Cool To God, Not So Cool to Us
(Luke 18:1-14, Matt. 20:1-16)
INTRO
1. It amazes me how little has changed in the teen world since I was a teen. I reached the age of 20 in the Fall of 1976, by the way.
2. The music doesn’t sound much different, except for rap---which is not new; it is simply old music with the melody missing.
3. Even many of the slang terms are the same. When I was a teen, something neater than neat was “cool.” Now same word is used, only pronounced differently, “kuh-el”; we’ve gone from one syllable to two.
4. God also thinks some things are cool
5. Today, we will examine three parables, each of which reveals a quality that God thinks is cool.
MAIN IDEA: God’s Idea of Cool Sometimes Surprises Us. Sometimes what is cool to God is not so cool to us. We must learn to understand God’s way of thinking and adjust our minds to tune in with His revealed will.
TS-------------------Let’s note three qualities that are so essential that Jesus invests time to teach a parable about each one.
I. God Thinks Pereserverance Is Cool, But That Means We Need to Learn to Audaciously Pereservere (Luke 18:1-8)
1. Many Christians do not accept the idea that God wants us to pester Him, to boldly ask Him for what we think is right….
(1) we do have to accept God’s sovereign will….resignation
(2)Jesus encourages to do so almost daringly….NT in Greek, but they spoke Hebrew…probably used Hebrew word “Chutpah” for “bothering…”
(3)It took nerve for this lady to keep perstering the judge…
There’s a story about a businessman dining in a fancy restaurant when he spotted Lee Iacocco by the phone booth. “Mr. Iacocca,” he said, “You are the American business hero. I’ve studied your career and any success I’ve had I owe completely to you. Would you do me a favor? I’m with some colleagues. Could you please come by my table and say, “Hello, Harry,” and let me introduce you to them? It would mean so much to me.” Iacocca agreed. He waited for the man to sit down and then walked toward his table. One of the men sitting at Harry’s table said, “I don’t believe it! There’s Lee Iacocca and he’s heading this way!” Iacocca came up to the table and said, “Hello, Harry. Introduce me to your friends.” Harry looked at him impatiently and said, “Come back later, Lee. We’re trying to have lunch.”
2. Abraham bargained with God; Jacob wrestled; Moses kept talking Him out of destroying Israel….God loves it when we haggle with Him…(Psalms)
3. God is not like this judge, in that God is Just (7)….but the lesson of the parable is given for us in 18:1
4. Because God thinks perserverance is cool, we have to learn to perservere
(1) it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful…
(2) perserverance is the key to Christian maturity…growing OVER time…
5. And the point here: perserverance is key to prayer (maybe all our lives..)
We must learn to understand God’s way of thinking and adjust our minds to tune in with His revealed will. You don’t have to like it, though.
II. Humility Is Cool, But That Means God Expects Us to Face Who We Really Are (Luke 18:9-14)
1. Humility is not putting yourself down when you believe otherwise; it is not exaggerating your sins….humility is facing the reality of who you are in contrast to God’s Holy Character…
(1) Isaiah the prophet—one of the holiest men of all time…”Woe is me..”
(2) humility comes when we have an accurate picture of our souls and we compare ourselves not to one another, but to God and His standard of perfection.
(3) humble people do not put themselves down to others, but they do assess themselves before God…
(4) in my opinion, this is the heart of what worship is: realiging ourselves…
2. Background….standing in the courtyard…morning/evening sacrifices
3. Two men express their hearts before God….
(1) Pharisee: fasted 2X, gave 10%, did good, avoided evil…
---what he did was fine, but he was comparing himself to others—he was a sinner in need of salvation but did not face the ugliness of his sin…
(2) Tax-collector: a corrupt man who was ready to repent….He did not ask for mercy with an intent to keep up his evil ways….
---He knew he was lost and needed a Savior…
4. Lot’s of discussion today about phoney conversions..
(1) the Gospel is not too easy….
(2) the problem is that people need to sense they are lost before they are willing to get saved….you’ve got millions of people out there comparing themselves to others, thinking they are ok with God….if they could only see how Holy God is and how far they fall short…many are like the Pharisees, good people who help others…
5. What this means is simple: we have to get God’s perspective, that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (we forget 99% of the wrongs we do)…
6. Then, in repentance, we believe Christ’s death paid our sin bill…and we turn to Him as our atoning sacrifice…
We must learn to understand God’s way of thinking and adjust our minds to tune in with His revealed will.
III. Extravagant Grace Is Cool, But That Means We Must Live With A God Who Seems to Be Unfair (Matt. 20:1-16)
1. As Americans, we confuse equality with fairness…
2. My sister does my income taxes for me…she doesn’t charge me anything…her other clients are charged….is that unfair? NO. It is unequal? Yes.
3. Here is the parable:
(1) a rich farmer needs farmhands…goes to the city gate and hires some guys at 6AM, promises them 1 denarius…
(2) returns at 9am., finds more; 12 noon, 3pm., and finally 5pm.—no questions asked—just happy to make what they can that late
(3) day ends at 6pm—pay time…guys who only work one hour get 1 denarius…others are eager—think they’ll get more…disappointed…
4. Lesson: God is good to all, but He is better to some than others….
(1) good to all—common grace (God owes man nothing)
(2) varying levels of grace….
(3) this applies to salvation, as well; some of us were pretty nasty before we were saved, others of us were pretty decent….but equally saved…
5. We do not like this about God sometimes; like the brother of the Prodigal Son, we can be out for our pound of flesh…But God Loves to be gracious/ (generous)
6. We can also be tempted to be envious when God is gracious to others but not as gracious to us (cf. vs. 15).
7. We, too, must learn to be gracious. Because I was cheated out of something in life does not mean I want to cheat my kids or siblings out of it. Because I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth does not mean I should resent those who are.l
We must learn to understand God’s way of thinking and adjust our minds to tune in with His revealed will.
CONCLUSION
1. To follow Jesus Christ, we must learn to think like Jesus Christ.
2. His ways are not ours.
3. Many of our values and logic come from our society, but no society is perfectly in tune with God’s word.
4. Audacious perserverance. Harsh honesty with ourselves and our God. Extravagant but uneven grace. We must learn to understand God’s way of thinking and adjust our minds to tune in with His revealed will.
