Confronting Our Direction

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0:00It's great to worship with you this morning. God is good, and he is faithful to feed us from his word. We hungry children come to his table, and he has a banquet for us. I appreciated that prayer from Jerry about God feeding us through his word. I was on a weekend getaway a few years ago with some really good friends of mine from college. We'd reserved an Airbnb up in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, and so we were heading up there together on the last leg of the trip.

0:37About halfway up this mountain, our GPS lost signal. We were totally signalless. The maps that we could pull up didn't match the roads we were on anyway, so it didn't really matter. We were completely at the mercy of the directions that we had been given from the Airbnb host. We came to forks in the road, detours that kind of looked like roads, roads that we shouldn't take, that looked like safer than the ones we should be on. We weren't sure where to go, so we were pulling up the directions. Fortunately, somebody had printed them, I think, had that insight. These were the kind of directions that you get sometimes, and it's like, when you see the big tree, turn right.

1:20That kind of thing. Go up the big hill. Very descriptive. You have to kind of look around. I think that's a pretty big hill. I think that's the one we're supposed to go up. We drove slowly. We were looking around. We were figuring out if we were on the right path, and then one of us said, one of us read further down the directions and said, hey, guys, it says here if you see a blue house, you've gone the wrong way, and we looked at each other, and we said, I think that was a blue house back there, and so we turned around. Once we backtracked way back to the last turn we had made, we went on what here again looked like. It did not look like the right path, but we had to just trust, okay, the one we were on was wrong, so we have to go that direction.

2:10It matched the instructions, and we got there. Following Jesus is like that, church. It doesn't always look like you expect. It gets bumpy and unfamiliar, and we think, is this supposed to look like this? In times like this, we need to trust the directions that we've been given. We need to look for the landmarks that Jesus and God has told us to look for in our life to see. Are we on the right track or not? We also need to pay attention to the parts where he says, if you see this, you're going the wrong way. This is the last week of our little five-week series in Luke 20. We're bleeding over a little bit into Luke 21 today. Merciful confrontations.

3:02God's confrontation with the religious leaders and his confrontation with us, because it turns out we're a lot like them. Today, Jesus speaks to his disciples. He turns his attention away from the religious leaders, even though they can still hear him, and he knows it. He talks to his disciples, and he uses the landmarks of the people around him to say, don't go that way. Go this way instead. So that's what we're going to read about today. So turn with me to God's holy word. He speaks through it. He meets with us in it. It's reliable in every part. We should listen. We should come to it like hungry children come to a dinner table when they've been playing outside. Let's run to it that way, because he is a good father. Amen? Our God is a good father.

4:00And in the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation. Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.

4:39And he said, truly, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them, for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. Pray with me. Lord, we thank you for your kindness, your wisdom, your love for us shown in that we have the scriptures, we have your words to us, revelation to us, Lord, that we can pay attention to and listen to. And Lord, thank you that it's not just about how well we can listen, Lord, because you, by your spirit and your power, have purposed to bring about new life by the word going forth. So, Lord, we depend on you completely, and we eagerly come to you now. Feed us, teach us, show us the way to go, show us the way not to go, and help us to follow you eagerly with open hands and with joy in our heart. We pray this, Jesus, in your name. Amen. Jesus, today is confronting our direction, the last confrontation in our series here. Exalting yourself is a dead end. Entrusting yourself to God gives life. That's the contrast. Exalting yourself and trusting yourself.

6:12Exalting yourself is a dead end. Entrusting yourself to God gives life. The religious leaders had taken their shots, their best shots against Jesus. They tried to trap him with tough questions. Not only did he evade them, but he found a way to confront them about their resistance, their entitlement, their shallowness, their short-sightedness. And now he turns to his disciples and he says, men, women, have you been paying attention? Have you been watching all this? Have you been listening to what I've been saying? These guys, they're on the wrong path.

6:58Now, let me tell you about the scribes. They were like the theology professors of the day. If there was a seminary, there weren't really seminaries like we think of them, but if there were, they would be the professors. They were knowledgeable. They were educated. They knew the scriptures front to back. They had long robes that were special to their occupation. There were tassels on them, embroidery all over them. It meant something. It signified who they were. And Jesus said they liked to walk around in these garments. They would go buy figs in their long robes.

7:38They liked how people responded to them. It's like if a cop who was off duty put on his uniform on his day off in the hopes that he would get free coffee someplace. Or if someone in the military wore their uniform just so people would say, thank you for your service. If you've encountered someone, if you've seen an interaction where somebody in the military is wearing their uniform and someone says thank you to their service, to a man, to a woman, they respond with politeness. They're not, well, thank you. They say you're welcome politely. Imagine if someone who was in the military just wore their uniform, not to serve our country, but just to get people to say to them, hey, great job. Kudos. Thanks for serving our country. We wouldn't respect them very much, would we? The scribes loved the attention. Rabbinical teachings instructed people, hey, when you see these guys in the marketplace, you have a special greeting for them. You're supposed to greet them. I don't know what it was, but it was something that they wanted to hear. So they went out to the marketplaces to hear them. They loved going out in their robes to get that greeting. When they went to the synagogues, they got the best seats. Not the best seats in order to serve people best or to teach people best, but so that they could be noticed. They could be seen. They were in the house of God, and who are they trying to honor? Themselves. It's absurd, right? Speaking of honor, when someone threw a feast, they were treated like dignitaries. They got the seats right close to the host. They were just

9:29lapping it up. They didn't go to people's homes to serve them, to talk to them. They went to people's homes to see and be seen. But even worse, Jesus says that these men, they devour widows' houses. We don't know exactly what this means, but scholars think that basically when poor people like widows were supposed to contribute to the temple, and that if they didn't have enough, the scribes might accept their property as a pledge for their debt, including their houses, even if they knew the debt couldn't be repaid. It was within the letter of the law, but against the spirit of it. They were exploiting people. In Matthew, we read that when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. And it's no wonder with shepherds like these, who needs wolves, right? Finally, Jesus says, for a pretense, they make long prayers. Even their prayers are hollow, spoken to impress people. The very practice of their religion is not genuine. The whole law is summed up in two commands, love God and love your neighbor. The scribes weren't doing either. This explains why Jesus says to his disciples, beware, beware of the scribes. This is not a weak word. This is a very strong warning. And he does it in the present tense. In other words, be vigilant at all times. And this is not lock your doors, carry a weapon. They might mug you. What they are to beware of is their influence. Their problem is not their occupation, it's their pattern of living. Like most parents, mine sometimes warn me about bad

11:39influences. You might have parents that have done that to you. Maybe you're someone who is still hearing that from your parents. When my parents warned me about influences, they were thinking about people who skipped school or used filthy language or did drugs. You know who was never on the list that my mom and my dad warned me about? Clean cut religious types, people who knew their Bibles and went to church. But according to Jesus, people who do this and it's phony, they are the worst influence you can have. Far worse than any criminal. He doesn't, look back over the gospel sometimes. See if you can find one. I can't. He doesn't warn the disciples about the people that we might see as bad seeds in society. He warns them about these men, the religious men, that were respected, greeted, honored. But inside, hollowness. The danger is hypocrisy. What a danger that is for all, for all of us. Having an appearance of exalting God, but actually doing everything you can to exalt yourself. These men have everyone fooled, including themselves. Proverbs 14, 12 says this, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Jesus says, if you see these things on your path along your way, if you see these things around you, if you see these things in you, you are on the wrong path. Turn around. But then an entirely different person comes along as Jesus is talking to them. Someone who's walking the right path. So he was in the temple. He was teaching, rebuking, correcting, confronting. There were these receptacles to collect financial

14:12offerings, just like how we have an offering box in the back. That was the same kind of thing they had in the temple. An offering box for people to bring up their offerings. These offerings went to the support of the temple. He sees rich people putting in their gifts, one after the other. And then he sees a woman walk up. She's not like the others. She's dressed simply. She's not drawing attention to herself. And she's all by herself. She comes up to the offering box. She puts in two small copper coins. This is a lepta. The least valuable coin of that time.

14:59Worth about one-eighth of our penny. I don't know about you, but I stopped picking up pennies a long time ago. It's just not worth it. This is worth one-eighth of a penny. It was such a small amount, temple rules said you could not give just one. You had to give two or more. Think about this. This woman, this widow, she saved up just to meet the minimum offering requirement. These two coins hardly made a sound when they went into that box, but they made a loud noise to Jesus. He says, truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more, more than all the others. What could Jesus mean by that? Is Jesus bad at math? Does he not know the coinage? Surely he knows that it's not much money.

16:05Jesus was looking deeper. He was looking at her heart, not the size of her offering. Listen, this is a lesson in giving generously of your finances. We can't miss that. As a new church that's still growing into our budget, we all need to hear that. If you're a member or a regular attender, this church needs your tithes to keep going. Please, we need to hear that. But it's more than that. This is about more than finances. And here's how we know that. Passage says, well, the English translation says she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. This English translation has been smoothed out a little bit. The most straightforward translation of the Greek is this. From her need, she has given all her life. All her life. Doesn't even say anything about money in the Greek. From her need, she has given all her life. That's what sets her apart from the others, especially from the scribes. This is a posture of total surrender to God. Here I am, Lord, all of me. Everything I've got, everything I am, it's all yours. Do with it what you will.

17:38The common way of thinking is, I'll give God out of the places of abundance that I have, like the rich people here. When I feel like I have a lot of something, I'll give him some of that.

17:52But if we lack anything, we hold on to it. God, I just don't have any of this to spare for right now. If time is short but money isn't, we say, look, I can't really get involved in that, so here's a big check. But if it's the opposite, we say, I shouldn't have to give a lot of money. I'm already giving so much of my time. I don't know if that rings a bell for you, but it does for me. God wants all of it. The stuff we have plenty of and the stuff that we don't feel like we have very much of.

18:33It all belongs to him. He wants all of it because he owns all of it. The widow is a contrast to the scribes, a landmark for what the right path looks like. She's yielded everything to God, everything out of devotion to him. Now, I might have convinced you by now that this is the right path. The widow is the right path, and the scribes are the wrong path. Maybe I've convinced you of that, but maybe you aren't quite convinced that the widow's path is the good path. Do you see the difference that I'm making? You might see that it's right, but you might not see that it's good.

19:26Maybe you look at the poor widow and you feel sorry for her, and you're not that excited about following her example. Well, let me close by trying to convince you that it's not just the right path, but it's the good path. Entrusting yourself to God is better for you than exalting yourself. Entrusting yourself to God, it's not just what God wants you to do. It's what he wants you to do because it's better for you than to exalt yourself. And here's why. Because in Christ we find life. In Christ, I really should have put this on the slide, in Christ alone we find life. Listen, everywhere the scribes went, they had one thought in their mind, how do I look? How do I look? Are people noticing me? I think I look pretty good today. Look at this seat that I got. Their choice experiences were driven by what got them the most positive attention, all the way down to their ropes. In middle school, I remember I really wanted a jean jacket. Really, really wanted a jean jacket.

20:46I wanted to fit in. Teenagers, you know what I'm talking about. Maybe not the jean jacket part. Wearing something to fit in, having to have the right dress, the right pants, the right shirt, the right fashion. Like a lot of other things, it was really a search for identity through approval. Whether you want to fit in or stand out, there's a search for identity going on there. The Pharisees, the scribes, the high priests, they were on that search.

21:31And like a lot of other things, when I have been on that search, I was left unsatisfied. That jean jacket did not get me what I wanted. Teenagers, listen, the search for identity does not end after high school. It keeps going. It goes on into adulthood and for the rest of our lives. We try to find it in what we look like, who we know, what we do, how we're seen. Listen to what Paul David Tripp says. Either you will be getting your identity vertically from who you are in Christ, or you will be shopping for it horizontally in the situations, experiences, and relationships of your daily life. Vertical identity, horizontal identity. Only one of those two sources is stable and never changes. That's why the widow is the most blessed person in this passage. She knows who she is. She has a stable identity. She's free from the never-ending search. Oh, those scribes and those Pharisees, they were so unhappy. They were so discontent deep down. What if they went in some place and they weren't noticed like they thought they should have been? They're crushed. You ever been there? Who you are in Christ, that is a stable identity. It's the only stable identity. This widow, she didn't need others to esteem her. She looked only for God's approval. And you know what, my friends? She had it. She had it.

23:38When you would trust yourself to God in repentance and faith, your approval is not up for debate. It's a settled matter. You can say this like Isaiah. Oh, I love this passage. I greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall exalt in my God. For he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. The widow knew the truth. She didn't need a robe. She's already got one. And you know what? It looks better than those robes the scribes were wearing. It really covered her. It fit her just right.

24:25And it will never be removed. And because of that, she can live in peace even though she had very little. Not only is she living in peace, but she is giving the little that she has. And that's not all. Because where is she giving it? She's giving it to the temple where the religious leaders have power. Power that they have used to take advantage of widows and devour houses. Maybe even her. Maybe her house has been one of the ones that's been devoured.

25:14Something else that shows up in middle school and high school is bullies. Sadly, bullies are found in adulthood too. In this world, power is everything. Those who have it, wield it for gain. Those who don't, use victimhood to demand it. One way or another, we are seeking power in order to be safe. It's either dominate or be dominated. That's the mentality of the world, but the widow is free from us. She's free. She's entrusted herself to God for her provision and for her protection.

25:58She didn't scheme revenge. She didn't even hoard. She didn't withhold her money from the temple. She obeyed God even though it was going to further the power of people that had hurt her. She trusted God with her future and with her present. Friends, with the power of God, with the powerful God as our ally, we can be something very unique in a world hungry for power. We can be meek. This is the only way to be meek, is to entrust yourself to the one who has the most power over everything, over our lives, over the world, and over the future. And that's exactly what this woman was, this blessed woman.

26:57She was meek. And that testifies loudly to the hope that we have in Christ. The last thing this widow was free from, it might be the best. I don't know. You tell me later which one you think is the most exciting, gives you the most joy. The last thing she's free from is she is free from performance.

27:27I bet you the scribes were exhausted. Nothing is more depleting than trying to appear like someone you're not. Man, it takes it out of you. All the time, trying to put on a facade, hoping no one sees through it. Over and over and over. The scribes, they were very religious, but they were not righteous. And they were not reassured. And that's a hard thing. Jesus heard their long, long, long prayers. And he rolled his eyes. He called it a pretense. All that work, all that work they were putting in, and it was fruitless because it was for them, not for God. But listen, church, there's good news.

28:33When you have hearts yielded to him, God accepts your offerings. He accepts it. Jesus saw the widow's small, quiet gift, and he says, yes. Sister, that is beautiful. That is so wonderful. Nobody else in the temple thought anything of what the widow gave, but the one that mattered looked at her and said, yes. I love it. She went to bed that night knowing that the Lord accepted and smiled on her offering. The good news is God is not looking for performers. So stop performing. He's looking for worshipers. And here's how we get there. Jesus did the work. His perfect life, his atoning death, his victory over the grave. When we trust in him, God changes us. We're no longer performers, but we're worshipers. Like the widow, we can give and we can serve and we can obey without pretense, without trying to earn, but only to worship the God who loved us and the God who saved us. And how wonderful it is to know that God accepts your offering. Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful? Anybody here know how wonderful it is to know that God accepts your offering? When it's brought in faith, no matter how small, no matter how imperfect, no matter how incomplete that offering is, he accepts it gladly. What a gift.

30:33This is why it's the good path, friends. It's not just the right path. It's the good path. Free from performance. Free from the search for power. Free from the search for identity.

30:53It's not just the right path. It's the good path. Yielding all of ourselves to him. All of it. That's real freedom. It's beautiful. It gives reassurance and peace for the search that we are on, for all the things that God alone can give us. The front of the bulletin has this quote from a missionary to India. Amy Carmichael, she served in India in Mission for Christ for over 50 years. I'm going to let her get the last word today. It is a safe thing to trust him to fulfill the desires which he creates.