11.20.2022 - A Life Lived Well - The Rewards at the End

Scripture: Luke 23:33-43

Luke 23:33–43 NRSV

33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

A Life Lived Well - The Rewards at the End

11.20.2022

Brokenness

About a month ago, Bekah and I went to a discipleship training conference hosted in Northern KY. They brought in a Church Historian named Dr. Kevin Watson, who shared some of the histories of small groups in the first Methodist Churches in our nation and the practical ways we can use them today. He shared a kind of discipleship roadmap with us from a Barna report about spiritual maturity in churches across the US from the year 2012. There were ten stops in this roadmap to spiritual maturity. I won't go over all of them today. Instead, I want to give you an overview of how they connect together and how they move us to become more like Jesus.

Stops 1, 2, and 3 were people who never heard the gospel and those who heard but chose to live life their own way rather than follow Jesus. These people are not Christians but are gradually becoming aware of their sins and need for a Savior.

Stops 4 and 5 are where people accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and begin to commit to faith activities. Here we are only halfway through the path to spiritual maturity, and we already have faithful, committed church members. What else is left?

Most people stop growing spiritually at this point. Barna's study suggested that only 11% of people move beyond accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior and getting involved in faith activities. Stop 6 and 7 are where people begin to feel spiritual discontent in their lives. They begin to notice that the things they do are not filling the spiritual needs in their lives, and this is followed by an experience of brokenness.

Barna's survey said only 2% of people make it past this point. Most run back or run away before they see the brokenness ahead. That 2% who go through the pain with God do three things.

They fully surrender and submit to God, making good on the promises they made back when they asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior.

They start loving God with all they are and all they have.

They begin to love others the way Jesus loves them.

All the things that we say our faith is about in one breath and then say we won't actually be able to do until we get to heaven. We get there by following Jesus to the cross, through the grave, and into the power of the resurrection. That is a long road to travel, but there is daily bread along the road to heaven that makes a difference in the life lived well.

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Save Yourself

The moment that Jesus was lifted up for the world to see and crowned as King of the Jews was the lowest, not the highest, moment of his life. The sinless savior's life ended in excruciating pain and humiliation. He did everything right, and yet, there at the end, everything was wrong. So wrong. The Jewish leaders who were supposed to prepare the people for the Messiah were mocking him, and with the voice of the devil who tempted Jesus in the wilderness, they told Him,

"Save yourself!"

"You said you saved others. Why don't you save yourself?"

In the jeers and taunts of the crowd, Jesus heard the same kinds of words that Satan sweetly whispered to Jesus after fasting for 40 days in the wilderness. Here, at the end, Jesus uttered his forgiveness for everyone, and the only thing left is for him to fulfill his promise and lay his life down as a sacrifice. The devil's last attempt to lead Christ astray is telling him to save himself.

But that is not the way of God. Remember, Jesus taught that those who seek to save their lives will lose them. It may be a natural instinct. It may be common sense. It may be everything that you've ever known. But Jesus taught in all four gospels that we cannot save ourselves. He taught it in his words, and there, at the cross, He taught it in the way He died.

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Three Crosses

Jesus was not the only one crucified up on the hill that day. There were two others who shared the same last hours of their lives with Him. The entire world was held in this powerful moment there upon the hill called the skull. The picture of God's glory and power was repainted when the disciples would later recall the mother of John and James asking to be on the right and left side of Jesus when He came into glory. Jesus said it was not for Him to decide and asked if they were able to pay the price to be there. Two thieves paid with their life to be there with Jesus at the end.

We do not know the names or stories of the two thieves who were killed beside Jesus that day, but we know that they both had very different responses to Jesus as they faced the end of their lives. The first one called out right with the mocking crowd, telling Jesus to save Himself and the two thieves as well. That man died kicking and screaming at the end of a life that was not lived well. He was a picture of what justice might look like by our worldly standards: bad things happen to those who do bad things.

The second thief presents a bit of a dilemma, though. He did not curse and mock Jesus. Instead, he recognized that he deserved punishment. Now, there is a part of me that wants to question what someone would have to do to deserve crucifixion as a punishment. However, the thief, in his own words, recognized that he was receiving justice. He asked for the little mercy he believed he might yet attain: life with Jesus in His kingdom.

We have been filled with hope and curiosity at the answer Jesus gave him:

"Today, you will be with me in paradise."

While there are many other discussions about what that means for us after we die, I think there is a question we skip past all too often. Does it take someone at the end of their life to finally see Jesus for Who He truly is? Does it take dying for us to see where God's Kingdom truly is? Or maybe it takes us seeing Jesus dying with us to fully believe that He meant everything He said.

How could someone as good as Jesus end up in the exact same place, suffering the exact same fate as these two? It makes no sense. It shows there is no justice in this world. The only justice this world knows is how to take its frustration out on whoever is within the nearest reach. We don't solve problems. We pass them on to others.

But Jesus is so very different. That's why the poor loved Him. That's why the crowds said He taught with a different authority. It wasn't that He was louder or more passionate than the other rabbis. It was that He could back up His words with actions. He made promises, and He kept them. And that is why the leaders of the world hated Him. His very existence threatened the game of power they were playing with the lives of those around them. So they did their worst and hung Jesus up with the worst they could find, hoping to finally end that disruption in the hearts and minds of the people.

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Spending Time with Jesus

But it didn't work! You and I know the cross was not the end of the story. Neither was the grave. Jesus shook off death like a change of clothes and stepped out into the light in resurrection power! Jesus went right to work picking up the scattered disciples and putting them back in order again with that incredible ability He had of never missing a step. Never missing a step is what we faintly hope for as Christians, but mostly believe you have to be Jesus to do. We don’t believe we can walk the path God created for us. However, Jesus taught us otherwise.

There is a common thread that follows Jesus throughout his life. He always sought the Father's will and put it before His own. Being part of the Holy Trinity, He could have simply known it and acted upon it, but there are many times in the gospel accounts that Jesus pulls away from everyone else to spend time in prayer with God. He studied and knew the scriptures, and He read them prayerfully to understand them and live them out, not to discount them.

He prayed and lived like the Israelites in the book of Numbers, seeking His daily bread from God each day, not trying to live off the save verse or passage for weeks, months, or years. He dove into all of it and took it one day at a time. And He taught His disciples to pray and live the same.

Jesus wants you to join Him. I've heard some of you say that this hour of worship is the most important time of the week, and that is true if you are still within the first three stops of Barna's Spiritual maturity survey. If you have to get saved again and again each week because you are losing your relationship with God faster than you are growing it, then yes, you need this time desperately. But if God is calling you deeper... if God is bringing that holy discontent and brokenness into your life, calling you to full surrender, then the most important time of any day and every day is the time you spend listening to God in His Word and in prayer.

That time spent with God will amplify your worship. It will guide your leadership. It will open doors you never knew existed. And it will show you that we don't have to be afraid of the suffering and brokenness we face in our lives and in others because Jesus goes through it with us.

Jesus is your daily bread, not your weekly bread, or whenever you can get around to Him bread. For some of you, your current struggle is making time to be with Him. For others, it is being obedient to what He says to you. But there are some of you who are going through brokenness that is not of your own making. You need to know today that God has a way of redeeming every bit of that. The second thief on the cross may have been the first person in heaven after the sacrifice of Jesus, and although we do not know his name or anything about him, his suffering brought Him closer to Jesus and enabled the thief to see Jesus for who He truly was. God may be refining you and your relationship with Him through your suffering. It is not fun or easy, but it is what it takes to fully surrender to Christ and reach the point where God's love begins to move in and through you in a way we could never do on our own.

Wherever you are, wherever you have stopped, wherever you are going... Jesus will lead you one day at a time if you will follow Him.

You are invited to come back and join us for our Sunday evening service at 6 pm. _____ will be sharing at that service. In just a few minutes, our discernment team will be having their second listening session right here. Everyone is invited to attend that meeting in just a few minutes here in the sanctuary.