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

Good morning. I feel like we've all heard or

have said to ourselves the phrase, I'm just trying

to find my way in life. Or maybe something like,

I'm just trying to find my way in this world.

You know, as a follower of Christ, I believe

that I've not only found my way, but I've found

the way. This week, we're beginning a new series

titled, The Jesus Way. Finding the Way of Jesus

in the Gospel of Luke, a series in which I'm

going to try to share the way for abundant and

eternal life. But before we dive in, I want us

to talk about that word gospel, because if we're

going to be studying the gospel of Luke, we've

got to understand what gospel means. And I don't

like to pretend that everybody's on the same

page when it comes to the Bible or when it comes

to Bible things. So let's cover this word really

quick. The word gospel comes from the Greek word

euangelion. And don't let that long word for

you. It's a very simple word that just means

good news. So we're looking at the good news

of Luke. otherwise referred to as the good news

account of Luke. So Luke's perspective or Luke's

observation of this good news. But good news

only makes sense if we understand that there's

a problem in the first place, right? There has

to be bad news for there to be good news. I would

say if there's a problem, well, the good news

is we can fix that. Because the truth is, if

we're honest, Christian or non -Christian, we

can look around the world and we can see that

something's not quite right, that something is

broken. Relationships, they don't last. Sickness

touches us or those we love. Violence, injustice,

and fear seem like they just never stop. And

even in the good moments, in the good times,

when the good things are happening, we might

feel this feeling in the background like, this

just can't last, right? That idea of just waiting

for the other shoe to fall, because we know that

something's not right. Something is quite wrong

with the world or with our existence around us.

I mean, just think about the news we see on TV,

especially right now in this climate we live

in, where there are things going on that are

seen as great evils. Great problems. We see that

there's something wrong. You just scroll through

Facebook or Twitter for just a few minutes. You

stand in the checkout line at the Walmart and

it doesn't take very long for you to realize

just how messed up this world is. We all know

this. Unless you live in a cave, you know that

something is wrong in this world. Nobody looks

at this world and says, oh, it's sunshine and

roses. We know there's something off. And the

Bible doesn't ignore that reality. Christians

shouldn't pretend like it doesn't exist. If I

sit here and tell you that everything's okay,

I'm lying. There is something very clearly wrong.

So we have to name it. We've got to label it.

We've got to expose it. We put a face or we face

it head on and we remember its root. We remember

where it comes from. And that's where the gospel

message comes into play. To help us understand

this, I want to show you a diagram that I like

to use. And if you look right at the beginning,

there's this world. That's the world that God

created in the beginning. As followers of Christ,

we believe that God created the world. He created

everything in it. So God creates this perfect

world, this place where man and God can live

together, where man can walk amongst animals

and live peacefully. live in abundance, a place

of flourishing, a place of perfection that God

created to be our home. But humanity rebels and

humanity messes up. If you've heard the Adam

and Eve story, you know, man sins and then God

has to come in and address that sin because now

we've broken the relationship. We've tainted

this relationship. We've caused separation. We've

brought death to the human story. And that's

the reality we live in. That's our sad existence

that we created for ourselves, that man created

for ourselves, thinking that we could be our

own gods, thinking that our way was better than

God's way, thinking that what we want, what we

desire is the right thing. And we know that to

be true, right? We live in a world where selfishness

is often the cause of so many problems. I'm a

firm believer that pride is the root of all of

the world's problems. And so we see that reality.

But I want to say this, where there's bad news,

there always has to be good news. Where there's

a bad thing, hope has to be a part of the story.

It has to be a part of the equation. And so here's

the hope. The gospel is not just a story of what

went wrong. The gospel is not just about how

bad people are. It's not just about how broken

this world is. The gospel isn't about how evil

everything we do is. It's not about all of the

bad things. The gospel is the story of what God

promised to do about it. It's the story of what

God promised to do about all of the things we

did to ruin this world, all of the things man

has done to mess things up. The gospel says God

is still going to make something good happen.

And we see that right after Adam and Eve sin,

they get caught in their sin. They're exposed.

God shows up and he gets onto them and he deals

with them. And as he's doling out these punishments,

God makes a promise. And he makes this promise

to the serpent, the one who deceived them. And

this is what he says in Genesis 3, verse 15.

Genesis 3:15

I will put enmity between you and the woman and

between your offspring and her offspring. He

shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his

heel. Right there, God is telling the serpent

about someone that's coming, the offspring of

the woman that will come one day. And when he

comes, he's going to crush your head. In other

words, he's going to destroy you. And God, again,

he makes that promise to the serpent, the one

who deceived Adam and Eve. So God looks at the

serpent and he says, you're going to pay for

what you did to my creation. You're going to

pay for what you did to my people, my children.

Isn't it so cool that even in humanity's darkest

moment, in the moment where everything should

be over, Because like God told Adam and Eve,

if you eat of that fruit, you'll die. So in the

moment where death has come onto the scene, God

is promising redemption. God is not just going

to let Adam and Eve walk out with this. thought

of suffering forever, God is going to leave them

with a message of hope saying, I'm going to restore.

I'm going to redeem. Evil's not going to win.

Death is not going to have the final word. A

redeemer is coming. Where there's bad news, there

has to be good news. And even when the way seems

dark, when the way seems painful, when it seems

hopeless, God says, here's a light. Here's hope.

I'm reminded of when my youngest sister was born.

My youngest sister was born, and in the days

surrounding her birth, there were some things

that went on and things that came up where DHS,

Department of Human Services, or in Georgia,

they would call it DFACS, they had to be called

in. And they were going to the different places

where me and my other siblings lived, and they

were rounding us up, essentially, to bring us

to this facility where we would stay until either

we were released to a family member or released

into foster care. I was in middle school at the

time. And as a young kid, I was terrified. I

remember very plainly, I went into the room that

I stayed in, and I went into this room, I barricaded

myself, I put everything I could in front of

the door, and I was determined to hide in this

room for however long I thought that a 12 -year

-old or however old I was at the time could hide

in a room by himself with no food or any other

types of essentials. Of course, also, I was like,

Again, 12 years old, so the barricade probably

wasn't going to hold up if somebody a lot stronger

than me came to the door. But in my fear, I remember

my grandma coming to the door, and through the

door she spoke very calmly and said, I'm going

to come get you. I will come and get you. You

don't worry. I promise I'm coming to get you.

And the truth about my grandma is even though

we didn't have a lot growing up, my grandma always

made good on her promises, except for Disney

World. We still haven't been to Disney World,

and I am holding that against her. But on a serious

note, she always made good on her promises. She

always made sure we had food. She always made

sure that the lights were on, that the water

was running. She always made sure that we were

okay. Even when we weren't in the greatest circumstances,

we always had what we needed. And because I trusted

my grandmother, because she had always proven

to be true to her word, she always made good

on her promises, when she says, don't worry,

I'm coming to get you, my fear went away for

a little bit because I believed her. I believed

what my grandma was saying, that she would come

and get me, even though waiting was hard. So

we did eventually go to the facility. And in

that facility, there was a lot of uncertainty.

The facility workers were not the nicest people.

some of my siblings, they just could not believe

that we were going to be okay. They thought we

were going to get split up and sent off into

foster care. There were other kids in this facility

that had been there for a long time, and they

were convinced that nobody could ever get in

and get out of this place, that if you came in,

you were stuck there, and if you got out, it

was to go to foster care where you'd be mistreated.

This was the feeling while we were waiting, but

I just had to keep telling myself, my grandma's

coming, even when it was the hardest. In fact,

we got there one day and we stayed for a little

over a week. And I remember the night before

my grandma came to get us, I'm laying in the

bunk bed above my little brothers. And I think

they were sharing a bed because they were scared.

And I'm laying in the bed above them and I'm

just listening to them cry because they're scared.

And I can hear my little sister, who's not even

a week old at this point, in another room, screaming.

And they're trying to get her to calm down. And

I'm laying there thinking, is this ever going

to get better? Is this ever, is this going to

end? Is someone going to come get us? Or is this

our new life? Is this our new reality? And thank

God, the next day, my grandma shows up. She brings

us home. And that's what we see in the Bible.

We see God make a promise. We see God... Look

at Adam and Eve and look at mankind. Even when

we are the ones who do the messing up. When I

was a kid, we didn't mess up. Somebody else messed

up and that's why we went to the place we went.

But when God shows up, it's mankind who has messed

things up. It's man who deceived and it's man

who has murdered and it's man who has lied and

it's man who has stolen and it's man who has

corrupted all of the things that God had meant

for good. And so in the midst of all of that,

God makes a promise saying, hey, Forget it. I'm

going to redeem you. He makes this promise. And

from that point, there is a long period of waiting.

But God... doesn't go ghost on his people. He

actually stays involved with them. He makes this

promise of a coming savior, of a new kingdom

that is never going to end. And he makes this

promise all throughout the Old Testament. In

fact, there are dozens of times where God makes

this promise directly. And then there's hundreds

of times where he makes it indirectly. And all

of these times, God is pointing to his plan to

save his people. This restorative, redemptive

mission that God has been on from the beginning

when we messed up. up, God was determined to

save us. And it was all God's way of saying,

I know it's hard. I know it's painful. I know

it's uncertain, but don't worry. I will come

and get you. One of the clearest pictures of

this is in Isaiah. In the book of Isaiah, God

speaking through his prophet there in the 35th

chapter, he says, the wilderness and the dry

land should be glad. The desert shall rejoice.

Is there anything to rejoice about in the desert?

And in the desert will blossom like the crocus.

It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with

joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be

given to it. The majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty

of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make

firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have

an anxious heart, be strong. Fear. Behold, your

God will come with vengeance, with the recompense

of God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes

of the blind shall be opened. and the ears of

the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap

like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing

for joy, for waters break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert. The burning sand shall

become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs

of water. In the haunt of jackals, where they

lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes,

and a highway shall be there, and it shall be

called the way of holiness. The unclean shall

not pass over it. It shall belong to those who

walk on the way. even if they are fools. They

shall not go astray. No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come upon it. They

shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall

walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall

return and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting

joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain

gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall

flee away. It's gonna be gone. It's fleeing away.

I want you to take a minute to just picture that.

Just imagine it. Barren wilderness blossoming.

Dry desert springing forth with water. Blind

eyes seeing for the first time. The lame not

just being able to stand, not just being able

to walk, but the lame leaping. Sorrow fleeing.

And joy abounding. You know, this makes me think

of those military homecoming videos. And I'm

purposely not showing them because I know that

if I do, you'll start crying. And I don't need

you crying. I need you focusing on the gospel

here. But think about those videos. where maybe

little Jimmy's sitting at his table in kindergarten

and he's coloring on a piece of paper and the

teacher gets his attention and she says, little

Jimmy, look at the door. And so he looks at the

door and in the doorway is a man standing there

in his military uniform. little Jimmy gets up

and he just runs to the door as fast as he can

and grabs the man because that man is his dad

and his dad's been deployed and he's finally

home. And there was fear, there was uncertainty

of when dad was coming home, but no matter what,

when he came home, he was going to be met with

such a joyous celebration, with joyous feelings

inside. And that is what we see here. With God's

promise. Because God doesn't just promise to

come back and make things okay. He promises to

come back and make things. great. In fact, he

promises to make them greater than they could

ever imagine, greater than actually possible.

Because think about a desert. There's no springs

of water in a desert. That's not possible. It

wouldn't be a desert if there was. A blind man

can't see. A lame man can't walk, much less jump.

And so for God to say, when this time comes,

you are going to see sorrow flee and joy abound.

What he's saying is, I'm going to do something

unthinkable. I'm going to do something amazing.

It's this picture of hope. It's this imagery

of restoration, of renewed life. And God doesn't

just make this promise. God makes this promise

knowing good and well that he is faithful to

keep it, even if it requires a little bit of

patience on our end. And I got to say this too.

I think it requires a little bit of patience

on God's end. Because think about it. God wants

to be with his children. God wants to walk with

us. He wants to live with us. He wants to be

in that perfect home that he designed in the

beginning with Eden. He wants all of that to

be with us. And so you can't, I can't imagine

how much patience it requires God to sit there

for centuries, for thousands of years, trying

to slowly put this mission together. And we see

centuries later, after he makes this promise,

God begins fulfilling it in a small, unexpected

way in Luke chapter one. In Luke chapter 1, an

Luke 1 · chapter mention

angel comes not to a palace, not to a king, not

to these high and mighty officials. An angel

comes to a small town, to an ordinary young woman

who wasn't married, by the way, named Mary. And

here's what the angel says to her. In Luke chapter

Luke 1:28

1, verse 28, he says, Greetings, O favored one.

The Lord is with you. So I don't know about you,

but I can only imagine if an angel appeared to

me, I'd be pretty terrified. So Mary is understandably

terrified, but she listens anyways, as the angel

explains. I guess she didn't really have a choice

because what would you do, run? So in Luke 1,

30 through 33, this is what the angel says to

her. Don't be afraid, Mary, for you found favor

with God. So there it is again. I love that the

angel is kind of telling Mary, hey, God. favors

you. He thinks something special about you. And

again, she isn't somebody special. She's just

an ordinary person, but God clearly found favor

with her. So he goes on to say, and behold, you

will conceive in your womb. Remember, Mary wasn't

married and she hadn't done anything to do the

thing that you do to have a baby. But the angel

says, you'll conceive in your womb and bear a

son. You shall call his name Jesus, and he will

be great. He'll be called the son of the most

high. And the Lord God will give to him the throne

of his father, David. So right there, the angel

is saying that this child that you're going to

bear is going to be the one that God promised

way back in the Old Testament that would sit

on the throne of David. So this is messianic

prophecy, otherwise known as prophecy of a Messiah,

right? And so the angel is saying, hey, it's

happening. And it's going to happen through you.

And he'll reign forever. He'll reign over the

house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there

will be no end. Again, prophecy, promise. The

angel's saying it's happening, Mary. And God

has chosen you to be the beginning of this part

of the mission. You know, Mary had no power.

Like I said, she wasn't special. She wasn't wealthy.

She didn't have prestige. She was seemingly a

nobody. Yet God chose her. And then if you look

in Luke chapter 2, when Jesus is born, it's not

Luke 2 · chapter mention

in a palace. It's not in the nicest hospital

in town. Jesus is born where? In a stable. And

who are the first witnesses? The first people

to proclaim the arrival of the Messiah. It's

not these people that these religious leaders

who have been studying and waiting and training

their whole lives. It's not the elites. It's

not a king. It's not the special spokesperson.

It's not celebrities. The first witnesses, shepherds,

men that just tend sheep. Not the type of people

that you'd expect to be a part of the fulfillment

of this thousands of years awaited promise of

the saving of the world. This is a very unlikely

cast of characters, but that's how God works.

God loves to work through the unlikeliest of

people. He loves to work through the people that

nobody would expect. It's this kind of upside

down methodology that allows for God's greatness

to really be on display, for it to really shine

through. Because if God can do something great

through somebody seemingly not great, then it

has to be explained in one way, a miracle. And

all of the things that God does are miraculous.

They're amazing. They are only capable through

the power of someone like the God of the universe.

And this matters for us today because the truth

is most of us listening are not special people.

Most of us are not prestigious. We're not We're

not the most likely people to proclaim this good

news. But we have to know that God is still working.

And God loves to do some of his best work through

people like us. Ordinary people like me and you

who don't have it all together, who aren't perfect,

who aren't elite, who aren't wealthy, who aren't

powerful, but we're just normal people. Some

of us not so great people looking at myself here,

but we often struggle because We expect something

from God and the people in this time expected

something from God, like a God who works on their

schedule, but also works on in their understanding.

We expect God to do these big things through

big people, these amazing things through flashy

means. But what God does is he says, hey, I need

you to just trust me. And instead of instant

fulfillment and instead of it being flashy, I

need you to just trust and be patient and understand

that I am. faithful and I need you to be faithful

too. Mary didn't have all the answers, but what

Mary had was an understanding that the God who

made this promise was the same God who over and

over and over again in her people's history made

good on his promises. She knew that she was getting

this promise from the ultimate promise keeper,

the most faithful. And so she's able to trust

him in this way because she knows the history

of not only her people, but the God making this

promise. And I want to emphasize a point here

because I think it's a key piece in what we're

going to see as we go through Luke's gospel account.

And that is who God includes from the very beginning.

Again. God doesn't go and do the greatest deeds

through the most powerful people. He doesn't

go to the most impressive, the most talented,

the most prestigious. What God does is he finds

the humble. He finds the ones that are overlooked,

sometimes that are marginalized, the ones that

are unexpected. You know, I've heard Luke referred

to as the social justice gospel. And I know that

that phrase social justice may have some political

connotation. I don't mean it that way. And so

please don't take it that way. What I'm saying

is look at who God works through and who Jesus

is working with in this gospel. You'll see it

as we go through. He works with the most unlikely

people, sometimes even the people that it was

considered maybe taboo to be dealing with or

people that he shouldn't necessarily want to

be around if he wants a good reputation for himself.

You see Jesus hugging the leper. You see Jesus

sitting with the woman at the well. You see Jesus

saying that those that are sleeping with pigs

have a chance at coming home and being redeemed.

And so what we see in Jesus is justice being

done. in a very social way with people that were

considered social outcasts. And so as we go through

Luke's account of the good news, I want to challenge

you to pay attention to who God uses and who

Jesus interacts with, who he encounters. And

that's important. But it's also for us to know

that we're not too insignificant. I want us to

know that we're not too unqualified. I often

feel like I'm not the right person to be doing

the things that I do in ministry. I often feel

like I'm not the person that should be telling

people about the goodness of God because I'm

not very good myself. I also think Luke's gospel

is important so that we realize that the under

or the overlooked should not be the overlooked.

In fact, Jesus goes out of his way often to go

to the overlooked. And so just as we see that.

happen. We've got to understand that we're a

part of God's story. Just as Mary said yes to

a role she could barely understand in God's promise,

God invites us to trust Him. Even if we don't

feel like we belong, even if we don't feel qualified,

even if we don't feel like we are the ones that

He should be using, God is inviting us to trust

Him, to walk in hope, to walk in patience, and

to participate in the unfolding story of His

redemption because As I will say, the gospel

story is not complete. It has begun, and it is

actively happening. Man sinned. God promised

to redeem. His people to bring us back to His

home. He sends His Son to start that redemption

process. Jesus comes. He dies on the cross. He's

buried. He raises again. He tells us to go and

proclaim the good news of this death, burial,

and resurrection, of this salvation, of this

redemption, of the Messiah coming. He tells us

to go share that with people. And He also promises

that He's coming back. And when He comes back,

He's going to make all things new and bring us

into the perfect home that we were We're always

supposed to live in with God. Here's the truth.

That other part, the he's coming back, he's going

to make things new and we're going to live with

God forever. That hasn't happened yet. There's

still time and we're still a part of that. God

is inviting us to be a part of that. And just

like Mary said, yes, my prayer is that as we

explore the way of Jesus, that we will find ourselves

saying yes to following Jesus in his path of

restoration for all of mankind. And I know this

morning that some of us are still waiting. for

that final fulfillment of the promise, the other

half of the gospel to be completed. We're waiting

for things to be made right. We just can't, we

feel like we can't make it in this world any

longer. We need things to happen a little bit

quicker. We say things like, Lord, come quickly.

Lately, I've been saying, Lord, come quickly

a lot more, although I still want to be here

because I also like spending time with my family

and friends. But I also know that there's something

so much better. And in that home that God is...

has promised us that there's no more suffering,

there's no more death, there's no more injustice.

And so we say things like, Lord, come quickly

because we're hurting and we can't take this

anymore. But I want you to know that God is working

in a perfect timing. And so the invitation for

us today isn't to have everything figured out.

It's not for us to give up hope. It's not for

us to feel like things have to be perfect right

now. The invitation today is to trust that God

keeps his promises. Trust that God is faithful.

And then for us to stay present, to stay faithful

in the waiting for Him to return. Anytime I give

a lesson, my hope is that it connects with those

that have been following Jesus for a long time

and for people that have never given their lives

to Christ yet. I hope that this message can connect

with people on all ends of the spectrum here.

And so this morning, whether you have followed

Jesus for years or you are just beginning to

ask questions about who Jesus is and what is

this way of following him that we're talking

about, wherever you find yourself this morning,

the good news. is the same, and that is that

God has promised to come and get us. He started

this restorative mission. He started that work

by sending Jesus, and He is not finished yet.

He's still got some work that He wants to do,

that He's going to do. So this morning, if you

need help trusting in God's faithfulness, if

you need help just understanding who Jesus is

and what is this good news, and you want to learn

more about that good news, wherever you sit today,

Whatever it is that you need, we're still here,

even though we're not physically here in the

church building together. Well, I'm here. You're

not. But we're still here. We're a text, a phone

call, an email away. Whatever you need. If you

need prayers for encouragement. If you need to

study the gospel or the word more, if you are

ready to make a commitment to Christ, even though

it's cold outside, the water in the baptistry

is still hot, we can make it happen. Whatever

you need, let us know. We're here for you. We're

praying for you. And we can't wait to be with

you again as we continue this conversation and

this exploration of the gospel of Luke as we

study the good news and we seek to live out the

way of Jesus. I hope you'll be blessed and have

a great day.