Here is the audio for this message.
Twenty-Five Statements That Stop Creative Thinking
1. We’ve always done it that way…
2. We've never done it that way before. . .
3. It’s worked for years, what’s wrong with it now?
4. You don't understand the problem. . .
5. We haven't the manpower. . .
6. It's not in the budget. . .
7. We've tried that before. . .
8. We're not ready for that yet. . .
9. All right in theory, but can you put it into practice. . .
10. Don't move too fast. . .
For the Jews in Jesus’ day, the Law had become stifling and oppressive. Fulfillment
of the Letter of the Law had become more important than the God they were supposed to be relating to. The rules had become more important than the principles. The Pharisees saw themselves as the caretakers of the Law—preservers of the past to ensure the future. This is the way you’re expected to fulfill the law—so long as you don’t deviate from nor challenge our expectations—you’ll be right in the eyes of God. Anyone who suggested that they missed the point were clearly in error. They were trying to put all new wine into the old wineskins. Jesus took the opportunity of Mark 2:13 to challenge one of His culture’s greatest moments of missing the point.
In the mind of the Pharisees, Jesus was…
Offensive to the Sabbath
It’s pretty simple and straightforward.
Exodus 20:8—Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God…. vs. 11—For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth... but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
But How do you observe the Sabbath? What can you do? What can’t you do? Are there any exceptions? When does it become legalistic?
Examples of modern day Sabbath mandates.
There was a condo complex in Florida a couple of years ago that voted to spend $11,000 to upgrade its elevator because the community was filled with Orthodox Jewish retirees. They wanted to program a special provision in this elevator. On Saturdays, the elevator had to stop on every floor. See the problem was, for Jews who wanted to leave their apartment on the Sabbath, pushing buttons is considered work and a violation. On the Sabbath, they are not allowed to do anything that would create energy, such as drive a car, turn on a light.
In case you’re wondering, the elevator will automatically stop for approximately 30 seconds on each floor every 15 minutes.
There were many such rules—down to the smallest rule at work even in Jesus’ day.
Mark 2:23-27
The Pharisees were acting just like Tattle-tales—did you see that, Jesus! Did you see that—they picked some grain. O, they’re in trouble now right? You’re going to do something about that aren’t you? If you are really a servant of God, if you really love Him, you’ll put a stop to that! What is this country coming to when a man thinks he can work on the Sabbath—are you really going to let them get away with that?
Charges—You’re Not Supposed to do that at all.
You’re not supposed to do it that way.
Doing that means you are dishonoring God
Not doing it means you are honoring God
You’re doing what you’re not supposed to.
You’re not doing what you’re supposed to.
We’ve never done it that way before and we’re not going to start now!
Flipside
We’ve always done it this way and we’re not going to stop now!
But Jesus reminds the Pharisees that their expectations, their rules do not always conform to the heart of God. They cannot dictate His actions, nor His conscience.
There are times when our expectations of what we are supposed to be doing and how we are supposed to be living are in one place and God’s expectations of what we are supposed to be doing and living are in another place.
Which should we choose? Who’s expectations should we fulfill?
In the church, you’d think those two things would be the same, but they are often not. Tradition, the past, preferences all create expectations of certain ways of doing things. But if there is ever a conflict between, fulfilling human expectations versus fulfilling God’s expectations—between doing things our way versus doing things His way—I hope you will join me in saying, “I must obey God, rather than men.” It is more important to please Him than any other.
Here was Jesus, walking with His disciples and they decided to pick some of the heads off the grain harvest. Matthew tells us it was b/c they were hungry, Luke adds that they would take the kernels, rub them in their hand and pop them in their mouth. And they were accused of harvesting on the Sabbath.
If Jesus would have been more concerned about the opinions of men, he would have rebuked His disciples and expected them to go hungry. When you think about it, it’s not as if his men were starving and about to die. Their lives were not at stake so why not accommodate the Pharisees?
Just so you know—what they were doing was not considered stealing. Deuteronomy 23:25—“If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.”
A lot of what Jesus did, said and allowed ruffled feathers. He did what many thought He shouldn’t, He didn’t do what many thought He should. He was not answerable to them, He was answerable to God. So long as His conscience was clear, Jesus was not worried about popular opinion and their approval.
He looked at His disciples and saw that they were more important than the flattery and good opinion of the Pharisees.
In the same way, if Paul was more interested in pleasing men, he would have altered the freedom we have in Christ, altered the Gospel—and never have said, Galatians 1:10—“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
The world outside the church expects the church to become more like them—dismissing our convictions. They expect me as a pastor to sugarcoat the holiness of God, the seriousness of sin, the exclusivity of Jesus as the only way of salvation. They want to tell me what I can and can’t do, should and shouldn’t talk about. But my conscience is not captive to them—I must obey God rather than men—as must you. You should not live for their approval, but for God’s—at home, at work, at play.
But those inside the church also have their own set of rules, regulations and expectations. Certain demands based on past experience, personal preference, but in the same way, even here, I must obey God rather than men. In the end, I am only interested in His approval. As you should be.
Mercy, people in need were more important than fulfilling expectations. And there is no greater need than the healing & saving power of Jesus to a lost and dying world.
In Matthew 12—Jesus said, “If you had known what these words mean, `I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.”
Mark here adds the important words—“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
In other words—the Pharisees had it all backwards. The Sabbath was supposed to be a blessing, not a burden.
The Sabbath was supposed to be a testimony to the Creative Power of God in Exodus,
a reminder of the Protective Rescue of God from Egypt in Deuteronomy—
a testimony of the goodness and provision of God for our rest and not another means of God finding fault with us or someone else controlling us.
That’s why David and his men were not condemned by receiving bread meant only for the priests. The need was real and urgent—and God met it approvingly
The principles of the Sabbath—Honoring God and Resting were supplanted with burdensome expectations of following rules. And Jesus was more interested in God’s expectations—touching people’s lives—than the rules of men.
Jesus went out of His way to prove this point.
READ 3:1-6
Here was this man who was suffering with a shriveled hand. And those in the synagogue, the assembly, the equivalent to the church, were more interested in condemning Jesus than the joyous possibility of this man’s healing
That’s kind of like saying we don’t really want to see a move of God in this church—we don’t want to have visitors because that may mean I don’t get to sit in my favorite seat. Like saying we don’t want families with kids because they’re too noisy and don’t know how to act in church. Like the story last week at a sister church, we don’t want the man getting saved and testifying to the church of his salvation because he’s wearing a beer T-Shirt.
Jesus challenged their assumptions and expectations. Vs.4—which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”
Debate had raged about whether they could fight or defend themselves as Jews on the Sabbath—during the Maccabean revolt, the Greek Seleucid armies deliberately attacked on Sabbath days because of the unwillingness to fight. By the end of the conflict—that rule had been suspended and Jews were able to defend themselves and kill even on the Sabbath. So you allow yourselves to kill and not violate the Sabbath, but healing is forbidden?
Again, they are missing the point—and I love Jesus reaction to their hardened and stubborn hearts. He gets angry, He is deeply distressed. The Pharisees had so missed the point of the Sabbath, so missed the point of the law, so missed the point of their relationship with God that showing mercy to another human being was considered wrong. In the mind of Jesus, healing this man was more important than fulfilling expectations and satisfying a list of do’s and don’ts.
In Christ—we have the Freedom to be a Blessing even if not everyone else likes it or approves. In fact, withholding the good, withholding mercy, when it is within your power is a greater problem. You are missing the point if you think your Christian life is all about being good—not smoking, drinking, cussing—you are missing the point of church if you think the Church is here to serve you.
We are here to be equipped to serve. My role is to encourage you to minister, provide opportunities for you to minister, to train you to share your faith in Christ and be a blessing.
We have been given the Freedom to be a Blessing. The Greater calling is to serve the Lost and the Hurting in Need within the church, and outside the church. We exist as a Church to bring the good news to those in need of God’s mercy. You are a spiritual healer when you share about the saving, life changing power of Jesus Christ. When you provide food or clothes or shelter—whatever you do unto the least of these—you are doing unto Him.
We come together for Him—for His Glory
and for Them and their Salvation
and that kind of fulfillment is offensive to some. A pat on the back is less important than hearing “well done, my good and faithful servant”.
Tell me, where are you today? Are you living your life to fulfill expectations put on you? are they the same expectations Christ has for you? if there is a conflict—choose Christ and accept the consequences.
And if you are here this morning and your spirit is burdened, in need of healing—know that the heart of Jesus is to touch you and heal you.
The Pursuit Life
Monday, May 05, 2008
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Unexpected Blessing
Meeting former students
Sometimes you wonder if you’re having any impact on the people you come in contact with. This Wednesday, I was blessed by the unexpected: two students from my first semester teaching Introduction to World Religions at Spoon River College.
The first I ran into briefly on Monday—5 weeks ago she had her first baby and I asked how she was doing. Not thinking much else, I went to class on Wednesday. Just as class was beginning, this student came in holding her baby. I had the privilege to hold this small child and look into her eyes. It made me think of when my own kids were that small. God used that little moment to be a blessing to me in the midst of what has been a rough last few of weeks.
Then if that wasn’t enough, I was taking a movie back after church on Wednesday. My plan was just to pull up, hop out drop off and peel out! But as I was approaching, I saw the checkout counter and recognized the face of another first semester student—the only student in 2 semesters to have the daring to visit my church to fulfill one of his assignments! I moved a little slower to see if he would come out on his own. When he didn’t, I stuck my head around the blinds and made eye contact. He waved and seemed enthused. I waited. He came out and I extended a hand. He took it, went beyond that and embraced me in friendship. Another unexpected blessing.
Be praying for him. When we had a lot of rain a few weeks ago, his basement apartment flooded. While riding that out in a motel, then new apartment, his girlfriend went into early labor and is in the hospital in Peoria. She’s OK and they were able to delay the delivery. They’re having a boy. They will be moving to Peoria soon where he hopes to begin training to be a firefighter. He’s also hoping to re-connect with church. I was able to offer assistance to packing and any move he has.
Before we parted, there was another embrace of friendship. I was again blessed.
Sometimes you wonder if you’re having any affect.
Sometimes you wonder if you’re having any impact on the people you come in contact with. This Wednesday, I was blessed by the unexpected: two students from my first semester teaching Introduction to World Religions at Spoon River College.
The first I ran into briefly on Monday—5 weeks ago she had her first baby and I asked how she was doing. Not thinking much else, I went to class on Wednesday. Just as class was beginning, this student came in holding her baby. I had the privilege to hold this small child and look into her eyes. It made me think of when my own kids were that small. God used that little moment to be a blessing to me in the midst of what has been a rough last few of weeks.
Then if that wasn’t enough, I was taking a movie back after church on Wednesday. My plan was just to pull up, hop out drop off and peel out! But as I was approaching, I saw the checkout counter and recognized the face of another first semester student—the only student in 2 semesters to have the daring to visit my church to fulfill one of his assignments! I moved a little slower to see if he would come out on his own. When he didn’t, I stuck my head around the blinds and made eye contact. He waved and seemed enthused. I waited. He came out and I extended a hand. He took it, went beyond that and embraced me in friendship. Another unexpected blessing.
Be praying for him. When we had a lot of rain a few weeks ago, his basement apartment flooded. While riding that out in a motel, then new apartment, his girlfriend went into early labor and is in the hospital in Peoria. She’s OK and they were able to delay the delivery. They’re having a boy. They will be moving to Peoria soon where he hopes to begin training to be a firefighter. He’s also hoping to re-connect with church. I was able to offer assistance to packing and any move he has.
Before we parted, there was another embrace of friendship. I was again blessed.
Sometimes you wonder if you’re having any affect.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sermon-- Offensive Draft Pick by Jesus-- Mark 2:13-17
The audio for this message can be found here.
Yesterday was the start of something big in NFL circles. The Draft. Each year, college players are poked, prodded, processed, and timed. And the teams pick the best players, or the ones who will best fit the needs of their team. But it’s not an exact science, there have been some terrible decisions. Some decisions draw the ire of the fans because they are astounded by the horrible decision that has just been made. And there have been some great players that have sat on the shelf—that no one saw their greatness, their competitive spirit, rather only their flaws, deficiencies and weaknesses.
Draft Picks—Yesterday—NFL Greatest Draft Steals--
• QB Joe Montana (Notre Dame)--Drafted by: 49ers, third round, No. 82 overall, 1979—3rd QB
• QB Tom Brady (Michigan)--Drafted by: Patriots, sixth round, No. 199 overall, 2000
• Brett Favre—was picked in the 2nd round--#31 by the Atlanta Falcons—but immediately traded him to Green Bay thinking he wasn’t worth it.
• S Rodney Harrison (Western Illinois)--Drafted by: Chargers, fifth round, No. 145 overall, 1994
Sometimes the ones that are the true champions are the less obvious—the hidden gems—that nobody talks about, that nobody expects much of.
Jesus made a habit of doing this—making offensive picks. If Jesus was a team’s draft expert—there would be calls for His firing. I mean, look at the kind of men Jesus picked for His team.
James and John were a bit judgmental—disrespect for Jesus deserves fire from heaven in their mind—hardly the best example of turn the other cheek
One was a zealot--violent and quick to a fight
Peter—one who is a loud-mouth, uneducated, boastful, but not courageous enough to back up his boasts.
One of Jesus choices betrayed Him
But Jesus, being God in the Flesh did what God often does—He chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise—according to Paul, to the larger Christian community—1 Corinthians 1:26--“think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential, not many were of noble birth.”
They were reaches—they were bad draft picks—the kind of people Jesus picked were the ones that you least expected and despised—what’s worse—some didn’t think they could play the game or even have a place at the table. And it was offensive.
Offensive Decisions—Read Mark 2:13-14
You probably know this, but there are some professions in this country that just get ripped to pieces on a regular basis. April 15th is only a couple of weeks in the past and for many of you, you may still have a bad taste in your mouth. Not only do we not like taxes, we often don’t like tax collectors—here’s a couple of examples.
Q: How is golf like taxes?
A: Well, you drive hard to get to the green, and then you wind up in the hole
Q. What is the difference between a terrorist and a tax inspector?
A. You can negotiate with a terrorist.
"What's the difference between an overzealous tax auditor and a rottweiler? Answer: "A rottweiler eventually lets go!"
"Why do sharks not attack tax auditors?" Answer: "Professional courtesy."
If we were to be given the opportunity to look into the faces of the crowd that day, we’d probably see several qualified, good looking, popular and resourceful people. I can imagine us tapping Jesus on the shoulder and saying—“hey, look at that one—they would be great to add to the team.”
The last one we would expect is the one who is not allowed in the church (synagogue) because he’s been kicked out. The last one we’d expect to see Jesus would want us to talk to about faith and salvation and the call is the one with no respectable friends, the one who is in fact so unpopular that he is hated as an outcast and who at least is suspected of cheating those who pay him anything.
Jesus Sees People In the Crowd in ways that we do not—the way we cannot—the way we are unwilling to and the way that is offensive to us.
Of all the people along the way, Levi sitting there in his tax collector’s booth—ripping people off—he’s not one we would think would respond to an invitation from Jesus.
Levi was able to listen while at work—listen to Jesus teaching the crowd. Jesus’ message wasn’t complicated—Follow me—and Levi did—he got up and followed Jesus
The one Least Likely to Respond—responded.—oh, but that’s Jesus.
When you and I live our lives as disciples of Jesus we too often fall for this attitude—“Oh, I’m not going to bother sharing Christ with this person, I know they’ll say no—they’ve still go too many problems and issues—I know they will not respond to Jesus so I’m not even going to ask—I’m not going to risk it—I’m not going to waste my time.”
You don’t know!!! You can’t wait around in life for the sure thing, the guarantee—if you waited only for that before acting—then you would never do, say, accomplish anything. You are not responsible for someone responding favorably to Jesus.
You must not second guess yourself into silence when the opportunity to testify to your faith is before you—even if they are the hardest case, the most indifferent—you are not going to convince anyone—that’s God’s job—you are responsible to be faithful and share—be prepared by all means—but leave the results to Him.
There are few people clamoring for you to tell them about Jesus, few saying—“Pick Me!” when Jesus—in the form of you--passes by.
Not only is Levi on the Least Likely to Respond list—in most people’s mind—a tax collector like Levi should also be on Galilee’s Most Wanted—for the belief that he is lining his own pockets by ripping off of his fellow Jews. They looked at Tax Collectors—working for the Roman authorities as Traitors. So on one hand, Levi was on Galilee’s Most Wanted-- but he would also qualify for Galilee’s Most Unwanted—he’s a sell out—he’s a cheat—he’s not good enough.
That’s what we see.
You don’t really want “that sort” to be a part of the church, do you? They don’t look like us—different culture, different race, they don’t act like us, they aren’t smart enough, they don’t have enough, they have too much, they’re snobby. They work at a bar, they don’t work at all.
The Patriot—the movie with Mel Gibson had dialog that reflected this. The father and son went out to sign up people to serve in the South Carolina militia against the British during the Revolutionary War. The son, went to a church to sign people up because they are good men of principle, who believe in the cause of liberty. The father goes to a local pub to find men who know how to fight and who are mean enough to actually do it and not just talk about it. When the son sees the men his father signed up he says, “These aren’t the sort of men we need.” The father responds by saying, "these are exactly the sort we need. They've fought this kind of war before." One of the father's recruits comes to him and asks: "Am I that sort?" "No, you’re the sort that gives that sort a bad name." to which the man responds in laughter.
See, underlying the thoughts that says—I don’t think they’ll respond—underlying that, if we’re honest with ourselves—in many instances is the notion that we don’t really want them to respond--we don't want "that sort" to come to our church.
What kind of people do we want?
The Kind of people we want to start coming to this church are the kind that know their Bible? That’s good, right?
We want the Kind of people we want to start coming to this church are the kind that don’t drink, smoke, cuss, or work at the bar, right?
That’s Wrong!
The kind of people we want and need to start coming to this church are the kind that don’t know what the Bible is—who have only seen a Bible under 3 inches of dust, who wouldn’t qualify to read the "Bible for Dummies".
We need to invite the kind that don’t know that the Bible is the Word of God, who don’t know that God loves them, that Jesus loves them and that He died for their sins and that He rose from the dead in Victory. You know why?
Because we can show them that we believe it, believe that we have "good news". We can teach them those things—because they will learn their Bible, actually read their Bible when they see us living our claims.
We actually want the people who don’t know to stop drinking yet, who don’t know to stop cussing yet, who work at the bar—because we can love them and show them another way to live— if we want to see the transformational power of the Love of God working in the People of God by the Word of God--"that's the sort we need". We want and need those kinds of people in church so you and I can be a part of the God at Work.
Levi was one of those guys—someone who everyone tells to pass right on by—Levi? He’s not the sort we need.
Let me put it this way. How many of you have ever caught a fish? When you caught it, was it already de-scaled, de-boned and filleted, ready to cook? NO—you get those at the grocery store. What would you do if you pulled in your line and the fish looked like this? Would you think there was something wrong? I sure hope so!
We want the cleaned up kind of people, the ones who are already know their Bible because they require less of us, less time, less effort, less building of a disciple—less chance of ruffling my feathers, less chance of offending my self-righteousness.
Jesus doesn’t see people that way. Jesus—He sees people in their sin and moves to intercept.
Sees People In Need of the Life Changing Power & Influence of God—He sees the Least Likely, He sees the Sinners--and rather than shrinking away from them, rather than avoiding them—He seeks them out—He goes where they are—He befriends them. He calls them—and they rejoice.
READ 2:15—Luke 5 tells us that in response to Jesus calling him, in response to Jesus inviting him, in response to Jesus giving him a chance to participate in the spiritual life—Levi throws a party—he hosts a great banquet at his home.
Now how many of you, when you meet an alcoholic and talk to him about Jesus--when they invite you to their house for a party—you’re like—sure, love to!
How many of you when you meet a criminal want to go back to their house to hang out his buddies that just got out of jail?
Now unfortunately for Jesus reputation—the only friends an outcast can invite into his home are other outcasts—more tax collectors, more people with their lives out of whack—more people who have rejected God. Upon seeing the guest list, you or I may be inclined to avoid going altogether. Not Jesus. Jesus goes and celebrates with them—has dinner with them.
And that is offensive—to who? The religious types—the Pharisees, the teachers of the law. Because you know this dinner crowd probably don’t have their life in order, all cleaned up. Weren't upstanding members of the synagogue.
Jesus called Levi—and he responded in faith—but he had a long way to go—his life was headed for some major changes—but before he even had the chance, he did invite all his friends to meet Jesus. Here was a sinner, who’s life is being transformed—and Jesus was right in the middle of it—and not everyone liked it.
READ vs. 16—
Let me share with you a story that I read this week from a pastor of a young man named Eric.
Whole unedited story can be found here:
He was driving by the church with a pistol underneath the front seat, an open container of beer in the cup holder, and was on his way to an open field where he would drink himself to drunkenness in order to have the courage to commit suicide. As he drove past the church he the church sign that said, "Prepare to Meet Thy God." The words so rattled him he turned into the parking lot and prayed, "God, if you are sending me a sign, let someone be inside this church to help me." The Lord answered his prayer.
Guess what, he went in, talked to a minister and got saved! The next Sunday..
--First person testimony--
When the appropriate time came "I" introduced him to our church. "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce you to a young man who this week was intent on killing himself, but God has intervened. This is Eric . . ." As I was speaking to the crowd I turned to look at Eric and to my horror, I saw Eric was wearing a Budweiser Beer T-Shirt that said, "Budweiser, King of Beers."
I knew some of the deacons would be upset. Sure enough, after church one of the older deacons came up to me and said, "Pastor, did you talk to Eric?" Acting ignorant, though knowing full well what he meant, I said, "About what?" "Did you tell him he ought not be wearing that beer t-shirt in church? It ain't appropriate."
I took a deep breath and said, "No, I didn't. He has just come to faith in Christ. If we begin to tell him what he can't do, shouldn't do, ought not do, etc . . . we quench the work of the Spirit by imposing a law. Let's love him, get to know him, and encourage him - but let's stay away from the 'should nots' of religion and give time for his relationship with Christ to develop."
Apparently Eric had quite a collection of Beer shirts and for the next 4 weeks, he wore one to church. The pastor says it was difficult at times to hold his tongue. But then, on the 5th Sunday, Eric walked in wearing one of these.
About the fifth Sunday Eric came to church wearing a new t-shirt. It was a t-shirt with a Christian logo. He had found a Christian t-shirt store and, prompted by the Spirit, Eric purchased several t-shirts with a Christian message.
That Sunday he had traded in his "Budweiser: King of Beers" t-shirt for one that said, "Jesus Christ: King of Kings." Christ had Eric's heart. The change that occurred happened within. There was not the demand for conformity imposed upon this young Christian by a Southern Baptist congregation, but rather, there was the powerful, internal work of the Spirit within the heart of a man that experienced the love, acceptance and patience of a people who themselves had tasted of the grace of God
READ 2:17--
Ministry with the sick is messy—it makes us uncomfortable—but that is exactly the kind of mercy and love we need if we are going to survive as a church.
Jesus doesn’t look at us in terms of “I don’t want that one.” Or “Least Likely to Respond” All Jesus sees is the hunger, the spiritual need, the longing for something real, the power of the Kingdom of God. Levi, better known as Matthew—went from a bad reputation tax collector and sinner, to the author of one of the Gospels of Jesus life.
We better know who Jesus is because He reached out to "that sort".
At some point, we were that sort. You and I were the ones that in some way or another were sitting behind the tax collector's booth.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11-- Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Have you ever thought, “I can’t imagine what God would do if He ever got a hold of _____________--there’s no telling what God could do through them.”
Who did you think of? Maybe you thought of someone famous. Tell me, how many of the Apostles were famous before Jesus met them?
Now, how many of you thought of someone other than yourself?
There’s the problem with the church in the world today—it's usually filled by somebody other than me.
At one point—you were the one sitting in the tax booth. God looks at you and He looks at me just like He did this small town tax collector and He says to Himself—“If Only they would let Me into their hearts, if only the would let Me change them, if only they would let Me use them! I can change the world!”
At some point looking over the crowds, looking at the least likely, in the mind and heart of God—He was thinking of you—If He can only get a hold of your heart—my heart—
Are there "that sort" of people around you sitting at the Tax Booth?
Are you still sitting at the tax booth?
The Jesus wants to invite you to a greater life.
Yesterday was the start of something big in NFL circles. The Draft. Each year, college players are poked, prodded, processed, and timed. And the teams pick the best players, or the ones who will best fit the needs of their team. But it’s not an exact science, there have been some terrible decisions. Some decisions draw the ire of the fans because they are astounded by the horrible decision that has just been made. And there have been some great players that have sat on the shelf—that no one saw their greatness, their competitive spirit, rather only their flaws, deficiencies and weaknesses.
Draft Picks—Yesterday—NFL Greatest Draft Steals--
• QB Joe Montana (Notre Dame)--Drafted by: 49ers, third round, No. 82 overall, 1979—3rd QB
• QB Tom Brady (Michigan)--Drafted by: Patriots, sixth round, No. 199 overall, 2000
• Brett Favre—was picked in the 2nd round--#31 by the Atlanta Falcons—but immediately traded him to Green Bay thinking he wasn’t worth it.
• S Rodney Harrison (Western Illinois)--Drafted by: Chargers, fifth round, No. 145 overall, 1994
Sometimes the ones that are the true champions are the less obvious—the hidden gems—that nobody talks about, that nobody expects much of.
Jesus made a habit of doing this—making offensive picks. If Jesus was a team’s draft expert—there would be calls for His firing. I mean, look at the kind of men Jesus picked for His team.
James and John were a bit judgmental—disrespect for Jesus deserves fire from heaven in their mind—hardly the best example of turn the other cheek
One was a zealot--violent and quick to a fight
Peter—one who is a loud-mouth, uneducated, boastful, but not courageous enough to back up his boasts.
One of Jesus choices betrayed Him
But Jesus, being God in the Flesh did what God often does—He chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise—according to Paul, to the larger Christian community—1 Corinthians 1:26--“think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential, not many were of noble birth.”
They were reaches—they were bad draft picks—the kind of people Jesus picked were the ones that you least expected and despised—what’s worse—some didn’t think they could play the game or even have a place at the table. And it was offensive.
Offensive Decisions—Read Mark 2:13-14
You probably know this, but there are some professions in this country that just get ripped to pieces on a regular basis. April 15th is only a couple of weeks in the past and for many of you, you may still have a bad taste in your mouth. Not only do we not like taxes, we often don’t like tax collectors—here’s a couple of examples.
Q: How is golf like taxes?
A: Well, you drive hard to get to the green, and then you wind up in the hole
Q. What is the difference between a terrorist and a tax inspector?
A. You can negotiate with a terrorist.
"What's the difference between an overzealous tax auditor and a rottweiler? Answer: "A rottweiler eventually lets go!"
"Why do sharks not attack tax auditors?" Answer: "Professional courtesy."
If we were to be given the opportunity to look into the faces of the crowd that day, we’d probably see several qualified, good looking, popular and resourceful people. I can imagine us tapping Jesus on the shoulder and saying—“hey, look at that one—they would be great to add to the team.”
The last one we would expect is the one who is not allowed in the church (synagogue) because he’s been kicked out. The last one we’d expect to see Jesus would want us to talk to about faith and salvation and the call is the one with no respectable friends, the one who is in fact so unpopular that he is hated as an outcast and who at least is suspected of cheating those who pay him anything.
Jesus Sees People In the Crowd in ways that we do not—the way we cannot—the way we are unwilling to and the way that is offensive to us.
Of all the people along the way, Levi sitting there in his tax collector’s booth—ripping people off—he’s not one we would think would respond to an invitation from Jesus.
Levi was able to listen while at work—listen to Jesus teaching the crowd. Jesus’ message wasn’t complicated—Follow me—and Levi did—he got up and followed Jesus
The one Least Likely to Respond—responded.—oh, but that’s Jesus.
When you and I live our lives as disciples of Jesus we too often fall for this attitude—“Oh, I’m not going to bother sharing Christ with this person, I know they’ll say no—they’ve still go too many problems and issues—I know they will not respond to Jesus so I’m not even going to ask—I’m not going to risk it—I’m not going to waste my time.”
You don’t know!!! You can’t wait around in life for the sure thing, the guarantee—if you waited only for that before acting—then you would never do, say, accomplish anything. You are not responsible for someone responding favorably to Jesus.
You must not second guess yourself into silence when the opportunity to testify to your faith is before you—even if they are the hardest case, the most indifferent—you are not going to convince anyone—that’s God’s job—you are responsible to be faithful and share—be prepared by all means—but leave the results to Him.
There are few people clamoring for you to tell them about Jesus, few saying—“Pick Me!” when Jesus—in the form of you--passes by.
Not only is Levi on the Least Likely to Respond list—in most people’s mind—a tax collector like Levi should also be on Galilee’s Most Wanted—for the belief that he is lining his own pockets by ripping off of his fellow Jews. They looked at Tax Collectors—working for the Roman authorities as Traitors. So on one hand, Levi was on Galilee’s Most Wanted-- but he would also qualify for Galilee’s Most Unwanted—he’s a sell out—he’s a cheat—he’s not good enough.
That’s what we see.
You don’t really want “that sort” to be a part of the church, do you? They don’t look like us—different culture, different race, they don’t act like us, they aren’t smart enough, they don’t have enough, they have too much, they’re snobby. They work at a bar, they don’t work at all.
The Patriot—the movie with Mel Gibson had dialog that reflected this. The father and son went out to sign up people to serve in the South Carolina militia against the British during the Revolutionary War. The son, went to a church to sign people up because they are good men of principle, who believe in the cause of liberty. The father goes to a local pub to find men who know how to fight and who are mean enough to actually do it and not just talk about it. When the son sees the men his father signed up he says, “These aren’t the sort of men we need.” The father responds by saying, "these are exactly the sort we need. They've fought this kind of war before." One of the father's recruits comes to him and asks: "Am I that sort?" "No, you’re the sort that gives that sort a bad name." to which the man responds in laughter.
See, underlying the thoughts that says—I don’t think they’ll respond—underlying that, if we’re honest with ourselves—in many instances is the notion that we don’t really want them to respond--we don't want "that sort" to come to our church.
What kind of people do we want?
The Kind of people we want to start coming to this church are the kind that know their Bible? That’s good, right?
We want the Kind of people we want to start coming to this church are the kind that don’t drink, smoke, cuss, or work at the bar, right?
That’s Wrong!
The kind of people we want and need to start coming to this church are the kind that don’t know what the Bible is—who have only seen a Bible under 3 inches of dust, who wouldn’t qualify to read the "Bible for Dummies".
We need to invite the kind that don’t know that the Bible is the Word of God, who don’t know that God loves them, that Jesus loves them and that He died for their sins and that He rose from the dead in Victory. You know why?
Because we can show them that we believe it, believe that we have "good news". We can teach them those things—because they will learn their Bible, actually read their Bible when they see us living our claims.
We actually want the people who don’t know to stop drinking yet, who don’t know to stop cussing yet, who work at the bar—because we can love them and show them another way to live— if we want to see the transformational power of the Love of God working in the People of God by the Word of God--"that's the sort we need". We want and need those kinds of people in church so you and I can be a part of the God at Work.
Levi was one of those guys—someone who everyone tells to pass right on by—Levi? He’s not the sort we need.
Let me put it this way. How many of you have ever caught a fish? When you caught it, was it already de-scaled, de-boned and filleted, ready to cook? NO—you get those at the grocery store. What would you do if you pulled in your line and the fish looked like this? Would you think there was something wrong? I sure hope so!
We want the cleaned up kind of people, the ones who are already know their Bible because they require less of us, less time, less effort, less building of a disciple—less chance of ruffling my feathers, less chance of offending my self-righteousness.
Jesus doesn’t see people that way. Jesus—He sees people in their sin and moves to intercept.
Sees People In Need of the Life Changing Power & Influence of God—He sees the Least Likely, He sees the Sinners--and rather than shrinking away from them, rather than avoiding them—He seeks them out—He goes where they are—He befriends them. He calls them—and they rejoice.
READ 2:15—Luke 5 tells us that in response to Jesus calling him, in response to Jesus inviting him, in response to Jesus giving him a chance to participate in the spiritual life—Levi throws a party—he hosts a great banquet at his home.
Now how many of you, when you meet an alcoholic and talk to him about Jesus--when they invite you to their house for a party—you’re like—sure, love to!
How many of you when you meet a criminal want to go back to their house to hang out his buddies that just got out of jail?
Now unfortunately for Jesus reputation—the only friends an outcast can invite into his home are other outcasts—more tax collectors, more people with their lives out of whack—more people who have rejected God. Upon seeing the guest list, you or I may be inclined to avoid going altogether. Not Jesus. Jesus goes and celebrates with them—has dinner with them.
And that is offensive—to who? The religious types—the Pharisees, the teachers of the law. Because you know this dinner crowd probably don’t have their life in order, all cleaned up. Weren't upstanding members of the synagogue.
Jesus called Levi—and he responded in faith—but he had a long way to go—his life was headed for some major changes—but before he even had the chance, he did invite all his friends to meet Jesus. Here was a sinner, who’s life is being transformed—and Jesus was right in the middle of it—and not everyone liked it.
READ vs. 16—
Let me share with you a story that I read this week from a pastor of a young man named Eric.
Whole unedited story can be found here:
He was driving by the church with a pistol underneath the front seat, an open container of beer in the cup holder, and was on his way to an open field where he would drink himself to drunkenness in order to have the courage to commit suicide. As he drove past the church he the church sign that said, "Prepare to Meet Thy God." The words so rattled him he turned into the parking lot and prayed, "God, if you are sending me a sign, let someone be inside this church to help me." The Lord answered his prayer.
Guess what, he went in, talked to a minister and got saved! The next Sunday..
--First person testimony--
When the appropriate time came "I" introduced him to our church. "Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce you to a young man who this week was intent on killing himself, but God has intervened. This is Eric . . ." As I was speaking to the crowd I turned to look at Eric and to my horror, I saw Eric was wearing a Budweiser Beer T-Shirt that said, "Budweiser, King of Beers."
I knew some of the deacons would be upset. Sure enough, after church one of the older deacons came up to me and said, "Pastor, did you talk to Eric?" Acting ignorant, though knowing full well what he meant, I said, "About what?" "Did you tell him he ought not be wearing that beer t-shirt in church? It ain't appropriate."
I took a deep breath and said, "No, I didn't. He has just come to faith in Christ. If we begin to tell him what he can't do, shouldn't do, ought not do, etc . . . we quench the work of the Spirit by imposing a law. Let's love him, get to know him, and encourage him - but let's stay away from the 'should nots' of religion and give time for his relationship with Christ to develop."
Apparently Eric had quite a collection of Beer shirts and for the next 4 weeks, he wore one to church. The pastor says it was difficult at times to hold his tongue. But then, on the 5th Sunday, Eric walked in wearing one of these.
About the fifth Sunday Eric came to church wearing a new t-shirt. It was a t-shirt with a Christian logo. He had found a Christian t-shirt store and, prompted by the Spirit, Eric purchased several t-shirts with a Christian message.
That Sunday he had traded in his "Budweiser: King of Beers" t-shirt for one that said, "Jesus Christ: King of Kings." Christ had Eric's heart. The change that occurred happened within. There was not the demand for conformity imposed upon this young Christian by a Southern Baptist congregation, but rather, there was the powerful, internal work of the Spirit within the heart of a man that experienced the love, acceptance and patience of a people who themselves had tasted of the grace of God
READ 2:17--
Ministry with the sick is messy—it makes us uncomfortable—but that is exactly the kind of mercy and love we need if we are going to survive as a church.
Jesus doesn’t look at us in terms of “I don’t want that one.” Or “Least Likely to Respond” All Jesus sees is the hunger, the spiritual need, the longing for something real, the power of the Kingdom of God. Levi, better known as Matthew—went from a bad reputation tax collector and sinner, to the author of one of the Gospels of Jesus life.
We better know who Jesus is because He reached out to "that sort".
At some point, we were that sort. You and I were the ones that in some way or another were sitting behind the tax collector's booth.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11-- Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Have you ever thought, “I can’t imagine what God would do if He ever got a hold of _____________--there’s no telling what God could do through them.”
Who did you think of? Maybe you thought of someone famous. Tell me, how many of the Apostles were famous before Jesus met them?
Now, how many of you thought of someone other than yourself?
There’s the problem with the church in the world today—it's usually filled by somebody other than me.
At one point—you were the one sitting in the tax booth. God looks at you and He looks at me just like He did this small town tax collector and He says to Himself—“If Only they would let Me into their hearts, if only the would let Me change them, if only they would let Me use them! I can change the world!”
At some point looking over the crowds, looking at the least likely, in the mind and heart of God—He was thinking of you—If He can only get a hold of your heart—my heart—
Are there "that sort" of people around you sitting at the Tax Booth?
Are you still sitting at the tax booth?
The Jesus wants to invite you to a greater life.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sermon-- Forgiveness Offensive?--Mark 2:1-12
The Audio for this message can be found here.
Mark 2:1-12
Forgiveness is Offensive?
Imagine for a moment—you’re a executive manager of a company—everyone looks to you. Scratch that, you’re a tenured professor and an important figure on your campus. You’ve helped set up the program and are conducting several important research projects. Then you get assigned a Graduate Assistant. And the students love it when you miss class and you GA has to teach for you. In fact, as soon as they see you’re not there, they call all their friends and class attendance triples—every seat is taken, some sit on the floor, others stand in the back of the room. To add insult to injury—while you were away defending your request for a grant, in the middle of one of your experiments, this graduate assistant comes in and reorganizes everything—“trust me, I know better then the Professor does”—he changes the procedure, changes the subject of the experiment, changes the objective—all because he insists he’s got a better way.
What do you say when you get back and see what’s going on?
“I don’t care how popular you with the students: Who gave you the right to make these changes? Who do you think you are?”
“Don’t worry Professor,” the graduate assistant says. “I’ve already finished all the experiments and processed the data—thanks to my changes, I’ve more than justifies your grant and may in fact revolutionize the field. You can thank me later.”
Welcome to the world of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law with Jesus on the scene. A young, upstart teacher who knows more than you do, is more popular than you are, and has an uncanny way of proving it.
As we’ve been looking at the Gospel of Mark—it only gets worse in ch. 2
1. Offending Crowds--Read 1-4
a. Standing Room Only—Once again, Jesus was attracting a crowd—unlike any crowd that ever came for one of the regular Saturday Sabbaths. Clearly Jesus was something different—He had some spark about Him that everyone was attracted to—an uncertainty that they were about to see God do something in their midst that hadn’t been done before. He was continuing to do what He had said was His purpose—Jesus was preaching the word to the crowds.
b. A little professional Jealousy would be understandable at this point—What’s He got that I don’t? He’s no better than I am. Heresy is always able to attract a crowd—if it’s popular, it must be wrong.
c. Into this crowd comes Desperation personified. Here was this man who was trapped in his own body—paralyzed—he could not go to Jesus on his own. Taking care of this man required others giving of themselves and their willingness to help. We have no idea how he got this way—whether he was born paralyzed or due to some accident. But he had friends and family that believed that if anyone could help him, Jesus could.
d. But there was a problem. There were many obstacles in the way. The crowds, the popularity, the limited space. I suspect there were even those who didn’t think someone like this paralytic deserved to be in Jesus’ presence—b/c he probably is so sinful that he deserves
e. Think about the obstacles you face in bringing people to church or bringing people to Jesus. What reasons do we give? “They work on Sunday”, “I’ve already asked them before and they said no.”, “I’m worried about what they will think of me.”
f. What if these friends had given up—“Oh well, there’s a crowd. I guess we should just take him home.” “These people are rude—can’t they see our friend needs to see Jesus.” “I really don’t want to dig through the roof—last time I checked, destruction of private property isn’t a good evangelism strategy.”
g. It is my belief that we give up too easily in seeking to bring our friends, family, co-workers to Jesus. They say “No” one time, and we tuck our tails between our legs and never bring it up again.
h. Determination and Persistence and realizing that Jesus is the only One who can truly heal and forgive—Jesus saw that kind of faith commendable and He responded to it.
i. Vs. 5—it was their faith, the faith of the men bringing the paralytic that Jesus sees and responds to. This man’s body was twisted and paralyzed physically, you would think that Jesus would address this problem first—but He doesn’t. Apparently, in Jesus’ mind, the man’s greater need was spiritual—maybe He saw that everyone else thought sin was the problem.
j. “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Even if Jesus never healed his physical body—providing forgiveness for his sins was the greater miracle.
k. Here again, Jesus offends the teachers and leaders—this time by proclaiming forgiveness.
2. Offensive Forgiveness--God’s Territory
a. Why is forgiveness offensive? Why in this case would Jesus even bring up its need?
b. Our culture is not so different from theirs. Many times, when we see bad situation happen to someone, we try to figure out why. In many cases, we look at the things that person has done to bring it on themselves. Today, we just couch it in medical terms: “If he had just eaten better all those years, he wouldn’t have had that heart attack.” “She smoked at least a pack a day, it’s no wonder she’s got cancer.” “I can’t have too much sympathy for someone who risked his life like that—(parachuting, sex, rock climbing, speeding)”
c. This man must have been considered sinful—why else would this man be so paralyzed—He must have done something to deserve it. God must have been punishing this man for something. He was the type that the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law would have counseled by saying, “brother, confess your sins, and God will heal you. Confess your sins, have faith—and if you are worthy—God will heal you.” Gee, you’re not healed—either you’re more sinful than thought, or you must not be worthy.
d. And with that—they could walk on by and never give him another thought. I hope you see from this passage that sometimes healing is not about your crying out, not about your persistence, but the persistence of those praying for you.
e. Son, your sins are forgiven.
f. How dare He say that— READ 5-7--forgiveness is the realm of God’s alone
g. Psalm 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
h. Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
i. The audacity of Jesus is astounding. By saying this man was forgiven, Jesus was claiming to be able to do something only God could do—he was blaspheming. Only God had that kind of authority—Only God could forgive sin. These teachers understood the implication immediately.
j. Jesus was walking into a realm that the teachers of the law would never go—they could never pronounce forgiveness—but Jesus did and
k. He did it without the sacrifice—Jesus didn’t tell the man to get cleaned up, to go to the temple and make offerings. Jesus demanded no confession or repentance from the man. He responds to faith—and a desperation—He cleanses.
l. For some, this willingness to forgive and show mercy is unacceptable and offensive. They want to see the wicked get toasted—they look forward to the Fire & Brimstone. Jonah in the OT was hoping that Nineveh would be destroyed—James & John, the Sons of Thunder wanted to call down fire from heaven simply because a Samaritan village didn’t welcome Jesus.
m. The thought of Forgiveness & Mercy Offends, especially those that think of themselves as righteous. To suggest that forgiveness was available without sacrifice drew into question the entire existence of the people, the law, the Temple.
n. Does Jesus offer forgiveness at no cost? Think about that? When someone wants to give you a gift, many times we receive it with suspicion—“what’s the catch?” or “what do you expect in return?” or “what’s this going to cost me?”
o. Jesus says, “you can be forgiven at no cost to you. All I ask is that you repent—stop going the wrong way—Trust & Receive.
3. Offensive Knowledge & Healing?—6-12
a. Jesus knew their hearts—sometimes there’s nothing more disconcerting to realize that someone knows exactly what’s going through your head—knowing exactly how you’re going to respond, what you’re going to say or do. How could they know me so well? Am I that transparent?
b. It’s disturbing playing a chess master when they can predict your moves in advance.
c. Of course, knowing someone knows you so well is also a sign of love and closeness—see Jesus knows your heart and mind because He shared in our creation—He loves us so much that He knows us. But our hearts are also like open books before Him—His word cuts to our hearts.
d. Which is easier? Some people claim a lot of things—that doesn’t make it true. Some people claim to be prophets, some healers, some mouthpieces for God—but just because they claim it, doesn’t mean it’s true.
e. Under other circumstances—with someone else—you and I would be right there with the teachers of the law—“excuse me? You can’t really speak for God!”
f. Jesus acknowledges it—anybody can make the claim—but not everybody can back it up. “Get up, take your mat ant walk.”
g. Jesus command over the physical condition—which they had likely attributed to sin—was proof that He had command over the spiritual condition.
h. He did this “so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…”
i. Jesus had knowledge of their hearts. He proved to have greater authority than the teachers of the law. And that claim—that Knowledge & Authority was offensive.
j. Jesus claims to know more than you know—Jesus claims more authority over your body than you have—Jesus claims more authority over your sin than you have.
k. Is it any wonder that some of His listeners were offended? He didn’t sugar coat or gloss over this man’s need of forgiveness, but confronted it with the offer of forgiveness.
l. Many people are offended at Jesus—many people allow obstacles to stop them from coming to Jesus. And sadly many times we who are here—we the ones already before Jesus are the Obstacle—blocking those who are desperately coming to Jesus.
m. Are there any obstacles in your way today? Jesus has the authority to heal and forgive—to give purpose and meaning. See past all those obstacles, all those things that are between you and Him and come—just as you are.
Mark 2:1-12
Forgiveness is Offensive?
Imagine for a moment—you’re a executive manager of a company—everyone looks to you. Scratch that, you’re a tenured professor and an important figure on your campus. You’ve helped set up the program and are conducting several important research projects. Then you get assigned a Graduate Assistant. And the students love it when you miss class and you GA has to teach for you. In fact, as soon as they see you’re not there, they call all their friends and class attendance triples—every seat is taken, some sit on the floor, others stand in the back of the room. To add insult to injury—while you were away defending your request for a grant, in the middle of one of your experiments, this graduate assistant comes in and reorganizes everything—“trust me, I know better then the Professor does”—he changes the procedure, changes the subject of the experiment, changes the objective—all because he insists he’s got a better way.
What do you say when you get back and see what’s going on?
“I don’t care how popular you with the students: Who gave you the right to make these changes? Who do you think you are?”
“Don’t worry Professor,” the graduate assistant says. “I’ve already finished all the experiments and processed the data—thanks to my changes, I’ve more than justifies your grant and may in fact revolutionize the field. You can thank me later.”
Welcome to the world of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law with Jesus on the scene. A young, upstart teacher who knows more than you do, is more popular than you are, and has an uncanny way of proving it.
As we’ve been looking at the Gospel of Mark—it only gets worse in ch. 2
1. Offending Crowds--Read 1-4
a. Standing Room Only—Once again, Jesus was attracting a crowd—unlike any crowd that ever came for one of the regular Saturday Sabbaths. Clearly Jesus was something different—He had some spark about Him that everyone was attracted to—an uncertainty that they were about to see God do something in their midst that hadn’t been done before. He was continuing to do what He had said was His purpose—Jesus was preaching the word to the crowds.
b. A little professional Jealousy would be understandable at this point—What’s He got that I don’t? He’s no better than I am. Heresy is always able to attract a crowd—if it’s popular, it must be wrong.
c. Into this crowd comes Desperation personified. Here was this man who was trapped in his own body—paralyzed—he could not go to Jesus on his own. Taking care of this man required others giving of themselves and their willingness to help. We have no idea how he got this way—whether he was born paralyzed or due to some accident. But he had friends and family that believed that if anyone could help him, Jesus could.
d. But there was a problem. There were many obstacles in the way. The crowds, the popularity, the limited space. I suspect there were even those who didn’t think someone like this paralytic deserved to be in Jesus’ presence—b/c he probably is so sinful that he deserves
e. Think about the obstacles you face in bringing people to church or bringing people to Jesus. What reasons do we give? “They work on Sunday”, “I’ve already asked them before and they said no.”, “I’m worried about what they will think of me.”
f. What if these friends had given up—“Oh well, there’s a crowd. I guess we should just take him home.” “These people are rude—can’t they see our friend needs to see Jesus.” “I really don’t want to dig through the roof—last time I checked, destruction of private property isn’t a good evangelism strategy.”
g. It is my belief that we give up too easily in seeking to bring our friends, family, co-workers to Jesus. They say “No” one time, and we tuck our tails between our legs and never bring it up again.
h. Determination and Persistence and realizing that Jesus is the only One who can truly heal and forgive—Jesus saw that kind of faith commendable and He responded to it.
i. Vs. 5—it was their faith, the faith of the men bringing the paralytic that Jesus sees and responds to. This man’s body was twisted and paralyzed physically, you would think that Jesus would address this problem first—but He doesn’t. Apparently, in Jesus’ mind, the man’s greater need was spiritual—maybe He saw that everyone else thought sin was the problem.
j. “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Even if Jesus never healed his physical body—providing forgiveness for his sins was the greater miracle.
k. Here again, Jesus offends the teachers and leaders—this time by proclaiming forgiveness.
2. Offensive Forgiveness--God’s Territory
a. Why is forgiveness offensive? Why in this case would Jesus even bring up its need?
b. Our culture is not so different from theirs. Many times, when we see bad situation happen to someone, we try to figure out why. In many cases, we look at the things that person has done to bring it on themselves. Today, we just couch it in medical terms: “If he had just eaten better all those years, he wouldn’t have had that heart attack.” “She smoked at least a pack a day, it’s no wonder she’s got cancer.” “I can’t have too much sympathy for someone who risked his life like that—(parachuting, sex, rock climbing, speeding)”
c. This man must have been considered sinful—why else would this man be so paralyzed—He must have done something to deserve it. God must have been punishing this man for something. He was the type that the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law would have counseled by saying, “brother, confess your sins, and God will heal you. Confess your sins, have faith—and if you are worthy—God will heal you.” Gee, you’re not healed—either you’re more sinful than thought, or you must not be worthy.
d. And with that—they could walk on by and never give him another thought. I hope you see from this passage that sometimes healing is not about your crying out, not about your persistence, but the persistence of those praying for you.
e. Son, your sins are forgiven.
f. How dare He say that— READ 5-7--forgiveness is the realm of God’s alone
g. Psalm 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
h. Isaiah 43:25 "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
i. The audacity of Jesus is astounding. By saying this man was forgiven, Jesus was claiming to be able to do something only God could do—he was blaspheming. Only God had that kind of authority—Only God could forgive sin. These teachers understood the implication immediately.
j. Jesus was walking into a realm that the teachers of the law would never go—they could never pronounce forgiveness—but Jesus did and
k. He did it without the sacrifice—Jesus didn’t tell the man to get cleaned up, to go to the temple and make offerings. Jesus demanded no confession or repentance from the man. He responds to faith—and a desperation—He cleanses.
l. For some, this willingness to forgive and show mercy is unacceptable and offensive. They want to see the wicked get toasted—they look forward to the Fire & Brimstone. Jonah in the OT was hoping that Nineveh would be destroyed—James & John, the Sons of Thunder wanted to call down fire from heaven simply because a Samaritan village didn’t welcome Jesus.
m. The thought of Forgiveness & Mercy Offends, especially those that think of themselves as righteous. To suggest that forgiveness was available without sacrifice drew into question the entire existence of the people, the law, the Temple.
n. Does Jesus offer forgiveness at no cost? Think about that? When someone wants to give you a gift, many times we receive it with suspicion—“what’s the catch?” or “what do you expect in return?” or “what’s this going to cost me?”
o. Jesus says, “you can be forgiven at no cost to you. All I ask is that you repent—stop going the wrong way—Trust & Receive.
3. Offensive Knowledge & Healing?—6-12
a. Jesus knew their hearts—sometimes there’s nothing more disconcerting to realize that someone knows exactly what’s going through your head—knowing exactly how you’re going to respond, what you’re going to say or do. How could they know me so well? Am I that transparent?
b. It’s disturbing playing a chess master when they can predict your moves in advance.
c. Of course, knowing someone knows you so well is also a sign of love and closeness—see Jesus knows your heart and mind because He shared in our creation—He loves us so much that He knows us. But our hearts are also like open books before Him—His word cuts to our hearts.
d. Which is easier? Some people claim a lot of things—that doesn’t make it true. Some people claim to be prophets, some healers, some mouthpieces for God—but just because they claim it, doesn’t mean it’s true.
e. Under other circumstances—with someone else—you and I would be right there with the teachers of the law—“excuse me? You can’t really speak for God!”
f. Jesus acknowledges it—anybody can make the claim—but not everybody can back it up. “Get up, take your mat ant walk.”
g. Jesus command over the physical condition—which they had likely attributed to sin—was proof that He had command over the spiritual condition.
h. He did this “so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…”
i. Jesus had knowledge of their hearts. He proved to have greater authority than the teachers of the law. And that claim—that Knowledge & Authority was offensive.
j. Jesus claims to know more than you know—Jesus claims more authority over your body than you have—Jesus claims more authority over your sin than you have.
k. Is it any wonder that some of His listeners were offended? He didn’t sugar coat or gloss over this man’s need of forgiveness, but confronted it with the offer of forgiveness.
l. Many people are offended at Jesus—many people allow obstacles to stop them from coming to Jesus. And sadly many times we who are here—we the ones already before Jesus are the Obstacle—blocking those who are desperately coming to Jesus.
m. Are there any obstacles in your way today? Jesus has the authority to heal and forgive—to give purpose and meaning. See past all those obstacles, all those things that are between you and Him and come—just as you are.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Who Could Be Opposed to Prayer?--Mark 1:35-45
The audio for this message will be better and more developed than the text. I dared to stray more often than usual! Some, I know will be proud of me :-)
I'll get the audio posted ASAP
Who Could Be Opposed to Prayer?
Very few people refuse prayer. Most people believe and practice some form of prayer—even without knowing who or what you’re praying to—many people will appreciate the concern and good will expressed in prayer. But not everyone appreciated Jesus and His efforts at prayer—often because He came back changed and empowered for great ministry.
Mark 1:35—39
1. Jesus Went Out to Pray and Came Back with Renewed Purpose--Changed and Charged
a. Left the house—sometimes special places are necessary
b. Solitary place—a place without interruption or distraction
c. How possible in the busy world? How possible with kids or other demands? Realize just how important and necessary our prayer life is—without it, we’re not hearing from God and you’ll have a hard time knowing what God would have you do.
d. Somewhere in His time of prayer, Jesus got the message that He had stayed in one place long enough. Jesus went out to pray and He came back with a greater Purpose.
e. Jesus Returned saying—let us go somewhere else. My ministry can no longer stay in this isolated, small pocket—there are many people who are hurting many people who are sick, many people affected by the Deceiver—I need to go to them—the nearby villages
f. So in this respect, Prayer broke the monotony, broke the stagnant, commonplace existence. If it feels like nothing is moving or happening in your life, if it feels like you’re staying in the same place all the time, then seek God’s direction and Purpose. Jesus went out in prayer and came back with a message to shake things up!
g. Time With God Gave Jesus Direction & Instruction—even Jesus sought time alone with God to seek His will, His Presence, His voice.
h. But the last thing those who were losing influence wanted was for Jesus to really be communing with God and receiving Purpose and power from Him.
i. Jesus Came Back with Renewed Purpose--Communion With God Gives or Reminds Us of Our Purpose
j. Let’s Go So I can preach there also—that is Why I Have Come
k. He didn’t just want to move for the sake of moving—He had something to do—to preach—the Good News of God’s Love—of Redemption & Repentance.
l. What’s amazing to me is what He doesn’t say-- as much as what He says. He didn’t say, I came to Heal. He didn’t say, I have come to drive our demons—No—Jesus says I have come to Preach—somehow or another, this sharing of the Good News to all was more important—had a greater eternal value, this preaching brought healing, brought deliverance and rescue from the demonic. Those things happened as a result of the courage and boldness of preaching the Good News and the Kingdom of God.
m. Who could be against this? We’ve already seen how the teachers of the law and the Pharisees are opposed to this teaching. And they would be opposed to Jesus gaining any more influence or popularity. By expanding His ministry area, Jesus would be drawing their ire. But not only because of the expansion, but how He went forward, and what He did.
2. Jesus Went Forward With Enhanced Power & Compassion--—vs. 40-45
a. As a Result—of leaving what had become His base, Jesus Saw God move, saw God’s hand at work. Sometimes you and I miss God’s Hand at work when we stay where it’s too comfortable, when we don’t break out explore new territory.
b. What Jesus found was more people hurting and in need of the healing touch of God. Jesus’ renewed purpose also came with Enhanced Power and Compassion.
c. Communion With God Enhances our Compassion—makes us think of others more than ourselves.. The Power of God is at work when we minister to those hurting and in need
d. You would think that helping someone like this man would draw praise—but let me assure you again, that this is not the case. Jesus touches someone no one else would—He crossed a line that the Pharisees and teachers of the law would not. They kept this man at a distance. He was an outcast until “he confessed his sin” and God restored him.
e. Jesus was not afraid of this man like these others were in their hypocrisy. They were not moved to compassion, they were moved to scorn. And the contrast between them couldn’t be more clear.
f. We have to check ourselves here—there are many conditions in which we hesitate and draw back— we often want people to get their lives together first, to get themselves clean and sober before we really welcome them into church with all of their disruptions and problems.
g. We’ll ask people how they are doing—but we want to hear “I’m fine” more than, I’m really struggling today. We’ll pray for those who’s marriages are struggling or who are dealing with alcohol addictions but we don’t want to really get involved. Do we really want to cross a line and help someone with AIDS?
h. Jesus did not fear crossing social barriers to reach the lost, the hurting, the outcast. He even touched this man—something that may not have happened for years. In this ministry—after receiving a refreshing Power and Compassion from His time in Prayer, Jesus touched this man and healed him.
i. Immediately—the leprosy left him.
j. Not only did Jesus touch someone who shouldn’t be touched, but He did something they themselves had been unable to do—heal this disease.
k. And notice, that the people he wants to know about it are not the masses, but the priests. Do everything right as the Law commands “as a testimony to them.”
l. In Mark, this is the first person sent out with the Good News. He had called Peter and some others, but they had not been sent out yet. Jesus sends this man to the Priests—to be a witness—to the ones who may be the most opposed to Him. He wanted the priests to see and confirm the healing so the man could re-enter the community of faith—kind of like going back to the doctor for a 2nd opinion or test. But the intention was also so they may believe and bear testimony to the power of God—they have an even bigger platform from which to proclaim—if the priests and Levites got on board with what Jesus was doing, then more of Israel could be saved. Those who were supposed to be closest to God—also needed to hear the Good News.
m. Those of us who are familiar with God, those of us who think we’ve got God figured out—we need to be reached—we still need to see God at work—see His power touch someone’s life—if we don’t we will become stagnant, stale and powerless. We won’t really be able to help those in need—those who are struggling and in need of a touch from God.
n. You and I need to be reminded of how Good God is—how we draw our purpose and our power, even our compassion from our Time with Him in prayer.
o. Word spread--The man goes out and spreads the word so much that it disrupted Jesus’ ability to effectively minister in town—but those most involved in the church were not reached with this Healing.
p. The man’s healing is marred by the word, “instead”. Instead of following Jesus’ directive to show himself to the priest, the man tells everyone else. Jesus had intentionally, I believe, wanted this man to testify to the religious leaders so they would have a better opportunity to believe themselves. Now, God still spread the word, still accomplished good from the disobedience (an encouraging thought) but perhaps the real opportunity was lost. I pray that our lives and our walk with Christ cannot be marked by the word, “Instead”.
q. You and I need a Greater sense of our Purpose—but also a Greater Power and Compassion—it will come when we truly pray for one another—when we leave our cloistered faith and take it out to those who need to hear the Good News.
r. Only when we do that will see more of God at work in our lives.
s. And if you are here today, needing a touch from God—in need of healing—know that it won’t happen without coming to Him. This man “came to [Jesus]”, sought Him out and received the blessing of Jesus’ touch.
I'll get the audio posted ASAP
Who Could Be Opposed to Prayer?
Very few people refuse prayer. Most people believe and practice some form of prayer—even without knowing who or what you’re praying to—many people will appreciate the concern and good will expressed in prayer. But not everyone appreciated Jesus and His efforts at prayer—often because He came back changed and empowered for great ministry.
Mark 1:35—39
1. Jesus Went Out to Pray and Came Back with Renewed Purpose--Changed and Charged
a. Left the house—sometimes special places are necessary
b. Solitary place—a place without interruption or distraction
c. How possible in the busy world? How possible with kids or other demands? Realize just how important and necessary our prayer life is—without it, we’re not hearing from God and you’ll have a hard time knowing what God would have you do.
d. Somewhere in His time of prayer, Jesus got the message that He had stayed in one place long enough. Jesus went out to pray and He came back with a greater Purpose.
e. Jesus Returned saying—let us go somewhere else. My ministry can no longer stay in this isolated, small pocket—there are many people who are hurting many people who are sick, many people affected by the Deceiver—I need to go to them—the nearby villages
f. So in this respect, Prayer broke the monotony, broke the stagnant, commonplace existence. If it feels like nothing is moving or happening in your life, if it feels like you’re staying in the same place all the time, then seek God’s direction and Purpose. Jesus went out in prayer and came back with a message to shake things up!
g. Time With God Gave Jesus Direction & Instruction—even Jesus sought time alone with God to seek His will, His Presence, His voice.
h. But the last thing those who were losing influence wanted was for Jesus to really be communing with God and receiving Purpose and power from Him.
i. Jesus Came Back with Renewed Purpose--Communion With God Gives or Reminds Us of Our Purpose
j. Let’s Go So I can preach there also—that is Why I Have Come
k. He didn’t just want to move for the sake of moving—He had something to do—to preach—the Good News of God’s Love—of Redemption & Repentance.
l. What’s amazing to me is what He doesn’t say-- as much as what He says. He didn’t say, I came to Heal. He didn’t say, I have come to drive our demons—No—Jesus says I have come to Preach—somehow or another, this sharing of the Good News to all was more important—had a greater eternal value, this preaching brought healing, brought deliverance and rescue from the demonic. Those things happened as a result of the courage and boldness of preaching the Good News and the Kingdom of God.
m. Who could be against this? We’ve already seen how the teachers of the law and the Pharisees are opposed to this teaching. And they would be opposed to Jesus gaining any more influence or popularity. By expanding His ministry area, Jesus would be drawing their ire. But not only because of the expansion, but how He went forward, and what He did.
2. Jesus Went Forward With Enhanced Power & Compassion--—vs. 40-45
a. As a Result—of leaving what had become His base, Jesus Saw God move, saw God’s hand at work. Sometimes you and I miss God’s Hand at work when we stay where it’s too comfortable, when we don’t break out explore new territory.
b. What Jesus found was more people hurting and in need of the healing touch of God. Jesus’ renewed purpose also came with Enhanced Power and Compassion.
c. Communion With God Enhances our Compassion—makes us think of others more than ourselves.. The Power of God is at work when we minister to those hurting and in need
d. You would think that helping someone like this man would draw praise—but let me assure you again, that this is not the case. Jesus touches someone no one else would—He crossed a line that the Pharisees and teachers of the law would not. They kept this man at a distance. He was an outcast until “he confessed his sin” and God restored him.
e. Jesus was not afraid of this man like these others were in their hypocrisy. They were not moved to compassion, they were moved to scorn. And the contrast between them couldn’t be more clear.
f. We have to check ourselves here—there are many conditions in which we hesitate and draw back— we often want people to get their lives together first, to get themselves clean and sober before we really welcome them into church with all of their disruptions and problems.
g. We’ll ask people how they are doing—but we want to hear “I’m fine” more than, I’m really struggling today. We’ll pray for those who’s marriages are struggling or who are dealing with alcohol addictions but we don’t want to really get involved. Do we really want to cross a line and help someone with AIDS?
h. Jesus did not fear crossing social barriers to reach the lost, the hurting, the outcast. He even touched this man—something that may not have happened for years. In this ministry—after receiving a refreshing Power and Compassion from His time in Prayer, Jesus touched this man and healed him.
i. Immediately—the leprosy left him.
j. Not only did Jesus touch someone who shouldn’t be touched, but He did something they themselves had been unable to do—heal this disease.
k. And notice, that the people he wants to know about it are not the masses, but the priests. Do everything right as the Law commands “as a testimony to them.”
l. In Mark, this is the first person sent out with the Good News. He had called Peter and some others, but they had not been sent out yet. Jesus sends this man to the Priests—to be a witness—to the ones who may be the most opposed to Him. He wanted the priests to see and confirm the healing so the man could re-enter the community of faith—kind of like going back to the doctor for a 2nd opinion or test. But the intention was also so they may believe and bear testimony to the power of God—they have an even bigger platform from which to proclaim—if the priests and Levites got on board with what Jesus was doing, then more of Israel could be saved. Those who were supposed to be closest to God—also needed to hear the Good News.
m. Those of us who are familiar with God, those of us who think we’ve got God figured out—we need to be reached—we still need to see God at work—see His power touch someone’s life—if we don’t we will become stagnant, stale and powerless. We won’t really be able to help those in need—those who are struggling and in need of a touch from God.
n. You and I need to be reminded of how Good God is—how we draw our purpose and our power, even our compassion from our Time with Him in prayer.
o. Word spread--The man goes out and spreads the word so much that it disrupted Jesus’ ability to effectively minister in town—but those most involved in the church were not reached with this Healing.
p. The man’s healing is marred by the word, “instead”. Instead of following Jesus’ directive to show himself to the priest, the man tells everyone else. Jesus had intentionally, I believe, wanted this man to testify to the religious leaders so they would have a better opportunity to believe themselves. Now, God still spread the word, still accomplished good from the disobedience (an encouraging thought) but perhaps the real opportunity was lost. I pray that our lives and our walk with Christ cannot be marked by the word, “Instead”.
q. You and I need a Greater sense of our Purpose—but also a Greater Power and Compassion—it will come when we truly pray for one another—when we leave our cloistered faith and take it out to those who need to hear the Good News.
r. Only when we do that will see more of God at work in our lives.
s. And if you are here today, needing a touch from God—in need of healing—know that it won’t happen without coming to Him. This man “came to [Jesus]”, sought Him out and received the blessing of Jesus’ touch.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Sharing an Analogy
I posted the following over on Wade Burleson's site. This particular post was about how the control of information is being manipulated, even within our International Mission Board and the unchristian attitudes that were being expressed.
If you are new to the debate--it's a long story! But much of it centers around Convictions and Interpretations of Scripture and how to apply those in a Cooperative Missions setting. What can we disagree on and still work together for the Gospel? Do we have to agree on everything? How much should a personal conviction be turned into a policy decision?
So, I wrote a story to convey a sad parallel. Here's my post.
Sarcasm Alert!
I'm just glad Dr. Floyd was able to translate and make sense of Dr. Rankin's letter for the Trustees who are obviously not able or not trustworthy enough to do it for themselves.
End Sarcasm Alert!
Here's an analogy (I know you'll be able to find fault in it, but here goes anyway)
One church is taking a long bus trip for a missions effort. Along the way, they drive through the SW United States. Somewhere in the back, someone suggests that they should stop to eat, stretch and go to the bathroom. Immediately a group forms discussing the benefits of particular stops and food (do they sell alcohol in this establishment may be one ;-) ).
Meanwhile, the bus driver calls the pastor to the front and tells him--"the last stop for 200 miles is coming up in just a couple of minutes. It's got a restaurant.--might be important for your discussion.
"
The pastor sees that the last stop is a Citgo and he has a personal conviction to boycott all of Hugo Chavez's institutions. So he goes back to the group and says "All I know is that I don't want to stop at no Citgo", to several nodding heads, other confused looks, but saying nothing about the last stop coming up.[edit from original--The conversation then got sidetracked into why Citgo should be boycotted.]
Finally someone looks out the window and notices the "Last Stop in 5 Miles" sign. "Hey Pastor, I just saw a sign about the last stop ahead. Should we tell the bus driver to pull over?"
The pastor then goes on to explain that he doesn't believe it when he sees those signs because in reality those signs are just advertising gimmicks to get people to stop. How it's illogical to believe there won't be more stops. Besides he's pretty sure the place sells alcohol.
So they decide to wait for the next stop. As they pass, they notice it is a Citgo, but no one notices that a young family who needs to hear about Jesus has the hood of their car propped up and is in need of assistance.
Too bad the mechanic that came with you on the trip didn't get to go to the bathroom in the Citgo.
Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,
Kelly
I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on the story.
P.S.--DT Boy... we're going to have to talk!
If you are new to the debate--it's a long story! But much of it centers around Convictions and Interpretations of Scripture and how to apply those in a Cooperative Missions setting. What can we disagree on and still work together for the Gospel? Do we have to agree on everything? How much should a personal conviction be turned into a policy decision?
So, I wrote a story to convey a sad parallel. Here's my post.
Sarcasm Alert!
I'm just glad Dr. Floyd was able to translate and make sense of Dr. Rankin's letter for the Trustees who are obviously not able or not trustworthy enough to do it for themselves.
End Sarcasm Alert!
Here's an analogy (I know you'll be able to find fault in it, but here goes anyway)
One church is taking a long bus trip for a missions effort. Along the way, they drive through the SW United States. Somewhere in the back, someone suggests that they should stop to eat, stretch and go to the bathroom. Immediately a group forms discussing the benefits of particular stops and food (do they sell alcohol in this establishment may be one ;-) ).
Meanwhile, the bus driver calls the pastor to the front and tells him--"the last stop for 200 miles is coming up in just a couple of minutes. It's got a restaurant.--might be important for your discussion.
"
The pastor sees that the last stop is a Citgo and he has a personal conviction to boycott all of Hugo Chavez's institutions. So he goes back to the group and says "All I know is that I don't want to stop at no Citgo", to several nodding heads, other confused looks, but saying nothing about the last stop coming up.[edit from original--The conversation then got sidetracked into why Citgo should be boycotted.]
Finally someone looks out the window and notices the "Last Stop in 5 Miles" sign. "Hey Pastor, I just saw a sign about the last stop ahead. Should we tell the bus driver to pull over?"
The pastor then goes on to explain that he doesn't believe it when he sees those signs because in reality those signs are just advertising gimmicks to get people to stop. How it's illogical to believe there won't be more stops. Besides he's pretty sure the place sells alcohol.
So they decide to wait for the next stop. As they pass, they notice it is a Citgo, but no one notices that a young family who needs to hear about Jesus has the hood of their car propped up and is in need of assistance.
Too bad the mechanic that came with you on the trip didn't get to go to the bathroom in the Citgo.
Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,
Kelly
I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on the story.
P.S.--DT Boy... we're going to have to talk!
Monday, April 07, 2008
Sermon-- The Message that Sent Jesus to the Cross-- Pt. 2
Last week we began looking at the Gospel of Mark for reasons why people would have wanted to send Jesus to the Cross. From Mark 1, last week we looked: Here is the Audio of the message.
1. A Message Shared with a Criminal
2. A Message of Fulfillment
3. A Message of Repentance
4. A Message of the Good News
All of these things contributed to many wanting to send Jesus to the Cross. Yes, even the Good News—that God is a God of Grace, that Salvation is a free gift that is not earned or deserved—so angered people, so stripped the religious Pharisees of unlawful authority that they opposed Him and hated Jesus for it.
But there’s more—there’s more in this passage that provided fuel to the fire.
1. A Message of Authority—1:21-22
a. Jesus has a teaching that is contrary to the world’s way of thinking. He comes right into the middle of our lives and teaches that mercy is better than sacrifice, that the thoughts and attitudes of the heart are just as important as one’s actions, that doing good in they eyes of man will never earn salvation. He confronts our apathy, He confronts our prejudices, He proclaims that the Love of God is not based on ceremony or ritual but forgiveness & holiness, especially sacrificial love. A love so great that the answer is that the innocent would lay down His life for the guilty.
b. But one thing that upset the local leadership is that it didn’t take people long to figure out that Jesus had a greater authority than they did.
c. One reason why Jesus stood out so much in this day and age was because very rarely would a speaker or teacher speak for themselves. They would always quote and say what someone else said. Some famous teacher, some commentary on the Torah. They would speak with someone else’s authority to try and bolster their own. Reading the words of Jesus, especially in the Sermon on the Mount—“You’ve heard it was said, but I say to you…”—it was different—Jesus spoke not just as one who had read and heard things all his life, but as One who knew the heart of God so well, One who remembered the intent of those laws when they were written before all the baggage
d. Matthew 7:28-29—“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”
e. For years, the people had depended on the voices of the Pharisees and other teachers of the law. They were the Gatekeepers—Access to God was granted or restricted based upon the adherence to their rules and regulations.
f. They set the rules, they said what you could do and couldn’t do—only if you satisfied them, would you be granted access to God. but their rules were not based upon Scripture—but the additions of opinion—there were the rules of the law—and to avoid breaking those laws—we’ll make buffer laws, or we’ll make special exceptions so you can do the same thing without violating the law. You don’t have to honor your father and mother if you say “corban” and dedicate your wealth to God—after you die of course. You don’t have to honor the Sabbath if you follow certain paths, but you violate the Sabbath if you do good or pick a few seeds.
g. I’ve heard some—Christians shouldn’t play cards—shouldn’t go to the movies—women shouldn’t wear pants—no dancing—you must have a quiet time before your feet hit the floor out of bed. Many of these rules are not necessarily wrong—they have elements of truth and warnings of danger—but they are convictions—the hard part, the dangerous part —the excessive demand and rule comes when you or I try to take those convictions and make them rules or mandates that every “good” Christian should follow.
h. You do know what makes a good Christian don’t you? Everyone who agrees with me and does what I do.
i. Jesus is the only one who can say that. He possessed a greater authority than those in charge and the people were hungering and thirsting for it. That hasn’t changed.
j. So many people are hungering and thirsting for authoritative teaching. And there are many that are jumping forward to claim the title. Even Oprah is involved in a webcast of spiritual truth that thousands are following which says there is no such thing as sin—many ways to God—that the kind of divinity Jesus had is yours if you would only realize it. among other things that are contrary to biblical teaching. Many are claiming to be the authority—But Jesus is the one who has the Authority
k. And just in case there was any doubt to this authority, Jesus gives some proof with…
2. A Message of Power—vs. 23-26, 30, 32-34
l. Vs. 23-26—the demonic live in a spiritual reality—the things that we are typically not aware of is the reality they see every moment and understand.
m. The Demons Knew Him—“I know who you are”—they knew Jesus’ identity.
n. The Demons Feared Him —have you come to destroy us?—they knew what Jesus was capable of.
o. The Demons Obeyed Him
p. The Demons Fled from Him
q. Even the demons believed
r. Vs. 27-28
s. Such a contrary message—from other incidents in the New testament, we know that in Judaism, within the people blessed with the testimony of God’s intervention, blessed with the law, there were still people ravaged by demonic influence—some affected children, throwing them into the fire. Some were so violent and uncontrollable that they lived in tombs. Others caused an inability to speak. The demonic caused immense suffering—and many had lost hope at overcoming them. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were helpless when faced with this kind of opposition.
t. Then Jesus comes along—the demons know Him, they fear Him, they Obey Him. As long as this Jesus has this kind of power even over the spiritual world, then the teachers of the law would fear the influence of Jesus—“what do we do, they might start looking to Him, they might start listening to Him more than they listen to us.
u. Not just over the Demonic—but the Physical as well—vs 29-34—let’s us know that a fever, not caused by the demonic was cured—that many people with various diseases were brought to Jesus.
v. What’s worse for the leadership is that “the whole town gathered at the door” For those accustomed to being the mouthpiece of God, used to the attention and prestige for their religious authority—Jesus came in with authoritative teaching—came with demonstrations of authority of disease and the demonic.
w. Jesus claimed it, He proved it—and He awakened such an impassioned resistance even from the demonic that He was sent to the Cross—you will either want to embrace Jesus or you will want to crucify Him—this middle ground of –“Wow, He’s really interesting or a Good teacher” is not really a sustainable position—you must make a decision about who He is and what He has come to do.
x. Because it is in that message of authority and power that comes…
3. A Message of Calling—Mark 1:16-20
a. This good news Jesus did not allow His teachings to just become a nice set of laws or teaching philosophies. Jesus comes across people who’s hearts are seeking after God and He calls them out of their ordinary existence and puts them on the path of eternal significance. Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
b. He calls you and me to a decision—a decision that will radically change
i. what we are doing,
ii. why we are doing it and
iii. who we are doing it for.
c. Whatever you are doing in life—God calls you to a greater cause, a greater purpose, a greater more abundant life. I wonder what Jesus would have said if He had been walking in front of a bunch of
i. Accountants—Come, follow me and you will tally the harvest of heaven.
ii. Mechanics—Come, follow Me and I will have you repair those seeking the Way of Holiness
iii. Soldiers—Come, follow Me and I will have you rescue the fallen from behind enemy lines
iv. Professors—Come, follow Me and I will have you bring the true light to minds darkened by sin
v. Garbage Men—Come, follow Me and I will have you bring beauty to the unclean
d. There is no mundane life, no mundane job, no area of life that Jesus cannot transform into something glorious. The Call of God is to take our lives and Transform them into a grand adventure—for the Kingdom of God—it’s not about fame, fortune, brilliance, the bold or the beautiful—He calls you out of a life that does not fulfill our hearts desire and unite it to a more noble purpose.
e. 2 Timothy 2:20—“ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
2TI 2:22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
f. Gold, silver, wood, clay—all of them were capable of being used for noble purposes. We miss that fact sometimes. We sometimes thing that only the best, only the smartest, only the most talented, only the best paying are capable of being used for God’s glory. But that’s not true—a noble purpose is something that only God is able to give.
g. People in the world by nature, do not do things of a true, eternal, noble purpose—they may be able to accomplish some good, even great things—for themselves, for others—but our purposes are always tainted by our sin nature that come through and taints what we want to do with greed, selfishness—and accomplish things that will not make a difference in eternity.
h. The truly noble things, great and meaningful tings are the ones which Jesus invites us to—because what Jesus invites us to will have an Eternal Kingdom Value.
i. And these men were seeking something—seeking something greater, something bigger, something more inspiring than the daily grind. Their hearts were yearning for something significant. Do you share that? Do you share the desire for your life to mean something? It requires doing what they did—immediately, with desire and urgency—follow Him—even if it means leaving behind the comforting things.
j. Jesus is calling you and me out of where we are and into a life of significance. There is something more to be living for and Jesus is the one with the Authority and Power to show it to you!
k. Let me say that I don’t believe you will ever look at your job, your life, your opportunities the same way again when it is your heart’s desire to glorify God and draw people to Him in whatever you happen to be doing.
1. A Message Shared with a Criminal
2. A Message of Fulfillment
3. A Message of Repentance
4. A Message of the Good News
All of these things contributed to many wanting to send Jesus to the Cross. Yes, even the Good News—that God is a God of Grace, that Salvation is a free gift that is not earned or deserved—so angered people, so stripped the religious Pharisees of unlawful authority that they opposed Him and hated Jesus for it.
But there’s more—there’s more in this passage that provided fuel to the fire.
1. A Message of Authority—1:21-22
a. Jesus has a teaching that is contrary to the world’s way of thinking. He comes right into the middle of our lives and teaches that mercy is better than sacrifice, that the thoughts and attitudes of the heart are just as important as one’s actions, that doing good in they eyes of man will never earn salvation. He confronts our apathy, He confronts our prejudices, He proclaims that the Love of God is not based on ceremony or ritual but forgiveness & holiness, especially sacrificial love. A love so great that the answer is that the innocent would lay down His life for the guilty.
b. But one thing that upset the local leadership is that it didn’t take people long to figure out that Jesus had a greater authority than they did.
c. One reason why Jesus stood out so much in this day and age was because very rarely would a speaker or teacher speak for themselves. They would always quote and say what someone else said. Some famous teacher, some commentary on the Torah. They would speak with someone else’s authority to try and bolster their own. Reading the words of Jesus, especially in the Sermon on the Mount—“You’ve heard it was said, but I say to you…”—it was different—Jesus spoke not just as one who had read and heard things all his life, but as One who knew the heart of God so well, One who remembered the intent of those laws when they were written before all the baggage
d. Matthew 7:28-29—“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”
e. For years, the people had depended on the voices of the Pharisees and other teachers of the law. They were the Gatekeepers—Access to God was granted or restricted based upon the adherence to their rules and regulations.
f. They set the rules, they said what you could do and couldn’t do—only if you satisfied them, would you be granted access to God. but their rules were not based upon Scripture—but the additions of opinion—there were the rules of the law—and to avoid breaking those laws—we’ll make buffer laws, or we’ll make special exceptions so you can do the same thing without violating the law. You don’t have to honor your father and mother if you say “corban” and dedicate your wealth to God—after you die of course. You don’t have to honor the Sabbath if you follow certain paths, but you violate the Sabbath if you do good or pick a few seeds.
g. I’ve heard some—Christians shouldn’t play cards—shouldn’t go to the movies—women shouldn’t wear pants—no dancing—you must have a quiet time before your feet hit the floor out of bed. Many of these rules are not necessarily wrong—they have elements of truth and warnings of danger—but they are convictions—the hard part, the dangerous part —the excessive demand and rule comes when you or I try to take those convictions and make them rules or mandates that every “good” Christian should follow.
h. You do know what makes a good Christian don’t you? Everyone who agrees with me and does what I do.
i. Jesus is the only one who can say that. He possessed a greater authority than those in charge and the people were hungering and thirsting for it. That hasn’t changed.
j. So many people are hungering and thirsting for authoritative teaching. And there are many that are jumping forward to claim the title. Even Oprah is involved in a webcast of spiritual truth that thousands are following which says there is no such thing as sin—many ways to God—that the kind of divinity Jesus had is yours if you would only realize it. among other things that are contrary to biblical teaching. Many are claiming to be the authority—But Jesus is the one who has the Authority
k. And just in case there was any doubt to this authority, Jesus gives some proof with…
2. A Message of Power—vs. 23-26, 30, 32-34
l. Vs. 23-26—the demonic live in a spiritual reality—the things that we are typically not aware of is the reality they see every moment and understand.
m. The Demons Knew Him—“I know who you are”—they knew Jesus’ identity.
n. The Demons Feared Him —have you come to destroy us?—they knew what Jesus was capable of.
o. The Demons Obeyed Him
p. The Demons Fled from Him
q. Even the demons believed
r. Vs. 27-28
s. Such a contrary message—from other incidents in the New testament, we know that in Judaism, within the people blessed with the testimony of God’s intervention, blessed with the law, there were still people ravaged by demonic influence—some affected children, throwing them into the fire. Some were so violent and uncontrollable that they lived in tombs. Others caused an inability to speak. The demonic caused immense suffering—and many had lost hope at overcoming them. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were helpless when faced with this kind of opposition.
t. Then Jesus comes along—the demons know Him, they fear Him, they Obey Him. As long as this Jesus has this kind of power even over the spiritual world, then the teachers of the law would fear the influence of Jesus—“what do we do, they might start looking to Him, they might start listening to Him more than they listen to us.
u. Not just over the Demonic—but the Physical as well—vs 29-34—let’s us know that a fever, not caused by the demonic was cured—that many people with various diseases were brought to Jesus.
v. What’s worse for the leadership is that “the whole town gathered at the door” For those accustomed to being the mouthpiece of God, used to the attention and prestige for their religious authority—Jesus came in with authoritative teaching—came with demonstrations of authority of disease and the demonic.
w. Jesus claimed it, He proved it—and He awakened such an impassioned resistance even from the demonic that He was sent to the Cross—you will either want to embrace Jesus or you will want to crucify Him—this middle ground of –“Wow, He’s really interesting or a Good teacher” is not really a sustainable position—you must make a decision about who He is and what He has come to do.
x. Because it is in that message of authority and power that comes…
3. A Message of Calling—Mark 1:16-20
a. This good news Jesus did not allow His teachings to just become a nice set of laws or teaching philosophies. Jesus comes across people who’s hearts are seeking after God and He calls them out of their ordinary existence and puts them on the path of eternal significance. Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
b. He calls you and me to a decision—a decision that will radically change
i. what we are doing,
ii. why we are doing it and
iii. who we are doing it for.
c. Whatever you are doing in life—God calls you to a greater cause, a greater purpose, a greater more abundant life. I wonder what Jesus would have said if He had been walking in front of a bunch of
i. Accountants—Come, follow me and you will tally the harvest of heaven.
ii. Mechanics—Come, follow Me and I will have you repair those seeking the Way of Holiness
iii. Soldiers—Come, follow Me and I will have you rescue the fallen from behind enemy lines
iv. Professors—Come, follow Me and I will have you bring the true light to minds darkened by sin
v. Garbage Men—Come, follow Me and I will have you bring beauty to the unclean
d. There is no mundane life, no mundane job, no area of life that Jesus cannot transform into something glorious. The Call of God is to take our lives and Transform them into a grand adventure—for the Kingdom of God—it’s not about fame, fortune, brilliance, the bold or the beautiful—He calls you out of a life that does not fulfill our hearts desire and unite it to a more noble purpose.
e. 2 Timothy 2:20—“ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
2TI 2:22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
f. Gold, silver, wood, clay—all of them were capable of being used for noble purposes. We miss that fact sometimes. We sometimes thing that only the best, only the smartest, only the most talented, only the best paying are capable of being used for God’s glory. But that’s not true—a noble purpose is something that only God is able to give.
g. People in the world by nature, do not do things of a true, eternal, noble purpose—they may be able to accomplish some good, even great things—for themselves, for others—but our purposes are always tainted by our sin nature that come through and taints what we want to do with greed, selfishness—and accomplish things that will not make a difference in eternity.
h. The truly noble things, great and meaningful tings are the ones which Jesus invites us to—because what Jesus invites us to will have an Eternal Kingdom Value.
i. And these men were seeking something—seeking something greater, something bigger, something more inspiring than the daily grind. Their hearts were yearning for something significant. Do you share that? Do you share the desire for your life to mean something? It requires doing what they did—immediately, with desire and urgency—follow Him—even if it means leaving behind the comforting things.
j. Jesus is calling you and me out of where we are and into a life of significance. There is something more to be living for and Jesus is the one with the Authority and Power to show it to you!
k. Let me say that I don’t believe you will ever look at your job, your life, your opportunities the same way again when it is your heart’s desire to glorify God and draw people to Him in whatever you happen to be doing.
Friday, April 04, 2008
family pictures--
I received a new family camera from my parents since our last one broke. Here's a few of the fruits
Moriah's First Haircut!
Moriah's First Haircut!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Blessing, Beatitudes, Pure in Heart & Seeing God
Last night we at UBC continued our study of the Beatitudes. We spent more time focusing on “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
By “blessed”, I’m focusing on the Jewish culture blessing and the act of laying on of hands. In this sense, I’m taking the “blessed” to parallel the “hand of God” being on someone.
So paraphrasing, “the Hand of God is on the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The act or ceremony of Blessing brought someone close—you couldn’t bless someone in this way from a great distance. Jesus brought the children to Him. Jacob brought Joseph’s sons to him, as did Isaac bringing his son close to him. You get a good look at someone when they are that close to you.
We also looked at what it means to be “pure in heart”. Tonight at least, the definition of “pure” that really stood out was in the Levitical sense—clean—the use of which is not forbidden, imparts no uncleanness. Something didn’t have to be perfect in order to be clean—just set apart for the purpose of being used. A clean item is one which could theoretically be brought into the Temple to be used in ceremony of bringing glory to God.
That is what we are—we are being built into a temple, brought into His presence to be used for His Glory—we have been made clean and set apart for the master to use
2 Timothy 2:20-22—“ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
2TI 2:22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
The gold and silver are not the only things that can be used for noble purposes: even wood and clay can be used for noble purposes that are useful to the Master. We are to strive to be and instrument in the Hand of God, prepared to do any good work. And if He wants us to do something, He will empower us to do it—“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
When we are an instrument in His hand, we are not only close to Him—but we are seeing Him at work in our lives. We see God, not only in the ultimate salvific, eternal, return of Christ kind of way, but also in the way He chooses to use us, in the way He answers prayer, in the way, when we respond in obedience to His leading we see that we are His instrument in a higher calling. I for one want to see God more in this way—to see God more and more at work in my life. Pure in heart in many ways is about making yourself available to his hand.
Lord, make me pure in heart, a vessel set apart and clean for Your use—Help me to see You.
“Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You.”
By “blessed”, I’m focusing on the Jewish culture blessing and the act of laying on of hands. In this sense, I’m taking the “blessed” to parallel the “hand of God” being on someone.
So paraphrasing, “the Hand of God is on the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The act or ceremony of Blessing brought someone close—you couldn’t bless someone in this way from a great distance. Jesus brought the children to Him. Jacob brought Joseph’s sons to him, as did Isaac bringing his son close to him. You get a good look at someone when they are that close to you.
We also looked at what it means to be “pure in heart”. Tonight at least, the definition of “pure” that really stood out was in the Levitical sense—clean—the use of which is not forbidden, imparts no uncleanness. Something didn’t have to be perfect in order to be clean—just set apart for the purpose of being used. A clean item is one which could theoretically be brought into the Temple to be used in ceremony of bringing glory to God.
That is what we are—we are being built into a temple, brought into His presence to be used for His Glory—we have been made clean and set apart for the master to use
2 Timothy 2:20-22—“ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
2TI 2:22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
The gold and silver are not the only things that can be used for noble purposes: even wood and clay can be used for noble purposes that are useful to the Master. We are to strive to be and instrument in the Hand of God, prepared to do any good work. And if He wants us to do something, He will empower us to do it—“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”
When we are an instrument in His hand, we are not only close to Him—but we are seeing Him at work in our lives. We see God, not only in the ultimate salvific, eternal, return of Christ kind of way, but also in the way He chooses to use us, in the way He answers prayer, in the way, when we respond in obedience to His leading we see that we are His instrument in a higher calling. I for one want to see God more in this way—to see God more and more at work in my life. Pure in heart in many ways is about making yourself available to his hand.
Lord, make me pure in heart, a vessel set apart and clean for Your use—Help me to see You.
“Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You.”
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sermon--What is it about Jesus that Sent Him to the Cross-- Mark 1:9-14
Listen to the audio of this message here.
When tragedies strike, one of our first reactions is to ask, “Why?” We want to have explanations for tragedy—did they leave a note, were there any warning signs that were missed. It’s natural to seek a reason for our experience.
We’ve just come out of the Easter Season when Jesus was crucified, buried, but raised to life. It was one of the most tragic moments in human history. Last week we looked at those who were confident on Easter Saturday but were confused after Sunday. Those who were confused on Easter Saturday became Confident on Easter Sunday and beyond. All of this was due to the conquering power of Jesus—His ability to conquer sin and death, conquer the power of Satan . It was tragic—Jesus was crucified—but also a week of hope—Jesus is Risen.
Why did it ever come to that?
Why was Jesus crucified? What was it about Jesus and His message that so threatened the leaders and so warranted His crucifixion? On a human level, why did their deception cause them such hatred?
There are, I believe some indicators found in Mark 1:9-15.
1. A Message Shared with a Prisoner
a. Mark 1:14—“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee.” Do you hear how scandalous that sounds?
b. The local authorities had just thought that they had taken care another troublemaker responsible for big crowds, insulting local officials. John the Baptist was now in jail, but someone else is right there to step into those shoes—someone who could cause a whole lot more trouble. The leaders, the teachers of the law were already primed to deal with trouble. But they didn’t know what to make of John or his message, just that he was a threat.
c. During Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem, He asked these teachers of the law—Mark 11:30--“John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from men? Tell me?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘then why didn’t you believe him?’ but if we say, ‘from men’… ‘we don’t know,’” they eventually answered.
d. Jesus met with John, was baptized by John, and the first message Jesus gave parallels John’s own message—“Repent and believe the Good News!” sharing that same message doesn’t get Jesus started on the right foot.
e. I can understand this sentiment. What would you think if all of the Presidential candidates started getting their speeches from convicted felons? Would it change the way you view the candidate? I would think so.
f. But this message is the truth—shared with one who was speaking with the inspiration of God. It’s not the first time someone speaking the truth in love ran afoul of the authorities—Jesus is part of a long tradition of rejected spokesmen. It’s no wonder that Jesus is still one of the most divisive figures in the world—dividing history, nations, families, even households. He is not someone you can honestly take a fence riding position on—Jesus offends, Jesus forces a decision—the Kingdom of God is Near—Repent and believe the good news.”
g. In reality—Jesus was the One who was free—free from the curse of sin—while the rest of humanity was imprisoned—held captive in the Kingdom of Darkness—we were ones who have embraced our cage, accepted our prison bars—and Jesus is opening the door and inviting us to leave our captivity—Jesus shared His message with a prisoner, but was truly inviting freedom.
2. A Message of Fulfillment
a. Feeding the great messianic expectation, many had come in the past claiming to be the One promised, but they came and went usually in defeat and death at the hand of the ruling powers, not only for themselves, but also suffering for those who followed them.
b. But Jesus was different—Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of all that John was pointing to. John himself denied being the Christ when he was asked about it in John 1. John said that he was preparing the way for one was coming after him that was greater than he was, one who’s sandals he was not worthy to untie, the One who would baptize, not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit. The Messiah is Coming—as the Scripture has promised. And many of the leaders thought they had the Messiah all figured out.
c. The Messiah of their understanding and expectation was someone they could understand, who had the same goals and someone they could predict or control. They had a Job Description, they had Profile Criteria with 7 areas of Compatibility—they put E-Harmony to Shame in their desire to Match the Messiah with a Candidate.
d. Jesus claimed to be that fulfillment—Luke 4:16-21—“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
LK 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
e. Jesus claimed to be that fulfillment, but He didn’t fit the Profile of what the ones who put John in jail wanted or what they thought He should do. The Actions and Teachings of Jesus did not meet the expectations. What started out as curiosity—soon turned to opposition—this frustration eventually turning to the cross. This is more than just a bad break up—this is a bitter dysfunction and divorce.
f. Has Jesus fulfilled your expectations? Do you have a profile of wants and desires of what you think Jesus is supposed to do in your life? Did you sign up for some miracles, a perfect marriage, a satisfying, well paying job—then you need to know that Jesus is probably not a good match for you. He leads you to count the real cost of following Him, He leads you to the Cross of suffering. Jesus is not the cure-all, Mr. Fix-It—genie in a magic Lamp and He does not come into your life or mine to fulfill your expectations, my expectations—He comes into your life and mind with a Kingdom Agenda—to live fully and completely in and for this Good News and to be about Sharing this Good News with those who are still in prison. One of the first is that of Repentance.
3. A Message of Repentance
a. Mark uses the phrase, the Kingdom of God is near, “at hand” which means to be brought near to you. What’s interesting is that in order to make it into this kingdom, to be set free, you have to change your direction.
b. To repent means to change one’s mind—to turn around—what was once perfectly fine and acceptable is now wrong—the direction in life that was once so right and good needs a course correction.
c. To make it to the Kingdom of God—you need to change the direction of your life—and believe. This is a Road sign to the Kingdom--Detour
d. Imagine on your next flight that as you are coming in for a landing, the pilot comes on to the speaker and tells everyone—“ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our final approach onto runway 476. I just wanted to let you know that the Air Traffic Controllers and the Tower have been hounding me to alter my approach vector for the last 5 minutes—that I’m in danger of missing the runway and crashing in the lake—but they don’t know what they’re talking about—so sit back, relax and enjoy the remainder of the flight.”
e. What kind of confidence would you have at that moment?
f. If you’ve listened to Christian radio lately, you may have heard a commercial for a comedian making light of the bumper sticker that says—“God is my co-pilot” by pointing out that you’ve got to be a great driver if God calls shotgun when you drive.
g. The idea of God being the co-pilot appeals to us b/c it still implies that I’m driving. I’m the one in control, I’m the one choosing the destination and deciding the route to get there.
h. How many of you, when you’re driving, hate constant instruction and criticism of your driving? “you should turn here,” “slow down,” “don’t get so close,” “you’re going the wrong way”
i. You need to understand that is exactly what a message of Repent is—“You’re going the Wrong Way!” God needs to get out of your Co-pilot seat and get into the Driver’s Seat and put you in the back seat! God is offering to be your chauffeur and let you enjoy the ride.
j. As hard as it is for you and me to accept and receive directions from someone else—you may already know this about yourself, but there is little more difficult for a good and decent and committed religious person to hear than “you’re going the wrong way. It’s not just the sinners who need to repent—you need to repent. You’re not as good as you think you are—you don’t have it all together like you think you do.
k. The Kingdom of God is Near—it’s close by—but you’re not going to get their on your own by your own strength or by your own power. You are not good enough—you are going in the wrong direction, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God—still locked in your own prison—the direction of your own life, the strength of your own efforts to earn God’s favor, to earn God’s blessing of eternal life may seem right, but leads only to death.
l. That is not a popular message, but it is the message of Jesus—and the way of the Kingdom of God led Him not to military victory—not to a luxurious palace—not to worldly power, but to the Cross.
m. Repent—turn and believe the Good News
4. A Message of the Good News
a. Jesus’ message and His good news is this—Repent—stop going your own way, Stop trying to earn your way to heaven—stop trying to bear the burden of Sin and let Me bear it for you—stop living in uncertainty, stop living in fear of messing up—stop being afraid that you can never be forgiven—stop trying to hold on to God and let Him hold on to you. The Good News is the Gift of God—the gift of God is eternal life through-because of, by means of, by the power of Jesus Christ our Lord—He is holding you in His hand and no one can take you out..
b. As long as you try to live with God as your co-pilot, you are not trusting and believing and living in the truth of the Good News.
c. Ephesians 2:1-9—“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
d. You may find this hard to believe, but the message of Grace, the Good News was just as responsible for sending Jesus to the Cross as anything else.
e. For those religious authorities who draw their power by insisting that others live your way—perform certain duties under a code of legalism—the last thing you want getting spread around is the doctrine of Grace—that God’s love is Generous and Free—that while the price for forgiveness is High—that God will pay the price with His own blood.
f. They wanted to make the hoops for you to jump through to be right with God—it’s not about your efforts—it’s about His efforts and Work on the Cross. Trying to do it yourself is a form of bondage—trying to free yourself from a straight-jacket you yourself have tied. Grace and Forgiveness set , the Prisoner free.
g. Turn from your own way—believe—actually believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life—and you will be given the forgiveness that invites you into the presence of Almighty God for eternity.
When tragedies strike, one of our first reactions is to ask, “Why?” We want to have explanations for tragedy—did they leave a note, were there any warning signs that were missed. It’s natural to seek a reason for our experience.
We’ve just come out of the Easter Season when Jesus was crucified, buried, but raised to life. It was one of the most tragic moments in human history. Last week we looked at those who were confident on Easter Saturday but were confused after Sunday. Those who were confused on Easter Saturday became Confident on Easter Sunday and beyond. All of this was due to the conquering power of Jesus—His ability to conquer sin and death, conquer the power of Satan . It was tragic—Jesus was crucified—but also a week of hope—Jesus is Risen.
Why did it ever come to that?
Why was Jesus crucified? What was it about Jesus and His message that so threatened the leaders and so warranted His crucifixion? On a human level, why did their deception cause them such hatred?
There are, I believe some indicators found in Mark 1:9-15.
1. A Message Shared with a Prisoner
a. Mark 1:14—“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee.” Do you hear how scandalous that sounds?
b. The local authorities had just thought that they had taken care another troublemaker responsible for big crowds, insulting local officials. John the Baptist was now in jail, but someone else is right there to step into those shoes—someone who could cause a whole lot more trouble. The leaders, the teachers of the law were already primed to deal with trouble. But they didn’t know what to make of John or his message, just that he was a threat.
c. During Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem, He asked these teachers of the law—Mark 11:30--“John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from men? Tell me?” They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘then why didn’t you believe him?’ but if we say, ‘from men’… ‘we don’t know,’” they eventually answered.
d. Jesus met with John, was baptized by John, and the first message Jesus gave parallels John’s own message—“Repent and believe the Good News!” sharing that same message doesn’t get Jesus started on the right foot.
e. I can understand this sentiment. What would you think if all of the Presidential candidates started getting their speeches from convicted felons? Would it change the way you view the candidate? I would think so.
f. But this message is the truth—shared with one who was speaking with the inspiration of God. It’s not the first time someone speaking the truth in love ran afoul of the authorities—Jesus is part of a long tradition of rejected spokesmen. It’s no wonder that Jesus is still one of the most divisive figures in the world—dividing history, nations, families, even households. He is not someone you can honestly take a fence riding position on—Jesus offends, Jesus forces a decision—the Kingdom of God is Near—Repent and believe the good news.”
g. In reality—Jesus was the One who was free—free from the curse of sin—while the rest of humanity was imprisoned—held captive in the Kingdom of Darkness—we were ones who have embraced our cage, accepted our prison bars—and Jesus is opening the door and inviting us to leave our captivity—Jesus shared His message with a prisoner, but was truly inviting freedom.
2. A Message of Fulfillment
a. Feeding the great messianic expectation, many had come in the past claiming to be the One promised, but they came and went usually in defeat and death at the hand of the ruling powers, not only for themselves, but also suffering for those who followed them.
b. But Jesus was different—Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of all that John was pointing to. John himself denied being the Christ when he was asked about it in John 1. John said that he was preparing the way for one was coming after him that was greater than he was, one who’s sandals he was not worthy to untie, the One who would baptize, not just with water, but with the Holy Spirit. The Messiah is Coming—as the Scripture has promised. And many of the leaders thought they had the Messiah all figured out.
c. The Messiah of their understanding and expectation was someone they could understand, who had the same goals and someone they could predict or control. They had a Job Description, they had Profile Criteria with 7 areas of Compatibility—they put E-Harmony to Shame in their desire to Match the Messiah with a Candidate.
d. Jesus claimed to be that fulfillment—Luke 4:16-21—“He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
LK 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
e. Jesus claimed to be that fulfillment, but He didn’t fit the Profile of what the ones who put John in jail wanted or what they thought He should do. The Actions and Teachings of Jesus did not meet the expectations. What started out as curiosity—soon turned to opposition—this frustration eventually turning to the cross. This is more than just a bad break up—this is a bitter dysfunction and divorce.
f. Has Jesus fulfilled your expectations? Do you have a profile of wants and desires of what you think Jesus is supposed to do in your life? Did you sign up for some miracles, a perfect marriage, a satisfying, well paying job—then you need to know that Jesus is probably not a good match for you. He leads you to count the real cost of following Him, He leads you to the Cross of suffering. Jesus is not the cure-all, Mr. Fix-It—genie in a magic Lamp and He does not come into your life or mine to fulfill your expectations, my expectations—He comes into your life and mind with a Kingdom Agenda—to live fully and completely in and for this Good News and to be about Sharing this Good News with those who are still in prison. One of the first is that of Repentance.
3. A Message of Repentance
a. Mark uses the phrase, the Kingdom of God is near, “at hand” which means to be brought near to you. What’s interesting is that in order to make it into this kingdom, to be set free, you have to change your direction.
b. To repent means to change one’s mind—to turn around—what was once perfectly fine and acceptable is now wrong—the direction in life that was once so right and good needs a course correction.
c. To make it to the Kingdom of God—you need to change the direction of your life—and believe. This is a Road sign to the Kingdom--Detour
d. Imagine on your next flight that as you are coming in for a landing, the pilot comes on to the speaker and tells everyone—“ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our final approach onto runway 476. I just wanted to let you know that the Air Traffic Controllers and the Tower have been hounding me to alter my approach vector for the last 5 minutes—that I’m in danger of missing the runway and crashing in the lake—but they don’t know what they’re talking about—so sit back, relax and enjoy the remainder of the flight.”
e. What kind of confidence would you have at that moment?
f. If you’ve listened to Christian radio lately, you may have heard a commercial for a comedian making light of the bumper sticker that says—“God is my co-pilot” by pointing out that you’ve got to be a great driver if God calls shotgun when you drive.
g. The idea of God being the co-pilot appeals to us b/c it still implies that I’m driving. I’m the one in control, I’m the one choosing the destination and deciding the route to get there.
h. How many of you, when you’re driving, hate constant instruction and criticism of your driving? “you should turn here,” “slow down,” “don’t get so close,” “you’re going the wrong way”
i. You need to understand that is exactly what a message of Repent is—“You’re going the Wrong Way!” God needs to get out of your Co-pilot seat and get into the Driver’s Seat and put you in the back seat! God is offering to be your chauffeur and let you enjoy the ride.
j. As hard as it is for you and me to accept and receive directions from someone else—you may already know this about yourself, but there is little more difficult for a good and decent and committed religious person to hear than “you’re going the wrong way. It’s not just the sinners who need to repent—you need to repent. You’re not as good as you think you are—you don’t have it all together like you think you do.
k. The Kingdom of God is Near—it’s close by—but you’re not going to get their on your own by your own strength or by your own power. You are not good enough—you are going in the wrong direction, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God—still locked in your own prison—the direction of your own life, the strength of your own efforts to earn God’s favor, to earn God’s blessing of eternal life may seem right, but leads only to death.
l. That is not a popular message, but it is the message of Jesus—and the way of the Kingdom of God led Him not to military victory—not to a luxurious palace—not to worldly power, but to the Cross.
m. Repent—turn and believe the Good News
4. A Message of the Good News
a. Jesus’ message and His good news is this—Repent—stop going your own way, Stop trying to earn your way to heaven—stop trying to bear the burden of Sin and let Me bear it for you—stop living in uncertainty, stop living in fear of messing up—stop being afraid that you can never be forgiven—stop trying to hold on to God and let Him hold on to you. The Good News is the Gift of God—the gift of God is eternal life through-because of, by means of, by the power of Jesus Christ our Lord—He is holding you in His hand and no one can take you out..
b. As long as you try to live with God as your co-pilot, you are not trusting and believing and living in the truth of the Good News.
c. Ephesians 2:1-9—“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”
d. You may find this hard to believe, but the message of Grace, the Good News was just as responsible for sending Jesus to the Cross as anything else.
e. For those religious authorities who draw their power by insisting that others live your way—perform certain duties under a code of legalism—the last thing you want getting spread around is the doctrine of Grace—that God’s love is Generous and Free—that while the price for forgiveness is High—that God will pay the price with His own blood.
f. They wanted to make the hoops for you to jump through to be right with God—it’s not about your efforts—it’s about His efforts and Work on the Cross. Trying to do it yourself is a form of bondage—trying to free yourself from a straight-jacket you yourself have tied. Grace and Forgiveness set , the Prisoner free.
g. Turn from your own way—believe—actually believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life—and you will be given the forgiveness that invites you into the presence of Almighty God for eternity.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
The Hand of Blessing-- Beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount
I know it’s mostly been sermons lately. Sorry about that. But I wanted to share something that came from my preparations UBC’s for Wednesday night study. We just started looking at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, which typically starts with the Beatitudes.
They start out with the phrase, “blessed are the…”
Some translations will go so far as to say, “happy are the…”
I’ve never liked that translation. Because being blessed is so much more than just an emotional response—it is a state of being—it is something applied to you. One thing that came to mind changed the way I approach this moment.
The Jewish culture and many others in the area was a culture of hands on blessing. Whenever a father wanted to pass on blessing to his son, he brought him close, laid his hand upon his head or his shoulder and pronounced his blessing. This can be seen throughout the Old Testament. In the New Testament, there is the ceremony of laying on of hands—bestowing or passing on the Holy Spirit—sometimes literally, sometimes symbolic. Laying on of the hand continues in the ceremony of baptism. Taking hands was also a hand of fellowship. Jesus also, when His disciples tried to prevent children from approaching Him, actually drew them close to Him and “blessed them”. Jesus was and is a very Hands On type of person.
So for a culture that understood blessing passing from person to person by the physical contact and application of hands, the thought came that perhaps we should understand this type of blessing in the beatitudes as God passing on His blessing to us—thereby understanding that the Hand of God is upon those who are poor in spirit, the hand of God is upon those who are mourning in His touch of comfort, the Hand of God is upon those who are meek for they will receive an inheritance.
This Hand of God is not one which comes in times of discipline, but often of protection, reassurance, of favor, etc. Just think how much it means to you when another human being—in your moment of discouragement or need—comes and lays their hand on your shoulder, comes gets close to you, takes your hand and prays for you. That is what God is doing in these moments. God’s Hand of favor and blessing is upon you—contrary to what the world and popular opinion might be at the time, disdaining those very things Jesus commends. Their ultimate fulfillment may not come until the glorious return of Christ, but know that in the meantime, God’s hand of favor is still with you all along the way.
It’s changed the way I approach those texts—not just an experience of joy (though that is included)—but the assurance of God’s presence and love. You know someone is near when they are close enough to touch you.
What about you? What does it mean to be blessed?
They start out with the phrase, “blessed are the…”
Some translations will go so far as to say, “happy are the…”
I’ve never liked that translation. Because being blessed is so much more than just an emotional response—it is a state of being—it is something applied to you. One thing that came to mind changed the way I approach this moment.
The Jewish culture and many others in the area was a culture of hands on blessing. Whenever a father wanted to pass on blessing to his son, he brought him close, laid his hand upon his head or his shoulder and pronounced his blessing. This can be seen throughout the Old Testament. In the New Testament, there is the ceremony of laying on of hands—bestowing or passing on the Holy Spirit—sometimes literally, sometimes symbolic. Laying on of the hand continues in the ceremony of baptism. Taking hands was also a hand of fellowship. Jesus also, when His disciples tried to prevent children from approaching Him, actually drew them close to Him and “blessed them”. Jesus was and is a very Hands On type of person.
So for a culture that understood blessing passing from person to person by the physical contact and application of hands, the thought came that perhaps we should understand this type of blessing in the beatitudes as God passing on His blessing to us—thereby understanding that the Hand of God is upon those who are poor in spirit, the hand of God is upon those who are mourning in His touch of comfort, the Hand of God is upon those who are meek for they will receive an inheritance.
This Hand of God is not one which comes in times of discipline, but often of protection, reassurance, of favor, etc. Just think how much it means to you when another human being—in your moment of discouragement or need—comes and lays their hand on your shoulder, comes gets close to you, takes your hand and prays for you. That is what God is doing in these moments. God’s Hand of favor and blessing is upon you—contrary to what the world and popular opinion might be at the time, disdaining those very things Jesus commends. Their ultimate fulfillment may not come until the glorious return of Christ, but know that in the meantime, God’s hand of favor is still with you all along the way.
It’s changed the way I approach those texts—not just an experience of joy (though that is included)—but the assurance of God’s presence and love. You know someone is near when they are close enough to touch you.
What about you? What does it mean to be blessed?
Monday, March 24, 2008
3-23-08-- Easter Sunday-- The Confident, The Confused, The Conquering
Listen to the audio of this message here.
The Confident—
testimonies--dramatic readings
Caiaphas
All this time, I thought I was going to have a real problem with Jesus. For the last week my best minds were unable to show him as the blasphemer I knew he was. Turns out, He was just like all the others before him. All talk but nothing to back it up. The Temple is safe from his threat. Consider this little challenge to my authority handled. People like him have come and gone. It won’t be a couple of weeks before his name is forgotten, now that Jesus is dead.
Satan
The Old Tyrant sure wasted his time with that one—Jesus couldn’t save himself much less his people. I knew all those exorcisms and healings were just a bluff. He walked right into my little trap and he couldn’t get himself out of it. I don’t know why I’m surprised—no one escapes death. Game, Set & Match—all those centuries preparing the “Chosen People” to bring in the Messiah was wasted. They’re all still mine. Do you hear me? They’re all still mine! Now that Jesus is dead and buried, You will never get them back. Unless of course, you’re willing to cut a deal—there’s still time—I’m willing, but you know my price. If you really love them as much as you claim, then I’m confident that you’ll see my light and give me what is mine.
The days before the Resurrection was, I believe, a time of mistaken confidence. The High Priest was convinced it was better that “one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."—John 11:50
In the mind of the chief priests, the “Jesus Problem” had to be taken care of. He was challenging their authority, threatening the Temple, claiming to be God. So the High Priest had asked Jesus in Matthew 26:63—“I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” and with that question hanging in the air—the course of History was changed by the answer—“Yes, it is as you say.” He heard the Blasphemy, tore his robes and knew—Jesus had, in his eyes, condemned Himself—
Caiaphas was confident of the outcome—if he was able to get the Romans to do it—he knew their brutality could end all debate about Jesus. He never believed Jesus was the Messiah, never believed there was something special about Him. They watched and made sure as Jesus died on the cross. He was confident the problem was “laid to rest”. All he was worried about was his followers. Matt. 27:62-65. Caiaphas had covered all his bases.
Notice they don’t fear Jesus’ words coming true, they only fear the lie that the Disciples would tell if they stole the body. Satan—the real motivator behind these efforts believed that the disciples would resort to his tactics and deception. But he clearly does not understand the plan and the heart of God.
A man like Caiaphas had been concerned about this problem for only a couple of years at most, but the fear and expectation of this moment had plagued Satan ever since the word came in the garden, when he heard the prophecy saying—“He will crush your head and you will strike His heel”
After obsessing for millennia on how to stop the plan—he finally thought he had figured out a way—get other humans to kill him and make it as painful as possible. After all, killing Jesus as a baby didn’t work, tempting Jesus to sin didn’t work, scaring Him away from Jerusalem didn’t work, killing him was the last option. And it had worked. In some twisted way, Satan thought he had finally thwarted the eternal plan of God. Satan thought he had out-thought and out-maneuvered God Himself. And perhaps for the first time since his rebellion, he had a moment of rest and relaxation.
Both of them were confident of their success, but their confidence was misplaced. They both thought they had God and this situation all figured out. But God had a little surprise for them.
God is a God of the unexpected—He is unpredictable—His ways are not our ways. He doesn’t do what we think He should do, He doesn’t heal whom we think He should heal, and when He does, it’s not the same way twice. What appears to us as foolishness is often the lynchpin of His plan. Who would use a woman past menopause to have a child that would be the foundation of a nation? Who would use a virgin to bear the Messiah? Who would conquer death by dying?
So many of us in America think we are smart enough to figure it all out. Many unbelievers think we can push God out of the equation by explaining away miracles, creation, the soul so that we no longer need a God at all. But believers are just as susceptible—thinking you’re so close to God, so good at hearing His voice that you not only know His plan for your life, but also what He’s going to do in everyone else’s life. Or when you know the mind of God so well that even when something is wrong for everyone else, you know He will buy your rationalization and let you off the hook.
We act so confident that it’s as if we can debate with God, argue with God and win, convincing Him that we’re in the right. And so God becomes predictable, charted out and conformed to your mind.
If you think you have God all figured out, if you think you are the master of all your problems and situations—expect God to surprise you, expect Him to do the unexpected in your life—in many ways to shatter your confidence in your own strength, your own plans, your own power. The Resurrection shattered the Confidence of the Confident.
The Confused--Uncertain—The Disciples and other friends of Jesus
testimonies--dramatic readings
Apostle John,
I’ve been ashamed at my lack of understanding. I thought I had Jesus all figured out. Jesus would enter Jerusalem and finally proclaim Himself the Messiah and the Kingdom of God—true justice for the world would begin.
But that all changed on Friday. The man I thought of as my Messiah was arrested, beaten like a criminal and executed. At any moment, I thought Jesus display the power He commanded—but He never did. And I’ve been walking around in a daze ever since—not knowing what to do. My whole world came crashing down. I don’t even remember going back to the house—but apparently I made it. I’ve barely eaten since I saw what they did to Him. I remember crying out in anger—“God, how could this be a part of Your plan?”
I didn’t know what to do—neither did anyone else—we were all so confused.
Mary Magdalene,
I knew exactly where I was going—I’d followed the men who had taken Jesus body—it was my intention to finish what we’d started—to finish putting the spices and other things with Jesus so He would have a proper burial. After all He’s done for me, it’s the least I could do for Him. I was expecting to have some trouble with the doing it—I knew there was a guard and I knew there was a stone in front of the tomb—but my thought was that God would grant us favor with the soldiers—a small group of women were no threat to them.
But then we arrived—the guard was pretty much gone—the stone had been moved. I went in looking for Jesus and I couldn’t find Him. All I could think was, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, where have they taken Him?” I didn’t know what to do or what it meant. We started looking around for some kind of explanation and couldn’t find anything. I was so confused.
John and Mary were not alone in their confusion. The lives of all those following Jesus were turned upside down. Jesus tried on several occasions to warn them even explicitly telling them—
Luke 18:31-34—Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33 On the third day he will rise again."
18:34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
I can’t blame them for being so confused. Nothing had ever happened like it before. Nothing ever happened quite like it since. The confusion had caused them to struggle and doubt. Some holed up together in houses, others left town together in order to get home. And they were in a daze.
LK 24:13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
When the Risen Jesus asked 2 men about the events in Jerusalem, their confusion was evident saying that Jesus Luke 24:19—“was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
I shared on Good Friday how dazed and confused we would be if 3 days after some national tragedy—everything was restored. You get a glimpse of how these people would have felt by
Imagining if on December 10th, 1941—you woke up to read that everything in Pearl Harbor was undamaged—“this is a joke, right”.
Or If you woke up on November 25, 1963 to read that JFK was alive and addressing the nation—“how’s that possible?”
Or if you turned on the TV on September 14th, 2001 and saw reports about the miraculous reappearance of the World Trade Center Towers—“How is that even possible?”
Some of you are so confused—in a daze from hurt and pain, disenchanted from life, from people, from God—wondering whether God is trustworthy, if life can really go on, or if there is any plan or purpose to what’s happening.
Some of you for many reasons are confused about who God is, and what He is doing—about whether He really loves you, cares for you and can meet your deepest heart desire. Let me assure you that the Resurrection proves the Heart of God and gives Encouragement to the confused.
Those 2 men—upon hearing Jesus explain the situation, upon Him breaking bread and giving thanks said in Luke 23:32—“were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
LK 24:33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
To Thomas whom we describe as doubting, but who I believe was too scared to open his heart up to being let down again—Jesus spoke encouragement and offered proof, not condemnation—John 20:27—“Put your finder here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put in into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
To Peter, who had denied even knowing Jesus’ name. Jesus spoke 3 commands of Restoration—“Feed my lambs”, “Take care of my sheep”, Feed my sheep.”
If you are here today, confused and uncertain—unsure of whether God loves you, what He’s trying to do in your life. Then see that the Resurrection is the source of Encouragement, the source of our hope. It was the Risen Jesus that took a scared group of disciples and changed the world. John, Mary and the others didn’t know what was going to happen next, but they knew that if death could not stop Jesus then no other power on earth could as well. Do you believe that? STOP
The Confident have their confidence Shattered
The Confused have their confusion Encouraged
And it’s all because of
The Conquering—Victorious—Jesus—
When the Stone was rolled away and Jesus exited the Tomb resurrected—confidence was shattered—the best laid plans failed. Caiaphas now had a new problem—Jesus had become bigger and better than ever. The disciples who had been afraid to unlock the door had their confidence restored to the point that they could stand before the best of the teachers of the law and speak with boldness, conviction and power. Caiaphas had his confidence was replaced with confusion.
Satan’s Victory along with any confidence crumbled away with the first signs of life. Jesus promised that the Church that was established upon the Resurrection would not be on the defensive when it comes to spiritual matters, but would be on the Offensive—knocking down the Gates of Hell—binding up the strong man and robbing his house by rescuing the captives held in the kingdom of darkness.
Satan’s chief weapons, Sin & Death had lost their power, their hold, their sting by the Conquering Power of Jesus Christ—
1 Corinthians 15:54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
1CO 15:55 "Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
1CO 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
When death was proven powerless over the Son of God, all those who had put their trust and faith in Him received the encouragement they needed; their confusion was replaced with Confidence and Hope.
1CO 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Our King conquered Death, our King conquered the grave, our King conquered sin, our King Conquered Satan, our King Rescued you and I from the Kingdom of Darkness.
Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—the One who says with Power—“I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one Comes to the Father except through Me., who says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore Go and make disciples of all nations.” Who says, “Behold, I am Coming Soon”, “I Am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End…
Jesus is the Conquering Hero who confuses the Confident, Encourages the Confused and Invites you and me to be a part of the Conquering.
He is Risen!
Arise in our Hearts—Awaken in our Hearts a Heart for You Lord Jesus
The Confident—
testimonies--dramatic readings
Caiaphas
All this time, I thought I was going to have a real problem with Jesus. For the last week my best minds were unable to show him as the blasphemer I knew he was. Turns out, He was just like all the others before him. All talk but nothing to back it up. The Temple is safe from his threat. Consider this little challenge to my authority handled. People like him have come and gone. It won’t be a couple of weeks before his name is forgotten, now that Jesus is dead.
Satan
The Old Tyrant sure wasted his time with that one—Jesus couldn’t save himself much less his people. I knew all those exorcisms and healings were just a bluff. He walked right into my little trap and he couldn’t get himself out of it. I don’t know why I’m surprised—no one escapes death. Game, Set & Match—all those centuries preparing the “Chosen People” to bring in the Messiah was wasted. They’re all still mine. Do you hear me? They’re all still mine! Now that Jesus is dead and buried, You will never get them back. Unless of course, you’re willing to cut a deal—there’s still time—I’m willing, but you know my price. If you really love them as much as you claim, then I’m confident that you’ll see my light and give me what is mine.
The days before the Resurrection was, I believe, a time of mistaken confidence. The High Priest was convinced it was better that “one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."—John 11:50
In the mind of the chief priests, the “Jesus Problem” had to be taken care of. He was challenging their authority, threatening the Temple, claiming to be God. So the High Priest had asked Jesus in Matthew 26:63—“I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” and with that question hanging in the air—the course of History was changed by the answer—“Yes, it is as you say.” He heard the Blasphemy, tore his robes and knew—Jesus had, in his eyes, condemned Himself—
Caiaphas was confident of the outcome—if he was able to get the Romans to do it—he knew their brutality could end all debate about Jesus. He never believed Jesus was the Messiah, never believed there was something special about Him. They watched and made sure as Jesus died on the cross. He was confident the problem was “laid to rest”. All he was worried about was his followers. Matt. 27:62-65. Caiaphas had covered all his bases.
Notice they don’t fear Jesus’ words coming true, they only fear the lie that the Disciples would tell if they stole the body. Satan—the real motivator behind these efforts believed that the disciples would resort to his tactics and deception. But he clearly does not understand the plan and the heart of God.
A man like Caiaphas had been concerned about this problem for only a couple of years at most, but the fear and expectation of this moment had plagued Satan ever since the word came in the garden, when he heard the prophecy saying—“He will crush your head and you will strike His heel”
After obsessing for millennia on how to stop the plan—he finally thought he had figured out a way—get other humans to kill him and make it as painful as possible. After all, killing Jesus as a baby didn’t work, tempting Jesus to sin didn’t work, scaring Him away from Jerusalem didn’t work, killing him was the last option. And it had worked. In some twisted way, Satan thought he had finally thwarted the eternal plan of God. Satan thought he had out-thought and out-maneuvered God Himself. And perhaps for the first time since his rebellion, he had a moment of rest and relaxation.
Both of them were confident of their success, but their confidence was misplaced. They both thought they had God and this situation all figured out. But God had a little surprise for them.
God is a God of the unexpected—He is unpredictable—His ways are not our ways. He doesn’t do what we think He should do, He doesn’t heal whom we think He should heal, and when He does, it’s not the same way twice. What appears to us as foolishness is often the lynchpin of His plan. Who would use a woman past menopause to have a child that would be the foundation of a nation? Who would use a virgin to bear the Messiah? Who would conquer death by dying?
So many of us in America think we are smart enough to figure it all out. Many unbelievers think we can push God out of the equation by explaining away miracles, creation, the soul so that we no longer need a God at all. But believers are just as susceptible—thinking you’re so close to God, so good at hearing His voice that you not only know His plan for your life, but also what He’s going to do in everyone else’s life. Or when you know the mind of God so well that even when something is wrong for everyone else, you know He will buy your rationalization and let you off the hook.
We act so confident that it’s as if we can debate with God, argue with God and win, convincing Him that we’re in the right. And so God becomes predictable, charted out and conformed to your mind.
If you think you have God all figured out, if you think you are the master of all your problems and situations—expect God to surprise you, expect Him to do the unexpected in your life—in many ways to shatter your confidence in your own strength, your own plans, your own power. The Resurrection shattered the Confidence of the Confident.
The Confused--Uncertain—The Disciples and other friends of Jesus
testimonies--dramatic readings
Apostle John,
I’ve been ashamed at my lack of understanding. I thought I had Jesus all figured out. Jesus would enter Jerusalem and finally proclaim Himself the Messiah and the Kingdom of God—true justice for the world would begin.
But that all changed on Friday. The man I thought of as my Messiah was arrested, beaten like a criminal and executed. At any moment, I thought Jesus display the power He commanded—but He never did. And I’ve been walking around in a daze ever since—not knowing what to do. My whole world came crashing down. I don’t even remember going back to the house—but apparently I made it. I’ve barely eaten since I saw what they did to Him. I remember crying out in anger—“God, how could this be a part of Your plan?”
I didn’t know what to do—neither did anyone else—we were all so confused.
Mary Magdalene,
I knew exactly where I was going—I’d followed the men who had taken Jesus body—it was my intention to finish what we’d started—to finish putting the spices and other things with Jesus so He would have a proper burial. After all He’s done for me, it’s the least I could do for Him. I was expecting to have some trouble with the doing it—I knew there was a guard and I knew there was a stone in front of the tomb—but my thought was that God would grant us favor with the soldiers—a small group of women were no threat to them.
But then we arrived—the guard was pretty much gone—the stone had been moved. I went in looking for Jesus and I couldn’t find Him. All I could think was, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, where have they taken Him?” I didn’t know what to do or what it meant. We started looking around for some kind of explanation and couldn’t find anything. I was so confused.
John and Mary were not alone in their confusion. The lives of all those following Jesus were turned upside down. Jesus tried on several occasions to warn them even explicitly telling them—
Luke 18:31-34—Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33 On the third day he will rise again."
18:34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
I can’t blame them for being so confused. Nothing had ever happened like it before. Nothing ever happened quite like it since. The confusion had caused them to struggle and doubt. Some holed up together in houses, others left town together in order to get home. And they were in a daze.
LK 24:13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
When the Risen Jesus asked 2 men about the events in Jerusalem, their confusion was evident saying that Jesus Luke 24:19—“was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
I shared on Good Friday how dazed and confused we would be if 3 days after some national tragedy—everything was restored. You get a glimpse of how these people would have felt by
Imagining if on December 10th, 1941—you woke up to read that everything in Pearl Harbor was undamaged—“this is a joke, right”.
Or If you woke up on November 25, 1963 to read that JFK was alive and addressing the nation—“how’s that possible?”
Or if you turned on the TV on September 14th, 2001 and saw reports about the miraculous reappearance of the World Trade Center Towers—“How is that even possible?”
Some of you are so confused—in a daze from hurt and pain, disenchanted from life, from people, from God—wondering whether God is trustworthy, if life can really go on, or if there is any plan or purpose to what’s happening.
Some of you for many reasons are confused about who God is, and what He is doing—about whether He really loves you, cares for you and can meet your deepest heart desire. Let me assure you that the Resurrection proves the Heart of God and gives Encouragement to the confused.
Those 2 men—upon hearing Jesus explain the situation, upon Him breaking bread and giving thanks said in Luke 23:32—“were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
LK 24:33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
To Thomas whom we describe as doubting, but who I believe was too scared to open his heart up to being let down again—Jesus spoke encouragement and offered proof, not condemnation—John 20:27—“Put your finder here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put in into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
To Peter, who had denied even knowing Jesus’ name. Jesus spoke 3 commands of Restoration—“Feed my lambs”, “Take care of my sheep”, Feed my sheep.”
If you are here today, confused and uncertain—unsure of whether God loves you, what He’s trying to do in your life. Then see that the Resurrection is the source of Encouragement, the source of our hope. It was the Risen Jesus that took a scared group of disciples and changed the world. John, Mary and the others didn’t know what was going to happen next, but they knew that if death could not stop Jesus then no other power on earth could as well. Do you believe that? STOP
The Confident have their confidence Shattered
The Confused have their confusion Encouraged
And it’s all because of
The Conquering—Victorious—Jesus—
When the Stone was rolled away and Jesus exited the Tomb resurrected—confidence was shattered—the best laid plans failed. Caiaphas now had a new problem—Jesus had become bigger and better than ever. The disciples who had been afraid to unlock the door had their confidence restored to the point that they could stand before the best of the teachers of the law and speak with boldness, conviction and power. Caiaphas had his confidence was replaced with confusion.
Satan’s Victory along with any confidence crumbled away with the first signs of life. Jesus promised that the Church that was established upon the Resurrection would not be on the defensive when it comes to spiritual matters, but would be on the Offensive—knocking down the Gates of Hell—binding up the strong man and robbing his house by rescuing the captives held in the kingdom of darkness.
Satan’s chief weapons, Sin & Death had lost their power, their hold, their sting by the Conquering Power of Jesus Christ—
1 Corinthians 15:54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
1CO 15:55 "Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"
1CO 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
When death was proven powerless over the Son of God, all those who had put their trust and faith in Him received the encouragement they needed; their confusion was replaced with Confidence and Hope.
1CO 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Our King conquered Death, our King conquered the grave, our King conquered sin, our King Conquered Satan, our King Rescued you and I from the Kingdom of Darkness.
Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—the One who says with Power—“I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one Comes to the Father except through Me., who says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore Go and make disciples of all nations.” Who says, “Behold, I am Coming Soon”, “I Am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End…
Jesus is the Conquering Hero who confuses the Confident, Encourages the Confused and Invites you and me to be a part of the Conquering.
He is Risen!
Arise in our Hearts—Awaken in our Hearts a Heart for You Lord Jesus
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