Upside-Down Thinking

Thanks very much, Paul. Good morning, everyone. I'd repeat the welcome that Paul gave you.

We're delighted to have you with us today as we worship and as we learn.

We're continuing our series looking at Luke's Gospel, Luke's Gospel which was written to

give an accurate account of the life of the Lord Jesus.

We're coming today to a slight change in Luke's Gospel, slight but distinct, I think.

For the last eight chapters or so, if we've gone through Luke, we've had material that

is almost all unique to Luke. It was only in Luke's Gospel.

For the next few chapters, we're rejoining Matthew and Mark who have similar content to Luke

and we'll have things in all three Gospels. Now what does that mean in practice?

What it means in practice is when you read Luke, Luke loves telling stories or recounting the stories of Jesus.

So for the last month or two, a lot of what we've been looking at on Sunday mornings

has been stories that Jesus told. Wonderful stories they are too.

The Good Samaritan, the Lost Sheep, the Prodigal Son, the Rich Man and Lazarus and so on.

Many, many stories.

For the next section in Luke's Gospel, tracking Matthew and Mark,

it will be much more encounters of Jesus with people.

So it's not telling stories about people as much of what the last few chapters has been about.

It is what Jesus said to people and how we help them.

So we're talking today about real children and a real young man.

It's not just stories that Jesus told. Wonderful though they are.

So we're reading in Luke chapter 18 and we're going to start reading at verse 15.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 18 and reading from verse 15.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

And it says,

A certain ruler asked him,

Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Why do you call me good? Jesus answered.

No one is good except God alone.

You know the commandments.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not murder. You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony.

Honor your father and mother.

All these I have kept since I was a boy, he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him,

You still lack one thing.

Sell everything you have and give to the poor.

And you will have treasure in heaven.

Then come, follow me.

When he heard this, he became very sad because he was very wealthy.

Jesus looked at him and said,

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

Those who are at this asked,

Who then can be saved?

Jesus replied,

What is impossible with man is possible with God.

Peter said to him,

We have left all we had to follow you.

Truly I tell you, Jesus said to them,

No one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children

for the sake of the kingdom of God

will fail to receive many times as much in this age

and in the age to come, eternal life.

I'm sure God will help us as we seek to understand

what he's saying to us this morning.

Sometimes it's helpful to look at things from a different angle,

to get a different perspective,

which might give us fresh insights.

I like this map.

It's an upside down map of the world.

It's also kind of rotated a bit around 180 degrees east to west.

When you look at a map like this,

you notice things that you might miss on a normal map of the world.

Isn't Russia enormous?

It's the yellow bit down near the bottom.

It's Canada huge, the pink bit on the bottom left.

And doesn't the United Kingdom look totally insignificant

when it's two-thirds of the way down the right-hand side

rather than in the centre near the top?

You look at it differently and you get a different view,

you get a different perspective on life.

I think here in this passage we're looking at,

Jesus is turning things upside down

to give his disciples and others a different view of life.

He's saying, you have views that are in line with the things of this world.

You think that rich people are important.

You think that children are relatively insignificant.

Well, I'm turning it on his head.

And in God's world, which he calls the kingdom of God,

in God's world, things are different.

And the people who God values are those who depend on him

and who aren't relying on themselves for their future.

And so we have these two incidents with the Lord Jesus.

And I think if we can just summarise what we're going to say this morning,

that these incidents teach us that the importance,

the importance that Jesus attaches to simple faith

and to sacrificial followers.

Simple faith and sacrificial followers.

Let's go through them and see if you feel that's a reasonable summary

of what the Lord Jesus is teaching.

So to begin with, we have some people who are bringing babies

or young children to Jesus for him to lay their hands,

him to lay his hands on them.

I don't think there's healing involved here.

Sometimes Jesus touched people to heal them.

They were being brought so that Jesus could bless them.

And as a symbol of the blessing that he was giving to them,

he was putting his hand probably on their head.

Quite a common thing to do in that day,

which still perhaps happens to some extent today.

And the disciples are really quite upset and annoyed at this.

They're saying, well, don't let these children distract Jesus.

Jesus is on a really important mission.

He's giving some really vital teaching that we need to learn

and others need to hear.

And here these people are.

They're bringing these kids along and they're distracting Jesus' attention

and they really shouldn't be doing that.

Jesus says, no, these children are important.

These children are so important that the kingdom of God,

God's world belongs to people like these.

Now, in Jesus' day, children would have an even lower status

than they do today.

If you were a child, you'd be treated almost as a possession of your parents.

You would expect to be seen and not heard,

to listen and learn, to be respectful,

and would have been treated as someone who was relatively insignificant.

When you got to about 12 or 13,

you became an adult in that culture

and you took on an extra significance.

But children, as such, weren't valued

and were seen as being relatively unimportant.

And Jesus says, no, children matter.

Children have a real value and we should recognize that value and treasure them.

So a very important lesson for the disciples here,

that they would be looking at saying,

Jesus should be spending his time on adults and people who can listen and understand

and have dialogue with them.

And Jesus says, no, the time I spend with children is really important and really valuable

because the kingdom of God belongs to people such as those.

Very obvious and simple lesson for us.

We have lots of children around our church.

More coming and plenty here already.

Do we really value and treasure them?

Or do we see them as a bit of a nuisance,

as those who run around that we don't really have very much to do with?

Time spent with children is time well invested.

And as a church, we should be treasuring, valuing,

and nurturing the children who are among us.

Supporting Peter and the team in the work they do,

and if we can't do it actively in our prayers,

and taking a real interest in the children when we come across them in the church.

Jesus treasures children, and we should as well.

That's not the main lesson that Jesus is bringing us here.

Because he says, truly, I say,

anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.

So it's not the value of a child that he's particularly highlighting here,

although he does that.

He's saying the children perhaps have value and certainly should be looked at and respected

because of the simple faith, because of the trust that they have.

Now, children, we know, can be really naughty.

They can do things that we don't want.

They can be selfish.

They can be quite unkind to one another, and so on.

So Jesus isn't saying here,

children are wonderful, and there's never anything wrong with them.

He's not suggesting they're in any way innocent, if you like.

But he is saying, I think, that children have that simple trust that we need to look at

and we need to take for ourselves.

You see, if in a child with his parents,

in pictures, they have a child holding someone's hand.

And if you see a parent and child walking along the street,

you can see the trust that the child has in the parent and their dependence on them.

Children don't think they can do everything for themselves.

They don't think they can be self-sufficient and they don't need anyone else.

They know that they need others and they know that they need to put their trust in them.

And so Jesus says, for us to enter the kingdom of God,

we need to become like children in knowing that we need something that we can't provide for ourselves,

and then in trusting God, trusting the Lord Jesus to give that to us.

And that's something that is basically described in this passage as receiving the kingdom,

as being saved, as having eternal life.

They really all in this context mean much the same thing.

That we need God, we need the Lord Jesus,

because we can't by ourselves get to heaven.

We can't by ourselves do enough good things to help me all the bad things we've done.

We need to recognize that only through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross,

which we'll be remembering later on,

only through that and by simple trust in him,

can we be forgiven?

Can we have eternal life?

Can we be part of the kingdom of God?

And if we ever begin to think we can do it by our own efforts,

we've totally missed the point of the teaching of the Lord Jesus,

of the whole of the Bible,

of the truth that God says to us,

which is that we are helpless sinners.

We've done wrong.

We can't put ourselves right before God.

But God has provided a way,

and we need to accept that way.

You don't need a theological degree to be a Christian.

Theological degrees are great.

Don't think I put him down in any kind of way.

Theological degrees are great,

but to become a Christian,

to be saved,

to have eternal life,

all you need to understand

is that you're a sinner before God,

that you deserve to be punished,

that Jesus took that punishment,

and by trusting in him,

you can be saved,

you can have eternal life.

We need to have the trust of a child.

We need to have a simple faith.

And as we come on to the second story,

it's precisely what this young man,

this ruler, lacked.

He lacked a simple faith

because he thought that he could do things

that would put him right with God.

So we have this man.

He's described in Luke

as being a certain ruler.

He's described later on as being very rich.

Matthew tells us he was young.

He was someone who had some status in society.

We don't know precisely

what kind of ruler he was.

I think it's probably more likely

he was a civil ruler

rather than a religious one.

They would probably have said

if he was a ruler of the synagogue

or something like that.

So he probably was a senior official

or perhaps even a member

of the royal household.

We don't know,

but he was someone

who was in that country important.

He was also someone who was rich.

He had, for whatever reason,

acquired lots of money.

And on top of that,

he wasn't just important and rich.

He also appears to have been

a morally upright and good person.

So he wasn't some kind of

crap civil servant

or dodgy politician.

He was someone who had lived a life

trying to please God

and trying to do his best,

but still he's not sure

that he's got eternal life.

He looks at everything he's done

and he says,

maybe there's something missing.

Maybe there's some big gesture

I could make.

Jesus, what do I have to do

that I'm not already doing

to receive eternal life?

Now, I suspect a lot of the people

when that man came to Jesus

thought, well,

why does he have to do anything more?

He's rich.

In that society,

being rich was seen as being

very much a sign of God's favor

that you'd done something

to deserve it.

He was moral.

He could go through it

the Lord questioned him.

He could go through

the five commandments

that the Lord brings out

and he could say,

yes, I've kept all of them

since I was young.

And people would be looking at him

and thinking,

here is exactly the kind of person

the kingdom of God belongs to.

Exactly the kind of person

who should earn God's favor

because he's good

and God has blessed him.

But Jesus looks on his heart

and he sees something different.

So he begins by slightly

rebuking him and saying,

well, why do you call me good?

No one's good except God.

Now, perhaps in saying that,

the Lord Jesus was trying

to draw it of this man

whether he believed

that Jesus really was God.

Might have been what the Lord

was trying to do.

The Lord then says,

well, how do you read

the commandments?

What are the important commandments?

And he says,

the Lord Jesus said,

here are five.

You shall not commit a doubt.

You shall not murder.

You shall not steal.

You shall not give false testimony.

Honor your father and mother.

Now, as you know,

there are 10 commandments

and lists in Exodus 20.

The Lord Jesus has chosen five.

He's chosen the five

that particularly relate

to our relationships with others.

Not the ones especially

relate to our relationship

with God

or in our thoughts,

the one about coveting

at the end,

but our relationship

with other people.

Which I guess is one

that people could look at

and they could say,

well, we've seen evidence

that this man is good.

He doesn't do these things

we're told not to.

And so the man says,

well, I've kept all these.

I'm fine.

Since I was a boy,

since I was a young man,

I have been keeping

all these commands.

Jesus then says,

good, well done,

but what you need to do now

is to give up all your money

and give it to the poor.

He says,

beyond the kind of religious keeping

of God's ordinances

and trying to keep on the right track

by yourself,

you need to really demonstrate

that God means more to you

than anything else.

And in particular,

since you're a rich person,

does God mean more to you

than your money?

And when it came to the bit,

the young man had to think

and say,

no, God doesn't mean more to me

than my money.

I'm willing to do big gestures.

I'm willing to try

and live a good life,

but I'm not willing to give up

my lifestyle

and the money that I have.

Ultimately for him,

treasure on earth

was more important

than treasure in heaven.

It was more important to him

that he should continue

to be able to live

a good lifestyle in this world

than that he should

have the assurance

of eternal life.

Now, Lord Jesus isn't saying to him,

do all this

and that will earn you

eternal life.

That is not the point

of what he's saying,

but he is challenging him

and saying,

what is more important to you,

is this world more important

or is God

and serving him

more important?

Challenge for us there,

I think,

as well this morning.

What really matters

to me?

If push comes to shove,

what are the important things

in my life?

Is it maintaining

my lifestyle?

Is it keeping

a reasonable standard

of living

and being able

to live in the style

that I've maybe become

accustomed to?

Is it my friends

or my family?

Is that what is most

important to me?

Is it progression

in my job

or whatever else

I'm doing?

Is that the thing

that really drives me

and is most important

in my life?

Or actually,

am I willing

to give up

all these things

so that I can serve God

and I can do

what he calls me

to do?

The requirement

of sacrifice

comes to this rich man

and he can't meet it.

He says,

no, that's a step

too far.

I'm not able

to make that sacrifice.

I want to hang on

to what I've got.

And the challenge

of requirement

of sacrifice

comes to us

this morning

as well.

So the man

goes away sad

and the Lord Jesus

uses what he said

as being an example

and a lesson

for others.

And he talks

about the rarity

of sacrifice,

how difficult

it is

to make

that kind

of sacrifice.

He uses a very

striking illustration.

A camel

would have been

the biggest creature

that people

would have been

familiar with

in Israel

in Jesus' day.

It was the biggest

animal

they would see around.

The eye of the needle

was probably

the smallest hole

that they could

easily think about.

So Jesus said,

take the biggest

animal you can

think of,

a camel,

think of the smallest

hole you can

think of,

the eye of a needle.

Can the camel

get through

the eye of the needle?

No.

It is that difficult,

said Jesus,

for a rich person

to enter

the kingdom

of God.

Now this really

throws the disciples

because they look

at this rich man

and they think

he's the kind

of person

who should be

getting into

the kingdom

of God.

He's wealthy,

he's had God's

blessing,

he's a good man,

surely he can get in

and if he can't,

who can?

So they're not

sitting thinking

as we might

sometimes,

well it's difficult

for the rich

to get to heaven

but the poor

perhaps is a bit

easier.

No,

they're thinking

it is impossible

if this is the case

for anyone

to get

into heaven.

And Jesus says,

you're right.

You're right

if you think

in human terms

but you're not

right if you think

in God's terms.

What man

can't do

what is impossible

with men

is possible

with God.

And we come back

again to where

we were with the

children

of recognizing

there are some

things that we

can't do

and in particular

we can't save

ourselves,

we can't win

God's favor

by trying to

outweigh our bad

things with our

good things

that just won't

work.

God demands

a perfect

standard

but if we

simply trust

in God

then he is

able to

bring us

that forgiveness

he is able

to give us

eternal life.

And Jesus

is saying

again here

you can't

do it

by yourself.

However rich

or however poor

you may be

however good

you may think

you are

you can't

do it by

yourself.

It's impossible

with men

but it's

possible

with God

and if you

simply trust

in God

then you

have eternal

life.

Doesn't take away

the requirement

for sacrifice

having accepted

the Lord Jesus

having put our

trust in him

he calls us

to follow him

and to make

sacrifices

but the first

step is that

simple step

of faith

of trusting

in the Lord

Jesus.

us.

And then finally

he talks about

the rewards

of sacrifice.

I can almost

sense

sort of

almost desperation

in Peter's

words in verse

28.

He says

we've left

all we had

to follow you.

And I wonder

if he's thinking

well we've done

all this

we've sacrificed

so much

is that going

to make any

difference

or are you

going to say

that we're

like the rich

ruler as well?

And Jesus

says

no it's

different.

If you truly

make sacrifices

for me

having first

trusted in me

if you truly

make sacrifices

for me

then there

are rewards.

And anyone

who's left

home or wife

or brothers

or sisters

or parents

or children

will receive

much more

many times

as much

in this world

and in these

to come

eternal life.

I suspect

most of us

aren't called

to leave home

wife

brothers

or sisters

or parents

or children

for the sake

of the kingdom.

But some people

aren't

some people

have been

in the past.

My grandparents

were missionaries

in India

for many years

and being

missionaries

in those days

meant that

to get anywhere

you had a journey

was probably

several weeks

up to a month

on a boat

to India

and back again.

So they'd

left behind

parents

and if their

parents fell ill

or needed

urgent attention

they couldn't

get to them

quickly.

When they came

back on furlough

and their

eldest three

sons

they left

behind

to be educated

and they

wouldn't see

them for

several years.

I don't think

we should look

at that as being

in some way

heartless

or uncaring.

I'm sure

there were

many nights

of tears

and of heartache

for those

who'd been

left behind.

But it was

a sacrifice

worth making.

They felt

that the

words of

Jesus

needed to

be taken

seriously

and they

needed to

be willing

to leave

everything

for him.

Now Jesus

in a literal

sense we're

not going

to be called

to make

that kind

of sacrifice

today.

Even if you

go and work

in a far

away country

you can get

back to the

UK very

quickly if

you need

to.

But I think

we need to

challenge ourselves

what kind

of sacrifices

should I

be making

for Jesus.

What is he

calling me

to do

that will

demonstrate

that he

is more

important to

me than

any of the

things of

this world.

And Jesus

says if you

do that

if you're

willing to

count the

cost and

to make

the sacrifices

then you

will be

rewarded.

Not entirely

clear what

Jesus means

when he says

they will

receive many

times as much

in this age

and to some

extent it

will be the

fellowship of

other Christians

and the

support that

we can give

to one

another.

To some

extent it

will be the

peace and

joy of

knowing that

we are

serving Christ

and that

we are

doing what

pleases him

and our

eternal future

is secure.

But he

says he

won't be

in debt to

us he will

give us

what we

need in

this world

and then we

will go

and be with

him in

eternal life

afterwards.

Jesus calls

us to

make

sacrifices

and I

think we

need each

to challenge

ourselves if

we know

him, if

we are

trusting in

him.

What kind

of sacrifice

should I

be making?

And as we

sit in front

of a table

with bread

and with

the cups

on it

we can

think something

of the

sacrifice the

Lord Jesus

made for

us and

how he

left behind

all the

riches,

how he

in a very

real sense

gave up all

the riches

that he had

and took a

life of

poverty,

how he

humbled

himself and

died on

the cross

for us

and took

our sins

on himself

there.

As we

look at

his sacrifice

then that

should be

the prompt

for us

to think

what can

I give

to him

and what

can I

sacrifice

for the

Lord's

sake?

What is

it that

he's calling

me to

do?

He doesn't

call everyone

to give

up your

money.

That's

quite clear.

There are

lots of

rich people

in the

Bible who

are not

called to

give up

their money.

But what

is it

that Jesus

is calling

me to

do?

So a bit

of an

upside down

world isn't

it?

An upside

down world

where children

suddenly have a

huge importance

before Jesus

and a rich

ruler, a

respectable

person goes

away sad

because he

can't do

what's needed

to get

acceptance

into God's

kingdom.

Lest this

morning all of

us think

about do I

have that

simple faith

that Jesus

requires,

the faith

of a

child simply

trusting?

And if I

do, am I

willing to

be a

sacrificial

follower and

to go

wherever Jesus

tells me to

go and to

do whatever

he calls me

to do?

Pray that God

will help us

to understand

his word and

to be

obedient to

it.

Let's pray

together.

As we

pray, let's

just quietly

reflect on

what we've

been thinking

about,

reflect on

whether we

have that

simple trust

in the

Lord Jesus

that brings

eternal life

and whether

we are

willing to

make the

sacrifices

that he

might call

us to.

Lord Jesus,

we thank you

for the

sacrifice that

you made

for us.

We thank

you that you

gave up

everything to

come and

live in

this world,

to live a

simple life

in humble,

poor

circumstances

and even

to give

that up

and to

die our

death on

the cross.

We pray that

you will help

all of us

to come to

that point

of faith,

of recognising

there's nothing

that we can

do to save

ourselves.

We simply

need to

trust in

you and

then to

be willing

to give

everything to

you,

to be your

followers,

to be

sacrificial

in the way

we live.

We thank

you for

your presence.

We commit

ourselves to

you now as

we move

into this

time of

communion

and as

we particularly

remember your

death for us.

We give you our

thanks Lord

Jesus in

your name.

Amen.