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“I
Will Give”
a sermon by
Thomas L. Jenkins
Text: Luke 21:5-19
“So make up your minds not to
prepare your defense in advance, for I will give you words and a wisdom
that none of your opponents will be able withstand or contradict.”
MY DEAREST, CLOSE SISTERS AND BROTHERS IN CHRIST, the greatest hope that
we may have is faith pertaining to a promise from God. There is no limit to the promises we are given.
They do not come merely from the most accurate human
interpretation of Scripture. The
most beautiful and profound promises given to us come from the very
person we hear saying, “I.”
The most real, the most important, the truly Godly “I” that
is spoken to you and me, is the “I” from the heart and soul, and
self-reference of Jesus Christ. When
you refer to yourself with “I” or “me” there is another “I’
and “me” every bit as close to you as is possible: Jesus Christ.
We are being told this morning that when we are in a situation where we
truly do need to defend ourselves, this very other “I” is going to
place words and wisdom in our minds.
When we do not know the right way to believe, or the right way to
pray, and when we do not know the exact right way to love; Jesus Christ,
who does, will place these thoughts, feelings, and actions within us.
The Bible presents a marvelous witness to Jesus’ prophetic gifts.
These people are celebrating the temple adorned with beautiful
stones and gifts dedicated to God.
Jesus responds with the words, “As
for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone
will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”
About 70 AD (35 years later) the Romans came down to Israel and
destroyed the Temple. Today
in Jerusalem, the Israelites have the Mountain of the Temple, and there
is the Western Wall that is still standing in some way, and people go
there today and praise God and pray to God.
Whether this is exactly what Jesus was referring to, I do not know.
His words, “the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another,”
are telling us that nothing as we see it accomplished from the
worldly—human perspective will remain throughout all the ages. Everything changes over time.
And whatever difficult suffering situation we find ourselves in, God
will come to us, in Jesus Christ and do for us what we cannot do for
ourselves. We may try our
best. We may do our best.
However, the very faith we need to see it in Christ’s way, is
Christ’s faith. Next to
his love, that is the greatest gift he gives to us.
We need protection in many different kinds of ways. In this passage Christ names wars, religious persecutions,
and even close personal relationships where there are serious trials.
For me, I do not know exactly what Christ’s prophesy is
regarding the end of the world war.
Is Iraq going to lead into WWIII?
I do not know? Is
there going to be an end of time apocalyptic war?
I do not know. Is
the second coming of Christ going to be in the next generation, or in
10,000 more years? I do not know.
I do know a little from history. The
church started in Jerusalem, and especially through the Apostle Paul
moved into what we know as Greece and Italy.
Then it spread through most of Europe.
After that there was great move to North America.
In the last century there has been a church growth in Central and
South America. Today, the
greatest growth is moving into Africa.
The missionary work of the Church started in Jerusalem, moved
around the world, and is now heading back to where it started.
One of the most significant predictions about the 21st
century is that 60% to 80% of the church is going to be in South America
and Africa, and 60% to 80% of the money will be in Europe and North
America.
Even Christianity in the USA could find itself in a very conflicting
situation. Still, Jesus is
telling us not to build up our minds in an imagination way, but
sincerely to know that if we find ourselves struggling and being
attacked, a wrestling match over religion, Jesus will give us the words
and wisdom that we need, in our minds.
We are actually, and really, called to live our lives vicariously
through Jesus Christ. When
we see an actor which we may have wished we could have become, we
probably know what it is to live vicariously through him.
When my brother, who was here last week, was playing high school
football for the state championship team in Virginia, I heard a number
of my family members saying, “Your Dad is living vicariously through
Scotty.”
Jesus telling us, “I will give”
is Christ telling us that by grace we are going to be gifted with his
life.
One of the major themes of the Hebrew Bible’s witness was the picture
of a covenant. A covenant
is not a legal contract. A
covenant is the situation where two persons give the oath, devote, and
truly live out a lifetime of unconditional love.
The Bible’s vision is a covenant between God and humanity; a
covenant between humanity and God.
The covenant has been fulfilled.
The covenant has been accomplished.
The covenant is eternal. God
the Father and God the Holy Spirit have, are, and will totally fulfill
God’s place in the covenant. God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit have, are, and will totally fulfill your
place in the covenant. Every
thing that is required of you, Jesus Christ is doing for you.
Does that, then mean we do not even have to think about our place with
God, since Jesus is doing for us, what we cannot do for ourselves?
Does that mean that since we have been reconciled to God in Jesus
Christ, even before we knew anything about it, that it does not need to
matter to us? NO!
One of the conflicts that we will get from many Christians about the
level of grace here, is that this is being too liberating and universal.
St. Paul even dealt with it in his time.
“What then are we to say?
Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?”
(RM 6:1)
Every day we are given a promise from the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Gospel means good news. It
is the report of what has already been accomplished and what you are
going to receive from the finished work of God in Jesus Christ.
You may be in one of the most wonderful places of your life, very
thankful to God about your circumstances.
You may be passing through one of the most difficult and
miserable times in your life. You
may be going through both, “the best of times and the worst of
times.”
Jesus is promising us—every one of us—it is going to happen.
Jesus is going to give us the words we need, the wisdom we need,
the faith we need, the knowledge of God that we need, the hope that we
need, and the love that we need.
We live our lives vicariously trough Jesus Christ. And he is promising what he is doing and going to do as our
Lord and brother. Still, we
need to pray and ask for what we think we need.
That is where Christ is going to start giving us wisdom. He is going to guide us in, when, and how to pray.
Let us pray…
Amen
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