Senior Pastor, Robert Dennison, preached this message on March 16, 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Audio Transcript
Foreign Please keep in mind the family of Esther Kling. Bill she went to be with the Lord this past week. The services will not be for a month or so because they’ve got family traveling everywhere. But it would still be appropriate for you to contact those because they’re grieving now at the loss. They’re also rejoicing. And we know that Ms. Esther, for all the dizziness that she’s been having for the past 13 years, is able to dance and sing and be herself again. If you’ll take your Bibles now and turn to Luke chapter nine, we’re going to be today in verses 46 through 56. Followers of Jesus often have bad reputations in this world, and I think all of us would admit that sometimes those bad reputations are well deserved. We’re going to be looking today at jealousy as opposed to love. We have to ever keep in mind that Jesus told his disciples in John 13, I give you a new command. Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. And he says, it’s by this, your love for one another, that everyone will know you are my disciples. If you love one another, then of course, in Matthew 22 we have the greatest commandment. It is also about love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second commandment is also about love. Love your neighbor as well. Today we’re going to be looking at three misconceptions that the disciples have. And instead of having love in their heart, these all revolve around the sin of pride. And we’re going to be talking about three different groups of people in our lives. The least, the competition, and the enemy. Who are the least. They’re the people that are least important in our lives. They’re the people that are the least fun. They are the people that are the least popular. They are the people that are the least cool. We’re going to be talking about the competition. Those are the ones that we compare ourselves to, the ones that we tend to be jealous of, and the ones who belong to the other group, and we call them by the big T word, them. Do you know who them are? I mean, when you think about it, there’s always them, the competition. And then thirdly, there’s a misconception about the enemy here. And the enemy are those people who are against us. They are the people who don’t like us. Sometimes they are the ones who intentionally make our lives difficult. Have anybody in your life like that? You Just feel like they’re trying to make life difficult for you. Three misconceptions. Let’s read the text now. Luke, chapter nine, verses 46 through 56. An argument started among them about who was the greatest of them. But Jesus, knowing their inner thoughts, took a little child and had him stand next to him. And he told them, whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. For whoever is least among you, this one is great. John responded, master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he does not follow us. Don’t stop him, Jesus told him, because whoever is not against you is for you. When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead of himself, and on the way, they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him. But they did not welcome him because he determined to journey to Jerusalem. And when the disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them? But he turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. May we pray? Heavenly Father, as we look at your word today, help us to learn to love the least among us, the competition and even the enemies, that we might demonstrate your love and your grace and your mercy that you show to us, and so that others might be drawn to your Son in saving faith. In his name we pray. Amen. Going back to the text now, verse 46, we come to misconception number one. And this misconception in the church is that there is a hierarchy of value in the kingdom of God. A hierarchy of value. Misconception, not the truth. It says an argument started among them about who was the greatest of them. This is in Luke 9. Jesus addresses it. But then again in Luke 22, we find them having this same argument. Who should be considered the. The greatest. It’s an ongoing problem that we have. Jesus had called the twelve, Jesus had discipled them, he had lived with them, they ate together, they laughed together. Then Jesus empowered them in a special way, and he sent them out so that they could preach, so they could heal the sick, and so they could cast out demons. And when they went supernaturally, they were able to teach and heal and cast out demons. And I would just guess that that made them feel a little bit special. Now, after that, three of them had been taken to a very special meeting on the Mountain of Transfiguration that we Just read about. And the other nine were probably curious when they came down, well, what happened? Why did the three of you get called? Why weren’t we all there? But Scripture tells us that Peter, James, and John were silent about the meeting. It’s possible that the others were jealous, and it’s possible that those three felt like they were privileged. Anyway, it led to this argument, who is the greatest among us? It should be no surprise that among believers we have arguments, because even the disciples that lived and walked with Jesus himself had arguments among them. The argument here is about a desire to have ranked status. They wanted to know who’s number one, who is number two, who’s number three, who is most important and who is the least important. And they want to know, where does everyone else fit into the pecking order? Here it tells us in verse 47 that Jesus, knowing their inner thoughts, took a little child and had him stand next to him. He told them, whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. For whoever is least among you, this one is great. The principle here is that those we value least are great. We find out that Jesus knew their inner thoughts. That’s no surprise to us. But obviously they thought that Jesus wasn’t hearing what they were talking about. It was a private argument amongst them. They thought Jesus couldn’t hear. But that was foolish because God hears everything. And Jesus knew what they were thinking and what they were saying. So in this argument about who is the greatest, Jesus brings a little child and lets him stand beside him. And you have to understand the tradition of the Jews and their culture in that day. To them, children were of the least value. The Talmud regarded spending time with children to be a waste of time. According to R.K. hughes, one rabbi even wrote, morning sleep, midday wine, chattering with children and tarrying in the place where men of common people assemble. All these things destroy a man. Keeping company with children added nothing to a man. It was said in their eyes, little kids were a drain of resources relative to the value that they added. How many of you would agree with me that raising kids is expensive? Do you ever get that money back? I’ve not gotten it back yet. They were not capable of doing hard labor. They couldn’t solve difficult problems. They didn’t provide brilliant solutions. They weren’t great teachers. They were just seen as a necessary burden who one day when they grew up, they would be of value and beneficial to their family and society at large. So when Jesus is bringing this little child. He’s bringing what they would have thought is the least valuable person. Here we find it. Later, when the little children were coming to Jesus, the disciples said, what? No, he’s too busy. Don’t bother the Master. The least, according to Jesus, is this little child. And this little child, according to Jesus, this one is great. The person that we consider to be of least value in Jesus eyes is great. Therefore, we should always be on the lookout for the least of these. We should be looking for the least important person. We should be looking for the person who is the least fun to be around. We should be looking for the person that is least likable or even difficult to like. The person that is least cool. All of these people in our lives that we sometimes tend to avoid or ignore according to Jesus, are what they are great. Let’s go to Psalm 127, verses 3 through 5. Let’s look at the greatness first of kids. The psalmist says that children are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward from Him. Children born to a young man are like sharp arrows in a warrior’s hand. And how happy is the man whose quiver is full of them? Obviously, the rabbi that I quoted earlier, he was not remembering this passage of Scripture. God teaches us that children should be treated as not just gifts, but special gifts. Think about a warrior. If he goes out to war and he doesn’t have any arrows, he is not likely to be successful. And if his arrows aren’t sharp, he might be moderately successful. But a warrior with arrows, plenty of them that are especially sharp, is going to be successful in his venture. And that’s what God says children are for us. They’re like these sharp arrows. They are useful. They make us happy. They are a gift that brings value. They are a special gift that brings happiness to us. Every child is a gift from the Lord. And I just want to mention here, when we think about abortion, abortion is horrendously evil because it devalues the life of every child. Abortion is a rejection of every gift that God gives. Abortion destroys the value that every child adds to the world because they are great in God’s eyes. Why is everyone special? Why is everyone blessed? Why are the least of these among us just as important as we are? We have to go all the way back To Genesis chapter one, where we read in verses 26 through 28, God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth and the Creatures that crawl on the earth. So God created man in his own image. He created him in the image of God. He created them male and female, and then God blessed them. All people, all individuals, are unique in all of creation. We are all different from everything else that is created because we are all made in the image of God. And God has also placed us over all of creation, the fish, the birds, the livestock, all the creatures. We are unique. We are special. We are blessed by God. And that’s what he says in verse 28. After he created them and gave them all this special dignity, then he even went further and he blessed them. This blessing, this special creation, includes every person because every individual has these same qualities in the eyes of God. But we’re different. God has made us all different. Look around the room. Do you see anybody that’s just like you? Some of us are different. Some of us are very different. And some of us are very, very different. You may even know some people that are very, very, very, very different that are related to you. But you know, God has made all of us that way, and he’s made us different in the church. First Corinthians, chapter 12, we read, There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. There are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. Though we’re different, we are all special and we are blessed. Different gifts. That means that we have different abilities that God has given to us. And then within those different abilities, he’s given us different ministries or areas of responsibility that we’re involved in. And then for each individual, there are specific activities that he gives to us that are different than everybody else. But the emphasis here is that even though we are all different, we are still supposed to be one and undivided in the body of Christ. And that’s emphasized here by the example of the Trinity. The same Spirit, the same Lord, which would be Jesus, and the same God, all of them. There’s a division there. They’re different, but they’re still one because there is no competition among them. There is no inequality. So it is with us. Even though we have different gifts, within the body of Christ, we are all to be equal. There is to be no competition. And it’s especially true that we need to think of those that we esteem to be the least, that they are just as important. First Corinthians 12:7. Again we read, a manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. Everybody is valuable one, and the same Spirit is active in all of these, we all share the same spirit. And the Holy Spirit distributes to each person as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many are one body, so also is Christ. The principle here is that our differences are God ordained necessities. It doesn’t matter if you feel like you’re unimportant or insignificant in the body of Christ, you are necessary, just as necessary as somebody that you would view in a different position. Our differences are God ordained necessities. We go on to read in verse 15, if the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I don’t belong to the body. I mean, if your feet just decided they were going to leave today and go somewhere else, you wouldn’t be able to function without them. It is not for that reason any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I don’t belong to the body, it is not for that reason any less a part of the body. Because if the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God has arranged each one of the parts in the body just as he wanted. Our differences are God ordained necessities. Verse 19. If they were all the same part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but there’s still one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I don’t need you. Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, I don’t need you. On the contrary, those parts of the body that are weaker are indispensable. The parts of our bodies that we keep covered, the parts of our bodies that we might not want people to see, or our feet that we don’t want somebody to smell. All of these things have their part in the body and they’re indispensable. And that’s the picture of what the body of Christ within the church is supposed to be like going on and reading verse 24, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer. And if one member is honored, all the members receive. Rejoice with it. Our differences are to be celebrated. We’re not supposed to be disparaged or discouraged about them. When people are different than us, we’re supposed to celebrate those differences and when we consider about the least, those are the ones we should look out for to celebrate the most. When there’s a death in the family, we need to hurt with those. When there’s rejoicing in the family, for whatever reason, we need to rejoice with them. Everyone is to be celebrated together. The next concept here is that the values of the world are not God’s values. It’s so easy for the world to encroach in the church because we hear it on the news, we hear it from our friends, we’re taught it in school that this is the way things are supposed to be. And the church of Christ is not supposed to be like the world. But the world is always trying to make us be like the world. Let’s go back to Luke chapter 22. Later on, when they’re having the same argument, a dispute also arose among them about who should be considered the greatest. But he said to them, the kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them have themselves called benefactors. They were giving themselves special titles. Then in verse 26, he says, it is not to be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you should become like that, the youngest and whoever leads like the one serving. Because Jesus said, he set this example himself. I am among you as the one who serves in the world. Yes, it’s who’s number one, who’s number two, who’s number three, who’s the last. It’s not to be that way in the body of Christ. And in order not to be that way, we’re supposed to act as individual. If in the world’s eyes, we are the servants, we are the little children, the values of the world are not God’s values. Mark 9:33. Sitting down, he called the 12. And he said to them, if anyone wants to be first, he must be what, Last and servant of all. When we went on choir tour when I was in high school, we’d have this joke. We’d all say, you first, you first. So we all were competing to be the last person on the bus and the last person in line. But we learned a lesson from that. That’s the way we should always live. Matthew 20. Jesus called them over and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. Those in high positions act as tyrants over them. And hating to say it, but there are people in the church in leadership positions that sometimes act like tyrants. They’re not supposed to be that way. Jesus said, it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. The values of the world are not God’s values. Jesus himself set the example in verse 28. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, if anyone deserved to be served, it was God Almighty in the flesh. But instead he came to serve to the point of giving his life as a ransom for many. Jesus, by his example, sets what our values are supposed to be. Isaiah 45, 9. We kind of come to a different angle of this. You might be in the body of Christ, and you say, well, I don’t like it that I’m a foot, I’d rather be a head, or I don’t want to be a hand, you know, I’d rather be a knee where nobody sees me. Isaiah warns people about accusing God of doing things the wrong way. Because the truth that we’re going to see here is that God has the right to make each and every one of us as he desires. And Isaiah refers to a potter who is making a pot on a spinning wheel. And he says, woe to the one who argues with his Maker. In other words, what does one clay pot have to say? Does clay say to the maker who’s creating it, what are you making? Or does the clay pot say, he has no hands? The NLT translates that, wow, you must be clumsy. To think that God made you wrong in making you different is like a pot arguing with the potter. It’s like a painting arguing with the artist. To say, you don’t know what you’re doing and you’re messing things up here. God has the right to make each and every one of us as he desires. Isaiah gives reason for this in verses 11 through 12. He said, this is what the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and its Maker, says, ask me what is to happen to my sons and instruct me about here. It is the work of my hands. He says, the reason why I have the right to do as I desire is because I made the earth. I created humans. It was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded everything in them. Because of God’s greatness, His goodness, his power, his position, he has a right to make each and every one of us as he desires. We shouldn’t look at ourselves as a God shouldn’t have made me this way. We shouldn’t look at other people and wonder why he made them that way. He has a right to do it the way he decides. What are some general principles from this first point here? First one is that everyone is valuable. Everyone is different, Everyone is necessary. God makes everyone as he wants them to be. God sees greatness different than the world does. Instead of desiring greatness, we need to be servants like Jesus. And lastly, we need to identify the least and serve them. I want us to personalize that we’re going to read them differently together. Instead of talking about everybody else, I want you to say with me, I am valuable. Would you say that? And the next thing is, I am different. I’m very, very different. Nobody said that. All right, if you don’t know, you’re very, very different. Talk to me afterwards. Okay, next statement should be read, what I am necessary. Next one is, God makes me as he wants me to be because God sees greatness different than the world. Then what? I need to see greatness different than the world. And instead of desiring greatness, say it with me. I need to be servant like Jesus. And lastly, I need to identify the least and serve them. Matthew 25:31 40. Jesus gave a parable about the least. He’s talking about the sheep and the goats, when he’s going to separate them. And he said, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another. Just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. And then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my Father, inheritance the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So do you have the idea here? What side do you want to be on? The right. All right, so I don’t know why y’all are sitting over here. Jesus tells us in verse 35, for I was hungry and you’d gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me. And they’re thinking, who in the world are you talking to? We never did this for you. Well, the principle we’re going to see here is that we serve God when we do what we serve those in need. Because then Jesus answers that question when the righteous say, lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and take you in or without clothes and clothe you. When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you. And the king will answer them, truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. The least are the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, those without clothes, those who are sick, who are in prison, we are to seek these out. If someone needs food, we need to give them food. If someone is thirsty, we need to give them something to drink. If we see a stranger, and here’s a real practical way, if you look around in church today and you see someone that you don’t know and you think they’re a stranger who’s important in your life today, that person is for you to reach out to them and please, if somebody comes to church without clothes, we need to do what we need to help them. Look out for the least. The next misconception, we won’t spend as much time on it. This misconception number two is people who differ or disagree with us are competition. There should be no competition inside this church. There should be no competition between our church and other churches. Just because people differ or disagree with us, it does not mean that they are our competition. John just kind of jumped the whole subject about the least goes to something completely different here. He says, master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he does not fight, follow us. Sounds kind of big headed there. You know, we’re the only ones that are supposed to drive out demons. Nobody else should be helping anybody. Only we should be doing this because only we should be getting the glory because we are part of us and anybody who is a them is in competition. Isn’t that kind of ridiculous to tell somebody, don’t help them, let me help them. Sometimes we do that though. Don’t make an enemy of someone who is not your enemy. Jesus said, don’t stop him because if someone is not against you, he is for you. John, don’t be jealous of other people that are doing ministry. If they’re doing it in a different way, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t be jealous of other ministries or other churches or other people that are more successful. Be happy for them. Don’t stop someone from doing good just because they’re not doing it with you and they’re not part of you. In numbers, chapter 11, Moses set a good example for this. It tells us in Numbers 11:26 that there were two men who had remained in the camp, one named Eldad and the other Medad. And the Spirit had rested on them. So there was this whole group of men that were prophesying. But all of them got together except for these two. They kept themselves apart. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent and they were instead prophesying in the camp. And there was this tattletale, a young man, he was so anxious to run and report to Moses. Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. He thought, what they are doing is awful. What they are doing is wrong. And even Moses, right hand man Joshua, the son of Nun, who had been the assistant to Moses since his youth, responded Moses, my Lord, stop them. But Moses asked him, are you, and what’s the word there? Jealous on my account? Instead of saying, stop them because they’re not part of me. They’re not the competition. He says, if only all the Lord’s people were prophets and the Lord would place his Spirit on them. We should be happy at whatever success in ministry anybody else has, whether it’s individually, whether it’s from one church to another. Paul, he also talks about the competition in Philippians 1, and he tells us what the attitude should be. He said, to be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry. They have bad motives for what they’re doing. And there are others who out of goodwill, preach Christ. These preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Gospel. But there are the others who proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition. No, not sincerely. And they’re even doing it because they think that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment. People were sharing the Gospel with the wrong motivations, selfish ambitions to make themselves look better. Or they were doing it just to try to get Paul in prison, in trouble. Paul said, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m not worried about the competition. Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, the key thing here is that Christ is proclaimed. And in this I rejoice. What others saw as competition to Paul. He was happy for what they were doing. He was rejoicing because Christ was being proclaimed the least. The competition. Lastly, we come to the enemy. And here’s misconception number three. I keep saying that word wrong today. Misconception. It is okay to hate our enemies. Is that true? No. Is that what the world says though? Yes. When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined to journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead of himself. And on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparation for him. But they did not welcome him because he determined to journey to Jerusalem. And when the disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them? But he turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. You have to remember that the Jews and the Samaritans had no love for one another. They detested one another. The easiest route to go from Galilee to Jerusalem was a straight line. But the Jews would go all the way out of the distance just to avoid the Samaritans. We know about the story of the good Samaritan. And the big surprise was that the Samaritan actually was the one that showed love and stopped to help the Jewish man that had fallen beside the way. The Jews hated the Samaritans. Because historically, when the Jews were dispersed by the Babylonians and the Assyrians, there were some that were left in the land. And instead of them only marrying Jewish, Jewish spouses, they began to intermarry with these other people that were living there. And the Jews who were puritans, said, you know, we have nothing to do with them because they have forsaken God by marrying the wrong people. The Samaritans had their own temple. They had their own liturgy. They even had their own copies of the Pentateuch. They only went by the first five books of the Bible. And. And during Jesus time, there were some Samaritans that hated the Jews so much that they snuck into the temple and they put human bones everywhere just to desecrate it. I mean, imagine if another church in our neighborhood came in and spread feces all over our church, okay? We would walk in and be disgusted. That’s how the Jews felt towards the Samaritans. They hated them. So when the Samaritans would not accept Jesus, we see how much hatred comes down from James and John toward who they think are their enemies. Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them? Remember, they were just up on the mountain where Elijah and Moses were with Jesus, and his glory was demonstrated. And probably in the back of their mind, well, Elijah, he called down fire. Because in Elijah’s day, The king sent 50 men to bring him back. Can you imagine that? So fearful of this one man that he sent 50 men to bring him back. And fire came down from heaven and destroyed 50. So the king sent another 50 people and fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. And when the third set came, the leader came crawling on his knees, please don’t destroy us. We are only doing what the King has asked us to do. So in their mind, if Jesus is as powerful as Elijah, maybe he should call down fire and just destroy these people who are our enemies. Luke, chapter six. What does Jesus say about our enemies? Love your enemies. Do what is good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, and even if anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. From Matthew 5, Jesus said, Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. What does mercy mean? When you have mercy on someone, that means that you don’t give them what they deserve. It’s a child that does something wrong and you have mercy on them and you don’t punish them. It’s a judge who has someone who’s guilty standing in front of them and says, I’m not going to give you any punishment. I have mercy on you. And because God has demonstrated mercy to us, because he has not given us what we deserve because of our sin, in the same way, when we are approached by our enemies with wrong intentions or wrong actions or wrong words, we’re supposed to show them mercy and not repay evil for evil. Because God tells us, while we were helpless, while we were without power, and while we were his enemies, it was during that time that Jesus Christ came and died for us on the cross. Misconception number one. There is a hierarchy of value in the kingdom of God, and if I had a buzzer, I’d go, okay. Misconception number two. People who differ or disagree with us are our competition. What’s the answer to that? We’re all in this together. Number three. It is okay to hate our enemies. The answer is we’re supposed to love our enemies. I want to end with a quote from R.K. hughes. As believers, we have all experienced God’s reaching down to us in grace. And in that sense we are all special. But we must never move from seeing the riches of his grace to saying, I must be extraordinary. Aren’t I something? May our sinful hearts not pervert God’s grace into a source of pride. Because imagined greatness is a dangerous delusion. The truly great person is one who consorts with the lowly for Christ’s sake and with his love. The truly great rarely reside in prominent pollution pulpits. The truly great are rarely honored. They are hidden. They are among the anonymous. They stand with the weak. The truly great rejoice in the elevation of others. They glory in others growth in others success and in others honor. You need to search out your heart today. Are you reaching out to the least? Are you rejoicing with others that you might see are your competition? Lastly, are there enemies in your life that you’re demonstrating mercy and love to? These are the questions that we need to answer as we come to this time of invitation today we ask that you stand as we sing. You may just want to be thinking through the message you may want to pray and after that if you’ll remain standing for our benediction. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the word that you have given us today. We come to you, Father, in weakness of being unable to do what you ask of us. But we thank you that your spirit is available if we are willing to empower us to live out our lives in this way in regard to the least, the competition and our enemies. In your son’s name we pray. Amen. Will you stand with us.