Sunday Morning meeting notes.. Luke Chapter 18 - Part I

 

Luke , chapter 18

Before we get started I want to address the elephant in the living-room by saying that we have positively adjusted our bible study keeping in mind that everything happens for a reason. It was a necessary reconfiguration.. We hope for all who have chosen another path for study that they receive God’s blessing along the way… And we hope to have a much improved environment for bible study for Shield of Hope members…

So Why did I choose Shield of Hope for our new bible study name?... Hope is a gift to us through the grace of God lest we be hopeless.. We cannot thrive, maybe not even survive, the desolation of hopelessness. The opposite of “Hope” is the darkest place imaginable in our hearts and minds… But God can give us the shield of hope ..the protection from desolation, from isolation and throughout any tribulation… Considering all of these things I chose this name for us….

We have a new addition to our bible study also, which is our “prayer request petition”… To ensure that all requests get proper attention I will be checking the prayer request petition on messenger 2x a day. I will be devoting a good share of prayer time daily to your requests .. My personal prayer time will come later in the day…. So leave your prayer requests for yourselves, family members, friends or anyone else anytime day or night…..Already known are some needs of this group due to death in the family, surgeries, chronic health conditions and so on… Be specific with your requests .. They will be seen and also honoured by other brothers and sisters here….

So we're in Luke, chapter 18, but it will be impossible to get through the entire chapter this morning.So we’ll just begin..

There’s a poem I came across that I’d like to share with you…

let's see if I can read this correctly..

It's called the prayer of Cyrus Brown. Goes something like this:

"The proper way for men to pray," said Deacon Emanuel Keyes, "

and the only proper attitude is down upon the knees."

"No, I should say, the way to pray," said Reverend Dr. Wise,

"is standing straight with arms outstretched with rapt and upturned eyes."

"Oh, no, no," said Elder Slow, "such posture is too proud.

A man should pray with eyes fast closed and head contritely bowed."

"Last year I fell in Hidgkin's well head first," said Cyrus Brown,

"With both my heels a-stickin' up, and my head a-pointin' down.

I prayed a prayer right then and there, the best prayer I ever said;

the prayingest prayer I ever prayed was standin' on my head."

Some people make a big deal about what is the proper posture for prayer. Well, according to Jesus, the best way to pray is just keep doing it. Don't fall down. Don't faint. Don't give up. Don't lose heart. And he gives a story based on that.

"Then he spoke a parable to them, that men ought always to pray and not to lose heart, saying: 'There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, "Get justice for me from my adversary." And he would not for a while; but afterward he said to himself, "Though I do not fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me." ' Then the Lord said, 'Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them?' "

Now, first of all, consider how Luke begins the story. Jesus gives a story, "a parable, that men should always pray and not lose heart."

Do you remember when you first started your walk with the Lord? Do you remember what it was like when you first opened your Bible for daily devotions and you couldn't wait to see if God was going to speak to you, going to share something with you, going to take a Scripture and make it more meaningful to your heart than ever before? You waited for that. You longed for that. Perhaps after a while you began to lose heart. For whatever reason life took its toll. Things didn't turn out the way you expected them to turn out. You prayed for something, and you prayed for something, and it didn't happen when it should or how it should, and you just began to lose heart. So maybe your spiritual life today, your devotional life isn't what it once was. Perhaps, some of us have the wrong view on prayer. Some people don't see it as a privilege. Some people see it as a duty. They feel uncomfortable talking about it…Right? That's how a lot of us respond. Whenever we get to any text at all about prayer, we go, "Ohh." That's usually an area we feel like we could do better in. We have the wrong view. Some of us think that it's a duty and not a privilege. Now, can you imagine what an insult that would be to God if you considered it a duty? "Oh, I have to hang out with you again? I have to spend time with you?" That's a duty. When it's an absolute privilege, now it's not an insult, now it's sheer joy to your heart and joy to his heart.

So sometimes we have a wrong view of prayer or the wrong idea about prayer. Also, too many of us put prayer in the wrong role. I speak to a lot of Christians who have that attitude that I just mentioned. They get guilty whenever prayer is mentioned. In fact, even when they pray they feel guilty. They feel guilty when they walk away, thinking, "Yeah, I didn't pray long enough or fervent enough or well enough." Now, the last time I checked prayer was never given by God as something to inflict guilt, but rather something to alleviate our guilt. "Be anxious for nothing," said Paul in Philippians 4, "but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus."

It brings peace, not guilt. It brings joy. It alleviates the burden. It shouldn't create a burden. So Jesus tells a story, a parable, that you ought to keep going and not lose heart. And he tells a very interesting story in this parable about an unjust judge. Now here, once again, we're dealing with a parable of contrast,

not a parable of correspondence. You get the difference?

Heres an example:

If this were a parable of correspondence, it would be as if Jesus would say, "You know, God in heaven is sort of like an unjust judge, and he'll answer your prayer just 'cause you keep bugging him like this widow." But that is not at all what Jesus is teaching. He's drawing a contrast rather than making a correspondence… Of course our Lord is not an unjust judge and Jesus is drawing the contrast. And so he says, "Hear what the unjust judge said." "Listen to what he said about this widow: 'She's pestering me. She's bothering me. She won't leave me alone. I'll give her justice just so she won't keep coming back.' " Here's the difference, here's the contrast: your God, our God, is not a cold hearted judge; he's a warm hearted dad. He's a tender hearted Father. Now notice the difference in the story between the relationship you and I enjoy, and the kind of relationship she had with the unjust judge. He's an unjust, cold hearted judge. She is standing in a court of justice; you, on the other hand, approach a throne of grace. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." So she was approaching a court of justice; you approach a throne of grace.

There are a lot of people who love to say, "Oh, yes, I'm a praying man." "I'm a believing woman." "I'm a Christian." You could be under the umbrella of Christendom, but are you following Christ? Not all that glitters is gold. "When the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?" as if to imply that real, authentic faith as history goes on (before the Lord comes back) is going to be rare. You know, Jesus did say that when he comes back it will be like "the days of"---what?---"Noah." You know how many were saved out of the whole population on earth at the time of Noah? Only eight---only eight human beings were saved, the rest of the world was judged. "When the Son of Man returns, will he really find the faith"---this kind of faith, authentic faith, real faith---"on the earth?

Also he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." You've known people like this. They trust in themselves. They trust in their works. They trust in their religion. They trust in their upbringing, their affiliation. When you ask them, "How do you know you're going to heaven? What is your assurance that when you stand been before God you will be admitted into his heaven?" "Well, you know, I'm a---I'm a prayin' man." "I'm a churchgoing individual." "I was raised in the church." "Well, I can tell you a few things if you care to listen….." And they trust in themselves and their righteousness.

It always bothers me when I hear believers talk down about other believers. "Like…Oh, well, they're not has mature as I am. You know, I pray twelve hours straight without blinking. I wish we had more people around here like me." I don't. He said, "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one was a Pharisee"---ooh, the righteous of the righteous, the créme de la créme, the elite (spiritually speaking) of the nation, the most righteous person, a Pharisee. Now he goes to the other end of the socio-spiritual spectrum and picks out someone to make a contrast with. "One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector"--- the lowest of the low, the shunned among Israel, an IRS or BIR agent. Hey, we're getting to that time nobody likes the IRS or BIR.

It says "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men---extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as that tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'

"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

There is no boundary that sin will not invade. Sin will invade absolutely every area of your life. It will even follow you into the very throne of God when you pray. And you'll notice that this first man said he prayed "with himself." Isn't that interesting? You know, it is possible to when you pray, not even be praying to God. You can be praying to yourself. You can be impressed with your prayer. You're praying to yourself. You can also pray to other people. Now, this is very devious, it's really dirty, but there are such things---I will call them directional prayers. I've been with people who want to get a message across to you, but they couch the message in a prayer to God.

It's a passive-aggressive prayer. So you're having a conversation with John, and John says, "You know, I think you should watch how you spend your money, brother. I've known you and I just think that you ought to watch it. And you're a steward of the Lord's resources and all. Well, let's pray about it. And, Lord, would you just show us that we don't really need to worry about finances or be worldly-minded like John." That's a---that's a dirty trick. You're not praying to God; you're just getting a message to John. Have enough guts to say, "John, this is what I feel. Now let me humbly come and bring that before the Lord." He's praying to himself, this man, and some people do that or they-they pray to others. And, by the way, unbelievers pray as well. Did you know that? Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "When you pray do not be like the heathen when they pray." In other words, heathen, unbelievers pray.

You remember September 11, 2001? Boy, people that I never knew even thought about God were praying. The Gulf War, everybody---churches packed, overflowing, filled. You couldn't get a---couldn't get in.

But here’s the thing…I have come to believe that

Not a single syllable should be uttered in prayer, either in public or in private, until we are really conscious that we are coming into God's presence.

You to realize that you’re talking to God right now." It doesn't mean it has to be flowery or King James English, just be yourself, be the child. You don't bother him, but be conscious that you're actually talking to him. You're not talking to other people or trying to impress yourself.

Now notice that both of these men had something in common. They both went to pray. They both went up to the temple. So they both took the same steps to the same place at the same time. And they were both sinners. But here's the difference---they had lot in common, but they had something not in common---one was an honest sinner, the other was a dishonest sinner. The dishonest sinner was the Pharisee. He had an "I" disease. Notice what he says, "I thank you that I am not like other men. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess." He's full of himself. He's talking to himself. He’s impressed with himself. By contrast the tax collector, standing afar off, wouldn't even look up"---wouldn't raise his head, he felt so ashamed. "But he beat his breast"---and I love his prayer---"God, be merciful to me a sinner!

Forget the deal making… just, "Oh, Lord, be merciful, I'm a sinner." And Jesus liked that. He said, "I tell you, that man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Listen, here's the principle: the way up is always the way down; the way down is always the way up. We have two different philosophies of life in contrast here. And we see it throughout the Scripture. If you try to push yourself up, that's the sure way down. If you humble yourself and go down and go low, that's the way up, because God will

exalt you. Humility is a simple concept after all. It is simply giving God credit for all things.. All that we have and all that we are. As we acknowledge this we can give thanks and rightly value all that touches us.. It is a grateful spirit that gives us joy of serving the Lord….

So, you want to tell people how important you are and push yourself up? Well, you're going down. You want to get low and humble because you're dealing with the Lord? He'll exalt you in due time. Now those two philosophies of life happen to be the exact same two philosophies of life shared by Satan in contrast to Jesus.. In Isaiah 14 Satan said in his heart, "I will ascend to the throne of God. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will be like the Most High." That's what he said, "I'm going up. I'm going up in this world." Right after that God said, "You will be brought down to the depths of the pit. Jesus said that he saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening…

So we can be thankful always for all things and we can express this in prayer and as we enter into the presence of God we cannot pretend. We need honest fellowship with the father.. Since today has been all about prayer and humility We can conclude this morning with the perfect template for prayer as Jesus taught..

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen

Next week we will continue on the path discussing being childlike before God and the value of humility…