Will He Find Faith? Luke - Part 10
Written by Ed Allen
Sunday, 15 August 2010 09:00
Sermons - The Gospel of Luke - That You May Know
Sermon Notes
When Jesus talks about our relationship with God, he rarely uses the language of requirement. He certainly talks about connecting to God just like those who had come before him, but he brings a different emphasis. It’s like he’s playing the same music, but he changes the phrasing of the chord.
For example, he does use the metaphor of us as servants of God, and this seems to suggest requirement. But he talks much more about us as friends of God and children of God. And he certainly talks about obedience; this is the language of requirement. But he talks more about love.
The same is true when we look at Jesus’ followers. They understood that God was to be obeyed. They knew that God had laws that must be followed. But they talked far more about God’s mercy and his grace. Jesus had taught them this and it appears that they got it.
Jesus doesn’t use the language of requirement very much. He changes the phrasing of the chord. He brings a different emphasis.
Jesus doesn’t use the language of requirement very much. He changes the phrasing of the chord. He brings a different emphasis. Instead of being concerned about whether or not they would remember his commands, Jesus was concerned that they knew who he was. “Do you really know who I am? Do you know what I’ve done here? Do you know what I represent? Do you love me? Do you believe in me?” These are Jesus’ questions; these are his primary concerns. So this gives us a clear indication of how we should respond to him.
If Jesus is to be believed – and I think he is – if he is to be followed then the primary way we will respond to God is by faith.
Luke 18 presents four stories that bring this into clear focus. Let’s go there and see.
The Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8)
(1) Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (2) He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. (3) And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
(4) "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, (5) yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'"
(6) And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. (7) And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? (8) I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
The widow has nothing else; she is totally dependent on the judge.
How do we know? Because she asks and she won’t quit asking until she hears. She has no other recourse. She has no personal resources to affect a change in her condition; nor can anyone else help her – except the judge.
But the judge can help her and she knows it. She keeps asking because she knows the judge can give her justice and because nothing else can.
So what does the widow bring to this equation? She brings neediness, desperation and confidence in the judge’s ability.
The Spiritual Lesson
The spiritual lesson, of course, is that God is far more merciful than this unjust judge, and that we should be like this widow! We do not have the personal resources to affect a change in our condition and no one we know has the resources to affect change for us or in us – no one except God. But He can affect such a change. So we should ask, and keep on asking.
Then look at how Jesus ends this story. “Will the Son of Man find faith when he comes?” This story brings faith to Jesus’ mind. Do you know what this means? It means that, according to Jesus, this widow’s heart is an example if faith and this kind of faith is what the Son of Man will be looking for?
The widow is not asking because it is required of her. She is asking because she is desperate for justice and she knows the judge can give it to her – and she knows that only the judge can give it to her.
The Pharisee and The Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14)
(9) To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: (10) "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (11) The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. (12) I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
(13) "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
(14) "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
The Pharisee Was Confident In His Own Righteousness
The Pharisee is confident in his own righteousness; he’s good. He has done what is required of him. I repeat: the Pharisee has met the requirements. And for him, it’s all about requirements. He may be living for God, but doesn’t need to live in God. He’s doing fine in working out his own goodness.
The Pharisee doesn’t need God to supply his needs so much as he wants to look like God before others. Can you hear the kind of spiritual posture in that? I think it would be fair to describe The Pharisee’s posture as one of spiritual self sufficiency.
The Tax Collector Knew His Spiritual Need
The Tax collector, on the other hand, knows he has no righteousness. He sees his own spiritual need and cries out for God’s mercy. Obedience is not at the heart of his prayer; humility and desperate need are. The tax collector sees who he really is before God.
So if the Pharisee’s position could be described as one of spiritual self-sufficiency and competence, I think the tax collector’s position could be described as one of spiritual need and surrender.
So who represents true faith in this story? The tax collector, of course! Jesus commends the tax collector. Notice what he’s done. Jesus picked the all-star religious guy on the one hand, and the most despicable character on the other – he raised these two up for us to look at and examine. And he commended the wrong guy.
He told us here that faith is not exactly what it seems sometimes. It’s not about meeting requirements. It’s not about a religious exterior. So, what is faith exactly?
This week in small group...
OVERVIEW OF FAITH (active, passive)
The Little Children (Luke 18:15-17)
(15) People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. (16) But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (17) I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Do you know what little children are? They are dependent and needy – completely and totally so, and they know it
Why does a baby cry when it’s hungry? Because it can’t do anything else.
(verse 17) you cannot think your way into a connection with God; you can’t work your way in, you can’t emote your way into the kingdom. You can only need your way into the kingdom.
When you desperately need God, and you know it, I think you are not far from the right response to God.
The Rich Ruler (Luke 18:18-30)
- Doug and Debbie Dulles...
- They have a good life. They are good people. They are missing one thing. It’s not a big thing. To them, it feels like a tweak. They know something is missing. They’re close, but something is missing. You know what it is? A clue!
- They have no awareness of their own neediness. And you know why they have no awareness? Because they dress it up, mulch it, research the web around it and over it, laugh about it, drink to it and bury it under activity … until it is completely unrecognizable and out of sight.
- Therefore: no more need!
- Until...
Having faith is not like adding a deck onto the back of the house. It’s more like selling the house and moving to a new country. Responding to God is not something we add on to our lives. Responding to God involves understanding our own deep need and understanding who Jesus is. It is an act of faith and it changes everything or it changes nothing at all.
What does this look like? Wrong question. Right question is what does this feel like? It feels like belief and confidence in God alone and it feels like neediness and surrender.