Kingdom Weal and Worldly Woes, Part 2
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Analyzing the woes of a hedonistic lifestyle.
Text: Luke 6:24-26
Date: 03/13/2022, the Combined service.
Series: "Luke: Thy Kingdom Come" Part 55
Description:
After presenting four Beatitudes that express the state of blessedness of those who are redeemed by the grace of God, Luke alone among the Gospel writers offsets them with four corresponding woes. Each one of these woes expresses the opposite situation-- the state of cursedness of those who reject Jesus and fill their lives with the idols of the fallen world. As we did with the Beatitudes, we will carefully evaluate each statement, realizing that Jesus is once again speaking spiritually using physical and material illustrations. Ultimately, we will consider these woes as they apply to Christians, and analyze and lament the devastating consequences when the church loses its focus and exchanges Kingdom Weal for Worldly Woes! This is the second of three sermons on this passage (originally written as one), focusing on the woes of a hedonistic lifestyle.
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I. Introduction, Ex. 32:5,6,17-19.
II. Exposition of the text, Luke 6:24-26.
A. Context
B. What Jesus does not mean.
1. Being rich is not sinful, James 5:4-6.
2. Eating and being filled is not sinful, Deut. 14:29, Matt. 11:19, John 6:12.
3. Light-hearted laughter is not sinful, Luke 6:21,23, Psa. 2:4,37:13,59:8, Eccl. 3:4, Jer. 33:10-11.
4. To be well-liked is not sinful, 1Sam. 18:6-7, 2Sam. 3:36, Esth. 10:3, Acts 10:22, Rom. 12:18, 1Tim. 3:7.
C. What Jesus does mean.
1. Two vital concepts.
a. The meaning of the word "woe".
i. A prophetic warning, Isa. 3:11, Jer. 23:1, Ezek. 24:6, Hos. 7:13, Eccl. 10:16.
ii. The idea of sorrow or lament.
iii. A state of cursedness, Mark 14:21.
iv. Summation
2. The idol of wealth, vs. 24.
a. Scripture's pejorative view of wealth, Mark 10:22-25.
b. "Consolation" in the here and now only, Luke 16:25.
c. The "weal" perspective, Luke 6:20, Rev. 3:17.
3. The idols of hedonism, vs. 25.
a. The idols of excess, vs. 25a.
i. The image of gluttonous living.
• The image of the gluttonous king, Luke 16:19-21.
• The idea of self-indulgence while ignoring the poor.
ii. The "weal" perspective, Luke 6:20.
• Filled with "the world".
• The eschatological formula reversed, Luke 6:21, Matt. 7:23, 25:30.
• The nature of eschatological hunger, Mark 3:29, Luke 16:24, Rev. 12:12.
b. The idols of the mindless pursuit of sensual pleasures, vs. 25b, Ex. 32:6.
i. A life of hedonistic triviality.
ii. A life that denies death and judgment.
• A life dedicated to the "here and now", Luke 15:13, Isa. 22:13, 1Cor. 15:32.
• A short-sighted life that fears and ignores death, Luke 12:19-21, Eccl. 2:1-3, 10-11.
iii. The "weal" perspective, Luke 6:21.
• Laughter in the "here and now", Rom. 1:28-32.
• Weeping in the not yet.
4. The idol of popularity, vs. 26.
a. The "weal" perspective, Luke 6:22-23.
b. Focus on false teaching, John 15:18-19, 2Tim. 4:2-4, Jer. 23:25-27, John 7:7, Rom. 16:17-18, Matt. 10:34-36.
III. Application
A. Overview, Luke 6:20.
B. The warning against idolatry and its consequences.
1. The idol of wealth.
2. The idol of-- fullness?
a. Full of the wrong things.
i. As individual Christians.
• Full of something other than God, Eph. 5:15-21.
• The "beaker of mud" illustration.
ii. As the church, Acts 6:2, Matt. 23:23.
• Filling worship with the world.
• Filling church's mission with the world.
• An illustration from the Apostles, Acts 6:2.
3. A shallow silliness.
a. The pursuit of shallowness.
b. Forgetting how to weep.
IV. Conclusion
