Luke 9:46–48

Luke 9:46-48 

English Standard Version 

  We saw a billboard in the airport on Friday advertising a house on the beach for $35 million, and it's so far above and beyond what I could comprehend paying for a house that I simply can't comprehend that economic world.  I was thinking that people like that probably don't compare prices at the grocery store, but then I realized they probably don't even do their own grocery shopping.

  This is what it's easy to think about when we think about greatest.  We think about money and prestige.  We rank society in our minds, but Jesus knows our hearts, and he knows the disciples' hearts, and he's trying to teach them how different the Kingdom of God is.  Greatness in God's eyes isn't about prestige, it's about service.  The greatest is the one who finds ways to serve.  Children in Jesus' time had no legal standing or protection.  People didn't think about serving them.  But in the Kingdom of God, serving those on the bottom rung of society is to be celebrated.  Doing so glorifies God.

  It's almost impossible to wrap our heads around how different the Kingdom of God is.  But Jesus continues to invite us to contemplate the wondrous nature of God.  Let us not be put off by the challenge, but rather spend time in prayer asking God to open our hearts and minds to the wonders of life with Christ.

Luke 9:43–45

Luke 9:43-45 

English Standard Version 

  Here is Jesus, telling the disciples what is to come.  And here are the disciples, not understanding.  They were so in the dark that they didn't even want to ask Jesus what he meant.  

  If you were one of the disciples, telling Luke years later about Jesus' ministry, you wouldn't want to highlight this moment.  But it clearly stuck out to them, and because Jesus so miraculously worked things out in the end, the disciples didn't have to be embarrassed, because they were covered in grace, sweetly so by Jesus.  But think of how it sounded as they told Luke about it.  "Jesus told us he was going to be arrested and handed over, but we didn't believe him, and we were so confused by him that we didn't even want to ask him, so we all ignored it and pretended that we understood even though we were completely clueless."  Does that sound like it's coming from a future leader of the church?  That's the type of thing you can only admit to once you're certain that God's love for you is so thorough that it doesn't matter how bad you may look in the eyes of the world, because you look perfect in the eyes of the only one that matters.

  So don't be afraid of your failures and what you don't understand.  God reveals enough in God's perfect timing, and God covers us in grace so that we can go forward in faith and confidence.

Luke 9:37–43

Luke 9:37-43 

English Standard Version 

  Remember how Peter wanted to build a tent?  He wanted to stay in the moment with Moses and Elijah, but there was so much ministry to do.  They move from the Transfiguration to a child with a demon, being shattered continuously, time after time, with so little hope.  The disciples were powerless, and yet here is Jesus, with power for all.  Jesus doesn't stay on the mountaintop, but he is there.  Jesus doesn't stay in the valley, either, but he is there.  Wherever you find yourself, you can trust that Jesus has been there, and that he has power there.  I often find myself asking why I don't see or sense Jesus at work in the times when we so desperately need him -- I'm like the father, wondering why, seeking help, and I'm like the child, shattered by other forces.  We've all been there.  

  For the father, and for the child, there was a time when the unclean spirit overpowered the child, and they cried out and found no help -- the last time this happened, they didn't know that Jesus would heal the child before the unclean spirit came again.  They probably thought that it would come again, painfully, tragically, just like it had the time before.  The cycle continues, they likely thought, but they went to Jesus anyway, hoping, praying.  What if they'd given up?

  What if we give up?  God is constantly at work, sometimes in ways we don't recognize, sometimes in ways we do.  What if we gave up just before God did something amazing?  What if we stopped looking?  Faithfulness isn't always easy, patience with God can be trying.  We all understand that.  But steadfastly clinging to the Gospel is the wise thing to do, I believe, because the Gospel is the only thing we have seen in thousands of years of human history that can overcome death.  No one else has done that and promised that there is a way available to us.  So while it may seem dark in the midst of the night, that doesn't mean that dawn is not coming.  God has promised, and God has a history of keeping God's promises.  

  So cling to Christ.  Trust in him.  

Ephesians 4 Sermon for March 8, 2026