[0:00] Thank you.
[0:30] If you've got your Bible, turn to Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14 is going to be our passage today. We're continuing in our series that we've been in now for several weeks called Uncommon Sense.
[0:42] This is week five, and what we've been doing over the last few weeks is looking at the uncommon sense that Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God and how that often goes contrary to the wisdom of the world.
[0:57] And so we can approach life the way the world tells us to approach life, or we can approach life the way Jesus teaches us to. And even though that's uncommon, that is how the kingdom functions.
[1:12] And so we're going to look at that today as we look here at Luke chapter 14, and we're just going to read verses 7 through 11 as we get into God's word, and we'll look at many of the verses as we go throughout the message today.
[1:25] So Luke 14 and verse 7 says, Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, when you're invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him.
[1:48] And he who invited you both will come and say to you, give your place to this person. And then you'll begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you're invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher.
[2:07] Then you'll be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. And who humbled himself will be exalted.
[2:18] Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the passage that we get to study today and how it clearly teaches us the difference between the world and the kingdom of God.
[2:29] Help us understand what your kingdom is about. Help us understand the uncommon sense of your kingdom that's found in this passage. And I pray that you would really open our eyes to see it in our own life.
[2:41] It's such a clear passage in the difference between the world and the kingdom. And as followers of Jesus Christ, we want to walk according to the kingdom of God.
[2:52] So help us, Holy Spirit, guide us into truth today, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, up until 1947, no one had ever flown faster than the speed of sound.
[3:08] In fact, most people didn't even think it was possible. They assumed that to fly that fast that the aircraft would ultimately just fall apart.
[3:20] And yet, even though no one really thought it was possible, pilot after pilot kept trying to break through, flying faster and harder in order to break the speed of sound.
[3:34] Yet, every time they got close to breaking the barrier, the plane, the aircraft would begin to convulse and all the system would begin to malfunction.
[3:46] And ultimately, it would crash to the death of the pilot. Now, part of the problem and part of the reason for this was because as they approached the sound barrier, a lot of the controls would stop working properly.
[4:04] For example, pulling back on the stick, which was supposed to make the aircraft go up, actually made the plane go down.
[4:17] And so, they begin to ask the question, what if we did things in a different way? What if we did things in opposite of the way we were trained to do it?
[4:30] And that's exactly what they did. And on October the 14th, 1947, Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly past the sound barrier.
[4:46] And he did so by going against the way he was trained. You see, Faith Family, when the aircraft begin to convulse and begin to shake, rather than pulling back on the stick to go up, he pushed forward on the stick.
[5:04] And sure enough, the nose came up, the controls worked perfectly, and Yeager broke the speed of sound.
[5:15] In other words, the breakthrough happened when he did things in the opposite way of what he was used to.
[5:29] The breakthrough happened when he did things in the opposite way of what he was used to. You know, Faith Family, as I thought about that story, I thought about life is that way a lot of times, isn't it?
[5:43] I mean, for instance, for some of you, you keep running up against the wall financially, and the breakthrough doesn't happen until you start approaching finances in a different way.
[5:53] Or maybe you keep running up against the wall relationally, and you never get that breakthrough until you finally start approaching the relationship in a different way.
[6:05] Others of you, you keep hitting that wall physically, and yet nothing really happens in terms of a breakthrough until you do things differently.
[6:16] Well, Faith Family, that is exactly the case when it comes to the kingdom of God. Namely, that following Jesus requires you to approach life from an entirely different perspective, an entirely different approach, one that is often the opposite of what we are used to.
[6:41] It means living, as we've looked at these last few weeks, with uncommon sense. Most of us have been so trained by the world.
[6:52] We've been so programmed in the system of the world that we think life functions this way, and Jesus shows us time and time again that the breakthrough doesn't happen until you start approaching life in a way that is often uncommon.
[7:13] It's exactly what Jesus does in the passage that we just read. A passage that, to be honest, Faith Family, as I prepared to preach this message, I thought, this is an incredible text that we need to think about as it relates to the world in which we live and the kingdom of which we pursue.
[7:35] And here, Jesus is addressing the topic of greatness. What does it mean to be great?
[7:46] And in every single culture, in every single generation, there's an idea, a mindset of what it means to be great in that culture or that particular generation.
[7:58] For instance, greatness for us is the Super Bowl champion. Greatness is pastoring the mega church.
[8:10] Greatness is winning the Grammy Award. Greatness is being that successful CEO. Greatness is obtaining the lifestyle of the celebrity.
[8:24] In other words, Faith Family, greatness in our culture, greatness in our world, it's status. Right here, greatness is having the right seat at the right table.
[8:37] That is how we have been programmed to think about what it means to be great. And if that's what you think greatness is, if that's where I think greatness is found, then you and I need some uncommon sense.
[8:55] Verse 1. One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.
[9:07] And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. Now, let me set the context here of what's happening before this parable is told by Jesus.
[9:19] Jesus has been invited over to the home of one of the rulers of the Pharisees. Now, talk about an honor. The Pharisees were great in the eyes of the Jewish people.
[9:33] They were great in the eyes of their culture. They sit in the biggest seats and they were honored and respected. And so, to get this kind of invitation is quite special.
[9:47] Not anyone would be invited over to the ruler of the Pharisees' house. This is like being invited to eat with the senators, to be invited to eat with the board of directors, or to be invited to eat with the city council.
[10:01] Not anyone receives this honor. And while this is taking place, in comes a sick man. The text says that he has dropsy, a swelling of the body.
[10:17] Now, you need to keep in mind, faith family, that this is a setup. And we know it's a setup because the text tells us that they were watching Jesus carefully.
[10:27] In other words, all eyes are on Jesus as this man slips in. Because here's what we know about the Pharisees. There is no chance this guy is getting invited to this party.
[10:38] Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No chance he gets even through the front door. So the fact that he gets in is a setup. They're going to see how Jesus responds. And this is the trick they're trying to play on Jesus.
[10:52] It's the Sabbath. And according to the Pharisaical law, you're not allowed to heal anyone on the Sabbath. It goes against their religious traditions.
[11:02] And so they think they've got Jesus in a trap. Watch, faith family. If Jesus heals the guy, he breaks the rules. Got him.
[11:14] If he doesn't heal the guy, well, what was all that compassion talk? What was all that love your neighbor talk, Jesus? Here you won't even help a guy who is sick.
[11:27] We've trapped Jesus. If he heals, we got him. If he doesn't heal, we got him. And watch how Jesus turns the situation back on them.
[11:39] Verse 3. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and the Pharisees saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?
[11:50] Oh, snap. Jesus just reversed the trap on the Pharisees. In other words, Jesus asked the question, Is it lawful to heal someone on the Sabbath or not?
[12:03] You see, faith family, healing somebody on the Sabbath was not against the Mosaic law. The Mosaic law in the Ten Commandments, for instance, only addressed resting on the Sabbath.
[12:17] It doesn't say anything about the fact that you can't heal somebody. And so healing on the Sabbath was something the Pharisees made up. Because the commandment wasn't specific enough to rest on the Sabbath, the Pharisees started making up all these other rules of what it meant to work on the Sabbath.
[12:37] So now, I love this, Jesus has the Pharisees in a tough spot, because here's what happens. If they say, it is unlawful, well, they prove that they don't even know the Mosaic law.
[12:53] And if they say, no, it is not unlawful, they expose their own hypocrisy. Checkmate.
[13:03] Jesus has just turned this situation back on them. And you see it in how they respond. Look at verse 4. But they remained silent.
[13:16] You better believe they remained silent, because they had nothing to say. Then Jesus took him and healed him and sent him away.
[13:27] In other words, Jesus heals the man, demonstrating that he does have compassion, that he does have love, and at the same time, exposes the Pharisees here.
[13:39] And then he goes further in verse 4. But they remained silent. He took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into the well on the Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?
[13:54] And they could not reply to these things. Jesus has just exposed their hearts. Namely, that they care more about man-made rules than they do about a man.
[14:10] They care more about man-made rules than they do about a man. What's Jesus doing here? What is going on? Why is he so confrontive?
[14:22] It's because Jesus is exposing, faith family, religious pride. Notice this on the screen. Religious pride is when you use religious things to achieve greatness.
[14:36] That is, you keep religious rules in order to look great. Your church attendance, your Bible knowledge, your giving record, you do these things so that you can look like you have a sense of status, a sense of greatness.
[14:53] Look at how obedient I am. Look at how faithful I am. Look how strict I am. That's what the Pharisees were doing. They were using the law, their own made-up law, to look great in the eyes of everyone else.
[15:12] And here's what you need to understand, is that you can look, are you listening, faith family? You can look great in the eyes of the church. And you can look great in the eyes of Christian friends. And look small in the eyes of God.
[15:26] That's exactly what Jesus exposes here. And you and I, you and I, faith family, will not have a breakthrough. We will not break through the barrier of greatness until we do things in an uncommon way.
[15:42] But before we get to that, Jesus is not finished offending everyone at the party. Verse 7. Now when He told a parable to those who invited Him, when He noticed how they chose the places of honor.
[15:57] So Jesus here now turns, not to the Pharisees, but to the participants that were there at the party. In other words, as if this situation wasn't awkward enough, like, did you see what Jesus just did to the religious leaders?
[16:14] Now He turns to everybody else who's been invited to this party, along with Him. And evidently, as they've been watching Him closely, He's been watching them closely.
[16:27] He's been noticing what seat at the table they want to pick. He's been noticing people trying to set by certain types of other people. In fact, many of you know this faith family, but in the ancient Near East, as you'll see here, the tables were kind of U-shaped.
[16:43] And of course, the main person sits in the middle, the next important person on the right, then the next important person on the left. And then the further away you go from the middle, the lower in importance you are.
[16:58] Well, evidently, as Jesus is watching the room, what He notices is there's a couple of num-nums going around with their Sharpie, writing their names on their cup, like licking the fork and putting it down so that nobody else will sit there, taking their sandals and dropping it at certain places at the table so nobody takes their seat, so that they can get the best seat and look great.
[17:23] They're doing the same thing the Pharisees are doing. The Pharisees are using their religious rules to look great, and the rest of these num-nums at the party are picking specific seats by specific people so that they will look great.
[17:40] Well, blame it all on His roots, Jesus shows up in boots and ruins their black tie affair. Look at what He says in verse 8. When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him.
[18:00] And he who invited you both will come and say to you, give your place to this person, and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place.
[18:14] Now let me translate that for you. Imagine that you've been invited to a wedding. And you've been invited to the wedding because you are dating the cousin of the bride's former roommate.
[18:29] So you're really important. I mean, you really belong at the wedding party. And you walk in, and what you notice when you walk in the room is there's actually an empty seat up where the family gets to sit.
[18:43] And you think, well, I'm kind of a big deal. I'm pretty important. So, you know, I'm dating the cousin of the bride's former roommate. I belong here. And you go, and you take that seat with the family.
[18:54] And then somebody comes up to you and politely says, sorry, you're not allowed to sit here. And now you have to stand up in front of everybody and walk all the way to the back of the room to your table as the cameraman takes your picture and everybody stares at you.
[19:12] You are humiliated. Now, that's what Jesus tells here in terms of this parable. Like, there's something in you that wants to sit in that seat.
[19:23] There's something in you that doesn't want to sit in the back of the room. You want to sit up there where you are accepted. And the truth of the matter is, Faith Family, we all do this. And you may say, well, Pastor, I would never walk into a wedding and do that kind of like, take that seat.
[19:40] Maybe it's not with a wedding. Maybe it's the car you drive. You drive that particular kind of car because you want to give off a certain kind of status.
[19:53] Maybe it's the brand of clothes that you wear. You wear that brand because you want to give off a certain status. Maybe you get upset when people don't recognize you because it doesn't give off the kind of recognition that you deserve.
[20:10] The truth is, every one of us wants to be seen as great socially in one way or another. And Jesus is not only exposing that in the participants who are here at this particular time, but He even addresses it with the host.
[20:28] Look at what Jesus goes on to say in verse 12. He said also to the man who invited Him, When you give a dinner or a banquet, don't invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and be repaid.
[20:48] But no, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you'll be blessed because they can't repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
[21:00] In other words, everybody else at the party is trying to look good based on what seat at the table they have. The host of the party is trying to look good based on who he invited to the table.
[21:16] Look, I know Peyton Manning. Look, Paul Allen is on my invite list. Look, look at all the people that I know.
[21:29] Look who I've invited to my home. The host is doing the exact same thing as everybody else is trying to do. It reminds me of that famous clip from Brian Regan.
[21:44] How do people need to top other people? I've never understood it and I see it all the time. Obviously, people get something out of it. At best, people wait for your lips to stop. Yeah, as soon as...
[21:55] Okay, yeah, you, me! You, me! You see the difference? You see that?
[22:07] Now I do. Well, what is it about the human condition people get something out of that? That's why I have a social fantasy. I wish I was one of the 12 astronauts who have been on our moon.
[22:22] They must love knowing they can be anybody's story whenever they want. They can sit back quietly at a dinner party while some other person, some me monster, is doing his thing and let him go.
[22:36] Let him run with the line while you be quiet. Oh, really? Zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, zzzz, let him have his moment. Yeah, I'm a big traveler, I have my business, I got my own global enterprise, I got a check.
[22:48] I'm driving in the autobahn because I keep a fleet of sports cars over in Zurich, you know, there's a Swiss account there, I'm going to check it. Not Kilimanjorex, but you might have to cancel that, you know, runway's an aspirin a lot shorter the first time you go in there, you know, you have that Pacific Rim company, we're going to try to take that over, and blah, blah, blah, global enterprise, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I walked on the moon.
[23:15] I love that clip, even though I know you've seen it many times, but it's a great illustration because it is exactly what's happening at this dinner party.
[23:26] It's exactly what's taking place here. The Pharisees are using their religion to look great. The others are using their social status to look great because that's where they think greatness lies.
[23:39] That's what they think makes you great. And some of you may be like, I mean, seriously, does Jesus not have other things to do with His time than to critique the invite list?
[23:49] I mean, aren't there people to heal or miracles to perform? Why is He so concerned about this? Well, Jesus here is concerned not about an invite list.
[24:00] He's concerned about the heart. A heart that thinks that greatness is found in your status.
[24:11] That greatness is found in who you socially are connected with. You see, when you think about life that way, when you approach life that way, you are using the common sense of the world.
[24:25] But the reality is you will never have a breakthrough. you will never have a breakthrough until you understand the uncommon sense of the kingdom.
[24:37] But before we look at that, Jesus is not finished. Look at verse 15. It says, when one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said, blessed is everyone who eats bread in the kingdom of God.
[24:53] Oh, you're so spiritual. But he said to him, a man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, come, for everything is now ready.
[25:07] But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a field and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused. And then another said, well, I've bought five yoke of oxen and I go to examine them.
[25:21] Please have me excused. And then another said, well, I've married a wife and therefore I cannot come. Now, what's happening here? Now, first of all, I think this is absolutely hilarious.
[25:33] Because, stay with me, Jesus has already confronted the Pharisees at the party. He's already confronted all the participants, those who've been invited to the party.
[25:48] He's already confronted the host of the party. And now, He's confronting the people who didn't even come to the party. Those who refused to show up.
[26:01] Jesus is offending everybody here. And the parable that He tells is about an invitation that goes out to come to this party.
[26:12] You've been invited to show up, but people are too preoccupied to say yes. Well, you know, I've got things to do. I've got land to take care of. I've bought oxen.
[26:22] I just got married. There's all these things in life that they don't want to go to the party because they're preoccupied with these other things.
[26:34] What is Jesus teaching here? What is He doing here? Jesus is saying, hey, listen, y'all, because Jesus would say, y'all, this ain't the only party that's being thrown.
[26:45] In fact, there's a much bigger party that's being thrown. It's called the kingdom of God. It's like a wedding feast. It's the party of God. And people will be invited to that party and they won't come because of pride.
[27:02] The same thing, Pharisees, that motivates you to look great, the same thing, participants, that motivates you to look socially acceptable, the same thing motivating you, host of the party, to show off your invite list, is the same thing that will keep people from entering the kingdom.
[27:20] People that are more preoccupied with their own life than they are the invitation to the kingdom of God.
[27:31] I don't need God. I've got a job to do. I've got money to make. I've got a family to raise. I've got a life to live. I've got fun to have. Be a Christian? It's for losers.
[27:42] Why would I want to identify myself with Christianity or following Christ? And there are some of you listening to me today and you know it's true.
[27:53] That everything has been provided to come to this banquet. A banquet where you can be in relationship with God. Everything has been accomplished on the cross.
[28:04] And it is your spiritual pride, I don't need God, that is keeping you from entering in.
[28:15] Your status is based on your family. Your status is based on your possessions and being consumed in that is keeping you from being received in the party of God.
[28:32] Faith family, most people who miss the grace of God are not atheists. They are well-intended people too prideful to admit that they need the grace of God.
[28:44] Pride, pride, pride, pride, pride. religious pride is what keeps the Pharisees looking great. Social pride is what keeps the participants and the host looking great.
[28:58] Spiritual pride is what keeps those that didn't even come to the party looking great. And not a single one of them could break through the barrier of greatness because they viewed greatness in the way of the world.
[29:15] and they did not understand where greatness is truly found. Here's the uncommon sense of the kingdom.
[29:26] Look at verse 11. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
[29:39] Look at verse 13. But when you give a feast invite the poor the crippled the lame the blind and you'll be blessed because they cannot repay you for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.
[29:56] And look at verse 21. So the servant came and reported these things to the master and the master of the house became angry and said to his servant go quickly to the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame.
[30:15] Where is greatness found? I mean real greatness. True greatness. True status.
[30:26] It's not in a Pharisee but a man with a dropsy who found healing. It's not in friends and high places.
[30:38] it's in friends in low places. It's not those at the top of the invitation list. Greatness is found in those who shouldn't even be there.
[30:53] Who should have never ever for a moment been invited to the party. That is the kingdom of God.
[31:05] God. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 and following. For consider your calling brothers, not many of you are wise according to worldly standards, not many of you are powerful, not many of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
[31:44] Faith family, let's be clear, God is not looking for self-righteous Pharisees who find greatness in their religious status. God is not looking for self-sufficient individuals who find greatness in their social status.
[31:58] God is looking for servants who have found their status in Christ and making much of Him. After all, when God chose the nation from which the Messiah would come, He didn't choose the mighty Assyrians, He didn't choose the powerful Babylonians, He didn't choose the wealthy Egyptians, He chose a nation that would be slaves to all of them.
[32:26] But He would lead them out, and He would be their God, and He would give them an inheritance so that they would never be able to boast about how great they are, but only how great God is.
[32:41] And when that Messiah came through that lowly nation, He didn't come with guns a-blazing, He didn't come with a parade, He came in a manger from Nazareth with a father who was a carpenter, a cousin who was a bug-eating maniac living in a van down by the river.
[33:01] And Jesus' message appeals to who? Not the Pharisee, but the prostitute. And there's comfort to the sinner and rejection for the Sadducee.
[33:13] His disciples are an island of misfit toys who are willing to cast down their nets in order to take up a cross.
[33:23] Do you want to know where greatness is? I'm asking you, Faith Family, do you want to know where true greatness is found? It's not found the way the world says greatness is found.
[33:34] It's found in a group of lowly, insignificant people in the eyes of the world. But because of the power of the gospel, they will one day rule the world.
[33:47] That is greatness. The reality is, Faith Family, there are church janitors that will one day rule over CEOs.
[34:01] There are truck drivers and stay-at-home moms doing everything they can to make ends meet who will one day be higher than people with Super Bowl rings.
[34:16] When the kingdom comes, the college student who has faith will be proven wiser than the professor with a PhD.
[34:29] For in the kingdom, the foolish will shame the wise. Notice it on the screen. True greatness is found in the status of the Savior.
[34:43] True greatness is found in the status of the Savior. Savior. What a powerful text. What a clear distinction between the common sense of the world.
[34:58] Greatness? Yeah, that's showing everybody how great you are. Look at who I know. Look at who I am. Look at what I have. I'm great. That may get you places in the world, but it won't get you in the kingdom.
[35:13] Jesus says the uncommon sense of the kingdom, the uncommon sense of true greatness, is taken the last seat. For those that are humbled will be exalted.
[35:28] Now, what do we walk away with today from studying this passage? What are we to learn and apply to our lives? Let me give you just three quick things as we wrap things up.
[35:39] Number one, it's very clear from this passage that the gospel opposes religious pride. The gospel opposes religious pride.
[35:51] In other words, faith family, greatness is not found in keeping all the rules. That's Phariseeism. Greatness is found when you're willing to admit you broke all the rules. That's humility.
[36:04] That's greatness. Do you really get that? It's not, look at all the rules I've kept. That's not great. It's, look at how needy I am.
[36:15] That's greatness. That's the cripple. That's the man with dropsy saying, I can't do anything about my condition but by the grace of God.
[36:27] That's the gospel and it opposes religious pride. Faith family, you are great not because you do things for God. You are great because God has done something great for you. That's the gospel.
[36:39] After all, the only reason you have a great seat in the kingdom anyway is because Jesus took the lowest seat for you. And so any sense of religious pride, look at how obedient I am, look at how much I give, the gospel shatters that and says that is not greatness at all.
[37:00] Secondly, is that greatness opposes social pride. So clear in this passage, the gospel opposes social pride. That is that greatness isn't found in your status in life, it's found in your status in God.
[37:14] That's where true greatness really is found. Let me give you just three quick implications under this point. They won't be on the screen, but let me just give them to you quickly. Number one, this is about the freedom the gospel gives us.
[37:27] That when we really understand the uncommon sense of this passage and we become really free, gospel free, it means that number one, you don't need a seat at anyone's table.
[37:48] You don't need a seat at anyone's table. If you already have a seat at God's table, why are you jockeying for seats at earthly tables?
[37:58] Well, I've got to belong to that group, I've got to be accepted by that guy. What are you doing? Why are you playing musical chairs when you've already been accepted in the kingdom of God?
[38:11] You don't need a seat at anyone's table because at the end of the day, while you may not be liked by everyone, you are loved by God. You may not be liked, you won't be liked by everyone, but you are loved by God.
[38:26] So you don't need a seat at anyone's table. Secondly, rather than pursuing status, here's an idea, pursue service.
[38:42] Rather than pursuing status, I'm going to go out today and make everybody know I'm great. Well, that's the common sense of the world.
[38:53] How about instead of that, though, you take the lower seat of the table, I'm going to go out today and look for opportunities to serve. That's the kingdom. That's the uncommon sense that Jesus is teaching us here.
[39:10] You are looking for ways to serve without concern of will I be recognized? Will it gain me anything? You're not concerned about that at all.
[39:21] So, you don't need a seat at anybody's table. I'm free. You're willing to take the lower seat at the table. And thirdly, you don't care who sits next to you at the table.
[39:34] You don't care who sits next to you at the table. I don't care if their name is on the movie screen or if their name has never been seen.
[39:45] I don't care if they wear a suit or if they hardly have enough clothes to cover their birthday suit. I don't care who sits next to me at the table because whether they are popular or not popular, they I am so tired of churches that do not welcome sinners.
[40:11] I wonder if churches that do not welcome sinners will be welcomed in the kingdom because according to Jesus the people who get in are the crippled, the lame and blind, the people who are willing to admit I'm broken, I'm a sinner.
[40:29] And if you really get that uncommon sense, here's what you'll say. You're welcome to sit by me anytime. Don't you see the freedom of the gospel that this brings?
[40:40] You don't need to sit at anybody's table. You're willing to take the lowest seat at the table and you don't care who sits next to you at the table.
[40:53] That's the kingdom of God and that's the freedom that the gospel gives. Then third main application here and then we'll close is the pride. The gospel opposes spiritual pride.
[41:07] Here's the point faith family. Believing the gospel is an act of humiliation. It's an act of humiliation because to believe the gospel is to realize and recognize you don't have your life in order.
[41:23] The people in the story of I got to get things in order. I just got married. I got oxen. I got to take care of the land. It's humiliating to say that I don't have it all together.
[41:45] And yet, if you think that's humiliating, imagine being stripped of your clothes, hung on a cross for the world to see. You see, Jesus knows more than anyone how greatness starts at the point of humiliation.
[42:06] And there are some of you listening to me today and you're not a Christian. And the reason that you're not a Christian is because you have not been willing to humble yourself and repent.
[42:19] To acknowledge you don't have it all together and to repent of your sin and go through the humiliating process of putting your faith and hope in someone else and not in yourself.
[42:35] If you're listening today and that's you would you repent and would you turn by faith to Jesus Christ? Would you come in to the party of God?
[42:48] Spiritual pride that is unwilling to identify with a crucified man will find yourself outside the party. Faith family we live in a world where greatness is encouraged all around us everywhere we look be great don't settle for average don't be mediocre be great to the million dollar athletes to the Olympic champions and yet this world does not have a clue where true greatness is found and God's word could not be clearer that greatness in the eyes of the world may mean insignificance in the eyes of God so if you really want to break through the barrier of greatness you're going to have to start approaching life in an uncommon way you're going to have to use the controls in a way you were not trained by the world and it goes like this the last will be first and the first will be last let's pray together