Latest / HBCWestminster / 3.28.21 Luke 13:18-21 Pastor Danny Gardner

Transcript

3.28.21 Luke 13:18-21 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, church, if you have your Bibles, you can open to Luke chapter 13 and verses 18 to 21. Luke 13, 18 to 21, as you're turning there, and when you get there, you'll notice that our text this morning is broken by the translators between verses 17 and 18. There is a translator break there, and the translators have added the additional kind of caption, the mustard seed and...
• 0:23
  the leaven, but we mustn't misunderstand that to mean that the parables in this morning's passage are to be separated from the miracle from last week. In fact, I don't believe that they should be separated. The only reason we broke them was for sake of time, but you'll notice in verse 18 that it says, he said, therefore, I mean, this takes place, verses 10 to 21, all at once. The parables followed the miracle from last week, and so we're going to study this text with that in mind.
• 0:49
  You'll recall that Jesus had just performed a messianic miracle that was meant again to validate his claims. He was the long-awaited anointed one from heaven, and this morning's parables are kind of the ribbon tied on top of last week's miracle. And so, allow me to read verses 18 to 21. If you're able to stand in honor of God's word, I would ask you to do that.
• 1:14
  And beginning in verse 18, he said, therefore, what is the kingdom of God like and to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden and it grew and became a tree and the birds of the air made nests in its branches. And again, he said, to what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. And God, we pray a blessing over the preaching of your word.
• 1:44
  Holy Spirit, do your work among us. Do your work in our hearts and in our minds. I pray, Lord, that we would not think like the world, but that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can test and approve what your will is, Heavenly Father, your good, pleasing, and perfect will. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. Do you ever wonder what God does?
• 2:12
  We know that he can do anything. That is omnipotence. He has all power. So what does he do? On my days off, the days that I can do anything, I mostly do nothing. I'm like the opposite of Phineas and Ferb. There's 104 days of summer vacation, and I'm going to do as little as possible.
• 2:36
  Hallie and I, when we were sick with COVID this last fall, and everybody knows that we got it this last fall, but when we were sick, we found that we coronavirus very differently. Now we were thankful, thankful that we got relatively mild strains, I think of it. And so we're not impacted to a very severe degree, but for the worst, probably three days of that sickness, I sat in a recliner.
• 3:01
  I watched an entire season of Holiday Baking Championship. That's what was on, right? It was November. I watched an entire season over those three days of Holiday Baking Championship. I only found out later that during those same three days when Hallie was at her worst, she reorganized all the closets in the house. I sat in a recliner while she reorganized the closets. And so you may ask, well, which is it then? Is God?
• 3:31
  A sit-in-a-recliner kind of God? Or is God a reorganize-the-closets kind of God? Is he a do-nothing God? Or is he a frantic, do-everything God? And we know that God does a lot, but what does he do?
• 3:52
  In that quintessential declaration in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18, when Peter calls Jesus the Christ, the son of the living God, and then Christ says that upon that rock, now I believe that rock is not Peter himself, but rather the declaration that he's made. Upon that declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, he would build his church. Christ was saying in that moment that the work of building his church would be his work.
• 4:20
  until he comes again. Our parables this morning remind us that Christ is only doing really one thing on earth. Despite doing a lot of things, Christ is really about one thing. He has a singular focus. Do not allow the complexity of this earth to distract from God's singular focus on this earth. He does cause the galaxies to spin, we know that. He causes gravitational pull.
• 4:50
  He holds the atoms together. He is the God particle. He creates water and oxygen. He sustains life as we know it, but none of these things are what he does. That's what he's doing, but that's not what he does. Christ is about building his church. Despite all that the Lord does, building his church is what he does. Does that make sense? Now, you're going to hear me say that statement at least 10 times this morning.
• 5:18
  Building his church, advancing his kingdom one soul at a time is what Christ does. And it forces us to ask, if that's what Jesus is about, then what am I about? Am I about the same thing as him? We say that we are followers of Christ. But wouldn't that mean if we are following Christ and that is what Jesus is doing, then we would be about what Jesus is doing also?
• 5:46
  Christ came to earth to preach the kingdom of God. You'll recall that when he took on flesh, when he was born, there was so much hope. Angelic announcements abounded, first to Zechariah and Elizabeth, that their son would be the one possessing the spirit of Elijah, the forerunner to the Messiah. There was another angelic announcement given to Joseph and Mary, that the Son of God would be born to them, that he would scatter the proud, that he would bring down the mighty from their thrones and exalt those of humble estate.
• 6:17
  Another angelic announcement was given to the shepherds, singing glory to God in the highest and peace on earth. But then 12 years passed, and nothing really happened.
• 6:30
  Joseph and Mary eventually moved back to Nazareth. They raised this young boy in relative obscurity. But then we have the story of Jesus left alone in the temple for three days and his startling remark to his mother that from that point forward, he would be about his father's business. Do you remember that? And you think, okay, here we go. Finally, something's going to happen. And then 20 more years pass.
• 6:57
  And nothing really happens. No real news from the north of a messiah, no thrones toppled, no exaltations of the humble. But then...
• 7:08
  John the Baptist shows up and he begins baptizing crowds in the wilderness. And there is this mighty stir in Judea. There is a prophet, unlike anybody we've seen in a long time, there is a prophet baptizing out in the desert, declaring the kingdom of God is at hand. And you think, okay, the kingdom of God is finally here. Tens of thousands.
• 7:30
  flocked into the wilderness to see John the Baptist, to hear him, to be baptized by him. He even one day pointed out the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. He pointed at Jesus. But then John was arrested. And sitting in jail, even he wondered if Jesus really was the guy. Do you remember that? Tell me plainly, are you him? Should we look for another? And then John was beheaded.
• 7:58
  And it caused everyone to wonder if Jesus was really the guy. The man to whom John pointed did, in fact, prove to be a powerful rabbi and miracle worker. Jesus preached about his kingdom every day. Daily living within his kingdom was described in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, described again in the Sermon on the Level Plain in Luke chapter 6. But his miracles were always in doubt by the religious authorities.
• 8:26
  They even claimed at one point that he used the power of evil to perform them. The crowds during Christ's ministry kind of ebbed and flowed. Sometimes they were quite large. But then he would teach about the difficulty of following him. You must deny yourself and take up your cross. If you want to follow me, die to yourself. I'm not going to follow that guy. He'd teach about persecution and suffering. He'd teach about homelessness. Even the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. I'm homeless.
• 8:57
  He'd teach about rejection, and those massive crowds would abandon him. Vast portions of those followers turned out to be following him merely for the food. And when the food ran out, they left without a second thought. Even Jesus' committed followers were few. Twelve? Even one of those was a traitor, right? Even Judas, I mean, even one of his own twelve was a traitor. And after he was...
• 9:27
  crucified and resurrected the book of acts says that the followers of jesus meeting in the upper room were only about 120 of all of that time all of the angelic announcements and then the declaration of his father father's business at the age of 12 or 13 and then the baptism of john the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world all the miracles and all of that stuff then at the end of it all 120 followers that's it so small innocuous insignificant
• 9:54
  It almost seems counterintuitive. I mean, if God, the God, the God creator of the universe, came to earth and his goal was to advance his kingdom by the winning of followers, then wouldn't you expect him to be pretty successful? Why in the world would it be so small? Everywhere Jesus went and every day that he taught, he taught about the kingdom.
• 10:23
  And when his hearers heard him say that word, the kingdom, they expected armies and palaces and fortified walls. They expected trumpets, even a couple of his own followers, two of them who followed him to the end. James and John at one point asked at the end of his life if they could sit in exalted seats, right? Allow for one of us to be sat on your right and your left in his kingdom.
• 10:45
  They'd left everything to follow him their nets their livelihood their families and three years later They were probably beginning to wonder if there really was going to be a kingdom And so they begin to ask like can we have pretty good seats and when it comes? They've been sleeping in dirt for three years. They've been chased and hunted by those in power their king Ended up on trial before the Sanhedrin before the Jewish King Antipas before the Roman governor Pilate
• 11:15
  When Jesus was questioned by Pilate the day before his crucifixion, Pilate asked him if he was a king. Christ answered affirmatively. But then Christ said, but my kingdom is not of this world, right? So Pilate says, are you a king? And he says, well, yeah, I'm a king. He says, but don't misunderstand. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from this world. That's John 18, verse 36.
• 11:45
  And then you have the crucifixion, and you have execution. His followers, they thought, turned out to be following a criminal. Rejected, scorned, shamed. I mean, what kind of king ends up on a cross? And what kind of kingdom has an executed king?
• 12:08
  If this was his kingdom, then it was unlike any earthly kingdom they had ever known. How could it be so small? How could it end in obscurity and shame? How could it be both a failure and a success? And church, the answer to those questions is found in this morning's text. These two parables explain that seeming paradox.
• 12:33
  How could it end in failure but really be a success? How could it end so small and yet have such a universal impact? The answer to those questions is in this morning's text. I've titled this morning's sermon simply The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God. And you'll notice in verses 18 and 20, Jesus asks a couple of questions. He says in verse 18, he said, therefore, what is the kingdom of God like and to what shall I compare it? Notice in verse 20.
• 13:02
  To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? What is the kingdom of God like? And you'll notice first that he says the kingdom of God is like a seed. The kingdom of God is like a seed. Look at verse 18. What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree. Now, oddly enough, this parable
• 13:31
  has been used by critics in an attempt to prove that the Bible contains inaccuracies. No joke, this is a big one. This is one of the ones that skeptics use to say, see, Jesus could not have been God. The Bible is full of
• 13:48
  errors. They will use the parallel account, same parable, sorry, but parallel account in Matthew chapter 13, when Christ includes the phrase, a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds. And they will conclude that not only does the Bible have errors, but that Christ could not be all knowing and could not be therefore God.
• 14:11
  Now, we know that the mustard seed is not the smallest seed in existence, and this is why they say there's a disparity, a conflict. But it was the smallest seed that farmers used in the day of Christ. Christ wasn't making reference to every seed in existence, but rather every seed sown by farmers. And in that category, garden seeds, in that category, the mustard seed was by far the smallest.
• 14:39
  Further proof, in fact, that this was Christ's intention can also be found in Matthew's parallel account. When he says that the mustard plant becomes, and I quote, the greatest of all garden plants. Garden plants. He obviously knew that the mustard plant was not the largest plant in existence, but he was speaking in terms of what grows in a garden. And so, in other words, Jesus is saying the largest garden plant comes.
• 15:08
  from the smallest garden seed. There's no contradiction there. He was speaking in terms of categories. Categorically speaking, the mustard seed was the smallest and it even became proverbial and synonymous in the time of Christ for anything that was small. They would compare anything that was small to a mustard seed. When rabbis talked about obedience to the Torah, they admonished their hearers with obedience even unto the finest
• 15:38
  points, points as small as a mustard seed. When priests looked for blemishes on sacrifices, they looked for blemishes as small as a mustard seed. Christ even said that if one possessed faith as small as a mustard seed, then one could move a mountain. It was common vernacular of the day. This last summer,
• 16:01
  Our youth group studied the parables of Christ, a bunch of the different parables. And Pastor Sam, our youth pastor, was handing out mustard seeds. He had gotten a packet of mustard seeds. And so he was handing them out to all of the kids. And one of the boys from the youth group came into the sanctuary. After they were done, they came into the sanctuary. He was showing everybody these mustard seeds. And they were just tiny, tiny, tiny little things, you know, little dots in his hand, these tiny mustard seeds. He accidentally dropped one, and he was showing it to everybody. But he dropped one on the sanctuary floor.
• 16:31
  And I'm telling you, I was standing right there with him. As soon as it fell out of his hand, it was gone. It was gone. And for the next five or so minutes, he had everybody in there looking. I mean, no kidding. We knew exactly where it was, a square foot. He had everybody down there with their cell phones out with their little flashlights looking for this mustard seed. Oh no, I lost it. Help me find this mustard seed. After about five minutes, I was like, listen, bud, go back to Pastor Sam and tell him you need a new one.
• 16:56
  you need a new one they were so small that they were almost invisible easy to pass over easy to overlook and although beginning small jesus says the mustard plant would become the largest of all garden plants mustard plants would be somewhere around eight feet tall and could have a diameter of about 15 feet they were huge so they covered the same cubic footage as as maybe a decent sized bedroom
• 17:24
  Okay, a large bedroom 15 by 15 by 8. They were huge plants and Christ says that similar to the mustard seed which starts small so small in fact that it's almost invisible so small that it's Overlooked but produces an enormous plant. So also the kingdom of God will start small What will grow to tremendous? Size and strength and you'll notice in verse 19 so large
• 17:53
  so strong that he even says that the birds of the air made nests in its branches. Now, obviously mustard plants were large enough for birds to rest in, but here he says that they're even large enough to nest in, to find a permanent home in. Now, this physical picture that Christ gives is meant to provide a deeper spiritual parallel. Christ's picture of the birds perching
• 18:23
  is likely, and I believe most assuredly, an Old Testament reference to the Gentile nations coming and finding rest, protection, and provision in Christ's kingdom. Let me show you why I think that. The Old Testament made frequent reference in great kingdoms, of great kingdoms being likened to a tree. That was a frequent Old Testament reference. And would often describe all who found shelter and protection from that kingdom being likened to birds.
• 18:51
  In Daniel chapter 4, in the description of King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, he was called a great tree with strong branches, beautiful leaves, and abundant fruit. And it says that the beasts of the field and the birds of the air will find rest, protection, and provision in his branches. And that was making reference to the nations. The king of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar, would be so powerful at his zenith, at the pinnacle of his power, he would be so powerful.
• 19:21
  that all nations of earth would be blessed because of his immense strength. And at one point, because of his tremendous arrogance, his extreme arrogance, you'll recall the story King Nebuchadnezzar's mind was taken from him. He went crazy for seven years. He thought that he was a cow. He would go out into the fields and eat grass on all fours like a cow. He literally thought he was a cow.
• 19:44
  God removed his mind because of his arrogance. And in that moment, Daniel chapter 4 says, it's like the tree had been cut down. So it was obviously making reference to King Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. In Ezekiel 31, the Assyrians were also called a tree that would be used by the birds of the air to find protection. That's Ezekiel 31, 3 to 6.
• 20:09
  In a similar way, Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a great tree with strong branches that the birds will come and find rest in. Rest, provision, and protection. But now listen to how Ezekiel describes the kingdom of the Messiah. Listen to Ezekiel 17, 22 to 24. It says, Thus says the Lord God, I myself will take a sprig
• 20:35
  from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. Do you hear what God is saying? I'm going to take a little tiny tree, a tender sapling. I'm going to set it in the ground. I'm going to plant it. On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. So I'm going to plant this thing. It's going to start small. It's going to end very big.
• 21:03
  and under it will dwell every kind of bird. In the shade of its branches, birds of every sort will nest, and all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord. In other words, church, the kingdom of the Messiah will have great external influence, universal appeal, and it will provide salvation to all the birds, all right? All the birds of the earth, to all of the nations. Now think about the gospel.
• 21:31
  Think about the great commission starting small, but going to all nations. Think about that, making disciples to the ends of the earth, right? Beginning in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and going to the ends of the earth. What began as very small in Jerusalem has come all the way around the world now to where you and I sitting in Denver, Colorado, on the other side of the world from where it began.
• 21:55
  Now, we are preaching the same message. It will begin small, but it will grow to be a mighty plant. The kingdom of God, he says, will be like Egypt, will be like Babylon, will be like Assyria. It will be mighty and conquering, strong enough to provide protection and strong enough to nest in. One pastor has summed up this parable by simply saying, small beginnings can have great endings. Small beginnings.
• 22:25
  Those seeds can turn into mighty plants. And church, if I could just offer a recommendation for application, like how do I apply that? What do I do with that? I would say this, don't neglect the value of faithfulness in small things.
• 22:44
  We see here, God can take very small things and make something big. God can make something very small and almost able to be overlooked. That mustard seed that dropped on the sanctuary floor, it's probably still in there somewhere, right? You can't even see it, something so small, but he can create something large, something impactful. The things that you may think are insignificant are not. You have no idea how God will take those small seeds of faithfulness and use them in mighty ways. You say, like what?
• 23:12
  What small things can I do that will provide great spiritual dividends in the future? Then honestly, church, I can think of nothing greater than for us to create a home environment where truth is communicated and valued. All right, he may not be asking you to change the world, but you can change your home. Start small. Can I speak to parents here for a moment? Are you a mighty tree in your home?
• 23:37
  Your children need you to be their tree, a tree that they can rest in, find protection in, find provision in. We live in a culture right now where the ground is shifting underneath us. You can feel it move. There's no stability. There's no security. Even our very history is changing in front of our eyes. Our kids need trees in their life that they can nest in.
• 24:06
  They need you to be unshakable. They need you to tell them what is right. They need you to stand up for what is right. That's something that is small, but will reap great spiritual dividends. Can I just address the older generation of Highlanders for a moment? You are Highland's spiritual parents. And I'm telling you, the younger generations in the church, including me,
• 24:35
  including me, your pastor. If you're a generation older than me, you are my spiritual parents. I need you to be unshakable trees. We need you to be fearless. You have lived longer than the rest of us. You have lived through worse things than the rest of us. We look to you for wisdom, courage, and strength. Be our trees.
• 25:01
  Small things, church, kindness to strangers. This is a small thing that is so foreign to our current culture and political climate. Contentment in all circumstances is going to cause you to stand out like a sore thumb. Compassion, peace, genuine love and concern, even refusing to complain will, in the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 2, cause you to shine like stars in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. And I can't find anybody who knows the Lord who does not think that we don't live in a crooked and perverse generation.
• 25:31
  Whatever side of the political aisle you are on, you have to agree that there is corruption, crooked, and perversion going on in this generation. Everybody agrees with that. He says simply, don't complain. You'll stand out like stars in the midst of that crooked and perverse generation. Small things that have a great impact. This first parable's point is this, the kingdom will start small. Indeed it did, but will grow large.
• 26:02
  It will provide spiritual sustenance, provision, protection for all peoples. Everyone on earth, Jew and Gentile alike, will be blessed by it. That's first. But notice, how is the kingdom of God like leaven? How is the kingdom of God like leaven? And look at verse 20. And again, he said, to what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leavened. A woman took leaven. We know that that's yeast. It is a rising agent, right?
• 26:32
  and she took a little piece of it and the idea is that it's small but it had a major impact and it says that she added it to three measures of flour now three measures of flour was about 40 liters of flour would be about 50 pounds so when you go
• 26:46
  to king super just like i did no kidding last night and bought a bag of all-purpose flour that's a 10 pound bag so you can imagine five of those 10 pound bags you're talking about a big old heap of flour she took a little bit 11 she added it to the three measures and it had a mighty impact now there are some who allegorize the flower and so they provide all kinds of possible explanations maybe these three measures of flour represent noah's three sons
• 27:17
  Shem, Ham, and Japheth, from whom all the nations of the earth descend. And therefore, they would say that the gospel is for all nations. Now, we said that from the last parable. It could be. I think it's probably a stretch. Others maybe say that these three measures of flour represent the three aspects of a man's heart, right? The three aspects of man, his heart, mind, and soul.
• 27:41
  And so the parable's point is that the gospel will radically transform every part of your life. Now, that could be true. In fact, it is true. I don't know that that's what the three measures of flour represent. That false gospelist from a century ago, Joseph Smith, explained that he thought this parable was saying that the three measures represented the three witnesses testifying to the truth of the Book of Mormon. We can just say unequivocally that one's wrong.
• 28:10
  Okay? I mean, you want to talk about a stretch, you start a false religion based on that? Like, where do you get that? That's obviously not there. I think the parable's point is probably similar to that of the parable of the mustard seed, except it maybe highlights kind of a different nuance. The leavening of dough was a reminder that the kingdom of God communicated through the gospel would transform the whole of human life, but from the inside out.
• 28:37
  Whereas the influence of the mustard plant would be external, the influence of the leaven would be internal. Now to combine those two parables,
• 28:47
  would be to say that the gospel Jesus offered must have both an External right there must be things that we obey there must be changes in our lives ways that we live differently because of the gospel and An internal effect on its followers. We must have our hearts Changed so our external appearance our external obedience will change but so will our hearts
• 29:13
  external like the growth of a mighty plant, internal like the leavening of dough. Now the Pharisees we know who were present at this event, right? Remember the ruler of the synagogue and all of that? The Pharisees were very good at the first. They were very good at the external. But they were horrible at the second. Their religion was only skin deep. And church, there are many today, maybe even some, watching this right now.
• 29:39
  who, like the Pharisees, deny the internal nature of faith. Their religion is a mere form. It has not transformed their hearts. Maybe they would say, I said a prayer when I was seven. I was baptized as a baby. I show up twice a year to church. And maybe they believe that they can live however they want and still claim the name. I can live however I want, but I went through these little rituals and therefore, right, I'm a Christian.
• 30:09
  Culturally, at least, nominally, I'm a Christian. That would be an external religion denying the leaven. Many others might deny the external nature of faith, saying something like, I know the Lord Jesus, I've had my sins forgiven, but I have no intention of doing anything with it.
• 30:27
  I'm not going to live differently. I'm not going to meddle in people's affairs. I'm just going to kind of keep to myself, mind my own business. I'm just going to cruise through life. I'm going to hope that Jesus doesn't interrupt. But church, the gospel is a leavening agent. It works from the inside out. And as we said last week, Jesus will refuse to leave you alone.
• 30:53
  Beloved church, I believe there couldn't be any more appropriate passage for the Easter season than this one, because it seems like many of our lives are just being lived frantically. We're doing a thousand things all at the same time, and yet perhaps accomplishing very little for the kingdom. And our Lord in this morning's passage simplifies life for us.
• 31:14
  We see that he is a reorganize-the-closets kind of God rather than a sit-in-a-recliner kind of God. That is true. But that does not mean he is frantically doing a thousand things. In fact, his mission on earth is singular. Advance the kingdom through the winning of souls. Do you catch that in those two parables? Grow the plant, leaven the dough, so that the birds of the air, the peoples of the earth, can find spiritual rest.
• 31:42
  in him that is what jesus is doing and church if we are his followers then our mission on earth is singular as well that's what we should be doing also and god i pray that you would give us the courage to live this kind of faith god i pray that you would use us to advance your kingdom one soul at a time and this easter season as we celebrate
• 32:09
  your resurrection, and as the world finds a willingness to come to church when they don't normally have it, God, use the gospel to change and transform lives from the inside out. Lord, we love you and are grateful for forgiveness in your name, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen, church. Well, what a joy to join you this morning, and I look forward to seeing you again at some point would be my prayer. We will stand with you, church. We love you and are so thankful for you.