Christ Community Chapel (Audio)

In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus tells a story of a farmer who sowed good wheat seed in a field but found one morning that enemies had come in the night and sowed weeds among the crop. He told his servants not to gather the weeds immediately for risk of pulling up immature grain, but to wait to separate the wheat from the weeds at the harvest. Soon after telling this parable, Jesus explains to his disciples that the wheat and weeds represent people and that the true believers (wheat) will be gathered by the master while non-believers (weeds) will be cast into eternal flame.

This week, Tom Randall explains how it isn't always clear who is "wheat" and who is a "weed" in life. Some people may think or say they are following Jesus when they aren't actually walking in faith. Through his trademark mix of far-ranging, engaging stories, Tom explains how we should be willing to examine our lives to ensure we're on the right path so that we can positively influence those around us too.

At the beginning of Matthew 13, we hear Jesus tell a story about a farmer sowing seed across many types of soil, and what became of that seed based on where it landed. Some seed fell on a path and was eaten by birds. Some fell on rocky ground where it sprouted quickly, then quickly withered. Some fell with thorny weeds and was choked out and other seeds landed among fertile soil and thrived. As was the case with many of the parables Jesus told, his meaning was not immediately clear to those around him, and he went on to explain what the story meant for his disciples (both then and now)...

The message of God's love for us and his son's sacrifice on the cross is like a seed from which the kingdom of God can grow, but not everyone receives that message the same way. Some of us are "hard listeners" who are unwilling to let God's message change us, and others are "shallow listeners" whose faith is rocked when trouble comes along. Still others of us have divided hearts, understanding the message but choosing to live how we want, not according to God's ways. Finally, some "get it" and when God's message takes root in the fertile soil of our hearts, we radiate his goodness not only on the inside, but to those around us too. The bottom line? If we're willing to let God transform our lives, there's no limit to what he can achieve.

The Greek word paliggenesia, which appears throughout the Bible, translates to "the new world, remade." It speaks not only to the way in which the kingdom of God will be revealed, but also to how we, as believers in Christ, are radically changed when we are born again into faith.

That radical change is evident in the way Christians have learned to approach life, understanding that in God's kingdom, the first will be last and the last will be first... and that the faithful servants of God will be served by their master once they enter the kingdom of God. How do we know this is the case? Because we have seen Jesus pour himself out for us on the cross for our sake already, and thus we can rest assured that if we are willing to forgive, bless and love each day, he will pour himself into us once more. Knowing that, we are encouraged to trust in the promise of a bright future and live lives transformed by paliggenesia today.

We all crave to be seen as righteous, seeking approval and acceptance from God and the people around us. The same was the case in Jesus' day, as we see him give examples in Luke 18:9-14 of how two very different people go about trying to gain God's approval. We read first about a man who prayed loudly in the temple, thanking God for making him great and boasting of his good works. Another man, a tax collector and noted sinner, merely bowed his head and asked for God's mercy on him. While it was clear that the first person was a "good man" by society's standards, Jesus said it was actually the "bad" man who went back to his house justified.

As we see again and again, the kingdom of God is an "inside out" one where looks can be deceiving. Like the tax collector, we must be willing to come to God honestly, asking for his mercy and recognizing that we cannot save ourselves through our good deeds. The fact is that God loves us even though we are broken, and he sent his son to die for us. When we are willing to accept that Jesus "picked up the tab" for our sins through his sacrifice, we will have discovered the true source of our righteousness in God's eyes.

In Luke 16, we hear Jesus tell the story of "the rich man" and Lazarus, a poor beggar who lived in the street outside the rich man's house. The rich man had all he could ever want in this life, whereas Lazarus had nothing... but when both the rich man and Lazarus died, they soon found their roles drastically reversed. Lazarus found himself restored and standing at Abraham's side in Heaven, whereas the rich man was subjected to torment in the flames of Hell. Despite the rich man's requests for Abraham to send Lazarus to bring him water and to warn the rich man's brothers, it became clear that the rich man had received his rewards in life, and that Lazarus was no longer below him... literally or figuratively.

Jesus' point in telling the story of the rich man and Lazarus was this: Once life on this earth ends, we may be surprised at that "upside down" kingdom we next encounter. Instead of finding our identity in money and other perishable things that can't transfer anywhere after we die (as the rich man did), Jesus shows that we should look to God for our justification instead. Regardless of the state we find ourselves in during life, we can rest assured that our true reward awaits if we build our identity in Christ.

Naysayers of Christianity are often quick to target the resurrection because, as even the apostle Paul notes, if Jesus wasn't raised from the dead then Christians are fools and their faith is a lie. Even the disciples were convinced that Jesus was dead despite that fact that he had told them that he had to die and would rise again. When Peter denied Jesus three times before his crucifixion, he discovered that he wasn't who he thought he was. He who would stand with Jesus until the very end had insisted that he had no idea who Jesus was, and this betrayal haunted him. Learning that Jesus could be alive - that his story didn't need to end with his betrayal - Peter sprinted to see the empty tomb and the hope of redemption it brought. Will you find hope in the empty tomb?

The death and resurrection of Jesus comprise the cornerstone of the Christian faith. While someone unfamiliar with the significance of these events might see the death of this innocent man as a tragedy, we know that the crucifixion of Jesus ultimately opened the pathway to a personal relationship with God.

This week, Pastor Joe Coffey reminds us that the accounts of Jesus dying relay details that no one making up such a story would have included. For example, Jesus' cry of "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" when he experienced spiritual isolation from God seems like a moment of defeat, not victory... Yet we realize now that Psalm 22 foretold that the one through whom "all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord" would undergo such an experience. We read these things because Jesus truly did die; it's not just a story. As a result, next week we get to celebrate the most important day in history: the day when Jesus returned from the grave to deliver the good news of our salvation.

Last week, we heard about the triumphant entrance of Jesus, the almighty king, into the holy city of Jerusalem. With his arrival at Jerusalem came great expectations: many felt confident that if this was the Messiah, surely he would finally deliver them from the Romans. When that didn't happen quickly, however, people started to doubt... and soon enough, to abandon Jesus. Just days, hours and minutes before he would save the human race from sin once and for all, Jesus could not have felt more alone. Jesus was not only abandoned by strangers around him, but also by the people that knew him best. Judas, a disciple who had spent years witnessing Jesus' miracles, betrayed him to the authorities. Peter, who swore to never forsake him, denied he knew Jesus three times in one night. Finally, God the Father momentarily turned away from Jesus as all his wrath towards sin was poured onto Jesus on the cross. In the end, Jesus accepted all of this abandonment out of love, because he knew it was the only way his sinless record could be exchanged for our broken ones, giving us hope for eternal life.

Throughout the gospels, we see people struggling with one incredibly important question: "Who is Jesus?" The Jewish people were expecting a mighty king to save them, but few were expecting that king to look and sound like Jesus. Regardless, as he rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey in accordance with prophecy with people crying "Hosanna to the Son of David," it became clear that Jesus was indeed the king who brings salvation. So where does that leave us? Jesus was more than a teacher, but the true king whose "dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the Earth." As his worshipers and subjects, we are called to give up everything, including what is most precious, to glorify him. We are called to give up the false kings that make us the most excited and to which we devote the bulk of our time and instead focus on putting the will of our true king at the center of our lives. And when we struggle to do so, it helps to remember that Jesus may have ridden into Jerusalem as a king, but he would be crucified there a week later, making him a king that is willing to sacrifice everything for us.