Grace
Notes
Transcript
Handout
FCF: Our human struggle with performance and pride—trying to earn our own worth, look perfect on the outside, and maintain our comfort zones instead of relying entirely on God's grace and inviting others into His presence.
Reflection Question:
For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Sermon Opening:
things to start
If this quiet time is odd to you or you didn’t know if you’re doing it right. I’ll be teaching how to do quiet time this Wednesday.
Kids going to camp
I want to take a moment and acknowledge how hard it can be to come to church.
As Christians, society does not see us as welcoming people. If it’s your first day here, I want to say, I’m glad you’re here. We’ve worked hard to become a welcoming church.
I know it’s somebodies first day here. We are fortunate in that every week is somebodies first week here.
So, I want to acknowledge the feeling we get when we go to a church for the first time and we’re uncertain about what will happen and what others will think of me.
The sermon today is about how did the religious leaders of Jesus day, treat others who were different and had nothing to offer them.
Text Opening:
If you have your Bibles, open them with me to Luke 14:1–24.
Let's set the stage. Jesus has been invited to a dinner party on the Sabbath—the holy day of rest. But this isn’t a relaxed backyard barbecue. He is eating at the home of a prominent leader of the Pharisees, and the text tells us right away that “they were watching him closely.” They are hovering like hawks, waiting for Him to make a mistake or break one of their traditional rules. And sitting right there in front of Jesus is a man suffering from dropsy—a painful condition causing severe swelling in the body.
Point 1:
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say.
Explain:
I need to provide a bit of context here. Jesus has been healing on the sabbath for some time now. A few weeks ago, I don’t remember if it was Evan or me who preached over it. The Pharisees began to plot to kill Jesus after he was healing on the sabbath.
Keep that in mind as we unpack this text.
To begin to understand the text here. I want to start with a definition. I want us to understand the definition of grace.
What is Grace. Often grace is defined as unmerited favor, it’s favor you didn’t earn. I don’t like that definition because it doesn’t go far enough.
Instead, I’m going to say that grace is God doing in our lives, what we are unable to do ourselves.
Grace in the life of this man who dropsy was not just God looking favorable at him. Jesus showed his grace by healing the man. The man couldn’t heal himself.
Grace is God doing our lives what we are unable to do ourselves.
Point 1: Grace for the Helpless
Jesus uses this moment to show the Pharisees their own hypocrisy.
The man with dropsy couldn't heal himself. He was entirely helpless. The Pharisees, even if they had the power to heal him, wouldn't have lifted a finger because they were trapped in their self-righteous rules. They sat there in tight-lipped silence. So Jesus steps in, demonstrates real grace by healing the man's body, and puts the leaders' hypocrisy on full display. He asks them, "If your own child or your ox fell into a well on the Sabbath, would you leave them down there to suffer just to keep a rule?" Again, they have absolutely nothing to say. The Pharisees were so caught up in looking perfect that they forgot how to love.
Illustrate:
Imagine you are hiking and suddenly step into a patch of hidden quicksand. You start sinking. Your instinct is to try as hard as you can to wiggle, pull your legs out, and use your own strength to escape. But the more you fight and rely on your own effort, the deeper you sink. You are completely powerless to save yourself.
Suddenly, a rescue guide stands on the solid bank, reaches out a strong hand, and pulls you out. You didn't help him pull; you couldn't. He did for you what you were completely unable to do for yourself. That is exactly what Jesus did for the man with dropsy, and it is exactly what His grace does for us.
Our spiritual growth doesn't happen by trying harder to look perfect but when we recognize we are helpless without Him.
Apply:
What (Instruction): We need to stop acting like spiritual Pharisees who try to look perfect on the outside or save ourselves by keeping a checklist of religious rules.
Where (Situation): Apply this the next time you mess up at home, at work, or at school. Instead of hiding your mistakes or pretending you have it all together, bring your brokenness out into the open.
Why (Motivation): Because trying to earn your worth through your own performance is an exhausting trap that blocks us from experiencing the immediate, loving presence of Christ.
How (Enablement): Right now, in your seat, take a deep breath. Quietly tell Jesus one area of your life where you are tired of trying to be perfect, and ask Him to step in and do what you cannot do alone.
Point 2:
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Explain:
Here Jesus uses a parable.
What’s a parable. We talk about them a lot but rarely do we talk about what is a parable. A parable is a short story that makes a single point.
Parables are not allegorical mysteries for us to pick apart and try to guess who the secret characters are as though satan is in the story or some nonsense.
Instead, Jesus uses parables to call forth a response from his audience. It’s a story that captures the imagination and asks the audience to respond.
Let’s take this parable.
This parable uses a hypothetical of attending a banquet. Jesus says don’t sit at the place of honor because someone more important than you may attend and you’ll be embarrassed when the host asks you to move to the back.
Instead, sit in the back, if the host sees you back there they’ll call you to the front and you’ll be honored in the front of everybody.
Parables are meant to illicit a response.
Here Jesus wants the pharisees to start considering others in their decisions. Right now they only think of themselves and what they’re getting. They’re making sure they get what they want.
Instead Jesus is showing them that by giving up themselves the people around them will honor them anyways and it will be better.
Which will make a bigger impact, if I seat myself at the head table while nobody is watching or if I get escorted to the head table in front of everybody.
By making yourself less others make you more.
It’s almost like grace others doing in our lives what we cannot do for ourselves.
Then our role in the church is not to make ourselves the best or the greatest. IF we build a church that is dependent on me or anybody else we will have failed. If something doesn’t happen because I’m not here, that is not success. That’s failure wrapped up in self importance.
Point 1: Grace for the Helpless
Point 2: Grace for the Humble
Our role as Christians is to seat ourselves in the least important spot with the least important people.
When we have any power at all we use it to escort others to the front.
We don’t use our power to give ourselves important positions.
Illustrate:
Imagine you join a new group—maybe it's a high-level fitness class, a tech club, or a new team at work. Because you want to look good and earn everyone's respect, you pretend you know what you're doing. You nod along, use the fancy lingo, and act like a pro. But because you're pretending to be an expert, you can’t actually ask for help. You eek by but it’s hard.
Now imagine a different person walks into that same group. They step to the back, look at the leader, and say, "Honestly, I'm completely out of my depth here. I don't know anything, but I'm ready to learn." Because they took the humble position, before long they will be better than you.
That’s what Jesus is asking us to do.
Apply:
What (Instruction): Stop trying to force your way into the "head table" of life, popularity, or church status. Let go of the need to look important or be the center of attention.
Where (Situation): Apply this in your small groups, church volunteer teams, or even at your workplace or school. Look for the tasks or positions that nobody else wants to do.
Why (Motivation): Because our worth doesn't come from a title or a seat of honor we grabbed for ourselves. It comes from the immediate presence of Jesus, who already calls us His friends. True success in the church means stepping back so Christ can step forward.
How (Enablement): This week, consciously choose to celebrate someone else's success. If you are in a position of power or influence, use it to lift up a new Christian or a quiet friend and escort them to the front instead of taking the spotlight for yourself.
Point 3:
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
“ ‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’ ”
Explain:
This text just continues to build on the last. Jesus continues with the same themes trying to elicit a response from the Pharisees to make themselves less.
He encourages them when you throw a big party, don’t invite your friends, your rich friends, your popular friends, instead Jesus tells them to invite the lowest in society, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. You’ll be blessed because they can’t repay you.
Jesus goes on to tell another parable.
In this one, someone gives a great dinner and nobody that he invites comes. A new land owner says I need to check out my new piece of property. Somebody else has just bought a yoke of oxen and they say, I need to test them out. Somebody else says, I just got married, so I cant’ come.
The married couple doesn’t give a reason, I wonder what they’re up to.
I think Jesus makes a joke here in his parable.
The party throwers servant tells him there’s nobody here for your party.
So he tells his servant go and find whoever to fill my house.
Go and pull people off the street and from the alleys and fill my house.
Jesus ends the story saying, I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.
As with the parables, Jesus is eliciting a response.
The kingdom of God is not and present. The pharisees are ignoring it, they are too busy. Jesus gives them this story to respond to him. He’s inviting them to come and fill his house and eat at his banquet.
They keep rejecting him.
Yet, Jesus will fill his house.
Point 1: Grace for the Helpless
Point 2: Grace for the Humble
Point 3: Grace for the Hungry
My quote for the year, that I keep coming back to is from Don MacGavran - If it doesn’t work for the glory of God and the growth of the church, throw it out and find something that does.
Jesus is sending his servant, us, to find people to fill his house.
Our mission as a church is to encourage our community to find hope and transformation in Jesus Christ.
Filling God’s house, finding hope and transformation is too important a mission.
So we must be willing to make ourselves less to give up the spot at the head of the table, to make ourselves less so others can become more, so that God’s house will be filled.
God is sending you to fill his church. Are you accepting his call or are you too busy looking over your land, your oxen, or your relationship.
Purposeful mediocrity is a heresy and a sin. If we know we are mediocre and just continue and changing nothing, we have commited a sin against God. At the point we have chosen our way over filling God’s house.
Illustrate:
Think about throwing a huge birthday party. You spend days cleaning the house, buying the best food, and setting up the perfect playlist. You send out invitations to all the popular people you want to impress, hoping they’ll invite you to their cool parties later. But on the night of the party, your phone starts blowing up with lame texts: "Sorry, I have to organize my closet," or "Hey, I just bought a new car and need to read the manual," or "I'm hanging out with my spouse tonight, can't make it."
You're left standing in an empty room full of expensive food. You have a choice: do you cancel the party and sit in mediocre disappointment, or do you swing the doors wide open? The master in Jesus' story opens the doors wide. He fills the house with the lonely, the forgotten, and the outsiders.
Apply:
What (Instruction): We must drop our busy, self-centered excuses and actively join Jesus' mission to fill His house. We have to reject "purposeful mediocrity"—the sin of keeping things comfortable and unchanging instead of making room for new people.
Where (Situation): Look at your literal neighborhood, your school hallway, or the breakroom at work. Who are the people who feel uninvited or left out by society?
Why (Motivation): Because God’s house will be filled, and He has chosen us to be the ones who deliver the invitation. Grace transformed us when we couldn't save ourselves, and that same grace compels us to invite others to the table.
How (Enablement): Identify one person this week who is going through a tough time, looks lonely, or doesn't know Jesus. Stop making excuses about your busy schedule. Invite them to grab a coffee, sit with them at lunch, or ask them to join you at church this Sunday.
Closing:
As we close this morning, let’s take a look back at where we have been. Jesus completely shatters our self-made performance scorecards. We saw in our first point that grace is for the helpless—it is God doing in our lives what we could never do through our own rule-keeping or strength. In our second point, we learned that grace is for the humble—when we stop trying to manufacture our own importance and take the lowest seat, we allow Christ to step into the spotlight. And finally, we saw that grace is for the hungry—God's house will be filled, and He is calling us to drop our comfortable excuses and invite the outsiders to the table.
If there is no summons from the pulpit, there is no true sermon. So here is your direct call to action today: Stop performing, start humbling your heart, and start inviting. Do not let your land, your work, or your temporary comforts cause you to miss out on the beautiful, immediate presence of Christ at the table.
Let's break out of our comfort zones this week. Let's refuse to settle for a safe, comfortable, mediocre faith that keeps the doors shut. Instead, let's step out in obedience, bring our real, imperfect selves to Jesus, and actively bring others along with us.
Closing Application:
As we transition now into a time of worship, let’s use these next few moments to respond directly to God's Word. Let’s lay down our heavy burdens of trying to look perfect, and let's ask the Holy Spirit to give us the courage to invite someone new into this beautiful family. I’m going to invite our worship leader to come back up as we pray together.
