intends to use it to prove & improve our character, to strengthen our faith. Satan comes along. He tries to put a spin on the stuff that happens to us. His intention is to destroy our character & faith.
9. I have faced a number of tests in my adulthood that could have easily become temptations in the hand of the evil one to weaken my faith & trust in God:
® 1982 – my sister’s stroke that left her totally disabled to this day, the best & the brightest of us 5 kids
® 1985-1990 – dealing with 5 years of infertility
® 2000-01 – my nervous breakdown, emotional crash, anxiety, depression
® 2004-06 – time of staff confusion & conflict
® 2005 – church fire
10. I can’t tell you how blessed I am to be on the other side of those experiences. Still on my feet. My faith still in tact. Still in love with God & the church. Full of faith, hope, vision for the future.
11. Father, do not let the test of my depression cause me to doubt your goodness or your sovereignty over my life. Help my faith to grow strong in the darkness. Deliver me from the evil one who intends to shipwreck my life & ministry through this.
12. Father, do not let this test of our church fire cause us to lose faith in your protection & goodness. Deliver us from the evil one who wants to use this fire to shipwreck our church & shatter our trust in your goodness.
13. what the Father of Jesus means as a test, the evil one seeks to turn into a temptation (Darrell Johnson).
bringing it home
1. in one sense all of life is a test. What are we going to do with it? Will it turn us to God? Or turn us away from him?
2. what tests are you facing this morning?
where are you walking the thin line between test & temptation?
what has you teetering between faith & distrust?
3. our Father who art in heaven, do not let the this test which you’ve allowed for the proving & improving of my character & faith fall into the hands of the evil one. Deliver me from the evil one. Preserve me for growth & perseverance.
4. true story from Darrell Johnson & his wife Sharon. 4 days before Christmas of 2000, their 18 year old son Alex was almost killed. They adopted Alex 6 years earlier from an orphanage in Moscow. Alex was hiking with a group of friends in the mountains north of Los Angeles. Alex slipped on some loose rock & slid over a 120-foot cliff.
When the rescue team finally got to him they thought he was dead – he’d lost do much blood from his head. They found a pulse. Rushed him to the trauma center in Pasadena. By the time Darrell & Sharon got to him he was in a coma & on life-support. Neurosurgeons could not say if he would live or not.
2 nights later Darrell drove home late after spending the day in ICU. He heard the following words from his Father which he wrote in his journal –
Things are not as they seem. In your life. In your son’s life. In your wife’s life. In the lives of your other children. In the lives of other patients in ICU. Things are not as they seem. There is more going on than meets the un-aided senses. There is a God. A Living God. A good God. A faithful God. A powerful God. A reigning God. An ever-present God. There is never a time when this God is not good. There is never a time when this God is not faithful. There is never a time when this God is not powerful. There is never a time when the God of the Bible is not on the throne of the universe. There is never a time when the God we meet in Jesus is not present. It is a promise: I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Things are not as they seem. In one of the most frightening experiences of our lives, our heavenly Father rescued us from the evil one’s attempt to destroy our faith.
Alex lived, made a remarkable recovery & still loves God his Father!
5. what did for Darrell & Sharon Johnson, he can do for you.
Music i listened to while sermonizing – u2; caedmon’s call; jon buller; bruce springsteen; ennio morricone; chris tomlin; charlie hall, david crowder band; eva cassidy;
Books i read & studied while sermonizing – a passion for God: the spiritual journey of a.w. tozer by lyle dorsett; fifty-seven words that change the world: a journey through the Lord’s prayer by darrell johnson; a step from death by larry woiwode; big russ & me by tim russert; it is finished: meditations on the death of Jesus by darrell johnson;
Sermons, podcasts I listened to while sermonizing – dwelling through the text by mark driscoll
(with thanks to Darrell Johnson)
[Gabriel’s Oboe by Ennio Morricone]
Dear God, Almighty God, Father God, Savior God, Compassionate God, Just God. Help me to preach your Word this morning. Help all of us to receive your Word. Give us eyes to see that your church is part of the answer to thy kingdom come, thy will be done. We are to be the embodiment, the sign, the agent, the witness of your kingdom where we live, work & play. Don’t let us miss what you have for us today. Amen.
1. this is our 8th & final sermon on the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus takes just 52 words for the Lord’s Prayer (57 in the Greek). He makes every word count.
2. 1st I want to say something about the boldness & the ending of the prayer. Then zero in on the last phrase left to be unpacked – lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.
boldness
1. the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to be bold in our praying. There are 6 verbs in the prayer. The 1st 3 have to do with God –
® hallow (name)
® come (kingdom)
® be (will)
The next 3 have to do with us –
® give (bread)
® forgive (sin)
® deliver (evil)
2. hallow come be give forgive deliver. Get this - all 6 verbs are in the imperative mood. They are commands! Jesus teaches us to command God in prayer. To command God to do what only God can do.
3. our Father who art in heaven –
only you can hallow your name, so do it!
only you can cause your kingdom to come, so do it
only you can make your will to be done, so do it
only you can provide us with daily bread, so do it
only you can provide forgiveness of sins, so do it
only you can keep us from the evil one, so do it!
4. Notice, Jesus did not teach us to pray like this.
Our Father who art in heaven –
we can hallow your name
we can bring in your kingdom
we can do your will
we can provide bread
we can forgive sins
we can deliver from the evil one
5. we need to let this one sink in. The Lord’s Prayer majors on the God-part of living the Christian life. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us a sky-scraping view of God. God is all powerful, all mighty. He is the King of the universe. This is anything but a cute little prayer. This is a God-infested, God-intoxicated, God-saturated, God-infused prayer.
6. a prayer where we can be so bold to pray – hallow your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, give us bread, forgive our sins, deliver us from evil.
the ending
1. for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. This ending was added later, after Matthew wrote his gospel. It is not found in the earliest manuscripts.
2. this ending appears to be from I Chronicles 29:11. King David’s prayer at the crowing of his son Solomon as king –
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness & the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven & earth is yours.
Yours, 0 Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
3. why this ending? This is a statement of why God can be trusted to answer prayer. Kingdoms, power & glory are his. His forever. This ending exalts the Father of Jesus as the King of the universe. He can accomplish what Jesus commands us to pray.
temptation & the evil one
1. James 1:13 – When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. God does not tempt us.
2. but then Jesus teaches us to pray our Father, lead us not into temptation.
3. how do we resolve this seemingly contradiction? Darrell Johnson points to the way in his book on the Lord’s Prayer.
4. the word translated temptation – pei/ras/mos – has 2 different meanings. One is test & the other is temptation. A test is something meant to prove & improve a person’s character. A temptation is meant to entice a person to sin, to bring a person down in some way.
5. which meaning does Jesus have in mind?
6. we need to keep reading. But deliver us from the evil one. This little word but ties the 2 clauses together. The 2nd clause is meant to interpret the 1st. Deliver us from the evil one interprets lead us not into temptation.
7. so here it is – the evil one seeks to turn tests into temptations. Satan wants to take what God means for good & turn it into bad.
8. it works like this. Stuff happens to us. God our Father intends to use it to prove & improve our character, to strengthen our faith. Satan comes along. He tries to put a spin on the stuff that happens to us. His intention is to destroy our character & faith.
9. I have faced a number of tests in my adulthood that could have easily become temptations in the hand of the evil one to weaken my faith & trust in God:
® 1982 – my sister’s stroke that left her totally disabled to this day, the best & the brightest of us 5 kids
® 1985-1990 – dealing with 5 years of infertility
® 2000-01 – my nervous breakdown, emotional crash, anxiety, depression
® 2004-06 – time of staff confusion & conflict
® 2005 – church fire
10. I can’t tell you how blessed I am to be on the other side of those experiences. Still on my feet. My faith still in tact. Still in love with God & the church. Full of faith, hope, vision for the future.
11. Father, do not let the test of my depression cause me to doubt your goodness or your sovereignty over my life. Help my faith to grow strong in the darkness. Deliver me from the evil one who intends to shipwreck my life & ministry through this.
12. Father, do not let this test of our church fire cause us to lose faith in your protection & goodness. Deliver us from the evil one who wants to use this fire to shipwreck our church & shatter our trust in your goodness.
13. what the Father of Jesus means as a test, the evil one seeks to turn into a temptation (Darrell Johnson).
bringing it home
1. in one sense all of life is a test. What are we going to do with it? Will it turn us to God? Or turn us away from him?
2. what tests are you facing this morning?
where are you walking the thin line between test & temptation?
what has you teetering between faith & distrust?
3. our Father who art in heaven, do not let the this test which you’ve allowed for the proving & improving of my character & faith fall into the hands of the evil one. Deliver me from the evil one. Preserve me for growth & perseverance.
4. true story from Darrell Johnson & his wife Sharon. 4 days before Christmas of 2000, their 18 year old son Alex was almost killed. They adopted Alex 6 years earlier from an orphanage in Moscow. Alex was hiking with a group of friends in the mountains north of Los Angeles. Alex slipped on some loose rock & slid over a 120-foot cliff.
When the rescue team finally got to him they thought he was dead – he’d lost do much blood from his head. They found a pulse. Rushed him to the trauma center in Pasadena. By the time Darrell & Sharon got to him he was in a coma & on life-support. Neurosurgeons could not say if he would live or not.
2 nights later Darrell drove home late after spending the day in ICU. He heard the following words from his Father which he wrote in his journal –
Things are not as they seem. In your life. In your son’s life. In your wife’s life. In the lives of your other children. In the lives of other patients in ICU. Things are not as they seem. There is more going on than meets the un-aided senses. There is a God. A Living God. A good God. A faithful God. A powerful God. A reigning God. An ever-present God. There is never a time when this God is not good. There is never a time when this God is not faithful. There is never a time when this God is not powerful. There is never a time when the God of the Bible is not on the throne of the universe. There is never a time when the God we meet in Jesus is not present. It is a promise: I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Things are not as they seem. In one of the most frightening experiences of our lives, our heavenly Father rescued us from the evil one’s attempt to destroy our faith.
Alex lived, made a remarkable recovery & still loves God his Father!
5. what did for Darrell & Sharon Johnson, he can do for you.
Music i listened to while sermonizing – u2; caedmon’s call; jon buller; bruce springsteen; ennio morricone; chris tomlin; charlie hall, david crowder band; eva cassidy;
Books i read & studied while sermonizing – a passion for God: the spiritual journey of a.w. tozer by lyle dorsett; fifty-seven words that change the world: a journey through the Lord’s prayer by darrell johnson; a step from death by larry woiwode; big russ & me by tim russert; it is finished: meditations on the death of Jesus by darrell johnson;
Sermons, podcasts I listened to while sermonizing – dwelling through the text by mark driscoll
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