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Luke 13:28-13:35
Last week we looked at the verses of Luke 13 immediately before verse 28, and it ended with Jesus’ image of a door to a house or courtyard as a picture of what is required for salvation. We talked about how the door was the only way in, how it was insufficient just to know about the door – you had to actually enter in, how the door was narrow, how once you have entered the door you are in once for all, and how the door will shut, and once it is shut, it will not be open again. Kristin mentioned a good point to me after the service – that a narrow door is one in which you have to go single file. You certainly can’t get in your fancy car, roll up the tinted windows, and have your driver drive you through the door! You alone have to do it. And as we talked about last week, the way we enter the door is through faith in Jesus Christ.
The title of my message this week is “Repent or Perish.” This is not a particularly pleasant title. Now when I create message titles, I simply try to find a few words that summarizes the gist of the entire passage; this week, “Repent or Perish” seemed to fit our verses from Luke 12 and 13 quite well. But I don’t normally give any thought to the fact that the message title will also be put on the sign outside. Gail called me about the title this week and asked if she could also put the verses in, which she did. She also jokingly suggested an alternative title: “Turn or Burn.”
One of the things I find really interesting about our passage this week is that what first looks like a series of independent little stories and events actually flows together into one grand sweeping theme. Hopefully you will see this as we go through these verses today. Now, last week, we made it as far as Luke 12:56. I want to go back a bit, to verse 54, because even the beginning of today’s passage flows from this previous passage.
Luke 12:35-56
Last week we heard part of a lengthy teaching Jesus was giving to a particular crowd recorded in the middle of Luke 12. There was an emphasis on two things, greed and worry. We also looked at some verses from Haggai 1 that looked as if it were written solely for us today. In this passage, God’s people were condemned for focusing on building their own fine houses while they left God’s house in ruins. I gave a challenging list of four Biblical purposes for money, derived from some materials by Mark Darling, a pastor in one of our sister churches:
1. Your money is to support you as God’s missionary and God’s servant to meet your needs.
2. Your money is for you to support God’s work on Earth, and in particular, the local church.
3. Your money is for you to win others and influence them for Christ.
4. Your money is to help God’s people in need.
Luke 12:13-34
If you have been receiving emails from the church this week, you have been hearing about the crisis in Mongolia. Western media has hardly mentioned this at all, but Mongolia had national elections last week, and there were accusations of unfair practices at the ballot boxes. The accusations rose into a full scale riot. The party headquarters of one of the two major political parties was burned as was a cultural antiquities building that contained priceless artifacts. Several people were killed and hundreds were injured.
But there was something else going on that I found far more serious. Tom Terry is a Christian, an American living in Mongolia, who has been doing something I find really awesome for Christ. He has created a private, non-government TV news network that broadcasts throughout Mongolia called Eagle TV. Eagle TV provides unbiased news of Mongolia to Mongolians as well as producing a large number of Christian shows, mostly focused on teaching Mongolians the Bible. It is beginning to have a huge impact in Mongolia.
