The Sermon Text —LUKE 6:17-26

This past Wednesday was the day that seniors in high school players could sign national letters of intent to play at Division 1 schools. The newspapers trumpeted the news that sixteen young men had accepted an invitation from the Wisconsin football program to play for UW starting next season.

Coaches looks for gifted athletes, who are not only talented, but who can play within the system of the coach, and who meet the academic standards of the university. Coach Bielema was quoted that he recruits players who will be successful socially, academically, and athletically.

According to a different newspaper article UW basketball Coach Bo Ryan recruits student athletes for his team who have a high basketball IQ. He obviously wants players who will fit in his swing offense and play his man- to-man defense. Coach Eaves (hockey), Coach Stone (women’s basketball), and Coach Woodall (swim team), all seek athletes who fit their system.

Even the best of athletes are unprepared for college athletics. All players have to be taught. The coach attempts to get the players to think within the system.

In the verses preceding our lesson for today Jesus recruits his team. Here is how Luke describes it, "At about that same time Jesus climbed a mountain to pray. He was there all night in prayer before God. The next day he summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter; Andrew, his brother, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon, called the Zealot, Judas, son of James, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him."

Like a coach, Jesus went through a selection process for his team. His process began with prayer. Then he selected 12 men to be in his inner circle. As soon as they accepted, he began to coach them. Luke describes it this way: Jesus came down from the mountain, stood on a plain surrounded by disciples, was joined by a huge crowd of people from as far away as present day Lebanon and then began to heal and teach. His teaching or coaching consisted of five areas: 1. Qualities needed on the team. 2. How to treat the opposition. 3. Judging or not judging; 4. Integrity and 5. Hearing and doing. He began:

Don’t worry if you are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Take heart if you are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.

Woe to you that are rich or full now for in the future things will even out.

The game Jesus coached was not football or hockey; his was the game of life. He was preparing people to live fully and abundantly. Like the basketball coach, he had a system to help people play the game of life.

The first thing he taught them: think upside down. Servants on top, bosses on the bottom. If you are a boss and you learn how to be a servant, you get to stay on top. Rich people on the bottom, poor people on the top. Remember, this is God’s kingdom and God gets to make the rules.

It is as if he said, "If you stick with me chances are very good that you will be poor financially, but here is the thing: you will have the kingdom of God. You may hunger now, but one day you will know complete satisfaction. If you are in pain now just know it won’t always be that way." Jesus believed in his system and attempted to get his players/disciples to believe in the system. Like all good coaches he told his players: "if you follow the system there is a reward – a reward for you and for the team. While you are learning the discipline needed for this way of life may not appear to be worth it, but it is."

After he taught them about blessings and curses he taught them how they should treat the opposition. "We will have plenty of opposition," he told them. "Here is how we are going to treat them. You know the world tells you, ‘Don’t get mad, get even. I tell you, love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you, bless those who curse you. Do to others as you would have them do to you.’" Every coach has to prepare his team to work with the opposition, the enemy.

Next, he tells his followers to suspend judgement. None of us has enough information to make a decision as to the motives of others. Give others the same benefit of doubt that you give yourselves. When someone points out one of your failings you plead your case. You say, "If they only understood my situation they would understand." In other words, you cut yourself some slack. Jesus tells us to cut other people some slack.

Jesus coaches his followers to understand the big picture. At the heart of the kingdom is a wonderful, glorious generosity. The ruler of this kingdom provides an abundance of second chances for everyone. If first you don’t succeed he is willing to let you try, try again. God is willing to forgive us, over and over again. How do we get in on this terrific offer? There seems to be very few stipulations. Ask. Seek it, and you will find it.

And provide the same deal for others that you get from God. This is very important, so important that he put it in his model prayer: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."

He also taught his team to share their wealth. This is tough for the rich, but not so hard for the poor, which helps you understand the upside down nature of things.

It all starts with God, or as we have said in the past, "The arrow always comes down." God is unbelievably generous. He gives and forgives more than we can ever expect. We are the recipients of his grace. Jesus invites us to imitate our gracious Heavenly Father.

At the heart of the kingdom is this unbelievable generosity.

As some of you know I am not a fan of the book, "A Purpose Driven Life." The way it treats issues seems overly simplistic to me. At times God seems almost mechanical. Lately, I’ve surprised myself by becoming a fan of the author, Rick Warren. I like the way he leads his life, how he handles his success, and how he uses his influence.

The son and grandson of Baptist preachers, Warren started Saddleback Church in Southern California in 1980. Today it averages 22,000 worshipers each week. The church has more than 300 community ministries focusing on prisoners, CEOs, addicts, single parents and those with HIV/AIDS.

His book, "The Purpose Driven Church," helped churches plan their ministries. We used it at Bethel. His book, "A Purpose Driven Life," has sold millions of copies and provided him with huge amounts of money. It is a major test of faith to handle great wealth. Rick Warren has handled his wealth the way a kingdom person ought to handle it. He has given away most of the money. He no longer accepts a salary from the church, and he has paid the church back for his previous salary. He and his wife Kay give away 90%, of their income to three foundations: Acts of Mercy, which serves those infected and affected with AIDS; Equipping the Church, which trains church leaders in developing countries; and The Global Peace Fund, which fights poverty, disease and illiteracy.

He has turned his attention to what he calls the five "Global Goliaths" – spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy/poor education. His is an evangelical church that is mission driven. That is also our goal at Bethel – to be a mission-driven church. We continue to be a city-wide/county-wide church with a worldwide ministry.

Jesus is recruiting people this very day to be on his team. He wants us to sign our letter of intent, and he wants to coach us in his system. No one plays on Coach Bielema’s team if they don’t practice. It is expected. Jesus also expects us to practice.

There may be several different ways that can happen, but one of the ways is to participate in "40 Days Of Spiritual Renewal." The 40 Days program will give you six weeks of a daily discipline. Most of us aren’t real good at devising our own discipline, so this helps us pray and read scripture each day. It reminds that we need regular worship, and for six weeks the opportunity to be fed by a Bible study where we get to listen to the voices of others. Jesus always connects us with other Christians. He always speaks to us through other Christians.

We all are busy, but it is vital to set aside time for the most important things in our lives. Unless we let first things be first, unless we listen to the voice of the coach, unless we submit to the disciplines of the coach we will not play the game the way he wants us to play it.

How long will it take for you to learn his system? The disciples were with Jesus three years, but never fully caught on. He taught, but it didn’t fully compute. It was only after his death, after his resurrection that everything came together for these eleven hardy souls (one of them, Judas Iscariot, was a drop out.). That means we ought not put this off, because it doesn’t happen over night.

Lent is the perfect time to be coached. It is a perfect time to start reading scripture and praying. Don’t put it off. Amen

© 2007