No one likes a complainer, but everyone likes to complain. Have you ever heard that? As human beings, we complain—we vent, we express, we share. But no one really wants a perpetual Eeyore in their lives. Eeyore is Winnie-the-Pooh’s donkey friend who has a never-ending rain-cloud hovering just above his head. He’s gloomy, depressed, pessimistic, and grey. He’s a complainer. Do you have a friend or family member who constantly complains? If you do, you probably don’t want to spend time with them. If you don’t know anyone who is a complainer, you may be the complainer. 

What if I were to tell you God invites us to complain? He invites us to complain to him in our prayers. What if I were to tell you God isn’t afraid of gloomy, depressed, pessimistic, and grey Eeyores? What if I were to tell you that God inserted a whole bunch of prayers designed just for you in the Bible? 

The most common type of Psalm in the Bible is not a Psalm of thanksgiving or praise, but of lament. Of the 150 Psalms, over 60 of them are either individual or corporate laments. In fact, the first Psalm to call itself a Psalm (the Hebrew word “mizmor”, which means “psalm” or “melody”) is Psalm 3, and it’s a lament. Psalm 1 is about the goodness of God’s law. Psalm 2 is about the Messiah. And Psalm 3 is a complaint.

Because of the presence of sin and evil in this world, complaining is necessary; but God can redeem our complaining for good if we bring our complaints to him. In Psalm 3, King David models how to bring our complaints to God. His lament follows a six element pattern that other laments tend to follow. So when you read other laments, you can look for these six elements. It’s as we reflect and incorporate each of these six elements into our prayers that we can be assured that we are complaining to God well.

Now I did not come up with these six elements. I’ve taken them from How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. It uses Psalm 3 as an example of them, so I’m drawing from his book, so I encourage you to check it out. But I think each of these six elements of a lament, if we understand and use them, will help us complain to God well. What’s the first element of a lament? 

1. Address (v1a)

Looking at the very first part of verse 1, which is what “1a” means, we find King David addresses his Psalm directly to the Lord. When we encounter Lord in all capitals that’s a signal to us that this is the special covenant name of God, Yahweh. When David begins this prayer, he recalls the one true name of God and all the goodness and promises associated with his name. 

This pattern of addressing God directly continues throughout the Psalms and into the New Testament. When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray he teaches them to say, “Our Father, who is in heaven.” (Matt 6:9) When the first church martyr Stephen is stoned he prays, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:59) 

When you pray, do you speak directly to God or do you speak about him? When you pray, do you say, “I pray the Lord would give me a good night’s sleep” or “Lord, would you give me a good night’s sleep”? Let’s say you’re the mother of a child. Wouldn’t it be weird if your child came up to you and said, “I really hope mom will buy me that toy.” That’s manipulative, that’s talking about you, not to you. But our Yahweh is interested in a relationship. And what does every healthy relationship need? Being on a first-name basis. If I can’t remember someone’s name at my gym, and call them “dude” or “hey you” it means I don’t know them very well. This is why we address our God directly. Our first element is address.

2. Complaint (v1-2)

Before I jump into verse one, I actually want us to pause and look at the header, which is verse 1 in the Hebrew translation of the Bible, “A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.” If you ever read about David’s life in 1-2 Samuel, it reads like a soap opera. He is a young man who comes from nothing to become King over Israel. B

Today’s Psalm starts by asking God to bless his people. When you think of blessing, what do you think of? Maybe you think of blessing your meal before you eat. Does a voice from the past or from a recent Holiday tell you to, “Count your blessings”? Maybe you think of the last time you gave money to a homeless person or the bell-ringer for the Salvation Army and they said, “Bless you…”  Maybe you’ve had a priest or a nun say, “Bless you my child” (that happens in the movies so it must be true). Someone gave us a decorative serving dish with the traditional Irish blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

the rains fall soft upon your fields

and until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Today’s psalm, Psalm 67, also starts with a blessing. This is a Psalm of corporate thanksgiving and praise and it starts by asking God to bless the people. But the Psalmist doesn’t ask God to bless his people for selfish reasons (like, “God would you bless us all with Ferraris.”) but with a very specific purpose in mind.

May God bless us so that all the world may know him. (v1-2)

Growing up my dad modeled how to pray. He often prayed for God to bless my brothers and me. Now I pray for God to bless my family, the church, people I talk to. But what does that mean? What does it mean for God to bless us? I want to break down my first point to…

May God bless…

In the Psalmist’s prayer, which was meant to be sung with stringed instruments just like a worship song, and like worship songs sometimes have strange lyrics, the Psalmist asks for God to bless and shine his face on his people. The two are connected. God blesses us by shining his face on us. The concept of God shining his face comes from Moses’ experience with God at Mount Sinai. Moses used to meet with God directly at a tent outside the camp.

Exodus 33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. (NIV®)

But when the Israelites made a golden calf and worshipped it, God threatened to leave the Israelites for their sin of idolatry. So Moses made a special intercession for the people, and God had mercy and promised not to leave them. But Moses wanted a demonstration from God that he wouldn’t leave them. He asked for God to show him his glory. And in response, God reveals himself to Moses, but not fully.

Exodus 33:19-20 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (NIV®)

I believe when Moses spoke to the Lord face to face in the tent, he was speaking to the subdued presence of God. Some think he was speaking to the pre-incarnate Son of God (aka. Jesus before he became a baby). The Bible elsewhere says that no one can see God and live (John 1:18, 6:46; 1 Tim 6:16). So to see the actual face of God is to see his unsubdued presence. At Sinai, Moses doesn’t get to see God’s face (essence) but God does go by him and Moses sees his back (Exod 33:21-23), and just seeing God’s back transforms him.

Exodus 34:29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. (NIV®)

Moses’ face was so radiant the people were afraid. After Moses told the people what God said he covered his face with a veil so they wouldn’t see the glory leaving his face. But seeing Moses’ face like this seems to have impacted the whole community because when the Lord institutes the priesthood, he tells the priests to pray this prayer for the people.

Numbers 6:23-26 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

“‘“The Lord bless you

and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to y

Have you ever been blamed for something you didn’t do? Kids do this all the time, right? You tell them not to eat the chocolate chip cookies and when you come back into the room the cookies are gone. And you ask the child, “Did you eat the cookies?” And he says, “No, my brother did.” Of course, you have to ignore the chocolate wiped across his face, that he’s holding an empty cookie jar, and that his brother was with you the whole time.

But what if someone blamed you for something more serious like stealing from a bank or hurting someone? What would you do then? That’s the question that faced a crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. A man named Peter got up to speak and declared that they were responsible for the death of a local Rabbi named Jesus (Peter was one of his first disciples). Some of them were from Jerusalem, and were probably there when he was crucified, maybe even shouting with the mob “crucify him, crucify him!” But others were from other parts of Israel and were probably not there. But Peter says that they are collectively responsible for the death of Jesus.

Acts 2:22-23 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. (NIV®)

Peter reminds them who Jesus is. Jesus is from the small dusty town of Nazareth. People wondered if anything good could come out of Nazareth (John 1:46). We may not like to admit it, but there might be places we think, “Can anything good come from there?” I grew up in Colorado; and for me was a place called Greeley. If you drove through Greeley in the late afternoon, the whole city smelled like cow manure because it was right next to cattle farms. Jesus was from a place like Greeley.

We love those stories of people who come from humble beginnings but make it big, like Mark Wahlberg from Dorchester or Amy Poehler from Burlington. Well Jesus attracted quite a following in his day because he performed miracles. He opened the eyes of the blind. He healed the crippled. He cleansed the lepers. He cast out demons from the possessed. He raised people from the dead. And he forgave sins. Jesus was not just a man from God, he actually was God. In Jesus, God came in the flesh.

So when Peter says they nailed him to the cross, he’s pointing out their rejection of Jesus. We also can be held responsible for something we didn’t do individually, but collectively. If a small group of soldiers carries out a mission on foreign soil, we as a nation can be held responsible. Whether or not Peter’s audience was physically there, everyone in the crowd was responsible. And so are we today.

You and I are also responsible. We may not have driven the physical nails through Jesus’ hands, but we are responsible for what we do with the message of Jesus Christ. If we reject him, we’re just as guilty. Now that escalated quickly! First we were blamed for stealing cookies and now we’re crucifying Jesus?! We’re only innocent if there’s no chocolate on our face. But if I look in the mirror, I find I often reject Jesus. I don’t always believe in him and I often prefer my way instead of God’s way.

If you’re like Peter and follow Jesus, are you daily accepting or rejecting the message of Jesus Christ? We can say we believe in Jesus, but still live lives far from him. That’s like going through your day with chocolate on your face. Don’t you wish you had looked in a mirror and wiped it off?

If you’re like the crowd, are you willing to believe that you’re responsible for doing something with the message of Jesus. A true friend is someone who tells you when you have food on your face or between your teeth. Now you now you have chocolate on your face. What will you do now?

Peter has given the crowd a pretty tough message, but be

I love listening to people pray because we all pray a little bit differently. I appreciate how people from a Catholic background or a more formal (aka. liturgical) church setting pray. Their words always seem so reverent and thoughtful. But I also like listening to people pray who just talk to Jesus like they’re talking to a friend. Their prayers seems so relational and honest. I even like hearing people pray who are going through a hard time. There’s something beautiful when you pour out your heart to God.

The Bible has a whole book full of different kinds of prayers, some reverent and formal, some relational and honest, and others for hard times. This book of prayer is called the Psalms. The Psalms are poetry the Israelite community sang and prayed together. God inspired human authors, King David, the Sons of Korah, and others, to write the Psalms to help us pray (this is why I call our series Praying with God).

If you’re feeling thankful, we have a Psalm for that. They’re called Psalms of Thanksgiving.

If you’re feeling sad, we have a Psalm for that. They’re called Psalms of Lament.

If you just feel like praising God, we have a Psalm for that. They’re called Psalms of Praise.

And it doesn’t stop there. There are lots of different Psalms that can help us pray no matter our situation or circumstance. Today we’re focusing on a very special type of Psalm, a prophetic Psalm. King David wrote it about the Messiah, a coming hero who was going to rescue the Israelite people from their sins.

This Psalm, Psalm 22, actually ties directly into Easter. This Psalm, which King David wrote about 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus, tells us about the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that as Jesus was dying on the cross, he was actually meditating on Psalm 22.

Jesus lived and prayed Psalm 22.

The Gospel of Matthew makes very clear connections between what Jesus was seeing, experiencing, and saying with Psalm 22. I want to look at four fulfillments between Matthew 27 and Psalm 22.

Matthew 27:35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. (NIV®)

Psalm 22:18 They divide my clothes among them

    and cast lots for my garment.

King David wrote much of Psalm 22 from the point of view of the hero Messiah. It’s his perspective, so he’s saying this about his own garments, and then it happens exactly as foretold to Jesus Christ. The Roman soldiers take and divide up his garments by lot. But it doesn’t stop there.

Matthew 27:39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads

Psalm 22:7 All who see me mock me;

    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

Lot’s of people mocked Jesus as he hung on the cross. Those passing by insulted him. The priests, teachers, and elders mocked him (v41). Even one of the criminals hanging on the cross next to him insulted him. I think Jesus would have recognized Psalm 22 as he heard their taunts. They taunted…

Matthew 27:43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Psalm 22:8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,

    “let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

    since he delights in him.”

At the end of Matthew chapter 27 we come to the most glaring similarity, the one that jumps right off the page and that clearly tells us Jesus was meditating on this passage.

Matthew 27:46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

    Why are you so far from saving me,

    so far from my cries of anguish?

Jesus witnessed what was happening, knew Psalm 22 by heart, and used his last moments to fulfill this prophecy completely. But he didn’t just cry those words because he knew they were the right answer, he cried them because he meant them. Jesus usually called God his “Father,” but here we find him calling him the more formal “God.” This is becau

Christians believe that one day Jesus is going to come back. We believe his return is going to be unexpected, surprising, and everyone will see it. Today’s passage explains how to prepare for that day. That got me thinking about other times in life where we prepare for someone’s arrival, but we don’t know when they are coming. And of course that reminded me of our upcoming baby’s arrival.

Our care provider has given us a due date of Saturday, June 9th, but for those who have had children or know someone who has, you know that’s just a date. The baby could come at any time! He could come 3 weeks early or a week late. He may come during the middle of the day, or decide, “Hey, it’s 2am! Let’s go!” So how do you prepare for someone’s arrival when you don’t know when they’re coming? You get the nursery ready. Check! You take a birthing class. Check. You pack a go bag full of every item you might need for your stay at the hospital… I’ll be right back. I need to do that.

What should you pack in a go bag? I assume the essentials are going to be things like my Xbox, my iPad, Netflix, and a lava lamp. Okay, so maybe we should take things like toiletries, and our own pillows, a change of clothes, pajamas, a couple baby outfits, etc. But what’s the most important part after packing all of these helpful items in your go bag? It’s actually remembering to take it with you. I bet none of you forgot your go bag on your big day…

How should we prepare for Christ’s return? If we imagine a spiritual go bag, what sorts of things should we pack? In Luke 12:35-48, Jesus tells us two things he wants us to pack, two things that will get us ready for his return. What should we pack in our go bags? First we should pack..

Readiness (Luke 12:35-40)

Jesus tells us to be ready for his return, but I want to add that the principles we should live by apply to us even if Jesus doesn’t return in our lifetime. He may come back at anytime, but we may also go to him at anytime. None of us know when our time is up, so Jesus’ words still apply. He tells us to be ready with a parable, an illustration or allegory of servants getting ready for a master that may return at any time.

35“ Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. (NIV®)

The NIV has done a great job of bridging the gap between the ancient and the present because the Greek actually says “Let your loins be girded.” This is an idiom that describes how ancient people would tuck up their robes into their belt to travel (Exodus 12:11). Likewise, ancient people usually didn’t keep their lamps burning all night without a special reason. A good servant is a servant who is ready and waiting for his master’s arrival, no matter the time of day or night. The “middle of the night” and “daybreak” were the last watches of the night. Jesus is saying that even if he comes when we’re most tired and least expecting him, he want us to be ready. Jesus uses a second illustration to explain it will be a surprise.

39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (NIV®)

If you knew when I thief was thinking about breaking into your home, you’d install a security camera and steal your neighbor’s little blue sign to put in your front yard, “Secured by ADT.” But just like thieves don’t tell us when they’re going to rob us, Jesus doesn’t tell us when h

My family has a history of heart-attacks. My uncle died of a massive heart-attack, and my dad had two heart attacks. So I personally am interested in not having a heart attack, but also being able to identify the signs of a heart attack. The American Heart Association lists Warning Signs of a Heart Attack:

Pain or discomfort in chest

Lightheadedness, nausea, or vomiting

Jaw, neck or back pain

Discomfort or pain in arm or shoulder

Shortness of breath

It’s no fun to talk about the warning signs of a heart attack, but it’s better to talk about them when you’re fine, so that if something happens to you or the one you love, you can identify the problem and get help.

Today, in Luke, we’re also talking about 6 warning signs of a heart problem. The state of our hearts is what separates true religion from false religion, Godly faith from destructive beliefs, life from death. Jesus was having dinner with Pharisees and and experts in the law when he confronted them about their hearts. But the author Luke doesn’t record this story so that we can look back at those Pharisees and experts in judgment, but so that we can examine our own hearts and look for disease.

We may have a heart problem. (Luke 11:37-41)

37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

I don’t know about you, but when I see someone walk out of the restroom without washing their hands, it grosses me out. But that’s not what surprises the Pharisee here. Hand-washing was not about personal hygiene, it was about ceremonial cleanliness. The Gospel of Mark’s parallel account explains this further.

Mark 7:3-4 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.) (NIV®)

This Pharisee was surprised that Jesus didn’t ceremonially cleanse himself before eating, but Jesus doesn’t care for their extra-Biblical tradition (Talmud). He sees it for what it is, a man-made ceremony meant to make people feel like they are acceptable to God, but this is not what makes someone acceptable to God.

39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. (NIV®)

Jesus teaches us God cares about what goes on inside our hearts, not what we look like on the outside. Something has gone wrong in their hearts. They’re full of “greed and wickedness” (v39). And so he speaks six “woes” against them.  These “woes” are judgments that act both as a curse and a revelation. They reveal both the sin itself and the consequences of their sin.

First, Jesus cries three woes at the Pharisees. When we think of Pharisees, we think of the religious elite. In many ways they were, but they were also lay people. In other words, they weren’t priests or professionals, they were normal men who were passionate for tradition and God’s word. So our first three warning signs (of a heart problem) are for laity, normal everyday people who are trying to obey God (not pastors; they’re perfect…). These signs help us see if we have a heart problem. What’s the first warning sign?

1. Love of religiosity over love of neighbor and love of God (Luke 11:42)

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. (NIV®)

By “religiosity” I mean someone who loves being religious, who loves going through the motion

Do you ever feel burned out by church? Churches have a tendency to burn people out. When first-time guests Benjamin and Olivia Smith walk through our door, we hope they’ll come back the next week. When they do we’re so excited, we invite them to our fellowship dinner, and when they’re at the fellowship dinner we tell them about all our fantastic ministries and ask if they’d like to join any of them.

When we find out Benjamin can play the drums, we might ask, “Are your Wednesday nights free to try out the worship team?” And when Olivia tells us she loves children, we say, “We have just the ministry for you.” Pretty soon Benjamin is on the worship team upstairs, and Olivia is helping teach the children’s ministry downstairs, so they’re no longer sitting together in church most weeks.

And when they are in the service, they hear announcements for upcoming Outreach events like the Apple Blossom Parade or the Trunk or Treat. Of course those are good things, so they sign up. And when Pastor Jonathan preaches on the importance of spending time with their frontlines, they try to spend time with their neighbors and non-Christian friends. And they just keep getting more and more busy.

But pretty soon, they also feel themselves getting more and more exhausted. They find they’re giving much of their physical and emotional energy to serving the church, and have no time for small groups, even less time for personal devotions and prayer, and rarely have a date night together as a couple. Some weeks when they’re not signed up to play the drums or volunteer in children’s ministry, they skip out on church so they can rest and have a break. It’s just getting to be too much.

What’s happening is Benjamin and Olivia are slowly burning up. The busyness of ministry is exhausting them. Maybe they’ll stay at the church, or maybe they’ll look for another church where they’re asked to do less. As a church we just want to love and care for the Benjamins and Olivias, but somehow that becomes us asking them to do stuff, at least to help us do less. We don’t want to burn out either!

Today’s text teaches us about ministry burnout. The story of Mary and Martha tells us how one woman got so wrapped up in serving Jesus she forgot to love Jesus. The Gospel of Luke records the story of Mary and Martha right after the story of the Good Samaritan. A lawyer asks Jesus, “What should I do to inherit eternal life?” The short answer is “Love God and love your neighbor.” Then Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan as an example of a person sacrificially loving their neighbor. The last thing Jesus says at the end of this story is, “Go and DO likewise.”

So I think Luke gives us this story of Mary and Martha next to remind us it’s not all about doing ministry. Yes God wants us to get out there and serve him. God does want us to love our neighbors, to do good deeds, and serve the church. But Luke makes sure to add this story to remind us at the end of the day Christianity is not about staying busy for Jesus, it’s about loving Jesus. My big idea for my sermon is this, “Do less for Jesus to be more with Jesus.” Let’s see how Mary and Martha teach us to do less for Jesus.

Do less for Jesus. (Luke 10:38-40)

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (NIV®)

I want to start out by by defending Martha a little bit. We can be too quick to condemn her.

Martha is doing a good thing (serving Jesus).

Martha has a servant’s spirit. She is hospitable. She opens her home to Jesus and his 12 disciples. She knew he was an important Rabbi, a teacher, so she wanted to do a really good job. Do you ever imagine what it would be like to

I want to start by talking about my job. What are pastors for? At Cornerstone, we have “roles of ministry.” We believe elders are called to lead and shepherd, deacons are called to serve the people, and the pastor is called to equip the congregation who are to engage in ministry. Our philosophy of ministry says:

“Staff Equipped: We believe that Pastors are called to serve the church by equipping the believers for the work of the ministry.”

This is based on what the Bible says our job is.

Ephesians 4:11-12 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (NIV®)

But what do we mean by equipping for ministry? Is it the Pastor’s primary job to teach people how to run the church, or is the ministry we’re talking about broader than that? I believe it’s my job to help you use your whole life for Jesus, and that may mean serving Christ on a formal church Ministry Team, but it first means using your normal everyday life to spread the love and good news of Jesus Christ.

In today’s text in Luke we come to the story of normal everyday people who Jesus equips for ministry. But he doesn’t label them “pastor.” When Jesus calls the twelve disciples, he designates them “Apostles,” which means “someone sent as a messenger” (Luke 6:12-16). In Luke 10, Jesus uses this word for send (“apostello”) again, but not to describe the twelve, but to send out the rest of his followers.

Luke 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. (NIV®)

You don’t need to be a big-a “Apostle” to be a little-a “apostle.” If you believe in Jesus, you’re a little-a “apostle.” You don’t have to have a formal ministry title for Jesus to use you.

Jesus sends us out. (Luke 10:1-12)

Jesus picked the twelve disciples to signify the twelve tribes of Israel, to say he is starting a new chapter in the people of God. But then he chooses 72 because all the way back in Genesis 10, the Bible lists 72 nations (in the Greek version, LXX). We call this chapter “The Table of Nations.” So here Jesus is using the 12 to found Christianity and sending out the 72 to symbolically reach the whole world.

But what does this have to do with us? You and I are not big-A Apostles, but we are sent. Luke calls them the “seventy-two others.” I think you and I are the others. We receive the same commission as them. As others, we’re sent by Jesus out “ahead of him.” In Luke 1-9, Jesus spends most of his ministry in and around northern Galilee, but in Luke 9:51 Jesus sets out for Jerusalem. He begins his journey, and he sends these people ahead of him to prepare the way. They’re like John the Baptist, preparing the way for the Lord. We too are called to prepare the way for the Lord.

Your frontline is the place where you spend the majority of your time with non-Christians. So it could be your neighborhood, your office, your college friends, your gym, the local coffee shop, anywhere. Do you believe Jesus has sent you there to prepare for his coming? I think this requires a shift in how we think about our frontlines. Today, when I go to work, I’m getting my office ready for Jesus. Tonight, when I have dinner with my neighbors, I’m getting our neighborhood ready for Jesus. Tomorrow, when I go to school, I’m getting my school ready for Jesus.

Now it’s not that Jesus isn’t there already (he’s omnipresent), but this does take the pressure off us. I’m going to get ready for Jesus, but he decides when he shows up. This is a big calling. There are two truths and three commands that Jesus gives us to equip us for this task.

We are valuable. (v2)

First truth, we are valuable to God and his mission. In verse 2 Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” What’s the most valuable commodity any business has? Its people, its employees, its customers. Without people, the harvest wo

Why does God take us from mountaintop worship experiences into everyday chaos? You can listen, watch, or read Mark Pender’s sermon from Luke 9:28-43a to find out why. The sermon manuscript is available by clicking “Save” and then “PDF.”

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You can watch the full service on Facebook or only the sermon on YouTube. This is Mark Pender’s first sermon at Cornerstone.

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Have you ever had to answer a question like your life depended on it? Maybe some of you have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail. King Arthur and his men are on a quest to find the Holy Grail, and they come up to the Bridge of Death, where they “must answer three questions from the bridge-keeper to pass.” The bridge-keeper, an old hermit with a scraggly beard, asks the first knight, “What… is your name?” “Sir Lancelot of Camelot” he answers (isn’t that a great name?). “What… is your quest?” “To seek the Holy Grail.” “What… is your favorite color?” “Blue” he answers and is allowed to pass.

The next knight, Sir Robin thinks that’s easy, so he hurries up to the to answer the questions. First he asks him his name, then his quest, and then he asks him, “What… is the capital of Assyria?” He exclaims, “I don’t know that!” and is then launched into the chasm. I bet if each of you had to pass the Bridge of Death you would have given the bridge-keeper the right answer because you would have thought of the story of Jonah, and how God sends him to Nineveh (Jonah 1:2). Nineveh is one of Assyria’s two capitals.

One day we will also come to the bridge of death, and how we answered three questions in this life will determine if we cross the bridge into heaven. Now just to be clear, when we die we will not get quizzed by Saint Peter at the pearly gates. But, there are some vital questions that how we answer them now has implications for all eternity. The first question is…

1. Who is Jesus? (Luke 9:18-21)

I believe this is the most important question any of us could answer. For some of us it will be easy. You grew up being told Jesus is God, and one day you accepted that as what you believe. For others it won’t be so easy. People never told you who Jesus is, and you don’t know how to answer the question yourself, so maybe your answer is “Jesus was a great teacher and a good man like Ghandi and Buddha.”

If you’re struggling with this question, you’re not the first. In fact, in the Gospel of Luke, besides the angel that announced his birth and the demons he casts out, people aren’t sure what to make of Jesus (Luke 1:31-33; 4:34). The people in his hometown don’t know what to make of him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law don’t know who he is. His relative John the Baptist isn’t sure. People he ate dinner with didn’t know. King Herod didn’t know. Not even the disciples understood (Luke 4:22; 5:21; 7:19; 7:49; 8:25; 9:9). But here in Luke 9, we find Jesus raising this question with his disciples.

18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

19 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

20 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. (NIV®)

Peter answers “ton Christon tou Theo.” Most Bibles translate it “the Christ of God” but the NIV says, “God’s Messiah.” Usually the NIV translates Christos as Christ but here it clarifies the point Peter is trying to make—that Jesus is the Messiah. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah. So who is he?

The Messiah

Messiah literally means “anointed one.” Three types of people were anointed by God in the Old Testament, the high priest, prophets, and kings (Lev 4:3; Psalm 105:15; 2 Sam 22:51). When Queen Elizabeth was coronated in 1953, the service was televised except for her anointing. When the Archbishop of Canterbury anointed her with sacred oil, he said these words:

“Be thy head anointed with holy oil; as kings, priests, and prophets were anointed. And as Solomon was anointed king by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, so be you anointed, blessed and consecrated Queen over the Peoples, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule and govern.”

When Peter says Jesus is the Messiah, he’s saying something similar. He’s sayin