SERMON OUTLINE:
Failure #1: – They Were Unable to Cast Out The Demon (vs 37-43)
Failure #2: They Were Afraid to Ask For Clarity (vs 44-45)
Failure #3: They Were Pre-occupied with Self & Position (vs 46-48)
Failure #4: They Were Cliquish & Exclusive (vs 49-50)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• He has one of the best names and he is a great villain;
• We meet him in the writings of Charles Dickens.
• And this unlikable character appears in the book David Copperfield,
• His name is Uriah Heep.
• If you have read the book or seen the film,
• You will know that he has a repetitive phrase that he likes to use again and again.
• When Uriah Heep first meets tells David Copperfield, he says:
• "I am well aware that I am the umblest person going”
• And he loves to tell him about living in an “‘umble” abode;
• And having picked up so much “‘umbleness” at school.
• TRANSITION: By talking and boasting about his ‘umbleness’
• He is simple displaying how unhumble he actually is!
• In fact his ‘umbleness’ was really ‘selfishness and pride’
Quote: Anglican priest and author John R.W. Stott said:
“Pride is your greatest enemy, humility is your greatest friend.”
• We know the idiom; “Pride comes before a fall”
• Having too much pride or confidence will cause one to make mistakes,
• That lead to a setback or failure.
• The phrase “Pride comes before a fall” is adapted from a verse in the Bible:
• A verse found in the book of Proverbs (chapter 16 verse 18).
• “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall..”
• In contrast to pride,
• True humility, will show us in our best light;
• And will make us a blessing to others.
The word “humility” literally means ‘a low estimate of self’.
• Now that does not imply self-deprecation.
• Sometimes we hear people putting themselves down.
• There are those who think "I can't do anything",
• But that is not humility, that is low esteem;
• Or a general feeling of insignificance or a lack of importance
• The other extreme are those people who use counterfeit humility,
• In the hope of getting a compliment or praise.
• i.e. A skilled musician who insists, “I can’t really play”
• i.e. A talented singer who insists, “I can’t really sing”
• i.e. A gifted preacher who insists, “I can’t really preach”
ill:
• Reminds me of the story of the preacher waiting by the door at the end of the service;
• A lady was leaving and said to him, “That was a lovely talk”,
• He replied with false humility; “Oh it wasn’t me it was the Holy Spirit”
• The lady replied; “It wasn’t that lovely!”
• TRANSITION: Humility is not low esteem,
• Humility it is not false self-criticism and putting yourself down.
• True humility is recognising God has gifted you in some way;
• But not boasting or being proud about that gifting.
• Rather using it to bless others and to glorify God.
Note:
• Humility is the absence of ‘I’
• Pride says; “I can….”
• Low esteem says, “I can’t….”
• True humility does not talk about ‘I’ at all.
• True humility is the absence of ‘I’
• Quote: C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity:
• “True humility isn’t thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less.”
In Luke chapter 9 verses 37-50:
• The disciples of Jesus learn a lesson on humility.
• They thought they could do anything, they ended up humbled.
• What was that idiom we mentioned earlier?
• “Pride comes before a fall”
• Having too much pride or confidence will cause one to make mistakes,
• An example of that is in these verses ahead of us.
• We will see the disciples fail in a number of ways.
Failure #1: – They Were Unable to Cast Out a Demon (vs 37-43)
“The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 A man in the crowd called out, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not.’
41 ‘You unbelieving and perverse generation,’ Jesus replied, ‘how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.’
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.”
Notice how Dr Luke the author of this gospel captures the emotions in this scene:
• We see the pain of the desperate father,
• The pathetic condition of the child.
• The distress of the unsuccessful disciples.
• And Dr Luke also displays the feelings of Jesus as well:
• A heart full of anguish reveals sadness and frustration as Jesus cries out:
• (verse 41a).
“‘You unbelieving and perverse generation…how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?”
Strong words from Jesus calling the disciples ‘unbelieving and perverse’.
• ‘Unbelieving’ means ‘faithless’ or ‘without trust.’
• ‘Perverse’ means ‘to twist’ or ‘turn aside from the right path’.
• That was true of the disciples:
• They were ‘faithless’ or ‘without trust’ and therefore unable to help the boy.
• They were had also ‘turned aside from the right path’.
• They were sent out on a mission with power to liberate people;
• But they were now incapable and unable to do anything to help.
So with deep empathy Jesus takes control of the situation:
• He tells the boy’s father to,, “Bring your son here”
• The demons may have beaten the disciples but they will bow before the master!
• This is one fight the good guys are going to win!
• Verse 42:
“Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father.”
Question: Why was Jesus so frustrated with the disciples?
• This story makes more sense in light of an earlier event in chapter 9 verse 1:
• There Jesus specifically gave the twelve disciples power and authority,
• They were sent out into the villages to cast out demons and to heal diseases.
• Well actually it was much more than that because I omitted one little word;
• The little word, “all” they were to cast out “all demons”.
• Now something has happened, they’ve lost that power, and they can’t do it.
• Jesus is frustrated by this, and so, he heals the boy and restores the family.
• The focus in the passage is on the disciples;
• And on their failure to do that which Jesus gave them power and authority to do.
Ill:
• Like a car running out of petrol on the motorway;
• Like a shopper running out of money in a supermarket,
• Like McDonalds running out of food at a busy lunchtime,
• So these disciples ran out of dependence on Jesus when they needed him most!
APPLICATION:
• I think one of my biggest dangers as a Christian is self-sufficiency.
• That is we start off trusting Christ and leaning on him,
• But slowly there is a subtle change over and instead of reliance there is self-control.
Ill:
• Rubenstein, was a Polish American classical pianist.
• Many regard him as the greatest Chopin interpreter of his time.
• The great musician, once said,
"If I omit practice one day, I notice it; if two days, my friends notice it'
if three days, the public notice it."
• TRANSITION: It is the old doctrine, "Practice makes perfect."
• We must keep on doing the basic
• i.e. continue believing, continue praying, continue doing His will.
• I suppose we could say, stay connected, stay dependent and stay abiding in Christ,
• Good habits stick the same as bad habits,
• The theologians frequently describe it as “union with Christ.”
• Because without being in union with Christ all we can achieve is ‘nothing!’
Failure #2: They Were Afraid to Ask (vs 44-45)
“While everyone was marvelling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, 44 ‘Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. ‘But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.”
• Luke tells us that while everyone was excited about the external miracles,
• And who wouldn’t be!
• Everyone here would love to see a miracle.
• If you don’t then you are in the minority or you are not being honest.
But notice Jesus repeats His message to the disciples about His suffering and death:
• He has mentioned this before in this same chapter, verses 21 & 22,
• And he mentions it again in these verses and still they don’t get it.
• And the failure is in the fact that in not “getting it”,
• Because they do not ask Jesus what he means by saying these things,
• Because they did not seek to understand what Jesus was saying,
• Because it did not fit their understanding of what the Messiah should be.
• Remember that it would have been hard for any Jew at this time in history;
• To imagine the Messiah suffering, rejection and death.
• The whole nation were looking for a powerful Messiah to defeat their enemies;
• Especially their current occupiers – he Romans.
• What Jesus describes is a picture of weakness not power.
• They wanted a Messiah;
• Who would overcome their enemies and set up his earthly kingdom.
• No wonder these disciples are dumb in their understanding,
• This description of the Messiah given by Jesus did not fit his understanding at all.
Ill:
Birthday card:
• Outside: “You are the answer to my prayers”.
• Inside: “You’re not what I asked for but apparently you are the answer”.
Quote: Joel Green who in one of his commentaries says:
“The fear of vs 45 is not the awe or astonishment expected… but constitutes at least scepticism and more probably, in this co-text, a denial of faith. The debilitating presence of such fear recasts the disciples not as helpers of the divine mission, but as opponents.”
Failure #3: They Were Pre-occupied with Self & Position (vs 46-48)
“An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and made him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.’”
Ill:
• A mum was headed to McDonald's with her 5-year-old son,
• When they were very close the traffic all slowed down because of a car accident.
• As they were driving by the car accident.
• So, Mom pointed and said to her son, "We should pray."
• From the backseat, she heard his earnest prayer:
• "Please, God, don't let those cars block the entrance to McDonald's."
• TRANSITION: Immaturity always causes us to think about ourselves and not others.
• And in these verses we see the immaturity of the disciples as they argue,
• And they are arguing over whom is the most important.
• It maybe the argument arose;
• Because Peter, James & John started telling the other disciples,
• About their mountain top experience (you looked at that incident last week),
• Maybe the other disciples were envious of these three disciples special position,
• Maybe envy crept in as the other nine disciples,
• Were reminded that they were unable to cast out the demon and help the afflicted boy.
I love the dramatic way Jesus confronts this failure:
• He uses a child as a visual aid, a teaching tool.
• Understand that in Jesus’ day,
• Children were viewed as a nuisance and a bother, not to waste time on.
• Now if there are any children who have in the service,
• (Who have just woken up and paid attention to that comment),
• Listen carefully,
• While people around Jesus felt that kids were a nuisance,
• Jesus felt the opposite!
• And so in response to this argument and jostling for position and power:
• Jesus once again un-does the way the world thinks,
• He takes hold of a child and says;
“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me.”
Failure #4: They Were Cliquish & Exclusive (vs 49-50)
“‘Master,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.’
‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said, ‘for whoever is not against you is for you.’”
Ill:
• One day a salesman knocked on the farmhouse door.
• When the farmer’s wife came to the door,
• The salesman asked her, "Is your husband home, Ma'am?"
• She replied, "He is but he's out with the cows."
• The salesman responded,
• "I've got something to show him. Will I have any problem finding him?"
• She replied; "You shouldn't have any problems,
• He's the one with the beard and moustache."
• TRANSITION: The disciples fail because they cannot recognise fellow believers.
• They fail to recognise those who were on the side of Jesus.
• This failure is linked to the last one;
• The disciples cannot give up their “special status” mentality,
• They think they alone have unique access to Jesus.
• And what is truly ironic is this man is doing what they cannot do,
• He is having success casting out demons,
• The very thing that the disciples were unable to do in the start of today’s passage.
• The disciples take action and tell him to stop, “because he isn’t in our group”.
• This is deep and insidious. It is really quite ugly.
• Good things are happening in the name of Jesus;
• People’s lives are being liberated,
• And the disciples put a stop to it “because he isn’t in our gang”.
• He’s an outsider, he isn’t one of us!
• So they want him sopped,
• And in doing so they are hindering the work of God.
If there is one thing we have learnt about Jesus in our studies in Luke, it is this:
• He is constantly breaking down boundaries,
• He is upsetting the status que, he is making people question their long held views,
• He is knocking down walls of tradition and prejudice with the sledge hammer of truth.
• And here his own disciples revert to type;
• They start to put up new boundaries.
• They are finding new ways to keep people out, and restrict the Kingdom of God.
Well they are in for a shock if they think they are the only ones!
• In the next chapter Jesus is going to send out 72 disciples,
• And we know that Jesus also had female disciples,
• You met some of them in chapter 8 verses 1-3,
• (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna)
• TRANSITION: I guess the disciples of Jesus is similar to the Church,
• In one way it is always complete;
• And in another way there is always room for one more person!
• There is always room for growth.
• The twelve disciples needed to learn that other believers were not a threat to them,
• They are not the enemy,
• They are fellow believers, fellow pilgrims, fellow learners of Jesus.
Ill:
• On the day before the Battle of Trafalgar,
• Admiral Lord Nelson took two of his captains who were involved in a public spat,
• To a spot where they could see the fleet that opposed them.
• Admiral Lord Nelson pointed and said,
• "Gentlemen, yonder are your enemies."
• The two captains shook hands;
• And forgot their differences in the face of their common enemy.
APPLICATION:
• We need to be careful how we talk about other Christians,
• We need to be careful how we talk about other denominations and other ministries.
• There is a big difference in not embracing what we feel is ‘false’ teaching,
• And totally excluding and rejecting and even slandering other believers.
• If we are going to spend eternity with these folk,
• We ought to get a bit of practice in now!
Conclusion:
• The passage we have looked at this morning is hard on the disciples,
• There is no getting around it. They fail, repeatedly!
• But let’s be honest with each other,
• If you look at me, and I look at you and we all look at the universal church,
• I see these very same failures in me and in today’s church.
• FIRST:
• We’ve been given power and authority to set people free, and often we don’t or can’t.
• There is no greater message than the gospel,
• No other message liberates like the gospel,
• Yet often we are slow or find ourselves too shy or embarrassed to share it!
• SECOND:
• When you don’t understand ask for clarity.
• So many disruptions happen in Church life over misunderstandings.
Ill:
• It is said that Phineas T. Barnum, the famed circus magnate,
• Hung a large sign over one of the exits of his museum, which read,
• "This way to the egress."
• Many people in the crowds, eager to see what an egress looked like,
• Passed through the door and found themselves out on the street.
• And had to pay a second time to get back in!
• TRANSITION:
• When you don’t understand ask for clarity.
• THIRD:
• Resist the urge to operate out of a “who’s the greatest” mindset,
• We do this when we compare ourselves to other believers,
• We end up judging our spirituality to others.
• Quote: “If you hang around with dwarfs you will look big,
• But if you hang around with giants you will be dwarfed!”
• TRANSITION: Compare yourself with Jesus and not others!
• To see “how you are doing” and “how you are measuring up”
• FOURTH:
• Do not create boundaries, rejecting people who are “outside of our group”
• Don’t put God in a box,
• Instead try celebrating what God is doing.
• We are far from perfect, but we love the Lord,
• And there are many others who are far from perfect but they to love the same Lord!
Quote: John Wesley.
“I want the whole Christ for my Saviour, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field.”
SERMON Audio:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=01EugyNtjNkkQlTMVX8c0OX84NXiDOS7
