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.
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
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
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
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.