What are Your Plans?

Thank you so much, Alice. With those verses open in front of you, I wonder if we could

have a show of hands. Put your hands up if you made any New Year's resolutions. Okay,

there's more than just one. Come on, hands on the air if we made some New Year's resolutions.

One person in this whole church made New Year's resolutions. Right, well, I was going to get

you to turn to your neighbor and speak about your New Year's resolutions, but we'll just

miss that one, shall we? Here are the top five New Year's resolutions that people in the UK made

last year, and let's see, if you're not going to admit it publicly, let's see if these privately

resonate with us, okay? Top five New Year's resolutions that people made. Number one,

get into shape. Okay, anyone join the gym this year? Used to work with a guy called John in this

church before me who joined the gym every January, and by every February, had given up. Nobody's

joining the gym. What about number two? Eat healthier. Did Santa buy anyone a cookbook

this year? Yes, one. I see one nod. Eat healthier. Two nods. Number three, travel more. Anyone got

any exciting plans to go abroad or visit new places this year? It's in the calendar. One

at the back. Excellent. Number four, spend more time with family. I guess that's maybe one for

all of us, isn't it? Number five, learn a new skill. Anybody taking up a new hobby this year?

New hobbies. Anybody wants to take them up? Nobody's taking up a new hobby. Well, we are flat

this morning, I tell you. New Year's resolutions. If we're not going crazy for them, our world is going

crazy for them. Just think about the things that people, I just think of some of the things that

people have told me that they're planning to do this year. But here's what I want to do.

As you think about the plans that you have for this year, maybe not resolutions, but what are

some of the things that you're hoping are going to happen this year? What goals and what ambitions

do you have for 2018? Just with those in your mind, here's the question I want to ask you that I think

this passage is going to ask us this morning and God through his word would ask us this morning.

is, does Jesus feature in your plans?

Does Jesus feature in your plans?

Because this morning's message, it comes with a warning

and it's that Jesus is, this morning, going to make a claim on our plans.

And we're going to see him this morning

demonstrate once again who he is

and demonstrate once again what he's about.

And we're going to see him interact with some different people.

And as he interacts with these different people, we'll see

that these different people, as they consider their lives

and as they consider their plans,

they respond to Jesus in two very different ways.

If you've got your Bibles there, we'll pick it up

at verse 31 of chapter 18 of Luke's Gospel.

And here is the first reaction to Jesus, verses 31 to 34.

Jesus, your plan is not our plan.

So here in Luke 18, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem

and we pick up the narrative with Jesus taking his 12 disciples aside

and he's taking them aside for a little pep talk.

And he's telling them expressly for the third time in this Gospel,

his plan.

And you'll see the plan from verse 32.

He'll be delivered over to the Gentiles.

So that word that just describes non-Jews.

He will be mocked.

He will be shamefully treated.

He will be spat upon.

He will be flogged.

He will be killed and he will rise again.

So that's the plan.

That's how it's going to go down in Jerusalem for Jesus.

Now what kind of a plan is that, you might be asking?

Let me just draw your attention to two words in these verses

that hopefully are going to help us understand what is going on here.

And here is the first words, verse 31, that Jesus uses.

It is written.

You see the plan of what is going to happen in Jerusalem.

It's not something that Jesus just concocted up in his own head.

This plan is no accident.

This plan will not be the result of Jesus just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This plan will not be the result of God dropping the ball.

You see what Jesus is telling his disciples here and what Luke is conveying to his readers

is that this plan has been the plan all along.

In fact, the plan of the cross is the climax of the grand plan of redemption

hatched by God's grace in eternity past.

God's master plan to save and make a way for sinful men and women to be both forgiven

and to be reunited with the God who made them and loves them.

And it's the plan that's been foretold by the Old Testament prophets down the ages.

Now you can look these up in your own time.

Let me just draw your attention to two places that it talks about Jesus' suffering.

Psalm 22.

David inferring that there would be one who would come after him,

who would be the righteous sufferer par excellence,

who will be mocked, who will be insulted,

and who will be harmed, but who will lead God's people in praise of him.

Isaiah 53, Isaiah speaking, foretelling of the suffering servant

who will bear the sins and the griefs of his people.

And so here is Jesus declaring to his disciples

that the Old Testament prophets all along have been looking forward to him

and have been looking forward specifically to this moment.

Now just take a step back.

Do you see what this is telling us?

That so powerful is our God

that history dances to his tune.

That so sovereign is our God

that human events go down to the T

exactly as he planned them to go down.

And so wise is our God

that his plan, his wise plan,

it makes a mockery of all human wisdom.

As somebody pointed out to me recently,

and I think this is pretty cool,

that this year, 2018,

Easter Sunday falls on the 1st of April.

So Easter Sunday is April Fool's Day.

Now if you think about that,

that is a beautiful irony.

That so wise is our God

that even as the world looked at Jesus,

even as the world looked on the plan of the cross,

and as the world laughed,

and as the world mocked,

it's almost as if God on Easter Sunday,

he declares to the world,

with his son risen from the dead,

having paid for our sins,

having conquered the grave,

that who's the fool now?

Do you see, so wise is our God

that even man's worst

is nothing other than his best?

That's the plan.

It is written.

And here's the second word,

the one that Luke uses to describe

how this plan,

how it goes down with the 12.

Verse 34,

and it's the word hidden.

Now if you quickly scan your eye over verse 34,

you'll notice

that Luke essentially says

the same thing three times.

Right?

It's essentially the same thing three times.

Now why has he done that?

Well he's done it to underscore his point.

Now what's his point?

Well as we say in the West,

the disciples didn't have a scooby.

Right?

Didn't have a clue

about what was going on here.

Didn't understand

what Jesus was talking about.

And it's not as if Jesus

has sat them down

and he's told them a riddle.

Okay?

It's not like you might have played

at your Christmas.

It's not like charades.

It's not like Jesus is playing charades

acting this one out

and they just cannot guess

what the answer is.

He's talking in plain language.

It's not so much

that they can't understand

what Jesus is saying.

It's more so that they won't

buy into

what Jesus is saying.

You can imagine their hearts,

their minds at this point.

Why does this need to be

your plan, Jesus?

Why does it need to be this way?

I mean we've seen you in action.

We've seen you in action.

Your life could be one of popularity.

Your status could be one of celebrity.

You could go down

in history

as the one who has toppled the Romans

and set his people free.

Why does it need to be

like this?

Your plans do not match up

with our understanding

of who this Messiah King

is going to be.

Why does it need to be

like this Jesus?

You're God's promised

mighty king.

So why would you subject yourself

to everything

that you've just told us?

Here's what we need

to see here.

It's just the third time

in this gospel

that Jesus has told them

this plainly.

What's going on?

They're not thinking spiritually.

They're thinking worldly.

Jesus, your plan

is not our plan.

Let me ask you,

is that the confession

of your heart this morning?

As you think about

your own plans.

Jesus, your plan

is not my plan.

Maybe you're here this morning

and you wouldn't call yourself

a Christian.

As you look at Jesus

in action here,

let me ask you,

do you understand the plan?

Do you see the great love

that God has for you

as one of his image bearers,

one of his precious

created beings

that drove Jesus

to this plan?

Do you know

the depths of the sin

in your own heart

that meant

that there was no other way

for you to be made right

with God

except the plan

for Jesus

to die in your place

for your sin?

Here is Jesus.

See in Jesus,

a man with a wonderfully

unexpected

yet unparalleled plan.

But I've been reflecting

on this plan this week

and here's what's

challenged me the most.

I haven't

massively got issues

with the plan.

But I,

in my heart,

what I do have issues

with so often

is the pattern

that Jesus sets here.

Because this cross-shaped man

calls all who would

follow after him

to a cross-shaped life,

to a life of denying

ourselves,

to taking up our cross,

and to following him.

You see,

Jesus,

the one worthy

of creation's

eternal place,

he made his life

not about the pursuit

of his own glory.

He made his life

about the pursuit

of God's glory.

And so he calls

all who would follow

after him

to the same pursuit.

And so I hear

that call of Jesus.

We've seen it time

and time again

as we're journeying

through Luke's gospel.

I hear that call.

And the inclination

of my heart

is,

Jesus,

I don't want your plan.

I want my plan.

And so I found myself

again and again

and again this week

coming back

to the words of that

old hymn that we sing

so often here.

Let me look at it.

Prone to wander.

Lord,

I feel it.

I feel it.

Prone to wander,

Lord,

I feel it.

Prone to leave

the God that I love.

And so what's my prayer?

It's been,

Lord,

here's my heart.

Take and seal it

and seal it

for your courts above.

The inclination

of my heart

is not that way,

it's that way.

Lord,

would you help me?

Lord,

would you help me?

There's the first confession.

Jesus,

your plan

is not my plan.

Well,

from considering

some men

who can physically see

but who can't

spiritually see,

we move to consider

a man

who can't physically see

but who can spiritually see.

All of a sudden now,

maybe we're beginning

to understand

that Luke's put this

together with a purpose.

Jesus and the twelve,

you see,

they continue on their journey

and we learn at verse 35

that they reach

Jericho.

So this little town

that's located

about 18 miles

east of Jerusalem

and Jericho

is a well-to-do

kind of place.

I mean,

if we were here,

we'd all want to live

in Jericho.

It's a well-to-do

kind of place

and it sits

on the travel route

that the pilgrims

would take

on their way

to Jerusalem.

So it's on the highway

and given that it was

part of Jewish law

to give alms

to the less fortunate

of society,

it's little wonder

that on this

travel way,

sitting by the roadside

begging,

is this blind man.

And what do we learn

about this man?

He's blind.

And it's this man

that as we read

of him encountering

Jesus

at verses 35

to 43

who shows us

a different reaction

to Jesus,

one that starkly contrasted

to that of the disciples

previous.

And here it is

on the screen.

Jesus,

my plan

is your plan.

So in the previous section

we considered two words.

In this little section

we're going to consider

two questions.

Now here's the first question

in verse 36.

It's the one

that the blind man

asks to the crowd.

What does he ask?

What is happening?

What is happening?

Now Jesus is making

his way into Jericho.

That's what's happening.

And a crowd

are rushing

to meet him.

And clearly

somebody from this crowd

reports to the blind man

that Jesus of Nazareth

is passing by.

Now this is what

happened to me this week.

I read of this blind man

and because I'm quite

into soul music,

two people

that I instantly

thought of

my favourite artists.

Ray Charles,

anyone who loves

Ray Charles?

A few people.

Blind from the age of seven.

And Stevie Wonder,

blind from birth.

Now back in 2014

there was a study

done by scientists

in the US

and it found

that when it came

to their music,

actually their disability,

it enhanced

their music

because it enhanced

their sense of hearing.

Now I've got no idea

how they found that out.

I've got no idea

whether that or not

is the case

for Ray Charles

and Stevie Wonder

but it certainly

seems to be true

for this man

that we meet in Luke 18

because he's not

seen Jesus,

he's not clapped eyes

on Jesus

but he's clearly

heard a lot about him.

Let's try and get

into the narrative here,

into the picture,

picture him by the

side of the road.

If he has sat

by that spot every day

given that it's

a busy route,

he's clearly listened

and he's heard

a lot of people

talking about Jesus.

He's perhaps overheard

people waxing lyrical

about this man

from the north,

about how this man

from the north

is challenging

the religious elite,

about how he's

healing the unclean,

about how he's

associating with the lowly

and as he does

those things

how he's turning

the whole region

upside down.

And you may have

even heard specifically

about the incident

at the synagogue

in Nazareth

that Luke describes

for us back

in chapter 4.

If you remember

you can check it out

later that Jesus

takes the scroll

of Isaiah

and he reads it

in front of all

the people

that 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.

Jesus rolls up

the scroll

and what does

he effectively say?

the Messiah figure

that Isaiah

is talking about

is me.

I'm that guy.

Whatever this blind

man has heard

is evidently

enough to convince

him that Jesus

is God's

promised

saviour

and God's

promised king.

And that explains

I think his shout

at verse 38

Jesus

what does he call him?

Son of David.

In other words

God's promised king

have mercy

on me.

Now he's clearly

I love this

he's clearly

making a scene

isn't he?

Because the crowd

tell him to be

quiet.

I love this

what does he do?

Does he be quiet?

Not a chance.

He keeps at it

what does Luke tell us?

He shouted

all the more

which I think

is just a polite

way of saying

that he turned up

the volume

he kept on shouting.

I love this

you can imagine

the crowd

looking at one another

would somebody

just wrestle him

to the floor?

Or at least

would somebody

just get some

duct tape

and just put it

over his mouth

because quite frankly

he's embarrassing

the lot of us

but is this man

going to shut up?

Not a chance

because the man

who he's been

hoping to meet

and the moment

that he's been

hoping would happen

is here.

And Jesus

has clearly

heard him.

Jesus is on

his way through.

Remember Jesus

has got the cross

eminently in his

mind.

Is Jesus going

to ignore him?

No.

Now notice

the compassion

of Jesus Christ

at this point.

He calls this man

over and here's

the second question

of these verses

this time

from Jesus

to the blind man

verse 41.

What do you

want me to do

for you?

Now is it just me

or is that a strange

question?

A strange question.

Is it not

kind of obvious?

You mean this man

who's sitting

by the roadside

with his eyes

closed?

Jesus,

you're asking

him what he

wants?

Now what is

Jesus up to

here?

He's drawn

this man out.

He's testing

if he really

believes that

Jesus is

who he says

he is

or is he

simpler using

words to

flatter Jesus

into getting

him to help

him?

What do you

want me to do

for you?

It's kind of

like that moment

in Aladdin.

Aladdin.

You can tell

what we were

watching over

Christmas time.

Aladdin finds

the lamp.

He rubs the

lamp.

Now it comes

the genie who

sings that song

that I'd love

to tell you.

I don't know

the words to

but I do.

Mr. Aladdin,

sir, what will

your pleasure be?

This is this

man's Aladdin

moment, is it

not?

What Jesus

says, what

do you want

me to do

for you?

What will

he say?

Money?

Friends?

A home?

A career?

A wife?

What would

you say?

Because you

see, unlike

the disciples

who were

thinking worldly,

this man is

thinking spiritually.

And he offers

Jesus the

briefest of

answers, which

I think is an

indication of

the fact that

he's probably

rehearsed this

scene in his

mind before.

Lord, in

other words,

Master, I

want to see.

And the

truth is,

behind the

curtain of

his confession

is a heart

that says,

Jesus, I

don't want

things.

Jesus, I

don't need

stuff.

What I need

most and

what I want

most is

you.

And Jesus,

seeing his

faith, he

heals this

man.

And the

word is

suggestive there

of more than

just healing.

This man,

because of

his faith,

has been

saved.

And what

did he do?

He followed.

So he

made his

life all

about Jesus.

He made

the pattern

of his

life cross

shape.

Jesus, where

you go, I'm

going.

And you

see in the

context of

Luke's gospel

how this

man stands

in stark

contrast to

the rich

young ruler

who Luke

has told us

about only a

few verses

previously.

The rich

young ruler

who has

everything,

who comes

to Jesus,

Jesus tells

him, go and

sell everything

and follow

me.

He rejects

Jesus.

And this

man who

worldly has

everything,

leaves spiritually

with nothing.

But this

blind man,

who knows

he has

nothing,

who knows

he is

nothing,

he comes

to Jesus,

Jesus have

mercy on

me, throws

himself in

the mercy

and the

grace of

Jesus.

Puts

his faith

in Jesus,

he accepts

Jesus,

he's got

everything.

See, here

is Jesus,

the one

who has

come to

reconnect

human beings

to the

very reason

why they

were created

in the

first place.

And that's

to worship

God and

enjoy him

forever.

This man

has been

turned from

a beggar

into a

worshipper.

It's a common

slogan in our

day, isn't

it, that

seeing is

believing.

To see,

Luke is

telling us

here that

when it

comes to

faith,

that

believing

is

seeing.

Jesus,

my plan

is your

plan.

So let

me ask

you, just

as we work

towards a

close, what

are your

plans for

this year?

What are

your goals?

What are

your ambitions

for 2018?

You know,

last week we

had some great

fun in the

snow.

I say we,

I had some

great fun in

the snow.

We were

staying at my

parents'

through in

Glasgow and

we woke up

on Saturday

morning.

If you

remember last

Saturday

morning, it

just snowed.

So we

got up, went

out to the

garden, pristinely

covered in

untouched snow.

I mean, honestly,

I felt about

five again.

This was

incredible.

So the four

of us go out

and we start

building and

I'm one of

these people

that when I

commit to

something, I

really commit

to something.

So I'm

showing our

little girl

Chloe how

to roll up

snow.

And I'm

rolling up the

snow and

she's away

getting acorns

for the

snowman's

buttons and

his eyes.

And so I'm

rolling up the

snow and I'm

compacting it

really tightly

so that it's

going to last.

I am shaping

it in a way

that's meaning

that the wind

is not going

to batter it

down.

I really need

to get out

more, don't

I?

But this is

what I'm

doing to

this snowman.

And then it

suddenly occurs

to me that

why would we

stop at one

snowman?

Why can't we

build a snow

family?

So, do you

want to see

our snow

family?

Okay, not

that one.

That one.

There we go.

Now look at it,

isn't it lovely?

You even get

hats.

It's not very

that impressive

is it?

Really.

But what

happens that

night?

Tips it

down.

Tons and

tons of

rain.

We wake up

the next

morning, do

you know what

my first

thought is?

What's

happened to

my snow

family?

What's

happened to

my snow

family?

And actually

those three

snow people

have turned

to three

snow lumps.

Now give it

another 24

hours, give it

another bit

of rain and

those three

snow lumps

totally

disappeared.

Now here's

where I want us

to finish this

morning.

When it comes

to our plans

for the year

ahead, here's

what God is

asking us from

his word this

morning.

As a

community, as

individuals,

friends, are we

investing ourselves

in things that

will be here

today and

gone tomorrow?

Will we this

year invest

ourselves in

things that

will last for

eternity?

Will we be

those like

this blind

man who

don't think

worldly, who

think spiritually?

Will we be

people who

put it all

on Jesus

Christ?

Will our

plans for the

year ahead be

cross-shaped?

Will our

ambitions for

the year ahead

be kingdom

driven?

And will our

plans for the

year ahead,

will they be

God's glorifying?

So just as we

close, let me

just read to

you the words

of this

lovely poem

by C.T.

Studs, who

was a famous

English cricketer

turned missionary.

He wrote this

about his

life.

Two little

lines I heard

one day,

traveling along

life's busy

way,

bringing

conviction to

my heart

and from

my mind

would not

depart.

Only one

life will

soon be

passed.

Only what's

done for

Christ will

last.

Amen.

Just before we

move on,

why don't we

just have a

moment of

silence?

Well, let's

just maybe

reflect on

what God

has been

challenging

us on

this morning.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Jesus,

all for

Jesus,

all I

am and

have and

ever hope

to be.

All my

ambitions,

hopes and

plans,

I surrender

these into

your hands.

Dear Father,

thank you so

much for this

new year,

fresh with

opportunities. Father, we're so aware as we step into this year that we do not know what's coming.

But Father, thank you that you who hold the world in your hands do. And so we ask that you would

help us all today to focus our hearts and our minds on the one who gave his life for us.

And would you help us this year to be people who are marked by the fact that we seek first your

kingdom. So Father, thank you for this time together. We pray that you'd be with us now as

we move into this time of communion, as we remember your son. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.