Made New in Repentance

Message Transcription

If you have your Bible and invite you to turn over to Luke chapter 18, we're going to spend the bulk of our time together there today. I want to begin by showing you a picture and asking you a question. How many of you have heard of the The Worm Highway hypnosis? Has anyone heard of this? Right. It's this idea, this phenomenon of if you've driven a particular way, a particular route so often that you can drive and arrive at your destination and not remember how you got there, has that ever happened to you? Like, you drive home, you leave work or the store or wherever it is, and then you're in your driveway and you're going, how did I get? I don't remember taking those turns. I grew up just outside of San Antonio, kind of used to be the outskirts of San Antonio. It was a 15, 20 minute drive anywhere. I can't tell you how many times this happened to me. Just it was like I woke up and I'm in my driveway. Not really sure how that happened. And we took a 15, 16 hour journey this a couple of weeks ago in spring break to go to Florida. Uh, I didn't have that. I didn't have that challenge. And I've never been down those roads before. So I was paying attention, I was watching, I was looking at the scenery, trying to take it all in. But there are these moments in our life where we get so familiar with something that we don't even see it anymore.

We don't even notice that it's happening. Uh, some of you are familiar with that, uh, the gorilla. Have you all seen this gorilla experiment? Right. Where you have six kids and they're running around and they're passing the basketball, and they say, okay, there's three kids wearing white t shirts. Count how many passes they make, and they they show it and they count you counting up these passes as well. In the middle of it, this gorilla comes walking through the scene, right? And it stops and it's like, and then it just walks away. And the majority, like 90 something percent of people don't see the gorilla because their, their, their focus, their attention is on something else. Well, this morning we're going to look at a familiar passage to us. To many of us, if you've ever grown up in church, you've you've heard some version of this story because it's found in, in three of the four Gospels, but it also engages a few terms. It's some terminology that I think has a way of of becoming like Scripture hypnosis. We've read it. We've heard it so many times that we just go right on by, and we don't often realize how we got where we are. We're going to hear some terms like Pharisee. And tax collector. And in our heads, that means something.

We we have some idea. Yeah, I got that call. For some of us it may be that turn repent and we'll get back to that one in a minute. We have an idea of what that means. We we know. Yeah, I got it I right. Repent got it. Amen. Let's go. So I want to invite you to stop for a moment. Not get sucked in to the to the highway hypnosis this morning, but to really pay attention because I think there's maybe a word or two in this story and in what Luke is trying to tell us that I hope Will will open our eyes as we've been thinking together about being made new. What does it look like to be made new? Today we're going to be thinking about being made new, but through repentance, which may seem kind of, uh, an odd combination, but but let's begin by looking at the prayers that Jesus offers in this parable. It says, Jesus tells a parable about these two guys who go to the temple. And the Pharisee, we're told, verse 11, stood by himself and prayed, God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, robbers and evil doers and adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I give a 10th of all I get. And another way that this prayer could be worded is God. If it weren't for you, who knows who I would be? God, if it weren't for you, who knows where I would be? And how many of us have prayed some version of that prayer.

And we recognize that that God has has done some work in our life. And because of that, we're different people and things will never be the same. Just like Tracy said, I got an invitation and it changed my life. God, thank you for your grace. Notice the Pharisee gives God the credit. God, thank you that you did this, not me that you did this. God, thank you for your grace in my life. I used to hear this story kind of through this lens of the Pharisee was trying to kind of embarrass this tax collector, right? He's God. Thank you that I'm not an evildoer, an adulterer, or like this bozo over here, who who knows why he even showed up to church today, right? But that's not that's not the story that Jesus tells, right? Jesus says the Pharisee was where? Standing alone. But he wasn't trying to to embarrass this tax collector. He was simply pointing out the reality. God, I'm thankful that I didn't end up where he is. Again. How many? We may not say it out loud and we may not even admit it. So you don't have to look at your neighbor, right? But how many of us have thought, oh, thank God I'm.

Not like this bozo.

Right. And you're sitting next to the bozo. Don't make eye contact. Right? But how many of us have prayed some version of this prayer? God, if it weren't for you and the work in your life, right. We sing the song. Had it not been the Lord who was on our side, right? We we confess that as a church God, if it weren't for you, God, where would we be? Who would we be had it not been for you being on our side, right. And this Pharisee, he says, God, I see that if it weren't for your intervention, if it weren't for your love or your grace, who knows where I would be. And this this appreciation has sunk deep into his life, he says. I fast twice a week, write in the Torah. If you go back and reread it, there's only one time the people were called to fast and that was the Day of Atonement. This guy says, I do it twice a week. And not only that, God, it's it's invaded my generosity. I give a 10th of everything. Everything I get, I give you a 10th. Now, I don't know about you, but this guy sounds like actually a pretty good guy. He sounds like he would be a good member, right? Troy Hooper, we'd love some. Some of these guys. I'm everything I get. I'm given to this man. Love to be that guy. Love to be with that guy. Even spend some time. This is a good dude.

It's a good guy. Now I know we've been trained. Pharisee. Bad. Tax collector. Good. But listen, don't fall for it, right? Don't. Don't just wake up in this passage and go, oh, how did I how did I get here? Notice the tax collector's prayer tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God have mercy. Have mercy. He doesn't offer God thanks for anything. God, thank you that I can even be here. I thank you for my life. Thank you. He just says, God have mercy. Have mercy. Have mercy. He's crying out for mercy. That's his only hope. That's all he's got. Notice how Jesus ends the parable. I tell you that this man, the tax collector rather than the other, the Pharisee, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. The tax collector, whose only hope is to cry for mercy, leaves justified, leaves in good standing, leaves right before God. And the Pharisee who gives God all the credit for his life, all the credit for his behavior, every blessing he's received, he recognizes it comes from you, God. He's not justified. As I heard your feelings yet. But. Well, let's keep going. It's coming. You know, again, in the past, I've tempted to make the Pharisee out to be the bad guy and the tax collector, the good guy.

But if that's the truth in this parable, doesn't have a whole lot of power in it, right? Think about this for a minute. If it's just a bad guy and a good guy, where's the I mean, where's that surprise turn of grace that Fred Craddock talks about? Where's that moment where you're like, what? You see everything that these two have been through. It's in spite of, not because of. And we got to hold on to this because the temptation, at least for me, is to leave this, this parable, this passage going, man, I'm so glad I'm not like that Pharisee. Again. How many of us have? How many of us have have? I won't, I won't keep stepping on the toes there. The problem with the Pharisees prayer, right, we know is he's counting on his works of righteousness to save him. He's counting on it. And the tax collector knows all of God's mercy. All I can hope for is mercy. He has nothing to offer. Well, let's keep going, Luke. Luke doesn't stop us there. He keeps moving us, following Jesus through. People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on. And when the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, let the little children come to me, and don't hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

Right? And we go, I got it, I got it received like a kid. Got it? What in the world is he talking about? Notice who's being brought to Jesus? Infants, babies. That word. Their parents are bringing their babies to Jesus. That he would put his hands on them and that he would bless them. Right. And we don't know why. All we know is the disciples go, hey, we don't have time for this nonsense. Come on, man, we got too much work to do. Jesus ministry is too important to be surrounded by these screaming, crying babies. And Jesus says no, no, no, no, no. Bring those kiddos back. Bring them right here to me. Because unless anyone can receive the kingdom like one of these little ones, one of these babies, one of these infants, unless we can receive the kingdom like they do, then we're never going to enter into it. Which leads us to this question how does a baby receive the kingdom? And if that's if that's what we're supposed to be noticing here? Well, how does a baby receive anything? Have any of you ever been around a baby before? When they need something, how do they let you know? Uh. Pardon me. Could you pass the Grey Poupon? No. Right. They cry. Right. And they. They hope someone is there to respond to that cry. Right when they're hungry. What do they do? What about when they're thirsty? What about when they need a change, a diaper? Right.

Everything. When they're happy, they laugh. But otherwise, it's like the way they let you know is they cry and they hope you're paying attention. In fact, there have been studies done on what happens when no one pays attention. Have you seen these? Right. It's it's terrifying. It's troubling. Like, I know it's an experiment and I've got to watch it. And it's still I'm like, oh. Right. They cry and they hope. They cry and they hope. Do you hear the connection that Luke is making for us here? But there's this tax collector and this Pharisee, and they're both approaching God, and one of them comes going, God, thank you for the life that I have. Thank you for that. Everything that I have, I know it comes from you. Thank you that I'm able to be a good person, thankful that I'm not like some of these clowns over here. Another one just says, God. Right. Mercy. Mercy. Luke keeps us going, so we'll keep following verse 18, A certain ruler, right, a certain ruler. Now we know a little bit about this ruler, don't we? This story is also found in Matthew and in Mark, and we learn a few things about him. We know he's young, which most likely means he's not a rabbi. He's not he's not a synagogue leader. But we also learn he's wealthy, meaning he grew up in a family with some privilege, some power, some influence.

He's got some resources. He's been successful. He's probably well respected in the community. Kind of a trendsetter, if you will. And here's what Luke tells us. A certain ruler asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Why do you call me good? Jesus answered, no one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. Honor your father and your mother. All these I've kept since I was a boy, he said. Now here again, I invite you to pause and notice something. At some point in this young man's life. He's had a conversion experience, right? He grew up in a family with power and influence and privilege. He had some money, some resources around him, but at some point he realized it's not enough. I all that I have, it's not doing the thing that I need done in me. Right. It's not helping. It's not. It's not satisfying. It's not quenching what I thought it would quench. And so he realized, I've got to go somewhere else. I've got to find something else. So he becomes religious and not just a little religious, like extremely religious. Right to his question how do I receive eternal life? How do I inherit it? Jesus says, well, do the commandments write you? You know the commandments, and you know what his response is?

Done. No problem.

Been doing that since I was a kid. I think about that for a moment. We encounter this phenomenon that often happens when when we realize that we we, we come into a when people become religious right, they realize that the same thing that causes them dissatisfaction, that that caused them to pursue religion in the first place, it shows up again. Because they thought religion was the answer. But I'm missing something. I just need to add something in my life. And so I'm going to pursue this, and I'm going to not just pursue a little bit. I'm going to go all the way like those the problems come back. Have you ever noticed that? Have you ever, like, been baptized? And thought, finally, get my act together. I'm going to be on the straight and narrow. I'm going to be I'm going to do right. I'm going to follow the rules. I mean, I'm going to end the problem just keeps coming, right? That same annoying person keeps showing up to work. And I. They still annoy me. Right. That same temptation that I had, it's it's still tempting me. Like, the problem just keeps coming. So we try to get more religious, right? We we lull ourselves into thinking kind of the mantra of religion, which is I believe or I excuse me, I behave, therefore I'm accepted. Right? And all religions kind of have this, some version of this. I obey and God does stuff for me like I do stuff for him and he does stuff for me.

Like I obey all the rules and he forgives me. He accepts me. He he he shows me grace. He loves me. He blesses me, you know, whatever. Fill in the blank. Even though now we know here, here, Broadway, we know that's not true, right? Because we've been talking about what's the best thing God gets out of your life? All the stuff you do, right? No, it's the person you become right now. We know that folks out there may not know that yet, but we know that, right? So this isn't a problem for us. I'm asking you to put your imagination hats on for a minute. Right? Because we know the best thing God gets out of our life is not the stuff we do. It's the person that we become, right? We see Jesus teaches that over and over and over again. But religion says, Will you do stuff and God will respond to that. And if you don't, well, he'll respond to that too. So this guy comes to Jesus confused. And I've been successful. I'm wealthy. I got all the money I need. I've got the influence, the power. But it's not enough. So I did the religion thing, and I've been following all these rules. Turns out for a long time. But it's still not. Not enough. So he comes to Jesus with this question, right? And we know Jesus is the one who says it's not about what you do, it's about the person you become.

And so he says, how do I inherit? And Jesus gives him a list of things to do. Let me go! What? I thought it was about who you become right now again. Highway hypnosis. We just kind of drive by. We don't stop and think about what Jesus is actually doing here. It's just this provocation. He's provoking him to stop and think about who he really is. Right. This question of doing gets to the heart of what's going on in his heart. And this young man is in a desperate spot, right? Mark tells us that. That he's so desperate he runs to Jesus and falls at his feet asking this question. And Jesus says, When Jesus heard him, he said, you still lack one thing sell everything you have. Give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me. And when the man heard this, he was sad. Because he was wealthy. He had a lot of resources. He understood the cost. Maybe for the first time. What's it going to cost me? To find the peace and the joy in the hope that I've been longing for. And he he may have understood it for the first time. That may have been a really authentic. Response from this young man, right? Instead of judging him and saying, what a moron, why would he do that? Let's stop and consider for just a moment.

He's tried the religion thing. He's tried the secular thing. And he comes to Jesus. And Jesus gives them an answer that exposes what's going on in his heart. You see, the question that he was asking was not so much what can I do to inherit the kingdom to to find eternal life? It's what do I have to do? Like what's just tell me what I have to do, okay? I don't want to think about this. Just tell me what I have to do, and I'll do it. Right. In religiosity terms, it becomes, just tell me what I have to do so that God owes me. Now, again, we wouldn't say that out loud because that just sounds kind of bad. But how many of us live that way? And we wouldn't want to say I'm I'm living so that I put God in my debt and he has to give me stuff. Right. We we wouldn't say that out loud, but how often do we live that way? See Jesus. Jesus exposes the truth, and it's often what happens to us. See, when we're struggling, when we're desperate, just like this young man, and we fall in front of Jesus and Jesus, what do we got to do? Just tell me what to do. And Jesus does all of a sudden. What? And often it comes in the midst of our struggles, right? When that job doesn't come through that we thought, geez, we I prayed about that right? Or that health situation, right? Some of us have been down that road and the diagnosis doesn't go the way you think it's going to go.

Or maybe it's in the relational world that there's a betrayal or somebody leaves. Right. And they promise to till death. But it wasn't. It was till I just couldn't take any more. But I. I did all the stuff. See, Jesus exposes the truth of religion. He exposes what's going on. He opens up the heart. So he's given this young man a chance to repent. Now again, I know that's a loaded word. Friends, if you've been in church, that's a loaded word, right? Don't highway hypnosis this word though. Because I think there's a twist in here for us. Jesus, we're told, looks at him and Mark tells us he looked at him and he loved him. Right? Jesus cares deeply about this young man, about his circumstances, right? He's not just piling on. I know you've done a lot, but you've still got more to do. No, no, no, he's trying to help him come to this new reality, that true life, true meaning. It's not taking on more rules. It's letting go of being in control. That's letting go of having to be the captain of your own ship. Jesus looked at him and said, how hard is it for the rich to enter the kingdom of God? Indeed, it's easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who's rich to enter the kingdom.

Why is that? Well, perhaps a number of reasons. Certainly distractions is one of them. And things don't go the way we want them to go. We just find a way to be distracted. We get on our favorite app, or we buy a new trinket or a toy, or we go on a vacation, or we do whatever we can to just kind of numb out. Let's see then that problem just keeps coming back. That struggle, that focus, that that hard thing. And then we're given this choice again. Will we choose to turn to Jesus or will we turn to another distraction? And you hear the anxiety in the people as Jesus lays this out. Do you hear the anxiety as they listen to what he says? Those who heard asked who then can be saved? I mean, if this guy who's been following the rules since he could couldn't even remember. He's wealthy, he's successful, he's in good standing. He's a good church guy. And he's given a 10th of everything. If this guy can't make it, well, who then can be saved? It's not just a question the people are asking his own disciples. Ask them. Right? They're part of that crowd. Jesus says this what is impossible with man is possible with God. See, what can't be done by human hands can be done by God.

So what's the answer? Do you feel the angst yet? Do you feel the weight of this yet? All right. So now let me introduce a new word to you. Repent. And if you're like me, I grew up hearing that word, and that word was reserved right, for a certain group of people. And you know who you are. What Luke 18 tells us, what Jesus shows us is this is not just for the folks who are living way outside the box. It's also for those good, sober, moral, faithful people. Those folks who recognize that God is the giver of all good things. It's for those people who say, God, it's your glory and your power. Got it. It's those people who say, God, if it weren't for you and your work in my life, who knows where I would be? Who knows what I would be doing? See this call to repentance from me at least, has been a little highway hypnosis, right? Yeah, I know I. Do we really know? See, building our confidence in our salvation based on the good stuff that we do, is just as dishonoring as any of the pagan stuff we'd like to denounce. Right? There's not a difference. And we like to think there is, because we feel better about ourselves when there is. But the truth is, we are all given grace in spite of, not because of. And therefore repent applies to all of us.

I mean, it sounds kind of weird, doesn't it, to repent of all the good things that we do, all the good stuff in life, but don't lose the meaning here. It's because our temptation is to depend on those things, to count those things as why God's doing what he's doing. But it's always been about grace. You see, the highway hypnosis of Scripture is that we've heard it so many times that we kind of wind up at church and we're like, man, how did I even remember getting here? And if you're like me, who's been going to church every Sunday since I was, you know, it's easy to it's like my car just knows how to drive to Broadway. And there are moments where I just kind of wake up and I'm like, how did I get here? You see, repentance is is an opportunity. It's like lent. It's an opportunity to say, God, would you would you show me ways that I'm tempted to depend on myself and not you? Ways where I'm I'm tempted to to long for other things that aren't you even good things when the truth is, God, you are the one that makes us new. You are the one who does for us what we can't do for ourselves, right? If. If this guy can't be saved, who can? Well, by human hands, you can't. Ah, but God, who is rich in mercy. But God, who while we were still sinners, but God loves us.

How many of us have forgotten how to cry? We've forgotten how to cry out for mercy. God have mercy. Well, maybe. Church, this is our chance. This. This week is called Holy Week. It's a week that the church has been following for 2000 years now, where we stop and intentionally think about the last week of Jesus life, preparing for that resurrection Sunday that's coming next Sunday. Right now we celebrate a version of it every week together here, and it's right on the money. But this is a moment, a chance for us to say, hey, this week, maybe we could think some about the road that Jesus took and the reason he took it. It wasn't just for all those pagan tax collectors and evildoers adulterers, and it was all those good and moral and sober and kind and faithful and generous people, too. My grace is a part of all of that. So I ask you, church, when's the last time you repented? Maybe this week you'll have an opportunity to do just that. God this week as we prepare for Easter Sunday. We don't want it to be just like another week in our life. We don't want it to be just another Easter that we celebrate. Yeah, we don't want to be on highway hypnosis, on Scripture hypnosis, on on Jesus hypnosis where we just kind of blindly follow along, not even realizing how we got here.

We just we just got here that we disengage our hearts from our minds. I got in. Doing so were tempted to to rely more and more on our self and on our ability to do certain things and not do certain things. Hoping, trusting that we're somehow putting you in our debt so that you owe us something. Yeah, we may not think about that consciously, but how often do we live that way? So, God, we repent this morning. We repent. Not only of the evil stuff that we're doing, taking advantage of opportunities and people and situations, circumstances, not loving, not being generous or kind. God. We repent. God, for all the ways that that we're doing good things, that we're tempted to use them. In the same way. Giving sacrificially. How would you help us? We repent. It's not who we want to be. Instead. Father, would you help us to sell it all, to give it all away, whatever that looks like in our life? God, whatever that threatens or tempts us to take our eyes off of you, God, and will become and follow you again. Would you remind us again? It's not about the stuff we do, it's about the person we're becoming. So God, would you help us take the next step on our journey of becoming your disciple? Yeah. May we continue to see your grace and your love and your mercy. God have mercy. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.