When I am confused or concerned about something that has happened, I often seek to understand it comparatively within a broader context. And this is not merely my competitiveness running amuck. I simply want to grasp whether the situation at hand is within the range of typical results or expectations.

For example, after my several knee surgeries, the second and third days were rather … ugh … unpleasant, brutal even. And I’m OK with that, if that is the way it is supposed to be. But if it not supposed to be that bad, then I’m going to be really concerned. I just need calibration.

Or another example: occasionally one of the boys would come home from taking a big test at school and give a rather concerned, negative report as to how well they thought they performed. Maybe they were surprised at the content and what was an unusual emphasis upon something they deemed to be of minor import. And I would invariable ask what other students were saying about the test. Did they have the same take on it? If so, maybe the result won’t be so bad. But if everyone else was raving about how easy was the exam, then I’m getting concerned. It’s about seeking calibration.

As followers of Christ, it is helpful to have some calibration on living this life in a fallen, sinful, imperfect world. And that is what we have in today’s passage from the basic content of Jesus’ teaching to his disciples (not just the 12, but the large crowd that followed him). This section is often called the “blessings and woes.”  It teaches that the bad things aren’t as bad as they seem, nor are the good things as good as they seem; and all of that is because there is a bigger picture than just this world.

One can be blessed and have inner contentment and happiness even in the context of problems like poverty, hunger and sadness. This is because all of these things are temporary and the reward in the kingdom of God is so much greater and eternal. These issues will pass away, and God’s enabling strength is sufficient to endure them.

As well, when the people of this world persecute Christ’s followers in words and deeds, this too should not throw one off of the path of feeling blessed. If fact, it is rather normal behavior when calibrated in light of the big picture of things. Not only is this true in Christ’s day and in the ages to follow of those who name Jesus as Lord, this was the experience of godly people in the past – such as the prophets in Israel who were persecuted for their faithfulness in proclaiming truth. It has always been this way, but great is the reward in the kingdom for those who endure and persevere.

On the flipside, for those who trust in earthly measurements of success and thereby reject the message of Christ, they will find that their temporary riches, food abundance and merriment produced merely by the measurements of this world will not suffice in the long run. And being spoken of well is simply a repeat of the accolades given to the false prophets of the past.

How’s all of this for calibration? It is Jesus taking their minds and eyes away from the microscope to look rather at the majesty of the sky – the bigger picture that includes God’s kingdom.

There is timeless truth in this teaching. We daily read of the horrid persecution of Christians in other parts of the world. And as a class of people, we are not highly favored even here in America by the masses of the people in places of prominence. That’s OK; it is normal. Remember the bigger picture. You’re a child of the creator king!

Luke 6:17 – He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.

Serving here now in the latter innings of my ministry career, I can risk being very open about some things that have happened in my life, or not happened. At the beginning, in my Texas years, I had one experience of being overlooked for a position in a church when another, truly less capable person was surprisingly given the job. Soon after, I was granted a position that was so much better, and to this day I look back and marvel about why in the world that church would hire such a young novice like me.

I joke from time to time about my collection of “silver medals” … occasions when I finished in second place, also popularly termed by Dale Earnhart as “the first loser.”  It happened to me several times before I came to Tri-State in 1994. And I can now tell you also that on two occasions some years ago I finished second in lead pastor searches by rather large churches. But looking back now, both of those churches have thrived under the leadership of the men selected, and I can say that I am in every way tremendously thankful that God did not send me to those places but allowed me to be in Hagerstown for all of these years.

God opens and closes doors. He has a place in the vineyard for all who love and serve him. Sometimes it is prominent, other times it is supportive and far from the spotlights. But there is joy in both places. There are no losers.

Today’s passage simply lists the names of the 12 disciples that Jesus chose, after a full night of prayer, to especially be with him and to be further designated as apostles. This would mean that they were not only followers, but those who would be sent out on mission.

The choosing of the 12 apostles will be our theme this coming Sunday. Being brief today, let me make the major point that these were not necessarily the guys with the greatest resumes. There was a lot of clay in the feet of these men. You would expect the Messiah to choose religiously-trained individuals or those who had accomplished great things in life to especially round out his A-team. But actually, these are pretty average people … probably like you and me, and that is greatly encouraging.

When called by God and empowered by him, average people can be extraordinary servants in specific places in the Lord’s vineyard. There is a challenge for the New Year!

Luke 6:12-16 – One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

I grew up in a generally healthy church environment, as you often hear me talk about the positive influence it had upon me from an encouraging, multi-generation church that promoted our growth as children and teens. However, there were also some legalistic elements, such as appropriate clothing for church (suits and ties, etc.) and hair length (don’t begin to look like the hippies!). And I recall bringing some friends from school (who were non-churched) and being criticized by some adults that my friends were too sloppy looking with long hair, etc. … rather than being pleased that they were actually at church and being exposed to the gospel they needed. These folks missed the main point.

And that is what happens in today’s passage. The Pharisees, rather than seeing that the Lord of the Sabbath was with them, chose to criticize what they deemed inappropriate deeds on this day – eating grain, and healing.

The rubbing of grain (allowed by the Law for individuals to do in a neighbor’s field) constituted, in the legalistic thinking of the Pharisees, the work of threshing on the Sabbath. And the man with the withered hand would appear to have been possibly placed in front of Jesus to tempt him to heal on this day. This would give these religious leaders a reason to accuse him.

Jesus sees through all of this, relating himself and his disciples to a story about his ancestor King David and his men – a story in which there was no condemnation. And Jesus teaches that to not do good on the Sabbath when it was able to be done was tantamount to doing evil. He embarrasses them in front of everyone, and for this we see the ratcheting up of intensity to begin to devise some plan to get rid of this Jesus character.

We can’t just do anything we want to do, doing it the name of serving God, even though it is clearly a wrong thing to do. It is never right to do wrong in order to do right. But at the same time, many Christians have missed major ideas by nitpicking about morally indifferent ideas that are merely matters of taste or preference. Over my six decades in churches I have seen preferences about things like music styles, Bible translations, formal or casual clothing, sanctuary or multi-purpose room construction, exegetical or topical sermon series, etc., etc., etc., etc., cause otherwise good people to miss the big idea of the work God was doing. Don’t be like that.

Luke 6:1 – One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

3 Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 5 Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

6 On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

9 Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.