New Life UMC

We’ve been walking through the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, and we’ve seen Aha begin to unfold. AHA is a sudden understanding, recognition, or resolution. Over the years I have talked to lots of people at their point of ‘Aha’. I’ve listened to their Aha experiences as they have told about how and when God got their attention. As I’ve heard their stories, I have discovered that Aha happens when three elements come together. It doesn’t matter how different the specifics are; when these three things come together, Aha happens. The three ingredients that come together to produce Aha are: a sudden awakening, brutal honesty, and immediate action.

If you’ve spent any time in the distant country you know that it’s hard to wake up there. I don’t know exactly what it is…maybe you’ve been asleep too long, maybe you just can’t hear the alarms, maybe you’ve grown so accustomed to being the only voice you listen to that you can’t hear anything else. But a lot of times, people’s lives hit rock bottom in the distant country because it’s so hard to wake up to reality after you’ve been asleep for so long. But maybe you don’t have to hit rock bottom. If you’re in the distant country right now, let me tell you that you don’t have to hit rock bottom. Maybe God is trying to get your attention now to save you from rock bottom. But it’s hard to wake up in the distant country.

We looked last week at the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, and we’ll be studying that story for the next few weeks. We read the first two verses of this parable last week and saw that the younger of two sons demanded his inheritance early, and that his father gave it to him. We’re not exactly sure what made the son want to leave his father’s house, but he did.*Read Luke 15:11-13He asked for his inheritance, left the Father’s house, and went off to a distant country. This is another thing almost all Aha stories have in common: the distant country. In this story, the “distant country” is literally just a far away place. But figuratively, the reality of the distant country is that it’s not just a random place, it’s a place “distant” specifically from the father’s house.All Aha stories end up here.

Aha. The word ‘Aha’ is defined as – a sudden understanding, recognition, or resolution. Over the years I have talked to lots of people at their point of ‘Aha’. I’ve listened to their Aha experiences as they have told about how and when God got their attention. As I’ve heard their stories, I have discovered that Aha happens when three elements come together. It doesn’t matter how different the specifics are; when these three things come together, Aha happens. The three ingredients that come together to produce Aha are: a sudden awakening, brutal honesty, and immediate action.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. John 3:16 (CEB)

David defeats Goliath17 The Philistines assembled their troops for war at Socoh of Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the Elah Valley, where they got organized to fight the Philistines. 3 The Philistines took positions on one hill while Israel took positions on the opposite hill. There was a valley between them.4 A champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was more than nine feet tall.[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore bronze scale-armor weighing one hundred twenty-five pounds.[b] 6 He had bronze plates on his shins, and a bronze scimitar hung on his back. 7 His spear shaft[c] was as strong as the bar on a weaver’s loom, and its iron head weighed fifteen pounds.[d] His shield-bearer walked in front of him.8 He stopped and shouted to the Israelite troops, “Why have you come and taken up battle formations? I am the Philistine champion,[e] and you are Saul’s servants. Isn’t that right? Select one of your men, and let him come down against me. 9 If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your slaves, but if I overcome him and kill him, then you will become our slaves and you will serve us. 10 I insult Israel’s troops today!” The Philistine continued, “Give me an opponent, and we’ll fight!” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they were distressed and terrified.[f]12 Now David was Jesse’s son, an Ephraimite from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. By Saul’s time, Jesse was already quite old and far along in age.[g] 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. Their names were Eliab the oldest, Abinadab the second oldest, and Shammah the third oldest. 14 (David was the youngest.) These three older sons followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul’s side to shepherd his father’s flock in Bethlehem.16 For forty days straight the Philistine came out and took his stand, both morning and evening. 17 Jesse said to his son David, “Please take your brothers an ephah[h] of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread. Deliver them quickly to your brothers in the camp. 18 And here, take these ten wedges of cheese to their unit commander. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back some sign that they are okay. 19 They are with Saul and all the Israelite troops fighting the Philistines in the Elah Valley.”20 So David got up early in the morning, left someone in charge of the flock, and loaded up and left, just as his father Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp right when the army was taking up their battle formations and shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines took up their battle formations opposite each other. 22 David left his things with an attendant and ran to the front line. When he arrived, he asked how his brothers were doing. 23 Right when David was speaking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came forward from the Philistine ranks and said the same things he had said before. David listened. 24 When the Israelites saw Goliath, every one of them ran away terrified of him. (25 Now the Israelite soldiers had been saying to each other: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? How he comes to insult Israel? The king will reward with great riches whoever kills that man. The king will give his own daughter to him and make his household exempt from taxes[i] in Israel.”)26 David asked the soldiers standing by him, “What will be done for the person who kills that Philistine over there and removes this insult from Israel? Who is that uncircumcised Philistine, anyway, that he can get away with insulting the army of the living God?”27 Then the troops repeated to him what they had been saying. “So that’s what will be done for the man who kills him,” they said.28 When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the soldiers, he got very mad at David. “Why did you come down here?” he said. “Who is watching those few sheep for you in the wilderness? I know how arrogant you are and your devious plan: you came down just to see the battle!”29 “What did I do wrong this time?” David replied. “It was just a question!”30 So David turned to someone else and asked the same thing, and the people said the same thing in reply. 31 The things David had said were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.32 “Don’t let anyone[j] lose courage because of this Philistine!” David told Saul. “I, your servant, will go out and fight him!”33 “You can’t go out and fight this Philistine,” Saul answered David. “You are still a boy. But he’s been a warrior since he was a boy!”34 “Your servant has kept his father’s sheep,” David replied to Saul, “and if ever a lion or a bear came and carried off one of the flock, 35 I would go after it, strike it, and rescue the animal from its mouth. If it turned on me, I would grab it at its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 36 Your servant has fought both lions and bears. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them because he has insulted the army of the living God.37 “The Lord,” David added, “who rescued me from the power of both lions and bears, will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.”“Go!” Saul replied to David. “And may the Lord be with you!”38 Then Saul dressed David in his own gear, putting a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David strapped his sword on over the armor, but he couldn’t walk around well because he’d never tried it before. “I can’t walk in this,” David told Saul, “because I’ve never tried it before.” So he took them off. 40 He then grabbed his staff and chose five smooth stones from the streambed. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag and with sling in hand went out to the Philistine.41 The Philistine got closer and closer to David, and his shield-bearer was in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked David over, he sneered at David because he was just a boy; reddish brown and good-looking.43 The Philistine asked David, “Am I some sort of dog that you come at me with sticks?” And he cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said to David, “and I’ll feed your flesh to the wild birds and the wild animals!”45 But David told the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel’s army, the one you’ve insulted. 46 Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head! Today I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the entire Philistine camp[k] to the wild birds and the wild animals. Then the whole world will know that there is a God on Israel’s side. 47 And all those gathered here will know that the Lord doesn’t save by means of sword and spear. The Lord owns this war, and he will hand all of you over to us.”48 The Philistine got up and moved closer to attack David, and David ran quickly to the front line to face him. 49 David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone. He slung it, and it hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 And that’s how David triumphed over the Philistine with just a sling and a stone, striking the Philistine down and killing him—and David didn’t even have a sword! 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, drew it from its sheath, and finished him off. Then David cut off the Philistine’s head with the sword.

A rich tax collector19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through town. 2 A man there named Zacchaeus, a ruler among tax collectors, was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but, being a short man, he couldn’t because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to that spot, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay in your home today.” 6 So Zacchaeus came down at once, happy to welcome Jesus.7 Everyone who saw this grumbled, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”8 Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone, I repay them four times as much.”9 Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this household because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 The Human One[a] came to seek and save the lost.”

Empty tomb20 Early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him.” 3 Peter and the other disciple left to go to the tomb. 4 They were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to arrive at the tomb. 5 Bending down to take a look, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Following him, Simon Peter entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 He also saw the face cloth that had been on Jesus’ head. It wasn’t with the other clothes but was folded up in its own place. 8 Then the other disciple, the one who arrived at the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 They didn’t yet understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.Jesus appears to Mary11 Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. 13 The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” 14 As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him.”16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher).17 Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”18 Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her.

•Four Days Late – Jesus arrives four days late. Lazarus has been dead and buried and now his family and friends are in the middle of deep mourning. So when Jesus arrives Mary and Martha get a little passive-aggressive. They both say, “IF you had been here, Lord, my brother would not be dead.” But Jesus had already done that. He had healed a boy from a great distance. He had given one man the ability to walk and another the ability to see. Now was the time to reveal his ultimate power: the miracle of resurrection. It’s easy to refute a healing. Sometimes people get better. Sometimes medicine can heal us. But nobody walks away from a diagnoses of “dead for four days.” What Jesus did here was truly his magnum opus. In fact Jesus puts his entire reputation on the line. The other six miracles have made Jesus a household name; but you are only as good as your last miracle. If Lazarus doesn’t come out of that tomb, Jesus’ name and ministry are over.

•Sight – I’ve been visually impaired since I was eight years old. Unfortunately wearing glasses wasn’t as accepted and common as it is today; so I never really enjoyed wearing glasses. When I was 15 or 16 I started wearing contact lenses, which I wore for about fifteen years before given them up. One night in college I was up late, socializing, and I fell asleep in my contacts (which is not really a good thing). Often when that happens you wake up with dried out contacts and it’s terrible. But that morning I woke up with perfectly lubricated contacts; and I opened my eyes and actually thought my eyes had been healed, because I could miraculously see. Eventually I realized that I had my contacts in; but the feeling of being able to see for the first time in years, with my own eyes was amazing (even if it wasn’t true). Restoring sight to the blind is the focus of the sixth miracle.