Welcome to our Together on Mission podcast, when we seek to be with and like Jesus, as we begin a conversation with Jesus in the morning, the scripture, prayer and meditation, and then continue that conversation with him throughout your day. Your hopes to strabist find you, the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the season of the podcast. Happy Monday morning.
This is Travis, and I know since it is Monday that we have a number of people joining us, and so welcome to the podcast. We are friends that are friends of Jesus, and that's what we're doing. We're getting back to the basic, which is Jesus. We're getting back to what Christianity has always been, and always will be a journey with Jesus.
So we're getting up in the morning and we're beginning a talk with him, scripture and prayer and meditation, journaling, and then at the end of our talk in the morning, we're not saying amen, because that's not the end. We're actually continuing in a conversation with Jesus throughout the day. We're learning how to just walk and talk with him in a conversational relationship, and then at the end of the day, when we're falling off to sleep, that's when we say amen, because we spent the day adventuring and walking with Jesus. So welcome.
It's so good to be together. It really is. I'm excited to spend the week together and we are going to finish Luke this week. So we're in Luke 21 this morning.
The title of the podcast is The Great Reversal, which is a major theme in Luke's narrative and in the ministry of Jesus, The Great Reversal. And here's the truth. We, most of the time, are trying to be first, to be on top, to be ahead of them, or the other, to be better than I immediately think of the argument that the disciples were having, while Jesus was leading them to Jerusalem, which one was the greatest, which one was the best disciple, which disciple was better than the other. We want the best seats.
I immediately think of the parable, where Jesus talks about how the Pharisees tried to get the best seat, and then someone were distinguishing them came and they were humbled, but the one that took the worst seat was actually exalted. We do try to be first. We don't talk about it. We don't flaunt it.
We strategically do it. We want it. And sometimes, when we hear stories of people succeeding, especially if it's in a relationship that we are also in, or if it's in the same vocation that we are in, and we hear the super success stories, sometimes inside we're a little bit bummed, like, why isn't that happening to me? And again, we don't talk about that at parties.
But that's going on. We want to be first on top of head, better than best seats. We want to get the last word. We want the upper hand.
We want the positions of power. We want to be lifted up. And you may say, well, no, I don't want any of that. Well, then you probably need to do some heart and soul searching, because throughout the Gospels, Jesus is running into people just like us that want that.
And he's saying, there's a new way. I have life for you. And the reality is, wanting all of that is so ingrained in us that we don't even notice it. It just seems like that's the way it is.
And honestly, that's the way that it is. And so Jesus says, I have a different way. And he's going to comment on that in just a moment. But the interesting thing is, and I would like for us to just wrestle with this before we go to the text, we wonder why we're not satisfied in life.
We wonder why we're not content or grateful or fulfilled. We wonder why. And Jesus comes in and says, well, it's because you always want to be first on top of head of better than best seats, upper hand, your positions of power lifted up. And that's not the way to life.
That's a, as Thomas Merton said, that's a climbing up a ladder that's leaning on the wrong wall. It will never get you satisfaction, contentment, you know, fulfillment. And so we're going to look at a story which is pretty famous. And it begins in Luke chapter 21.
Verse one is Jesus looked up. He saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. And then he saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. Truly, I tell you, he said, this poor widow put in more.
We'll come back to that more than all the others for they gave their gifts out of their wealth. But she gave out of her poverty and put in everything she had to live on. Wow. The story about this, this widow being exalted even in the midst of her poverty.
And these teachers of the law being humbled in the midst of what looked to the disciples and the other onlookers at the temple, like lavish generosity. And just to back up a little bit, because remember, the original documents didn't have chapter divisions and verse divisions. So look at beginning in verse 45 in Luke chapter 20. While all the people were listening, Jesus said to the disciples, beware of the teachers of the law.
They like to walk around in flowing robes and they love to be greeted and respected in the marketplace. They like the important seats, the places of honor, but they devour widows' houses and make lengthy prayers. And they will be punished most severely. And then we go into this incredible story of the widow's generosity.
Even though, according to dollars and cents, she gave much less than the wealthy that were putting a ton of dollars and cents into the temple treasury. And again, this is one of Jesus's major themes. The great reversal, the first will be last, the last will be first. If you exalt yourself, you will be humbled.
But if you humble yourself, you will be exalted. And Jesus also says things like, you know, you must lose to win or die to live. The way down is actually the way up. And of course, just to add a little bit of first century local color, everybody was waiting for the Messiah to come into Jerusalem and lift up, reward, and praise the rich, exalt the powerful, celebrate those that were connected.
But that's not what we see. We see this great reversal. We see the last being first and the first being last. We see the teachers of the law being humbled in this widow that nobody would have noticed being exalted.
And maybe we could think about our relationships, our vocation, how we live most of our days, trying to be first on top, better than, last word, upper hand, your positions of power, how we try to be lifted up, but we struggle to be satisfied, to be grateful, to be fulfilled. And Jesus says, there's another way that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You can reach out and grab it. And then we see in the story, the poor widow being lifted up and the rich Pharisees being humbled.
And of course, we shouldn't actually be surprised because when Luke starts his story about how God has entered into the world, we find Jesus entering into a poor family. There's no room for them in the end. He's born in a manger, in an insignificant place. And he goes on to teach and model this great reversal.
And so when we're doing relationship and we're doing life, we're being called to think of how the kingdom of God reverses fortunes. We're all trying to be first, but life and satisfaction and fulfillment is choosing to let someone else be first. We all want to be on top in our relationships and our vocation, but Jesus says, but life is lifting other people up. John the Baptist got it, Jesus would say.
Where John the Baptist said, I must become less so Jesus can become greater. I want others to be greater than. I want my spouse, my sister, my coworker to have the best seat. I want to give them the last word.
I want them to have the position of power. I want to use whatever I have, whatever authority I want to leverage it to lift other people up. What could that do to our relationships? What could that do to our life?
What could that do to bring in satisfaction and fulfillment and contentment? And notice Jesus says, this widow gave more than they did. You see, Jesus is dealing with a different kind of economy. It's not just dollars and cents with a calculator.
The way we would think about it. She actually gave more because she gave out of her heart to God. They actually gave less because they gave out of their pocket for themselves. And to be seen, so let's think about our relationships, our life, our vocation, the way we live moment by moment.
Maybe it's time to take that different way to humble ourselves as we lift other people up. To not try with all of our energy to be first on top ahead of. Let's be aware that the ultimate future of the first being last and the last being first is already broken into the present. And let's lift that kingdom in that way.
And let's test it. Jesus said, put my words into practice and see if they lead to life. See if it will be a house built on a solid foundation. Just try it.
Give it a shot. Let's see for ten years. Let's see for a decade. If we are to give away our way as opposed to demand our way.
If we could fight for the rights of others as opposed to fighting for our rights. I could go on. I'm out of time already. I love you guys.
And I will see you tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening to the Together on Mission podcast. We truly hope that you were blessed and encouraged by it today. If you had any questions about the Inland Vineyard Church, our ministries, or our Sunday services, feel free to connect with us on our brand new app, which you can find in the Google Play and the App Store.
And check out our social media pages like Facebook and Instagram. Or even check out our website at inlandvignard.org.