Significant

This is part 2 of 2 about Luke 3:23-38. Click here to read the passage, click here to read the first part, and then come back!


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When you read the end of Luke 3, there's one thing that is glaringly obvious - there are loads of people in this list of names. And I don't even know half of them. If they were walking down the street, I couldn't pick them out of a crowd. I couldn't tell you their greatest accomplishment. I certainly couldn't tell you their name. I mean, this is not the Hall of Fame we're talking about here.


But I would also venture to say it doesn't matter, either.


Really.


God chose them. He put them where He did, when He did, for the purpose that He did. And I must trust His judgment.


More importantly, I must withhold my own. I see the name Menna or Sala on a list like this and I think, "Who's that guy?" Honestly, that might be the guy I'd be tempted to make fun of in the cafeteria at school or standing by the water cooler at work. He might be the guy with quirky behavior or the girl who's laugh is just the wrong pitch. We all know those people who for whatever reason get on our last nerves.


And we judge them. Maybe even bully them. Maybe even abuse them verbally...or physically.


And this genealogy reminds me today that the people I don't know are just as significant as the ones I do know. Because God selected them. They have meaning and purpose. They have value and a place in God's Story and Kingdom.


And I am convicted. How often do I mistreat someone because they are different or seemingly unimportant? How often do I treat people as if they weren't made in the image of God, just like I am?


Don't ever count someone out because you don't see their value. Don't ever consider someone unimportant because you don't see their worth. God chooses each person for a special purpose and just because we can't see it or understand it doesn't it make it any less significant.


Live knowing that you are significant to God. Live treating others with that same significance.


"This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers." 1 John 3:16


Christ died for us. Christ considered us worthy of his sacrifice. The only response after faith is to value others in the same way, even to give our lives so that they might come to know and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Counted Worthy

This is part 1 of 2 about Luke 3:23-38. Click here to read it, and then come back!


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If I'm truly honest, I usually skip the genealogies. I mean, who really wants to read "And he begat so and so..." over and over again?


But today I read the one in Luke 3. Out loud. I'm not saying this to get a pat on the back. I simply needed a way to stay awake because I was determined to actually read each word. And the Lord impressed something on me.


I realized as I was reading that there were only a handful of names that I actually recognized. Of that handful there were an even smaller number that I knew their story or what made them significant. But does that mean the other ones are not important?


They probably get skipped over often, maybe not even given a second thought, but God inspired Luke (and the other Gospel and Old Testament writers) to include their names. That alone makes them important. But why are they important? In the Gospels, especially the one in Luke, they're the lineage of Christ all the way back to God. That seems obvious.


But the thing that strikes me today is this: I think they're important simply for the fact that they're unremarkable. I don't know what Admin or Er did. And I don't think it really matters. What matters is that God counted them worthy to continue the line of blood that led to Christ.


I don't know what you've done either (good or bad), but if you're a follower of Christ then it doesn't matter if I know. I can trust that God has chosen you, for a purpose, and you are carrying the name of Christ wherever you go. You are a child of God. You are counted worthy.


Don't worry about whether your life is important to the world or whether people know your name like they do David or Paul. God says you're important. God knows your name. And God has an important task for you to do to further His kingdom. That might mean a smile and friendly wave to the gas station attendant. Or continuing to do your job with integrity. Or sharing the gospel with your neighbor.


Whatever it is, do it with excellence for the glory of God. He has counted you worthy enough to send His only Son to die on the cross for your sins. He has counted you worthy enough to be co-heirs with Christ. He has counted you worthy.


Now live in that worthiness.

Mandates

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." Exodus 20:8


I learned recently that there are two kinds of command, a mandate and a prohibition. Mandates are the "do's". Prohibitions are the "don'ts". The fourth commandment, the Sabbath one quoted, is a mandate. In fact, with the fifth commandment (honor your father and mother), there are only two mandates in all ten of the Commandments.


I was thinking about that idea, of mandates and such, and something occurred to me. Prohibitions are easy to follow.
Don't murder.
Don't give false testimony.
Don't rollerblade without pads and a helmet.
I tend to gravitate toward them because it is easier to gauge whether I have measured up to the task. If I'm really honest, I must admit it's also easier to judge whether other people have lived up to it, too. Maybe that's why the Pharisees liked the rules so much?


Mandates, however, are much harder to follow because I never know how much is enough. The person who gives the mandate could always require more of me, could always decide there are further expectations of the previously mentioned mandate.


Jesus says, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
I think, "But how much loving do they really need? Can I love them once and be finished? Maybe twice? Just in case the first time wasn't loving enough?"
The disciples asked the same thing. You probably do, too.


I realized something else, though, and herein lies the key to figuring out mandates. Maybe all ten of the commandments are mandates at their core. I mean, prohibitions really just keep us from doing things. They alter our external behavior. But mandates, those are the ones that really get at the heart of the issue - namely, our hearts. They alter our internal attitude. When viewed that way, it's easy to say don't commit murder. But Jesus was right, hating your brother is the same thing because the attitude is the same in both scenarios.


So often I tend toward the legalistic approach of doing, doing, doing. The problem is, these Ten Commandments are merely the minimum. They could all be rewritten in the form of a mandate, specifically a mandate that is of such a high standard that I could never do enough. I can never live up to the expectation that God has for holiness.


It's crucial then to remember two things - futility and grace. Futility looks at the commands of God and honestly says, "I have no chance." The mature Christian must realize the gripping reality of his hopelessness before God. But grace! Grace allows us the freedom to follow the mandates of God and offers us the forgiveness to fail. And fail we will.


That's why Jesus came. Because it was such a futile effort to live up to the standard which God has set for us. Jesus lived a holy life, according to all the "law" of God, not just because we couldn't but so that we didn't have to. Not only did He live the life we couldn't live but He died the death that we deserved. All so that we could be brought back to a right relationship with God.


This grace truly is amazing. This grace is so overwhelming, so lavish, so above and beyond anything we could have hoped or expected that the only response is worship.


How could it lead to anything else?

Despair

This morning I felt an overwhelming burden of sin and guilt and shame, which seemed to just come out of nowhere, but almost brought me to my knees in hopelessness and despair.


Ever feel that way?


If that's not the enemy attacking, then I don't know what is. He wants to bring me to that point of despair. He wants me to give up the fight. He wants me to stop trusting God to take care of everything. I forget sometimes that He's already provided everything I need.


In light of those feelings, I did what I wish I did every time I feel tempted to despair, I opened up the Word. This is what greeted me.

"The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me." Psalm 7:8

David is confident before the Lord. He's confident that God will protect him from his enemies and he's even confident to request God's judgment. But how is he able to be so confident in the face of wrath and judgment from the holy God?


It struck me like a ton of bricks. I was reminded that it's not my righteousness or integrity. And it never has been. It's the righteousness that Christ lived out for me during His time on earth and that very righteousness was placed on me through His blood which was shed on the cross.


It was such an encouragement to me, being reminded in such a fresh way of the work Christ has done on my behalf. But it was also such a convicting thing to think about - this work was not done so that I could keep it to myself. Christ died so that I might live and in His last words on earth, He commanded that I share this good news with everyone.


So, I challenge you not to settle for just "fire insurance." Christ's sacrifice means way more than that. Tell your friends and family. Tell your neighbors and coworkers. Tell the world.


As Penn Jillette has so famously said, "How much do you have to hate a person not to tell them?"