The Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12:13-21

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

¹⁴Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" ¹⁵Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

¹⁶And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

¹⁸"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

²⁰"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

²¹"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Introduction

I believe many of you have heard stories of people hiding their money under pillows, within old news papers, inside reams of window curtains, or even underneath flower pots.

One of my missionary friends told me a real story that happened to a lady from her English as Second Language classes many years ago.

The lady kept $7000 buds in her pyjamas to avoid being stolen just in case a break in took place.

One day, she decided to clear some of her old clothes by putting them into those charity bins (not sure Anglicare or Vinnies’ bin).

Only months later this lady recalled the incident, but too late, her $7000 is gone with the pyjamas and had no way to trace.

Another story was told of a rich man who was walking alone at a market.

When he saw people were enjoying food and conversation, he felt even lonelier.

He has a 7 en-suite bedroom bungalow with gold plated taps in every bath.

He has huge garden, backyard, garages and of course few luxury cars.

Yet there is always lack of genuine trust and love within the members of his family.

Another story happened in the State.

One day an ordinary man became a millionaire by luck.

Many people started to befriend him because they coveted his money.

Tiring with entertaining these people, he sighed and said that it would be better if the clock could turn back and regain his normal life as an ordinary man.

The story does not stop there.

For months, his family did not see him thinking that he might have gone for a holiday. But one day the police came to inform them of the bad news.

He was murdered by a couple who transferred his money into their bank account, knocked him down and buried his body under the floor of their house.

I can keep on telling you stories after stories about how evil can do to a person or a family if we do not know how to deal with it.

Money is not evil. But as 1Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grieves.”

1. The background

Luke 12:13-21 marks one of the important teachings and warnings of Christ for his followers on His journey towards Jerusalem, fulfilling God’s plan to save mankind through His death on the cross.

Jesus warned them not to be entangled with the worries of worldly possession but rather be on their guard against all kinds of greed.

To illustrate this, Jesus told them a parable of the rich fool who had gathered so many crops eventually he demolished the old ones and built new barns to store them.

Satisfying with what he has, he said to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” (Luke 12:19)

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' (Luke 12:20)

After the telling the parable, Jesus continued to challenge his followers--

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:21)

2. What does it mean to store up things for himself?

‘To store up things’ has to do with the purpose and meaning of life.

We need to ask ourselves who do we live for?

What is the purpose of our lives?

Will we take life easy, eat, drink and be merry?

The author of Ecclesiastes has described human life as nothing new under the sun.

Everything seems meaningless and vain.

That is the phenomenon of life away from the eternal God.

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), a French mathematician, physicist and theologian once described that there is a vacuum liked space deep down in our hearts. Nothing in this world is able to fill up this emptiness except by an infinite and immutable object, in other words by God himself.

Ernest Hemingway, a well known mid 20^th century Noble Prize winner writer.

In his book ‘The Old Man and The Sea’, he described life as full of struggles and toils which ends up helpless.

In 1959 Hemingway moved from Cuba to Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in the summer of 1961, ended his life that at one time full of glory and fame, at the other time ill with turmoil and frustrations.

No wonder Paul urged the people in Colossi to set their hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (Col 3:1).

To be specific, what are the things of this world?

The following words of Paul to the Colossians might give us some clues about the things of this world.

Paul said, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Col 3:5-10)

It is worth to note that Paul described evil desires and greed is idolatry.

The term ‘evil desires’ in Greek is πλεονεξία (pleonexia) means covetousness, wanting to have more or the will to have more (for example a larger portion, advantage, superiority).

Its plural sense includes covetous thoughts, plans of fraud and extortion.

In other words, πλεονεξία (pleonexia) means a desire of having more, more than God in his providence has allotted us.

It was not a lawful desire of getting his own, but a sinful desire of getting more than his own.

3. What are the lessons?

Here we could learn at least two lessons:

a. Invest your treasures in heaven.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mat 6:19-21)

b. Be contented what you have.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Mat 6:25-27)

Conclusion

When I think of eternity, I think of what would we see in heaven.

The children may say, “Oh yes, we will see all the rabbits and roses!”

Some may say, “May be we will see the dinosaurs!”

Whatever it will be, we will see two eternal ‘items’ in heaven:

a. The first one is ‘human beings’.

Human beings are temporal in the world but for those who are in Christ will live eternally in heaven.

If you invest your possessions, be it money or talents, and bring a single soul to Christ, that is eternal investment.

In an interview, Rick Warren, the author of “Purpose driven life”, described life is preparation for eternity.

He said, “We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity.

This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense….”

He continued, “The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort;

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.

The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness….”

Dealing with his more than 15 million copies of “Purpose Driven Life” sold and the money coming in,

Rick Warren had this to say, “I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence.

He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit..

We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year (2006?), I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free….”

What an amazing life investment.

b. The second eternal object in heaven is the ‘Word of God’.

Similarly, if you invest in the study of God’s Word, it is an eternal investment because the word of God will never cease.

Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Mat 24:35).

We need to start memorising God’s Word and mediated over them.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2Tim 3:16-17)

The Psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105).

Without the Word of God, we will fail to see the direction.

Without the Word of God, we will not have absolute truth for our judgement.

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. (Psalm 14:1)

Do not be a fool.

Read the Word of God.

I thank God for being able to serve at Granville for the past month.

I see so many talented people offering their time, Money and effort in building this body of Christ.

May I congratulate you for all these.

May God help each of us continue to press on for God’s glory and honour.

The Parable of Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

²⁵On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

²⁶"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

²⁷He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'"

²⁸"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

²⁹But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?"

³⁰In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³²So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

³⁶"Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"

³⁷The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Introduction

We lived in a slum area when I was a boy in the 60’s.

One day, the government decided to develop the whole slum area and turn it into a soccer field for a school nearby.

We were forced to leave the place and set up our homes in another slum area.

Unfortunately, the house we built was pulled down by mobs employed by some politicians.

We had to rebuilt the house again and again for it was pulled down by the mobs three times.

We were forced to stay in a storeroom of a relative for a few months before we could build another house.

This time, we were not afraid of the mobs because we were surrounded by good neighbours.

However, we were worried about being caught by the policemen because we were trying to build a small hut illegally for a family of nine.

We tried to build the hut under the cover of darkness during the night.

One day, before the hut was completed, a policeman came to visit.

Our parents were out earning a living.

My sister, 5 years older than me, became really worried that the policeman will report to the authority and have our yet to complete hut torn down.

While we were shaking from fear, the young and handsome policeman gave us a smile which conveyed a friendly message.

After chatting with us a short while, he started to help us put some bits together for the hut, and left not long after.

We never saw him again.

When I became a Christian about 10 years later, I recalled this incident and truly gave thanks to God for sending such a kind man out of the blue, not to add burden to a could be homeless family, but to help and assure them there is always hope in times of difficulty.

I do not know if the policeman was a Christian.

But I did pray to the Lord to bring him one day into God’s kingdom through Christ’s salvation.

He was truly a good neighbour everyone hopes to have.

The passage we have just read is a parable told by our Lord, the Good Samaritan.

1. The background

On Jesus’ way towards Jerusalem, the Samaritans rejected to provide for Jesus and his disciples.

Two of Jesus’ disciples were furious and wanted to call fire from heaven to burn the Samaritans.

Jesus rebuked the disciples for not knowing what they have said.

Jesus and his disciples went on their way.

Many people wanted to follow Him but had many excuses and could not commit themselves.

Here we see a lawyer wanted to know the way to eternal life.

He asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Knowing that he is an expert in the law, Jesus asked him whether he knows the law.

True enough, this lawyer gave an absolute correct answer:

“'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbour as yourself.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?"

In reply, Jesus told him this famous parable of the Good Samaritan.

2. A wrong question with right answer

It is worth noting that the lawyer asked a wrong question with a wrong motive to test the Lord.

He asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Can anyone do anything in order to obtain eternal life?

Certainly not!

We are very clear that eternal life is a gift from God.

We are saved by grace and through faith alone.

Whatever we do cannot make us any different from being a sinner.

The wages of sin is death. (Rom 6:23)

There is no other way.

Yet, when Christ died for us on the cross and bore our sins, we are set free.

Whoever believes in Christ shall have eternal life.

Not whoever does good to gain God’s favour.

Unless Christ paid the penalty for us, we will not be saved.

Jesus also claimed that he is the only way, only truth and only life. Not one goes to the Father except through Jesus. (John 16:4)

3. Why Did Jesus ask him to observe the Law?

Jesus asked whether he knew the law.

The lawyer answered that he does.

That is behaviour of a true follower of Christ: to love God and others.

A true follower of Christ will not only believe but also act.

As James mentions, faith without action is dead.(James 2:26)

Faith and action are like the two paddles of a boat.

If you only row a paddle, the boat will go round and round.

For all who claimed to be Christians, their love towards God should not remain as lip service.

Tangible love is to be performed in real human sense.

The priest and the Levite who claimed to know the Law well, they don’t know God.

They did not have an intimate relationship with God.

They know the surface of the Law but not the insight of it.

They may be practicing religions well but have no true love.

We need to make some points here: there are people who show genuine love to others and yet are not themselves followers of Christ.

On the other side of the balance, there are people who follow Christ and do not show genuine love to others.

As true and genuine followers of Christ, how should we behave then?

Conclusion

1. Do not misunderstand the words of Christ and think like the lawyer that he could be saved by observing God’s law even the law of love.

Jesus told him to do according to the law and live.

Obviously the law is for us to live.

It is a common law for all to observe in order to bring harmony to the neighbourhood.

To follow Christ is the only way to eternity.

No matter how hard we work, without God’s grace, our works will be all in vain.

Abraham was saved by grace.

Moses was saved by grace.

There is no exception.

Our good deeds, however, are witnesses for Christ who saved us.

People will be drawn to Christ when they see good deeds.

Let us therefore show our genuine love towards people around us.

2. This parable is applicable to another purpose and does excellently set forth the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards sinful miserable man like each of us.

As Matthew Henry puts it,

We were like this poor distressed traveller.

Satan, our enemy, had robbed us, stripped us, wounded us;

such is the mischief that sin had done us.

We were by nature more than half dead.

We were twice dead in trespasses and sins;

We were utterly unable to help ourselves, for we were without strength.

The law of Moses, like the priest and Levite, the ministers of the law, looks upon us, but has no compassion on us, gives us no relief, passes by on the other side, as having neither pity nor power to help us;

but then comes the blessed Jesus, that good Samaritan, he has compassion on us, he binds up our bleeding wounds (Ps. 147:3; Isa. 61:1), pours in, not oil and wine, but that which is infinitely more precious, his own blood.

He takes care of us and pays the bills;

He owes us nothing. Yet for our sake, he came to rescue us from the power of sin and death.

This magnifies the riches of his love, and obliges us all to say, "How much are we indebted, and what shall we render?"

It is my prayer today that all of us here experience Christ’s love ourselves.

Knowing that we cannot save ourselves just as no one and nothing can, let us turn to the merciful God.

Acknowledging our helplessness is the beginning of our salvation.

Ask the Lord for help if you wish to turn from your evil ways.

There is power, wonder working power, in the precious blood of the Lamb.

Jesus Sends out the Seventy-two

Luke 10

¹After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ²He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.³Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

⁵"When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' ⁶If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. ⁷Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

⁸"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. ⁹Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' ¹⁰But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ¹¹'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.'

--

¹⁶"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."

¹⁸He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.²⁰However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Introduction

The gospel passage we have just read is part of the record of Jesus’ ministry on his way to Jerusalem.

After his ministry at Galilee, Jesus and his disciples were heading to Jerusalem to fulfil God’s purpose.

God’s will for Jesus was to sacrifice himself for the purpose of saving all humankinds from the damnation of sins and errors.

Here we see Jesus gathered his followers and sent them 2 by 2 to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Before sending these preachers, Jesus reminded them that they were sent like lambs among wolves.

He also charged them with clear instructions, such as not to bring along too much stuffs but to trust on God’s providence.

The preachers were to greet no one on the way but to address peace to those who receive them.

They were to preach that the Kingdom of God is at hand and urge people to repent.

Whoever listens to the preachers, listen to Christ.

Whoever accepts Christ, accepts God the Father.

Today, I want to highlight 3 things which we hope to learn from this passage.

1. The preachers of God

First of all, let us take note of these preachers sent by Jesus.

a. They were sent by Jesus in divine appointment. They were not chosen by balloting process. They were elected not by nomination from human effort.

b. They were sent 2 by 2 and not to work alone. They support each other and provide protection and encouragement.

c. The duty of the preachers was to gather the harvest of souls. The shortage of preachers and evangelists has been the case in every age in the history of the church of God. It never had enough of workers for the Gospel. So we need to pray to God to send more workers into the field.

d. They were charged to live in simplicity and should not worry about the daily needs and cares. Believing that God will surely provide through his people if not through miracles like those days in the desert where the Israelites received manna and quails. The preachers were urged not to be calculative but be dependent on God’s provision.

e. The preachers were urged to leave their comfort zones. They were sent to unpleasant places like lambs among the wolves. They were sent for challenging tasks. Throughout the history of the church of God, for the gospel’s sake, many people were killed. As recorded in Acts 7, the first martyr was Stephen.

f. The preachers were asked not to greet people on their way. Not that Christ would have his preachers to be rude, morose, and unmannerly. It is an analogy illustrating the preachers must hold on to a mentality of urgency in preaching the word of God as though a person is about to meet a person who is still on his mourning period.

2. The message

Secondly let us look at the message the preachers were to preach.

The message was simple and yet essential: “The Kingdom of God is near!”

“repent and believe the good news” are the extra wordings spoken by Jesus recorded in Mark 1:15.

The good news is summarised in Luke 4:18-19

¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

The year of the Lord’s favour is the year of Jubilee where the slaves are set free.

In Christ we are set free from the power of sins and darkness.

In Christ we are free from the power of death and able to obtain eternal life.

In Christ we have victory overall evil forces which enmity to God’s rules.

3. The power

The preachers were sent with the power of Christ.

They were to heal the sick and set people free from demons.

That was not power of modern technology.

That was not the so called untapped human psychic power or whatever you name it.

It was the pure power of God demonstrated in Christ’s name.

Luke 10 ¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."

Christ confirmed that Satan is defeated.

Christ confirmed he had granted us authority overcoming the enemy.

Most of all Christ confirmed the joyous thing of all is to see our names are written in heaven.

Conclusion

Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he had chosen not just the 12 disciples to accomplish his tasks spreading the gospel.

Here we see 70 (or 72) were chosen and sent.

When Jesus was taken up to heaven, 500 brethren witness his ascension.

When the Holy Spirit came, 120 followers were gathered at the upper room.

All these proved that Jesus had many followers.

After the persecution, as recorded in Acts 8, the followers, except the 12 apostles, were scattered to other places and eventually brought many people to Christ.

Today, after centuries of preaching and mission, we become one of the spiritual outcomes.

We received this blessing from many who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the gospel.

Let us continue to grasp this privilege in sharing the good news of Christ.

We have a message to tell.

We have Christ’s power with us.

And most of all we experience God’s love in Christ where we are set free from the bondage of sins and errors.

May God bless each of us.

Following Christ

Introduction

The passages and stories:

Luke 9:51-56 (Samaritan opposition) & 9:57-62 (The cost of following Jesus)

Luke 9:51-56 (Samaritan opposition)

[⁵¹As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" ⁵⁵But Jesus turned and rebuked them, ⁵⁶and they went to another village.]

Luke 9:51 marks the beginning of Christ’s journey to Jerusalem after His ministries at Galilee.

Immediately he faced opposition from the Samaritans.

The Samaritans rejected Christ because of the historical background where the Jewish and Samaritans could not meet face to face.

Both the Jews and Samaritans claimed to be the pure blood descendants of Abraham.

They argued on whether Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim was the right place to worship God (John 4).

When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

Some scripts have “even as Elijah did” added. (KJV And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?)

(Amplified Bible: And when His disciples James and John observed this, they said, Lord, do You wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did ? )

The story linked way back to 2Kings 1, where King Ahaziah consulted foreign gods and idols and did not respect the LORD.

Elijah called fire and consumed the 102 people sent by the king.

Jesus’ disciples asked the LORD to do the same.

Instead, Jesus rebuked them and continued their journey.

Obviously the Son of Man comes not to judge but to save.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

He was facing towards Jerusalem the place where he was to suffer and die before being taken into glory.

(Luke 19: 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.)

The KJV: “55But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”

Amplified Bible: “55But He turned and rebuked and severely censured them. He said, You do not know of what sort of spirit you are, 56For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them [from the penalty of eternal death]. And they journeyed on to another village.”

Luke 9:57-62 (The cost of following Jesus)

[⁵⁷As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." ⁵⁸Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." ⁵⁹He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."⁶⁰Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." ⁶¹ Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." ⁶²Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."]

After the incident, Jesus and his disciples continued their journey to Jerusalem.

On their way, they met a few people.

The first person confidently declared he wanted to follow the Lord wherever he went.

The Lord gave him some challenging words: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

The bible did not tell us whether this first person responded positively.

When Jesus opened his invitation to the second person, he gave an excuse of wanting to bury his father first.

And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury the dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

We are very sure this person gave an excuse as he could have already buried his father.

Still another person wanted to say good bye to his family before following Christ.

And Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the service in the kingdom of God.”

I was told that when a farmer is ploughing his field, he has to be concentrate to avoid distraction.

Once distracted, the plow will go stray and eventually affected the process of planting and harvesting.

Such distracted worker is not fit to work in the field.

It is worth to take note the mission of Christ for his followers is to proclaim the kingdom of God.

And his followers need to be fit to do the works.

Applications

The first story reminds us not to be overjealous in judging others.

The disciples were overjealous and became extremely angry towards the Samaritans.

Remember, God does not need us in his judgement.

If God wants to deal with the Samaritans, God will deal with them in His own terms and not anyone else’s.

Of course it was very unfortunate for the Samaritans who had rejected Christ.

What a blessing to have Christ in our lives?

Christ turned water into wine.

Christ healed and even raised some from death.

Most of all, Christ came to save and serve.

As Christians, we are to share this good news of Christ.

God’s judgment is yet to come.

Before the big day of judgement, our duty is to share the gospel and save as many as we can.

Alongside with all oppositions, including this one from the Samaritans, Christ did not discourage nor gave up.

He set his heart right and clear to fulfil God’s salvation.

Let us also set our hearts right and clear: go tell ye to the mountains that the Lord has come!

From the second story, we learned the cost of following Christ.

We need to count the cost of following Christ.

In many third world countries, following Christ means to give up your rights, your privileges, your freedom and sometimes even your lives.

We also learned that the mission of the followers of Christ is to proclaim the kingdom of God.

The KOG means the government of God in every aspect of human’s lives.

Be it our thoughts, our behaviours, our conducts, our lifestyles, our economy, our politics.

Just as we pray, “Let your kingdom come! Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!”

Another thing is that we need to be fit for the service of the kingdom of God.

Salvation, by all means is free of charge.

We are saved through grace and grace alone.

However, to serve God is more than grace alone.

Yes, by the grace of God, we are called to be the children and servants of God.

But whether we are faithful, counts.

Whether we are fit, counts.

All these faithfulness and fitness count in the matter of following Christ.

May God help us once again, count the cost and follow Christ.

The Presence and Power of Christ

Luke 7:11-17

¹¹Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. ¹²As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. ¹³When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."

¹⁴Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" ¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." ¹⁷This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

INTRODUCTION

All of us have experienced grievances in one way or another.

One of the most severe grievances perhaps is the lost of a dear one.

In the text we have read just now, telling us of a widow sending her only son to be buried.

She had previously lost her husband and now she lost her only son.

Humanly speaking, she has lost her hope and dependence.

This young man who had died believed to be more than 3 years of age.

According to the Jewish custom in those days, a dead child under a month old was carried out in the bosom of a person;

if a full month old, in a little coffin, which they carried in their arms;

one of a twelve month old was carried in a little coffin on the shoulder;

and one of three years old on a bier or bed,

The scripture tells the people were carrying the dead body on a bier.

This indicated that the deceased must be of 3 years of age or older.

If you have ever attended a funeral, you will see different scenario with different people groups.

I have seen funerals where noises of people weeping and religious chantings mixing together.

I have not seen a Jewish funeral before.

But I have seen from news funerals taken place in the Middle East countries.

Those funerals usually are full of outrages with people shouting and weeping, beating their chests and heads.

No matter how, we can imaging the sadness and hopelessness of this poor widow who lost her only son.

CHRIST’S PRESENCE

On the other end of the balance, we see a totally different picture surrounding Jesus Christ.

Prior to what Luke had recorded here,

Jesus healed the centurion’s servant.

We can imagine the feeling of those who were following Jesus then.

They saw with their own eyes the victorious Lord showed his power overcoming illnesses and diseases.

Maybe some of them were still talking about the miraculous signs and wonders they have seen.

They were joyfully following Jesus heading to another town for ministry.

But suddenly when they arrived Naim, they met with this crowd of sorrowful people.

What a contrast!

I remember at one time I conducted a wedding in the morning and a funeral in the afternoon on the same day.

It was hard for me to adjust my feelings.

But the reality is this, we often face different situations and need to adjust ourselves.

When Jesus saw the ban of people who were heading outskirt of the town to bury the dead body,

Jesus first comforted the widow asking her not to cry.

The Greek word ex mero motu express the nature of Christ that full of compassion.

He did not merely showed his love out of sympathy.

He then went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still.

Jesus commanded the young man to get up.

The young man sat up and walked.

Here shows the presence and power of Christ.

In the presence of Christ, there is peace.

In the presence of Christ, there is comfort.

In the presence of Christ, there is power.

The power to free the centurion’s servant from sickness.

The power to free this young man from death.

HOW CAN WE EXPERIENCE CHRIST’S PRESENCE AND POWER?

The widow stopped crying at the master’s call.

The crowd, especially those who were carry the coffin stop moving at the Master’s touch.

The widow did not argue with the Lord saying “who are you to stop me from crying?

You don’t understand.

Previously I lost my husband and now I lost my son.

I have lost my hope.

Nobody understands me.

No one can help me.”

Instead, the widow just stopped crying.

Similarly, those who were carrying the coffin did not argue with the Lord, saying

Who are you to stop us?

We need to carry out our duties to bury this young man.

Instead, the crowd just stopped at the Lord’s instruction.

With this total submission to Christ’s instruction, they experienced miracles.

ALL GAVE GLORY TO GOD

At the end, as v16 & 17 say,

¹⁶They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." ¹⁷This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

In the OT, 2 great prophets had raised the dead.

They were Elijah and Elisha.

The Jews believed, when the time comes for God to revive Israel, a great prophet will come about.

When John the Baptist preaches the gospel, rumours were going round saying that he is the great prophet.

But the news about Christ healing the sick and raising the dead went round many cities, towns and villages, reaching the ears of John the Baptist himself and his followers.

The story continues with John the Baptist sending 2 of his followers querying whether Jesus is the promised Christ.

If we follow on, we realise Jesus did not answer them directly.

Instead, Jesus continued to perform miracles and wonders and then replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard:

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

(Luke 7:22-23)

I think these were the witnesses we are lacking of today!

Let us experience Christ’s presence and power and give all glory and honour unto Him.

Let us speak out for the Lord His goodness and mercy.

Let us testify his transforming power in our lives.

Like the young man who was raised from the dead, let us rise up from the power of sin and calamity.

WHAT IS BORDERING YOU TODAY?

Dear friends,

What is bordering you today?

Do you have failure in your life?

Do you lost your hope in this world?

Are you in the midst of sadness and wandering who could comfort and help you?

Jesus is the answer.

Stop weeping.

Stop questioning and arguing.

Submit yourself to Jesus’ authority.

He will drive away your sadness and cares.

He will grant you comfort and help.

In Christ’s presence, we will experience His power.

With his power, we are able to testify his goodness and mercy.

With his help, we will not weary and weak.

The risen Lord is ever ready to empower us to reach out to the people around us.

Let us continue to preach Christ’s resurrection to reach every single soul in the world.

Let us Preach! Reach! Each!

Amen.