THE CALL OF THE KINGDOM

INTRODUCTION

Good Morning!

I want to start my sermon today by telling you a quick story from my life.

You know, with one of my kids in school now I keep having these memories of myself growing up with the lunch box and out on the playground. And for me, it’s brought back some good memories, and some bad memories. And there’s one memory in particular that has stuck out as a sore thumb, and it has to do with the game of kickball. Back in the day, when you were getting ready to play kickball, what would happen is the two coolest kids become team captains, and everybody else gets up against the wall and one by one, the captains choose people by name to be on their team.

Now, one thing that you should know about me, is that I played lots of different sports, but I wasn’t really “great” at any one sport. I played soccer a little bit, but I just didn’t have a great touch with my feet. I played a ton of basketball, but I wasn’t an incredible offensive player. I played football, and I hustled and I worked hard, but I wasn’t a great skill player.

But when you’re playing kickball, you don’t want to pick anybody who’s going to be an easy out, you only want the guys who can really boot the ball and score and win—and that just wasn’t me!

But even so, normally I got chosen around the middle of the pack, yet this particular time I remember one by one all my friends got chosen, and it got all the way down to the end, and there were some kids getting chosen in front of me who I thought for sure I was better than, and I was the last person chosen in kickball. And that left like a little mark on the soul of Clay Wright!

And looking back I can be honest and say, yea, you know, I wasn’t that great at kick ball! And yet in those moments these thoughts flooded into my little heart and mind that said,

“Yea, who would want me anyway?” “I’m not that good.” “I don’t have much to offer.” “I’m not a great offensive player.” “I’m not super fast.” “I don’t have a lot to add to this team, so why would they invite me in?”

I MIGHT AS WELL NOT PLAY.

And this is kind of a silly thing, and maybe some of you can relate to that kind of a story.

But what I found really interesting as I spent some time studying our Text for this morning is that among the people that Jesus chose to be with Him in His ministry, there are some who in that day, would have been picked last. There were some who in that day would have been unlikely candidates; but who God used MIGHTILY in Jesus’ ministry. People who might not have volunteered themselves. People who probably looked at themselves and thought, “What do I have to offer this team?”—and yet these are the people that Jesus called, and that Jesus invited in.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been in this series called “Kingdom Come,” where we’ve been learning all about God’s Kingdom, which is a huge theme in the Book of Luke. And so just to review, we’ve seen that the kingdom is where God’s will is done by God’s people through God’s power.

And we’ve already seen that the kingdom is filled with God’s people, and yet, what I want to remind you of today is that the call of that kingdom comes not only to ALL of God’s people, but also to EACH of God’s people. And so you can write down that the call of the kingdom, the call to do God’s will as His people through His power comes to each and every one of us on an individual level. It has to do not just with our life together, but with our lives in particular. It’s just like Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:12, that we need to “live lives worthy of God, who CALLS you into his kingdom and glory.” In the same way that we each have an individual life to live worthy of God, we also each have an individual call to participate in His kingdom and glory.

And so today we’re going to be continuing our study [[in the book of Luke, chapter 8—go ahead and turn there if you haven’t already,]] and in our Text for this morning, we’re going to learn about some of these unlikely candidates. Because all too often, we can find ourselves feeling about the kingdom the way I felt about kickball. I don’t really have a ton to offer. What do I bring to the table? What would the King of the Universe possibly want with me? I might as well not play. And we’re going to learn from these stories what Jesus has to say about that.

So if you’ve got your Bibles, please open up to Luke 8 with me, and we’ll continue on and finish out this little paragraph by reading verses two and three.

READ Luke 8:2–3 “and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”

POINT ONE

Now, as we get into the Text, the first thing I want to look at is the context.

See, when you read the Text starting in verse two, you read “and also some women,” which means that what we’re reading is building on something.

And so we need to ask, [[“and also some women WHAT?”]] What were these women doing? What’s the action or idea associated with them? And since we just read the text, you may look at the end of verse three and say to me that the answer is that “some women were helping to support them out of their own means,” and you’d be right—we’ll talk about that more later—But, notice with me that if you take just verses two and three, you actually have an incomplete sentence—and that’s because the verb, the action, what is being primarily said about these women doesn’t occur in verses 2 and 3, but rather it’s found back in verse one! I know, you thought to yourself last week certainly there can’t be anything more for us to see in verse one. Well, you were wrong!

So as we look back, let me just remind you in case you weren’t here last week, that this text is an important summary in the flow of Luke’s Gospel, helping us to see how Jesus’ ministry in Galilee is developing. And as we saw last week, Luke is saying that as Jesus was going around teaching, the Twelve were with Him. And that is really nothing out of the ordinary for a First Century Rabbi.

As a matter of fact, if you know anything about First Century rabbis, having disciples who followed you around was just a part of the gig. In that sense, Jesus didn’t invent the idea of discipleship, He just used this First Century practice to pass on His way of life and His teaching.

Actually, there’s one ancient text called the Mishnah that’s quoted as encouraging these young men to be covered in the dust of the feet of the wise, as though you were following them so closely that you would be caked in the dust that they would kick up while walking (Mishnah, Avot 1:4).

So every one of these rabbis back in the day had disciples that traveled around with them. And for that reason, verse one would have been a very appropriate place to end this summary. “Jesus was going around and teaching, and because He was a rabbi these Twelve young men were following Him around,” period, end of story. That’s what would have been expected.

But when we read this verse in context, we see that Luke continues on, and we get the answer to our question. So the idea here is that “the Twelve were with Him, and also some women, [[were with Him]].”

Now, at first glance that may not seem like a big deal. Because when you and I read this passage, we pass right over this and are drawn to the comment about healing and demon possession. But let’s remember what Pastor Jim helped us to see last week about this idea that the Twelve were “with” Jesus. They weren’t just accompanying Jesus; they were learning from Him. They were being trained by Him. They were becoming like Him. This is discipleship language!

And so when we look at this text closely, what we find is that all this same really good discipleship stuff we learned last week—that as a part of His proclamation of the kingdom He invites His disciples to be with Him in order to learn from Him and become like Him—it’s all included for these women as well.

[[In other words, the women weren’t merely hanging around with Jesus and His disciples. They weren’t merely tagging along and doing menial tasks. They weren’t with Jesus and His disciples; Rather, they were with Jesus as His disciples.]]

And what I want to help you see is that Luke specifically mentioned certain women who followed Jesus because this was unusual. And even though that may not seem like a big deal to you and I, that’s only because we don’t have a good understanding of First Century culture. In Jesus’ day, this would have been absolutely scandalous. Just to help you get a picture of this, let me share with you something I read this week to give you an example of what I mean.

Jewish culture in the first century was decidedly patriarchal.

The daily prayers of Jewish men included this prayer of thanksgiving: “Praised be God that he has not created me a woman.”

Some Jewish writers of Jesus’ time, such as Philo, taught that women should never leave the home except to go to the synagogue.

While the study of Scripture was regarded as extremely important for men, women were not allowed to study the sacred texts. In the first-century, one Rabbi is noted for saying, “Rather should the word of the Torah be burned than entrusted to a woman.”

At the Temple in Jerusalem, women were restricted to an outer court. In synagogues they were separated from the men and not permitted to read aloud. They were not allowed to bear witness in a religious court, and did not enjoy the same rights and protections as men.

Because we live in such a different time and place, some of these things are so hard for us to wrap our minds around. But the reason I bring this up is because I want you to see that when the Biblical authors make note of something, it isn’t because they’re trying to fill space; it’s because they want to show us something. And in this case, what Luke is showing us is that Jesus had a totally different attitude towards women than the religious leaders and teachers of that day.

And so, in the eyes of the world, Jesus had nothing to gain by inviting these women to be His disciples, and to participate in His kingdom work. Yet Jesus invites them anyway.

[[In other words, and to wrap this point up, in a world where women were constantly told that there is no room for you here, Jesus said that you’re offered a place in my kingdom work.]]

And this is not only striking when you consider that Jesus was calling women in the First Century, but also when you look at the details that are provided about these women. Just look at these details that Luke provides:

*All these women were either sick or demon possessed, and had been healed through Jesus’ ministry. And in those days, people who were sick or possessed were often considered unclean, and were sometimes cast out of their community—and so in addition to the pain and discomfort and difficulty, your status would have been a huge barrier in your life.

*Then after this note, we get to the first woman who is mentioned by name: Mary was from a small town on the Sea of Galilee called Magdala. And Luke tells us that she had been possessed by seven demons, which tells us that her affliction was so deep. She was a captive in the kingdom of the Enemy, and as a result she probably lived on the fringe of society. Perhaps she was unmarried because of her condition, and if so then she was definitely poor.

*But next, and by great contrast, Joanna is introduced as the wife of Chuza, who was the manager of Herod’s household. So Joanna is someone who had connections with high society, and with the ruler of Galilee. She was almost certainly wealthy, but her connection with Herod’s court would have made her suspect. You may recall that Herod was responsible for killing John the Baptist. And not only that, but Herod had been put on the throne over Galilee by the Roman Empire, which was oppressing and extorting God’s people. So Joanna had material wealth, but in the eyes of the Jewish people she would have been considered a traitor who was chasing after wealth at the expense of her people.

*And then finally Susanna is mentioned here, but never again in the rest of Scripture or early Church history—this is all that we know about her. She is otherwise totally obscure.

So between these women, you have Mary, who was too deep in enemy territory; you have Joanna, who was too high up and too involved with Herod’s Court, and you have Susanna, who is too obscure for us to say more.

And so just from this list, we can see that Jesus called people from different economic status, different social status, different backgrounds, just completely different situations.

There are a few things I want you to see here. The first is that these women, and disciples of Jesus still today, are offered a place in the kingdom regardless of status and station. Jesus was not intimidated by the social rules around Him. He was not interested in playing the game of trying to look good and find the people that would win Him points in society. He wasn’t hunting for people who had a lot of followers on social media! Jesus invited people because He loved them, not because they were pieces in some game that He was playing. In other words, our status in the world’s kingdom has nothing to do with our status in God’s kingdom.

And while in the world’s eyes Mary would have been too far gone to invite in, and Joanna would have been too far up, in Jesus’ eyes we are invited in regardless of our status, and regardless of our story. So Mary’s past of being dominated by the Enemy did not disqualify her. Joanna’s past of being complicit in a system that was oppressing God’s people, and that beheaded John the Baptist, and that was sympathetic to Rome did not disqualify her. Because at the end of the day we are not called because of what we bring to the table! We are called because Jesus is a good and gracious king who wants to be with us.

And [[among other things,]] this means that your status, and your situation, and your story has not disqualified you either. There is nothing about who you are, and there is nothing about what you have done that puts you outside the reach of Christ. See, as I studied this Text, I was reminded that so many of us live our lives thinking that God can use anyone else but me.

And so, we need to be reminded that God’s Kingdom is not about us doing good things because of our power. It’s not about us leveraging our status and situation. It’s about us telling the story that in our weakness, God’s power is made perfect.

This means that The circumstances of my life—my status, my situation, my failures—are not a barrier to God’s work. Actually, if you can believe it, they are a part of what God is using to display His power.

**This is an important message for us to hear about the kingdom, because so many of us walk around living our lives totally convinced that we are disqualified by something about us, or something we’ve done, or something we haven’t done, or something that happened to us. And we think that God needs someone with more talent, or more faith, or more influence, or more skills, or more money. God needs someone who really has it all together. God needs someone who has it all figured out. [[Just like in the story from the beginning, we look at ourselves and our lives and we seriously wonder, “What could God want with me?” Does God really desire to use me to advance His kingdom?]] For one reason or another, there is this great lie of the Enemy that I can’t be used by God. But the stories of these women demonstrate that God is in the business of using unlikely people like you and like me to advance His kingdom.**

See, what matters is not who you are, or where you came from, or what your net worth is. What matters in the kingdom is not where you come from, but Who you come to.

POINT TWO

And that actually gets us to the second thing that I want to show you about the example of these women. They didn’t allow their story to become an excuse or a barrier; instead they brought what they had to Jesus. And as a result, not only were they given a place in the kingdom, but they were also given a purpose in the kingdom.

Back in our Text, we can see that each of these women had this radical encounter with Jesus. Even though none of them are recorded for us in the Gospels, it says that each of these three women were cured by Jesus in one way or another. And so they understand that knowing Him, encountering Him, hearing His call and responding to it changes us. It transforms us. This is why Paul can say in Col 1:13 that we have been “rescued” and “brought” to the kingdom of His beloved son.

We think that our past, or even our present disqualifies us; and yet this is only because we don’t know or appreciate the power of Jesus.

See, just like Paul mentions in this verse, when it comes to the kingdom, we are all serving someone or something. We are either serving God’s kingdom, or we are serving the Kingdom of darkness. We are either serving King Jesus, or we are serving ourselves.

And what I want you to see is that, apart from Christ, we are a slave to the [[flesh,]] we are a captive of the [[Enemy,]] and we are trapped in the pattern of [[this world.]] Those three forces keep us in the bondage of sin, and serving ourselves and the interests of the enemy. And what the story of these women demonstrate is that, even though this is the case, even though we were in the kingdom of darkness, serving our own interests, God, who is rich in mercy, comes and frees us from our bondage and heals us from our brokenness and gives us not only a place in the kingdom, but also gives us a purpose in the kingdom. He doesn’t just rescue and release us; He rescues us so that we can come to be with Him and participate in His kingdom.

And that’s exactly what we find in verse three of our text. Luke writes that “These women [who had been changed by an encounter with Jesus] were helping to support them out of their own means.” What this means is that these women were the ones providing the means for the mission to continue. So not only did they receive ministry from Jesus, but they also responded by getting involved in the ministry of Jesus! And actually, I want to point out is that the word “support” is the word diakoneo (διακονέω), which translated literally is actually the word “to serve.”

So you can write down: What is the purpose we’ve been given in the kingdom? How do we respond to God’s grace? The answer is that we are changed in order to serve.

And this means that our service—that our kingdom work— is not some legalistic, cold obedience; rather just like these women, we serve as a response to God’s grace. We serve only because of what Christ has done in rescuing us from the Kingdom of Darkness.

And [[Mary Magdalene]] is a great example of responding to grace with faithful service. Of all the women mentioned here, it seems that she was in the lowest place when Jesus found her. And even though we never get a description of that encounter, you can imagine that the change in Mary’s life would have been so profound. In a very real sense, she had been rescued by Jesus from the kingdom of darkness. From the lies she believed. From the influence of the Enemy. And then as a result, Mary becomes one of the most faithful followers of Jesus in His entire group.

When just about everyone else had abandoned Jesus, she stayed by Him. Matthew shows us that she was there at the crucifixion after the Twelve had abandoned Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 27:56). When everyone else was in hiding, Mark shows us that she was there going to Jesus’ tomb to bring spices (Mk 16:1). And John helps us see that she was the first one that Jesus appeared to after His resurrection, and so she was the first one to bring the good news (John 20:11-18).

And what’s so cool to me is that there are these events that happened in the life of Jesus that are the very bedrock of our faith—the crucifixion, the empty tomb, the resurrection—and of all people, [[Mary Magdalene is the only person ever to have lived who can be a personal witness to all three]]. And that’s all because she responded to God’s grace, that when Jesus set her free, she surrendered her whole life to Him and followed Him closely and served Him faithfully in His life, and even after His death. And her story, her testimony to the resurrection of Jesus has been used all this time, all throughout the years to make an impact for God’s kingdom. God used her story! And I believe the very same can be true for us.

See, not only is our situation and our story not a barrier to being used by God, but actually God wants us to bring it to Him, to put whatever we have into His hands so that He can use it to bring Himself glory! This is how God has always worked! God has done this all throughout the Scriptures:

Moses wasn’t a good enough speaker

Gideon didn’t have a big enough army

Elijah was too depressed

Jeremiah was too young

The boy with five loaves and two fish simply didn’t have enough

‌Yet every single one of these people responded to God’s call and were used by Him.

And you may be sitting here thinking that this is all well and good for Mary, and for the others, but that can’t work for me. I just don’t have it. And to that, I want to remind you that these women didn’t go out and find something to offer to Jesus; just like the boy with the loaves and the fish, all they did was bring such as they had. This is why in the Text it says that they provided for Jesus and the Twelve “out of their own means.” They served Jesus out of whatever they had—certainly money, but there’s no reason to limit it to money. Whether it was money, or time, or skills, or even just a heart that was willing to serve, these women laid themselves down at the foot of the King. And so just like these women, Jesus is only asking you to serve out of what you have. He wants to use whatever He’s given us to advance His kingdom. All you have to do is lay your life, your story, your circumstances it down at the foot of the King.

Because friends, at the end of the day, we are not the author of our own story—God is. And even though there are days where we may wish and plead that we had been found in a different story, God is working out the very details of your life into a beautiful masterpiece that points to His goodness and grace. And when we surrender ourselves to Him, He can begin to use our story to point people to Himself.

So not only do we serve as a response to God’s grace, but we bring God whatever we have, little though it may seem to us, and we place it into the hands of the Creator who brought the world into existence out of nothing. And if God can make everything out of nothing, then I would wager that He can take the broken pieces of your life and of my life and make something beautiful.

But there’s one last thing here that I want you to see. Because in the end, let me just remind you that God does not invite us in because He needs us. I mean, just think about it. Back in our text, Jesus didn’t need the contributions of these women. Jesus didn’t need the five loaves and the two fish. Jesus was not desperate for money. He was not desperate for food. The amazing thing about Jesus is that He is the only person in history who would be better off as a one man show! Jesus was perfect! In Himself, He had everything that He needed! Inviting other people into His kingdom could only serve to make things messier. And if He wanted to, Jesus could have completely provided for Himself! He didn’t need their time, their talent, or their treasure to accomplish His mission.

And yet Jesus invites them in anyway. And it makes me wonder, “Why?” Why would He do such a thing? And honestly, I ask myself the same question all the time. Jesus, you don’t need me to build your kingdom, and sometimes I feel like I have nothing to offer. Why invite me in? Why invite me at the risk that I’ll just screw it all up?

And the answer: Not because He needed them, not because He needs you, not because He needs me, but because we serve a God who delights to include His children in His kingdom work.

God doesn’t invite us in because of our talent. He doesn’t invite us in because of our efficiency. He invites us in because for some reason that still escapes me, God actually delights to use broken people like you, and like me to display His glory! This is why He saved us! This is why Paul says in Ephesians 2:6–7 that “God raised us up [and gave us a place] with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that [,with the express purpose that] in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”Jesus doesn’t call us out of His need. He calls us because He wants to give US the honor of advancing the interests of the kingdom by His side, and being a canvas to display the incomparable riches of His grace! We serve not because of the great need; we serve because of the [[sheer]] honor of advancing the interests of the kingdom.

CONCLUSION

And this helps us to see that from beginning to end, our participation in God’s kingdom work is only because of His grace.

And that’s why the last thing I want you to write down is that all disciples are given a place and a purpose in the Kingdom ONLY because of God’s grace.

Every person here who would claim Christ, just like these women, has been called and changed to serve the King and His Kingdom. Not because of what you’ve done or not done. Not because of who you’ve been or haven’t been. But because of who He is, because of what He’s done. The invitation itself is unmerited favor.

After all, what could I possibly have to offer the king?

And so as we close out this series, I want to extend that invitation to you all once again. And I want to urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy—in view of the fact that He would invite us to participate in His kingdom work—to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. To lay yourselves on the altar of praise and say, even though I have nothing to offer the king, I will offer my very self! Use me as you will, God. I’m done serving the interests of my own kingdom—Jesus I want my whole life to be about You, and about bringing praise and honor and glory to your name. This is the invitation, friends! This is the call of the Kingdom! This is both the greatest honor in the universe, and the adventure of a lifetime.

The King is calling. He died to save you. He wants to use you—surrendered, willing, repentant, and with a heart singing hallelujah to the God who would delight to use even someone like you, and even someone like me. So let’s close out this series by going to Him now and responding to His grace with gratitude. Amen?

Let’s pray.