Sermon Tone Analysis
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Boy Crisis… best thing we can do is eat meals together… because over a family dinner is where we can talk about difficult subjects.
Jesus wasn’t afraid to talk about tough topics over dinner either.
v1.
Pharisees trying to catch Jesus… Luke 11:53-54.
Have you ever felt set up?
This guy’s illness was real but his presence was a set up.
v3.
Jesus asks to see if they can accept that healing was right… to the pharisee it had to be a life or death issue
Just your normal sabbath
Donkey in a ditch principle
Jesus likened the healing of the man with dropsy to pulling an animal out of a well.
If the animal isn’t pulled out of the well, it will surely die.
If saving the life of an animal is something worth “breaking a sweat over” on the Sabbath, how much more should we care for a person!!!
Bringing healing to a person from any condition that diminishes their quality of life is not only permissible on the Sabbath but honors the Sabbath in the direct way God intends.
God intends that good shall be done in His name and in His honor on the Sabbath as a way of setting the day apart for the purposes of God.
The Donkey in a Ditch Principle states that doing good on the Sabbath honors God’s holy intentions for our lives.
Unfortunately, we often times give what I’d like to refer to as Donkey in the Ditch excuses when it comes to honoring the Sabbath and keeping it holy.
Taking a child to a soccer tournament is not a “Donkey in a Ditch.”
Sleeping in is not a “Donkey in a Ditch.”
Cleaning, organizing, and doing laundry is not a “Donkey in a Ditch”
This being said, as a Christian person we are still asked to “assemble together” (Hebrews 10:25) and to practice regular Sabbath in our lives.
The Sabbath is a day of rest.
It is a day we should refrain from doing work.
One day a week we are to completely focus on God’s intentions for our lives.
This is one reason why communal worship was created.
To start one’s Sabbath with prayer, with praise, and with biblically inspired teaching is a way to prioritize God’s purposes for our lives.
Just because we are supposed to rest on the Sabbath doesn’t mean we rest from doing good.
John Wesley is quoted to have said that we should,
“Do all the good we can.
By all the means we can.
In all the ways we can.
In all the places we can.
At all the time we can.
To all the people we can.
As long as we ever can.”
Doing good in this way fulfills God’s purposes not only for the Sabbath but every other day as well!
Are there any places in your life where rules trump compassion and grace?
Rules rarely give life...
:7 What was going on?
Seated at the head table… First to be served… Extra attention…
:8 This would have been offensive to the Pharisees because who “more deserving of honor” would come?
Being humbled… thinking I was the one to be honored…
Where have you been tempted to seek your own honor?
Pride Test:
1. Do you long for a lot of attention?
2. Do you become jealous or critical of people who succeed?
3. Do you always have to win?
4. Do you have a pattern of lying?
5. Do you have a hard time acknowledging you were wrong?
6. Do you have a lot of conflicts with other people?
7. Do you cut in line at the store, airport, on the freeway, etc.?
8. Do you get upset when people do not honor your achievements?
9. Do you tend more toward an attitude of entitlement or thankfulness?
10.
Do you honestly feel you are basically a good person and superior to others?
:12-14 We all want to be seen as worthy of attention… don’t use the attention you give as a way to leverage relationships.
Doesn’t this seem like an odd way to invite guests to a party?
Why would inviting people who can’t repay be such a challenge to the host?
He’s set himself up to be repaid… he’s expecting it at this point… everything he has done has been to gain influence… He’s invested.
IF you can live that way, you will be blessed.
:15 He’s right… but he’s making an dangerous assumption.
that just because he is at this table that one day he will be at God's table.
He assumed that he would be at God’s table one day because in his judgement… he was worthy.
That’s what Jesus confronts in this final section today… the way we justify ourselves.
Self justification is nothing more than a defense mechanism… we all have them.
Some of these include:
Projection… when we see our problems in others… critical
Repression… consciously or unconsciously hiding the truth...
Denial… acting as though something isn’t true
Compensation… when we try to make up for flaws or shortcomings
Splitting… seeing people and things black or white - good or bad
Rationalizing… distorting the facts to make something more acceptable
I think all of these can be drawn out of the text, but I think the most clear one is rationalizing, in the form of making excuses.
Making excuses in order to allow ourselves to not do something we know we ought to do.
:16-17 Save the date… Everyone was fine with it
But when the time came, they all made excuses in order to justify their decision not to attend after all.
All legitimate concerns… but more important than the party.
How many of our earthly concerns are really just excuses we use to let ourselves give what we really want priority over God and his kingdom?
Excuses were lame:
Who buys RE without looking at it?
Who buys livestock without check it out?
As for the wedding… this doesn’t change anything…
But they all made excuses in order to protect the host… they didn’t want to say what was really going on.
They didn’t want to come.
They didn’t think the host could handle the truth.
For years I have good excuses for not having a regular quiet time… reading the bible and prayer… I would even pray:
“Lord, I’m so busy.
Help me to simplify my schedule so I can put You first.”
One day in my reading I came across something that struck me hard.
When I meet a friend and they say let’s grab a bite to eat… I would respond, you name the time I eat at least 3 times a day...
That’s the truth, I rarely miss a meal, I get enough sleep most of the time.
I find time for the things that are important to me and a bunch of things that aren’t.
The reality is this quiet time wasn’t that important to me.
In my prayer it was though Jesus said I can handle that.
Can you handle it?
Do you believe that God is big enough to handle our lack of love for him?
if not, we have to make excuses.
The kingdom of God is a banquet that some people have found so dull they’d rather spend their time with business matters, property deals, or family concerns.
Do we dare tell God, “Serving You is dull business”?
God can deal with that as long as we don’t give Him some phony excuse.
Martin Luther once said that sin does not hurt us as much as our own righteousness.
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