Luke 9:37-50 True Greatness – or Three Lessons in Failure
For a number of years I have been blessed by attending the Global Leadership Summit in Chicago. Around 50,000 church leaders participate, either on site, or by satellite around the world. I invite you to attend with me a replay of this year’s Summit on the weekend 28-29th September at the Kerith Centre in Bracknell. This year the speakers will include former US President Jimmy Carter. In 2000, I was in Chicago when Bill Hybels invited the then US President, Bill Clinton to be interviewed. Bill Hybels was heavily criticised by some church leaders for extending the invitation and for even allowing Clinton into his church. I think he was courageous to do so.
You can read the transcript here..
We are in the business of restoration not retribution. I’ll leave that to Jesus. The next time you are tempted to throw a stone, remember the story in John’s gospel of the woman caught in adultery. “Let any one of you who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7) It was very moving to hear Clinton share with honesty and candour his guilt and sorrow for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. He described how his grandmother had once told him as a boy that he could be a preacher if he was a better boy. When asked whether his church attendance was just for show, he said he thought he had demonstrated why he needed to be in church. Bill Hybels justified the interview by saying that we have much to learn from fallen leaders as from those whose sins are still private.
Looking back over the last 30 years, I have to say the most memorable if painful lessons I have learnt, have been from my mistakes. Like the day I accused two men of aggressive driving only to discover they were plain clothes police officers following me… Most embarrassing. I’m not paranoid now but I have found it improves my driving if I imagine I am being followed.
Then there was the day I lost one of our daughters in a crowded Guildford High Street for half an hour. It was my worst nightmare. Or the night we sent two
of them as teenagers on holiday to Greece only to discover they were not on the
flight we had intended and they didn’t know it either. That time, thankfully,
the British Consulate found them. The most humorous occasion was turning up at
a fancy dress party dressed as a vicar because I was too tired to change. It
made for an interesting evening. I heard more colourful confessions that night
than I have ever since. I must try it again. They stay with you don’t they?
Lessons learnt the hard way. And if we are stubborn that is the only way we
will learn them.
But the best lessons are those we don’t have to learn the hard way. And in our gospel reading today we can learn at least three at the expense of the disciples. Please turn to Luke 9:37-50 with me. Three Lessons in Failure.
1. The Failure to Trust – A Lack of Prayer
2. The Failure to Understand – A Lack of Teachableness
3. The Failure to Serve – A Lack of Humility
1. The Failure to Trust – A Lack of Prayer
“The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.” “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.” (Luke 9:37-43a)
Who is Jesus speaking to? Possibly the crowds but certainly not the father of this poor child. Most likely Jesus has his eyes on the nine disciples he had left at the bottom of the mountain.
The same thing had happened at the well in Samaria. He sent them into the town to buy food. Did they tell anyone about Jesus? Noooo – they were just surprised to return and find him talking to a local woman. She is the one who urges the local people to come and meet Jesus. What was their failure on this occasion? They had failed to heal this boy. Why? Jesus had only recently given them power and authority to do so:
“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Luke 9:1-2)
What does Jesus attribute to their failure? Unbelief. “You unbelieving and perverse generation.” The phrase is a quote from Deuteronomy 32:5 where the word is translated ‘crooked’ meaning a generation that has strayed from walking on the right path. This is pretty strong language. But then Jesus knew their hearts – and as we shall see in a moment, he had good reason for they had strayed in other ways. How do we explain their failure? Mark’s account gives us a clue “This kind can come out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29). Perhaps in the absence of Jesus and their leaders, Peter, James and John, the other disciples did not pray and ask God to deliver this boy. Jesus rebukes them for unbelief because he has already given them power and authority to do so. He expected them obey in his absence and to exercise his delegated authority and pray for God’s power to be demonstrated. The failure to serve – a lack of Prayer. Application? James has not gone up a mountain but he has gone to Cheshire and he is not coming back. And Mark and Megan return to the US tomorrow. How will we respond?
Are we going to wait until the Lord sends us successors for James and Mark or
are we going to get on and serve the people of Virginia Water with the
spiritual gifts and the delegated authority Jesus has given to each one of us?
It is so easy to become overly dependent on leaders and never grow up. Never exert our spiritual muscles in service.
And what about prayer? They were powerless because they were prayerless. We pray in our homegroups and Sunday services. We offer prayer after our services in the Tower. We encourage you to use the church’s quarterly prayer guide and the one from CARE Trust. There are prayer topics in the weekly news and e-news. But what we presently lack is an opportunity to come together as a church family specifically to pray. And that is one of the primary reasons for starting our monthly 1st Wednesday evenings – starting this Wednesday – for prayer, fellowship and teaching. Leaders are expected, home groups and members are anticipated and visitors are welcome. If on this occasion, the demon could only be expelled by prayer, what other demons, literal or figurative will be removed as we take prayer more seriously as a church? See you Wednesday at 8:00pm. Let us learn the lesson of their failure to serve and not repeat it. The Failure to Serve – A Lack of Prayer
2. The Failure to Understand – A Lack of Teachableness
“While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be delivered over to human hands.” But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.” (Luke 9:43b-45)
This is not the first time Jesus has explained that he must die. As soon as they had recognized him as the Messiah, the Son of God, he had explained that he would be rejected by the elders, crucified and raised from the dead on the third day.
They had all witnessed his rebuke of Peter for doubting the necessity of his death in our place. There is no Plan B. Here there is added intensity, “Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you… The Son of Man is going to be delivered over to human hands.” But they did not understand what this meant.
A superficial reading would suggest that it was not their fault. In Matthew’s
account, however, we are told that they were ‘filled with grief” (Matthew
17:23). Here Luke adds “they were afraid to ask him about it.” (Luke 9:45). In
other words, as Darrell Bock says “They got the message”, but they could not
comprehend how this could be part of God’s will. This is why the voice of God
had insisted on the Mount of Transfiguration, “This is my Son, whom I have
chosen; listen to him.” (Luke 9:35).
The exasperation Jesus displays over their failure to heal this boy is explicable if he has in mind not only their failure to trust him but also their failure to understand. Not only their lack of Prayer but also their lack of teachableness. They knew they didn’t understand him. They had questions but they were too embarrased to ask him. Did Jesus want them to understand?
Of course he did? It was a self-imposed ignorance. Hardening of the viewpoints is far more lethal than hardening of the arteries. For many years I lived without hearing aids. Sometimes when I didn’t understand what was being said, I bluffed it, and it got me into trouble sometimes.
On one occasion, after a service a lady began to explain all that was wrong with Christ Church and why she was leaving and I said “thank you” and walked away. When she wrote to the Bishop I realised I needed to get hearing aids. It was a self imposed ignorance – until I did something about it. Application? Does Jesus want us to understand his will for our lives? Do you think he want us to understand the Bible? Of course he does! Do you have unanswered questions? I bet you do. Are you too embarrassed to ask? That is why we hosting Christianity Explored on Thursday nights – starting this week. Let me give you a taster….
If you have not yet been to Christianity Explored it is an essential introduction to knowing and following Jesus. That is also why we host twelve fortnightly small groups that meet to study, understand and live by the Bible. They are the best way to get to know God’s word and find ways to apply it practically. If you are not presently a member, talk to Paul or me and we will link you up with one.
The disciples failed to understand Jesus because they lacked teachableness. Lets learn from their failure to understand and not repeat it. The Failure to Serve – A Lack of Prayer. The Failure to Understand – A Lack of Teachableness.
3. The Failure to Serve – A Lack of Humility
“An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For whoever is least among you all is the greatest.” “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:46-50)
Just before this we are told that “everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did.” (Luke 9:43). See the link? Jesus was proving very popular and after all they were his disciples. Their failure to heal the boy and their inability to understand Jesus didn’t stop them arguing over who was the greatest…
And so for a third time Jesus has to rebuke them gently. How? By taking a child and have him stand beside Jesus – closer in fact to Jesus than the disciples. Notice Jesus does not lift up the child to their level but expects them look down to the child beside him. “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For whoever is least among you all is the greatest.” (Luke 9:48). Why does Jesus use a child? Because a child, though small, is nevertheless a human being, created in the image and likeness of God. Jesus urges his followers to emulate the child-like trust and dependence of the young. Were they too important to deal with children? Then they were too self-important. How you treat a child says a lot about the way you treat Jesus.
I am not exaggerating when I say that our children’s ministry is our most important ministry here at Christ Church. How we view and how we treat children is a barometer of our spiritual state as a church as much as it is of us as individuals. In God’s kingdom those regarded as the least in this world are in fact the greatest. Did the disciples get the point? It doesn’t look like it…
“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:46-50)
Get your head round this. They had been unable to cast out a demon, for lack of prayer and faith, so now they try and stop someone who can! They complain about him to Jesus.
This is called a deflecting tactic and we do it all the time. When made aware of our own failings, we point to those failings of someone else. We may not express our aspirations to titles and positions so explicitly or crudely as the disciples did here but remember, Jesus knows our thoughts too. What matters is not position but function. We are all servants. Servants of Jesus and accountable to him and him alone.
If you do not yet serve on one of our teams, please pick up the Servanthood leaflet and talk to Lesley about some of our serving opportunities. It may be easier to moan and complain about how others serve but what matters most is our own.
That is why we set aside Thursday nights as our training night. Training in discipleship. Training for service.
Besides Christianity Explored, we are also hosting several other courses starting this Thursday – Discipleship Explored is designed for those who want to find out more about following Jesus. Paul is leading our Becoming a Contagious Christian course to help us learn how to share our faith. Glen is leading a course designed to help us understand people biblically.
This morning we have considered three failures made by the disciples. Lets learn from them and not repeat them.
The Failure to Serve – A Lack of Prayer.
The Failure to Understand – A Lack of Teachableness.
The failure to serve – a lack of Humility.
This morning we have also been thinking about our own failures, and I am sure you would agree we have many.But remember failing does not make you a failure.
Thomas Edison ‘failed’ thousands of times before he succeeded in finding the right elements to create the electric light bulb. His attitude was “I haven’t failed. I now know thousands of ways that don’t work.” So don’t be discouraged by your failures. Instead of blaming or complaining, learn from them and you will grow through them to be come more like Jesus. Focus on your future, and let God guide you through his Spirit in you, through his word with you and his church around you.
Let us pray, Dear Heavenly Father, make me faithful, make me teachable and keep me humble. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.