Monday Reverb – 14November2022

WELCOME … and THANKS for joining us.  We trust your time with us will be well spent and you’ll be glad you decided to join us.

The theme for this week is the faithfulness of God in a world of paradox.

Things (and people) around us will change … and we may often have to take the bitter with the sweet, but … our God is unchanging in His character … He is good all the time … and He is faithful all the time.

OPENING SONG …

 

OPENING PRAYER

 

 

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SERMON REVERB

 

Asking the Right Questions

Luke 21:5-19 (NRSVUE)

You may have heard the saying, “There’s no such thing as a dumb question.”  Most of us have heard questions that might make us want to disagree with that statement.  But it’s better to ask questions in order to learn.  It’s also important to ask the right questions, or the answers you get might not be as helpful as you think.

Here’s an example: there was a Russian entrepreneur who started a nightclub in New York City.  He wanted the best chef for his nightclub, so he hired a well-known chef who had cooked for a wealthy family for more than twenty years.  It seemed like a perfect match, except the entrepreneur did not ask the question regarding the chef’s ability to scale up his cooking for almost 200 people every night.  He also failed to ask about the chef’s ability to manage a large cooking staff.  The entrepreneur only asked the question, “Who would be a great cook for the nightclub?”  Because he didn’t ask the right questions, his nightclub failed.

There’s another story about asking the right questions from John Scully, who was the VP of marketing for Pepsi-Cola during the 1970s.  For several years, the Pepsi-Cola marketing staff was convinced that the reason Coca-Cola was the number one soft drink was because of the shape of its bottle.  Pepsi’s marketing team worked and worked to redesign their bottle to try to compete, without success.  Scully finally realized that they were asking the wrong questions, and he initiated a marketing study that asked better questions, such as “How do customers use what they buy?” and “What do customers value?”  The study results showed that customers would consume more Pepsi if the packaging made it more convenient to transport and store the soft drinks in the home.  Pepsi put their soft drinks in cans, and their market position grew.

Asking the right questions is important if you want to get the right answers.  Our sermon text today shows the disciples asking the wrong questions and Jesus giving them completely different answers than what they thought they needed to know.  Of course, with Jesus, he turned their wrong questions into a learning opportunity.

 

Luke 21:5-11,12-15,16-19 (NRSVUE)

Luke 21:1-4 … The Widow’s Offering

21 He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; ² he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³ He said, “Truly I tell you; this poor widow has put in more than all of them, ⁴ for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

Luke 21:5-6 … The Destruction of the Temple Foretold  

⁵ When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ⁶ “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

Luke 21:7-19 … Signs and Persecutions    

⁷ They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” ⁸ And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’^[a] and, ‘The time is near!’^[b] Do not go after them.

⁹ “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; ¹¹ there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. ¹³ This will give you an opportunity to testify. ¹⁴ So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance, ¹⁵ for I will give you words^[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ You will be hated by all because of my name. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Understanding the Context

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4 NRSVUE)

This sets the context for Jesus’ apocalyptic message that appears in vv. 5-19.  Rather than providing us with prophetic timelines or signs, apocalyptic language in the Bible encourages us to think differently about the world by challenging our worldview.

For example, Jesus and his disciples had just witnessed the generosity of the poor widow, but then in v.5 (Luke 21:5), the disciples were going on about the beauty of the temple and the beautiful stones adorning it.  They were focused on what seemed to be a solid, permanent structure, one that could endure anything, and Jesus’ words about the temple’s impermanence were jarring.  In setting up v.5-19 with the story of the widow’s mite, Luke may have been emphasizing Jesus’ mission of caring for the poor and the oppressed rather than the preservation of a building.  He also may have been contrasting the impermanence of humanmade things with the everlasting commitment of God to humanity.

Questions and Answers

The disciples’ reaction (v.7) to Jesus’ statement about the temple’s destruction in vv.5-6 is to ask the wrong questions:

They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” (Luke 21:7, NRSVUE)

The disciples’ questions are probably similar to what we would ask if faced with making plans, anticipation, or even fear: When will this happen so I can prepare for it?  How can I be involved? Or, how can I avoid this?

Jesus doesn’t address their request for times and dates and signs. Instead, he focuses on the paradox of the world: great sorrow exists side by side with great joy and beauty.  Believers must learn to hold these two contrasting truths at the same time.

And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” (Luke 21:8-9 NRSVUE)

Jesus talks about wars and false prophets but then encourages the disciples not to be terrified.  Jesus lists more bad news, things that could go wrong like earthquakes and famines and persecution, in vv.10-12, but in vv.13-15, he seems to change tune and talks about the opportunity these things present.

This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. (Luke 21:13-15 NRSVUE)

Jesus tells us the bad we experience gives us opportunity to share the gospel with the right words given at just the right time.  Again, another paradox: the reality of persecution alongside the promise of divinely inspired words and wisdom.

Jesus wasn’t finished; he continues the passage by telling them even their own families will betray them, and they will be hated because they follow him:

 You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. (Luke 21:16-17 NRSVUE)

Then he finishes with a promise – and here’s the final paradox:

 But not a hair of your head will perish.  By your endurance you will gain your souls. (Luke 21:18-19 NRSVUE)

An interesting contrast here – some people will die, but their hair will not.   Small consolation, eh?  The point here, as in other places, Don’t be afraid – even if they kill you, your eternal life is safe in God.

Note how Eugene Peterson translated this:

Even so, every detail of your body and soul — even the hairs of your head! — is in my care; nothing of you will be lost.  Staying with it — that’s what is required.  Stay with it to the end.  You won’t be sorry; you’ll be saved. (Luke 21:18- 19, MSG)

Jesus is telling the disciples (and us) about how to live in a world of paradox where we experience tragedies and blessings.  His advice is to persevere, knowing that we won’t be lost or alone because we have a relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that cannot be broken.   As we are told in Acts,

For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.” (Acts 17:28, NRSVUE)

Perhaps the questions we should be asking are questions about how we participate with Jesus through every life situation, how we stay close to him during times of trial, how we stay strong when those around us are hurting or are hurting us.

Application:

• Recognize our tendency to ask the wrong questions.  When we’re in a scary situation, we want to avoid it, control it, or escape from it.  While it’s important to do what we can in situations like these, we also need to make sure we’re asking the right questions and not giving way to fear.
• Realize that life is full of paradoxes and that when bad things happen, it isn’t divine judgment.  Too often Christians beat themselves up when going through difficulties, believing that God is punishing them for some unrepented sin.  Jesus helps us understand in Luke’s passage that bad things happen to good people, and our role is not to fearfully prepare to outmaneuver any potential catastrophe but to endure with the faith that our God will be with us the whole time.
• Rest in the embrace of our loving Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Understand that we are going to be OK, regardless of what happens.  We can be “strong and courageous … for the Lord [our] God goes with [us]; he will never leave [us] or forsake [us]” (Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV). 

Asking questions to get answers is part of being human.  Learning to ask the right questions from a position of love rather than fear takes time.  There’s a lot we don’t know and will never know, especially about the mystery of God.  As we grow in our faith, we learn to live in the paradox of the world with the assurance that our God will preserve us through it all.

 

SONG OF RESPONSE   

 

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MINISTRY PRACTICE

 

Developing a DISCIPLESHIP PROGRAM — A Proposal 

 

 

INTRODUCTION 

In the GCI video on FAITH AVENUE, presented by Michelle Fleming, she shared a definition of DISCIPLESHIP that went as follows:

“Christian discipleship is the disciplined habit of thinking and acting in Christ.  Discipleship is growing closer to Christ and more like Christ AND deeper into Christian community with other believers.” 

We have a mandate to develop our own Faith Avenue, as part of our journey to becoming a more healthy church … so we need to start taking a closer look at this thing called DISCIPL

1. Why should we be interested in discipleship?
2. What is discipleship?
3. What/Who is a disciple?
4. What is involved in the “making” of a disciple?
5. What is the discipleship process?
6. What is the essential objective of each stage in the process?
7. What is the Gospel that must be believed?
8. What are the essential doctrines that one must believe in order to be considered a believer?

 

OVERVIEW  

1.  Why should we be interested in discipleship?

• Matthew 28:18-20
• It’s part of the Great Commission … given to the disciples … to the Church … to us

2.  What is discipleship?

• Based on Matthew 28:19, it’s the making of disciples.
• To understand, we need to understand 1) what is meant by “disciples” and 2) what is involved in the “making” of disciples.

3.  What/Who is a disciple?

• If discipleshipis the process of making disciples, then we need first to understand what a disciple
• Consider the following passages … Mark 1:16-17, Matthew 4:19, 8:22, 9:9, 10:38, 16:24)
• Based on those passages, we see that a disciple is …
• one who follows (Mark 1:17a, Matthew 4:19, Matthew 9:9)
• one who follows … for a reason (Mark 1:17b)
• one who follows … in order to learn … in order to teach (Matthew 28:18, 2Timothy 2:1-2)
• For the purposes of this study … a disciple is a follower of Jesus.

4.  What is involved in the “making” of disciples?

• Jesus called a small group of people to become His disciples (by following Him).
• But He didn’t just call them to follow Him.
• Notice Mark 1:17 b …
• Jesus equipped them (spending time with them, interacting with them, teaching them). In short, He took time to equip them (to be His witnesses and to share the Gospel with others).
• That “equipping” of the disciples involved some sort of process.
• to follow him, and equipped them to share the good news of the Kingdom of God with others.

5.  What is the discipleship process?

• Discipleship is not just about following Jesus.
• It involves learning about Jesus. It involves getting to know Him.  It involves obeying Him.  It involves sharing His message with others.  It involves sharing life and life lessons with them so that they can become disciples who can (and will) disciple others.
• Discipleship is similar to training or apprenticeship and the results of it affect every area of our lives.
• That is why we say that discipleship involves some sort of process.
• So, what is that process?
• The “process” that Jesus used is not spelled out, specifically, in a step-by-step format … but I don’t think we NEED for Him to spell one out. Given that the object of the exercise is the same for all churches (get an unbeliever to believe in Christ, follow Christ and share Christ), I think each church can come up with it’s own process.
• To this end, we’ve come up with a program that involves four (4) categories of persons: Attenders, Believers, Christians and Disciplers, where …
  • • Attender … one who attends church, or associates with believers, but who does not believe
    • Believer … one who believes, but who has not committed to following Christ
    • Christian … a believer who has committed to following Christ
    • Discipler … a Christ-follower who invites others to follow Christ
• In light of the above, our discipleship program involves a “process” that takes a person through three (3) stages/phases …
  1. 1. From ATTENDER … to BELIEVER
     2. From BELIEVER … to CHRISTIAN (Christ-follower)
     3. From CHRISTIAN … TO DISCIPLER

6.  What is the essential objective of each stage in the process?

1. In stage ONE … Attender must hear the Gospel and BELIEVE the Gospel.
2. In stage TWO … Believer must move from just believing in Christ to FOLLOWING Christ.
3. In stage THREE … Christian must transition from following Christ to SHARING Christ.

7.  What is the Gospel that must be believed?

• You deserve to die because of your sin … but you will not die because Jesus Christ died in your stead, so that you could live. As a result, you’ll be going to Heaven and spending eternity with God.
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-8,9-11    For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures ⁴ and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.^[b] 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you believed.
• 2 Corinthians 5:18-21   Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not ^[d]imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.   ²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  

8. What are the essential doctrines that one must believe in order to be considered a believer?