The Jesus Way: Finding the Way of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke | Donovan Rillion | Preparing The Way

This week, there's been a lot of things that

have gone on in our community, in our world,

in our personal lives that leave people saying

things like, it's not supposed to be this way.

It shouldn't be this way. It was never supposed

to be like this. This isn't the way my life was

supposed to go. This isn't the way our world

is supposed to look. This isn't the way things

are supposed to be. And people are hurting. People

are suffering. They are struggling. They are

finding it very hard to just get out of bed in

the morning. And sadly enough, there are people

that feel like they just can't keep going. Not

the way things are going. And to that I say,

you're right. It is not supposed to be this way.

It was never supposed to be this way. As we talked

about last week, and as I'm a firm believer,

the gospel message says God never intended for

it to be this way. He intended for it to be a

better way, the Jesus way. And that's why we

are having this series, because people are hurting,

people are struggling, and it feels like the

church is not doing anything. It feels like the

church isn't saying anything. And to that, I

am challenging us to stop being complacent and

to follow Jesus because Jesus spoke, Jesus acted.

When he saw people hurting, Jesus did not sit

idly by. He gave his life. Regardless of what

the world says or does, we cannot sit idly by.

The church has to follow Jesus into the depths

of Hades and say, hey, follow us. We have the

way. We know the way. Our God came to this earth

and exemplified the way. He told us the way.

So you're right. It was not supposed to be this

way. And so over the next couple of weeks, we're

going to follow Jesus. We're going to look at

Jesus in the Gospel of Luke and see the way it

was supposed to be, the way we were supposed

to live, the life we were supposed to have, because

there is only one way that leads to eternal life.

There is only one way that leads to abundant

life, and it is through Jesus Christ. And so

we follow that way. We commit to living our lives

in that way. We commit to speaking that way.

And if we are not going to follow that way, then

we need to ask ourselves, are we really Christians?

And I don't like that word. I don't like the

word Christian. So let's rephrase that. If we're

not going to follow the way of Jesus, we need

to ask ourselves, are we disciples of Christ?

Because there is only one way to live. There's

only one way to speak that brings life to this

world, that brings light to this world, and that

is through the way of Jesus. And so, this morning

we continue in this series in the Gospel of Luke

where we're trying to see what exactly is that

way. Because we talk about following Jesus. We

talk about living like Jesus. We ask questions

like, what would Jesus do? What would Jesus say?

How would he say it? And so, we look at the Gospel

of Luke to say, well, what does the Bible say?

Because everything we do, everything we say has

to be rooted in Scripture. So I want us to continue

in our study in Luke. And so last week we looked

at the promise of the way and how long ago God

promised that he would send a Redeemer, he would

send a Savior that would show us the way we were

supposed to live. And today I want us to look

at the one who came before Jesus. And I have

to start with this question. And it's a little

lighthearted, but also kind of serious. Have

you ever been to somebody's house? and it felt

like it was very obvious that they weren't ready

for you to come over. Don't point at anybody.

Don't elbow anybody. But have you ever been to

someone's house and maybe it wasn't clean and

maybe the food wasn't ready and it felt like

there's no way they were prepared to have visitors.

There's no way they were prepared to have company.

I got to tell you right now, my house looks like

a train wreck. I've got two toddlers and they

are messy. And so I've got people coming over,

our small groups coming over to watch the Super

Bowl tonight. I got to go home and get ready

because if I don't, they're going to walk into

my house and say, yeah, it's obvious he was not

ready for visitors. And I don't want people to

say that. I want people to come over and say,

yeah, this house was prepared. In Luke chapter

Luke 1 · chapter mention

1, we know that the arrival of the Son, or at

least the Scripture tells us, the arrival of

the Son of God, the arrival of the Savior, the

Messiah, the King of the universe is coming soon.

But before Jesus can come to this earth, someone

has to come to prepare the way so that the earth

is ready for its king. A special visitor is coming

and we've got to make sure that everything is

ready. And to that, I want to say, church, the

king is coming again and we need to ask ourselves,

is his home going to be ready? Is it prepared

for someone special to come over? Are we ready?

There's a child that's going to be born before

Jesus is born, and his name is John, and you

may know him as John the Baptist. He's pretty

popular. He's a very well -known guy when it

comes to Christianity, but something I think

people don't talk enough about is that John the

Baptist was actually prophesied and promised

in the Old Testament just like Jesus was. Back

in Isaiah, God promises the people of Israel

that the Lord would come, that a savior would

come. And so God makes this promise. But before

the Lord gets here, a messenger would come to

prepare the way. Isaiah chapter 40 verses 3 through

Isaiah 40:3–5

5 says this, speaking through Isaiah is saying

this messenger is going to be like a road grader.

He's going to come through kind of like a fullback.

We're talking about football because it's Super

Bowl Sunday. A fullback would be this road grader

to make sure the running back has an opportunity

to actually make a play. Now, in modern football,

they play like a bunch of sissies, so there are

no fullbacks, but I'm a proponent for bringing

back the I formation. Let's get a thick road

grader in there to make way for the running back

to get through the heart. And so what God is

saying is we're going to bring somebody in that's

going to prepare the way. He's going to open

up the way so that when Jesus comes, everything

is ready. Malachi 3 verse 1 puts it another way.

Malachi 3:1

He says, Behold, I send my messenger and he will

prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom

you seek will suddenly come to his temple and

the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight.

Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

Again, God says. The Savior is coming. I promise

you he's coming. But before he gets there, someone

has to come to prepare the way before me. And

so here's what John's father, Zechariah, was

told in Luke chapter 1. verses 15 through 17,

Luke 1 · chapter mention

he says, he will be great before the Lord and

he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, he being

John the Baptist, even from his mother's womb.

And he will turn many of the children of Israel

to the Lord their God. And he will go before

him in the spirit and power of Elijah to make

ready for the Lord a people prepared. See, the

angel is telling Zechariah that his son John

would be the one who's going to come to turn

the people back to God. He's going to come in

the power and in the spirit of Elijah. And so

if you know the Old Testament, you know Elijah

was a prophet. And Elijah was a prophet whose

message was to call Israel to repent, to turn

away from their idolatry, to turn away from the

way that they've kind of fallen in line with

the ways of the world, the way that they've just

kind of taken the world. at its word. And so

the people of Israel, they need to turn away

from that and go back to the one true God. That

was Elijah's message. And so when the angel comes

to Zechariah and says, your son, your child is

going to come in the spirit, the power of Elijah.

He says, your son is going to be the one that

tells Israel to turn away from the world and

go back to the one true God. Church, let me ask

you a question. Has the church fallen into the

trap of looking like the world and not following

the one true God? I'm going to say unequivocally,

yes. We've got a problem. We have a problem where

we have become like the people in Malachi, where

our worship, our devotion has become tainted,

and we need to make sure that our focus is solely

on one person, and that is Jesus, that our devotion

is solely to one God, and that is the God of

the universe, the God that has made this promise

from the beginning of time. We have gotten complacent.

We have gotten distracted, and that is something

we need to repent of. And so, John comes for

the same reason to say we need to turn back to

God. We need to be ready because the Messiah

is coming. This lines up perfectly what the prophecy

was in Malachi, what the prophecy was in Isaiah.

John is born in Luke 1, Jesus is born in Luke

2. Then John's work shows up in Luke 3 before

Jesus begins his ministry. And at this time,

Israel, they're under Roman rule. Israel is still

living under the law of Moses. We're priests.

They act as these go -betweens for the people

and God because at that time, people couldn't

just go directly to God. They had to have a mediator.

And so this is the time that John is being born

into and then eventually what Jesus is being

born into. And so what Luke tells us is that

the word of God came to John in the wilderness.

Does that sound familiar? Because back in that

Isaiah passage, It said a voice in the wilderness.

So what was prophesied way back in Isaiah, thousands

of years before John ever comes on the scene

is starting to be fulfilled. And so we get to

Luke chapter 3, verses 3 through 9. And I want

Luke 3:3–9

us to read this whole section and then we'll

discuss it. Luke chapter 3, verses 3 through

Luke 3:3–9

9. And he went into all the region around the

Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for

the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in

the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare

the way of the Lord, make his path straight.

Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain

and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall

become straight, and the rough places shall become

level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation

of God. He said, therefore, to the crowds that

came out to be baptized by him, you brood of

vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath

to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance,

and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have

Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is

able from these stones to raise up children for

Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root

of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does

not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into

the fire. You see, just like Isaiah promised,

John comes preparing the way for the Messiah.

He comes preaching this message of repentance,

saying, hey, you need to turn away from everything

that you've been doing, all the distractions,

all of the things that you've let take you away

from God. Turn away from them. Turn away from

what the world has shaped you into so that you

can be ready for what Jesus is about to do. Because

you need to be prepared. You need to be ready.

You'll often hear people say things like, you

don't have to be perfect to be saved. You don't

have to have to have it all together. You don't

have to know it all before you can be used by

God. And to that, I would say, amen. You don't

have to be perfect to be saved. You don't have

to have it all together. You don't have to know

it all. But. We cannot confuse that with thinking

that God intends to leave us where we are. We

can't confuse that with thinking that God intends

us to leave us how we are. God doesn't want us

to be perfect before we come to Him, but He absolutely

wants us to be perfect. We also know that God

is gracious enough to know we ain't going to

be perfect. But He is going to do what He can

to get us as close there as possible in this

lifetime, and then when Jesus comes, we will

be perfect. The day is coming. But what John

is saying is, hey, you can't stay there. You

can't stay doing what you've been doing. You

can't keep living how you've been living. You

can't keep talking how you've been talking. You

cannot stay there. You've got to make some changes

because someone special is coming. Someone perfect

is coming and he is not coming to hang out with

people that have no desire to be better. A doctor

doesn't just go around sick people that want

to stay sick. I have this problem. And Eliza

loves this about me. I have a lot of issues.

I'm hurt all the time. My back is killing me

right now. I got bad knees. I got bad ankles.

I got a bad back. My neck hurts all the time.

But you know what I do? I just deal with it.

I just deal with the pain until it's unbearable.

And then I'll go to the doctor and the doctor

will diagnose whatever the issue is. And he'll

say, this is what you need to do. Give me the

prescription, right? So I had this back injury.

I go to the doctor finally after like four years

of suffering from it. I go to the doctor. He

tells me what I need to do. And so I did the

physical therapy for one physical therapy visit.

And it was boring and I hated it. So I never

went back. Guess what? My back still hurts. You

think a doctor has any desire to help me if I

don't care to help myself? No. So John comes

and he says, hey, the Savior's coming, the healer's

coming, but you've got to be ready to get healed.

You've got to be ready to be saved. And so he's

calling them to repentance. And I want to make

sure, like I said last week, I don't like to

use churchy words and not explain them because

I'm aware some of us don't know these words.

So the word repent, we're going to define that

as to be sorrowful over our sin and to turn away

from it, to change direction. Because if I'm

going to say I want to follow Jesus, I've got

to turn away from the things that are unlike

Jesus. Jesus is not trying to go where I've been

going. He's got a better destination. And so

I've got to turn away from those things. And

it's important to understand something about

this preparation that's taking place in scripture.

John does not come to tell the people to fix

themselves so that God would love them. I want

to make that abundantly clear. John's not telling

them you've got to get it together in order for

God to like you. John came because God was already

on the move, acting in love toward them. As we

discussed last week, God has been on a mission

to save us from the moment man sinned. And this

is a part of it. This is a part of that mission.

And repentance... Repentance is not the price

of admission into God's family. It's the appropriate

response to being invited in the first place.

It's a response of love. Romans 2, 4 tells us

God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.

We repent. We turn away from our sin, not to

earn God's love, but because God has already

shown us a great love. So I want to be clear.

John is preparing the way not by handing people

a checklist, not by telling people what they've

got to do in order to be liked by God. John is

preparing the way by making the people aware

that God is graciously inviting them into his

family, regardless of where they come from. regardless

of what they look like, regardless of what language

they speak, regardless of what they have done

in their past, regardless of what they're doing

in their present, God is inviting them into his

family. And repenting, turning away is important.

As we see John, what he says in verse nine is

that those who don't bear good fruit, those that

are not bearing good fruit are going to be cut

down when Jesus comes. Sounds like a Johnny Cash

song. Sooner or later. God will cut you down.

That's what John the Baptist said, right? He

said, if you're not bearing good fruit, if you're

not doing the right things, if you're not showing

that you have been changed by God and the Holy

Spirit, you will be cut down. And he kind of

goes a little bit further. He says, not only

will you be cut down, but you're getting thrown

in the brush pile that gets burned. And what

happens when it gets burned? It's gone forever.

So he's calling the people, and that's a little

hellfire and brimstone, but John doesn't care,

so neither do I. You've got to turn away from

the sin. You've got to stop doing what you've

been doing and get on board with the Jesus way,

which is kind of foretelling because Jesus hadn't

come yet. But John's saying there's a new way

coming. Because if we simply ask for forgiveness,

but we don't change our way of living, if we

simply ask God to forgive us and we say, God,

will you let me into your family, but we don't

bear good fruit, how will our life be ready when

Christ returns? What will he find? Again, this

isn't about earning, and I hope it doesn't sound

like that. It's about showing that the preparation

and change has taken root. It's about showing

that something different is going on within us.

And so the question for us becomes, what have

we been doing? Because Scripture speaks to the

people then, and it speaks to the people now.

And so for the people then, John is saying, hey,

whatever you've been doing, it needs to change.

And you will be judged based on what you have

done. and what Christ has done in you. Now, we

know the answer to what Christ has done in us.

We know Jesus has come. He's died on the cross.

He's rose from the dead. He has saved us. He's

offered us a free gift of redeemed life. We know

that. Hopefully, if you didn't know that, I'm

telling you now. Jesus has come. He's offered

you the free gift of a redeemed life. Okay, all

got that baseline, right? Then the question becomes,

what fruit am I bearing? What fruit has my life

bore? What does my life look like? When people

see me, do they see someone who has been changed?

Do they see someone who has turned away from

the sinful ways of the world and has started

living like Jesus? What does my life look like?

What have I been doing? I'll put it another way.

When I was little, my grandma would go to work.

She'd leave us at home. And on the kitchen table

would be a list of things we needed to get done

while she was at work. dishes need to be washed,

trash need to be taken out, living room need

to be vacuumed, beds need to be made, blah, blah,

blah, blah, blah. You know, the chore list, the

worst list in the world. At the bottom of the

list though, my grandma in her amazing way of

words, she would write, do this or else trouble,

exclamation point. Now, My grandma is from the

Philippines. She stopped going to school around

like the third grade there because that's just

a thing they do. And so my grandma's English

is not very well or very good. Neither is mine

apparently. Yeah. So my grandma writing this

message at the bottom saying do this or else

trouble exclamation point was her saying a lot

of words. In other words, my grandma was saying

you're going to get tore up if I get home and

this isn't done. Because she would come home

and she would look at us with no other responsibilities

and say, what have you been doing all day? And

so maybe you've been here before. You know what

a clock looks like. And you know what time your

parent gets home from work. So I knew my grandma

would get home from work around 5, 36 o 'clock.

And I knew that we lived in an apartment complex

right next to the Winn -Dixie that my grandma

worked at. I knew it took her about four to five

minutes to walk there. She had little legs, so

it took her a long time to walk. So I knew, okay,

she gets off about 5 .30, 6 o 'clock. If I start

cleaning at about 5 .25, I got about 10 minutes

to clean. So I would do it. And then 5 .30 would

come around, and I'm looking around. And I realize

I am not prepared for grandma to get home. I'm

not prepared for the trouble I'm about to get

in. So what I'd start doing is thinking of all

of the excuses and stories I could tell to get

out of the trouble I was about to be in. And

as good as I am with words, I was never good

enough to talk my way out of the punishment that

came. But I'd ask the question, am I ready? Am

I ready for the punishment that's coming? Am

I ready for my grandma to get home? Am I ready

for what's about to happen when she sees what

I have been doing or not doing while she was

gone? And so as a church, When we think about

the fact that Jesus is coming again and he's

told us what he needs us to do, he's shown us

the way we need to live and he has given us the

things, the mission that he wants us to be on

in this world. Are we prepared for when he comes

back, when he looks at us and says, did you not

see the list of things I gave you to do? And

I got to tell you, in case you don't know, the

list of things is actually really short. Love

God, love people. Make disciples. Three things.

And we've got a lot of time to do it. Lord willing,

we get a lot more. Love God, love people, make

disciples. And I'm afraid if Jesus came back

today, he would look at us and say, what have

you been doing? You've had 2 ,000 years. What

have you been doing? I think if Jesus came back

in like the first or second century, he would

be so proud of them. He'd look at them and say,

y 'all have made so many disciples. You took

over Rome with Christianity and not in like a

Christian nationalist way, but you just made

disciples that made disciples that made disciples

and it took over. And so. He'd look at them.

He'd be proud. I think he'd look at us, and he'd

say, what have you been doing? Have you just

been sitting on your hands? Have you been sitting

around playing video games? You've been sitting

around watching football? For me, it was watching

the Discovery Channel. I love Man vs. Wild. Great

show. Highly recommend it. So I'd sit around

and watch that, and you get consumed in the TV,

right? And then the time passes, and you look

at the clock, and it's 525, and you think, oh

no, she's coming. But here's the thing with Jesus,

we don't know when he's coming. John was able

to give a warning to say he's coming. Be prepared.

Be ready. And so I guess what I'm doing this

morning is saying, hey, he might be coming back

today. He might come back tomorrow. Are we ready?

Are we prepared? John came to prepare hearts

for a new way. The way. Not just any way, but

the way that is aligned with the heart of God,

the way that does love people extremely, the

way that does value people highly, a way that

says you are loved, you are valued by the king

of the universe. So much so that he would go

and hug the leper, that he would sit with the

adulterous woman. that he would be there with

the lame man, that he would put hands on the

blind man, so much so that he would get known

as someone who sits at the table with sinners

and tax collectors. That is the heart of God,

not to excuse their sin, but to affirm his love

for them. And so we, as the church, are being

hopefully prepared to live in that way, the Jesus

way, in aligning our hearts with God's heart

through repentance that leads to action. Because

it has to lead to action. This is what John chapter

John 3:10–14

3, verses 10 through 14 says. And the crowds

asked him, what then shall we do? And he answered

them, whoever has two tunics is to share with

him who has none. And whoever has food is to

do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized

and they said to him, Teacher, what shall we

do? And he said to them, Collect no more than

you are authorized to do. Soldiers asked him,

And we, what shall we do? And he said to them,

Do not extort money from anyone by threats or

by false accusation and be content with your

wages. Do you see a difference there in what

John is telling them to do and what humanity

has always said to do? Humanity says, fill your

closet with all the nicest jackets. And John

says, if you have an extra jacket and you see

somebody cold, give them the jacket. Humanity

says, fill the pantry. I mean, you have whole

shows of people that are doomsday prepping for

an apocalypse that may not ever come, and they've

got these bunkers full of food. And if you're

a prepper, I'm not judging you. Just, you know,

keep your freeze -dried food. But you've got

these bunkers full of food and these pantries

full of food. And John is saying, if you've got

all this food and you see somebody hungry, give

them food. The tax collector's like, what should

we do? And he says, hey, don't just save up these

riches for yourself. Be honest. Give some money

to the poor. He looks at the soldiers. He says,

don't extort them. Don't make them feel like

they've got to give you extra because they're

afraid. Give them some. You see, what John is

calling us to is not an end of life. He's calling

us to a new life. Repentance is not the end of

self. It's simply the beginning of a new and

better way of living. And John is giving us a

glimpse into the way that Jesus will look in

this world. Because Jesus lived like that. He

lived a life that was selfless. He lived a life

that wasn't concerned with himself, that wasn't

consumed with himself, that wasn't worried about

preparing for a day that may not come. And I'm

not saying retirement and savings are bad. All

I'm saying is it cannot be all about us because

if it is all about me, I am not following Jesus

correctly because Jesus was not selfless. Whoa,

Jesus was not selfish. He was selfless. He was

the embodiment of selflessness. And that is a

glimpse of what John, or that is what John is

giving us a glimpse into. It's a life turned

away from the way of this world that looks like

generosity instead of greed, that looks like

honesty instead of exploitation, that looks like

contentment instead of envy. And we will see

this fully lived out in Jesus as we go through

Luke and as we see in the Gospels. So when John

calls people to repentance, when he calls them

to align, with God's heart. He is preparing them

for Jesus to establish his way in them. I was

listening to a sermon last night as we were driving

back from out of town. And conveniently enough,

one of my favorite preachers, he is currently

preaching a series called The Way of Jesus. And

in this, he talks about how when he was student

teaching in college, he had to go to this school

that was kind of in a rougher area of Montgomery.

He's student teaching there. He was a PE major,

so he was going to do a PE class. And he walks

in and he said like the first day before class

even started, some students started just fighting.

And that was just normal. And so he felt like

as the leader in the room, he needed to break

up the fight. And so he goes to break it up and

the teacher that he's student teaching under

kind of stops him and says, uh -uh, we do it

a little differently here. We let them finish

it. We've got a different way. And he realized

after that, that when he learned the way they

did things there, it made it so much easier for

him to connect and teach these students. I would

say the same is true for us when it comes to

Christ. If we will understand the way of Jesus,

It will make it so much easier to understand

his teachings. It will make it so much easier

to live out his commands. We have to first understand

his way. And so John comes to prepare the hearts,

prepare the way, so that when Jesus comes, we

can better understand what he is teaching us.

And I want you to notice, I wouldn't be a Church

of Christ preacher if I didn't mention that this

includes baptism. Luke chapter 3 verse 3 tells

Luke 3:3

us John was proclaiming a baptism of repentance

for the forgiveness of sins. And everybody says,

Amen. Then you look at Luke chapter 3 verses

Luke 3:15–17

15 through 17. John answered, I baptize you with

water, but he who is mightier than I is coming.

Again, John keeps pointing to Jesus. He says,

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and

fire. John makes it clear that he's not the point.

Yeah, I'm here baptizing, but it's not about

me. Yeah, I'm here preaching, but it's not about

me. Yeah, I'm here doing great things. It's not

about me. John also makes it clear that he's

not the destination, that this baptism that he

is helping them with is not the end -all be -all.

That this message of repentance that he's preaching

is not the end all be all. It is simply preparation

for the one who is coming. It is a preparation

of heart for Jesus to come in, for the Holy Spirit

to come in and change their lives. I would put

it this way. John is saying, I'm just the prep

team, but the varsity is coming. The greater

one is coming. The one who is far more capable,

the one who is far more qualified, who is far

more perfect is coming. Jesus is coming. And

when Jesus arrives, he himself is baptized by

John. We can't skip over that. Now, Jesus didn't

need baptism because Jesus was sinless. Jesus

never sinned. He was perfect, but he was baptized

by John. Even in his sinlessness, Jesus steps

into the dirty water, just like everyone else.

And I've never understood that. I asked the question

why, and as I thought about it a little bit more,

I think what I've landed on is this. Jesus steps

into the dirty water just like everyone else

because Jesus doesn't come to just tell us about

the way. He doesn't just come to teach and talk

about it. Jesus lives it out. He walks it. Jesus

goes down into the water. He rises again, and

when he does, Luke chapter 3, verses 21 through

Luke 3:21–22

22 says, the heavens were opened, the Holy Spirit

descended on him in bodily form like a dove,

and a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved

son. With you, I am well pleased. And I say all

of that to say, if we're going to follow Jesus,

we have to do Jesus things. And if Jesus felt

like he needed to be baptized, who am I to argue?

If Jesus felt like he needed the gift of the

Holy Spirit. Who am I to argue? Jesus clearly

saw something important in baptism, in repentance,

in living with the Holy Spirit on him. And so

he does this. And so I want to be just like Jesus.

I want to walk so closely to Jesus that people

look at me and they say, you smell like him.

And I don't know what Jesus smelled like. I don't

think they had really good showers back then.

So I don't really want to smell like him. It's

a figure of speech. But I want people to know

where Jesus has been, I have been because I've

been so close to him. And so what Jesus does,

I want to do. And so Jesus in this moment, he

hasn't performed a single miracle yet. He hasn't

begun his ministry yet. He hadn't preached in

front of thousands of people yet, but he pleases

God in his actions. And here's what God says.

You are my beloved son. God is already pleased

with Jesus before he ever does a single great

thing. And the only reason I can think of is

why. is because belonging to God comes before

performance. And if I belong to God, then I have

to know I'm loved by Him because I don't have

to. He doesn't have to claim me. He doesn't have

to look at me and say, that's my son, that's

my child. But I belong to Him before I've ever

performed a thing. And right after this, in Luke

Luke 4:1–13

4, verses 1 through 13, Jesus faces testing in

the wilderness. But I want you to notice, He

doesn't enter the wilderness empty. He enters

full of the Holy Spirit. Again, Jesus knew He

needed. the spirit. So when pressure comes on

Jesus, when he's tempted, when temptation shows

up, when compromises are offered by the enemy,

Jesus stands firm. He stands firm because he

was prepared. He was empowered for moments like

this. Preparation is proven when pressure comes.

When pressure comes, you know exactly what you're

made of. I heard a baseball coach say, you know

what kind of team you have after you lose your

first game. Because after you lose your first

game, you know how your team can handle being

punched in the mouth. I think it was maybe Rocky

Balboa that said, it's not about how hard you

can get hit, but how hard, or what is it? Not

about how hard you can get hit, but how hard

you can get hit and get up again. So you think

about the preparation is proven when the pressure

comes. I want you to think about it like this.

You never really know how prepared you are for

an emergency when everything is calm. You find

out when the power goes out. A lot of people

found out they were not prepared for their power

to go out recently. There's a lot of cold people

in places like Nashville, in places like North

Mississippi that are suffering because they weren't

prepared for that kind of danger. You realize

how prepared you are when the diagnosis comes

back. You realize how prepared you are when the

relationship is broken. You realize how prepared

you are when temptation shows up unannounced.

In those moments, you don't rise to the level

of your intentions. You fall to the level of

your preparation. And so John has come to prepare

the people so that when pressure comes their

way, they know exactly how to respond. And to

that, I would say. We have scripture to help

prepare us. The Holy Spirit is there to help

prepare us so that when pressure comes our way,

we know exactly how to respond. Are we responding

in the Jesus way? Because repentance isn't just

about what we walk away from. It's about what

we walk toward. The life that we choose to step

into and walk in. And baptism isn't just a moment

of forgiveness. It's a surrendered life that

follows. It's a life that says, I'm going to

live like my rabbi. And so here's the invitation

this morning. For the Christian, for the Christ

follower, for the disciple, I ask you this. Is

there anything in your life that is crooked,

that needs to be made straight? Is there anything

in your life that is keeping Jesus out, that

is blocking Jesus from having full rule and reign

in your heart, that is making it hard for Jesus

to instill his way in you? Not because you're

lost, but because you want to be prepared for

whatever it is that Jesus is trying to do through

your life. Because you don't want to be found

when he returns not bearing good fruit. Because

you don't want to be cut down. and thrown into

the fire. And for those who haven't committed

their lives to Christ yet, I need to say this

very clearly, and I want you to hear this. You

don't have to clean yourself up first before

you can be redeemed. You don't have to be perfect

before you can be saved. Jesus steps into the

dirty water with you. Jesus wants you to be a

part of his family. Belonging comes before believing.

When you come to him in repentance and in faith,

he doesn't shame you. He doesn't look at you

like a mistake. He doesn't look at you like a

disappointment. He does like God did to him.

When he gave his life to him, he says, you're

my son. You're my daughter. who I'm pleased to

have in my family. He calls you his own. And

so today, wherever you are, my challenge for

us is for today to be the day we begin walking

the Jesus way. For today to be the day that we

start living a life of forgiveness, that we start

living in the way of compassion, that we start

living in the way of peace, that we start living

in the way of generosity, of love, the way that

leads to full and abundant eternal life with

God. And so if you have been following Christ

for a long time or if you've never given your

life to him and you want to belong in his family,

all we ask. is that you lay your burdens at the

foot of the cross, that you allow the church

to be here for you, to walk with you. If that's

what you need this morning, and I think we all

need it, it's just a matter of if you'll do it,

we invite you to come as we stand and as we sing.