DATE: 8-23-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our Gospel Project series this weekend. During the summer, we’re syncing our sermons with our Kidway ministry curriculum, called the Gospel Project. We thought this would be a good way for those of us without kids in our Kidway ministry to understand what the kids are being taught each week. And they happened to be in the gospels learning about Jesus this summer, which is a great place in the Bible for all of us adults to be — because — the whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. So what better way to spend our summer than by getting to know him better? 

And we’re going to be in the gospel of Luke today. And we’ve got two different passages to look at. We’ll be in chapter eleven — looking at verses one through thirteen — and in chapter eighteen — looking at verses one to eight. Again, that’s Luke chapters eleven and eighteen— beginning in verse one of both chapters. 

We’ll begin in chapter eleven where we read…

Luke 11:1–13 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” 5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

And now we’re in chapter eighteen where we read…

Luke 18:1–8 ESV

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus is going to teach us about prayer today. And he’s going to teach us what to pray, how to pray, and why we pray. What to pray. How to pray. And why we pray. 

But before we get to what, how, and why we pray — I want us to think about prayer in Jesus’ life. When you think of Jesus’ life and ministry, what comes to your mind? 

• Many people think of the miracles he performed. Healing the sick, raising the dead, calming raging storms, freeing people from demons, and so on. 
• Others think of the parables he taught — those short illustrative stories that teach a moral truth. The parable of the Good Samaritan or the one about a Lost Coin, the parable of the Prodigal Son or the one I just read to you.
• Some may think of the conversations he had with people. His conversation with Nicodemus about being born again. Or the way he told a Samaritan woman all about her relationships. Or when he told Peter that he’d deny knowing Jesus three times. 
• Some may think of everything after Judas’ betrayal — Jesus’ arrest, being beaten, crucified, mocked, his death, and burial. 

We think of these moments in Jesus’ life and ministry — and I don’t know about you — but then it’s like — “And somehow, in between all of that, he prayed.” Where all of the cool stuff — the miracles, and parables, and private conversations — occasionally calmed down enough so he could pray. To which one Bible commentator suggests we view Jesus’ life differently. “As a series of private prayer times, interspersed with the ordinary events of his daily ministry.” 

Where we see prayer as Jesus’ main activity — and the miracles, parables, private conversations, and so on were temporary interruptions. And after a brief interruption, Jesus would resume praying.

In Luke’s gospel, there are nearly a dozen times recorded when Jesus prays. Given that there are only twenty-four chapters in the book — and the first two chapters of Luke contain the Christmas story, when Jesus is still a young child — all that to say, Luke records Jesus praying quite a bit in his gospel.

But it’s not just the amount of prayer that’s impressive; when Jesus prays should also stick out to us. Listen to what one author has noticed about Jesus and prayer in Luke’s gospel. The author writes…

“The first example [of Jesus praying] comes in connection with Jesus’ baptism, which marked his formal entrance into public ministry. Luke tells us that when Jesus “had been baptized and was praying,” the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and God the Son received the blessing of his Father (Luke 3:21–22). Luke also tells us that as his popularity began to grow, and great crowds gathered to hear him and be healed, Jesus “would withdraw to desolate places and pray” (Luke 5:16). Luke tells us that when Jesus was about to choose his twelve disciples, “he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12)…After Jesus fed the five thousand, he was…in prayer once again (Luke 9:18)…Eight days later, Jesus went out to pray again, and this time he took three of his disciples with him. While they were saying their prayers…the disciples saw him transfigured in radiant splendor (Luke 9:28–29). Jesus prayed again — rejoicing in the Spirit and giving thanks to the Father — when the seventy-two came back from their first gospel mission (Luke 10:21–22). It seems that whenever anything of major importance happened in the life and ministry of Jesus, it was surrounded by prayer.”

Jesus prayed. And he prayed. And he prayed. And, today, he’s going to teach us to pray. 

WHAT TO PRAY

Beginning with what to pray. We’re in verse one of Luke chapter eleven. There we read…

Luke 11:1–4 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

Now, after that lengthy overview about Jesus and prayer in Luke’s gospel, I hope verse one stuck out to you. Here it is again.

Luke 11:1 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying…”

And I hope you’re like, “Well, of course Jesus was praying — that’s what he does.” And after this time of prayer, his disciples ask him to teach them to pray. And I’m sure — Christian or not — what comes next both sounds familiar and a bit off at the same time. That’s because this is Luke’s version of what’s known as the Lord’s prayer. The more familiar version of the Lord’s prayer is found in Matthew’s gospel, which says…

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The differences between Matthew and Luke’s versions may indicate that there were two different occasions when Jesus used a similar — but not identical — prayer to teach his disciples what to pray. Now, it shouldn’t surprise us if Jesus had to teach his disciples more than once on the topic of prayer. Meaning no disrespect to his disciples, but they do have a track record of not exactly understanding what Jesus had to say after one hearing. 

So maybe it’s two separate occasions, or maybe Matthew and Luke are recording the same moment and simply wrote down slightly different versions of what Jesus said. Regardless, there’s enough overlap between the two gospels that we can understand what Jesus wants us to include in our prayers.

And notice what we’re to start with.

Luke 11:2 ESV

2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

What should be included in our prayers? Though we don’t want to make this formulaic, I think at the very least, we should include something about God’s name being revered — that we desire God’s name and who he is to be treated as holy. This prayer’s the opposite of taking God’s name in vain, which, when we do so, is to break one of the Ten Commandments. A commandment often broken — maybe the most often broken of God’s commandments when you think of the ways that Jesus and God’s name are used in foul ways by so many mouths — maybe even by mouths in this room. 

We’re to pray that God and his name be set apart as holy — and — for his kingdom to come. A kingdom has a king who’s in authority — and the king reigns and rules. And God’s kingdom has a king — his name is Jesus. And when we pray for God’s kingdom to come, what we’re praying for is for Jesus’ reign and rule as King of kings to become more of a reality over all of God’s creation. Yes, this prayer will ultimately be fulfilled when Christ returns, but we’re to pray for more of God’s creation to come under Christ’s reign and rule now. We’re to pray for more people to submit their lives to Christ now. For more of God’s people to submit more of their lives to Christ — for we’re still in a fight against our enemy and our sinful desires which lure us to rebel against Christ’s authority as our King.

“Hallowed be your name and may your kingdom come.”How might you add this to your prayers? Is this currently part of your prayer life? Or do you skip straight to the rest of what Jesus teaches us to pray for? And please know that I’m not saying that praying…

Luke 11:3–4 ESV

3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

I’m not saying that praying in this way is wrong — by no means! But what I’m saying is that many people pray as if Jesus never said the part about “hallowed be your name and may your kingdom come.” We go straight to our needs and the needs of others. 

• Heal her. 
• Save him. 
• I need a job. 
• I want to get married. 
• And so on. 

Things like this often make up the vast majority of what we pray. And I’m not even going to get into how we confuse our greeds with our actual needs. All I want us to do right now is to consider what may be lacking in our prayers. The part where Jesus teaches us to focus on God when we pray. Praying for his name to be kept holy. For his kingdom to come. 

What would change in the way you pray if you spent some time, more time, or as much time praying about God’s name being kept holy and his kingdom to come as you did praying for the equivalent of daily bread, forgiveness, and fighting temptation? Things you should be praying for — just not the only things you should be praying for.

Now at this point, you may be wondering, “Well, what would some examples of ‘hallowed be your name’ and ‘your kingdom come’ prayers look like?” 

Here are two examples from a book on worship that I have.

• Loving God, you have spoken to us through your angels and prophets, heralding the gospel news that salvation from sin has come to us through your Son Jesus Christ. We thank you and praise you that we have nothing to fear, since in Christ Jesus you have come to us and you are with us, even in our present condition, that we might receive grace, learn obedience, and grow in your spirit of holiness.
• To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You make my heart exceedingly glad! For you, my God, are good and forgiving, loving and kind to all who call on you. There is no one like you, O merciful God!

Biblically, it’d sound something like this.

Psalm 145 NLT

1 I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. 2 I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. 3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness. 4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. 5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. 6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness. 7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness. 8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. 10 All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. 11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power. 12 They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign. 13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does. 14 The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. 15 The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. 16 When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. 17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. 18 The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. 20 The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked. 21 I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever.

Sometimes the best way to pray is already written down for us in God’s Word. 

Jesus taught his disciples — and us — what to pray.

HOW TO PRAY

And now we turn to how to pray — how to pray. We’re in verse five of Luke chapter eleven where we read…

Luke 11:5–13 ESV

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

What I want us to notice here is that Jesus gives an illustration to teach his disciples how to pray. And in the illustration, we learn we’re to pray with a bold perseverance. We’re to pray with a bold perseverance.

I say bold because, in the illustration, the friend is quite bold in waking up his neighbor in order to feed his unexpected guest. Some may even call it rude, but the story’s meant to be absurd — I say this because of how Jesus begins. In fact, the next time you read the gospels, watch for when Jesus starts an illustration with words like “Which of you…” What follows is usually an unimaginable situation. It’s intentionally an exaggeration of a scenario that’s never gonna happen.

Think about the obvious answer to Jesus’s “which of you” question. Which of you is going to wake up your neighbor at midnight and say, “Hey, somebody unexpectedly showed up at my house, and I need to feed him. What do you have in your fridge?” I’ll tell you which of you’s doing that. None of you! Which is the same answer that everyone listening to Jesus was thinking. Waking up your neighbor like that would be absurd!

But this is the illustration Jesus uses to teach us how to pray.

Be the neighbor who won’t take no for an answer. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Meaning — keep praying, and God will answer your prayers.

“Now, wait a minute, Josh. I’ve been praying to God for — fill in the blank — for years. And no answer.” Some of you are thinking that right now. While others are thinking, “Josh, are you promoting some sort of health, wealth, name-it-and-claim-it prosperity theology?” Nope.

The reason I started with the what question — what we’re to pray for — is because the content of our prayer shows us what Jesus meant when he said, “Keep asking, seeking, and knocking, and it’ll be given to you.” For what are we to be praying for — praying boldly for — praying persistently for? 

• God’s name to be kept holy.
• His kingdom to come.
• Our needs — not our greeds — to be met.
• Like forgiveness for our sins.
• And to not be led into temptation.

When this is what we’re boldly and persistently praying for — God will answer our prayers. The asking, seeking, and knocking isn’t a blanket guarantee that God will give us everything we pray for — remember the context. Jesus just told us what to pray for — then he tells us how to pray: with bold persistence. 

When you think about your prayer life, how boldly and persistently are you praying for what Jesus has told you to be praying for?

WHY WE PRAY

Finally, why we pray. We’re in Luke chapter eighteen — beginning in verse one.

Luke 18:1–8 ESV

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Now the danger of this illustration is to think that Luke — or Jesus, since Luke’s written down Jesus’s words — the danger is to think that their goal is for us to think that God the Father is like this unjust judge. Jesus’ point is actually the opposite — similar to the illustrations he used in the last passage, when he said…

Luke 11:11–13 ESV

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus’ point isn’t to say that God the Father is just barely better than us or that he’s just slightly more kind than this unjust judge who basically gives in to the widow because she won’t stop bothering him. It’d be quite the statement for Jesus to compare his Heavenly Father to a judge who neither fears God nor respects man. My point is that Jesus doesn’t want us to think that his Father in Heaven is like the unjust judge — he wants us to think the exact opposite. 

But look at what Jesus asks at the end: When he returns, will he find anyone who believes him? Or will we — because we get the what and the how wrong in our prayer life — will we also get the why wrong? 

The reason why we pray is that we know we’re praying to a good, just, and merciful God. A loving God who’s full of compassion and kindness. A God who sees you, hears you, and knows you. A God who isn’t some distant deity, but is near. A God who is giving and generous. For, if you remember, the even better gift that your Father in Heaven has given you — the gift that’s better than fish and eggs and all the daily bread type requests we ask for — is the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. So we pray because we know our God is good.

CONCLUSION

Today, Jesus has been teaching us what to pray, how to pray, and why we pray. One final thought about prayer. Do you remember how Jesus taught us to refer to God when we pray? What word did he use? He told us to address God as Father. 

When I’m in my office — and the door’s closed — it’s always interesting to observe how people knock on my door. First off, they’re probably overcoming quite the dilemma when they do — “His door is closed. Should I bother him? What if he’s busy? What if he’s in the middle of writing a sermon and I’m going to disrupt some super holy moment?” I don’t know what they’re thinking, but here’s what I know. 

Often the knock is so timid it’s like, “Maybe he’ll hear this, but if he doesn’t I’ll just come back another time.” Sometimes they’ve even texted me to ask if they can stop by, and I say “yes.” Still, the knock is barely noticeable. 

I’m not saying I like this; it’s just the reality of being a boss and sometimes needing to close my office door to get work done. I feel like I should also say to the staff that I don’t need you all to start walking by my office, loudly knock on the door, only to take off running — we’ve got some jokers that need to hear that. Joe Sherrieb and Adam Borsay, in particular.

But a few weeks ago, my daughter was here on a weekday practicing with the youth worship band. And I was in my office, working on a sermon, with my office door closed. Yet, because she’s my daughter — and because I’m her father — without even knowing what I was doing behind the closed door, she just opened the door — no knock — and said, “Hi, Dad.” Asked me about something of no eternal or, honestly, temporary importance. And then went on with her day. I told her I was going to tell this story in my sermon. And, when I did, she said, “Dad, I didn’t even think about knocking on your door.” 

I know it’s not a perfect illustration, but can you see the difference between viewing God as a boss versus viewing him as a Father? 

One last observation about prayer in Jesus’ life. Did you know that every time Jesus prayed to God, he called him Father with only one exception? The one exception is when he experienced the punishment for our sins on the cross. In that moment, Jesus prayed…

Matthew 27:46 ESV

46 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

For at that moment — and this was the only moment in his eternal life — but at that moment Jesus was separated from his Father as he endured the curse for our sin. Jesus — for all eternity — had only known his Father’s presence. He never knew any relationship other than opening his dad’s office door and going straight in without knocking. Yet — in becoming cursed for our sins — he experienced his Father’s absence. 

But once the payment for our sins was complete, Jesus prayed one last time before breathing his last breath. And I hope his words will give you great hope and joy. For after enduring the punishment for our sins, Jesus prayed…

Luke 23:46 ESV

46 “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

And because of his sacrifice of love — because of his perfect obedience in your place — because his Father accepted his payment for your sins — his Father in Heaven is your Father in Heaven. The God to whom you pray. The God who hears and answers your prayers. So, like my daughter, go ahead and just open the door and say “Hi Dad” as you pray to him. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Hi Dad, our prayer today is pretty simple. May your name be kept holy throughout all of your creation — especially in our lives and lips. May your kingdom come. Give us what we need and forgive us for our sins — especially when we confuse our greeds with our needs. Help us to forgive others as you’ve forgiven us. And lead us away from temptation. That’s all for now. Talk to you soon. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

As you go, may you remember what to pray, how to pray, and why we pray to our Father in Heaven. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SERMON TITLE: Jesus Teaches About Prayer

‌SCRIPTURE: Luke 11:1-13, 18:1-8 (ESV)

SPEAKER: Josh Hanson

DATE: 8-23-26

TURN MIC ON / WELCOME

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our Gospel Project series this weekend. During the summer, we’re syncing our sermons with our Kidway ministry curriculum, called the Gospel Project. We thought this would be a good way for those of us without kids in our Kidway ministry to understand what the kids are being taught each week. And they happened to be in the gospels learning about Jesus this summer, which is a great place in the Bible for all of us adults to be — because — the whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. So what better way to spend our summer than by getting to know him better? 

And we’re going to be in the gospel of Luke today. And we’ve got two different passages to look at. We’ll be in chapter eleven — looking at verses one through thirteen — and in chapter eighteen — looking at verses one to eight. Again, that’s Luke chapters eleven and eighteen— beginning in verse one of both chapters. 

We’ll begin in chapter eleven where we read…

Luke 11:1–13 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” 5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

And now we’re in chapter eighteen where we read…

Luke 18:1–8 ESV

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus is going to teach us about prayer today. And he’s going to teach us what to pray, how to pray, and why we pray. What to pray. How to pray. And why we pray. 

But before we get to what, how, and why we pray — I want us to think about prayer in Jesus’ life. When you think of Jesus’ life and ministry, what comes to your mind? 

• Many people think of the miracles he performed. Healing the sick, raising the dead, calming raging storms, freeing people from demons, and so on. 
• Others think of the parables he taught — those short illustrative stories that teach a moral truth. The parable of the Good Samaritan or the one about a Lost Coin, the parable of the Prodigal Son or the one I just read to you.
• Some may think of the conversations he had with people. His conversation with Nicodemus about being born again. Or the way he told a Samaritan woman all about her relationships. Or when he told Peter that he’d deny knowing Jesus three times. 
• Some may think of everything after Judas’ betrayal — Jesus’ arrest, being beaten, crucified, mocked, his death, and burial. 

We think of these moments in Jesus’ life and ministry — and I don’t know about you — but then it’s like — “And somehow, in between all of that, he prayed.” Where all of the cool stuff — the miracles, and parables, and private conversations — occasionally calmed down enough so he could pray. To which one Bible commentator suggests we view Jesus’ life differently. “As a series of private prayer times, interspersed with the ordinary events of his daily ministry.” 

Where we see prayer as Jesus’ main activity — and the miracles, parables, private conversations, and so on were temporary interruptions. And after a brief interruption, Jesus would resume praying.

In Luke’s gospel, there are nearly a dozen times recorded when Jesus prays. Given that there are only twenty-four chapters in the book — and the first two chapters of Luke contain the Christmas story, when Jesus is still a young child — all that to say, Luke records Jesus praying quite a bit in his gospel.

But it’s not just the amount of prayer that’s impressive; when Jesus prays should also stick out to us. Listen to what one author has noticed about Jesus and prayer in Luke’s gospel. The author writes…

“The first example [of Jesus praying] comes in connection with Jesus’ baptism, which marked his formal entrance into public ministry. Luke tells us that when Jesus “had been baptized and was praying,” the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and God the Son received the blessing of his Father (Luke 3:21–22). Luke also tells us that as his popularity began to grow, and great crowds gathered to hear him and be healed, Jesus “would withdraw to desolate places and pray” (Luke 5:16). Luke tells us that when Jesus was about to choose his twelve disciples, “he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12)…After Jesus fed the five thousand, he was…in prayer once again (Luke 9:18)…Eight days later, Jesus went out to pray again, and this time he took three of his disciples with him. While they were saying their prayers…the disciples saw him transfigured in radiant splendor (Luke 9:28–29). Jesus prayed again — rejoicing in the Spirit and giving thanks to the Father — when the seventy-two came back from their first gospel mission (Luke 10:21–22). It seems that whenever anything of major importance happened in the life and ministry of Jesus, it was surrounded by prayer.”

Jesus prayed. And he prayed. And he prayed. And, today, he’s going to teach us to pray. 

WHAT TO PRAY

Beginning with what to pray. We’re in verse one of Luke chapter eleven. There we read…

Luke 11:1–4 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

Now, after that lengthy overview about Jesus and prayer in Luke’s gospel, I hope verse one stuck out to you. Here it is again.

Luke 11:1 ESV

1 Now Jesus was praying…”

And I hope you’re like, “Well, of course Jesus was praying — that’s what he does.” And after this time of prayer, his disciples ask him to teach them to pray. And I’m sure — Christian or not — what comes next both sounds familiar and a bit off at the same time. That’s because this is Luke’s version of what’s known as the Lord’s prayer. The more familiar version of the Lord’s prayer is found in Matthew’s gospel, which says…

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

The differences between Matthew and Luke’s versions may indicate that there were two different occasions when Jesus used a similar — but not identical — prayer to teach his disciples what to pray. Now, it shouldn’t surprise us if Jesus had to teach his disciples more than once on the topic of prayer. Meaning no disrespect to his disciples, but they do have a track record of not exactly understanding what Jesus had to say after one hearing. 

So maybe it’s two separate occasions, or maybe Matthew and Luke are recording the same moment and simply wrote down slightly different versions of what Jesus said. Regardless, there’s enough overlap between the two gospels that we can understand what Jesus wants us to include in our prayers.

And notice what we’re to start with.

Luke 11:2 ESV

2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

What should be included in our prayers? Though we don’t want to make this formulaic, I think at the very least, we should include something about God’s name being revered — that we desire God’s name and who he is to be treated as holy. This prayer’s the opposite of taking God’s name in vain, which, when we do so, is to break one of the Ten Commandments. A commandment often broken — maybe the most often broken of God’s commandments when you think of the ways that Jesus and God’s name are used in foul ways by so many mouths — maybe even by mouths in this room. 

We’re to pray that God and his name be set apart as holy — and — for his kingdom to come. A kingdom has a king who’s in authority — and the king reigns and rules. And God’s kingdom has a king — his name is Jesus. And when we pray for God’s kingdom to come, what we’re praying for is for Jesus’ reign and rule as King of kings to become more of a reality over all of God’s creation. Yes, this prayer will ultimately be fulfilled when Christ returns, but we’re to pray for more of God’s creation to come under Christ’s reign and rule now. We’re to pray for more people to submit their lives to Christ now. For more of God’s people to submit more of their lives to Christ — for we’re still in a fight against our enemy and our sinful desires which lure us to rebel against Christ’s authority as our King.

“Hallowed be your name and may your kingdom come.”How might you add this to your prayers? Is this currently part of your prayer life? Or do you skip straight to the rest of what Jesus teaches us to pray for? And please know that I’m not saying that praying…

Luke 11:3–4 ESV

3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

I’m not saying that praying in this way is wrong — by no means! But what I’m saying is that many people pray as if Jesus never said the part about “hallowed be your name and may your kingdom come.” We go straight to our needs and the needs of others. 

• Heal her. 
• Save him. 
• I need a job. 
• I want to get married. 
• And so on. 

Things like this often make up the vast majority of what we pray. And I’m not even going to get into how we confuse our greeds with our actual needs. All I want us to do right now is to consider what may be lacking in our prayers. The part where Jesus teaches us to focus on God when we pray. Praying for his name to be kept holy. For his kingdom to come. 

What would change in the way you pray if you spent some time, more time, or as much time praying about God’s name being kept holy and his kingdom to come as you did praying for the equivalent of daily bread, forgiveness, and fighting temptation? Things you should be praying for — just not the only things you should be praying for.

Now at this point, you may be wondering, “Well, what would some examples of ‘hallowed be your name’ and ‘your kingdom come’ prayers look like?” 

Here are two examples from a book on worship that I have.

• Loving God, you have spoken to us through your angels and prophets, heralding the gospel news that salvation from sin has come to us through your Son Jesus Christ. We thank you and praise you that we have nothing to fear, since in Christ Jesus you have come to us and you are with us, even in our present condition, that we might receive grace, learn obedience, and grow in your spirit of holiness.
• To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You make my heart exceedingly glad! For you, my God, are good and forgiving, loving and kind to all who call on you. There is no one like you, O merciful God!

Biblically, it’d sound something like this.

Psalm 145 NLT

1 I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. 2 I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. 3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness. 4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power. 5 I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor and your wonderful miracles. 6 Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness. 7 Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness; they will sing with joy about your righteousness. 8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. 10 All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. 11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power. 12 They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign. 13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does. 14 The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. 15 The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. 16 When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. 17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. 18 The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. 20 The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked. 21 I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever.

Sometimes the best way to pray is already written down for us in God’s Word. 

Jesus taught his disciples — and us — what to pray.

HOW TO PRAY

And now we turn to how to pray — how to pray. We’re in verse five of Luke chapter eleven where we read…

Luke 11:5–13 ESV

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

What I want us to notice here is that Jesus gives an illustration to teach his disciples how to pray. And in the illustration, we learn we’re to pray with a bold perseverance. We’re to pray with a bold perseverance.

I say bold because, in the illustration, the friend is quite bold in waking up his neighbor in order to feed his unexpected guest. Some may even call it rude, but the story’s meant to be absurd — I say this because of how Jesus begins. In fact, the next time you read the gospels, watch for when Jesus starts an illustration with words like “Which of you…” What follows is usually an unimaginable situation. It’s intentionally an exaggeration of a scenario that’s never gonna happen.

Think about the obvious answer to Jesus’s “which of you” question. Which of you is going to wake up your neighbor at midnight and say, “Hey, somebody unexpectedly showed up at my house, and I need to feed him. What do you have in your fridge?” I’ll tell you which of you’s doing that. None of you! Which is the same answer that everyone listening to Jesus was thinking. Waking up your neighbor like that would be absurd!

But this is the illustration Jesus uses to teach us how to pray.

Be the neighbor who won’t take no for an answer. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Meaning — keep praying, and God will answer your prayers.

“Now, wait a minute, Josh. I’ve been praying to God for — fill in the blank — for years. And no answer.” Some of you are thinking that right now. While others are thinking, “Josh, are you promoting some sort of health, wealth, name-it-and-claim-it prosperity theology?” Nope.

The reason I started with the what question — what we’re to pray for — is because the content of our prayer shows us what Jesus meant when he said, “Keep asking, seeking, and knocking, and it’ll be given to you.” For what are we to be praying for — praying boldly for — praying persistently for? 

• God’s name to be kept holy.
• His kingdom to come.
• Our needs — not our greeds — to be met.
• Like forgiveness for our sins.
• And to not be led into temptation.

When this is what we’re boldly and persistently praying for — God will answer our prayers. The asking, seeking, and knocking isn’t a blanket guarantee that God will give us everything we pray for — remember the context. Jesus just told us what to pray for — then he tells us how to pray: with bold persistence. 

When you think about your prayer life, how boldly and persistently are you praying for what Jesus has told you to be praying for?

WHY WE PRAY

Finally, why we pray. We’re in Luke chapter eighteen — beginning in verse one.

Luke 18:1–8 ESV

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Now the danger of this illustration is to think that Luke — or Jesus, since Luke’s written down Jesus’s words — the danger is to think that their goal is for us to think that God the Father is like this unjust judge. Jesus’ point is actually the opposite — similar to the illustrations he used in the last passage, when he said…

Luke 11:11–13 ESV

11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus’ point isn’t to say that God the Father is just barely better than us or that he’s just slightly more kind than this unjust judge who basically gives in to the widow because she won’t stop bothering him. It’d be quite the statement for Jesus to compare his Heavenly Father to a judge who neither fears God nor respects man. My point is that Jesus doesn’t want us to think that his Father in Heaven is like the unjust judge — he wants us to think the exact opposite. 

But look at what Jesus asks at the end: When he returns, will he find anyone who believes him? Or will we — because we get the what and the how wrong in our prayer life — will we also get the why wrong? 

The reason why we pray is that we know we’re praying to a good, just, and merciful God. A loving God who’s full of compassion and kindness. A God who sees you, hears you, and knows you. A God who isn’t some distant deity, but is near. A God who is giving and generous. For, if you remember, the even better gift that your Father in Heaven has given you — the gift that’s better than fish and eggs and all the daily bread type requests we ask for — is the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. So we pray because we know our God is good.

CONCLUSION

Today, Jesus has been teaching us what to pray, how to pray, and why we pray. One final thought about prayer. Do you remember how Jesus taught us to refer to God when we pray? What word did he use? He told us to address God as Father. 

When I’m in my office — and the door’s closed — it’s always interesting to observe how people knock on my door. First off, they’re probably overcoming quite the dilemma when they do — “His door is closed. Should I bother him? What if he’s busy? What if he’s in the middle of writing a sermon and I’m going to disrupt some super holy moment?” I don’t know what they’re thinking, but here’s what I know. 

Often the knock is so timid it’s like, “Maybe he’ll hear this, but if he doesn’t I’ll just come back another time.” Sometimes they’ve even texted me to ask if they can stop by, and I say “yes.” Still, the knock is barely noticeable. 

I’m not saying I like this; it’s just the reality of being a boss and sometimes needing to close my office door to get work done. I feel like I should also say to the staff that I don’t need you all to start walking by my office, loudly knock on the door, only to take off running — we’ve got some jokers that need to hear that. Joe Sherrieb and Adam Borsay, in particular.

But a few weeks ago, my daughter was here on a weekday practicing with the youth worship band. And I was in my office, working on a sermon, with my office door closed. Yet, because she’s my daughter — and because I’m her father — without even knowing what I was doing behind the closed door, she just opened the door — no knock — and said, “Hi, Dad.” Asked me about something of no eternal or, honestly, temporary importance. And then went on with her day. I told her I was going to tell this story in my sermon. And, when I did, she said, “Dad, I didn’t even think about knocking on your door.” 

I know it’s not a perfect illustration, but can you see the difference between viewing God as a boss versus viewing him as a Father? 

One last observation about prayer in Jesus’ life. Did you know that every time Jesus prayed to God, he called him Father with only one exception? The one exception is when he experienced the punishment for our sins on the cross. In that moment, Jesus prayed…

Matthew 27:46 ESV

46 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

For at that moment — and this was the only moment in his eternal life — but at that moment Jesus was separated from his Father as he endured the curse for our sin. Jesus — for all eternity — had only known his Father’s presence. He never knew any relationship other than opening his dad’s office door and going straight in without knocking. Yet — in becoming cursed for our sins — he experienced his Father’s absence. 

But once the payment for our sins was complete, Jesus prayed one last time before breathing his last breath. And I hope his words will give you great hope and joy. For after enduring the punishment for our sins, Jesus prayed…

Luke 23:46 ESV

46 “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

And because of his sacrifice of love — because of his perfect obedience in your place — because his Father accepted his payment for your sins — his Father in Heaven is your Father in Heaven. The God to whom you pray. The God who hears and answers your prayers. So, like my daughter, go ahead and just open the door and say “Hi Dad” as you pray to him. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Hi Dad, our prayer today is pretty simple. May your name be kept holy throughout all of your creation — especially in our lives and lips. May your kingdom come. Give us what we need and forgive us for our sins — especially when we confuse our greeds with our needs. Help us to forgive others as you’ve forgiven us. And lead us away from temptation. That’s all for now. Talk to you soon. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

As you go, may you remember what to pray, how to pray, and why we pray to our Father in Heaven. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Did Adam grow up as child or was he created as an adult?

Great question! First, let’s see what the Bible has to say about this.

Genesis 1:26-31 (ESV

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

From what we read in the Bible, we can conclude that God created Adam as an adult. He and Eve are given authority over the rest of creation and the responsibility of caring for the land God had given to them. Adam’s exact age is unknown to us, but given that Eve was also created at that time and they were immediately told to “be fruitful and multiply” (meaning, have babies), they were at least created at an age where procreation was possible.

In the next chapter of Genesis, we also get more details helping us to know that Adam was created as an adult.

Genesis 2:23-25

Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

In the New Testament, verse twenty-four is quoted in referring to marriage. Thus, we can conclude that, though we don’t know the exact ages of Adam and Eve when they were created, they would have been old enough to serve as the ongoing biblical example of marriage.

DATE: 8-16-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true whether you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our Gospel Project series this weekend. During the summer we’re syncing up our sermons with our Kidway ministry curriculum, which is called the Gospel Project. We thought this would be a good way for those of us without kids in our Kidway ministry to understand what the kids are being taught each week. And they happened to be in the gospels learning about Jesus this summer, which is a great place in the Bible for all of us adults to be — because — the whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. So what better way to spend our summer than to get to know him better? 

And we’re going to be in the gospel of Luke today. We’ll be in chapter seven — looking at verses thirty-six through fifty. Again, that’s Luke chapter seven — beginning in verse thirty-six. There we read…

Luke 7:36–50 ESV

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

In this gospel passage, we discover two approaches to Jesus — two ways to view him, to think about him, two ways to approach him. And we’re also forced to ask ourselves which way we’re approaching Jesus. But this is a beautiful story from the life of Jesus, which I hope will compel all of us — Christian or not — to love him even more than we do right now. Two approaches to Jesus and how you’re approaching him. That’s where we’re headed today.

TWO APPROACHES TO JESUS

Beginning with two approaches to Jesus. The two approaches to Jesus are highlighted by the two people interacting with him in this story: Simon, the Pharisee, and the unnamed woman. Let’s look at Simon’s approach to Jesus first. We’re in verse thirty-six.

Luke 7:36 ESV

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.

We’ll skip to verse thirty-nine, where in response to the woman’s approach to Jesus…

Luke 7:39 ESV

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

There’s more we’ll see about Simon’s approach to Jesus, but for now, let’s make a few observations. Let’s start with a positive observation: Simon invited Jesus to his house to have a meal. That’s a good thing! Simon’s going to take a beating here in a moment, but I don’t want to miss this positive observation. Unlike many of the Pharisees, who wanted nothing to do with Jesus, Simon — in quite a bold move — invites Jesus to his home for a meal. 

Now — he hasn’t been the best host — as we’ll see in a minute — but there’s at least some curiosity on Simon’s part when it comes to Jesus. He’s intrigued. He’s not out simply to trap Jesus, as other Pharisees try to do. In fact, Simon had no idea that a woman, who becomes the center of his conversation with Jesus, would disrupt his meal. All that to say, many people have a similar curiosity about Jesus. They’re not completely turned off by him — as others are — but they’re not completely convinced either. 

• This may be your son or daughter — they’re not antagonistic towards Jesus, but they’re not in love with him either.
• This may be your co-worker, your roommate, your sibling, your spouse — they’ll show up to church with you, talk about Jesus with you; the door isn’t shut, but it feels like it’s barely pried open. 
• This may even be you.

But this seems to be where Simon’s at in his approach to Jesus. He’s curious, but not much more. Thus, when he sees Jesus’s reaction to the woman’s behavior, Simon thinks to himself, “If this guy was really a prophet, he wouldn’t let her touch him.” This tells us that Simon’s not even convinced that Jesus is a prophet, much less the Son of God and Savior of the world. 

One has to wonder — though — why would Simon have invited Jesus to his house for a meal? Being a Pharisee, Simon was a well-educated individual. So maybe he had questions for Jesus about his ministry or something he’d heard Jesus teach. Maybe he wanted to test Jesus’ knowledge of the Bible. Who knows, but Simon — though curious — still has serious doubts about Jesus.

Now — let’s turn to the woman — and then we’ll let Jesus highlight the difference in both of their approaches to him. We’re in verse thirty-seven.

Luke 7:37–38 ESV

37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

A few observations about her. First, Luke doesn’t come out and say it, but in describing her as a “woman of the city who was a sinner” — most likely he’s indicating that she was a prostitute. Again, we’re not certain about this, but that’s what many scholars believe Luke is describing. 

Second, she wasn’t invited to the meal, but she barged in anyway. Something helpful to know about meals in this culture is that homes had more of an open floor plan than many homes today. Doors were often left open to let air in, and meals would take place in what would’ve felt more like a public space than in a private home. So it wasn’t uncommon for neighbors or others to be uninvited participants in meals like this. 

But what would’ve been unusual was for a prostitute to show up. As you can tell from Simon’s remarks about her, prostitutes were not favorably looked upon. Yet this woman approaches Jesus from behind and begins to weep. And the word Luke uses is sometimes translated as rain. So this was no insignificant shedding of tears — she’s crying so much that Jesus’s feet, which would’ve been behind him because of how they sat around the table — she was crying so heavily that his feet got wet because of her tears. And knowing she needed to do something, she dried his feet with her hair, then kissed them and anointed them with the ointment from the alabaster flask that was hung around her neck. 

These flasks were fairly common in the culture of the day. Women, in general, would wear them — but prostitutes in particular wore them as a way to allure men. And when she took down her hair to dry Jesus’ feet — well, doing so was considered so inappropriate that a man could divorce his wife for behaving in such a way. A woman with her hair down, culturally, meant that she was a loose woman — a promiscuous woman — she’s the kind of woman you didn’t want your husband being around. And, in the culture of the day — a culture much different than our own — a woman’s honor was based on her reputation for sexual modesty and chastity, and any appearance of sexual indecency would bring dishonor to her husband. You may disagree with that kind of thinking — but that was the reality of the day in which she lived. And she knew all of this, and yet she let down her hair to dry Jesus’s feet, which were wet with her tears.

And then she takes that flask of ointment — an item of value — an item that, in many ways, was her identity, for she’d given her life to prostitution — and what does she do with it? She uses it to anoint Jesus’ feet. To anoint something or someone is to set them apart as holy and sacred. And she anoints Jesus with her most valuable possession. It’s like she’s giving herself to him as she realizes that this ointment — as well as herself — can be used for a better purpose. 

Later, Jesus compares the two — Simon and the woman — when…

Luke 7:44–46 ESV

44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

Simon didn’t give Jesus the culturally appropriate and common courtesy of offering him water to wash his feet upon entering Simon’s house. The woman washed his feet with her tears and hair. Simon didn’t greet Jesus warmly — that’s the kiss being referred to. The woman, however, kissed Jesus’s feet. Simon didn’t anoint Jesus’ head with oil. She anointed Jesus’s feet with her expensive ointment. 

Two vastly different approaches to Jesus.

WHAT THE WOMAN KNOWS THAT SIMON DOESN’T

Those are the facts that Luke records for us as he describes this moment in Jesus’ life. And now we turn to the reason why there’s such a difference in their two approaches to Jesus. Why do Simon and the woman respond to Jesus the way they do — why are their responses to him so drastically different? We’re in verse forty — right after Simon thought to himself, “I guess Jesus isn’t a prophet, for he doesn’t even know what kind of woman she is.” 

Luke 7:40–43 ESV

40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Someone’s said, “Anytime Jesus says, ‘I have something to tell you’, you better run. He’s about to throw you a spiritual grenade.” And that’s what Jesus does when he tells Simon this parable — a parable’s a short story meant to teach a truth — and the point of this parable is pretty straightforward. 

There are two people who both owe a debt to their lender. Neither can pay back their debt. And, in Jesus’ day, that meant you went to prison until you could pay your debt off. But being in prison meant you weren’t making any money, which meant you still couldn’t pay your debt off — so you stayed in prison. You get the idea. If you can’t pay your debt — essentially — you go to prison for life.

So there are two people in debt. Since denarii mean nothing to us, we’ll keep this simple. One person owes two years’ worth of pay while the other owes two months’ worth of pay. Both are large amounts — but one is ten times larger. But — again — the point is that they both owe money and neither can pay it back. Don’t focus on the difference in the debt they owe — focus on the fact that neither can pay back the debt they owe. 

After setting the scenario, Jesus says, “Then the lender cancels both of their debts.” So both debts are forgiven. Both people were facing life in prison, and now they’re both debt-free.

So Jesus asks Simon, “Simon, of the two, who would love the lender more after having their debt forgiven? Who’d be rejoicing more? Who’d be more relieved?” That’s Jesus pulling the pin on the spiritual grenade as he hands it to Simon. And what does Simon say? He says, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt.” And Jesus tells him he’s correct.

And the grenade goes off in verses we looked at earlier.

Luke 7:44–46 ESV

44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

That’s where we stopped earlier, but look at what Jesus says next. He says…

Luke 7:47 ESV

47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Do you see what Jesus did? He tells Simon that he and the woman are the two debtors in the parable. Essentially, Jesus says to Simon, “Simon, you’re in the same boat that she’s in. You’re unable to make good on your sin debt. Yes, yes, I know. It’s a much smaller sin debt than hers, but it’s still a debt you can’t pay. You’re just as condemned as she is.”

And I know how offensive this can be to our ears. But if you don’t understand this view of sin — you really don’t understand the gospel. For no matter the sin we’ve committed — none of us can pay back the debt we owe. Even the most moral among us have a sin debt we can’t repay. Your pile of debt may be nowhere near as big as others — but it’s still too much for you to pay back. Even with an eternity before us — there’s still not enough time for any of us to repay our sin debt to God. 

And, honestly, not understanding this is the cause of much anxiety in people’s lives — not all anxiety — but much of it’s caused by living under the guilt of the sin debt you owe. A lot of the anger you experience is because you’re mad that God’s not saying “paid in full” because of what you’ve done for him. I wonder how you’re responding to the news that — because of your sin — you owe a debt to God that you can’t repay?

After his short illustration, Jesus then points out to Simon the difference between how both he and the woman have responded to Jesus. How they’ve both approached him. “Simon, she’s responded by showing me love. She’s adored me. She washed my feet with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair when you didn’t even show me the courtesy of basic hospitality by offering me water to wash my feet. You didn’t give me a kiss of welcome. You showed me no such courtesy while she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet. You didn’t anoint my head with oil when I came into your home, but she’s anointed my feet. Simon, your own words condemn you. For everything she’s done shows that she recognizes that her sins — which are many — can be forgiven — not because she can pay back her debt, but because she’s found the one who can. While your response to me, well, your response suggests that you still think you can pay back God for your sin debt.”

CONCLUSION: HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING JESUS?

So how are you approaching Jesus? Simon and the woman both wanted to see Jesus. Both wanted to be in his presence. Both wanted to be near him. And they both heard his words about sin and forgiveness. 

She’s transformed while Simon isn’t. She shows obvious love and joy — because of Jesus — while Simon — at best — keeps Jesus at arm’s length. And look at how the story ends. We’re in verse forty-eight.

Luke 7:48–50 ESV

48 And he (Jesus) said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Her sins are forgiven. But what about Simon’s sins? Luke doesn’t tell us, does he? Though he doesn’t tell us, it seems like Luke wants us to conclude that her sins were forgiven while Simon’s weren’t. So — again — how are you approaching Jesus? 

Simon kept Jesus at arm’s length. He didn’t want Jesus to get too close to him. He definitely didn’t want Jesus to be someone to whom he owed a debt of any kind. He’s willing to listen to Jesus, yes. Have a conversation with him, sure. For many people — when it comes to Jesus — it’s OK for your mind to be involved, but — like Simon — he’s never going to have your heart. 

The woman, on the other hand, gave all of herself to Jesus. Her mind, yes. But even more than her mind. She wasn’t going to keep Jesus at arm’s length. She not only wanted Jesus close, but she went to him to get close to him. And she knew that, if there’s anyone in the world to owe a debt to, Jesus is the best option. For he’s the one who forgives us of our debts. 

But don’t miss this: they both want Jesus in their life, just in entirely different ways. Thus the warning to all of us is that you can be a very religious person, come to church, serve, be in a Life Group, support a church financially, read your Bible and pray — do all sorts of religious activities — all while keeping Jesus at arm’s length. You can be someone who doesn’t mind hearing what Jesus has to say; you may even say you believe what he’s said, but your relationship with him is solely intellectual. You agree with your mind, but you don’t love him with your heart.

For others it’s like this: You’re good with Jesus as long as you’re in control of the relationship. That was Simon — he was good with Jesus as long as he was the one asking the questions. But once Jesus started asking the questions — well — that was enough for Simon. Who asks the questions in your relationship with Jesus? Are you asking him all the questions, or is he asking you questions? Who’s changing who in the relationship? When you find yourself in a disagreement with Jesus, who’s right? Now we all know the answer is supposed to be “Jesus,” but is that how you’re living? 

One pastor has described it this way. “Simon is approaching Jesus the way many…people do. Simon’s interviewing Jesus. In other words, Simon is sitting down and saying, “Jesus, I’ve been looking at you, and you do miracles. That’s very impressive. I’ve heard your teaching, and it’s remarkable. I’m trying to figure out right now whether it would be advantageous to me to have you in my life as a shepherd and guide. So would you fill out these forms in triplicate, please?” In other words, he’s in control. Jesus is the applicant. He’s interviewing Jesus to see what he thinks.”

I wonder if this describes any of our relationships with Jesus? Where you’ve asked him to fill out an application to be the god of your life, where you’re interviewing him — and probably a few other options — to see which god is the best option for you. 

Friends know that Jesus can’t be approached this way. He’s not someone you interview — he’s the one who’s asking all of us to receive forgiveness. To respond to the gift he’s offered by giving his life on a cross to pay our sin debt in full. And for those who’ve been forgiven — just like the woman — for those who really see that their sin — no matter how small or insignificant or “not as bad as those other people” they think their sin is — just like the woman, all who truly respond to Jesus in faith — believing in him with their mind, yes, but with their whole being — see that they’ve been forgiven of a debt that — not only could they not repay — but the consequence of defaulting was an eternity in the prison of hell. 

And, like the woman, the entire direction of your life will be changed. She knew that Jesus couldn’t be an add-on to her life. It was all or nothing. All of her tears or none of them. All of the ointment or none of it. All of her heart, mind, soul, and body — or none of her. There’s no getting Jesus partially into your life — where it’s like, “Jesus, I’ll take a little bit of you, but all of you would be too much. So how about we have a relationship where I still get some personal space?” To which Jesus says, “If personal space is what you want more than me, then you can have it without me.” 

It’s not enough to just invite him over to your house for a meal. He’ll ask you why you didn’t offer him water for his feet, why you didn’t greet him with a kiss, or why you didn’t anoint his head with oil. And it’s not enough to invite Jesus into your heart — as we Christians like to say. He’ll ask you why you didn’t offer him that part of yourself that you think you can stay in control of. And when Jesus isn’t what you value and love most, like Simon, his questions will really get to you. They’ll irritate you. Because you’ll come to realize that Jesus won’t let you treat him like you treat everyone else because he’s completely different than the rest of us. He’s either your Savior and Lord, the Son of God and Creator of all things, the one whom every knee will bow before one day — or he’s — as C.S. Lewis said, “A liar or a lunatic.” Liar, lunatic, or Lord — those are your options. 

Those who believe he’s a liar or a lunatic respond to him like Simon — he’s welcome to come over and hang out as long as he doesn’t expect you to go out of your way or anything. But those who believe that he’s Lord respond to him like the woman — they give Jesus all of who they are, anointing him with the ointment of their entire lives. 

How are you responding to Jesus? Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, you are holy, majestic, loving, and kind. You are the One who will judge every single one of us, and your judgment will be just. This should stir in us a holy fear because of our sin — no matter how insignificant we may consider our sin to be — we owe a debt to you that we can’t repay. And the consequence — the deserved consequence — is an eternity in hell.

Spirit of God, you are the Spirit who gives life to our spirits. You open spiritually blind eyes and deaf ears, and give new life to spiritually dead hearts so that we might respond to the Good News that God saves sinners. And that all who come to Jesus repenting of their sins and believing in him will be forgiven. For though the wages of sin is death — the free gift of God is eternal life. And this free gift is possible because Jesus paid our sin debt in full on the cross.

To you, Jesus, the payer of our sin debt and the One to whom we now owe our lives, we first thank you for your love for us. No mere lip service, your love is one of action. And, in response to being forgiven, our love for you is now one of action. Of anointing you with our lives as we live for you. Serving you. Sharing with others the news of your love. A life of loving you. 

Father, Son, and Spirit — for any who came here today approaching Jesus like Simon once did — we ask that you would help them to see the better approach. The humble approach. The “I won’t hold anything back from you” approach that the woman displayed. For that is the approach of those who realize their need to be forgiven — who are then those whom you forgive. Jesus, forgive many who approach you today. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

In response to who Jesus is and all that he’s done for you, may you go anointing him with your life. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 8-9-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

Each week we spend some time praying for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and world. Today we’ll be praying for teachers and homeschool parents as some of our local schools are starting back up this week. And, if anyone’s wondering, we’ll pray for students in a few weeks.

Please join me in prayer.

Heavenly Father, as we begin this time of prayer for teachers and homeschool parents, we want to begin by first acknowledging that you are our ultimate teacher. For “this is what [you, our] Lord says — you the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.” (Isaiah 48:17) You are the God who has promised “to instruct and teach us in the way we should go.” (Psalm 32:8) You are the God who has promised to give wisdom to anyone who lacks it.

Holy Spirit, you are the promised Teacher who’s been sent from the Father in the name of the Son to teach us all things and help us to remember all that Jesus taught. 

As we bring before you teachers and homeschool parents, bless them with the fulfillment of all of these promises. May they know your intimate presence in their lives, may they be given your wisdom, may they be taught by you, and may the Holy Spirit lead them along the path they should follow. And we ask this so that Jesus would be glorified in their lives as his followers as they teach the students in their classroom or in their home. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our Gospel Project series this weekend. During the summer, we’re syncing up our sermons with our Kidway ministry curriculum, which is called the Gospel Project. We thought this would be a good way for those of us without kids in our Kidway ministry to understand what the kids are being taught each week. And they happened to be in the gospels learning about Jesus this summer, which is a great place in the Bible for all of us adults to be — because the whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. So what better way to spend our summer than by getting to know him better? And today, we’re going to see a side of Jesus that should leave all of us in awe and wonder.

We’re going to be in the gospel of Luke today. We’ll be in chapter seven — looking at verses eleven through seventeen. Again, that’s Luke chapter seven — beginning in verse eleven. There we read…

Luke 7:11–17 ESV

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Each week, the kids learn a big idea during the Bible lesson. Today I want to read what they’re learning. Here’s the big idea from our kids’ curriculum:

Jesus has the power to bring the dead to life. We are all dead in our sins, but Jesus will give us new life in him if we repent and trust in his life, death, and resurrection.

Here it is again: Jesus has the power to bring the dead to life. We’re all dead in our sins, but Jesus will give us new life in him if we repent and trust in his life, death, and resurrection.

This moment in Jesus’ life — when he raises a widow’s dead son to life — is meant to point us to a spiritual reality. We’ll get to that spiritual reality by the end of this sermon, but first, I don’t want us to miss the beauty of what we see in this widow’s encounter with Jesus. But even before we get to her encounter with Jesus, I want to say something about resurrection stories in the Bible. And here’s what I want to say about them: They’re pretty rare. 

Here are some examples of resurrection stories in the Bible. 

In the Old Testament the prophets Elijah and Elisha are both used by God to resurrect a dead child. In the New Testament, Jesus raises three people from the dead — the son in our story, the daughter of a man named Jairus, and Lazarus — the brother of Mary and Martha. In the book of Acts, Peter is used to raise a woman named Dorcas from the dead. And then there’s Jesus’s resurrection.

And our story — the resurrection of this widow’s son — is only found in Luke’s gospel. And in this moment from Jesus’ life, we discover that Jesus is our hope in death because he’s our resurrection hope. Jesus is our hope in death because he’s the one who fulfills the eternal promise that this — and all biblical resurrection stories point us to. 

OUR HOPE IN DEATH

Let’s begin by seeing how Jesus is our hope in death. We’re back in verse eleven of our chapter.

Luke 7:11–13 ESV

11 Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

Just a few weeks ago, my wife and I attended two funerals in one day. The first was for one of our neighbors and the second was for a Gateway member. No death of a loved one is easy — especially for the family members and friends who are left behind to grieve. But for the mother in our verses — a mother who’s experienced the death of her child — well, that’s a different kind of hard. 

One person has said, “The death of a child is certainly one of the greatest agonies possible in this life — a burying of a part of oneself, a period before the end of a sentence, the death of a future. It’s a burden that all parents fear.” 

The first funeral I ever did was for a stillborn birth. It was so hard. The grief of the parents was so heavy. The church I was serving in had two stillborn births that week. Parents and family members were suddenly devastated. 

Though no death of a loved one is easy, there’s something extra shattering about the death of a child. And it’s at this moment in a woman’s life — in this moment of pain and hopelessness — that Jesus enters into her life. And he — along with this crowd that’s been following him around — he meets this mother just outside the city gate with the funeral procession behind her, carrying her son on a bier — that was sort of an open casket or cot that the body would be carried on. And the funeral procession was walking to the tomb where the son’s body would be buried. 

This is when Jesus meets her.

• The visitation hours are over.
• The funeral service has concluded.
• Folks going to the cemetery have all gotten into their cars.
• And, as the body is being walked to the hearse, Jesus just so happens to arrive on the scene…

And when he saw the woman, he had compassion on her. 

Did you notice that nobody sought after Jesus? No one was sent to try and find him so he could come help this woman. Nobody was praying and asking God to show up in some miraculous way. None of that happens, according to what we have in the Bible. Instead, according to Luke, Jesus just so happened to be in the right place at the right time — we call that the providence of God — and he saw what was going on and invited himself into the woman’s life. And he said to her, “Don’t weep.” 

Now, I know that Jesus telling her not to weep doesn’t sound very compassionate, but that’s because we misunderstand what he meant. He’s not saying don’t grieve the death of your son — that’d be cruel — and Jesus isn’t cruel. Instead, he’s telling her that — even now — there’s reason for hope. It’s as if he’s saying, “Don’t worry. I’m here. The giver of life — the one who can raise the dead is here. So have hope.” 

In one of the other resurrection stories in the Bible — the one I’m referring to now is Lazarus’s resurrection story — after Jesus arrived in Bethany — the town where Lazarus had died — and after having met with Martha — one of Lazarus’s sisters — Mary — Lazarus’s other sister — came to Jesus. And look at how John describes what happened.

John 11:32–33 ESV

32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

When Jesus saw Mary weeping — grieving the death of her brother — he was deeply moved in his spirit. This shows us something about Jesus. It shows us that he’s deeply moved by our sorrows, pains, and grief. Not only does he move toward us — as he did with the mother in our passage, or like he did with Lazarus’s sisters — not only does Jesus move toward us in our sorrows, pains, and grief — but he’s moved deeply in his spirit and is compassionate toward us. And — as you probably know — if you’re familiar with Lazarus’s resurrection story, after asking where they’d buried Lazarus, the next words recorded by the apostle John are…

John 11:35 ESV

35 Jesus wept.

So why did Jesus — who wept at the death of his friend — why did he tell this mother not to weep over the death of her son? 

OUR RESURRECTION HOPE

To answer this question, we come to the next part of the story. We’re in verse fourteen.

Luke 7:14–17 ESV

14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

He tells the mother not to weep because Jesus knew he was about to give her her son back. 

And there are some details about this resurrection that I don’t want you to miss. First, did you notice that Jesus touched the bier? Now this may not seem like a big deal to us, but in the Jewish religion of the day — to touch a bier was to make oneself ritually unclean. And, to be unclean was the same as being unholy. But Jesus is the holy one of God who — when he touches the unclean — well — he makes the unclean clean by the power of his holy touch.

Second, when he touched the bier — those carrying it stood still. Jesus didn’t tell them to stop moving, but something about the situation told them to stand still. It’s as if they could sense that something was about to happen. I’m sure they had no idea what — again, resurrections weren’t a common thing in their day — but their spidey sense was tingling — something was going to happen.

Next, Jesus told the dead son to arise. No big show. No theatrics. Just a few words — but they were words of power that demanded a response — a response even from a corpse.

Then, and I can’t help but smile at how Luke wrote these next words — but in verse fifteen Luke writes…

Luke 7:15 ESV

15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Did you notice anything interesting about this verse? It’s so easy to miss details like this — I missed it the first few times I read the passage. Luke says, “The dead man sat up and began to speak.” The dead man did what? Isn’t he the formerly dead man? The no longer dead man? The alive again man? But that’s not what Luke says — he says, “The dead man sat up and began to speak.” 

As one person has said, “Notice that when Jesus spoke to the boy’s cold corpse, the boy heard him. The young man was dead in body, but he was fully alive somewhere! For we humans, death is only death of the body. The human spirit lives on.” 

You see, the dead son heard the voice of Christ call out to him, “Arise,” and he lived. Similarly, all who hear God’s voice commanding us to “arise” in faith, to believe in his Son, to turn from our sin and turn to the Lord of life — do so. For God takes the dead — both the physically and spiritually dead — and raises us up from the grave. 

Next, Jesus gives the mother back her son. She’s had Jesus’s attention from the beginning. You’ve gotta love that about Jesus. Though there’s a crowd of people, he often focuses on individuals who need his loving attention.

And, finally, there’s the response of the crowd: Fear seized them all. Think of this fear as great awe and wonder — and yes, regular old fear. And why were they afraid? Because who has the power to raise the dead? Someone powerful. And if they’re that powerful — well — it’s kind of scary.

And who did the crowd praise with their words? Did they praise Jesus? No! They glorified God. And, yes, I know that Jesus is God, but this crowd of witnesses hasn’t figured that out yet, and Jesus didn’t find it necessary to make this fact known to them. But they do call Jesus a great prophet. A prophet who has — and I love this — “arisen” among us. Jesus told the boy to arise, and the people echoed Jesus’s words as they praised God. 

But then the crowd says something about Jesus that echoes back to words we find early on in Luke’s gospel. In a passage often read around Christmas, we find the words of a father who’d been unable to speak for months because he needed to learn a lesson about trusting God. The man is Zechariah — he’s the father of John the Baptist — who’s the cousin of Jesus and the one who paved the way for Jesus’ ministry. In some of the first words he spoke after being mute for months, Zechariah said…

Luke 1:68 NLT

68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people.

“Praise God, because he has visited his people.” It’s as if the crowd — who probably had no idea about Zechariah’s words thirty-plus years earlier — quote him. 

And what comes of all of this? Reports of the resurrection spread throughout the area because the people couldn’t help but go and tell others about what they had seen.

A QUICK ASIDE ABOUT SALVATION

Now, I want to stay focused on our text, but I can’t help but point out the spiritual implications these resurrection stories force us to face. In the resurrection stories we find in the Bible — one thing’s clear: The person is dead. These aren’t cases of misdiagnoses. Luke, if you don’t know, was a medical doctor. So he knows the difference between mostly dead and dead — to quote Miracle Max.

I bring this up because when the Bible describes our spiritual condition because of sin — it doesn’t describe us as being sick, or being mostly dead. The Bible describes us as being dead. Here’s one example.

Ephesians 2:1–3 NLT

1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil — the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

Did you notice Paul’s language? “Once you were dead” and — at the same time — “you used to live in sin…obeying the devil.” So how’s that possible? How can someone be dead — yet be alive at the same time? Well, the kind of deadness that Paul’s referring to is spiritual. Meaning he’s telling these people that they were spiritually dead even though they were physically alive. And the proof of their spiritual deadness was how they were living for sin and obeying the devil.

And this truth — this reality — of being spiritually dead, yet physically alive — is why Paul’s next words are so powerful.

Ephesians 2:4–5 NLT

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

Again, one could ask, “How can a person be given life when it’s clear that they’re already physically alive?” Because the life they’re given isn’t physical life, but is spiritual life. 

You see, because of sin — both the sins we commit, but also the sin nature we’re born with because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God — the consequence of being a sinner is spiritual death. And all of us are born with this condition: We’re born spiritually dead, while being physically alive. We’re all born as spiritually dead boys and girls who grow up and become adults who walk around, and live life, celebrating births of children and marriages and job promotions and touchdowns and catching a prize winning fish and electing presidents and doing all sorts of things — while also aborting babies, and cheating on spouses, mistreating employees, celebrating the downfalls of others, and lying, and slandering, and bickering, and doing all sorts of sinful things — and we’re doing all of these kinds of things while being physically alive, but spiritually dead. 

Until…Jesus just so happens to show up in our lives. And, like the mother in our gospel story, he often decides to show up in our lives without ever being asked. And he speaks to us and says, “Arise,” and gives us new life. A resurrection of the spirit. An act of grace. Nothing we deserve; nothing but God’s kindness, mercy, and compassion towards us. 

I wonder if you’ve experienced God’s call to you to “Arise, and live”? Have you experienced his loving, merciful, yet powerful call that gives spiritual life? And, if you have, I wonder how your life shows others that you’ve experienced a spiritual resurrection? For when the dead are raised — physically or spiritually — it can’t go unnoticed. For just like a mother’s dead son sitting up and talking to those who were taking his body to the tomb — just how that can’t go unnoticed — so too a spiritual resurrection in one’s life will surely have a similar, undeniable kind of impact.

CONCLUSION

Now I’d do us all a disservice if I didn’t broach a subject that none of us want to talk about: 

Our own death. Everything you and I’ve been taught is to avoid admitting to ourselves that there’s a shadow that death has cast over all of us. In fact, if you think about it, it’s quite amazing how adept we’ve become at repressing the reality that our death day is coming. But the truth is, no matter how much you learn, no matter the technology you use, no matter how seriously you take your health, one thing’s certain — you’re dying. We’re all dying. For just as we each have a birthday, there’s a day to come for each of us that will be our last.

And the culture we live in doesn’t want us to think about this. “Entertain yourself,” we’re told. “Drown out the reality of your mortality with new toys and experiences, but whatever you do — don’t think about your death.” And this is why — when death interrupts our lives — as it did for the mother in our story — it’s disorienting, disrupting, and it disturbs us down to the very core of who we are. And, for many, the experience of death is so devastating that it leaves them hopeless. While for others, though the experience is still devastating — hope remains.

So what’s the difference between the two groups? 

One group has tried to live while repressing the fact that they will die. While the other group decided to face their mortality and — in doing so — discovered a living and eternally lasting hope. The famous Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, went through a crisis and describes it in a way that’s pretty universal to human experience. He writes…

“I enjoyed physical strength. Yet I could not live. My question, which at the age of fifty brought me to the verge of suicide, a question seeking an answer without which one cannot live, was this: Is there any meaning in life that the inevitable death awaiting me does not destroy? Today or tomorrow, death will come to those I love and then to me. Nothing will remain but stench and worms. But soon not only I will not exist, but eventually no one will exist who will remember anything I have written or done. Why then go on with the effort? What is it all for? What does it all lead to? What difference will it make whether I do this good thing or that bad thing or nothing at all? So I could give no rational meaning to any single action or to my whole life. What was so surprising is how we can fail to see this. For a time it’s possible to live intoxicated with life, but as soon as one is sober, it’s impossible not to see that it is all a mere fraud, and a stupid fraud at that. There’s nothing either amusing or witty about it. It’s simply cruel and stupid. How often I have been told, ‘You cannot understand the meaning of life, so don’t think about it; just live.’ But I no longer can do that.”

Tolstoy’s point is that death makes all of life meaningless unless you do one of two things. The first option is to ignore this fact. Just live life as if everything matters — when in reality, what you believe tells you that none of it matters. And this is the option many people choose — as crazy and hypocritical as it sounds — they state that this life is it, death is the end, nothing matters after death, but still live as if things matter. That’s option one, which I don’t recommend.

Then there’s option two: Find the reason to have hope. The reason where you can face death — the death of those you love and even your own death — and do so with hope. Not a “I hope this all works out” hope. But a “this is guaranteed” kind of hope. 

So what can give you this kind of hope even in the face of death? 

Well, that was a trick question. For it’s not a what. It’s a who. The one who is the Lord of life. He who is our living hope. The one who defeated the power of death when he experienced death himself.

Earlier, I mentioned that there are only seven resurrection stories in the Bible. We’ve looked at a few of them today, but I want to return to Lazarus’s resurrection. During funerals, I always bring up Lazarus’s story because it shows how to grieve and still have hope. And I usually say something like this about Lazarus’s resurrection.

Just before Jesus brings Lazarus back to life — he’s standing outside the tomb of his friend — and Jesus weeps. He cries. He sheds tears because of the death of his friend. Yet Jesus grieves with hope because he knows what he’s about to do. In a few moments, his friend will walk out of the tomb alive.

But do you know why Jesus wept? He wept because death isn’t the way things are supposed to be. Even bringing Lazarus back from the dead won’t solve Lazarus’ death problem. Lazarus would die again someday — just like the son of the woman in our gospel passage will die again someday. But Jesus stands by his friend’s tomb, weeping because death is an enemy we weren’t supposed to encounter. Yet — because of our sin — death has become our most fearsome foe.

So Jesus knew that the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead wouldn’t solve his friend’s death problem. Jesus knew that to defeat death, he would have to experience an even greater loss of life than the loss of his friend. He would have to experience the loss of his own life.

For death to be defeated, the Creator and Lord of life would die on a cross. And Jesus gave up his life so that — through faith in him — by believing in him — we might not only find life — but have reason to hope even as we grieve the death of those we love — whether it be a spouse or a friend, a parent or a child. And he died so that — through faith in him — we might even be able to face our own death and do so with hope. For the Lord of life has given us a new life. A resurrection life that death can’t defeat. A life of power. A life of purpose. And a life full of hope that death can’t take from us. My prayer for you is that — if you haven’t already discovered this life of hope — that today would be the day you hear and respond to the words “arise.” Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, may many taste and see how good you are to your people and to all of your creation. For you did not leave us to die in our sins, but sent your Son to make life possible. What undeserved mercy and grace. What kindness and compassion. What goodness and beauty.

Holy Spirit, may you use my words to give life today. May you anoint the words that have been spoken so they are words that give hope — eternal, lasting hope to those who came here hopeless. May you use them to raise those who came here spiritually dead to spiritual life. May you use them to comfort those who are suffering, living under the shadow of death — whether it be the death of someone they love or their own. Spirit, take the words I’ve said and use them to magnify the name of Jesus.

And to you, Jesus, the Giver and Lord of life. The one who wept outside of the tomb of his friend. Who approached a mother grieving the death of her only son. Who knew that even those you raised from the dead would still have a death problem, compelling you to give your life on a cross so that death would be defeated — to you — our Savior and God — we now respond to you in praise. In your name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you leave here with hope, having believed in Jesus, the Lord of life. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

After I preached this sermon on the Sabbath, a few folks brought up Gateway’s membership and baptism connection. Where we, the elders of Gateway, require an individual to be a member in order to be baptized (and vice versa). And where we, the elders of Gateway, require a parent/guardian to be a member in order for their child to be baptized (in most cases).

I’m not going to get into the details of why we require membership for baptism (and baptism for membership) in this post. Instead, I want to clear up confusion I caused by not being clear on man-made laws vs man-made laws.

Yup. You read that right. Man-made laws vs man-made laws.

In the sermon, I contrasted the Pharisees’ man-made laws to God’s law. I highlighted how the Pharisees created many laws that became the standard for whether or not someone was a devout follower of God. And if you broke one of their man-made laws, you sinned according to them. They then stacked their man-made laws in their favor so they were always on the right side of being a devout follower of God.

Jesus came along and disrupted their man-made religious expectations. And, because he did so, the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Why are your followers doing what’s unlawful (i.e., ‘sinful’) on the Sabbath?” That’s a bold assertion. They basically accuse Jesus of sinning.

My point wasn’t to say that all man-made laws are bad. My point was to say that any man-made law that becomes the standard for determining whether or not someone was a devout follower of Jesus is bad. Similarly, any man-made law that becomes a standard for what is sinful or not is bad.

But there are many man-made laws, even religious ones, that do not determine whether someone has sinned or if they’re a devout follower of Jesus.

Some examples.

At Gateway, we require all volunteers who work with minors to have a background check. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.

At Gateway, we give all financial donors an end-of-the-year giving statement. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.

At both of our campuses, we have a seating capacity in our worship centers. This is a man-made law. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. This is a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.

And at Gateway, we require those wanting to be baptized (or to have their child baptized) to be a member of the church. There’s no Bible verse to back this up. But this is also a different category of a man-made law than what the Pharisees were holding people to.

Why?

Because we’re not saying that someone is sinning by not becoming a member of Gateway. We’re also not saying that someone is a less devout follower of Jesus by not becoming a member of Gateway. We’ve never said anything close to that. And we never will.

Not all man-made laws are the same. Some man-made rules are good practice, and others become the standard for whether someone is a Christian. Let’s not confuse the two. And let’s all remember that a man-made law isn’t the bad kind just because we don’t like it.

Your pastor and friend,

Josh

DATE: 7-26-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our Gospel Project series this weekend. During the summer, we’re syncing our sermons with our Kidway ministry curriculum, which is called the Gospel Project. We thought this would be a good way for those of us without kids in our Kidway ministry to understand what the kids are being taught each week. And they happened to be in the gospels learning about Jesus this summer, which is a great place in the Bible for all of us adults to be Christian or not — because — the whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. So what better way to spend our summer than by getting to know him better. And, today, we’re going to see a side of Jesus that I don’t think many of us think about very often: Jesus the preacher

So, with that, let’s turn to our passage. We’re going to be in the gospel of Luke today. We’ll be in chapter six — looking at verses seventeen through forty-nine. Again, that’s Luke chapter six — beginning in verse seventeen. This is Luke’s version of Jesus’ most famous sermon, which is often called the Sermon on the Mount. 

And for full disclosure: The kids are looking at Matthew’s version — but I didn’t think preaching through three chapters would be possible today. So we’re going with Luke’s shorter version. Here’s how Luke records Jesus’ sermon.

Luke 6:17–49 ESV

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. 27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” 39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Today, we’re going to let Jesus preach to us. And we’re going to look at three points that Jesus makes in his sermon. And I’m going to do my best to let Jesus just speak for himself. 

But, to give us some context, Jesus has just called the twelve disciples to follow him. That’s what Chandler covered two weeks ago. And, just before that, Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath — a story I had us look at last week. And, after these events, Luke then records Jesus’ sermon. And if I were to summarize Jesus’ points, I’d do so like this: Those who are blessed by God are to be a blessing to others — that’s point one. Point two is: Those who are loved by God are to love others. And point three is: Those who’ve been forgiven by God are to forgive others. 

God’s blessed ones, bless others. God’s loved ones, love others. And God’s forgiven ones, forgive others. That’s where Jesus is taking us today.

GOD’S BLESSED ONES, BLESS OTHERS

Beginning with his first point: God’s blessed ones bless others. We find this beginning in verse seventeen, where we read…

Luke 6:17–26 ESV

17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all. 20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

God’s blessed ones, bless others. The kind of blessing that we all want to experience — regardless of whether you consider yourself to be a religious person or not — is seen at the beginning of our passage where people with diseases are healed by Jesus, as are those with unclean — or demonic — spirits. These are examples of a kind of blessing where we experience the power of God. And who doesn’t want to be blessed by God if that’s what it means to be blessed, right?

And it’s at this point that Jesus begins his sermon. And here’s what he does. Jesus essentially takes everything that we all want — and again, Christian or not — these are things we all want. Things like having lots of money, good food, laughter, popularity, and so on — and Jesus says that these things are not signs of God’s blessing. To which we all want to say, “Now hold on, Jesus. Not so fast, please. I’m struggling to follow you.”

So he goes on to explain that these kinds of things — money, popularity, everlasting youthfulness, fill in the blank with what you see people giving their lives to — Jesus says when these things are what a person lives for — they’ll never satisfy. In fact, when Jesus uses the word “woe,” he’s not using it as a warning. He’s not saying, “Be warned” — he’s expressing sorrow and sadness because he knows that there’ll be many who hear his words and yet will choose to live for these kinds of things anyway. Where — instead of living for him — we live for things that end up disappointing us.

But that’s not all he does. Jesus goes on to say some things that most of us don’t want to hear. Like that being poor and hungry, experiencing sorrow and weeping, or having people hate you, exclude you, and talk bad about you — because you follow him — Jesus says these are signs that you’re blessed by God. Which — in response — we all want to call a timeout. 

Why would these be signs that you’re blessed by God? One reason — and not the only reason — but one reason is that when we’re in these hard situations — all that usually distracts us from finding satisfaction in Christ alone — my way of phrasing this is “finding joy in Jesus alone” — all of that stuff is taken away. And it feels like a curse, but it’s actually a blessing. Because now, some of the competition — the biblical word would be idols — have been removed, leaving us to discover the soul-satisfying joy that’s only found in Jesus. And that — my friends — is a blessing from God. 

So the next time you find yourself — and maybe you’re there now — but the next time you find yourself stripped of something — and it being taken away makes you feel like you’ve been cursed by God — look to see how God might be giving you an opportunity to find greater joy in him than ever before.

Now the other half of Jesus’ first point — that God’s blessed ones, bless others — and now I’m talking about the “bless others” part — comes out of the idea that once we’ve allowed Jesus to define what it means to be blessed — all of these blessing stealers — money, abundance, entertainment, popularity, and so on — can be used to bless others. Where money is no longer what you hope will give you joy — but now, because Jesus is your joy, the money you have is a resource you joyfully use to bless others with. Same with food — you’ll be hospitable and enjoy meals with others instead of shutting people out of your life. You’ll live to make disciples — which is why Jesus saved you — instead of living just to be entertained. And you’ll care less about being popular — or even escaping the ridicule of the world — and instead will love Jesus boldly and obediently for the only Person’s opinion of you that really matters — is Jesus’s opinion of you.

As one Bible scholar has said, “According to Jesus…there are two kinds of people: People who suffer for his sake and have his blessing, and people who live for themselves and will come to an unhappy end.” Which kind of person are you?

God’s blessed ones, bless others — that’s Jesus’ first point.

GOD’S LOVED ONES, LOVE OTHERS

Now we come to his second point: God’s loved ones, love others. We find this beginning in verse twenty-seven, where we read…

Luke 6:27–36 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

God’s loved ones, love others. If you thought Jesus’ first point was hard to hear, well, here in his second point it gets even more challenging. For Jesus challenges all of us as to what it means to love others. 

In Jesus’ day, many rabbis — the Jewish religious teachers — taught that Jews only needed to love their fellow Jews. That the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” only applied to a fellow Jew. So a Jew had to love a fellow Jew, but they didn’t have to love anyone who wasn’t Jewish. And what does Jesus do? He challenges the thinking of the day as to what it means to be a loving person.

And Jesus not only pushes back against who we think we need to love — surely not “those people” — whether, for you, “those people” are Democrats or MAGA folks, Michigan fans or cat people — whoever “those people” are for you, Jesus wants you to love them. And he tells us what he means by loving them. Notice his words in verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight.

Luke 6:27–28 ESV

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Do good, bless, and pray. 

• To do good is to love with our actions — and we’re told to do good to those who do us wrong. 
• To bless is to love with our words — and we’re told to use our words to bless those who use their words to curse us. 
• And to pray is to love with our hearts — and we’re told to pray for those who abuse us, asking God to rescue them from their sin — even those who’ve sinned against us. 

One author asked some good questions to see how we’re applying Jesus’s words to our lives. He suggests we ask ourselves…

• What good have I done for my enemy? 
• What words of blessing have I spoken to them?
• What prayers of intercession — specifically praying that they would seek forgiveness from God — have I offered for them?

Challenging questions. Questions that force us to face whether we’re really someone who loves others as God first loved us or if we’re someone whose love is merely lip service.

Now, we need to continue moving through Jesus’s sermon, but I know that I can’t skip over the face-slapping, cloak-taking, and begging illustrations that Jesus uses to make his point about love.

So, first, know that the strike to the face that Jesus refers to, culturally, wasn’t an act of violence, which is what I think comes to most of our minds. The back of the hand was used, and causing physical pain wasn’t the goal. The goal was public humiliation — usually resulting in a person being kicked out of the synagogue and quite possibly their community. So this illustration is less about us being willing to experience physical harm for Christ and is more about us being willing, because of the love that you’ve experienced from him, to love Jesus even if it costs you your reputation. 

The cloak illustration is meant to teach us to love people unconditionally — for that’s how God loves us. An example of what this might look like would be: Imagine that our local community turned against us — where the city of Findlay — the residents and even the government leadership — doesn’t like Gateway Church. Instead of pulling back from doing our winter soup drive, hosting mobile food pantries, and the many other ways we love the people of our city — what Jesus is saying is that we keep loving our city in these ways. Even when we’re mistreated, we keep loving — because — God keeps loving us even when we mistreat him.

And, finally, love means we do all of this while expecting nothing in return. And we do so because — with hopeful anticipation — we believe that many of the people who we love in this way will experience God’s saving love through us.

GOD’S FORGIVEN ONES, FORGIVE OTHERS

Finally, we come to Jesus’ final point: God’s forgiven ones, forgive others. We’re in verse thirty-seven, where we read…

Luke 6:37–49 ESV

37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” 39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

God’s forgiven ones, forgive others. 

And here we come to something that Jesus said that even non-Christians love to quote: Judge not. 

Now, we like this quote for a variety of reasons. But the main reason we like it is because we want everyone else to stop judging us — while we happily go about judging everyone else. Jesus knew we’d all do this, so he uses the splinter and log illustration to make his point. For most of us — dare I say all of us — we focus on the sins of others more than we do on our own sins. 

Yet there’s an instinct we all have, and when we consider the rest of the Bible, we see that our instinct is partially correct: There are times when we’re to judge others. Here’s just one example from the apostle Paul. He writes…

1 Corinthians 5:9–13 NLT

9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

Here Paul makes it clear that — one — there are people who Christians are to judge — those inside the church. And — two — there are people who Christians aren’t to judge — those outside the church. Why don’t we judge those outside the church? Because God will judge them.

So, based on what Jesus is teaching, some self-reflection questions to answer would be:

• Though I have an opinion about this — what this person should do or how they should be treated — is it my place to make a judgment?
• What’s my role in their life? 
• Is this an “in the church person” or an “outside the church person”?
• Is this one of those rare occasions where it is my place to judge and, if so, what does God’s Word say about this situation? 

But where Jesus’s words really come at us is in the fact that what he’s really telling all of us — Christian or not — is not to be judgmental of each other. For we can be judgmental without ever saying a word of judgment to another person. You see, even when there are times when we are to judge others — say a Christian is found to be cheating on her spouse — though we’re to judge her — we’re not to treat her unfairly or unjustly. Meaning, we’re to correct her lovingly as we call her to repent. Being judgmental is the opposite of that. Being judgmental is — at its essence — to be an unforgiving person. To be a graceless person. To demand perfection — as you define it — with all of the power in your hands to call fouls on others while you stack the deck to ensure no one can ever call a foul on you. 

Yet the Christian is someone who believes they’ve been forgiven by God for every sin they have, are, or will ever commit — that’s the loving-kindness, mercy, and forgiving nature of our God. The deck was stacked against us — we stacked it against ourselves by rebelling against God — and, yet, he forgave us because of what Christ did in love for us. 

And, in being forgiven in this way, we forgive others. And, in doing so, we display God’s transforming power at work in our lives. For not only do we forgive those who’ve sinned against us — we also put to death the judgmental spirit that finds delight in condemning others — a spirit not from our Father in Heaven, but from the father of lies. 

And Jesus’s warning to all of us — about the seriousness of practicing forgiveness — is that he says, “Whatever standard you use in being judgmental of others will be the standard that God uses when he judges you.” And that should terrify all of us. For, as one Christian has stated, “All too often, the people who render the harshest judgments and make the fewest allowances are people in the church — as if we ourselves were not in constant need of saving grace, or had never received any undeserved mercy from God.”

CONCLUSION

There’s much more in Jesus’s sermon that we don’t have time to get to today. I barely mentioned his famous illustration of the speck and the log, much less his words about the futility of the blind leading the blind, or how those who are truly his disciples will do what he says — but Jesus has been our preacher today. And he’s a great preacher — the greatest of all time, in fact. But what will you do in response to hearing his sermon? 

• Have his words offended you?
• Have his words brought some conviction, but no lasting change?
• Has what he said challenged you to grow in your commitment as his follower?
• Or have his words encouraged you, for now you see a bit more clearly as to what it means to be blessed, loved, and forgiven by your God?

One thing I know for sure is that you can’t hear Jesus preach a sermon and leave unchanged. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, thank you for your Word to us today. Your Word spoken to us through your Son. 

Holy Spirit, help us all to better see and believe what it means to be blessed, loved, and forgiven by you. And help us all to obey what it means to live as those blessed, loved, and forgiven by God.

And, Jesus, our being blessed, loved, and forgiven are all possible because you not only are a great preacher, but you fulfilled every word you spoke. And you did so because you knew that our obedience to your words would never save us, because we’re unable to save ourselves. So you perfectly obeyed on our behalf so that your work — including the work of giving your life on the cross — would be the work that saves us. 

Father, Son, and Spirit — may many respond to you and your Word today. And I pray all of this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Having heard from Jesus the preacher, may you go and do all that he’s said, knowing that you are blessed, loved, and forgiven by him. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 7-19-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our Gospel Project series this weekend. As Chandler explained last week, during the summer, we’re syncing our sermons with our Kidway ministry curriculum, called the Gospel Project. We thought this would be a good way for all of us — especially those of us without kids in our Kidway ministry — to understand what the kids are being taught each week. And they happened to be in the gospels learning about Jesus this summer, which is a great place in the Bible for all of us adults to be, because the whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus. So what better way to spend our summer than by getting to know him better? 

So, with that, let’s turn to our two passages for today. We’ll begin with the Gospel of Matthew, and then we’ll turn to the Gospel of Luke. In Matthew, we’ll be in chapter twelve and, in Luke, we’ll be in chapter thirteen. So go ahead and find Matthew chapter twelve — we’ll begin in verse one.

Matthew 12:1–14 ESV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” 9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

And, now, turn with me to Luke chapter thirteen. We’ll begin in verse ten.

Luke 13:10–17 ESV

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

What our passages highlight are — one — God’s law — two — man’s law — and three — our merciful Lord. 

There’s a dispute, as I’m sure you noticed, about God’s law — so we’ll look at it. And Jesus’ response to his challengers points out that they’ve missed the point of God’s law by making up their own manmade laws — so we’ll look at their manmade laws. And what I hope we’ll all walk away recognizing — because this is the point of our passages — is that we have a merciful Lord. Jesus is full of mercy towards us lawbreaking, messed-up people.  

GOD’S LAW

So let’s begin with God’s law, and the specific law that’s at the center of both of our passages, which is the Sabbath law. The Sabbath law is found in the Big Ten — that’s the Ten Commandments — which are found in the book of Exodus, chapter twenty. The commandment about the Sabbath states…

Exodus 20:8–11 ESV

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The command’s pretty straightforward. It says to work for six days and — on the seventh day — to rest. No work’s to be done on the seventh day. 

• You don’t work. 
• Your family members don’t work. 
• Your servants don’t work. 
• Not even your animals are to work on the Sabbath. 

Now think about this. This law protected the vulnerable — servants, children, even animals — from being endlessly exploited by those in power. That’s quite the statement about God’s concern for all people, and God’s concern for all people should influence the way we treat those who work for us — either as employees or direct reports — God’s concern for all people should influence how we treat those who serve us through their work — from waiters and waitresses, to teachers and nurses, mailmen and women, those who fix our roads, and so on. Sunday lunch should not be the shift that waiters and waitresses dread the most — it should be their favorite time of the week because they’re serving the people of God who know how their God wants them to treat those who serve them. 

Now, and I think this is obvious, the Sabbath command is based on God’s creating rhythm. When God created all that exists, he worked for six days, and then he rested on the seventh day. This is how it’s recorded in Genesis.

Genesis 2:1–3 NLT

1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

So there are two reasons for this Sabbath law. First, and this is the obvious reason, God wants us to rest! This isn’t to say that work is bad — but God knows that the inclination of our sinful hearts will always be works-based salvation. Meaning, many people believe that the way we find salvation — or rescue from this sin-infected world — and even when a person doesn’t acknowledge sin, they still see the results — that this world is messed up and no one’s like, “I bet this is the best there is” — so we’re all — religious or not — Christian or not — we’re all trying to figure out how to be saved from this “this isn’t what it’s supposed to be like” world. And most people are trying to save themselves by their works. 

Either literally — like some of the millionaires and billionaires trying to reverse engineer aging — or spiritually — like the millions, if not billions, of people around the world who believe that if they do more good than bad, whatever god or spiritual being that’s out there will find them acceptable in the afterlife, which leads to the second reason for the Sabbath law.

Listen to what the book of Exodus later says about the Sabbath.

Exodus 31:12–17 NLT

12 The Lord then gave these instructions to Moses: 13 “Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. 14 You must keep the Sabbath day, for it is a holy day for you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. 15 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day must be a Sabbath day of complete rest, a holy day dedicated to the Lord. Anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. 16 The people of Israel must keep the Sabbath day by observing it from generation to generation. This is a covenant obligation for all time. 17 It is a permanent sign of my covenant with the people of Israel. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’”

You see, God’s Sabbath law is meant to show us that — though work is important — our work isn’t ultimate — and our work definitely won’t save us. Thus, the command to rest shows us that our salvation’s in God’s hands. And resting shows this because, in resting, we demonstrate that we trust God’s plan of salvation — that the world, including our salvation, doesn’t hinge on what we do, but on what God has done. God wants us to rest — to trust him. To believe and live as if he’s the one who makes his people holy — we don’t make ourselves holy — thus the Sabbath was to be a holy day dedicated completely to the Lord. 

Now, as this last passage of Exodus shows us, breaking the Sabbath law had significant and severe consequences, such as being cut off from the community or even death. Significant and severe consequences indeed. And these significant and severe consequences made this specific law — the Sabbath law — central to the Jewish people’s identity. Which leads us to our second observation: man’s law.

MAN’S LAW

Let’s go back to our passage in Matthew. We’re in verse one again. 

Matthew 12:1–2 ESV

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

A few verses later, after Jesus had entered a synagogue, we read…

Matthew 12:10–12 ESV

10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Question for you. In the Exodus passages we read earlier, do you remember anything about not plucking heads of grain or healing someone being mentioned? No. 

Another question for you. Is there any other Bible verse the Pharisees would’ve had in mind to make their case that plucking heads of grain or healing someone was a specific violation of the Sabbath law? There’s not.

But here’s what the Pharisees were referring to. The Pharisees had an oral tradition of rules and regulations that many viewed as authoritative as God’s Word, which was just the Old Testament for them. In their oral tradition, the Pharisees had some thirty-nine different categories of work that couldn’t be done on the Sabbath. Again, these weren’t biblical laws or commands — these were manmade laws and rules.

Here’s an example. But first, another passage from Exodus.

Exodus 16:29 ESV

29 See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.”

The bread referred to is the manna from heaven that God gave his people to eat while they wandered in the wilderness. On the sixth day of the week, God supplied them with two days worth of bread. But what I want you to notice are the words “remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 

This was interpreted as a “no travel” rule on the Sabbath. So the religious leaders made up a law that no one was allowed to travel on the Sabbath. But what exactly does that mean — to not travel on the Sabbath? Is it traveling if you go from one room to another in your house — after all, the biblical command says to remain in your place? And, as any parent of a child in trouble knows, when you say stay in one place you mean right there on that spot.

Now, I know they were living in tents when this command was given, but eventually the Jews had homes, so how does this “no travel” command apply at home? Can you go to your neighbor’s house, or is that traveling? How far can you go before you break this “no travel” command? 

Now, when it comes to manmade rules and laws — including the ones we make today — including the ones you live by — our heart’s natural desire is to define these rules and commands in a way so we always pass the test. Because when we always pass the test, we’re our own savior. We’re doing things the “right way” — our way, usually. That’s what the Pharisees did with this “no travel” command. They came up with their own manmade rule. You’re gonna love it. You’re gonna think it makes total sense. 

The Pharisees interpreted the “no travel” rule to mean that you could travel up to three thousand feet from your house. Three thousand feet, and you haven’t broken the Sabbath — no travel — law. Makes total sense, right? I mean, of course it’s three thousand feet and not three thousand and one — that’d be way too lenient. And two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine would be way too restrictive. 

But — wait — there’s more. If, at three thousand feet from your home, you have a place where you store your food — maybe it’s a little shed or something — well, as everyone knows, the shed is an extension of your home. So now you can go another three thousand feet from it without breaking the Sabbath command. But, go any further, and you break the Sabbath law. 

I’m sure you see how easy it would be to manipulate the rule so you never break it, right? But at that point, whose rule are you following?

There was a no-spitting rule on the Sabbath. Because if you spit, and your spit dented the dirt, that was considered plowing the ground. And plowing was a no-no on the Sabbath.

They had a rule about the words you could write down on the Sabbath. Short words were OK. Long words were not. And what you all want to know is what counts as a short word versus a long word. Well, I’m not going to tell you — I’m just going to let you wonder about it — and whether all the acronyms in our text messages count as short words even when they’re really long ones in disguise.

And I know that this all sounds completely ridiculous to us. We’d never be that ridiculous with our rules…

Well, anyway, plucking heads of grain was another of those manmade rules for the Sabbath. But in our verses, the disciples were just making lunch, which is Jesus’ point. And what about the guy with the hand — does anyone want to argue that healing someone should be a crime while rescuing a sheep gets a pass? Surely not. Much less the ridiculousness of how far one can travel without actually traveling.

But I’ve got an important question for all of us: What kind of manmade laws have we elevated to a similar level of importance, as the Pharisees did in their day with all of their manmade laws? If, as I’ve said a few times now, our heart’s natural inclination is towards works-based salvation, what works — or laws that must be obeyed — have we put on equal level with their three-thousand-foot traveling rule? 

• Maybe it’s some rule about how any true Bible-believing, Jesus-loving Christian will always votes for the ____ political party.
• Or some rule about the sins that really upset God are the sins those people commit, not the respectable sins we commit.
• Or some rule about how much a person should read their Bible and pray, or how little a person is expected to read their Bible and pray. After all, our rules can be either super strict or super lenient, but they’re still manmade.

Maybe you don’t consider yourself a Christian or a religious person, but you’ve got your own set of rules you expect others to follow. 

• Maybe it’s a rule about believing that traditional marriage is oppressive, and those who don’t follow your rule are a problem.
• Maybe it’s a rule about self-identity and how we’re able to create whatever identity we want for ourselves. But the real rule you want everyone to follow is that we must accept each other’s self-proclaimed identities. That man identifying as a woman must be treated as a woman — that’s your rule. And when people don’t play by your rules, it infuriates you.

Religious or not, when we write the rules and police them, we end up being more like the Pharisees than we’d ever admit. As one person has said, “The Pharisees were self-appointed guardians of public morality.” A description that would fit many in the world today, religious or not. Self-appointed guardians of public morality. People who believe they’ve got the rules that everyone else must follow.

Now, when the Pharisees tell Jesus that his disciples — and by implication, Jesus as well — are doing something unlawful on the Sabbath, what they’re implying is, “Jesus, we’ve caught you sinning.” That’s how serious their accusations are against him. And, for those who follow Jesus, you know that one of the core tenets of our faith is that Jesus was sinless. Yet here the Pharisees are implying that he has sinned. Based on what? Not God’s law, but their manmade ones.

And when we do an honest assessment of the culture of our day, we see how much in common we have with the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. For just like them, when someone violates our manmade laws — whether it be manmade laws of the religious or irreligious kind — the accusations are just as condemning — and often just as misguided as the Pharisees were in accusing Jesus of sinning. We never see it this way, of course — we’ve got that in common with the Pharisees too. But that’s what Jesus is trying to help the Pharisees, and us see: To see what God’s law — including his law about the Sabbath — really means.

OUR MERCIFUL LORD

Which leads us to our merciful Lord. 

Matthew 12:3–8 ESV

3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

When Jesus asks, “Have you not read,” he’s not asking a yes or no question. He knows the Pharisees would’ve read and been aware of the Old Testament passages he mentions. What Jesus means by “Have you not read” is “Don’t you understand what these passages mean?” And they don’t understand. So Jesus explains it by quoting another Old Testament passage: “I — meaning God — desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”

You see, the Sabbath is not only about rest and worship, it’s also about mercy. And the religious leaders, because of their manmade laws, had eliminated mercy from the Sabbath. Our passage from Luke highlights this as well. 

Luke 13:10–17 ESV

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

Whether it’s the man with the withered hand, in Matthew’s passage, or the woman with a physical disability in Luke’s passage, the religious leaders had no room for mercy for these individuals. They were using the Sabbath as an excuse to not be merciful towards them. 

What’s worse is how the religious leaders use the man’s situation as a test to trap Jesus. Think of how demented their thinking must have been: “Oh, here’s someone physically crippled. Let’s see if we can use his suffering to trap Jesus. Cause everyone knows that Jesus loves to show mercy towards those who need healing.” 

Do you see what’s going on? Instead of showing mercy, they want to give God a sacrifice. For they want to kill the one who shows others mercy on the Sabbath. And they think they’ll please God if they do so.

Yet Jesus, our merciful Lord of the Sabbath, is showing us all what it really means to obey God’s law. For all of the law, including the Sabbath law, can be summed up this way. Jesus was once asked, “What’s the greatest commandment — or law?” Here’s his response.

Matthew 22:37–39 ESV

37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

To which one Bible scholar has said, “Any interpretation of the law that limits our ability to serve God or to love our neighbors — as the Bible, including the Decalogue (or the Ten Commandments) defines love — must be wrong, because love of God and love of neighbor are the essence of the law.”

• Jesus, in allowing his disciples to pluck heads of grain on the Sabbath, was demonstrating love for them. For loving someone will include making sure their bodies are well nourished.
• Jesus, in healing the man’s withered hand, demonstrated love for the man. Showing the man and those watching that all people are valuable in God’s sight and are to be shown mercy.
• And Jesus, in healing the woman, demonstrated love for her and the crowd — resulting in her and the crowd rejoicing in and glorifying God, which, I believe, is a fulfillment of a promise God gave his people about the Sabbath centuries earlier.

Isaiah 58:13–14 NLT

13 “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. 14 Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

After she was healed, the Lord was her delight and the delight of many in the crowd because of Jesus’ display of God’s love and mercy. A woman who’d been crippled by Satan’s cruelty — and by the lack of compassion from the religious leaders — was healed by the love and mercy of Jesus.

CONCLUSION

Earlier, I mentioned how this summer series is meant to help us all get to know Jesus better. We all have our ideas about him. Some of our ideas are informed by the Bible, and others aren’t. But today, I hope we’ll all leave here with a better understanding of what it means to say that Jesus is merciful and loving. 

For the same mercy and love that Jesus demonstrated to his disciples when they were hungry, and the same mercy and love Jesus demonstrated to a man with a withered hand and to a crippled woman, is the same mercy and love that Jesus has for you. 

Jesus knows you. He knows what you’ve gone through, are going through, and will go through. He knows the decisions you’ve made, the times when you’ve acted independently and as if he doesn’t exist, he knows about all of your manmade rules that you judge everyone else by — he knows everything about you — and — wait for it — he loves you anyway. 

He knows your troubles. He knows the guilt you’re carrying around. He knows the shame that you can’t seem to shake. He knows how Satan has been tormenting you. He knows the stress you’re experiencing because of grief in your life. He knows your sorrow. He knows the physical pain you wake up with every single day. Jesus knows all of this about you and — wait for it — he loves you. For he sees you with merciful eyes. 

A follower of Jesus from centuries ago once said that mercy is “a voluntary sorrow which enjoins itself to the suffering of another.” Jesus — because of his love for you — volunteered for suffering. To experience the sorrow — not only of others — but he personally experienced sorrow and suffering when he gave his life in love for you. For though God desires mercy, not sacrifice, a sacrifice was required for us to be recipients of his mercy. And Jesus gave himself to be our sacrifice.

No matter who you are, no matter why you came here today, no matter how many years you’ve been following Jesus or if today’s the day of your salvation — may you know, experience, taste, and see God’s love and mercy towards you in Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, merciful, kind, loving, and faithful one to your people. Thank you for the words you’ve spoken to us today. Words of life. Words of hope. Words that stir delight in our souls. Words that compel us to rejoice.

Spirit of God, for those experiencing troubles right now, for those carrying guilt or shame, for anyone who’s being tormented by Satan or experiencing stress because of grief in their life, for anyone in the midst of sorrow or experiencing physical pain — Spirit help them to believe that Jesus knows all of this about them personally and that he deeply loves them. May they know that Jesus sees them with merciful eyes. 

And, Jesus, we experience mercy because you experienced suffering and death. And you did so voluntarily. And you did so because you love us. May all of us respond to your mercy today — some for the first time — others of us for the hundredth time — for your mercy is new for us every single day. And your love for us will go on for eternity. 

To all who hear my voice, may you rest in God’s love for you and his mercy towards you in his Son, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

As you go, may you know, experience, taste, and see God’s love and mercy towards you in Jesus Christ.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

1. If God is not a person, how can he know you, and know your past and future?
2. How can he hear/answer prayers when he was never a human?
3. How can you know God is real when no one has ever seen God, and that Jesus was just a miracle?
4. How can I answer questions that my kids ask?

Nathan, thank you for your questions. Here are some of my thoughts in response to your questions.

First, regarding your statements about God not being a person and never being a human, as Christians, we believe that in Jesus Christ, God did become man. So Jesus throws a wrench into both of your statements about God.

Additionally, Jesus, in being God, both shows God as a person and a human. And though there are many miraculous things about Jesus, Jesus is more than a miracle. He is God. To demote him to a miracle is to not recognize his divinity (or Godness).

One final thought about Jesus. Though no one has ever seen God the Father, in the gospel of John we read…

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:18 NIV)

In Jesus, though we haven’t seen God with our eyes, we can know what God is like.

Second, though not human, the Father and the Spirit are the other two persons who, along with Jesus, make the Trinity. Early on, the early Christians had to wrestle with two truths: 1) There is only One God, and 2) The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each God. This is where the doctrine of the Trinity comes in, which articulates our belief in One God who is Three Persons.

Third, regarding God knowing our past and future, this is part of the doctrine known as God’s omniscience or that God knows all things. Isaiah 46:9-10 state…

Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God!  I am God, and there is none like me. ¹⁰ Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. 

About God’s knowledge of us as individuals, Jeremiah 1:5 states…

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” 

The first half of the verse applies to all of us, while the second half (being appointed a prophet) was specifically for Jeremiah. My point is that in these verses, and many more, we find ample evidence that God not only knows all things, but he knows each of us intimately, and because of his knowledge, he is able to hear and answer our prayers as he sees fit.

Finally, regarding how to answer questions your kids may ask, the greatest piece of advice I can give you, especially if their questions are spiritual or faith-based questions, is to read and study the Bible so you can give them answers based on the truth. I know it’s a big book and can be intimidating for many. That’s why also being part of a Bible-based church and getting into biblical community with others to read and study the Bible are also key.

DATE: 7-5-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER AND INTRODUCTION

Each week, we take time to pray for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and world. 

Today’s entire sermon is essentially one long pastoral prayer as we recognize the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our nation’s founding. And this is quite the weekend — not only for our nation — but for pastors. You see, there’s a bit of a dilemma that we pastors face. 

On one side, there are pastors who will be holding very patriotic services today. Where there will be more celebration of the US than of an empty tomb. And that’s a tragedy. On the other hand, many pastors will ignore this important weekend for our nation and continue with church as usual. Also a tragedy.

My concern is that no pastor will come out of this weekend unscathed. Much like other times in our recent history — whether COVID, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the war between Israel and Palestine, or Charlie Kirk’s assassination — no matter what a pastor says or does, he’s sure to be scrutinized. Some in the church will think the pastor goes too far — and they’ve got biblical verses to back up their claim. For others in the church, the pastor won’t go far enough — and they, too, have biblical verses to back up their claim. As I said, it’s a dilemma.

Because of all this, some pastors have chosen to use a guest speaker this weekend. At first, this was a tempting option — why not have someone else preach this weekend? But my conscience wouldn’t allow me to do that — so here I am, and here we are. 

And the best I could come up with is to set aside this weekend and allow Scripture to be the basis for an extended time of prayer for our nation. 

But — before we turn to prayer — I want to say something about patriotism. You’ve probably noticed these boots that I brought out with me. These are the boots I wore in combat as an infantry soldier in the US Army during my deployment to Afghanistan. If any of you think that I’ve gone too far today by acknowledging our nation’s birthday, just remember these boots. I am a patriot — and I’m not ashamed of it. And for anyone who may think that I didn’t go far enough in celebrating our country’s two hundred and fiftieth birthday today, just remember these boots. Though I am a patriot, there’s a line where my patriotism ends — while my devotion to Christ continues.

Late last year, an article titled “Pastors, Teach Your People to Love Their Country” was published. The author of the article also wrote a book titled In Defense of Christian Patriotism. It’s a well-balanced book — much more balanced than most books on the topic of Christianity and/or patriotism. 

In his article “Pastors, Teach Your People to Love Their Country,” the author makes three points. First, healthy patriotism rightly orders loves. Rightly ordered loves is the idea of putting in rank order what deserves your love the most. For example, in response to being asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus said…

Matthew 22:37–38 ESV

37 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

This means that our love for God is to reign supreme. All other loves are to be submitted to — or under — our love for God. Including our love for our country. 

A biblical example of someone who disordered his love for country over his love for God is the Old Testament prophet, Jonah. The author of the article states, “Jonah was unwilling to obey God because he put his loyalty to country above his loyalty to God. Such disordered patriotism should be avoided.” As you probably know, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people of this foreign nation about God’s coming judgment with the hope that they’d repent and respond to God’s mercy. But Jonah’s love for his country — and his hatred for the Ninevites — led him on a whale of a tale adventure where he learned some lessons about his disordered loves.

The author’s second point is that healthy patriotism gives thanks. As the apostle Paul tells us…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The author goes on to write, “In America, we can be thankful for freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of movement. Millions of people worldwide would love to live in a country as free and prosperous as ours. Only by God’s grace have we been given the gift of living here. We live in a land where we’re not only free to worship this Sunday, but we can choose from various faithful congregations with like-minded believers. I often wonder what our brothers and sisters around the world would say about our ambivalence toward patriotism. I wonder if they’d say it sounds strangely like ingratitude.” 

Thanksgiving is where we’ll begin our time of prayer in a moment.

Finally, the author says that healthy patriotism seeks renewal. The Old Testament example of this is an often misquoted verse today. 

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 ESV

13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

You usually hear verse fourteen quoted without verse thirteen. Verse thirteen is about God punishing his people for their rebellion and sin. Verse fourteen is his promise of what will happen when they repent. Though this promise was for Israel, the principle remains for God’s people today. If we desire renewal for our country — something which all Christians should desire — humility, prayer, and repentance on the part of God’s people will be key. Something else that is key for our nation’s renewal is us — God’s people — being the answers to our prayers by — as the author states — “roll(ing) up our sleeves and help(ing) make it (the US) better. We’ll get involved in faithful local churches. We’ll support public policies that promote the common good. We’ll serve in the public square where appropriate. And most importantly, we’ll pray for a move of God’s Spirit in America. We’ll pray that the Spirit convicts people’s hearts of sin and their need for salvation. Loving our country means praying for its revival.”

So we’re going to demonstrate love for our country today by being biblically patriotic as we pray for our nation. Indeed, “God, bless America…” is a great way to pray for our country.

THANKSGIVING

We’re going to begin our time of prayer by being thankful. As I read earlier…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We’re going to thank God for our country right now. Thanksgiving doesn’t need much explanation. We all understand what it means to be thankful. Ed Grable — one of our elders — will lead us in this time of prayer. 

ELDER PRAYER: ED

REPENTANCE AND RETURN  

Now we turn our focus to repentance and returning. Our country is affected by sin. And sin — all sin — both personal and corporate sin — needs to be repented of. And all who’ve turned away from God — to chase after sin — need to return to him. “God, bless America with true repentance” is a good prayer for our nation.

As we read in the book of Acts…

Acts 3:1–21 NLT

1 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. 4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” 7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them. 9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10 When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11 They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John. 12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! 16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed — and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes. 17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. 21 For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

And as the apostle John tells us…

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And lest any of us think we’re above the need to repent and return, we remember this moment from the life of Christ. 

Luke 13:1–5 ESV

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

We’re now going to pray a prayer of repentance for our country. For individuals to repent, that we’d repent, and for our nation’s repentance of our corporate sins. Kevin Snyder — one of our elders — will lead us in this time of prayer. 

ELDER PRAYER: KEVIN

INTERCESSION FOR LEADERS

Now we turn to the leaders of our country. “God, bless America with godly leaders” is a prayer I hope all of us can get behind. For we’re told in Scripture…

1 Timothy 2:1–2 NLT

1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

Though we’re a nation without a king, the principle still applies: Pray for those who are in authority. Whether you voted for them or not, we’re commanded to pray for them.

Proverbs 21:1 NLT

1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

God’s people should pray for our nation’s leaders to have hearts guided by our God. For this time of prayer, for our nation’s leaders, Scott Sharpe — one of our elders — will lead us.

ELDER PRAYER: SCOTT

THE CHURCH’S PURITY AMIDST CULTURAL DECAY

Now we turn to the church. In the midst of the cultural decay in which we live, God’s church is to remain pure and holy. And — make no mistake — this cultural decay has found its way into the church. Into our church. Thus, we should pray, “God, bless America with a pure and holy church.” 

Listen to this warning from Scripture written to a local church.

1 Corinthians 5:6–13 NLT

6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth. 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

God’s people — throughout our history — have struggled with judging the sin of those outside the church while accommodating the sin of those within the church. And often — to our shame — the sins we condemn of unbelievers are the same sins we’re indulging in ourselves in secrecy. For we live in a time that’s summarized by these words.

1 Timothy 4:1–5 NLT

1 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. 3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. 4 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 5 For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

And…

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NLT

1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

We must recognize the times in which we live, pray that God’s church remains pure, and then live holy lives.

Romans 12:1–2 NLT

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

So…

Ephesians 5:3–11 NLT

3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. 10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

Christ died for his bride — the church. He died for her purity. He gave his life for her holiness. And the standard is high — perfection. Thus, we’re not to let in even a hint of immorality among us. 

To pray for the church’s purity, Terry Jolliff — one of our elders — will lead us.

ELDER PRAYER: TERRY

GOSPEL ADVANCEMENT

Finally, what better way to ask God to bless America than by asking for the gospel to continue to advance in our nation. For we must never forget when…

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And until the end of the age comes — the day when Christ returns — we’re to…

Colossians 4:2–6 NLT

2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. 5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

To close our time of asking God to bless America — by praying for the gospel to continue advancing and changing lives in our nation — Dana Fought — one of our elders — will lead us in prayer. 

FINAL ELDER PRAYER: DANA

COMMUNION

Having spent time praying for our nation, we now turn to the Lord’s Table. 

Leader: Lift up your hearts.

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise.

Leader: With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us — even when we fell into sin.

Congregation: We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore, we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.

Leader: We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before he suffered, gave us this memorial of his sacrifice, until he comes again. At his last supper, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this in remembrance of me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Leader: Therefore, we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament:

Congregation: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

INSTRUCTIONS

At this time, I’d like to invite those who will be serving us to come forward. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — in the bread trays — there’s a gluten-free option in the center. 

If you’re not TAKING communion today, know that no one is judging you. We would appreciate it if you could help by passing the trays to the next person in your row. And if you have any questions about communion or what it means to follow Jesus, please stop by the Resource Center before you leave today.

Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.

COMMUNION PASSED OUT

The blood of Christ, shed for you.

PRAYER (TRANSITION FOR WORSHIP TEAM)

Let’s pray. Father, we acknowledge that you are holy and majestic — and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In Jesus, your Word became flesh and dwelt among us — he was full of grace and truth. He lived as one of us — he knew both joy and sorrow. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, opened blind eyes, and broke bread with outcasts and sinners. Dying on the cross, he gave himself for the life of the world. Raised from the grave, he won for us victory over death. We praise you that Christ now reigns with you and will come again to make all things new. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / Treats in the cafe)

May you be God’s blessing to America. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SERMON TITLE: God, Bless America…

‌SCRIPTURE: multiple

SPEAKER: Josh Hanson

DATE: 7-5-26

TURN MIC ON / WELCOME

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER AND INTRODUCTION

Each week, we take time to pray for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and world. 

Today’s entire sermon is essentially one long pastoral prayer as we recognize the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our nation’s founding. And this is quite the weekend — not only for our nation — but for pastors. You see, there’s a bit of a dilemma that we pastors face. 

On one side, there are pastors who will be holding very patriotic services today. Where there will be more celebration of the US than of an empty tomb. And that’s a tragedy. On the other hand, many pastors will ignore this important weekend for our nation and continue with church as usual. Also a tragedy.

My concern is that no pastor will come out of this weekend unscathed. Much like other times in our recent history — whether COVID, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the war between Israel and Palestine, or Charlie Kirk’s assassination — no matter what a pastor says or does, he’s sure to be scrutinized. Some in the church will think the pastor goes too far — and they’ve got biblical verses to back up their claim. For others in the church, the pastor won’t go far enough — and they, too, have biblical verses to back up their claim. As I said, it’s a dilemma.

Because of all this, some pastors have chosen to use a guest speaker this weekend. At first, this was a tempting option — why not have someone else preach this weekend? But my conscience wouldn’t allow me to do that — so here I am, and here we are. 

And the best I could come up with is to set aside this weekend and allow Scripture to be the basis for an extended time of prayer for our nation. 

But — before we turn to prayer — I want to say something about patriotism. You’ve probably noticed these boots that I brought out with me. These are the boots I wore in combat as an infantry soldier in the US Army during my deployment to Afghanistan. If any of you think that I’ve gone too far today by acknowledging our nation’s birthday, just remember these boots. I am a patriot — and I’m not ashamed of it. And for anyone who may think that I didn’t go far enough in celebrating our country’s two hundred and fiftieth birthday today, just remember these boots. Though I am a patriot, there’s a line where my patriotism ends — while my devotion to Christ continues.

Late last year, an article titled “Pastors, Teach Your People to Love Their Country” was published. The author of the article also wrote a book titled In Defense of Christian Patriotism. It’s a well-balanced book — much more balanced than most books on the topic of Christianity and/or patriotism. 

In his article “Pastors, Teach Your People to Love Their Country,” the author makes three points. First, healthy patriotism rightly orders loves. Rightly ordered loves is the idea of putting in rank order what deserves your love the most. For example, in response to being asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus said…

Matthew 22:37–38 ESV

37 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

This means that our love for God is to reign supreme. All other loves are to be submitted to — or under — our love for God. Including our love for our country. 

A biblical example of someone who disordered his love for country over his love for God is the Old Testament prophet, Jonah. The author of the article states, “Jonah was unwilling to obey God because he put his loyalty to country above his loyalty to God. Such disordered patriotism should be avoided.” As you probably know, God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell the people of this foreign nation about God’s coming judgment with the hope that they’d repent and respond to God’s mercy. But Jonah’s love for his country — and his hatred for the Ninevites — led him on a whale of a tale adventure where he learned some lessons about his disordered loves.

The author’s second point is that healthy patriotism gives thanks. As the apostle Paul tells us…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

The author goes on to write, “In America, we can be thankful for freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of movement. Millions of people worldwide would love to live in a country as free and prosperous as ours. Only by God’s grace have we been given the gift of living here. We live in a land where we’re not only free to worship this Sunday, but we can choose from various faithful congregations with like-minded believers. I often wonder what our brothers and sisters around the world would say about our ambivalence toward patriotism. I wonder if they’d say it sounds strangely like ingratitude.” 

Thanksgiving is where we’ll begin our time of prayer in a moment.

Finally, the author says that healthy patriotism seeks renewal. The Old Testament example of this is an often misquoted verse today. 

2 Chronicles 7:13–14 ESV

13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

You usually hear verse fourteen quoted without verse thirteen. Verse thirteen is about God punishing his people for their rebellion and sin. Verse fourteen is his promise of what will happen when they repent. Though this promise was for Israel, the principle remains for God’s people today. If we desire renewal for our country — something which all Christians should desire — humility, prayer, and repentance on the part of God’s people will be key. Something else that is key for our nation’s renewal is us — God’s people — being the answers to our prayers by — as the author states — “roll(ing) up our sleeves and help(ing) make it (the US) better. We’ll get involved in faithful local churches. We’ll support public policies that promote the common good. We’ll serve in the public square where appropriate. And most importantly, we’ll pray for a move of God’s Spirit in America. We’ll pray that the Spirit convicts people’s hearts of sin and their need for salvation. Loving our country means praying for its revival.”

So we’re going to demonstrate love for our country today by being biblically patriotic as we pray for our nation. Indeed, “God, bless America…” is a great way to pray for our country.

THANKSGIVING

We’re going to begin our time of prayer by being thankful. As I read earlier…

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV

18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We’re going to thank God for our country right now. Thanksgiving doesn’t need much explanation. We all understand what it means to be thankful. Ed Grable — one of our elders — will lead us in this time of prayer. 

ELDER PRAYER: ED

REPENTANCE AND RETURN  

Now we turn our focus to repentance and returning. Our country is affected by sin. And sin — all sin — both personal and corporate sin — needs to be repented of. And all who’ve turned away from God — to chase after sin — need to return to him. “God, bless America with true repentance” is a good prayer for our nation.

As we read in the book of Acts…

Acts 3:1–21 NLT

1 Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. 2 As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. 4 Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” 7 Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them. 9 All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. 10 When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! 11 They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John. 12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him. 14 You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact! 16 “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed — and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes. 17 “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance. 18 But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. 19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. 21 For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

And as the apostle John tells us…

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And lest any of us think we’re above the need to repent and return, we remember this moment from the life of Christ. 

Luke 13:1–5 ESV

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

We’re now going to pray a prayer of repentance for our country. For individuals to repent, that we’d repent, and for our nation’s repentance of our corporate sins. Kevin Snyder — one of our elders — will lead us in this time of prayer. 

ELDER PRAYER: KEVIN

INTERCESSION FOR LEADERS

Now we turn to the leaders of our country. “God, bless America with godly leaders” is a prayer I hope all of us can get behind. For we’re told in Scripture…

1 Timothy 2:1–2 NLT

1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

Though we’re a nation without a king, the principle still applies: Pray for those who are in authority. Whether you voted for them or not, we’re commanded to pray for them.

Proverbs 21:1 NLT

1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

God’s people should pray for our nation’s leaders to have hearts guided by our God. For this time of prayer, for our nation’s leaders, Scott Sharpe — one of our elders — will lead us.

ELDER PRAYER: SCOTT

THE CHURCH’S PURITY AMIDST CULTURAL DECAY

Now we turn to the church. In the midst of the cultural decay in which we live, God’s church is to remain pure and holy. And — make no mistake — this cultural decay has found its way into the church. Into our church. Thus, we should pray, “God, bless America with a pure and holy church.” 

Listen to this warning from Scripture written to a local church.

1 Corinthians 5:6–13 NLT

6 Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth. 9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. 12 It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13 God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.”

God’s people — throughout our history — have struggled with judging the sin of those outside the church while accommodating the sin of those within the church. And often — to our shame — the sins we condemn of unbelievers are the same sins we’re indulging in ourselves in secrecy. For we live in a time that’s summarized by these words.

1 Timothy 4:1–5 NLT

1 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. 3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. 4 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 5 For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

And…

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NLT

1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

We must recognize the times in which we live, pray that God’s church remains pure, and then live holy lives.

Romans 12:1–2 NLT

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

So…

Ephesians 5:3–11 NLT

3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes — these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. 10 Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. 11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

Christ died for his bride — the church. He died for her purity. He gave his life for her holiness. And the standard is high — perfection. Thus, we’re not to let in even a hint of immorality among us. 

To pray for the church’s purity, Terry Jolliff — one of our elders — will lead us.

ELDER PRAYER: TERRY

GOSPEL ADVANCEMENT

Finally, what better way to ask God to bless America than by asking for the gospel to continue to advance in our nation. For we must never forget when…

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And until the end of the age comes — the day when Christ returns — we’re to…

Colossians 4:2–6 NLT

2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. 5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.

To close our time of asking God to bless America — by praying for the gospel to continue advancing and changing lives in our nation — Dana Fought — one of our elders — will lead us in prayer. 

FINAL ELDER PRAYER: DANA

COMMUNION

Having spent time praying for our nation, we now turn to the Lord’s Table. 

Leader: Lift up your hearts.

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise.

Leader: With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us — even when we fell into sin.

Congregation: We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore, we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.

Leader: We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before he suffered, gave us this memorial of his sacrifice, until he comes again. At his last supper, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this in remembrance of me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Leader: Therefore, we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament:

Congregation: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

INSTRUCTIONS

At this time, I’d like to invite those who will be serving us to come forward. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — in the bread trays — there’s a gluten-free option in the center. 

If you’re not TAKING communion today, know that no one is judging you. We would appreciate it if you could help by passing the trays to the next person in your row. And if you have any questions about communion or what it means to follow Jesus, please stop by the Resource Center before you leave today.

Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.

COMMUNION PASSED OUT

The blood of Christ, shed for you.

PRAYER (TRANSITION FOR WORSHIP TEAM)

Let’s pray. Father, we acknowledge that you are holy and majestic — and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. In Jesus, your Word became flesh and dwelt among us — he was full of grace and truth. He lived as one of us — he knew both joy and sorrow. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, opened blind eyes, and broke bread with outcasts and sinners. Dying on the cross, he gave himself for the life of the world. Raised from the grave, he won for us victory over death. We praise you that Christ now reigns with you and will come again to make all things new. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / Treats in the cafe)

May you be God’s blessing to America. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 6-28-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — whether you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

Today, we’re finishing our series in the book of James. We’ve been learning from the younger brother of Jesus, who believed that his older brother was God. And — in his letter — James has taken some teachings from his older brother and has been showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying it to our lives.

But before we get to our final passage, I want us to reflect on what we’ve learned from this book. James has taught us…

• Where good comes from.
• And what true religion is.
• James has challenged us about our prejudices.
• And has taught us what true saving faith is.
• We’ve learned a lot about the words that come out of our mouths.
• Just as we learned where division comes from.
• We’ve heard words to those who are rich, arrogant, and impatient.
• And — as we heard last week — James even taught us an important lesson on prayer.

Which leads us to our passage for today. If you have your Bible, we’ll be in James chapter five — looking at verses nineteen and twenty. We’re in James chapter five — beginning in verse nineteen. There we read…

James 5:19–20 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James has taught us many important lessons throughout his letter. But — here — in his final words — I think he may have saved his most important lesson for last. For here, James teaches us how to restore those who are wandering — who are abandoning the faith. And I have five observations for us from his words of wisdom on restoring the wanderer.

OBSERVATION 1

For my first observation, we’ll go back to verse nineteen. There we read…

James 5:19 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,

My first observation is a truth we need to believe: We’re to treat the wanderer as a Christian until they prove otherwise. Meaning, we’re to believe that the wanderer is a Christian until they prove otherwise. I say this because James starts off our verses with the words “my brothers.” “My brothers” is another way of saying, “My fellow Christians.” And then he says, “If anyone among you.” So his sentence could be rearranged to say, “If anyone among you, my brothers,” does what? Wanders from the truth.

So those who are wandering — and we’ll get to what it means for someone to wander next — but those who are wandering, according to James, should be considered as fellow Christians. And we’re to treat them as such until they prove otherwise.

If you’ve been around Gateway for any amount of time, you’ve heard me say something along the lines of, “It’s easy to say ‘I’m a Christian.’ It doesn’t matter what you believe or how you live — ‘I’m a Christian’ is what most people think is all it means to be a Christian. But claiming to be a Christian and being one are not the same.” 

This is the idea that James is getting at — because — I think that our default — when someone wanders — is either to think, “Well, I guess they never really believed to begin with.” Or to think that Christians can lose their salvation. The first may be true about the individual. The second is impossible for the true believer in Jesus.

Instead, when we see someone among us start to wander — again, we’re assuming here they’ve made a profession of faith — that they’re in the “my brothers and sisters” category — when we see someone start to wander, we’re to assume that they’re a follower of Jesus and treat them accordingly as we try to restore them.

• Treat them as if God’s Word is the final authority in their life — for this is true for all who believe in Jesus.
• Treat them as if God’s Spirit is living in them — for this is true for all who believe in Jesus.
• Treat them as if they ultimately desire to honor God in what they believe and how they live — for this is true for all who believe in Jesus.

That’s observation number one: Assume that they’re a follower of Jesus and treat them accordingly as you try to restore them.

OBSERVATION 2

Now we turn to my second observation. I’ll read both of our verses again.

James 5:19–20 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

My second observation is this: We need to know how they’re wandering from the truth. We need to know how they’re wandering from the truth. There are two ways that people wander from the truth: Doctrinal wandering and behavioral wandering. Now, I know that behavior is tied to what someone believes, but I’m separating the two because there’s a distinction between them when it comes to recognizing how someone is wandering from the truth.

So what is doctrinal wandering? Doctrinal wandering is when someone starts to hold unorthodox views. Orthodox means right or correct doctrinal beliefs that Christians have held for two thousand years. Our Essentials of the Faith is an orthodox statement of faith — it aligns with historical church doctrine.

Orthodox doctrines include the belief that the Bible is divinely inspired, that Christ is fully God and fully man, that God is Trinitarian, that faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice is necessary for salvation, and that Jesus will return — to name a few.

As you can probably tell by the word, unorthodox doctrines, which is one of the ways that people wander from the truth, unorthodox means not orthodox. These are theological doctrines that disagree with two thousand years of church beliefs. And there are many unorthodox views that have caused wandering in recent years, including same-sex marriage, transgenderism, and many beliefs about identity — whether sexual or political — that are causing people to wander from biblical truth in our day. In fact, we’re warned of this kind of wandering in Scripture.

2 Timothy 4:3–4 ESV

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Now — of course — people who are wandering from the truth — because of unorthodox views — don’t believe they’re wandering. They think they’ve become enlightened. That they’ve discovered the real truth. That orthodox views are old-fashioned, bigoted, or maybe even hateful and oppressive. But God’s Word is clear. It teaches correct and right doctrine regarding marriage, human sexuality, and identity, which are by no means all of the ways people are wandering from the truth in our age.

But doctrinal wandering is just one way that people wander from the truth. There’s also behavioral wandering. So what is behavioral wandering?

Behavioral wandering can be small things, like no longer worshiping regularly with a local church. It’s a slow drift. Something else comes up in life that becomes a higher priority than gathering with God’s people. Sports. Children’s activities. Sleeping in. After all, one thinks, “I can podcast sermons any time, so why do I need to gather with a local church?” Because God’s Word expects God’s people to gather together regularly — that’s why.

Similar behavioral slow drifts can happen with other steps in our discipleship process — worship is just one step — there’s also connect, serve, and go. Where someone was once actively involved in a Life Group, but it’s been years since they’ve been in one. Same for serving — you said you were just going to take a year off — and that was years ago. And going — well — who has time for something like that?

These are the death-by-a-thousand-cuts behaviors that lead people to wander from the truth. It’s not any one decision that shipwrecks your faith — that’s why it’s so easy to dismiss the concerns of others — “What’s the big deal? I’m just taking a break from Life Group.” But years later, you find that your faith is shipwrecked. As your pastor, let me lovingly warn you: This is a common pattern of how people, behaviorally, wander from the truth. I know you think you or your family is the exception — that you won’t wander completely away. And that’s the exact kind of spiritual independence that our Enemy uses to destroy us.  

But there are other ways one can wander away from the truth behaviorally. For example…

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

And love for money isn’t the only way we wander from the faith — another way of saying the truth.

There’s…

• Adultery
• Porn addiction
• Abusing your spouse or child
• Gambling

Those types of behaviors that end marriages or land you in jail. And — again — don’t forget observation one — we’re talking about professing Christians doing these kinds of behaviors, which is shocking. It’s shocking to them. Shocking to their spouses and kids. Shocking to their church family. But Christians can sin in horrendous ways. 

And I want you to know that we — Gateway — are not immune to such behavioral wandering. In fact, there are situations like the ones I just described that your elders are currently dealing with as we try to follow James’ advice and restore some wanderers who are part of our faith family. 

My second observation is that we must know how they’re wandering from the truth. Are they wandering doctrinally or behaviorally?

OBSERVATION 3

Which leads to my third observation. But — first — our verses once again.

James 5:19–20 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

My third observation is another truth we must believe: Believe that God uses his people to keep his people from wandering away from the truth. God uses his people to keep his people from wandering away from the truth. God wants to use you — and, more importantly, can use you — to keep your Gateway family members from wandering away from the truth.

Look at what the author of Hebrews says.

Hebrews 3:13–14 NLT

13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.

If we go back to the two ways people wander from the truth — doctrinally and behaviorally — we now come to two questions. And these two questions must be answered in order for God to use you to keep his people from wandering from the truth.

The first question is this: How do we — knowing that God uses his people to keep his people from wandering away from the truth — how do we keep people from wandering away from the truth doctrinally? Answer: By knowing sound — or true — doctrine as found in God’s Word. 

There’s no getting around this: You are a theologian. A theologian is someone who has beliefs about God, humanity, sin, salvation, and so on. You’re a theologian. The question is: How biblical of a theologian are you? How biblically accurate are your beliefs? Can you distinguish true doctrine from false doctrine? Can you recognize heretical ideas, or will you be duped by them?

Again, there’s no getting around or out of this. Just like you need to be able to swim in order to be a lifeguard who rescues others who are drowning — to restore those who are wandering doctrinally — you’ve got to believe, know, and be able to defend sound doctrine. If you’ve never read my How to Make the Most of Your Devotional Time booklet, I talk in it about how part of my devotional time includes reading a small portion of a theology book. I’ve brought some examples with me of books I’ve worked through over the years. I read a small section each morning — sometimes it’s just a paragraph — it takes two to three minutes at most.

I do this to keep my doctrine sharp. To keep my beliefs grounded in Scripture so that — not only in my preaching — but also during the times when I meet with someone who’s wandering from the truth doctrinally — I’ll be able to — with God’s help — restore them with true doctrine. I’d highly recommend this practice because you’re never going to believe, know, and defend sound doctrine without doing some work. The word disciple — if you don’t know — means learner. So learning is a key part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. 

Now — as James has been teaching us — learned knowledge is not enough. For wisdom is not only knowing God’s Word but applying it to life. Some of the most biblically knowledgeable men and women have been some of the biggest fools because their knowledge never left their heads and reached their hearts. But — to answer our first question — how do we keep people from wandering away doctrinally? We must know sound doctrine.

Our second question is this: How do we — knowing that God uses his people to keep his people from wandering away from the truth — how do we keep people from wandering away behaviorally? Answer: By modeling lives of holiness, obedience, and repentance as we live according to God’s Word.

As Paul tells Timothy…

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV

12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

And to Titus…

Titus 2:7–8 ESV

7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

And as Peter writes…

1 Peter 5:1–3 ESV

1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

Or as Paul says about himself…

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

To which he expands to the Christians in Thessalonica with…

1 Thessalonians 1:6–7 ESV

6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Pastors are to set a godly example in their lives. Elders are to demonstrate a godly example through their lives. And all of you are to set a godly example for each other by the way you live by living lives of holiness, obedience, purity, love, faith, integrity, and repentance, so that you may help restore those who are wandering away from the truth behaviorally.

OBSERVATION 4

And now we come to my fourth observation. We’re in verse twenty.

James 5:20 ESV

20 Let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

My fourth observation is this: We must know what’s at stake. We must know what’s at stake. What’s at stake? Eternal life and eternal death — that’s what’s at stake here. The wanderer is putting their eternity on the line.

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Elsewhere we read…

Galatians 6:8 ESV

8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

And as we’re warned…

Romans 2:6–8 ESV

6 He (God) will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

And as Jesus himself said…

John 3:36 ESV

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Though we’re to treat the wanderer as if they’re a follower of Jesus — ultimately — how they respond to our loving warning will reveal the condition of their heart. And please know that — if you’re ever the wanderer — or if you’re currently the wanderer — know that we’re concerned about your eternity because we love you. God’s people persevere to the end. They won’t do so perfectly, but there will be a Holy Spirit-fueled desire to live for God until your very last breath. We plead with you to receive God’s love through us and stop wandering away from the truth.

OBSERVATION 5

Now, my final observation. And this one may be the most uncomfortable to hear. I’ll read our two verses one last time.

James 5:19–20 ESV

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

My final observation is this: God uses his people to save his people. God uses his people to save his people. When I first studied this passage, one of the questions I wrote down was this: What does “whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death” mean? Doesn’t God do the saving?

Yes, God does the saving. But what James is emphasizing is that God uses his people as the means by which he saves. One person described it this way. A lumberjack uses an ax to cut down a tree. In this illustration, the wanderer is the tree. The lumberjack is God. And the ax is God’s people.

When a lumberjack uses an ax to cut down a tree, what cuts down the tree? The lumberjack or the ax? Both cut down the tree, right? The ax can’t cut down the tree on its own — and this is what may make some of us uncomfortable — but the lumberjack needs the ax to cut down the tree too.

Now — it’s not a perfect illustration — God is also in control of the weather and could use a storm to knock down the tree, but I hope you get the point: God has chosen to use his people to save others from eternal death. Just like a lumberjack uses an ax to cut down a tree, God uses his people to save others.

And this is so important, I want to make sure you hear me clearly: God uses his people to save others. 

If we go back to James’ first words in our verses, how did he start verse nineteen? Did he say, “My fellow pastors?” No. Did he say, “My fellow church staff members?” No. He said, “My brothers.” Meaning “My fellow believers in Jesus.” Meaning you.

Do you realize that one reason God has saved you — if you believe in Jesus — is to use you to save others? Here in the US, we’ve made salvation out to be such an individual event — it’s about me going to heaven — that we miss God’s bigger purpose: He wants heaven to be filled with people who believed in Jesus because you were a mighty ax in God’s saving hands.

What do you think about that? Do you believe that? Are you living like that? How might things need to change in your life for you to live like this?

CONCLUSION

As we finish our time in the book of James — though we’ve learned much about what it means to be wise, and what true faith is, the importance of our words, and much more — as I said at the beginning — I think James left his most important lesson for us until the end. He wants us to know that ultimate lesson that wisdom wants to teach us: That God uses his people — and desires to use you — to be the means by which his wandering children are brought back to him. So friends, my closing prayer for us will be this: May God use you to bring many back to him. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, the only God who saves — for your glory and for the eternal good of many people — may you use us as mighty axes in your saving hands. No matter our personality type or natural disposition, may your Holy Spirit, who lives in us, empower each of us to be vessels through which you save others. 

Holy Spirit, we’ll admit that, in our eyes, there’s much you’ll need to overcome. Some of us are introverts and will need you to give us the confidence to talk to others about Jesus. Others of us have a natural disposition to be sourpusses, and we’ll need you to empower us with supernatural joy. Others of us have been such critics that people have learned to fear and avoid us, and Spirit, we’ll need you to transform us into encouragers. Spirit, we open our hands and our lives and say, “Sharpen us into axes you can use to save others.”

And, Jesus, we desire this because you are our great, good, kind, and merciful Savior, and we want others to experience your love. We want our parents, and siblings, and children, and grandchildren, and co-workers, and roommates, and others in our lives to receive your love. We want the world to know that God so loved the world that he gave you, his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in you might not perish but have eternal life. 

Father, Son, and Spirit — use us, we ask to restore a world of wanderers. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Having learned what it means to be wise according to God’s Word, may you now go and apply all that wisdom has taught you to life. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.