WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:09.540 Our passion is to experience and express grace. 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:10.620 Join us. 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:12.660 Amen. 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:15.099 What a beautiful song. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:19.699 What a great reminder to us that God speaks. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:25.940 That God speaks actually, as James was saying, our language. 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:32.760 That he speaks into our lives, our individual stories, our corporate stories. 00:00:33.160 --> 00:00:38.719 Right where we are, particularly in those difficult places, you've heard him speak to you there. 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:42.380 So that we can understand and know him. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.020 What a great gift that is. 00:00:45.579 --> 00:00:48.480 He has spoken, hasn't he? 00:00:48.680 --> 00:00:50.680 Just stop and think about that for a minute. 00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:53.100 God speaks. 00:00:54.520 --> 00:00:55.219 Isn't that amazing? 00:00:55.219 --> 00:00:57.500 God speaks in creation. 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:03.000 He has spoken through the prophets for thousands of years. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:05.239 He has spoken through his son. 00:01:07.140 --> 00:01:11.900 What a great privilege it is to hear God speak. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:19.900 The one who created and rules over everything would have something to say to us. 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:21.840 Isn't that amazing? 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:26.000 And if that's the case, we must do what? 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:28.620 We must certainly listen. 00:01:29.380 --> 00:01:32.359 If God speaks, we must listen. 00:01:32.460 --> 00:01:39.939 We must listen to God speak expectantly, anticipating that we will find that our story is caught up in his. 00:01:40.060 --> 00:01:43.159 That he knows what's best for us. 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:50.780 What a good time to consider that as we start a new sermon series this morning in the Gospel of Luke. 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:56.480 Why don't we pray and ask God to help us hear as he speaks to us through his word. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:57.099 Pray with me. 00:01:57.099 --> 00:02:03.099 Father, thank you for speaking to us. 00:02:03.099 --> 00:02:11.079 Thank you for not standing far off and hiding yourself from us, but for speaking to us. 00:02:11.219 --> 00:02:15.740 We often ask to hear from you and want that. 00:02:15.819 --> 00:02:17.680 And the truth is that you have spoken. 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:21.780 And that you are speaking in your word. 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:26.840 Lord, Holy Spirit, make us those with ears to hear. 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:31.120 Bless our study of the Gospel according to Luke. 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:33.680 For the sake of our own hearts. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.379 For our friends and our neighbors. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.159 For the city of Huntsville. 00:02:39.379 --> 00:02:45.819 And even, we pray, Father, in ways we couldn't anticipate or plan for, for the entire world. 00:02:45.819 --> 00:02:49.919 Speak now, Lord. 00:02:50.019 --> 00:02:51.939 Your servants are listening. 00:02:53.060 --> 00:02:53.659 Amen. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:58.900 Luke chapter 1 at verse 1. 00:02:59.959 --> 00:03:06.240 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:13.039 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:19.439 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, 00:03:19.780 --> 00:03:23.399 to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:28.579 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. 00:03:29.959 --> 00:03:32.979 Thus far, God's holy word. 00:03:34.739 --> 00:03:40.359 This fall is going to include more than a new sermon series on the book of Luke. 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:43.960 Luke, it will, of course, involve a new football season. 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:48.100 It's one of those things that happens this time of year that some of you are looking forward to. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:52.920 One of the greatest football coaches of all time, Vince Lombardi, 00:03:53.720 --> 00:03:56.120 is famous for some of his speeches. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:02.620 One of them he delivered to his Green Bay Packers at the beginning of a new football season. 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:08.040 They had just come off a year in which they lost the NFL championship game. 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:11.900 And there were many who doubted how things would turn out the next year. 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:14.219 There was some discouragement in the locker room. 00:04:14.799 --> 00:04:19.959 Guys were uncertain how this next season was going to go after the rough end to the last one. 00:04:20.620 --> 00:04:23.439 And Lombardi walked in that very first day. 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:28.800 He held up a football and he took them back to the basics. 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:31.599 He said, gentlemen, this is a football. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:38.700 Then they walked outside and he said, these are yard markers and that's an end zone. 00:04:39.860 --> 00:04:42.260 And this is how the game is played. 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:44.780 This is a football. 00:04:44.960 --> 00:04:48.820 It's the foundation, the center of the whole game. 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:54.080 The game is about getting this ball across that line into that end zone. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:58.300 We're going to start over and talk about football. 00:04:58.419 --> 00:05:04.219 No matter what else you do in football, the center of attention is the football, right? 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:06.279 That's simple. 00:05:07.500 --> 00:05:08.899 Lombardi knew it was simple. 00:05:09.479 --> 00:05:12.219 But it's also easy to forget, isn't it? 00:05:13.479 --> 00:05:14.979 A lot of stuff goes on. 00:05:15.419 --> 00:05:16.180 We get busy. 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:20.779 There's a lot of things to learn and remember and a lot of life to live and we forget. 00:05:20.779 --> 00:05:28.679 And one of the reasons I'm excited to study the gospel of Luke together is that Jesus is at the center of it. 00:05:29.719 --> 00:05:32.619 Now, of course, that is true of all of scripture. 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:35.139 We'll talk more about that later. 00:05:35.599 --> 00:05:45.379 But it's true in a particular way of the gospels where we get detailed accounts of what Luke describes as the things that have been accomplished among us. 00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:46.339 Verse 1. 00:05:47.259 --> 00:05:53.819 By which things, Luke clearly means the things that have happened in the life and ministry of Jesus. 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:57.860 As we start to read, we realize that's what Luke is telling us about. 00:05:58.420 --> 00:06:04.819 Jesus is so much the center of attention in the Bible that we actually get how many gospels? 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:06.399 The kids helped us count them. 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:07.459 Four gospels. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:12.600 Four gospels to give us different perspectives on the same thing, really. 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:17.900 The life and ministry and death and resurrection of Jesus. 00:06:18.740 --> 00:06:19.879 Four of them. 00:06:19.960 --> 00:06:22.600 That's unusual in biblical accounts. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:28.360 We get four different thorough lengthy perspectives on the life of Jesus. 00:06:29.320 --> 00:06:31.760 Jesus is the word made flesh. 00:06:31.960 --> 00:06:34.360 The perfect image of God. 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:43.139 We're told in God's word that we see in Jesus the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:49.319 So that's what we're going to see in the book of Luke as we walk through this gospel. 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:57.580 And nothing could be more important to us than getting a clear vision of Jesus, of the glorious God-man. 00:06:57.579 --> 00:07:05.740 Luke says it's so important, in fact, that he doesn't just want us to hear some stories and pick and choose what we like, 00:07:05.859 --> 00:07:09.399 but to know the truth about Jesus with certainty. 00:07:09.620 --> 00:07:10.539 Remember what he says? 00:07:11.180 --> 00:07:12.419 Why he's writing this book? 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:35.720 Luke writes both this gospel and the book of Acts to someone named Theophilus. 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:38.160 You may not have a lot of friends named Theophilus. 00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:38.879 Luke had one. 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:42.439 And he probably was a historical figure. 00:07:43.219 --> 00:07:48.180 Maybe had helped Luke fund this venture, writing this gospel account. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:53.339 But he clearly had heard about Jesus and wanted to know more. 00:07:53.740 --> 00:08:00.540 He'd heard some things, perhaps, but he still had questions, doubts, struggles. 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:07.019 Perhaps he didn't have it all figured out yet, and so Luke wrote this for him. 00:08:07.019 --> 00:08:13.799 Could we all admit this morning that we fit in that category with Theophilus? 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:19.319 I don't think any of us has Jesus all figured out yet, do we? 00:08:20.259 --> 00:08:26.419 Whether we grew up in the church or this is our first Sunday, I think we all have questions. 00:08:27.539 --> 00:08:30.500 We all experience times where we lack certainty. 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:35.019 Some of us have particular doubts or struggles. 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:37.720 And Luke says to us, I get that. 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:39.039 I understand. 00:08:39.379 --> 00:08:40.840 This is big stuff. 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:44.279 These are weighty things that have taken place. 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:49.779 And I don't want to ignore your doubts or your questions, he says. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:56.179 I want to seek to address those by considering what has happened here around me and what role 00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:59.279 Jesus plays in these events you've heard about. 00:09:00.219 --> 00:09:03.139 And before we do that, isn't that encouraging to you? 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:10.959 Isn't it encouraging that the God of the Bible and the Bible itself would be okay with your doubts? 00:09:12.139 --> 00:09:18.959 That you can come into a room like this and a church like this and actually bring questions 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:25.580 and struggles and doubts and God's okay with that. 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:30.920 In fact, that there are books in His Word like the book of Luke written to people who have doubts 00:09:30.920 --> 00:09:37.940 that God expects those kinds of people who don't have complete certainty will be there receiving His Word. 00:09:38.660 --> 00:09:43.360 There are books written not to shame those struggling with doubt but to help them. 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:48.460 You don't have to hide or deny your doubts. 00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:55.420 You don't have to remain stuck in them forever thinking I'll never learn anything or get any clarity. 00:09:56.040 --> 00:10:00.259 You can bring them rather to God and to His Word. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:02.820 Let His Word speak to them. 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:11.160 What good news that is that that's the kind of God we have and the kind of God who speaks to us in those doubts. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:16.340 I believe nothing could be more important than what someone does with Jesus. 00:10:16.340 --> 00:10:21.680 What we believe about Him, how He impacts our lives. 00:10:22.060 --> 00:10:25.780 And you may not even be convinced of that this morning. 00:10:25.920 --> 00:10:32.200 But what a great opportunity if you're struggling or you're doubting to investigate Jesus Himself. 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:35.560 To see who He is and what He's about. 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:42.019 Luke says these are important enough matters that He wants us to have certainty about what happened. 00:10:42.239 --> 00:10:45.239 So He's done careful research. 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:46.479 Look at verse 2. 00:10:46.619 --> 00:10:47.659 He describes it. 00:10:48.419 --> 00:10:54.139 Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word have delivered them to us, 00:10:54.139 --> 00:11:02.639 It seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you. 00:11:03.299 --> 00:11:08.600 Having looked into this, Luke says in beautiful Greek prose, 00:11:10.059 --> 00:11:14.960 he clearly introduces what claims to be history, not fiction. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:24.940 Anyone who got this when Luke wrote it would know that these four verses introduce what is intended to be a detailed and careful historical account. 00:11:25.560 --> 00:11:28.460 He's writing almost certainly in the 60s. 00:11:29.820 --> 00:11:32.460 That's the 60s of the first century. 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:34.440 Not the 1960s. 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:36.980 The 60s. 00:11:37.100 --> 00:11:42.000 At most 30 or 40 years removed from the events that he describes. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:51.059 So many of the people first reading Luke were people who were present or had parents present at the events that Luke is writing about. 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:57.620 And he's saying, I'm not going to get away with tall tales here in this book. 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:01.220 Luke makes a claim to being careful and accurate. 00:12:01.539 --> 00:12:05.820 And he explains how he was able to be careful and accurate, right? 00:12:06.539 --> 00:12:11.120 Not only are there other written accounts he's consulted, but Luke goes back to eyewitnesses. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:13.240 And talks with them. 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:14.600 He traveled with some of them. 00:12:15.139 --> 00:12:16.600 Ministers of the word. 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.519 These are oral accounts. 00:12:21.059 --> 00:12:25.059 From the historians of the cities in which these events happened. 00:12:25.139 --> 00:12:27.179 You know, that's how they did them back in these days. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.519 Those were the things that people really trusted. 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:33.659 It was the approved storytellers in each community. 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:40.360 That when significant events happened, they told them better than anybody else and remembered exactly the way that they were. 00:12:40.439 --> 00:12:42.679 That's who Luke is talking about. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:44.120 He's talked with them. 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:48.100 The people who pass down exactly how things happen. 00:12:48.439 --> 00:12:49.699 And everybody knows. 00:12:49.839 --> 00:12:51.039 So they don't change anything. 00:12:51.579 --> 00:12:54.539 Because if they change something, everybody knows you're changing the story. 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:55.419 That's not how it goes. 00:12:55.839 --> 00:12:56.539 That's not what happened. 00:12:56.600 --> 00:12:57.079 We were there. 00:12:57.080 --> 00:13:00.180 And the storyteller passes it down. 00:13:00.280 --> 00:13:01.540 Luke has talked with them. 00:13:03.259 --> 00:13:04.420 That's what it means. 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:09.040 That these stories that Luke is putting in his gospel were delivered. 00:13:09.520 --> 00:13:13.320 That they were passed down by these storytellers. 00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:16.840 Eyewitnesses to the events that had taken place. 00:13:16.940 --> 00:13:20.060 And Luke wants you to know he's looked into it carefully. 00:13:20.059 --> 00:13:26.179 Luke had investigated these things carefully for the benefit of his readers. 00:13:26.339 --> 00:13:28.879 That they would be able to know what happened. 00:13:29.839 --> 00:13:32.959 They would be able to know who Jesus was. 00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:36.439 And that's a question that comes up several times in Luke. 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:37.899 Who is this? 00:13:39.079 --> 00:13:40.439 The book's about Jesus. 00:13:40.619 --> 00:13:42.719 And the question will come up, who is this guy? 00:13:42.819 --> 00:13:44.699 Who is this Jesus? 00:13:45.479 --> 00:13:48.479 And that's what we're going to learn together as we walk alongside him. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:52.899 And learn of him up close and personal walking through a gospel account. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:14:00.220 In recent years, there have been multiple so-called quests for the historical Jesus. 00:14:01.460 --> 00:14:05.100 Now, I won't go into all the details of those this morning. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.779 But you've probably heard about at least some of the more recent ones. 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:11.539 Basically, there have been three main waves. 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:14.000 First, back in the 1800s. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:17.879 Recently enlightened men. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:24.920 They thought they knew better than 1800 years of history and theology. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:33.159 And they began regularly writing, many of them, what they believed to be the most likely things that were true about Jesus' life. 00:14:33.560 --> 00:14:34.940 Here's the real Jesus. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:39.659 We're going to go on a quest and we're going to tell you who the historical Jesus really was. 00:14:39.659 --> 00:14:50.579 Another wave in the 1900s, primarily in Germany, had their own criteria for figuring out which things were likely to be true about Jesus and which things were not. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:55.839 And then a third wave that you will all have been exposed to without even knowing it, 00:14:56.100 --> 00:15:00.079 began in Europe and America in the 1970s and 80s. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:07.300 They used things in these quests for the historical Jesus that fit their assumptions. 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:13.980 Assumptions that they make about Jesus and about what's likely or not likely to be true. 00:15:14.060 --> 00:15:16.440 I'll just give you an example that some would use. 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:22.440 They would say that something like Jesus performing miracles is very unlikely. 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:23.440 Right? 00:15:23.600 --> 00:15:25.000 That doesn't make sense. 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:28.960 That those things don't happen in our naturalistic world. 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:33.120 So a miracle, not likely to be historical. 00:15:34.400 --> 00:15:42.920 However, almost all of them agree that this man named Jesus did live and that the Romans did actually crucify him. 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:50.479 And so because of that, anything that this man Jesus said that would cause him to get put to death by the Romans, 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:52.879 more likely to be true. 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:54.939 That sounds like the historical Jesus. 00:15:55.079 --> 00:15:56.019 That's the one we know. 00:15:56.219 --> 00:15:57.379 The one the Romans killed. 00:15:58.299 --> 00:16:01.979 So if he said something that might have led to that, it might be true. 00:16:02.459 --> 00:16:09.219 And so what they do is they come up with their historical Jesus and then they write annual cover stories in various magazines that you'll see. 00:16:09.220 --> 00:16:13.220 Telling us who Jesus really was. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:19.440 And Luke says, listen, how about the 60s? 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.100 How about the first 60s? 00:16:23.420 --> 00:16:28.560 Let me tell you about the historical Jesus from people who walked and talked with him. 00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:32.279 Eyewitnesses, written accounts, oral historians. 00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:41.120 An account tested on the original audience, not on my own personal assumptions about what Jesus would have been like. 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:45.500 Luke says, I want you to know with certainty something you can count on. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:53.659 So Jesus is at the very center of Luke's gospel and that's exciting for us to get to dive into together. 00:16:53.659 --> 00:17:01.779 But another reason I'm excited about studying Luke is that Jesus turns things upside down. 00:17:02.939 --> 00:17:08.539 I don't mean upside down like the tables of the money changers in the temple, although he does that. 00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:12.819 But rather what I mean is that as we get to know more about this Jesus, 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:16.819 we will likely realize he's not exactly what we would expect. 00:17:16.819 --> 00:17:22.720 He's going to challenge some of our assumptions, both personally and socially, 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:26.879 to upend some of our comfortable lifestyles. 00:17:27.939 --> 00:17:31.539 Now I need to confess up front that those of you who know me are already thinking, 00:17:31.619 --> 00:17:33.139 he said he was excited about this. 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:36.019 That doesn't sound like something Will would be excited about. 00:17:36.679 --> 00:17:40.359 Having his safe, predictable, comfortable life. 00:17:40.460 --> 00:17:42.619 Those are adjectives that describe me well. 00:17:42.619 --> 00:17:48.019 I'd much prefer staying safe and predictable and comfortable. 00:17:49.339 --> 00:17:53.159 Not having things upended and turned upside down. 00:17:53.379 --> 00:17:59.039 But I'm excited about this because the Jesus we meet in Luke is very practical. 00:17:59.399 --> 00:18:03.839 And he's not going to leave us where we are just content with the status quo. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:07.299 And I'm tired of the status quo. 00:18:07.299 --> 00:18:10.859 Of just seeing things going crazy all around me and thinking, 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:13.879 oh well, I'm just going to stay the way I am. 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.299 I don't really know anything better. 00:18:17.220 --> 00:18:19.859 I don't merely want to play church. 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:23.720 And to come on Sunday and act like there's something important, 00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:26.500 but live the rest of life as though it makes no difference. 00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:33.019 I want to have my life and our community together reshaped 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:35.460 after the design of King Jesus. 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:38.960 And Luke is going to challenge us there. 00:18:39.120 --> 00:18:41.500 What does it really mean to say we're Christians? 00:18:42.740 --> 00:18:46.900 Does it make a difference to profess that I'm following Jesus? 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:51.140 What would that really mean for us? 00:18:52.840 --> 00:18:55.740 You see, what happens in Luke is that Jesus comes 00:18:55.740 --> 00:19:01.019 and brings over and over a kingdom in word and in deed. 00:19:01.019 --> 00:19:03.420 Indeed, we're going to see this time and again 00:19:03.420 --> 00:19:06.680 that Jesus' kingdom comes in word and in deed. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:10.379 It sounds different from what people are used to hearing. 00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:15.440 And it looks and feels different from what people expect. 00:19:16.180 --> 00:19:19.240 And so we're going to learn about the priorities of his kingdom 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:24.200 that are radically countercultural both in his day and in ours. 00:19:25.400 --> 00:19:28.460 Let me give you just one example of this this morning. 00:19:28.460 --> 00:19:30.900 It's the way Jesus values people. 00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:35.220 The people who are important in his kingdom. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:37.740 It's not what you would naturally expect. 00:19:38.660 --> 00:19:43.140 You see, if you thought about a religious leader coming in 2,000 years ago 00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:45.900 who wanted to be influential and start a movement, 00:19:46.360 --> 00:19:50.640 especially if you thought it was the son of God himself in the flesh, 00:19:50.740 --> 00:19:53.579 you'd think he'd hang around with the important people, wouldn't you? 00:19:53.579 --> 00:19:59.659 With the upper class, well-connected religious leaders of the day. 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:03.079 Not so with Jesus. 00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:05.399 That's not where we find him. 00:20:05.740 --> 00:20:10.899 In Luke, there's this paradoxical reality that Jesus focuses on the least 00:20:10.899 --> 00:20:14.779 and the lost and the left out. 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:20.019 Somehow the least of these get his greatest attention and compassion. 00:20:20.019 --> 00:20:27.279 Somehow it's the lost whom he seems most eager to find and spend time getting to know. 00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:33.839 Somehow it's the left out that get welcomed in to Jesus' inner circle 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:38.359 and to the essence and central spot in his kingdom. 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:42.199 The title for this sermon series, 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:45.899 Good News of Great Joy for All People, 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:52.119 comes, you may recognize, from the message of the angel to the shepherds in Luke 2. 00:20:52.919 --> 00:20:55.939 The angel comes and says to the shepherds, 00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:02.519 I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:08.819 Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. 00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:15.099 The coming of Jesus is announced as good news for all sorts of people. 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:22.240 People especially like the lowly, marginalized, poor shepherds 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:25.019 who hear about it first. 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:30.379 In Luke chapter 19, Jesus announces in what becomes a thematic verse, 00:21:30.460 --> 00:21:31.359 what's his mission? 00:21:31.859 --> 00:21:36.859 He has come to seek and to save the lost. 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:43.240 Not to see how much time he can spend hanging out with those who already have it together. 00:21:43.700 --> 00:21:47.139 Just think of some of the most familiar people we will meet in Luke. 00:21:47.379 --> 00:21:50.180 People who get Jesus' time and attention. 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:54.840 Beside the lowly shepherds, Jesus praises a sinful woman. 00:21:56.340 --> 00:22:00.080 He moves toward the hated tax collector Zacchaeus. 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:04.360 He looks to help a blind beggar on the side of the road. 00:22:05.600 --> 00:22:09.279 He takes time to care for a grieving widow. 00:22:10.100 --> 00:22:13.299 He brings relief to a demon-possessed man. 00:22:14.660 --> 00:22:19.740 Over and over, he's intentionally engaging with people you might not have expected. 00:22:20.180 --> 00:22:25.660 In fact, two of his most memorable stories in the book of Luke that you'll recognize the names of 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:31.640 are about a prodigal son who's lost his way and a good Samaritan. 00:22:32.759 --> 00:22:38.860 The Jews didn't even know that there was such a thing as a good Samaritan in those days. 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:45.779 Consistently, it's undeserving outsiders who never would have seemed to have a place 00:22:45.779 --> 00:22:51.619 who will find themselves as honored insiders in Jesus' kingdom. 00:22:52.979 --> 00:23:01.939 The holy God comes to earth and we find him with some of the most impure sinners in the world. 00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:04.960 That's more than a little upside down. 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:07.320 It throws our thinking off. 00:23:07.420 --> 00:23:09.559 It upsets our expectations. 00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:13.539 It's going to challenge us to consider how we view ourselves. 00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:17.299 Do we view ourselves as lost or found? 00:23:18.140 --> 00:23:21.220 As religious outsiders or insiders? 00:23:22.220 --> 00:23:26.400 As wretched sinners or decent upstanding citizens? 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:33.420 Then, of course, if you haven't figured it out already, it's going to challenge us to consider 00:23:33.420 --> 00:23:34.940 how we relate to others. 00:23:36.140 --> 00:23:43.040 Do we even relate to the same kinds of people that Jesus loved to relate to? 00:23:44.140 --> 00:23:48.420 Whether we really believe the good news of Jesus is for all sorts of people. 00:23:48.420 --> 00:23:55.080 Whether the message of the kingdom really feels like great joy for all the people that we would 00:23:55.080 --> 00:23:57.000 ever come in contact with. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:59.440 Everyone God would send us to. 00:24:00.340 --> 00:24:03.320 Does it feel like there's a message of great joy for them? 00:24:05.100 --> 00:24:06.539 It's going to challenge us. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:12.980 Luke's going to upset our expectations and challenge us out of our comfort areas 00:24:12.980 --> 00:24:17.340 to where Jesus goes to follow him there. 00:24:18.420 --> 00:24:25.779 But as life-altering as Jesus is in Luke and as meeting him should be for us, 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:31.380 it's not ultimately about us and how our lives become different. 00:24:31.539 --> 00:24:35.900 That's not the point of Luke as we've noticed already. 00:24:36.420 --> 00:24:41.560 The neat thing, though, is that Jesus is so at the center of Luke 00:24:41.560 --> 00:24:46.740 that even as he turns things upside down, he remains at the center. 00:24:46.740 --> 00:24:52.500 See, of all the upside down or paradoxical things in the gospel of Luke, 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:59.799 the most profound and dramatic is that the eternal Son of God dies. 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:06.720 That the promised Messiah King suffers. 00:25:08.259 --> 00:25:17.960 That the one the angel spoke of as bringing great joy actually endures unspeakable grief. 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:25.980 It's important to know this from the beginning because it impacts the entire story 00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:31.759 as we pick up at verse 5 next week and start moving a little bit faster than this morning. 00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:37.019 Where that story is going impacts everything leading up to it. 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:42.539 There are going to be stories of Jesus' birth, his teaching, his miracles, and much more. 00:25:42.539 --> 00:25:48.920 But they all are a part of a story that has Jesus coming as a Savior headed to a cross. 00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:55.279 This theme comes up time and again in Luke because you know who doesn't forget how important it is? 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:57.000 Jesus. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:26:02.779 Even early in his ministry, we hear him coming back to the importance of this. 00:26:02.879 --> 00:26:05.379 Luke chapter 9 is only one example to show you. 00:26:05.380 --> 00:26:15.260 He tells his disciples, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes 00:26:15.260 --> 00:26:18.660 and be killed and on the third day be raised. 00:26:18.820 --> 00:26:21.300 This is not the night before the cross. 00:26:21.840 --> 00:26:27.260 This is early in Jesus' ministry with the men who've just begun to follow him. 00:26:27.340 --> 00:26:30.220 And Jesus says, let me remind you of something really important. 00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:31.860 These things must happen. 00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:33.620 This is where we're headed. 00:26:33.619 --> 00:26:39.419 This is where this is going and it colors everything that happens all the way through the book of Luke. 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:42.939 The cross is the heartbeat of Jesus' mission. 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:47.119 He keeps telling his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem. 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:48.739 That he must suffer. 00:26:48.899 --> 00:26:50.339 That he must die. 00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:53.259 That's what it means that a Savior is coming. 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:57.819 Not some political deliverer to conquer the Romans. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:02.599 Not some social revolutionary to empower the poor. 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:06.779 But a Savior to die for our sins. 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:10.199 That's what we need and that's who Jesus is. 00:27:10.399 --> 00:27:16.919 And we will celebrate that every single time we open the Gospel of Luke. 00:27:17.859 --> 00:27:21.619 Luke is not the only place, of course, where that's who Jesus is. 00:27:21.899 --> 00:27:25.740 That's the great story of Scripture from beginning to end, right? 00:27:25.740 --> 00:27:33.440 That the God who created this entire world and created us to be his image bearers in it. 00:27:33.500 --> 00:27:39.400 That we would fill the earth with his glory from where he's placed us to the ends of the earth. 00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:44.740 The story of the Scripture is that he's working to fix what's broken. 00:27:44.740 --> 00:27:55.200 That he is at work to redeem and to restore the things that have been lost and marred in his creation. 00:27:55.960 --> 00:27:59.880 And through the Old Testament we see it promised for thousands of years. 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:03.940 That there's someone coming who's going to be at the center of this whole story. 00:28:04.180 --> 00:28:05.579 And make it all possible. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:08.740 And that person is now here. 00:28:09.420 --> 00:28:11.859 Luke says it in his first verse. 00:28:11.859 --> 00:28:21.159 In as much as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.299 If you were here last week I told you about the divine passive. 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:26.979 We've got another one this morning. 00:28:27.479 --> 00:28:28.639 That passive verb. 00:28:28.759 --> 00:28:31.059 Who has accomplished these things? 00:28:32.139 --> 00:28:35.819 God has accomplished things among us. 00:28:36.019 --> 00:28:37.419 That's what Luke is saying. 00:28:37.420 --> 00:28:45.220 That word, what's been accomplished is saying that what's been promised for thousands of years. 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:47.300 The one you've been waiting for. 00:28:47.420 --> 00:28:50.380 All those promises have been accomplished. 00:28:50.560 --> 00:28:51.720 Have been fulfilled. 00:28:52.300 --> 00:28:55.940 That's what's happened and that's why you need to know about it. 00:28:57.300 --> 00:29:03.420 The glorious God who's made these great promises has now fulfilled them through Jesus. 00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:05.880 God is doing what he's promised. 00:29:05.880 --> 00:29:08.820 The story is coming to its culmination. 00:29:09.260 --> 00:29:12.780 He's finally sent the one you've been waiting for. 00:29:13.800 --> 00:29:21.280 You see the gospel in general and Luke in particular is not a story about all the wonderful things we've done or should do. 00:29:21.940 --> 00:29:25.500 But rather it's a story about what God has done. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.220 That we can find our own stories caught up in and reshaped by. 00:29:30.340 --> 00:29:33.620 Because that's really the great story. 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:42.099 Jesus really is the center of the great story of all of history, of all of scripture. 00:29:42.379 --> 00:29:45.799 And he's worth shaping your life around. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:49.839 See we naturally try to put ourselves at the center, don't we? 00:29:50.500 --> 00:29:54.099 Our own stories are what's most important to us. 00:29:54.159 --> 00:29:58.619 And so we're constantly frustrated and not deeply fulfilled. 00:29:58.619 --> 00:30:02.599 Things don't work out the way we expect them to. 00:30:03.099 --> 00:30:10.399 And that's because we're trying to put the earth at the center of the solar system rather than the sun. 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:15.239 When the sun is at the center, the earth finds its right place, right? 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:21.500 I'm resisting all sorts of sun puns right now. 00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:23.039 You're welcome. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:31.399 But when Jesus is at the center and your story revolves around him, 00:30:31.879 --> 00:30:37.180 you actually find the truest meaning, the deepest fulfillment, 00:30:37.579 --> 00:30:39.700 who you were actually created to be, 00:30:39.980 --> 00:30:42.779 what the creator of the universe intended for you 00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:46.559 and where he intended your special place in his story to be a part 00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:50.460 comes when Jesus is at the center of your story. 00:30:50.639 --> 00:30:53.139 And so we're going to find him there. 00:30:55.139 --> 00:30:57.480 Let's go back to Vince Lombardi for a second. 00:30:59.539 --> 00:31:03.119 Gentlemen, this is a football. 00:31:04.779 --> 00:31:10.879 And so going back to what's really the center of attention in the game 00:31:10.879 --> 00:31:12.740 is what's most important. 00:31:12.740 --> 00:31:18.539 Anyone who's played or watched football knows how important the football is, right? 00:31:19.579 --> 00:31:20.500 Think about it this way. 00:31:20.579 --> 00:31:22.259 You can block stronger. 00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:25.220 You can run faster. 00:31:25.579 --> 00:31:28.279 You can execute better than the other team. 00:31:28.420 --> 00:31:32.980 But if you lose track of this, you will not score and you will not win. 00:31:33.720 --> 00:31:36.640 It could be a wide receiver who has beaten the coverage 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:41.120 and is running free behind everybody for a touchdown but drops the ball. 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:45.219 It could be a running back who has broken through the defense, 00:31:45.500 --> 00:31:49.259 headed for the end zone, but drops the ball at the one-yard line. 00:31:51.139 --> 00:31:52.059 You've been there. 00:31:52.419 --> 00:31:54.059 Your team has done that. 00:31:54.299 --> 00:31:56.219 You've yelled at the television, 00:31:56.500 --> 00:31:57.719 hang on to the football. 00:31:57.819 --> 00:31:58.859 It's not that hard. 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:01.779 Just hang on to it tight, right? 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:03.399 It's so frustrating. 00:32:03.459 --> 00:32:06.739 We're so much better, but we just can't hold on to the ball. 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:10.519 It's really, really important. 00:32:11.059 --> 00:32:13.759 If you don't hold on to it, the game is lost. 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:17.880 If you don't focus on the football, you've missed the whole point. 00:32:19.120 --> 00:32:22.880 And here's the beauty of what we get to experience together. 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:26.339 Page after page, week after week, 00:32:27.460 --> 00:32:28.839 Luke says to us, 00:32:28.839 --> 00:32:32.639 Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, 00:32:33.299 --> 00:32:34.939 this is Jesus. 00:32:36.399 --> 00:32:37.859 Don't lose track of him. 00:32:38.699 --> 00:32:40.399 Don't let go of him. 00:32:41.500 --> 00:32:44.039 I don't just want you to know some things about him. 00:32:44.220 --> 00:32:46.740 I want you truly to know him. 00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:49.899 As he speaks, listen to him. 00:32:50.179 --> 00:32:53.779 As he goes to the cross, cling to him desperately. 00:32:53.779 --> 00:32:59.420 As he rises from the grave to live forever, worship him. 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:02.879 Don't lose sight of him. 00:33:03.259 --> 00:33:06.539 Hang on tight to him or you'll miss the whole point. 00:33:06.899 --> 00:33:09.160 But hang on, cling to him, 00:33:09.660 --> 00:33:12.399 and you'll have everything you need. 00:33:13.619 --> 00:33:15.879 I was going to call this series in Luke 00:33:15.879 --> 00:33:21.420 the historical, paradoxical, upside down, 00:33:21.420 --> 00:33:26.000 life-changing, true story of Jesus 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:28.180 to remind us that it's about him, 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:30.740 but it didn't fit really well in print. 00:33:30.860 --> 00:33:31.700 It was a little long. 00:33:33.360 --> 00:33:35.360 But you're still going to hear me say that 00:33:35.360 --> 00:33:37.779 from time to time because I don't ever want us 00:33:37.779 --> 00:33:39.860 to forget that every story we're reading 00:33:39.860 --> 00:33:41.580 is about him. 00:33:42.620 --> 00:33:45.680 Every story has him at the center. 00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:49.400 He himself is the good news. 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:52.480 Luke 2 makes that really clear 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:54.480 and it doesn't change the rest of the gospel. 00:33:54.780 --> 00:33:57.900 The good news is Jesus is coming. 00:33:58.040 --> 00:33:59.560 It's because of who he is 00:33:59.560 --> 00:34:02.400 and what he has done for us on the cross 00:34:02.400 --> 00:34:07.100 that Luke is good news of great joy for all people 00:34:07.100 --> 00:34:09.860 and that includes you and me. 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:10.940 Let's pray. 00:34:10.940 --> 00:34:10.960 Let's pray. 00:34:14.860 --> 00:34:16.800 Father, your word shows us Jesus 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:19.460 every time we open it, 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:23.560 but what a great joy to be able to read together 00:34:23.560 --> 00:34:24.840 and study together 00:34:24.840 --> 00:34:27.580 about his life 00:34:27.580 --> 00:34:30.200 and particularly 00:34:30.200 --> 00:34:34.100 about what he has done for us. 00:34:35.820 --> 00:34:37.400 Father, don't let that be something 00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:39.160 that's tangential to us 00:34:39.160 --> 00:34:40.980 that just touches our lives 00:34:40.980 --> 00:34:43.460 in a single place on a single day 00:34:43.460 --> 00:34:46.119 and then leaves them unchanged. 00:34:46.780 --> 00:34:49.039 We believe that your spirit will work 00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:51.760 in such a way as we encounter Jesus 00:34:51.760 --> 00:34:53.400 that we will be different people 00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:55.420 and that scares the pastor 00:34:55.420 --> 00:34:58.159 who doesn't like change. 00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:01.720 But Father, we need that. 00:35:02.139 --> 00:35:03.900 We need to meet Jesus 00:35:03.900 --> 00:35:06.159 and to be forever different because of it. 00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:07.759 So for those of us 00:35:07.759 --> 00:35:09.719 who have known him for a long time 00:35:09.719 --> 00:35:12.379 but still struggle with what that looks like, 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:15.099 for those who are doubting and struggling 00:35:15.099 --> 00:35:16.920 and aren't sure what to make 00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:19.179 of a book like this, 00:35:19.759 --> 00:35:21.399 would you show us Jesus 00:35:21.399 --> 00:35:24.079 and would you make us different 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:26.079 because we have met with him. 00:35:26.500 --> 00:35:27.699 We pray in his name. 00:35:28.500 --> 00:35:28.759 Amen. 00:35:28.759 --> 00:35:28.859 Amen. 00:35:28.860 --> 00:35:33.920 For more information, 00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:36.500 visit us online at southwood.org.