Luke 18:18–25

Luke 18:18-25 

English Standard Version 

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  This guy sounds like the model for all of us to follow, right?  He has kept the commandments from the time he was a child, and he's ascended to a level of power and influence as a ruler.  He's rich as well.  What's not to like?

  Like each of us, he has one thing that he loves more than God and is hard for him to give up.  Jesus, knowing all, is aware of exactly what it is for him.  Money can easily come to rule our hearts -- we desire it and begin to think about it, day and night.  We are saddened by the thought of losing it, just as this rich young ruler is.

  What would be the hardest for you to surrender?

  We should each be willing to ask ourselves this question.  It's so hard for us to keep our hearts in line.  We start to have disordered loves, opting to love something more than God.  It's probably different for each of us, but we all have something.  

  Thanks be to God that Jesus comes to show us what those things are, and he loves us and redeems us to give us hope.

Luke 18:15–17

Luke 18:15-17 

English Standard Version 

  In those days, children had no power of influence.  They weren't regarded as terribly important.  Many people didn't give them much thought.  The disciples assumed Jesus had far more important things to do than to spend time with people who didn't bring much to the table.

  Jesus is teaching us that this is how we come to God.  We are sinful and broken, and we don't bring anything to the table.  

  God loves us anyway.  God makes time for us.  God saves us.  

  Not because we bring something that God is lacking. 

  But because God loves us.

Luke 18:9–14

Luke 18:9-14 

English Standard Version 

  I just preached a sermon on this passage on Sunday -- this is a story of comparison.  The Pharisee defines himself on a basis of comparison.  The sin of the tax collector is useful to him because it makes the Pharisee feel better about himself.  He looks at the tax collector and feels pride.  The Pharisee will also look at anyone who is ahead of him and feel envy.  He's looking around to his peers to find his own place in the standings.

  The tax collector looks only to the holiness of God.  His spirituality doesn't rest in the status of another person.  It's rooted in God's mercy.  He finds his justification in God and in God alone.  

  So when you look to the people around you, what do you see?  Comparison, we're told, is the thief of joy.  If you're anxiously wondering how you measure up, then relationships with others are only going to give you stress.  If you stop looking to others to see how you're doing and instead opt to look to Christ to define yourself, then you can experience others as a community of people working together to serve one another.  We're not competing for a limited supply of grace, but instead enjoying one another's company on the road to discipleship.

Luke 18:1–8

Luke 18:1-8 

English Standard Version 

  Every once in a while, I can cook a pretty good meal.  But if you go to a restaurant with a professional world-class chef... how much more consistent will the food there be?  How much better will it be?  Any person who cooks regularly will get it right every now and again... but a trained chef is in a different league.

  Jesus is telling this parable as a lesson for us -- broken and sinful people every once in a while get something right.  In this story, the judge doesn't fear God or respect man, but he eventually grants this widow's request.  

  How much more, Jesus is telling us, will God look to serve us?  If a broken and sinful man can get it right, then God is so much greater than that.  Jesus is telling us this so that we won't lose heart.  He wants us to persevere.  Jesus knows that waiting can cause us to lose heart, so he encourages us to be patient, to persist, and to keep praying.