A RADICAL, REVOLUTIONARY, REDEEMED LIFE
Why Jesus came pt. 4
Phil Schaefer
9/06/09
Key Scripture: Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. (the lost ..esv.)
I. Four stories
- As Luke is closing out this section of his gospel, He gives us four encounters that play against each other;
1. Story 1- Luke 18:15 – The children and babies. The disciples rebuked the people for bringing babies to Jesus. The babies represent the unimportant, the insignificant.
2. Story 2- Luke 18-18 - The rich young ruler. He walked away from Jesus because
He had great wealth. He is the self-directed person. He is us when we are in that
place where we are setting our own course; even as to how far we will let Jesus in.
3. Story 3- Luke 18:35- Blind Bartimaeus, a beggar. He cried out, “Jesus have
mercy on me!” and the crowd rebuked Him. He is the have nothing, desperate
person. He is us, when all we can do is cry out, “Lord have mercy on me! ! 4. Story 4- Like 19:1- Zacchaeus. He is the despised person, the have-plenty; the one who knows he is a sinner and so do others.
II. Jesus sought to revolutionize, to radicalize, and to redeem a person’s life.
- To revolutionize- to create complete change in that person’s behavior, to alter them radically
- To radicalize- to go to the very core (the root) of a person, to produce a radical change in one’s motivations.
- To redeem, to buy back; to get back, to set free; to restore to favor. To know who you belong to.
- Jesus came to change your whole life; your perspective, your motivations, the way you see life, and the way you live life.
- A changed behavior, a different motivation, and a completely different perspective.
- To bring a person to the place where they go from crying out, “I need a redeemer!” to “I have a redeemer!”
- The first sign of hope is the admission that we have a need.
III. Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost.
- You can be born in the church: give your heart to Jesus at age 8: get baptized at 7: sing in the choir: know the language; know all the right religious phrases etc.
- But what you don’t know is that Jesus came to revolutionize your life, on the outside: to radicalize your life- on the inside, and to redeem your life.- to cause you to deeply know you belong to Him. Or to put it another way…
- Jesus came to mess up your plans, reverse your motivations, and to give you a totally different life than what you planned or thought you could pull off.
- He came to reveal how far God is willing to go, and has gone, to seek you out and to save you.
1.He is going to do it over the course of your whole life. Not just in some moment in time, ie, “I got saved when I was twelve.” but in every nook and cranny of your life.
2.Story of a woman who had been in the church all her life, and in her 60’s came to a realization that she just got saved, and said,” I must be baptized.” (out of desperation) Jesus totally revolutionized her life and relationship with God.
3. Terry Breidenstein- Been in the church many years and just recently came into a real love of the word of God.
4. Young people who have grown up in the church and have played all the church games that church kids play. Where ‘we’re kinda-sorta moral; we’re kinda-sorta following Jesus.’
- What we need to know, not to scare us- but to awaken us, to warn us:
- God is not a game.
- God is not playing a game.
- More than God hating our sin, God hates that we are lost.
- God hates that our view of Him is so distorted.
IV. We’ve settled for less
- We’ve settled for less of what God wants for us.
1.We’ve settled for an unsatisfying marriage; a frustrated level of parenting, work we hate, people who irritate us and we tolerate it. He made us a little lower than gods, while our highest ambition is to be a little above the Joneses.
1.We become more comfortable with our insecurity, with our sense of failure,
with how far we are willing to let Jesus into our hearts. We actually fight and
defend for less than what Jesus wants for us.(I guess this as good as it gets.)
B. So when Jesus one day comes along and starts peeling away all of our facades,
C. It should be, (like Zacchaeus) “Jesus came to me. He called out my name. He invited Himself into my house. He made everyone around me confused and questioning. I said, “Come in Lord, and the next thing I know my life is turned up-side down. I’m giving my stuff away, I’m making amends with everyone. Jesus gave me a hope, a new start. He came seeking me, He found me in a mess. He grabbed my heart.” He meets us.
V. What’s Important?
- We think in terms of what’s my passion? What’s important to me? What’s in it for me, instead of what’s on God’s heart”
- We surround our selves with others who have similar passion. That can be dangerous because it can lead to our only wanting to be around people who care about what we think is important and who we think is important.
- Jesus gives us this hint that the most radical thing you can do is work in the nursery. (Luke 18:15) Clean the bathroom, vacuum the building. Pray for others. Serve God’s people. God loves the sheep who He watches over.
- Kyrsten- re International Justice Ministry- What made a deep impression on her was these very professional people in business suits who were on their faces crying out to God to show mercy on the oppressed.
- Beth Moore- Her staff on their faces praying for people they don’t know and likely won’t meet, but they want God to touch them.
- What is it:
- that causes you to get on your face?
- that He is doing in your life that makes you realize, “With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- that makes you cry out, “God have mercy on me, Jesus, have mercy on me”?
- that makes you say, “I will give whatever I can and whenever I can, and whatever I have, because of what the Lord has done for me”?
Jesus came to radically revolutionize and redeem your life, and He is going to use everything in your life to accomplish that end until your last breath. With every encounter He adds more hope, more understanding of His compassion, of His great forgiveness, and of His great desires for you.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost.”
Discussion Questions:
Do you more readily identify with the 1,)The babies and children- the unimportant, the insignificant 2) The Rich young ruler- the have enough, self-directed person, 3)The Blind beggar- the have nothing, desperate person, or 4). Zacchaeus- the have plenty, despised person who is a sinner and knows it.? Give reason why you identify this way.
In what ways has Jesus radically revolutionized and redeemed your life.
If you had first heard the statement that Jesus came to change your whole life; your perspective; your motivations; the way you see yourself; the way you see life; and the way you live life, would you have so easily prayed to receive Him into your hear?
Have you invited Jesus into your whole house, and stood ready to change or get rid of everything, inside& out, for the sake of having a deeper relationship with Him? What are some specific things He is speaking to you about?
