Watch out for...!

All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.

Where's that come from?

Vander?

Prodigal son?

Mary?

Prodigal son?

Luke 15?

All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.

The story of the prodigal son, he's the brother that we often neglect, the one at the end of the story, the firstborn, who measures his relationship with his dad by how well he carries out his orders.

Relationship based on performance.

He knows all about duty and obligation and shoulds and oughts and outwardly he is the obedient son, he is the submissive man, he obeys his dad, he does his jobs, he does all the externals.

And life for him has become slavery, not sonship.

He relates to his dad like a slave, he treats his father like a grudging master and so he measures himself.

And he's got this checklist of what a loving son looks like.

And he doesn't even need to ask his dad what he thinks of him, he can self-assess because he knows that he's not a complete failure of a son like his brother.

It's actually not that different from what we do in our church families when we measure our children's worth by their performance.

Relationship based on performance.

Relationship based on rule keeping.

How we measure up.

His dad offers him freedom and privilege and intimacy.

But the son chooses to live with rules and obligations.

He chooses to live like a slave.

He's the opposite of his brother the prodigal.

The younger brother has lost, he turns around, he comes to his senses,

He turns back and he pursues his dad with absolutely nothing to offer.

He's wasted wealth, he's wasted privilege, he's wasted opportunity.

He is brought low and he returns to his father absolutely empty handed,

prepared to face the music, prepared to live as a slave.

He throws himself on his father's mercy and amazingly his father runs to meet him and welcomes him as a son.

What is relationship with God like for you this morning?

Distant.

Dutiful.

Uncertain.

A set of obligations.

You live what you think is a Christian life because you think that's what God wants you to do.

A master that you fear, one that you dutifully obey.

You go to church, you attend your community group, you give your cash,

you serve in kids' church or music ministry or you visit people in need,

you get Bible training, you get ordained, you do all the externals and you still feel barren inside.

And on the outside, everybody's applauding.

And encouraging.

And on the inside you feel empty and a fraud.

All the right actions.

Jesus speaks to our inner emptiness in the Bible passage that I'm preaching this morning.

Have your Bibles open.

Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

We've preached this short series of messages over the last three weeks from Mark chapter 11 and Mark chapter 12.

Mark 11 · chapter mention Mark 12 · chapter mention

We've seen that the religious leadership have determined that the easiest way to deal with Jesus,

the Jesus problem, is to kill him.

And so the religious elite have begun to confront Jesus in public,

something they haven't had the guts to do before.

Some ridicule his ministry.

They try to discredit him in the eyes of the people.

Others use all their evil intent to trap him in his words.

They are trying to justify his execution.

And Jesus confounds them with his answers.

And in 1234 their questions dry up and it says,

From then on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

But in Mark chapter 12 verse 28,

Mark 12:28

a teacher in the law of the law questions Jesus.

This is a man that doesn't seem to be part of the posse that's looking to trap him.

He's overheard the debate.

He has heard Jesus give an amazing answer to the Sadducees

and now he steps forward and he asks his own question.

Teacher, of all the commandments, which is the most important?

Now that was a current issue.

The teachers of the law had discerned that 613 laws in the scriptures,

they'd taken the Bible apart, they'd found 613 commandments, laws,

and it was pretty common for them to debate which were the light ones,

which were the heavy ones, what were the big ones,

what were the ones that took precedence over others.

Sort them out for us, Jesus.

Which is the most important?

And I think it's an honest question.

We looked at this in our small group the other night,

the community group the other night,

and I think some of us thought he was a bit condescending of Jesus,

but I actually think it's an honest question.

I think he is one teacher who is checking out another teacher.

And he asks a really important question to figure out

whether Jesus is a teacher who is worth paying any attention to.

And it's like he addresses him as a peer.

And Jesus answers his question with scripture.

Verse 29.

The most important one answered Jesus is this.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind and with all your strength.

And the second is this.

Love your neighbour as yourself.

There is no commandment greater than these.

The first part is a direct quote of Moses' words

to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy, chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

And he adds a command.

The second command is one from Leviticus, chapter 19.

Leviticus 19 · chapter mention

It's God's command from Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18.

Leviticus 19:18

And Jesus pulls the two scriptures together

and he calls them the greatest command.

There is no command greater than these.

And he ties the love of God to the love of neighbour.

He does not let us separate the two.

You cannot say you love God

and hate your brother or sister in Christ.

Absolutely incompatible.

The Deuteronomy quote was never a command of God's.

It's not a command.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your mind

and with all your strength.

It's the climax of Moses' sermon.

He's just reminded them of the Ten Commandments in particular

and he preaches with all the passion of a Billy Graham

and he says to the Israelites,

Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.

Love him with your entire being,

your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength.

Now the Ten Commandments were given by God

to his people whom he had already redeemed.

They have a history with God.

He saved them out of slavery in Egypt.

God revealed himself to them with his personal name, Yahweh.

He's constantly provided for them

and he's protected them in the desert

and he's continued to involve himself in their lives

despite many moments when they have failed to trust him,

disobeyed him.

And so Moses calls, he exhorts people to walk in the relationship

that they already have with God.

Love him.

Love your neighbours like yourselves.

Now I think love is a really tricky thing to define.

It's not just a feeling

but it will involve feeling and emotion.

It needs to have content.

It will be seen in action.

It's a great little play that's been acted out for us

with Kids Church a minute ago.

No good having words without delivery

doesn't work in a marriage, does it?

We try.

But I want to be very careful this morning

not to reduce love to commandment keeping

because as soon as we do that

it all becomes about measurable performance.

The New Testament does not hold up the commandments

as the attainable goal

or the performance chart.

Romans chapter 10

Romans 10 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 7 verse 10

Romans 7:10

says to us that the commandment

which was intended to bring life

brought death

and the commandments themselves

show the depth of sin and evil

which was within us

when they are properly understood.

Sin seized the commandment

and brought death.

So when you start measuring performance

it all becomes about externals

and not about the heart.

I want to define love this morning

by saying that it pursues

and values a person.

Love pursues

and values a person.

It chases after relationship.

So in a family

God says

husbands love your wives

and the husband says

I do love you.

I do.

I love you.

I bring home the bacon.

I provide for you.

I've set you up in this great house.

I provide a wonderful standard of living.

And I'm thinking from personal experience

it does not work.

That's not enough.

It's not good enough.

See I can tell you

all the boxes

that I have ticked

from my point of view

in our marriage.

But you ask Kerry

and you're not permitted to

but you ask Kerry

you get a different story.

And my wonderful wife

said to me once

not that far back

a small number of years

you do all these things for me

but I do not feel loved

by you.

And that led to a process

of learning to listen

to her again.

Learning what mattered for her.

Learning what she thinks

and feels.

And I think I'm standing here

this morning

I've got L plates on still.

She was telling me something

the other day

and I stopped listening

in the middle of what she was saying

and I showed that I'd stopped listening

about what she was talking about

because I talked about something

completely different.

And I didn't even notice.

And a few minutes later

she said to me

what had happened

and said that she was hurt

and rightly so.

And I've been arrogant enough

sometimes to presume

that I know

what goes on inside her

and even not to even care

about what goes on inside her.

To care about her hurt.

Or to feel too threatened

to be criticised

for how I've treated her.

So to not want to even

open up the conversation

and talk about it.

And so her love of me

and mine of her

has meant listening

to the hurt

and owning

how I cause it.

I hope that there's not

one wife

sitting here in church

this morning

who goes home

and says to hubby

I hope you were listening.

But I hope husbands

will go home

and ask their wives

if they feel loved.

And listen

without defending.

And maybe doing things

that help to reinvigorate

relationships.

I went to a 60th wedding

anniversary yesterday

and a wonderful couple

who had a

what you have to say

an absolutely steadfast

walk and love of Christ

for 50 of their 60 years

of marriage.

And somebody said

they've had

a perfect marriage.

And the husband

who's in his late 80s now

mid to late 80s

corrected them

and said

they haven't had

a perfect marriage

they've had

a good marriage.

They have pursued

Christ together

since he first

laid his hands

on them.

They have pursued

relationship

with Christ

and they have pursued

relationship

with one another.

They have walked

through some

excruciating moments

in their marriage

bankrupted

by a close relative

late in life

huge health issues

pain with children

and their own

imperfections

a very good marriage

which began

with a blind date

and the blind date

grew to further

time together

and now they have

a rich history

together

which is

longer

than 60 years.

love of God

will be seen

in pursuing

and valuing

God

over all things.

So even the other day

there was something

I thought

God wanted me

to do

and I said

no

what did I say

in that moment?

I'm going to do

what I want to do.

I don't care

what you want me

to do in that moment.

I'm pursuing

my own self

my own objectives

and Moses here

is practically

screaming at the

people of Israel

when he gives this

in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

look at who God is.

Look at how

he has saved you.

He is the only God

there is no other

love him with all

your heart

and soul

and mind

and strength.

And the teacher

of the law

gets it

and he says

well said teacher

you are right

in saying

that God

is one

there is no other

to love him

with all your heart

and all your

understanding

and all your strength

and to love your

neighbour as yourself

it's more important

than all burnt

offerings

and sacrifices.

He doesn't

actually quote

the commandment

back

he quotes

the intent

of it.

He understands

that God

offers real

relationship

with himself

and he prizes

it above all

the religious

ritual

that they do

at the temple

there is something

greater than

temple sacrifices

and he says

to obey

is better

than sacrifices

he remembers

what Samuel

says to Saul

the whole

temple ritual

pointed to

what a holy

God looked like

but the teacher

of the law

knew that

to know

and love

God

was far

better

than all

the stuff

that pointed

to him.

how absurd

some of the

things that we

argue about

at church

when we argue

about styles

of worship

and types

of music

and looks

of building

and we argue

about those

things as if

those things

in themselves

were ultimate

reality

and don't

think I'm

picking oldies

on this one

I'm picking

young ones

as well

the whole

lot of us

wherever we

sit

they are not

ultimate reality

the Lord

Jesus is

and we

fall out

over these

things at

peril

because Christ

calls us

to love

God

and to

love one

another

above all

those things

it's a

call to

pursue

relationship

with God

and to

pursue

relationship

with one

another

and Jesus

says something

which is

absolutely

wonderful

he says

you are

not far

from the

kingdom

of God

what a

wonderful

thing to

hear from

the mouth

of the

Lord

Jesus

and I

think the

understanding

that he

still requires

is explained

in the next

verses that

Jesus is

the Christ

see verse

35 while

Jesus was

teaching in

the temple

courts he

asked his

own question

how is it

that the

teachers of

the law

say that

the Christ

is the

son of

David

and the

teachers in

Jesus day

they're teaching

about the

coming king

the messiah

who will be

David's son

David is the

great hero

of the past

he beat all

the enemies

of God

he brought

about peace

and they

look back to

him as this

great one

in the past

and they're

viewing the

king as

somebody who

will be like

him maybe

not as great

as him but

he will defeat

their enemies

he will kick

the Romans

out he will

restore their

glory

it's a little

bit like

Australians

with the

great

it's not

just

Australians

it's the

world cricket

community

when they

look at

the Australian

batsman

Donald

Bradman

every

cricketer in

the world

gets measured

against

Bradman's

achievements

it's

inconceivable

that anybody

could ever be

as good as

him

and so

Jesus quotes

this is how

people thought

about David

it's almost

inconceivable

that anybody

could be as

good as

David

but Jesus

quotes Psalm

110 and he

asks a riddle

which is designed

to turn their

traditional

understandings on

their head

he says

David himself

speaking by the

Holy Spirit

declared the

Lord said to

my Lord

sit at my

right hand

until I put

your enemies

under your

feet

David himself

calls him

Lord

how then can

he be his

son

and the

crowd

listened to

him

with delight

they loved

him

ripping

into

them

he quotes

David

the great

one

himself

David

recognized

the son

who would

be greater

than him

Bradman

will have

a descendant

who smashes

his records

and will be

greater than

him

a king

is coming

who is much

bigger than

David

he is

David's

Lord

he will

sit at

the right

hand of

God

in heaven

and all

of God's

enemies

will be

subject

to him

and so

Jesus is

not just

a peer

to this

teacher of

the law

he is

God's

king

who will

achieve

God's

end time

purposes

and then

Jesus rounds

off this

body of

teaching

by showing

what love

of God

doesn't

look like

and then

what it

does

look like

watch out

for the

teachers

of the

law

they like

to walk

around in

flowing robes

and be

greeted in

the market

places

they have

the most

important

seats in

the synagogue

and the

places of

honour at

banquets

they devour

widows

houses

and for a

show they

make lengthy

prayers

such men

will be

punished

most severely

I've been

in Christian

ministry long

enough to

know what it

feels like to be

put on a

pedestal and

sometimes it

feels great

because of the

perks that come

with it and

sometimes it

feels absolutely

lousy because

you've been put

in a place you

should never be

the religious

elite have

lost their

heart for

God

they enjoy

the perks

of office

they are

great and

important men

and women

in their

community

they are

prominent

they are

privileged

they stand

head and

shoulders

over everybody

else and

they delight

in it

and Jesus

says watch

out for them

literally turn

your backs

on them

their destiny

is God's

severe punishment

and the

contrast there

they've got

all this stuff

for themselves

but they

devour

widows houses

and then he

turns and

tells us a

story about

a widow

he's watching

people outside

the treasury

putting in

their donations

clang clang

clang go the

big donors

lots of

money

and the

poor widow

comes along

and she

puts two

small copper

coins into

the treasury

chest

unnoticed

probably by

everybody

except Jesus

and he

draws attention

to her

and he

draws it

out and he

says I

tell you the

truth that

this poor

widow

has put

more into

the treasury

than all

the others

they all

gave out of

their wealth

but she

out of

her poverty

put in

everything

all that

she had

to live

on

I've only

ever preached

these words

before in

isolation

and not in

context

we can say

lots of

things about

them with

regard to

giving and

money

and attitude

of heart

that goes

with it

we can

even say

things like

there could

have been

another

widow

there

who put

in two

small copper

coins that

was right

beside the

first one

and as she

put them in

her heart

just grumbled

and complained

about what

she was

doing

that's not

true

but what I'm

trying to draw

out is the

notion that

Jesus noticed

her and

Jesus as

distinct from

everybody else

knew something

that was going

on in her

heart

her heart

in giving

was a

heartfelt

response

to God

and she

gave

everything

love the

Lord your

God with

all your

heart and

soul and

mind and

strength

everything

not noticed

but everything

she gives

all to

Jesus

and she's

such a

contrast to

the religious

leaders whose

love is all

about themselves

and self

indulgence

and self

love

and self

satisfaction

God knows

our heart

even we

can't judge

one another's

hearts

we see a

brother or

sister do

something and

we may well

be really

encouraged by

it and it's

great that we

are and it's

great that we

act in such a

way that people

might be

encouraged

but we really

do not know

one another's

hearts and when

we judge one

another's hearts

we may be

making a

grave mistake

there are

certain things

that we see

and judge that

we ought to

be warned

about but in

terms of

motive God

is the one

who knows

the motives

of our

hearts

I love the

core values

that have

been that

are the core

values of our

church family

I don't know

if you know

them all yet

we talk about

them reasonably

often but we

talk about

things like

devotion to

prayer we

talk about

Christ-centered

bible saturation

we talk about

humble authenticity

treasuring Jesus

together servant

leadership radical

generosity and

local and global

impact I love

them because

they're relational

and they are

driven by a

heart which

loves God

through his

son the

Lord Jesus

Christ

they're about

pursuing God

with all our

heart and soul

and mind and

strength

there's a

wrong way of

holding them

the wrong way

of holding

them is to

turn them

into another

set of

laws

you prayed

today you

read your

bible today

you've been

honest in your

dealings with

people you've

been to church

on Sunday

were at your

community group

have you done

your duty with

kids church or

music or whatever

it is how much

money have you

given lately

that's the wrong

way

but these are

very good

principles because

they can be

held the right

way they can be

held by a heart

that treasures

Jesus and is

hungry for Jesus

that loves to

speak to Jesus

in prayer that

earnestly desires

to be in the

word of God so

that they might

know more about

what Jesus and

God is like that

they might know

him

a heart that

is not proud

and prepared

to humble

themselves and

acknowledge their

own failures and

their mistakes with

their brothers and

sisters a heart

that treasures being

together in a

gathering like this

when we gather on

Sunday when we

meet in our small

groups our community

groups through the

week a heart that

bleeds for those who

aren't amongst us

and wonders where

they are and

expresses love and

concern doesn't just

say I notice they're

missing but who

goes to them and

says how are you

brother or sister

how can I

encourage you in

Christ a heart

that leads as a

servant not about

who I am but how

can I honour the

Lord Jesus in the

way that I relate to

you and serve this

church family a

heart that gives

generously who sees

what we that the

earthly possessions

that we have our

money our possessions

whatever it is as

given to us as

entrusted by to us by

God in the first

place a heart that

cries out to see

the gospel of the

Lord Jesus Christ

transform men and

women and boys and

girls in this

community in this

church family and in

the world beyond

there is a really

good way to hold

the core values of

St Paul's

brothers and

sisters the Lord

our God the Lord

is one he has

revealed himself to

us in the person

of the Lord Jesus

Christ love the

Lord your God with

all your heart and

all your soul with

all your mind with

all your strength

pursue him and love

your neighbour as

yourself pursue one

another in Christ

Amen

Amen