Changed lives in Luke: From doubt, to dancing, to destiny

Luke 24:36-53 ESV

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!"  But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."  And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"  They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,  and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Deals with their doubt

It was very hard for the disciples to believe that someone would rise from the dead in the middle of history. They were expecting resurrection at the end, not the middle. They were expecting a winning Messiah who would deliver them from the Romans. The disciples couldn't wrap their minds around this idea. The women were confused at finding an empty tomb. The disciples didn't believe the women when they came back and recounted the visit to the tomb.

Jesus had to persuade them. He showed them his wounds. He did this patiently. He even ate some fish to prove that He was bodily risen. He was no ghost. He had physically returned from death. He gave evidence to address doubts. The Christian faith is a reasonable faith. We do not discard reason when we come to faith.

Jesus invites you to investigate the faith.

Gives them a reason to dance

If the resurrection is true, it is the greatest news. It means that we too will rise from the dead. Jesus' resurrection means we also will rise. Not only that, but also in the same manner. We will be bodily and physically returned. There will be much similarity to the current life. Eating, nature, cities, neighbors. But also important differences. No death, pain, or brokenness. Take your perfect day here and multiply out by infinity. It well pale in comparison.

Jesus had planned to suffer and die. That was why he came. In atheistic thinking, suffering has no meaning. Sucks to be you. Just bad luck. But Jesus shows us that suffering has meaning. When Jesus died, the disciples thought they had lost everything. They had wasted their years for nothing. Jesus came back to show them that suffering was for a reason. They and we were saved by Christ's suffering. The joy of heaven will be magnified by the suffering of this life. All the suffering and pain of Jesus plays a part in saving us. When we come to the resurrection, all of our sufferings and pains will make sense. Or joy will be even greater.

Sets them on their destiny

Jesus calls them to share the good news for the rest of their lives. This call is not only for the disciples. It is also for us. This is how we treat good news; we want to share it.

We are called to give up our lives. The truth is that we have everything in Christ. So we can lose status, money, power, respect, even our lives...because we know all the important things are secure in Christ. Even when we lose our lives, God will give it back to us.

Every menial task, when done with the heart and intention of sharing the love of Christ, is a great work. The Holy Spirit empowers all these things. It is not us, but the Spirit working through us.

Good Friday

Luke 7:36-47 ESV

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  And he answered, "Say it, Teacher." "A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?"  Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly."  Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."  And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

Rev. Dwight Yoo

This woman of the city is really a prostitute. She was a sinner. She came with expensive perfume and anointed his feet with it. She wiped her feet with her hair and tears.

In breaking this jar, she had committed everything to Jesus. Once the jar is opened by breaking the neck open, you would not be able to save any of it. She came prepared and ready to serve Jesus.

Simon was not. He believed that sinners could taint the righteous. Jesus challenged this. Simon was here to trap and ensnare Jesus. Simon offered no hospitality, no actions of respect. He was there to investigate Jesus.

The woman was a hooker and always looked down. All the religious officials would have said that she had no way to be acceptable before God. Constant shame and condemnation was her lot and when she died, she could expect nothing other than rejection by God. The gospel of free grace was very costly to Christ. She sees this at this dinner. Jesus hangs out with sinners and so, these religious authorities could not accept him. Jesus had to bear under the scorn and disrespect of these men. The woman got a glimpse of this. And she breaks out in tears. Not a little, but a torrent of years. Simon did not wash His feet. He certainly wouldn't offer a towel. So she lets down her hair to wipe Jesus' feet. This would have been shocking to people of this day and age. A woman only let down her hair for her husband. So when she let down her hair, she was saying that Jesus was deserving of everything. And seeing that Christ got no kiss of greeting, she kissed his feet in reverence. This perfume was probably the most expensive thing in her life. And she poured it out on his feet.

Jesus lays it out. He points out Simon lack of hospitality. He shares a parable of debtors. God is owed everything, but we are guilty of ignoring God. This is everyone. Even the religious owe God, but they think they can take care of their own debts. But in the parable, Jesus lets us know that neither of them can repay. So even if the debts are different, both of them are bankrupt! The amount makes no difference! The difference in amount is purely technical, it makes no practical difference. Both moral and immoral, religious and irreligious cannot repay the debt. Jesus pays the debt with His life. Simon thinks he can repay, so he doesn't care. This woman knows she cannot repay! She is in need of a savior and so she is forgiven.

Those who think little of sin, think little of Jesus. This is Simon. Those who think much of sin, think the world of Jesus. This is the woman.

Who are you?

Do you examine Jesus from afar? Is it just a somber attitude or is there something more? Or do you think of Jesus and find yourself overwhelmed by tears of joy? Is your life filled with comfort or are you willing to bear rejection/pain for Christ? Are you struck by your great indebtedness and the greatness of God's forgiveness? Do we have "acceptable sins" that we think acceptable before God and men? Anger, discontent, & complacency all point to how we have forgotten God. Jesus points to this prostitute as one who can teach us a right attitude before God. We who have been forgiven much, the remembrance of it, brings us back to love the one who paid the debt for us.

Changed lives in Luke: a small man changed in a Big way

Luke 19:1-10 ESV

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Zacchaeus is our changed man. His name meant "pure and just." He lived in Jericho, a place of riches and of great trade importance.

Before Jesus

Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. We don't see tax men favorably even today. But they were greatly reviled as basically extortionists. They were scum. They collected as much taxes as possible and gave just the required amount to the Romans. They kept the difference. As chief tax collector, he was top scum. Scripture said he was seeking out Jesus. Maybe he found all the riches insufficient. Maybe he was lonely. He was an outcast among his own people. The word doesn't say why, but those are very possible.

He climbed a tree. We fly through that verse. But men, upper class men don't run. They certainly don't climb trees. They try to look dignified all the time. This is a ridiculous scene. He is a short hated man. He must've been mocked for his actions. Going up that tree was lowering himself, letting go of his pride, his sense of dignity.

If we are to seek Jesus, we may also need to lower ourselves. Letting go of our pride, our self-respect. We can find that in order to meet Jesus, we may need to humble ourselves.

Meeting Jesus

Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus' house. This little man up a tree is not looking for attention. But he climbs down and gladly accepts Jesus.

Jesus does this often. He walked onto a fisherman's boat. Jesus knows exactly what He is doing. He is doing the same for this tax collector. He walks up to that tree and calls him by name.

Jesus is saying I am extending friendship to you. That is what it means to say he must stay at His house. Jesus doesn't accuse or tell him to change first. Jesus calls this scum, friend. This is why the crowd murmured. We believe that we need to clean ourselves before coming to God. Jesus is saying something about this. We cannot clean ourselves. Jesus comes in first, then cleansing. Not the other way around!
When Zacchaeus accepted this offer of friendship with Christ, salvation came. Jesus said so. How? Because climbed a different tree, the tree of Calvary.

Aftermath

Zacchaeus is changed. He starts to live up to his name.

How do we recognize this change?

They call Jesus, LORD.

Jesus is boss over our entire life. Time, money, and every aspect of their life.

They turn from a lifestyle of serving ourselves to serving others.

They turn from just being about ourselves to caring for others. It is not just turning from one sin. It is turning from destructive self-centered living to loving growing humble living.

A willingness to give up what we used to live for especially to serve others.

Zacchaeus gives half of what he owns to the poor. That is considered imprudent by those days. Twenty percent was considered the most. Legal restitution for extortion was twenty percent. Zacchaeus said he would give back three hundred percent. It was crazy for a man who lived for money to do this. It means something. He is giving up what his life used to center on. Surrender, utterly and completely on that idol which our life was built upon. Zacchaeus used to do anything for money. Now, he is willing to do anything for Christ.

This holds true for not only money, but other things. People's approval for instance. Instead of doing things for people's opinions, we should confront people in sin. We should be able to love people by confronting sin, even if they may hate us for that. We are able to leave comfort to serve others. Because Christ left the comforts of heaven for us. Those of us living for worldly status will see a Jesus who became nobody for us, he became a servant. They can give up status and recognition with joy.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Holiness: Walk By the Spirit

Galatians 5:16-25 ESV

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

The Holy Spirit is the source and power of our holiness

The desires of the flesh does not oppose us...they oppose the Spirit.
When we sin, we give control from the Spirit to the flesh. We are free, but sometimes we listen to our old master, sin.

Our sin is fighting with the Holy Spirit. The fruit of sin are listed followed by the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is the cause of these fruits. The Holy Spirit is necessary for our sanctification.

Growth in Holiness happens in learning to walk in the Spirit

When we walk in the Spirit, this is how we grow holy.

Walking in the Spirit means following in the Spirit's lead.

We are like soldiers. We are to follow the leading of spirit. Much like how soldiers listen to the commanding officer.

Setting your mind on the things of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit ministers by spotlighting. It highlights. It draws us to dwell on Christ and the work he has done on our behalf. By winning of attention, it wins our heart. Sinful desires are pushed out by greater desire for God.

Where does the spirit lead us? It leads us to the Father. It reminds us that we are children of God. Over and over again. Why? We fail alot. We stumble alot. We experience hardship. God loves us. Not because of our performance, but in Christ. We easily forget and question God's love. Hardships make us bitter. Failures make us want to hide from God. But the holy spirit reminds us of the unconditional love, the grace, and the mercy of God.

Fruit of the Spirit = Holiness

The holy spirit shows us the father's...this makes us want to love. But even more than that, it makes us love our enemies. It mirrors the unconditional love of God.

The Spirit shows us the all encompassing fulfillment of God. We become filled with thankfulness for the giver rather than the gifts. We are filled with joy, even when God takes away those gifts.

Closing Remarks

Christians should be the most patient and humble people.

The more we are in the Word, the more ammo we give the Spirit to kill sin in our lives.

Listen to the leading of the Spirit.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Holiness: Praying in the Spirit as the Spirit prays in us

Romans 8:26-27 ESV

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Prayer is one of the most powerful tools God gives to change.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 calls us to continually pray. APTAT finds its foundation in prayer. It is a model imbued with prayer. We know the importance of prayer. We don't struggle with comprehension, but execution. Two things the modern church struggles with: prayer and evangelism. Any discussion of these brings feelings of guilt.

We may feel strange or confused about what to pray about. But we have a helper, the Holy Spirit. He helps us to pray. He prays for us. The spirit strengthens us. We are weak in prayer because we don't know what to pray for. There are many obvious things to pray for. So what is Paul talking about? We are in a broken world, we are not saved from it. God saves us through the brokenness. In the difficult times, the painful times, or horrible times... We don't know what God is doing. We don't know why. So we don't know what to ask for, we are in confusion. That is what Paul meant. We don't know what God wants.

The Holy Spirit prays for us. He prays in the will of God. And all prayers in the will of God are always answered. So even when we are confused, be reassured, the Holy spirit intercedes for us. God continues His work in us, even when we don't pray rightly.

"with groaning too deep for words" has many different interpretations. I think this refers to our groaning in a broken world that waits for redemption. But the Holy Spirit also groans. The deepest longing of the Spirit is for the glory and return of Christ. Not only that, but our groans over our sin and brokenness also originate from the Spirit.

We start out not knowing how to pray. The Holy spirit prays for us. We pray unknowing and uninformed. Then as we learn to pray, the Holy spirit starts to pray through us as well as with us.

Application

Be mindful of the Spirit as you pray

Even when you have a list of prayer items, ask the Holy spirit to lead and teach us to pray. We can get convicted to ask for forgiveness. We can get convicted of sin.

Allow God's general will to shape your prayer life

Pray according to what God wants, generally. God's kingdom come, the growth of the kingdom both in our hearts, lives, and the world. "Hallowed be your name" "your will be done"

The Spirit points us to the gospel

We are weak, He is strong. We were sinners unable to do anything, so the Son had to come save us. Prayer is the language of weakness and dependency. So as we grow, we learn how weak we are.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Holiness: The Spirit by whom we cry"Abba"

Romans 8:14-17

Romans 8:14-17 ESV

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Rev. Dan Whang

We don't all have good pictures of fathers in media and even in our own lives. Some of us may have had less than good relationships with our earthly fathers.

Preceding our passage, Paul talks of killing and fighting sin in our lives. How sin is out to kill us. Here, Paul lays out a greater motivation. We are introduced to the spirit of adoption. We are the same as the physical relations.

The counter point is slavery. They live in fear, with actions done out of duty, and a relationship based on performance.

Children are different. They are entitled to an intimate relationship with the family. They will always have a place in the family. They act out of love. We are children of God.

Abba is an intimate term for father. It denoted intimacy and respect. How have you addressed God, our heavenly father? If your prayers are not in this spirit, you are missing out.
The Spirit empowers us to call God,Abba. It cries out with us and for us in our battles with sin. Galatians 4:6-7 also speaks of this.

Application / Lessons

We are able to cry out to God and pray to Him about anything and everything.

Joking, anecdotes, little things, big things... More than just asking for things or blessing.

Crying out Abba gives us tremendous power to put our sins to death and truly change.

We are empowered by God. What can we not do? He wants us free from sin, what can stand in His way?

Our father can discipline us for our good.

Hebrews 12:6-8

God shows us our sin so that we can grow. So that we become more like Him.

We must treat others in the family of God with grace as fellow adopted children of the same Father.

We are all adopted. Not of our own merit. Of grace. We are a single family in Christ. We are united in hope and in our faith. We are all heirs of a heavenly inheritance who can forsake the world for Him.

Missions: For Him, Through Him, Like Him

1 Colossians 1:15-29

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Those who  think of God as  small, don't think of missions.

For Him

Missions is for Christ. He had always been. When He is called first born, it speaks of His ownership. He created it all. Angels are His as well. The point of all creation is for His praise and glory, forever. Not only that, but also for His dying work. He died for the re-creation, redemption of  creation.

Where  worship is weak, missions will be weak.

Through Him

Our God is in control. When we are on mission for Jesus, God is also at work. He holds His servants together. When the ministry is too much, God holds us together. He keeps us in one piece. When situations are tough, we need to remember that God is working it out to His glory. Then we can rest. He holds His sheep together. When we want to share the good news, we are reminded that God watches over His sheep. So we can share without fear. Even authorities, evil spiritual authorities are under His control. They are not His equal.

Like Him

Missions work is not easy. Ministry is the same. The way includes suffering. Jesus suffered in His ministry. We can expect no less for those who seek to follow Him. Through our suffering and sacrifice, Christ's worth and greatness is made known. Our lives can witness to the greatness of our God.