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Great Mistakes of Your Heart and Soul (12:13-21)
(Temple 12/30/2018) I hope each of you had a Merry Christmas.
We’ve had quite an emphasis this year with four weeks on for the Christmas season.
But now, Christmas has come and gone.
The presents have been opened.
The pictures have been taken.
The wrapping paper and boxes have been taken up.
Some of us have already taken down the Christmas tree and decorations.
Leftovers still haunt the refrigerator.
My belt has shrunk an extra notch from all the holiday dinners.
Christmas for 2018 has passed.
Well now, what do we need to hear from the Lord after such a festive month of celebrations?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could meditate exclusively on the love, peace, and joy from the birth of the Lord every worship service?
We can and ought to express the love, peace, and joy of God in every service and every day, but in this sin-sick world, we must also consider the whole counsel of God.
Reality faces the goodness of God yet also the badness of sin.
The Bible exposes reality.
Our passage today begins at .
So far, in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has been preparing His followers for true discipleship.
He has shown them, both in teaching and setting the example, what following Him in faith is like.
Despite this intense training, some followers still do not understand what following Jesus really means.
In this passage, one follower reveals grave mistakes of his heart and soul.
And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
14And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?
15And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
In this passage we find a great mistake of the heart and a great mistake of the soul.
A Great Mistake of Heart: Misidentifying Jesus
Let’s get the picture here.
In the previous verses Jesus warned of hypocrisy, fear of the world, blasphemy, and self-reliance in the place of faith in God.
As if his follower did not hear a word He said, this man comes up to Jesus and asks that He arbitrate the inheritance of this man and his brother.
The world would love for Jesus to remain a baby.
The Christmas story has a charm that the world can accept.
The account of Jesus’ birth has peace, joy, love, and a sense of wonder, all positive themes to a troubled world.
Last Sunday we observed the Lord’s Supper to remind us that we celebrate the Christmas season for more than a babe in a manger.
We celebrate our Savior and the life that He offers through faith in Him.
We remember the blood of the Son of God which was shed on the cross of Calvary for us and the body that was given so that we could be born again.
A significant majority of people in the world make the great mistake of misidentifying Jesus.
Many will say He was a good man.
Many will say He did some good things.
Some will say a lot of His teachings were good.
More than a few lost people try to live by the Golden Rule, as if that would qualify them for heaven.
Church members make a great mistake of misidentifying Jesus.
Notice that it wasn’t a Pharisee or scribe who asked Jesus to intervene in this family dispute.
It was one of the company, a follower!
His mistake of the heart was thinking of Jesus as His servant, as the One to serve his selfish purposes.
This mistake is not so much a mistake of the mind as it is of the heart.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
The heart deceives the mind.
The world thinks that some things are so because the heart wants it to be so.
Confusion about gender is a problem of the heart.
Lost people latch on to a lie because their hearts want the lie to be true, when logic and common sense plainly exposes the lie.
The heart deceives the mind.
The world thinks that some things are so because the heart wants it to be so.
Confusion about gender is a problem of the heart.
Lost people latch on to a lie because their hearts want the lie to be true, when logic and common sense plainly exposes the lie.
This man in our passage tried to put Jesus in the middle of his dispute.
In chapter 10 of Luke’s Gospel, Martha had previously tried to put Jesus in the middle of her dispute with her sister, Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus instead of helping Martha in the kitchen.
Jesus rebuked Martha instead of Mary.
The passage implies that Martha was more overwhelmed than envious, but her heart was still not right.
Jesus corrected her.
Here in chapter 12 is another family squabble.
I hope your family doesn’t have issues like this man’s family and Martha’s family.
Like Martha, the follower’s heart is not right.
Again, Jesus corrects him.
Jesus is not a genie in a bottle or one to grant wishes for selfish purposes.
He is not Santa Claus.
Yet even church members think of Him that way.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Some church members interpret this verse to mean that if they follow Jesus, He will give them a big bank account, a large house, and (to quote The Price Is Right game show) A NEW CAR!
They think of Jesus as the means to attaining their selfish desires.
Some church members interpret this verse to mean that if they follow Jesus, He will give them a big bank account, a large house, and (to quote The Price Is Right game show) A NEW CAR!
They think of Jesus as the means to attaining their selfish desires.
Some church members interpret this verse to mean that if they follow Jesus, He will give them a big bank account, a large house, and (to quote The Price Is Right game show) A NEW CAR!
They think of Jesus as the means to attaining their selfish desires.
That is not the real Jesus!
The real Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords!
The real Jesus is Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace!
Do any of those titles give you a sense of entitlement to make selfish demands?
Do you know who you are talking to when you ask for things with selfish reasons?
Jesus responded, “Who made me your judge or arbitrator?”
He could have likewise said, “Who do you think I am asking such a thing?”
Jesus knew the man’s heart.
He knew the man’s mind.
And He knew the man’s soul and went on to confront the great mistake in the man’s soul.
A Great Mistake of Soul: Misguided Priorities
Desire, like anger, can be good.
I already mentioned , which also deals with good desire.
Another related verse is
The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
Desire, even strong desire, for righteousness and the glory of God is good.
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