Introduction to the Gospel of Luke - Luke 1:1-4 - January 30, 2022

 Luke 1:1-4 Introduction to the Gospel of Luke

Good morning! It seems like forever since I have been up here! Thank you Nate for bring the Word for the last two weeks, understanding Scripture as one united whole is so important!

Before we get too far, let’s have a word of prayer.

We are beginning a new series following in the same pattern that we have for the last several years of looking at the works of one human author in the approximate order in which they were delivered. We spent around seven years on the works of the Apostle Paul, and not nearly as long on the works of the Apostle Peter, considering Paul wrote thirteen books and Peter wrote only three.

Well, now we are moving onto a new author and that author is Luke.

Luke wrote two works which some feel are merely part one and part two of the same work, which in my view is an accurate way of looking at them. First, there is the Gospel of Luke which is where we are going to start, and then there is the book of Acts, also known as The Acts of the Apostles. That’s a somewhat more accurate title; even more accurate would be The Acts of the Holy Spirit.

Regardless of what you call them, those are the two books that Luke wrote. Some scholars suggest that he collaborated with Paul to write the Epistle to the Hebrews which was a new suggestion to me this week and is an intriguing idea for sure, maybe a spoiler for where we’ll go after Acts…

So who is Luke, what do we know about him?

Most commonly known is that Luke was a doctor, an educated man, most likely from Antioch in Syria which was a very polished city, thought to be the seat of science and learning in the Roman world of the First Century. This would explain Luke’s incredible work of writing his Gospel account and the Book of Acts. He weren’t no dummy!

Luke was a close companion of the Apostle Paul. Paul mentions him by name in Philemon 24, 2 Timothy 4:11, and Colossians4:14. Luke joins up with Paul in the city of Troas, also known as Troy. This is recorded in one of my favorite passages of Scripture mostly because I’m such a nerd about this sort of thing.

Acts 16:6-10

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Did you see the difference? Remember that Luke is writing this, and he goes from saying, “they,” and, “them,” to saying, “we,” and, “us.” I love that! I’m a nerd, I know!

Luke remained with Paul for most of his life and ministry after that, preaching and writing. He was well known by the church and was martyred in Greece by being crucified on an olive tree because there weren’t any crosses around.

You can see evidence of the relationship of Paul and Luke in their accounts of the Lord’s Supper as well as Luke’s subtle emphasis on justification by faith alone. Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 11 that we often read during Communion very closely echoes Luke’s account of the Last Supper in Luke 22.

Luke’s Gospel differs greatly from the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, not just in organization and style but in his overall emphasis. 

Luke endeavored to preserve the chronological order of the events much more that Matthew did. And where Matthew presents Jesus to us as the Messiah of Israel, and Mark announces the gospel of the Son of God, Luke depicts the Son of Man, Jesus’ most used title for Himself. He appeared definitely in Israel but for the benefit of all of mankind, Jews and Gentiles.

JJ van OOsterzee wrote, “As Paul led the people of the Lord out of the bondage of the Law into the enjoyment of gospel liberty, so did Luke raise sacred history from the standpoint of Israeilitish nationality, to the higher and holier ground of universal humanity.”

If you compare Matthew’s record of Jesus’ genealogy to Luke’s the contrast will really stand out, Matthew traces Jesus’ lineage back to Abraham, the origin of the Jewish race, but Luke traced it all the way back to Adam the origin of all races.

I’d like to look at Luke 1:1-4, the only preface given by any of the Gospel writers, and do a little exercise with you.

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

So we’ve been doing a little bit of our typical Bible study procedures, thinking about who wrote a specific text, who was it written to, and what were the circumstances…

So far, we’ve gotten to the fact that Luke wrote this book, but who did he write it to? Theophilus.

We don’t know much about Theophilus, the experts think that he lived in Italy but not much else is really known about him. Both Luke and Acts are addressed to Him.

But as far as the circumstances for the writing of this Gospel, I’d like to do a little exercise with you called, “Drafting an Author’s Intent Statement.”

Luke is the easiest subject to do this exercise on, on both of his writings, because you don’t have to look any further than his introduction to get the information that you need in order to do it.

Drafting an author’s intent statement is to simply consider what the original author intended to do in his writing, what was he trying to accomplish? This tool is helpful to us because it helps us get a little closer to the original meaning of any given text because we have to consider who originally wrote it and what we know about them, as well as who originally received it and what would it have meant to them in their context. This is so important to consider because a Biblical text can never mean what it never meant, we can’t just tear the meaning away from the original audience and try to force it into our modern context.

Unfortunately, many churches today do just the opposite and say that because the Bible was written so long ago, what it says isn’t really what it means, at least not anymore. This, my friends, is the definition of heresy. The meaning never changes, there is only one meaning, there may be infinite applications of the principles, but the meaning remains the same forever.

So let’s consider what Luke’s original intent was in writing this Gospel from verses 1-4.

Intent statements are made up of two parts: TO, and BY.

Meaning, the author’s intent was TO accomplish this or that, BY doing this or that.

It’ll make more sense in a minute. Everything is profound until you do it once.

Let’s look at those verses again.

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

So we’re looking for one TO and at least two BYs.

I’ll give you a hint, the TO is in verse four.

Luke’s intent in writing this Gospel was TO: give Theophilus certainty about the things that he had been taught. In this context it was obviously the things that he had been taught about the life and ministry of Jesus not about fly fishing.

So, Luke’s intent in writing this Gospel was TO: give Theophilus certainty about the things that he had been taught.

And the BY statements are how he planned to accomplish the TO statement. His intent was TO give Theophilus certainty about the things that he had been taught about the life and ministry of Jesus BY…

BY collecting accounts from eyewitnesses AND BY writing an orderly account.

Other people had tried to compile a narrative of the life and ministry of Jesus, Matthew and Mark had done that work already by the time Luke wrote his account, but Luke wanted to do it as well. And as we’ll see as we go through the fruit of his labor, his emphasis was very different from the other Gospel writers and his perspective was very different as well.

So this author’s intent exercise can be fun, it can be helpful, if you want to give it a try on your own, try it on the Book of Acts. Since you’re all beginners at it, Acts is just as easy to find as Luke, it’s in the first three verses, it will be a little trickier for you but it’s worth the effort.

One last thing about the original recipient of this letter, Theophilus. 

The name Theophilus means, “lover of God.” 

As Saint  Ambrose wrote: “If you are a lover of God, a Theophilus, it is written to you.”

Amen.

Focused on our Lifework - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - January 9, 2022

 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Focused on our Lifework

Good morning! This is not how today was supposed to go, in fact the last two weeks have been a scramble. Nate was supposed to preach last week and I was supposed to lead worship as Joel and family were traveling. The first Sunday of the year is of course National let the Youth Pastor preach Sunday. So everything was supposed to shift a week but as Nate and Becki tested positive for COVID, here we are…

Nate is planning on preaching the next two weeks so please be in extra prayer for him.

I am also starting a new series on the works of Luke but I didn’t want to start that only to take the next two Sundays away from it so the Lord has provided me this opportunity to share something a little different than usual.

We are going to look at 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, page 957 in the pew Bibles, and consider an illustration that the Apostle Paul uses in reference to his lifework. And we’ll talk a little bit about that term, “lifework,” as well.

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Let’s pray

I wonder when considering our individual philosophies of life, the reality is that our thoughts on the matter resemble the poster with the cat hanging from the branch that says, “Hang in there baby!”

For many of us this is true at least to a degree, that our goal in life is to merely survive it, to simply finish the race.

When I was a younger man most of my thoughts about my purpose in life had to do with what my job was, my vocation. I didn’t see a way to fully serve the Lord unless I was a pastor, after all, what can a machinist really do to serve the Lord?

Hopefully you can see the folly of my thinking. If I was right, we would all have to be pastors and preachers in order to be faithful servants of the Lord. 

So there has to be more to it than that, and that’s where the idea of, “lifework,” comes in.  

When considering our text, what could Paul have possibly meant when he said to run the race in such a way that you might win?

Though Paul is using a metaphor, he clearly thinks that there is a right way and a wrong way to serve the Lord with our lives. He doesn’t instruct us to just finish the race, to just hang in there baby, he says, “run to win!”

So to apply this idea of running the race to win we have to consider what is necessary in order to do that. I’ve never been a competitive runner, in fact, I’ve only ever run in one race, a two mile fun run in Center Harbor maybe fifteen years ago. Two miles was longer than I had ever run before and I thought I was going to die. But I finished.

But running to win races takes preparation, training, determination, and focus. It’s hard work, but that doesn’t mean that it’s bad.

Paul describes, “not running aimlessly, and not boxing as one beating the air.” He understood his lifework, the track that he was to run. He ran with purpose and disciplined himself to avoid distraction.

In looking at the broader context of these four verses in chapter nine, chapters 8-10 of 1 Corinthians, Paul is arguing for the use of biblical freedom in carrying out the progress of the gospel in the wisest way possible, varying his approach based on the needs of the circumstances that he was in. 

All of chapter nine, until we get to the four verses of our text, Paul argues that he has the right to make his living off his work of preaching and teaching but he chooses not to. But stuck in the middle of this are these four verses about running the race to win.

If we take these four verses out of this overall context, which, I think probably happens any time anybody preaches on them, myself included, if we take them out of context we’ll start talking about the race of life in a general sense and try our best to describe how to run that race well.

But if you consider the context where Paul has been talking about his use of freedom in the progress of the gospel, and considering the rest of chapter nine is all about how he personally carries out his personal life’s mission as an apostle, considering that overall context, the race that Paul is talking about is much more specific.

He’s not just talking about life, he’s talking about lifework. Jeff Reed wrote, “The race he is talking about is the race of completing the overall lifework that has been placed before him by Christ. He states two things that are necessary in order to complete it: disciplining his life and taking careful aim as he goes about his lifework.”

25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Exercising self-control and discipline, he sought to bring his whole life under a one-purpose discipline. He knew what his lifework was, to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, to establish churches, to train men to shepherd those churches, and entrust those churches to repeat the process. His focus was on this work and he disciplined himself to keep from getting distracted, he took careful aim. 

We live in a world that is loaded with distractions and we love it, we pay through the nose for it, we pay monthly for it.

But for Paul, taking careful aim involved a complete focus on the goal of completing his lifework, he was single-minded in his approach to life. We have a lot to learn about this, at least I do.

One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 2:8-9, but we often skip verse 10.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Though we all have different gifts, circumstances, and opportunities, we are all in a similar situation to Paul. 

We all need to follow his example, we all need a single-minded focus on our calling, we all need to use our freedom in Christ to best carry out our lifework, we all need to do the good works which God prepared beforehand for us no matter what our actual vocation is. We need to discipline our lives like athletes that are competing for the prize. 

Our prize is the satisfaction of faithfully completing the lifework to which we have been called by the Father and hearing, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

In considering what it takes to develop a single-minded approach to life Robert Banks wrote, “The first step is to become clear about the main path that God requires us to follow. We can be quite sure that whatever God wishes us to devote ourselves to He will grant us time enough in which to do it. Our responsibility is to find out exactly what He wants and hold resolutely to that. One of our greatest problems is that we misunderstand what God asks of us, either by adding all kinds of extra responsibilities or by possessing only a hazy idea of what He wishes. We will gain more time by properly understanding His will for us than by all the time-saving suggestions put together. No amount of reordering and scheduling our affairs, no amount of trimming and delegating our responsibilities, no amount of organizing or managing our time, will achieve the same result. It is a matter of taking Jesus’ words seriously and applying them to this particular issue: ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will come to you as well.’ (Matt 6:33). That is, discover what God’s will is for you and all the time you need to fulfill it will come your way.”

Discovering what we are built for, discovering what those good works are that the Lord has prepared for  us to do, that is discovering what God’s will for us means.

We need to evaluate ourselves thoroughly, consider what it is that the Lord requires of us that He requires of every believer, and also consider what it is that He requires of us each individually according to how He built us.

Robert Banks also wrote, “We must draw a distinction between the central and the peripheral in our lives. Like Paul, we need to know where our main responsibilities lie, and we must leave everything else to one side, no matter how worthwhile or legitimate these concerns may be.”

So we are left to consider:

What are some of the things that seem to distract us from giving undivided attention to the call of God on our lives to fulfill our lifework?

How can we live a totally focused life and still enjoy life? What would that even look like?

What would it take to bring our lives under the kind of discipline that Paul models for us?

These aren’t questions that I can answer for you but they are questions worth wrestling with and we can do that together.

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Amen

Who Do You See in the Manger? John 1:1-18 - December 26, 2021

 John 1:1-18 Who Do You See in the Manger?

Good morning! I’m glad that you were able to wade through the mountains of ripped up wrapping paper and cardboard to find your way here this morning!

I hope that you are not so over Christmas that you can’t stand to hear anymore about it. I’m the kind of person that only has use for Christmas music on Christmas Eve and then I’m pretty much done with it, pack up those old records till next year.

Well, I hope you can stand just one more Christmas sermon. It should be easy since I only just preached on it last week!

Turn with me to John chapter one, page 886 in the pew Bibles. This week I want to focus on just one question: Who do you see in the manger? 

Let’s pray and we’ll dig into that question.

When I think of Christmas there are lots of things that go through my mind, family gatherings, well thought out gifts, twinkle lights and too much to eat… But there are also the elements of Christmas itself, ancient scenes with shepherds and angels, wise men from the east, and jolly old fat men from the north.

And of course we know at the center of it all is the baby in the manger.

Much has been made of the humble scene of Joseph and Mary relegated to the stable because there was no room in the inn, and when Jesus was born He was wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in the manger, a feed trough for the animals.

And when you think about that scene and in your heart look into that manger who is it that you see? A sweet, innocent, helpless newborn, baby? 

Are your thoughts informed by the old Christmas carols? Do you really believe that the little Lord Jesus didn’t cry? Or that the night really was silent? If the Little Drummer Boy song is true, neither of those other songs can be right!

I’d like to look at the Gospel of John and look at the reality of exactly who it was laying in that manger so we won’t allow our sentimentality to define our perception of reality.

The Apostle John, little brother of James, was referred to as the Disciple whom Jesus loved. He wrote his Gospel account after the other three Gospels, often called the “Synoptic Gospels” which means, “to see together,” as their perspectives parallel each other and are very similar in a lot of ways. John’s Gospel is very different in both style and purpose.

John’s Gospel was also written after all of Paul’s letters and after all of Peter’s letters, it’s one of the last books of the New Testament to be written, and he shares a unique perspective on the ministry of Jesus Christ though he never mentions the manger scene.

Let’s read John’s prologue to his Gospel in John 1:1-18 and look for who it was lying in that manger.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

This is a wonderful, deep, and rich description of the one born of a virgin that night in Bethlehem, this is who Jesus really is.

What can we learn about Him from these verses?

In verse one we can see several things. 

Jesus was in the beginning, He is eternal. 

He was not created as some would have us believe, but rather, He is eternally existent, he has always been, and will always be. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

Jesus is the Word. 

A word, any word, is how thoughts are expressed whether spoken or written. Jesus is the Word in that He is the expression of God. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Jesus is God.

Jesus is not a god among many, He and the Father are One. 

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are what we call The Trinity, or the Godhead, distinct but three in One. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Jesus is the creator. 

Jesus was not only present at creation but, in fact, was the agent of creation. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Genesis 1:26 says, Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

OUR image, OUR likeness… God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were active in our design and creation, Jesus is our Creator.

Jesus is the life.

It is only through Jesus that we have access to life beyond this life, everlasting life, eternal life. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” In John 11:25 He called Himself the Resurrection and the Life, He said, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

Jesus is the light. 

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

Light represented wisdom and knowledge and truth. He is the sum total and source of all truth, knowledge, and wisdom. In contrast, darkness represented the realm and reign of Satan, of evil, of sin and death and hell.

He said Himself in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus was and is the only way out of that realm of darkness.

Jesus, is also the agent of our adoption.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

Jesus was rejected by men, He was then and largely is now, but that has never changed His purpose in coming, to give the right to become children of God to all who believe in His Name.

It’s a popular thought that we are all children of God, that just existing makes you a child of God. This though may be popular but it is wrong. No one is born into the family of God naturally, we have to be adopted through faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:15-17 says, …you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…

And though Jesus is all of these spiritual things, what we celebrate at Christmas time is His incarnation. Though Jesus is fully God, He is also fully man.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John [the Baptist] bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)

To “incarnate” means to put on flesh, the very words the Apostle uses here. At Christmastime we use the name Emmanuel, which means, “God with us.” That’s what Jesus did in the nativity story, He took on flesh and dwelt among us.

And finally, He is the key to God’s grace.

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

The Law was given through Moses to show us what sin was and to show that we are sinful. Paul wrote in Romans 7:7, …if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

We’ve talked about this before that none of us can say that we have never broken the Ten Commandments that were given through Moses. Breaking the Law is what sin is and, as it says in Romans, the wages of sin is death, what we earn by sinning is death.

But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus is God’s grace expressed. Through His death, by God’s grace, life is made available to us, we simply need to trust in Him.

In summary, Jesus is eternal, the Word, God Himself, the Creator, He is life, He is light, He is the agent of our adoption, and the key to God’s grace.

When you look into the manger, is that who you see? Because that’s who was there.

Amen.