A Lesson from Jesus

Our lesson from Jesus this morning will deal with character. This lesson will involve 2 character traits. One is Humility, and the other Charity.

·        Humility comes when a person realizes they are completely dependent on God.

·        Charity is the kindness we show to others who are less fortunate.

o   More than once God took note of people who were charitable.

You may wish to turn to Luke 14 and catch up with Jesus during the last two weeks of His earthly life and ministry on His way to Jerusalem with His disciples. It is not known the exact city but here is what we do know:

·        There was a synagogue in the city and Jesus and His disciples attended on the sabbath which began Friday evening after sundown.

·        Although Jesus was not from that city, He was nonetheless well-known by the Jews living there and as was the custom, Jesus was asked to teach.

·        As He was teaching, Jesus saw a woman who had an infirmity. She was “bent over and could not raise herself up.”

·        Jesus stopped teaching and “called her to Him” and spoke a healing word to her.

·        Then Jesus laid His hands on her and she was healed, and she glorified God.

·        But the ruler of the synagogue was filled with indignation.

o   He said it was because Jesus performed a healing on the sabbath, which was considered work.

o   But it was really because the ruler of the synagogue could not heal the woman himself.

·        The ruler of the synagogue was filled with jealously and pride and he had no actual compassion on this poor woman who had been in his congregation with this infirmity for 18 years and had just been set free.  

By the time we get to Chapter 14, Church is over – (well is Church ever really over???) – and Jesus is invited to eat and most likely lodge the night with one of the rulers of the Pharisees.

·        This man is not the ruler of the synagogue who was just offended by Jesus healing a woman.

·        This man was one of the ruling council members of the most important Jewish religious group who were well known for controlling almost everything Jewish.

·        He invited Jesus to his house to watch Him closely to see if he could catch Jesus doing or saying something he could use to accuse and condemn Him.

Let’s pick up with our reading this morning from Luke 14. Now remember, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem where He will be falsely accused, wrongly judged, horribly sentenced, viciously beaten, and cruelly crucified. However Jesus takes this moment to teach some valuable last lessons to us from His heart.

Luke 14 NKJV

1 ¶  Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely.

7 ¶  So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:

11  “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12  Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.

13  “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.

14  “And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

This verse has been one of the guiding principles of our GTCOTR Mission Program. We seek to help those who cannot repay us so that the investments we make as a Church will one day pay dividends for each one of you in heaven.

Some of the last lessons Jesus emphasized before leaving the job to us encourages us to have a very high personal regard for:

Humility

·        Realize our dependence on God for everything we have.

·        Humility will help us not to be selfish, jealous, or prideful.

·        We are called by God to humble ourselves. (James 4:10)

Charity

·        Showing kindness to those who are less fortunate.

·        The first ministry Jesus said He was called and sent to do was to help the poor.

·        Jesus is our prime example of leaving your comfort zone and reaching out to people who are less fortunate than you.

·        The Gospels constantly show Jesus teaching, praying for, spending time with, and feeding the poor and less fortunate people who gathered around Him because their bellies were empty. (John 6:26)

Matthew 9:36  When Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

This morning I want to encourage us all to work on two goals this week which will make you more like Jesus. Twenty-four of us will be representing our Church on a mission field in Kenya this coming week, building, feeding, bringing medical help, sharing the love of God with widows and orphans, and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to some of the most poor and needy people in all the world.

Others of us will be representing our Church on the mission field in Southeast Texas and elsewhere in the world this coming week, meeting needs, sharing the Gospel, and loving people who cannot pay us back.

Rest assured:

Luke 14:14  “You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

Now let’s all pray for each other to have a fruitful and productive week, dominated by humility and charity.