I love that song because I think it's pretty
fitting for the culture, the context we live
in today, where it's popular to say you're a
Christian. It's popular to say you believe in
God. It's popular to say we are one nation under
God. That's popular right now. Like contrary
to the fear tactics and the things that people
will say about Christianity being like ridiculed
and mocked right now, it's popular to say you
follow Jesus. What's not popular, even among
people who live as Christians, even among people
that are sitting in this room right now, what's
not popular is to actually live the Jesus way.
And that's why I wanted to preach this series.
That's why I wanted us to look at what it means
to be a follower of Jesus, what it means to be
an apprentice of Jesus, because it's not... to
when someone strikes you, turn the other cheek.
It's not popular when somebody speaks ill against
you or about you to just walk away. It's not
popular to say, if you're going to kill me, if
you are going to abuse me, if you are going to
threaten me, whatever may come, I follow Jesus.
That's not popular. And what I don't want us
to be, especially if we're going to keep the
sign out front that says Church of Christ, What
I don't want us to be is a church of Christ that
just looks like a church. We've got to make sure
our identity, our lives are rooted in living,
looking, speaking, thinking like Jesus. And when
we lose that mission, when we lose that focus,
close the doors, turn off the lights, call it
a day. Because it's worthless. So are we going
to follow Jesus? If we're going to follow Jesus,
can I hear you say, I follow Jesus? Okay, I don't
think y 'all really believe that. So let's try
that again. If we're going to follow Jesus, let's
say, I follow Jesus. I follow Jesus. There we
go. All right. So over the last couple of months,
we have been in this series where we've been
exploring this idea of following Jesus. We've
been looking at this biography of the life of
Jesus known as the Gospel of Luke. In it, Luke
recorded Jesus' teachings. He recorded his miracles,
where he went, what he did, what he said. And
he also, in that, recorded Jesus' death. And
he recorded, most importantly, his resurrection.
Today we look at this final scene in the Gospel
of Luke. We look at this closing section, and
as we look at it, I want you to consider the
question on the screen. What do you do when the
greatest person you've ever known walks out of
your life? And I think a part of knowing how
you're going to answer that question is knowing
the context. And so what I mean by that is, did
that person leave on bad terms or did they leave
on good terms? Did that person leave very abruptly
or were you expecting it? Did you know they were
going to leave or did they say anything about
leaving or did they just kind of ghost you? What
do you do when the greatest person you've ever
known The disciples of Jesus, they're about to
experience this very thing. The greatest person
they've ever known, the person that they have
put their trust in, that they've lived by following,
that they have given up a lot of things, they've
sacrificed a lot to follow him. This person is
about to leave. And what's crazy is this isn't
the first time he's left them. He's already left
them once before when he died. But guess what
happened? He came back. Well, this time he's
leaving. And they don't know if he's going to
come back. Or maybe they do. We'll see. But I
want you to really think about how after being
with them, and this was probably about 40 or
so days, after being with them a little while
after his resurrection, he's leaving them again.
And I want you to think about what they had already
been through. They watched him die. They watched
him... experiences excruciating punishment, torment,
and death. And at that point, they thought it
was all over. They thought that the thing that
they had given their lives for was a waste of
time, but he comes back. He spends some time
with them, as Chad mentioned in the communion
thoughts, like he eats with them and he encourages
them. He tells them what they need to know to
feel okay about their circumstances. But now
he's leaving again. And so what do we do with
that? Well, I want us to read these three verses
that close the gospel of Luke out, and then we'll
talk about it a little bit more. So read it with
me. If it's underlined, I'd love for you to read
it out loud if you're comfortable doing so. And
he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting
up his hands, he blessed them. And 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. Now, before we can
go on, I do want to take a moment to point something
that I found pretty significant out. So in verses
50, 51, and 53, there's a word used that we often
say, but I don't know if we often understand
what we're saying. And that word is blessed or
blessing. So Jesus blessed them. And while he
blessed them, he parts from them, goes to heaven.
And then you see later in 53, they were constantly
in the temple blessing God. And I think it's
important that we look at that word this morning.
And so what we're going to look at is the idea
that this word bless, it comes from this Greek
word, and I am not a Greek scholar, so please
don't pretend or don't think that I am. I just
found this in a commentary that I was reading.
So the Greek word for bless. is eulogio. Okay.
And so what that is, is it's a combination of
the word you, which means good and logos, which
is word. And so essentially we're combining those
and we get a good word. And what I found is that
in verse 50, when Jesus blessed the disciples,
what he was doing was he was speaking a good
word over them. Another way that I read it was
that this could be said that he was giving a
speech that bestowed benefit. So it's like when
you would say, I am giving you my blessing. He
is giving them this benefit. He's speaking good
over them because he's about to leave. And so
his parting words, he wants them to know something
good. And he wants them to have the benefit of
what he's sharing. And then in verse 53, the
disciples, they're in the temple. They are blessing
God. What that would mean is they are speaking
good about God or speaking good to God. And so
you have these two ideas, this speaking good
over them. He's blessing them. And then it's
they are speaking good about him, about God.
And so we have this one word that carries these
two different directions. And what I want you
to see is that, well, and I think it's pretty
important, is what we see in verses 50 through
51 with Jesus blessing the disciples. So let's
read that again. If it's underlined, you can
read it with me if you like to. And he led them
out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands,
he blessed them. And while he blessed them, he
parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
So Jesus, he leads his followers to this place
of departure, this place where he was going to
leave them. And so this would be like if you're
dropping your kid off for camp and you're dropping
them off in the church parking lot so they can
get on the van and go. This is the drop off.
that you go to the church, you put them in the
van, they go off with some crazy youth minister,
and you get to go have a week at home by yourself
and enjoy the time alone, right? So this is the
departure. Jesus is bringing them to this drop
-off point, and he's going to leave them, and
as he does, he gives this speech that bestows
benefit, or he speaks good over them. And when
I read this, what I see is this like priestly
posture that Jesus has where it's not a casual
wave goodbye. It's not a simple handshake and
a hug and we'll see you later. This is an imagery
of priests in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament,
they would give offerings. They would make these
sacrifices to God. I think of Aaron in Leviticus
9 where he lifts his hands over the Jewish people
and he blesses them after they've given their
sacrifice. Or David in 2 Samuel 6, where he blesses
the people after they finally bring home the
ark. And so I want to point out the significance
here that Jesus isn't just leaving, he's leaving
and he's blessing as he goes. He's acting as
our great high priest, which is how it's described
in Hebrews chapter 4. And it's on the screen.
I'll read it for you. We have a great high priest
who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the
son of God, he's passed through the heavens.
Does that not sound like what we read there in
Luke chapter 51, where Jesus was lifted into
heaven? We have a great high priest. who has
fulfilled the sacrifice. He has completed this
offering, this ritual that needed to happen so
that we could be saved, so that we could have
atonement for our sins. And he gives this sort
of final benediction over his people, this final
parting word over his people after he has completed
or as he's completing the offering. And that
offering was his life. And then... You look at
once this is complete, he's carried into heaven
and Luke doesn't separate the blessing. He doesn't
separate the blessing from the ascension. These
are combined for a reason. And so I want us again,
think about the Old Testament sacrificial system.
So you have the idea of burnt offerings where
they would bring these lambs and they would bring
these meat items and they would be burnt. And
as they're burnt, the smoke would ascend up to
heaven. And what would happen is it was this
aroma that God would smell and it would please
God and it would atone for the sins. Otherwise,
it would make up for the sins of the people.
And so they would give these burnt offerings.
As you could imagine, they can't give enough
to make up for their sins, right? Like we talk
about how we can't out give God. Well, there's
a reason we say that. It's because I don't have
enough money to pay off the debt of my evil ways.
And just like I don't have enough money, they
didn't have enough lambs. They definitely didn't
have enough spotless lambs. And so they were
giving these like temporary, these. inadequate
offerings to God and it would please him and
it would atone for their sins in a little way,
but it couldn't fully complete the job. Well,
Jesus, he gives his life. He is that burnt offering.
And then he arises and he ascends to heaven and
his aroma goes up to heaven and it fulfills the
atonement completely. And so I don't have to
sacrifice lambs. I don't have to give burnt offerings.
I don't have to pay anything. The sacrifice has
been completed. My sins are atoned for because
my great high priest went into the holy of holies
forever to sit next to God when I mess up and
then I say, Jesus, could you help me? And he
leans into God's ear and says, Donovan's good.
He leans into God's ear and says, Nancy's good,
sometimes. He leans into God's ear and he says,
Ronnie's good. When we mess up, Jesus is there
advocating for us, pardoning our sins. And so
it's this final sacrifice from our great high
priest. So when Jesus ascends back to heaven
to sacrifice, is ascending to God. And the atonement
is fully presented before the Father. And maybe
that's like a little too heady. I know the Old
Testament can be kind of difficult to wrestle
with. Even if that is a little too much for you
at 10 a .m., we're going to keep rolling. Because
I think this is important. I want to spend time
on that, one, because it's really cool to me
how the Old Testament shows up being fulfilled
in the New Testament. Everything that Jesus did,
everything that the church becomes is a fulfillment
of the Old Testament. So that's important. But
more than that, it's because of what it means
for us. Like what all of this means for our lives
and for our relationship with God. What it means
for us is we don't praise Jesus out of obligation.
We don't praise him out of tradition. We don't
praise him out of habit. We praise him because
his blessing over us is loaded with the weight
of his accomplishment. His blessing, this good
word that he speaks over his disciples is full
of his grace. It's full of his mercy. It's full
of his... So when we raise our hands, when we
shout songs of praise, when we worship God, we
do it because our high priest has fulfilled the
sacrificial offering in a way that we never could.
And that's good news. Like that's the gospel.
Which leads us to verse 52. And they worshiped
him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Remember when I asked you what do you do when
the greatest person you've ever known walks out
of your life? Maybe that's happened to you before.
Maybe you had a loved one that was a great mentor.
Maybe you had a teacher or a coach or a boss
that you just really needed in your life. Maybe
it was a spouse. Maybe it was a family member.
I don't know who it was, but I'm sure you can
relate to this idea that somebody great leaves
you. And now you're left with this void. You're
left without their voice. You're left without
their wisdom. You're left without their example.
You're left without their comfort. And so now
you don't know what you're going to do. And so
what do you do when the greatest person walks
out of your life? I personally can't imagine
that what I would do is be filled with great
joy. I don't think joy is the response when you
lose your best friend. I don't think joy is the
response when you lose your loved one. That's
not what I imagine. And this reminds me of the
series finale of a great show, Boy Meets World.
Anybody, Boy Meets World? Okay, no, nobody liked
that show. Y 'all are lame. Great show. It is
an amazing show with a bunch of life lessons.
And a lot of those life lessons are taught by
a man named Mr. Feeney. And Mr. Feeney was this
great teacher who was with this group of kids
like their whole life. Somehow, Mr. Feeney was
like their elementary school teacher and then
one day ends up being their professor in college.
Don't ask me how that happened, TV. But Mr. Feeney
was with them their entire educational journey.
And he was more than that. He was their neighbor
and he lived next to them. He was in their home.
He lived life with them. And he was the greatest
person that these kids ever knew. And in the
series finale of Boy Meets World, they come back
into his classroom for one last time. And Mr.
Feeney kind of gives this final speech to them.
And he imparts some wisdom on them, and then
he tells them, you know, he says, go and do good.
In this moment, the greatest man that these kids
ever knew. He's walking out of their life. Now,
Mr. Feeney's probably going to be there. He's
going to be around, but he's no longer going
to be there in the same capacity for them. And
in this finale, the response isn't joy. Like,
I'm getting sad just thinking about it. These
students, they sit in these desks and they cry.
And they go and they give Mr. Feeney hugs and
they walk out sad because they just can't stand
it any longer that they're no longer going to
be his students. They're not going to be under
him anymore. And that's what I imagine. If I'm
a disciple of Jesus who has lived with him for
all this time, that's what it would be like.
I would be sad. I would be full of remorse. I
would be thinking, how could I possibly, like
he's been my teacher from elementary school to
college. How can I get him to go be my boss in
the workforce? Or maybe I can get him to move
in with me and he can like be my personal tutor
throughout life. I would be thinking about how
can I just keep Mr. Feeney around? But the disciples
are full of joy. And the only way that I can
think of that that could be their response, that
they would go back not sobbing but full of joy,
the only way I can think of that is because they
have been assured of the promise and the purpose
of Jesus' leaving. That's the only way I can
imagine that they could respond with joy. It's
because they know what's going to come from his
ascension into heaven. They know what's going
to be the result of this tragic moment. And so
I want you to think about those bad times in
your life. And when I think of that, I think
of Joseph in Genesis where he says, what you
meant for evil, my God meant for good. Like I
think of those bad times when we lose those people,
those great mentors. And the only thing I can
think of is the disciples are thinking, yeah,
this really stinks. but God's going to do something
great because of it. And I think they're able
to think that and know that actually because
Jesus said as much. The disciples would have
known, or at least they should have known because
they had been taught this, that they were going
to receive because of Jesus' sacrifice, because
of His ascension, salvation. Salvation from their
sins, salvation from this awful life, salvation
from their tragic and messed up ways, they would
receive, because of Jesus, salvation. They would
have also known, because Jesus would have told
them, that they were going to receive access
to God. Think about when Jesus says it's finished
and he dies on the cross, the veil in the temple
is split from the top to the bottom. Essentially
that means you can go before God now because
our great high priest has fulfilled the sacrifice
so they now are receiving access to the Father
because Jesus left. And they knew about this
promise of a heavenly home. Jesus talked about
the kingdom. He talked about the home he was
going to prepare for them, this home with many
rooms. He describes it as a mansion. And that's
what they're going to have. It's going to be
this place that they get to live with God, with
Jesus, with all of the saints for eternity. And
they knew because he had just told them like
just a few days ago that they were going to receive.
the gift of the Holy Spirit that would live within
them. You know, I heard a quote, and don't debate
me on this one. I'm just sharing a quote. And
what it was, was he said, there are people that
believe that there is greater value to have the
Holy Spirit within you than to have Jesus beside
you. And what he's saying is not to discount
the goodness of Jesus. He's not discounting the
power of Jesus. But what he's saying is that
there is something special about having the power
of the Holy Spirit within you because now you
can function just like Jesus intended for you
to function. And so I say that to say these things
are the gifts that Jesus had promised that would
come when he ascends. And so this is a lot different
from the way they were feeling the day Jesus
died. This isn't the sorrow that they were feeling
when Jesus was on the cross. It's not the fear.
It's not the anxiety. It's not the sadness and
the worry of the cross. This moment is full of
joy. Because this time, what Jesus proved to
them in the resurrection helps them to know exactly
what is to come. They knew now that there is
no reason to doubt. There is no reason to worry.
There is no reason to fear because the promises
of God have been kept all along the way. Again,
I said it's important to know the Old Testament
because we see the New Testament show the fulfillment
of those Old Testament promises. And over and
over and over and over again, Jesus fulfilled
the promises. God fulfilled the promises. And
so now they know without a shadow of a doubt,
because Jesus rose from the dead, that he will
keep his promises. That what he says is true.
And that last promise he made was that the...
that God was sending the Holy Spirit. Look at
John 16, verse seven. I tell you the truth, it
is to your advantage that I go away. For I do
not go away, or if I do not go away, the helper
will not come to you. But if I go, I will send
him to you. Remember when I mentioned that quote
of the Holy Spirit within you is better than
Jesus beside you. Jesus said that. He said, if
I stay here, I'm walking with you. And think
about some of the things that they did when Jesus
was walking with them. Like Peter was still a
crash out and wanted to fight every chance he
could. And when Jesus was still with them, they
were afraid. When Jesus was still with them,
they didn't understand the things that he had
been trying to teach them. When Jesus was still
with them, they still worried about what they
would eat, where they would sleep, what they
would do, what people would do to them. They
still had those fears and those worries. But
think about what comes after the Spirit becomes
within them. And that's why I'm so excited to
get to the book of Acts. Because in the book
of Acts, Peter, he's not running scared. In the
book of Acts, the disciples aren't worried. In
the book of Acts, they're not afraid. In the
book of Acts, the disciples have power. They
have courage. They have boldness. Why? Because
the Holy Spirit is now. Inside them, Jesus had
to go so that the Spirit could come. And that's
why they're filled with joy. And so they worshiped
because they no longer had to hope. They no longer
had to just like imagine the day. They no longer
had to think about what would it be like. They
know. They now know exactly what it's going to
be like. They knew that Jesus was sending power
to them for the mission that they had ahead of
them. And that leads us to verse 53. We're going
to read 52 again, and we're going to read 53.
And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem
with great joy. That's not underlined. That's
so unfortunate because I had it underlined. Read
that with me. Okay, and they worshiped him and
returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were
continually in the temple blessing God. Remember
our definition of blessing, to speak good, good
words. And when we said that Jesus blessed them,
he was speaking good over them or speaking in
a way that bestowed benefit. Well, now they are
speaking good. about God continually in the temple,
speaking good about God. This is where the church
was first born. This is where the church finally
starts to talk about the goodness of God in a
communal way. It says they were continually.
And I love it says continually. It doesn't say
on Sunday mornings. It doesn't say on Sunday
nights. It doesn't say on Wednesday night. It
doesn't say on Thursday mornings. It says continually
in the temple. Doing what? Speaking good about
God, the disciples. They're gathering in the
temple regularly. And this is not some minor
detail. This is a public gathering. This is them
going into this public space, worshiping and
proclaiming the good news of Jesus. And I want
you to notice that it's not just any public space.
Like this isn't just them in the community garden.
It's not them at the park. They went to the temple.
And in the temple were Jews. The same people
that just a couple days ago, maybe a little over
a month ago, hung your rabbi on a cross. The
same people that probably want you dead. The
same people that have no problem going and snitching
on you to Rome so that Rome can kill you. Oh,
and don't be mistaken. Roman soldiers and guards,
they would have been outside the temple. So the
Jews are in the temple. They're doing their thing.
And then here come these... followers of Christ,
these Christians, and they're speaking about
God and what Jesus did. They're telling the good
news, and the Jews are not happy about this,
and the Romans are out there, and they're not
happy about this. And so can you imagine how
bold you would have to be to continually be in
the temple speaking good about Jesus? You could
only do that if you had the power of the Holy
Spirit. And I believe part of our problem Part
of the reason we are so content to sit in this
room and talk about God and speak good about
God, but it's hard to do it out there. Part of
our problem is because we are not tapping into
the power, the boldness, the courage that can
only come from the Holy Spirit. But the church
there, wide open, in the middle of it all, not
meeting in secret, not trying to keep their voices
down. Not waiting to be saved. They're not waiting
to be socially accepted. They're not waiting
to have political power or political favor. They
aren't waiting on any of that. They were bold.
They were constant in their proclamation of the
goodness of God, of the good news of Jesus Christ.
And you know what that sounds like to me? It
sounds like what Jesus told them needed to happen
a few verses earlier in Luke 24. We talked about
it last week. Repentance for the forgiveness
of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all
nations beginning from Jerusalem. So where'd
they start? Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these
things. Remember I said, if you're a witness,
you have a responsibility to speak the truth
and only the truth. If you witness... the goodness
of Jesus, you got to tell people. And what Jesus
says is this good news is to be proclaimed to
everyone starting in Jerusalem. So the disciples,
they go to the temple, they proclaim the good
news to everybody that'll listen, even if it
leads to death, even if it leads to being a social
outcast, even if it leads to not having business,
even if they proclaim the good news. They respond
with blessing, speaking good about God. And that's
what the Jesus way produces in a community. The
Jesus way produces a people that are not afraid
to go to their workplace, are not afraid to go
to the public gathering, are not afraid to go
to the city council meeting, to go to the school
board, to go live in this community and speak
the goodness of God. And not in like a pickets
outside of abortion clinic way, but in a way
that says Jesus loves you and I'd like for you
to know what that love means for your life. In
a way that says the route that you're going,
it's not the best route, but I got a better way
for you. It's a way that says even if you're
going to ridicule me, even if you're going to
be mean to me, even if you're going to be ugly
towards me, I know a God who still wants to be
nice to you. That's what the Jesus way produces
in a community. It's boldness. And it's a way
that changes how people think. It produces people
who gather despite the threat or fear. It produces
a people, a community that worship with joy regardless
of the circumstances of life, regardless of the
things that are causing sorrow or fear. It produces
a people that declare publicly the goodness of
a promise -keeping God. And that's what the church
is supposed to be. What the disciples started
there is exactly what we were called to be. A
people that were not afraid of this world. A
people, frankly, that weren't concerned with
this world. It was a people that had one concern,
and that is the kingdom of God. This isn't supposed
to be quiet. It's not supposed to be once a week.
It's not supposed to be solemn and somber. It's
not supposed to feel like a funeral service.
It is supposed to feel like a joyful proclamation
of God come down to earth to live a life and
die a death, rise from a grave to save people
like you and me. That's what this is. And it
is supposed to be something that cannot be contained
to a building, but overflows into the community
around us. And that's what Luke's gospel is giving
us right before we get to the book of Acts, where
it is a joyful, bold proclamation of a good God.
What we've seen is that Jesus blessed the disciples.
He gives them this benefit. which leads to a
joy -filled response of public praise and proclamation
of the goodness of God. And that is the Jesus
way. And it's a blessed way. It's a good way.
That is a good word. Remember I said, logos,
word, you, good, good word. What else are we
calling the gospel? Good news. And if you've
ever read a newspaper, there's a lot of words
there. We have a good word. blessing to share
with the world because Jesus shared his blessing
with us. And Jesus didn't complete the way on
his time on earth. Jesus invites us, he invites
his disciples to complete the way through his
church. And that's why we're going to look at
the book of Acts next to see what does the church
need to do? Who does the church need to be in
this world to represent Jesus rightly? What do
we need to be? Who do we need to be to represent
Jesus in this world righteously? And so next
Sunday, we begin a series on the book of Acts
called The Jesus Church. And in that series,
we're going to see what verse 53 looked like.
Being in the temple continually, publicly blessing,
speaking good about God, what that looked like.
Where the Jesus way didn't end with Jesus ascending
into heaven. It didn't end with the disciples
blessing God in the temple. It multiplied. It
carried on. And that's why we're here today.
Because those people lived the way they did.
And what I want us to ask ourselves in that series
and ask ourselves today is what can we do to
multiply this good word into all nations like
Jesus called us to do? So for those of us who
have accepted the call of Christ, for those of
us who have accepted the good news, the Jesus
way, we're called to join him on that journey.
Because we're beneficiaries of the book of Acts.
We're beneficiaries of Luke 24, 53, of this public
proclamation. We are beneficiaries of the Jesus
way and the Jesus church. And for those not yet
in Christ, for those of us who haven't, well,
for those of you who haven't accepted the good
news, that haven't given your life to the gospel.
to being a part of the family, to being a part
of the kingdom, the royal priesthood of God.
I'm asking you to choose the Jesus way. And for
those that are in Christ, that have been walking
with him, but maybe, you know, you struggle to
actually follow him. Like I said, it's popular
to be a Christian. It's not really popular to
be an apprentice of Jesus. What I'm asking you
is this morning. if you are on the outside, on
the other side of the trail of this Jesus way
and you want to step onto it, if you've kind
of been walking on it but not fully, my plea
for you is to accept the invitation, not my invitation,
God's invitation to choose the Jesus way. And
if the church here can help you, if we can help
you walk with Jesus, if we can help you follow
Jesus, whatever we can do, We invite you to accept
the invitation to be with Jesus and be with his
church now as we stand and as we sing.