Sermon Tone Analysis

Take a Break

Luke 5:33-6:11

December 29, 1996

 

Scripture:         Luke 5:33-39

 

Prayer:

 

Introduction:

         

          I got a phone call just before 8:00 P.M. last night at the church and the voice on the other end asked, “Is Hope there?”

Thinking someone had called the wrong number, I answered, “No, there is no Hope here.

This is Mayfair Bible Church.”

Now I’m sure it was just someone dialing the wrong number, but I caught myself and thought, “What did I just do?

Of course we have hope here.

And we have it in abundance.

The whole theme of the O.T. and the N.T. is hope.”

This hope lies not in what happens to us which effects our ‘happen-ness’ but is a deeper seated emotion we call joy.

Our joy rests not in what happens to us but in what has been done for us which no circumstance can take away.

Do you know how I know we have hope here?

1.

Because we have Jesus Christ.

Simeon said of Him in the                       temple after He was born that He was destined to cause the                       falling and rising of many in Israel.

Change was about to                                    happen.

Christ is the One who would usher in the new                               covenant, give us a new command, and bring the message of                         new life in the new way of the Spirit.

In fact, God is continually            in the business of making everything new.

In Revelation we are                 told that we will have a new name, in the new Jerusalem,                               singing a new song, under a new heaven, on a new earth, and                       God, seated on the throne says, “I am making everything new.”

2.

Because Jesus spoke the words we will study in our passage                              today in Luke 5:33-6:11.

3.

Because I noticed a billboard at the corner of Cicero and                                    Peterson advertising Bosch Tools that said, “One man’s                                    handiwork is another man’s dust.”

(Explain)

          4.

Because this modern day application exemplifies the truth                       of this passage that Jesus Christ came to create a new world                     order not bound by the old, and that in Him we are set free to                        come into the new and not be bound by the old.

He is in the                              business of reconstruction, even recreation.

And this we have                     on His authority.

There are a series of three controversies in today’s passage that follow on the heels of the complaint of the Pharisees to the disciples that Jesus would eat with such sinners as Levi (Matthew, one of the disciples), a tax collector and his street-wise friends.

To this, Jesus responds that He has come not to doctor the self-righteous who considered themselves spiritually healthy, but that He has come to heal the broken-hearted from the penalty of sin.

(Do a take-off on Rom.

3:23; 6:23 “sick~/health”)

 

          This reminds the Pharisees of the ministry of John the Baptist who came to call sinners to repentance, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”

And they wonder now why Jesus and His disciples do not fast and pray as John and his disciples.

They are saying, “Here is the way John does it.

Why the difference?”

So here begins Jesus’ response which gives us hope as well as joy.

He tells them He is the difference.

He calls himself the bridegroom and gives the first picture of His impending death.

He then proceeds to tell them all just how different His new way is.

Three things are happening in this series of three controversies.

1.

The opposition is trying to corner Christ.

He has become a                              threat to the established order.

2.

Christ is separating out the opposition (sheep and goats).

They                      are becoming a hindrance to the new order.

In fact, they are                         cornering themselves.

3.

Christ is calling upon us to take a break from the past and                       develop a new way of thinking as part of His new ‘Kingdom                          Culture’.

*I.

Take a break from our past understanding of Piety:  thinking only of the established order.*

To the Jews, fasting with prayer was an expected form of religious virtue and worship.

Failure to do so was looked upon as a lack of respect for God.

But Jesus’ answer to them begins to reveal that He is God.

He has come.

And while He is here He has the right to change things.

There will be plenty of time for fasting later.

So He tells them a three part parable to make His point.

A.

The new way is like a new cloth that will not match.

Like making a hole to fix a hole that will stay a hole.

B.

The new way is like new wine that cannot be contained.

C.

The new way is a way that will not be easily accepted.

The Jews              already had their minds made up - the old was better they                                    thought.

D.

Application:  It is true that we must be reverent in our repentance over sin as John the Baptist, and even Jesus in His initial ministry, called us to be, but we must also celebrate our forgiveness.

We see this pictured in Jesus’ impending death for sin.

Our spiritual health is important to God.

In this coming new year are we willing to let the failures of the past go and embrace hope in the new way of the future through forgiveness in Christ?

We cannot go back and change what has been done, but we can be changed through Christ in spite of what has gone past.

There are some things in this past year we must make a clean break with so we can rejoice in what Christ has in store for us.

But, undoubtedly there are some who will think the old wine is better.

But recall the words of the master of the banquet at Jesus first miracle:

 

*Jn.

2:8  Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so,*

*9  and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.

He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

Then he called the bridegroom aside*

*10  and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."*

*II.

Take a break from our past understanding of Propriety:  thinking     only of rules.*

Jesus and His disciples not only ‘ate and drank’ (Lk.

5:30), they ate and drank in violation of Jewish rules on the Sabbath.

The /Mishnah /(an ancient Jewish rule book), contained instructions about Sabbath practice.

/Shabbath/ 7:2 gives a list of 39 prohibited activities known as the “forty less one.”

This draws a parallel with these arbitrary rules and the receiving of lashes.

The Jews were aware of how particular these customs were, since they said that “the rules about the Sabbath---are as mountains hanging by a hair, for Scripture is scanty and the rules many.”

The disciples were guilty of reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food.

They were being watched closely to see what they could be caught doing.

It is true that we must honor what is holy, but it is also true that God’s purpose for man, made in God’s image, is holy.

Your daily needs are important to God and God will meet those needs.

The purpose of the Sabbath, “made for man, not man made for the Sabbath” (Mk.

2:27) is to give strength and healing to man through worship of God, his Creator.

God does not need our worship, although He desires it.

But He desires it because He knows it is for our good.

It is man who benefits from worship.

Sabbath law was to free humankind up to rest and enjoy God, not to shackle them from serving others or prevent basic needs from being met.

We must be careful not to make laws of things that Scripture does not command.

But Jesus challenged their contentment with religiosity.