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As a teenager, I longed to leave home and become my own man. I doubt I am alone in that! We all, to some degree, want to be self-sufficient and successful. But where does that leave us as Christians? There is a direct contradiction between what the world tells us we should pursue, and what Jesus says he will be looking for when he returns: a relationship with God.

When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

The Tale of The Widow and The Judge

“Nobody likes needy people! Needy people call too much. They always need help, they are always asking for something, they get upset when you watch a movie without them. You see, needy people are high maintenance people. People like the Widow.

We like people who are self-sufficient; people who don’t need anyone and are fine by themselves.

Instead, we like people who are self-sufficient; people who don’t need anyone, people who are fine by themselves. People like the Judge.”

We Like Self-Sufficient People

Those are the people that we celebrate in society. That’s what we want to be like. Now we wouldn’t go as far as saying that – as the judge is described – we like people who “neither fear God or care about what people think”. No, we wouldn’t say that.

But we appreciate people who function like that.

What Is Jesus Teaching Us?

In Luke 18:1 we read “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” That is the point of this parable – that we should always pray, and not lose heart. That doesn’t sound much like self-sufficiency!

The truth is, that faithful people are dependent people. They are in relationship with God; they rely on him.

How To Be in Relationship With God

Faithful people are dependent people.

We lost our perfect dependance on God when we decided to eat the fruit in Genesis 3 and we were chucked out of the Garden. From there we became self-sufficient people.

Yet, those people who have a relationship with Jesus, depend on him. They are attached to him, they have intimacy with him. They have a child-like faith, like my daughter has with us. But even more than that, it is God’s children who have a relationship with Jesus. Because they know that he has made a way for them to have a relationship with God.

This is why when the Son of Man comes, he will be looking for those who have faith. He will be looking for those who have a relationship with Jesus.

Is Your Identity In Christ?

How do we live an authentic Christian life? This is an important question to ask ourselves.

Knowing who you are as a believer will enable you to live an authentic Christian life.

The most important thing in life is to understand who you are. When you have a good grasp of who you are, you are able to function effectively in that identity. For identity shapes practice. Knowing who you are as a believer will enable you to live an authentic Christian life and have a real relationship with God.

 

Text: Luke 18:1-8

Date preached: 16 August 2020

Location: St James Church, Cape Town, South Africa

 

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