Father, we just read from your Word just a minute ago how Jesus opened the minds of the
disciples to understand the Scriptures, and Jesus said, Father, that he would send the
promise of the Father to the disciples.
Father, we ask for that for us.
May Jesus be present in our midst.
May he open our minds to help us to understand the Bible, which is your Word written.
And Father, we are weak, and we can be so timid.
And so, Father, we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us so that we would
be bold witnesses to proclaim your name, not only in this city of Ottawa, but to every
people group on the planet.
Father, please, we ask these things in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior.
Amen.
Please be seated.
So, first of all, Happy Father's Day.
We didn't say that, but it's Father's Day, and so Happy Father's Day.
And that's sort of the whole Father's Day part of the service out of the way, other than
maybe something in the prayers.
Some of you maybe have heard this story before, but that's fine.
I started going to what was the equivalent of my seminary, of course, in September, quite
a long, long time ago now.
And just a couple of weeks after I started what was to be my seminary experience, Louise
and I had Jesse, our second child.
And about two months after Jesse was born, there was an event that really shook me.
In fact, it's been, I don't know if Louise thinks about it as much as I think about it,
but I often think about this particular event.
For you young parents, it's, you know, nowadays with babies, it's as if you almost, you know,
as soon as they're born, you put them in like a hockey helmet and body armor, and you put
them in big plastic things so they can survive nuclear wars or car crashes or tumbling down
stairs.
But it wasn't like that, like in the dark ages, 30 some odd years ago.
We still cared for children, but we didn't have all the armor that you have nowadays.
And anyway, Louise had this really beautiful basket that would have been about this long
and about this wide, and it was like a wicker basket and had a nice, you know, blanket and
cushion on the bottom.
And sometimes we would put Jesse in that basket because it was really handy.
You could carry it around.
It was nice and cozy and safe.
And so one day when Jesse was about two months old, I had put the basket on like a chest of
drawers.
It was about that high.
And then I just sort of, I just stepped out of the room for a second to go and do something.
And one of the things I was still discovering then is that two-year-olds have the ability
to materialize in rooms silently without letting anybody know, and that they also have the ability
to stretch their arms up farther than their height.
They're like Fantastic Four, Mr. Fantastic.
I didn't know that about two-year-olds.
I was still learning it.
And anyway, I'm just out of the room for the briefest of seconds, and I hear a thump, not
a nice thump.
And I hear a cry.
And I come rushing into the room.
And my son Tosh had pulled the basket off the chest of drawers.
And when I come in, all I see is Jesse's little head on the hardwood floor.
And the rest of his body is in the basket.
So that's very, very, very upsetting for anybody, any parent.
So several things happen very quickly.
You know, we, of course, pick them up, and you call, and you yell, and we get a car.
We didn't own a car.
We had to get a car.
And I'm driving, you know, Jesse to the CHEO Children's Hospital.
And all the way that I'm going there, of course, I'm really worried, and I'm praying like crazy
that Jesse will be all right.
And at the same time that I'm praying like crazy that Jesse would be all right, I was
saying to myself, all of my professors are completely wrong.
And why I would say that, let's look at the Bible, and you'll understand why I would say
that all of my professors were completely and utterly wrong.
So take your Bible, and you'll understand why I was saying that.
And we're looking at Luke.
Those of you who are guests, we've taken quite a while, and we've gone through the entire
gospel of Luke.
We preach through books of the Bible here at Church of the Messiah.
And so today we're looking at Luke chapter 24, verses 33 to the end, and it's the last
part of Luke's gospel.
Next week, we begin, I think it's 11 or 12-week series on the book of Proverbs, and after
that, in the fall, we begin Romans.
And we'll do the book of Romans.
So we're finishing Luke today.
And you already heard, if you were here, I gave a bit of the context of what happens
at verse 33 and what's going on before.
And so just continuing on from verse 33, what is it in this passage of scripture that is
relevant to my son Jesse with his little head on the hardwood floor and my prayers and why
I was thinking at the same time?
Actually, it was some anger that all of my professors were completely and utterly wrong.
Here's how the text goes.
And they rose, that's the two disciples, the Emmaus disciples, that same hour and returned
to Jerusalem.
And they found the 11 and those who were with them gathered together.
And just sort of note there, it's the 11 and those who were with them.
So we don't know how many of them were.
It might very well have been Mary, the mother of Jesus.
It might, we don't know, it might have been, you know, Mary Magdalene or some of the women
who'd also, you know, seen Jesus.
It's pretty obvious by this point in time.
In fact, it shows a little bit of the historical accuracy of the account and the cultural prejudices.
You see, God doesn't use perfect people to write the Bible because it doesn't matter that
it's people who wrote the Bible.
It wasn't that the people are inspired and brilliant.
It's that God is brilliant.
And he used sinful people to cause his word to be written.
And his word is the way he wants his word to be written.
So, you know, if you look at all the four historical evidences, all the four witnesses,
historical witnesses of what happened back in that day, we know that Jesus has also appeared
to Mary.
But we see reflected here the cultural prejudice of the day is that they're not excited that
Jesus has appeared to Mary, a woman.
They're excited that Jesus has appeared to Peter, a man.
The Bible doesn't say this is right, but it's just Luke's trying to record what happens,
what happened.
Not the way the world should be, but the way the world was.
And so, but you notice here that there's the 11 and others.
We don't know how many others there were.
Sorry, continue reading verse 34.
And they're all saying, the Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.
Then they told what, then the two Emmaus disciples told what had happened on the road and how
he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
And just sort of pause here for a second.
I know I'm going to maybe upset some people, but I said last week, the breaking of the bread
isn't a reference to communion.
The Lord's Supper.
But what's significant about this, why it was such an important detail to them is just
imagine for yourself for a second that you have, maybe you know, you've been at university
or whatever, but over the last three years, you've developed a really close group of friends,
like really, really, really close group of friends over the last three years.
And then you have the worst day of your life.
And on the worst day of your life that begins with your best friends, at the very beginning
of the worst day of your life, all of your friends abandon you and deny you and aren't there
to support you.
Three days later, you see one of them.
Okay?
You see a couple of them.
And they see you.
And they're probably thinking, oh my gosh.
And maybe because they have tender consciences, they might say, you know, George, I'm so sorry.
Like, I shouldn't have done that.
I was a, you know, whatever.
I was bad.
You know, will you forgive me?
Can we go out and have lunch together?
And you might say, okay.
The worst day of my life?
And you abandoned me?
You denied me?
Did not support me?
Listen, I'm working on forgiving you.
But there's no way on God's earth.
I'm going to say, I'm going to sit down and have a meal with you.
You might not say it like that.
That's going on in your mind.
You might just say, I don't know if I'm ready to sit down and have a meal with you.
See, that's why the breaking of the bread is so significant to these two Emmaus disciples,
is that they had walked with Jesus.
God keeps it from their eyes.
They're not saying, oh my gosh.
He keeps it from their eyes.
And Jesus sits and eats with them.
He has forgiven them.
And he has shown that he's willing to be reconciled to them in the most unbelievably emotionally powerful way
by sitting down and having a meal with them.
So they say, not only did we see Jesus, he was willing to have a meal with us.
But, how amazing is that?
He didn't spend the time telling me how bad I was.
He ate with me.
That's why it's such a significant fact.
So continue on here.
Because I'm still talking.
I haven't forgotten about Jesse and his poor little head and why my professors,
why I was praying like crazy, which I think you can all understand,
and why I was also mad and angry at my professors.
So first, we'll go back to verse 36.
As they were talking about these things,
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
Peace to you.
Notice that.
Think about that.
He didn't say, You goofballs.
He doesn't say, I am so angry at you.
He doesn't say anything sarcastic.
He doesn't say anything demeaning.
He doesn't say anything at all like that.
His words to them are peace to you.
But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a disembodied spirit.
That's what that means.
And he said to them, Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
See my hands and my feet.
Right?
He wants to make sure that they understand that he's physical.
And so he says, And look, there's the nail prints.
He wouldn't have been wearing socks with sandals, which I know is a fashion faux pas.
What the heck?
I'm old.
I don't care about fashion, right?
So he would have pulled up his robe so they could have seen where the nails went in there.
He wants them to see.
And he wants them to touch him.
Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones that I have.
And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41.
And while they still disbelieved for joy, what that means here is they were just so overcome with happiness,
it's as if their minds just couldn't work.
That's what it's trying to get at.
And we're marveling.
He said to them, Have you anything here to eat?
And he gave them a piece of broiled fish.
And he took it and ate it before them.
Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything, everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms.
That's one way of saying the whole, what we call now the Old Testament.
The whole Old Testament.
Everything written about me in the Old Testament must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them,
And thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.
And we'll just pause there.
We're going to come back.
As those of you who know, we'll go through the scriptures several times.
Because what's more important not is that you remember what I say, but you remember what the Bible says.
That if you go away not remembering anything in the Bible, but remembering me, I failed.
Okay?
You have to go back.
Hopefully we understand the Bible at the end of it.
Or at least understand it a little bit better and understand Jesus.
So here's the thing.
We'll go back to my professors.
One of the things in my first year, I went to a very, very, very, very liberal equivalent of seminary.
It was a seminary for some, but anyway, a very, very, very, very liberal place.
And in every one of my biblical courses, the professors basically, not basically, they said,
nothing in the Bible actually happened.
Like basically, not only the Old Testament, but the New Testament doesn't deal with historical things.
Their mantra was, you need to distinguish between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith.
And that might sound very pious, but it's hogwash.
You need to distinguish between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith.
So it doesn't matter that things in the New Testament didn't happen.
It doesn't matter, as one of my professors said, that you could find the bones of Jesus and still believe in the resurrection.
It doesn't matter that things in the New Testament didn't happen.
You have to have the Christ of faith.
And if you look here in this text, Luke does everything he can to say that this is completely and utterly wrong.
Completely and utterly wrong.
And what does this mean?
If you have to separate the Jesus of history from the Christ of faith, then what do you have?
If, well, what do I want?
I'm driving along there.
And if nothing in the New Testament actually happened, if God doesn't do miracles, then why am I praying for my son?
And listen, I'm praying my heart out for my son.
And when I don't, you know what?
Like any praying parent in a situation like that, I'm just hoping and praying that my son's all right.
By the way, he has already ended up graduating summa cum laude and all that stuff.
His little head was fine.
But you know what?
In heaven, I don't, you know, it's not going to make any difference to me if God says,
yeah, George, as you were driving along, Jesse actually was, you know, in heaven, God says to me,
Jesse was brain damaged and I healed him right there in the car.
And the doctors didn't even know it.
I didn't want you to know that I'd performed a miracle, but now I can tell you because you're in heaven.
Well, I don't care if God says, yeah, George, I had my own plans for Jesse.
And so just before Jesse's little head hit the wooden floor, I had an angel come and catch Jesse's little head and just put it on the floor.
And even before you prayed about it, I was acting.
Or if it was just purely that the physics of the matter meant that his head was completely and utterly fine or the biology.
No parent cares about the difference in that, right?
You're just hoping the baby's fine.
And I will praise God in heaven just as much for the physics or the biology or the angels or the answer to prayer
or if it had been necessary that God would give the skill to the doctors and the people who invented drugs and all that thing so that my son would be fine.
That's what matters to me, right?
But I'm praying for a miracle.
I'm praying that there isn't a difference between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith,
that God can reach down and touch my son and heal him.
That's what I am praying.
And that's what you would pray too.
And if there is a difference between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith,
then all the Bible is is moralism.
I don't need more moralism in my life.
Do you?
If there is a difference between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith,
all you have is a deist God who set everything up like a clock and wound it up,
and then he went off on a holiday and he lets the world run.
I don't need a God like that.
That's not God.
If there's a difference between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith,
then all you have in the Bible is therapy.
All you have is techniques.
All you have is institutions and religions.
And all you have is rituals.
And all you have are things that form social cohesion so that we live together better
because we teach the kids right and wrong.
And who wants any of that stuff?
If you're...
If there isn't a God who does exist,
who's dealt with my separation from him in history for real,
the Bible is just about moralism or therapy.
I have a lot better things to do with my time,
and I don't need a whole pile of extra moralism in my life.
I can't keep up with all the advice I get all the time.
I don't need more advice.
Everything in this text...
Here's the thing.
It's going to be very, very brief.
Actually, today I could have a very simple four-point sermon.
Jesus really rose from the dead.
Jesus opens minds.
Jesus tells us the Bible is about him.
And the fourth thing is Jesus says he's going to send the Holy Spirit.
But because of clever people,
I've actually taken that first idea,
and I want to put it in two forms.
I'll just say them very briefly.
And if you're wishing, you could put it up.
If you're wishing, you could write them down.
I haven't left you enough time.
On Monday, they'll all be up online.
You can just go online if they're all helpful to you.
Here's the first thing that Luke's trying to communicate,
and the grammar's a bit awkward, I know,
but you can pray for me that I'll be better at grammar.
The real, historical, physical person who died on Friday
is the same real, historical, physical, resurrected person on Sunday.
Jesus.
That's what Luke wants you to know.
See my hands.
See my feet.
I'm the same guy who was on the cross on Friday.
Hey, I'm the same guy who was walking around with you for three years,
and I kept telling you I was going to be betrayed,
I was going to die, I was going to rise,
and I was going to speak to you.
I'm the same guy.
And the second thing, if you could put up the second point,
Jesus of Nazareth crucified,
and the Lord and Savior Jesus Messiah
are the same person.
The text even says Christ in it.
Jesus of history talks about the Christ and all the promises,
and Luke wants us to understand that.
He wants us to understand that God isn't a deist God who's distant,
and God isn't just about adding moralism or therapy to our lives.
He's not into just creating, you know,
being an excuse for a religious institution or a ritual or anything like that.
He sends his son into real history, real time,
as a real person to die a real death on a real cross
and be put in a real tomb
and taste all there is to taste,
really taste of death with nothing left out.
And on the third day, he rises from the dead,
he defeats sin, defeats death,
defeats all hostile spiritual powers.
The grave is empty,
and he makes itself very clear to his disciples
that he is Jesus of Nazareth.
He is the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And I have come to be your Savior in real history.
That's what Luke wants you to know.
My professors were all wrong.
Lord, have mercy.
Here's just a little takeaway point.
You could put up A.
Here's a prayer we can pray.
Jesus, please help me to pray more
and pray boldly in your name.
Remember last week I was talking about my friend Bob,
and he understood that he didn't remember.
I talked about how he couldn't believe in the resurrection,
and he also then, of course,
didn't believe in any miracle in the Bible.
And he also couldn't pray.
When it came time for prayer in church services,
he understood it as a time of quiet reflection.
And remember those, if you go remember the story from last week,
it was just one of those times I was mainly called to listen,
because I'll talk to him lots of times.
It's not like I just have this one shot.
But if you don't think God acts in history, you can't pray.
I mean, people pray despite it, but it's really hard.
And, you know, one of the things we get here from the resurrection
is that Jesus wants us to pray more and pray with boldness.
Pray that that will be true of me.
I'll pray that will be true of you.
Now, one of the things that people say about Christians
is that we're narrow-minded, that we're close-minded,
that we're anti-intellectual.
It's a very, very common belief in our culture
that Christians just want to shut down discussion and debate.
It's a very, very common belief in our culture
that to become a Christian is to kiss your mind goodbye
and that we don't ask ourselves tough questions.
And you know what?
Lamentably, that is true of maybe...
I mean, if it's true of one Christian,
it's true of one Christian too many.
But, you know, most of the world gives itself a pass.
I just want to ask you a little bit of a thought experiment.
Imagine that you went on a blog
in the city of Ottawa.
You know where they have...
And you can make comments.
And imagine there was a blog about Bruce Jenner
who now goes by Caitlin.
And in the blog, you wrote down in a response
with your name, not, you know, exiled in Ottawa,
but you actually...
I wrote George Sinclair.
And in your blog, you actually said
that I'm only going to refer to Caitlin as Bruce and as he.
And all the way through the blog,
you refer to Caitlin as Bruce or he.
Just a thought experiment.
How do you think the responses would be to the blog?
Do you think they would be measured, reasonable,
appreciating your appeal to biology and science,
and thanking you for your insightful comments?
Or do you think it might get launched into the Twitterverse
and you would be dealing with all sorts of unbelievably angry,
hostile, name-calling, slanderous tweets, blogs, etc.
Now, which one do you think it would be?
And it wouldn't be the religious right
that are sending all those tweets.
Here's the thing.
If there's one thing that characterizes our country
is that we're leaving Christendom
and that actual general debate and inquiry
is also becoming less and less and less.
In fact, it's interesting.
The problem with having a closed mind is a human problem.
It's not a religious problem.
It's a human problem.
And the interesting question is,
in whatever your system of thought is,
does it have the resources within it
to encourage having an open mind and civility?
Does your system of thought have the resources for that?
So look here again at what Jesus says.
It's actually quite stunning
what Luke tells us, records historically that Jesus says.
Look at verses 44 and following.
Then Jesus said to them,
These are my words that I spoke to you
while I was still with you,
that everything written about me
in the law of Moses and the prophets
and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds
to understand the scriptures.
Then he opened their minds
to understand the scriptures
and said to them,
Thus it is written,
that the Christ should suffer
and on the third day rise from the dead.
And we'll just sort of pause there.
Here's the first thing,
if you could put up the point.
Jesus opens minds.
This, right here,
you see this huge gulf
that opens up between Jesus
and other religious teachers.
You know, right now,
the way that most people experience
Hinduism and Buddhism
is that they like the meditation practices
because it's a way of calming themselves
and trying to get a bit of perspective.
But in their original form
and in their fundamental intent,
meditation in Hinduism and Buddhism
is to kill the mind
because the mind is a problem.
because the human problem,
expressed slightly different in both faiths,
but the problem that human beings face
is that the mind keeps making distinctions
and therefore the mind is getting in the way
of the fact that in fact
there is only the one.
Minds make distinctions
between beautiful and ugly,
between the good and the bad.
The minds make distinctions
between myself
and that which is not myself.
It makes distinctions
in terms of this object
and that object
and this color
and that color.
And so meditation
is actually a way
to kill the mind
so that one
can be at one with the one.
And in Islam,
I mean, one of the things
which is a problem for it
is that in a sense
the person is almost like a slave
and the relationship with God
is one that if God says jump,
it's almost a sin to say how high
because you should just jump.
Islam does not have the book of Job.
God, why are you doing this to me?
I don't understand.
Maybe you're wrong.
And even though
at the end of the book of Job,
God shows up
and Job says,
you know what?
Now that I actually have
even more of a knowledge
of you, God,
I realize I was wrong.
And Job talks to God
and asks questions of God
and that's missing in Islam.
It's just command.
And if it's just command,
how can you open your mind?
And even actually
in scientism and materialism,
a great problem
for atheistic thought
is that if everything
is just a result
of cause and effect
and cause and effect,
how is it that we can actually
trust that our mind can know?
Because actually,
the odd thing is
that the theory
developed by the mind
brings you to the point
where the mind
actually can't develop theory.
Sorry, that was probably
way over a lot of your heads.
I had to throw it in.
But here's the thing
which is so astounding.
Jesus doesn't say,
I'm going to shut your minds,
I'm going to close your minds,
I'm going to make
your minds more dumb,
I'm going to make your mind.
He opens their minds.
And here's the thing,
as we'll see in a second,
Jesus doesn't say,
okay, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
don't get carried away,
I'm just going to open your mind
to understand the Bible,
but I'm going to close your mind
to science, art, beauty,
common sense, politics, economics,
whoa, whoa, whoa,
don't get carried away.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
He opens minds.
And as he opens minds
to understand the Bible,
the mind stays open.
If you could put up
the next point, Andrew.
Yeah, Andrew.
Jesus, first point three
was Jesus opened.
Fourth point is Jesus opens minds
to understand the Bible,
God's word written.
And this is very, very important
because it tells us something
about the nature of the human
that God has created.
And what redemption means
is that, you know,
nowadays we think
that being open-minded
means that you don't actually
ever come to any conclusions.
We'll talk about this more next week
because actually that's
what the book of Proverbs
says is a fool.
But G.K.
Trusted once said
that we are to open our minds
like the way a baby
opens its mouth
so that it can get some food.
Have you ever tried
to feed a little one-year-old
or a nine-month-old?
It's so cute, you know.
You have the baby gruel
and you have the spoon
and the little baby,
of course,
is with its mouth like that.
So I don't know,
you do the airplane sound
or car sound
or something like that
and you make it go like this
and their little eyes dart around
because the goal is
that the little mouth,
little plump mouth
will open up
and you stick the little spoon
in the mouth
and then the little mouth
comes down
and you hope that the little mouth
doesn't immediately squirt
all the food right back out
because that's a separate problem.
But, you know,
Chesterton said
the Bible teaches
that our minds
are to be like baby's mouths.
They open
so they can fall
on something to eat.
And that's what we see here.
Jesus opens the minds
of the disciples
so they can feed on
the truth
that comes from God.
Our minds were made
to be fed by truth.
Our emotions, by the way,
are meant to be fed
with beauty.
And our wills
are meant to be fed
by goodness.
And what makes us,
us,
the command center
of our lives,
that the heart,
as the Bible calls it,
that's meant to be fed
by love.
Because ultimately
it's meant to be
at one with God
who is the Father,
the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.
Three persons,
one God forever and ever
who have existed
in perfect love
for all eternity
and God has made us
for himself.
And that is why
the food
of the command center
of the human being
is love.
But the food
for the mind
is truth.
If you could put up
the final point
for this,
Jesus tells his disciples
that the Bible
is all about
who he is
and his work
of redemption.
So he doesn't just
point us to the Bible,
but he tells us.
He says,
George,
he says,
Peter,
John,
Andrew,
George,
Anne,
Louise,
Daniel,
you read the Bible,
call out to me.
I want to open your mind
so you can understand
the Bible.
And you need to understand
that everything in the Bible
is helping you
to understand
who I am
and what I've done
for you.
That I am the power
of God
for salvation
for all who believe.
That's what this book
is going to be about.
I'm going to open
your minds to it.
Here's the little
prayer takeaway
for you.
I want this to be
just to encourage you
to consider praying.
Jesus,
please open my mind
as I daily read
your word written.
Jesus,
please open my mind
as I daily read
your word written.
You know the wonderful
thing about a prayer
like that?
It's obvious
that Jesus wants us
to pray a prayer
like that.
He wants us
to pray that.
He said,
I'm opening your minds
to understand
the scriptures.
So,
just call out
to Jesus
and say,
Jesus,
open my mind.
Open my mind
to understand
your word
and open my mind
to understand
the truth
about what's going
on in the world
and the truth
of science.
Jesus,
open my mind.
Feed me with truth.
Feed me with your word.
Help me to read
your word every day
and as I read
your word,
open my mind.
Open my mind.
Jesus,
thank you
that you love me.
Please open my mind.
a couple of weeks ago,
two weeks ago,
I talked about forgiveness
and one of the things
that happened to me,
just,
it actually,
I almost used it
as a sermon illustration
two weeks ago
because it actually happened
just before the sermon
but then I realized
I was going to be talking
about it here today
and I thought I'd save it.
I had a really remarkable
thing happen to me
in Starbucks
just over two weeks ago,
two and a half weeks ago.
a man that had
very,
very wrong,
very much wronged me
and hurt me
for almost ten years
I had been praying
that I could forgive him.
Some of you might remember
I said sometimes
when we pray
to forgive another person
sometimes God answers
it just like that
but sometimes
you have to pray
for a long time
and I think
one of the ways
that you understand
that you've actually
finally forgiven the person
is that when you see them
and you're with them
you don't feel like
punching them
you don't feel like
yelling at them
or being mad at them
and you also don't feel
like running from them
you can just sort of
be calm in their presence
and I was sitting
in this Starbucks
that I often go to
and this guy
that I'd been praying for
that I could forgive him
for almost ten years
I've never seen him
in this Starbucks
but he shows up
in this Starbucks
and I realized
I felt no fight or flight
and that my prayers
for almost ten years
had been answered
I'd forgiven him
in fact afterwards
when I was going home
I thanked God
that he'd answered
those prayers
and I was able
to forgive the guy
and
here's the thing
about the text
is that
Jesus talks about
his death upon the cross
we talked about this
more two weeks ago
but it's really important
to bring home
and that the way
that we are to explain
one of the ways
that we are to go
into all the world
and explain what it is
that Jesus has accomplished
for us on the cross
is that one of the ways
that we are to understand this
is that God
forgives us
in Jesus
listen to it again
if you go back
to verse 44
then Jesus said to them
these are my words
that I spoke to you
while I was still with you
that everything written
about me
in the law of Moses
and the prophets
and the Psalms
must be fulfilled
then he opened their minds
to understand the scriptures
and said to them
thus it is written
that the Christ
should suffer
and on the third day
rise from the dead
and that repentance
that's our repentance
and forgiveness of sins
that's what Jesus
has accomplished
should be proclaimed
in his name
to all nations
and the word nations
there is actually
people group
to every people group
beginning from Jerusalem
you are witnesses
of these things
you are witnesses
of these things
if you could put up
the first point
here's the thing
which is so amazing
and I
you know
I just really tried
to make sure
I tried to just add
a whole pile of words
it doesn't have rhythm
and if I was like smarter
they'd all spell a word
or all begin with the same letter
or something like that
but I'm not
have that type of mind
Jesus offers pure
full
free
complete
deep
total
whole life
undeserved
forgiveness from God
to ordinary people
because of his
death
and resurrection
that's what Jesus
wins for us
on the cross
I'll say it again
it's pure forgiveness
full forgiveness
free forgiveness
complete forgiveness
deep forgiveness
total forgiveness
whole life forgiveness
it goes from
a moment of your
conception
in your mother's womb
to that time in the future
at which you die
undeserved forgiveness
and it's forgiveness
from God
and it's offered
to ordinary people
like you and me
and the people we meet
in the city of Ottawa
and around the world
and it's
and it's because of
Jesus' death
and resurrection
that if you put
if you
repentance
doesn't
sometimes you feel guilty
in repentance
repentance is all about
turning
it's turning to Jesus
turning to God
maybe you've been involved
in ritual
maybe you've been involved
in religion
maybe you've been involved
in irreligion
maybe you've been involved
in witchcraft
maybe you've been involved
in different
whatever it is
and you turn
to the living God
and you turn to Jesus
and in a sense
you give yourself
to him
you might not have
very much of an understanding
about who he is
or what he's done
God doesn't ask you
to pass a theology test
before you can become
a Christian
but you turn
to Jesus
and
complete
full
pure
forgiveness
is offered
to us
from God
Jesus tells us
that
I'm not making this up
that's what Jesus
tells us
after he is risen
from the dead
that's what he's
telling you and me
and if you could
put up the next point
as well
Jesus
has obtained
for me
peace with God
and forgiveness
from God
so I can walk
with God
day by day
into eternity
see that
you catch that
when he
the first words
he says to the
disciples
are peace
and it's not only
him reassuring them
he's also telling them
what he has accomplished
for them
and he
he
embodies it
he acts it out
he eats with them
he's
his demeanor
to them
is
is one of
a favor
towards them
and by
you know
the other
you can look at
we can look at
Paul and Hebrews
and there's other ways
to try to
figure out
how to try to get
into the mystery
but at the
most simple level
of the mystery
are these two things
that Jesus'
death upon the cross
and his resurrection
are what the Bible
is telling you
all the Old Testament
is pointing to that
preparing you for that
and that
what is offered
to us
by God
through Jesus'
death and the resurrection
is that peace
we can be at peace
with him
God has
never been
against us
it is that
I have
been against him
and God
has never wronged me
but I
have wronged him
and God
offers me
through Jesus
when I turn
to him
forgiveness
and peace
with him
that's what
Jesus tells us
that's what
I'm telling you
so here just
one thing
a take away
prayer
if you could
put it up
Jesus
please help me
to stop
trying to
forgive myself
by the way
you know
the Bible
never tells you
to forgive
yourself
when we're
trying to
forgive ourselves
it's because
we're proud
please give me
both a tender
conscience
and an ability
to accept
God's forgiveness
that's what we
need
that's what we
see here from
this text
because God
forgives us
in Jesus
he forgives me
I don't want to
I don't plan to
sin next week
or in 10 years
or tomorrow
but I will
because I am
a bent human
being
and that's all
been dealt
with by Jesus
on the cross
there's nothing
I can add to it
there's nothing
I can subtract
and I don't need
to learn to
forgive myself
I need God
to keep my
conscience
ever more tender
so I recognize
when I've done
wrong
and I need
him to work
in my heart
so that I
accept
the forgiveness
that was won
for me
by Jesus
and is offered
to me
by Jesus
from God
himself
and I need
to have a tender
conscience
and live
out of being
forgiven
it's a prayer
that many of us
need to pray
maybe some of us
have to pray it
for 10 years
maybe the rest
of our lives
until we can
actually start
to enter into it
and walk in it
and that just
leads me to this
final thing
as part of my
preparation for this
sermon on Friday
night I watched
Legally Blonde
again
that
you know that
movie Legally Blonde
with Reese Witherspoon
a 14 year old
movie
and there's
at the end
of the movie
without giving
it away
it's like every
American movie
every American
movie
or a lot of
American movies
either end with
a man and a woman
kissing each other
or they end
with applause
right
so this didn't
end with kissing
but it ended
with applause
and the heroine
gets a standing
ovation
and all that
stuff
and she gives
a very typical
commencement address
that what she's
really learned
is that she has
to have faith
in herself
you go to
just about
any type
of commencement
that's
we all are
learning to
have faith
in ourself
faith in
ourself
in fact
one of the
things about
Christianity
is that it's
viewed as a
downer
many Christians
actually will try
to make it look
as if the Bible
is talking about
us having faith
in ourselves
but I don't
want to depress
you
I want to give
you better news
don't have faith
in yourself
none of us
need more faith
in ourselves
Jesus says
we need more
awareness of
our weakness
and faith
in the promise
of God
that's what we
need
look it's right
here in the
Bible
verse 48
you are witnesses
of these things
and behold
I am sending
the promise
of my father
upon you
but stay in
the city
until you are
clothed
with power
from on high
here's the little
two takes away
first of all
Jesus
if you put it
up
Jesus sends
out witnesses
not spin doctors
he doesn't
need me to
go in the
Starbucks
when I have
conversations
and I say
well you know
it says this
in the Bible
but actually
I've always
thought that
was not
very well
put
then you
close it
and put it
down
listen to
my thoughts
on the
subject
because I'm
actually
you know
I think
I can
no no
at the very
end of the
day
it's a very
very interesting
process
Jesus doesn't
tell us to
go out and
convert people
he doesn't
tell us to
go out and
do all of
the work
that's necessary
he tells us
to bear witness
and he sends
the Holy Spirit
so you know
sometimes you
go back home
afterwards
I've had many
times I've
done I think
I probably have
done a very
poor job
in bearing
witness
at least I
did some
type of
bearing
witness
and God
does the
big work
he carries
the heavy
lifting
but here's
the final
thing
the one I
want you
to really
take to
heart
and notice
how I
put it
the promise
of the
father
is sent
by Jesus
to clothe
weaklings
in God's
power
so we can
proclaim the
gospel
and live
for his
glory
I need
to come
to God
and just
say I
don't need
to come
to God
and say
father please
help me
have more
faith in
myself
this is
really
counterintuitive
but it's
far better
if I
come to
God
and say
father I'm
a weakling
but Jesus
died for
me
I'm at
peace with
you through
him
you've
forgiven me
through him
and you
have promised
that you
are far
bigger than
any problem
you are far
bigger than
any obstacle
you are far
bigger than
anything I
have to
face
and you
will send
the Holy
Spirit upon
me to
help me
and father
I want
to have
a deeper
trust in
you
please
father may
you work
may you
give me
power
may I
live out
of your
power
I am
a weakling
I want
to live
out of
your power
father
I don't
want to
have
self
confidence
I want
to have
God
confidence
I don't
want to
have
self
confidence
I want
to have
Jesus
confidence
I don't
want to
have
self
confidence
I
want
to
have
Holy
Spirit
confidence
I
don't
want
to
have
self
confidence
and
keep
going
肯
confidence
ifω
You can put up the prayer that I put.
Oh, no, it's already up there.
Jesus, please help me to...
Where am I?
D, Jesus, here's...
Yeah, prayer D.
Jesus, I am a weakling.
Please make me a bold witness.
I want to ask you to stand.
If you could put up the final slide,
that would be great.
My friend, I told you about...
I didn't mention this,
but there's no reason I shouldn't mention his name.
My friend, Byron Wheaton,
when I was having coffee with him a little while ago,
he said to me,
like, what do you think the book of Luke is all about?
And I told him a version of this prayer.
And in some ways, as we finish the Gospel of Luke,
in some ways, I think all of Luke was written
so that we would pray a prayer something like this.
I mean, all these other prayers that I've suggested,
but a prayer something like this.
Because I think Luke is moving us
to come to the point where we've repented,
after hearing about Jesus and turned to Jesus,
that we know him as our Savior,
that our God is not a distant deist God,
but he's our Heavenly Father,
that we are to pour out our hearts to.
And God has Luke bear witness to Jesus
in this scripture to be written
so that we will come to a knowledge
and grow day by day in a knowledge
of the greatness and glory and grace of Jesus,
and that we'll walk with Jesus,
and we'll be humble before him,
and we'll trust him,
and we'll know him,
and we'll do all of that by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And I think that's what Luke wants us to come to
as a conclusion as we read his gospel.
And so I invite you to pray this prayer with me.
You don't have to,
but I invite you to pray this prayer with me.
Because I think that's why God had the gospel of Luke written,
so that we would come to this point
where not only would we want to pray a prayer like this today,
but that this would be the type of prayer
that we want to pray to the Father
and the power of the Spirit
in the name of Jesus every day.
It's how you begin the Christian life.
It's how you live the Christian life.
So if the Holy Spirit has touched your heart,
join with me in praying.
Loving Heavenly Father,
please pour out your Holy Spirit upon me
and grow in me a humble, trusting, walking,
knowing of the greatness, glory, and grace
of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
crucified and risen.
Amen.
Father, we ask that you would gently
but deeply pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
Grow within us, Father,
a confidence in you,
a confidence in your Son, Jesus,
a confidence in the Holy Spirit,
a confidence in your Word,
a confidence in your promises.
Father,
grow within us
this basic, humble, trusting,
walking, knowing, obedience to Jesus
and his greatness and his glory and his grace.
Father, make this the cry of our heart
as we live for your glory.
Father, make us disciples of Jesus
gripped by the Gospel
who live for your glory.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus,
your Son and our Savior.
Amen.