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I love Peeps.
There’s something about gooey, sugary, artificially dyed animal shapes that really get a person hyped for Easter. I enjoy trying to smoosh them together and see how many I can fit into my mouth at once. And usually…they are the first thing to remind me that Easter is on its way. Suddenly, they appear in a giant display at Food Lion visible as soon as I enter. Not this year. This year when I went to Food Lion? Hand sanitizing stations. Plastic gloves. And plastic barricades. Doesn’t it feel a bit like Easter has been overshadowed? To be fair – this pandemic is still scary. There have been 1,577,360 cases of COVID-19 and 93,637 deaths. 6.6 million Americans filed for Unemployment last week. The stock market continues to volatilely jump up and down. Experts warn that the curve hasn’t slowed down yet. So… When do we get a victory? When do we get a win? Right now. Today we’re going to look at the very first Easter and remember the victory that’s ours Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Sadness of Easter The lesson this morning chronicles a group of a women who were very close to Jesus. Their story doesn’t start on Easter, but on Good Friday: Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last...But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. They saw the nails pierce his hands. They saw the thorns break his skull. They saw him bleed. They saw the soldiers mock him. They saw the religious leaders mock him. They saw random travelers mock him. They saw him face. They saw him weaken They saw his life slowly slip away… Until… He was no more. Instead of Jesus, there was a cold lifeless body. What ensued next was a bit of a hurried event. It was Friday afternoon. By 6 pm, the Jewish Sabbath would start. It was against religious law to have a dead person exposed and unburied once the holy evening began. (Granted, you might expect it to be against religious law to kill the Son of God, but…who’s keeping track really…) So… The soldiers took his body down. They quickly carried it to Pilate. Pilate gave it to a volunteer, who quickly wrapped up the body. Linens around the head. Linens around the body. Linens around the feet. Skip the ointments. Skip the oils. Skip the perfumes… There wasn’t much time left. Grab some soldiers. Carry the body to a tomb. Put it inside. And roll a giant stone in front. Get home in time for supper. While all of this was going on, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (v.55-56) And… On that day of rest… I imagine they couldn’t help but think of what they’d seen. Flashes of the horrors that Jesus went through interrupting their daily thoughts. Every door shut triggering the memory of that hammer. Even the red liquid of the tomato soup matching the red of his blood. Every unpleasant smell generating a nausea at what they’d seen. They tried to busy their minds by busying their hands. Crushing some herbs. Mixing some ointments. Heating things to the right temperature. They needed to properly bury his body. To do the things that time had not allowed them to do. To give him the respect he deserved. To get some closure on this death that was hanging over their heads. Hmmm… Death over their heads. On the very first Easter. I can’t help but notice that this year’s Easter and the first Easter have that in common because… Like Easter 2020, the very first Easter began with DEATH hanging over the day. But… On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. (v.1) “Mary, you pour the myrrh on his feet.” “I’ll take some frankincense to his head.” “Other Mary, you put sprinkle some of your special blend near the torso.” “Salome! How are we even going to do this? There’s that giant stone. It must weigh hundreds of pounds. Do you think the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb will even be willing to let us insi-” They stopped. They gasped. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. (v.3) The women looked at each other. Their question changed from who WILL roll away the stone to who DID roll away the stone. Was it the soldiers? Was it those nasty pharisees? Was it some kind of grave robber? But inside, they found nobody. And no body. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. (v.4) Angels! Messengers of the most high! Divine servants of the All Mighty. Holy. The women fell to the ground with their faces in the dirt. Because… The only things more terrifying than DEATH is facing the one who CONTROLS it. Angels were from God. God hated sin. They had sin. Were they about to be struck down? But the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” You came here searching for a tomb. A body. Death sealed within. But there’s no death here. There’s no DEATH in Jesus’ tomb. He LIVES. Stop being sad. Start being joyful. Jesus lives. II. Victory Truths Because Jesus lives, the Bible has some important truths for us to consider. (1) When it comes to Death, Your Level of FEAR Depends on whom You’re TRUSTING to Defeat It I remember growing up we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Beforehand, we divided up into teams in order to go and find as many Easter eggs as we could and put them in our basket. My team? We had Jon Lindloff on our team. Jon was the fastest kid on the block. He was the most athletic. He could jump the farthest. Whatever team he was on would end up winning whatever athletic contest he was in because he was that impressive. He was like the 7-year-old, small midwestern town version of Lebron James. So… When we were about to start the egg hunt challenge, we were pretty confident. We weren’t afraid of losing. Because we had Jon Lindloff. As you face COVID-19, where do you find confidence for victory? A latex glove? These can break. Some sanitizer bottle? They only kill 99.99% Social distancing rule? What if someone else doesn’t follow it? Doctors? What if they’re so sleep deprived and tired they can’t give you the best care? The government? What if can’t get along and come to a partisan agreement to help? Scientists? What if they don’t discover a vaccine before it’s too late? Trusting in an EARTHLY things to defeat death leads to High levels of FEAR Because all those things? They’re earthly. Earthly things die. You can’t trust in a thing that dies to defeat the things that causes those earthly things to die. You need to trust in something that doesn’t die. Back in the tomb, as the women were trying to process what the angels were saying about Jesus, the angels were trying to process how the women didn’t expect this resurrection. They said, Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words. (v.6b-8) They remembered about the time Jesus said he was like Jonah. Jonah had been inside the belly of a big old fish for three day, then come out alive. Like how Jesus had been in the belly of the earth for three days, then come out alive. (Matthew 12:40) They remembered about the time Jesus said the Pharisees should go destroy the temple, but he would rebuild it in three days. At the time, they had thought he meant the gigantic stone structure in which they worshiped, but he had really meant his body. (John 2:19) They remembered when Jesus said he was the kind of Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. But one who did so confidently, because he had the authority to raise his body back to life again. (John 10) They remembered when Jesus said plainly, “I am going to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. But three days after he is killed, he will rise.” (Mk. 9:31) The truth is that… Trusting in the HEAVENLY ONE leads to high levels of CONFIDENCE. Jesus trustworthy. He defeated death just as he said. Jesus is trustworthy. He’ll get you through what’s going on. (2) Jesus Holds an UNBLEMISHED Record against Death. This is the reason that the angel says to the women: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Not just because Jesus is living. But Jesus is the LIFE. A paraphrase might be: “You really thought measly old death could defeat Jesus? Ha! Hey, Clarence. Put down your harp. You gotta hear this. It’s a good one.” In fact, Jesus had already proven his power over death. He met a young girl who had died a few hours before he made it to her room. Jesus grabbed her hand and brought her back to life. Jesus stopped a procession for a young man who had died just yesterday. Jesus touched the casket and the brought him back to life. Jesus missed the funeral of a friend of his and approached the tomb where his friend had been buried for over four days. Jesus opened the tomb and brought him back to life. Jesus holds an UNBLEMISHED Record against Death. And to the victor goes the spoils! If you win at the Olympics, you get the gold medal. If you win at the Super Bowl, you get a super bowl ring. If you win a boxing match, you get the winner’s purse. (Which…I always thought was an actual purse. And I wondered why manly boxers carried purses, but…turns out they just meant money…whatever). To the winner goes the spoils. What are the spoils for Jesus’ victory? Forgiveness. Peace with God. Eternal Life. But here’s the thing. Jesus didn’t take these spoils for himself. He gives them to you. Jesus’s VICTORY over death means you receive the SPOILS. You have forgiveness. You have peace with God. You have eternal Life. This means that when it comes to the Corona Virus, you will get the victory. Regardless of how it comes. God keeps you safe and you never get COVID-19. You win. You get sick, but God heals your body. You win. You get sick. You don’t heal. You die. But then you live forever in heaven! YOU WIN! (3) With hope in JESUS, there is ZERO reason to fear Death. There’s a pretty fabulous Bible passage that talks about the victory Jesus had over death. It’s found in Corinthians 15:55, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” There was a dad who was sitting outside with his little girl. They were playing. Enjoying the nice day. When suddenly, a bee flew near them. This was a bigger deal to the girl than to most. She was allergic. Deathly allergic. She began to cry. She began to wail. So… Dad wrapped her up in his big bear arms. He protected her. The bee landed on his bicep and stung him. After the sting, dad let the girl go. The bee was still flying around, but dad wasn’t worried. Why? The bee’s stinger was stuck in him. It couldn’t sting his daughter anymore. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (v.56-57) Death has lost its sting. IT cannot sting you any longer. It’s no longer separation from God, But an entrance into the joys of heaven. III. What Now? (1) Share the Victory When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. (v.9) There are others who are fearful. There are others who are afraid. There are others who are spending this Easter…with death hanging over their heads. Give them Jesus. It’s what the women were so excited to do. They ran out of the tomb. They left their spices behind. Because suddenly all that mattered was telling others about Jesus’ victory over death. Do the same. Put everything else down. Go to tell a neighbor. Go tell a friend. Go tell a family member. Christ is Victorious! Amen.
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The penultimate reading of Jesus’ passion history this evening will also serve as a primary basis for our message tonight. Chances are you’ve heard it before. You’re probably familiar with the grim picture it paints. Here is God himself, our savior, brought out after a savage beating and now put to death. Not because he did wrong, but because he didn’t. He would not toe the line with the corrupt religious leaders of the day and instead spoke the truth. Their jealousy drove them to this end. He came to help, and he was executed because they did not worship God, they worshipped themselves.
Of course, it’s easy to point that kind of finger at the events that surround the cross. How dare they attack Jesus. How dare they put him to death for no reason. How loathsome. How vile. Perhaps you remember some time ago when Mel Gibson produced his Passion of the Christ movie? Now I know he’s been the subject of controversy since then, but let’s put that aside for a moment. There was a stir of controversy around his movie at the time, as it included the biblically accurate line where the crowd, shouting for Jesus’ death, took responsibility for his death. “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” they shout. In compromise, the production chose not to subtitle that line in the film, leaving it only shouted in Aramaic. But what was telling was Gibson’s response to this controversy when interviewed. He was asked, point blank, who really killed Jesus. His response? “I did.” Whatever else you want to say about him, his answer was spot-on. The people of the day may have been responsible for carrying out the events that happened, but God orchestrated everything that happened, Jesus allowed jealous men to put him on the cross. But it was my sin that made him go. It was my failures he suffered for there. It was because of me that he did this. It was because of and for me that he died. The payment made on the cross is universal. Jesus suffered for all at once. Yes. But it is also personal. It happened because of you. It happened because of me. I often like to remind myself that if, in all of creation, I was the only one who ever sinned…Jesus still would have done this. Just for me. Or just for you. It is a grim spectacle, and a testimony to just how awful our sins are. The defeat of death that plays out here is vicious, and it is difficult to look at, but it is a necessary reminder of the seriousness of our crimes. This is what should have happened to us. Listen, as God goes in your place: As they were going out of the city, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon. They forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. They came to a place called Golgotha, which means “The place of the skull.” They offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. After they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among themselves by casting lots. Then they sat down and were keeping watch over him there. Above his head they posted the written charge against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” At the same time two criminals were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. People who passed by kept insulting him, shaking their heads, and saying, “You who were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, experts in the law, and elders kept mocking him. They said, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. If he’s the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now, if he wants him, because he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with him kept insulting him. From the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “This fellow is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, and soaked it with sour wine. Then he put it on a stick and gave him a drink. The rest said, “Leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” After Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. Suddenly, the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and rocks were split. Tombs were opened, and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised to life. Those who came out of the tombs went into the holy city after Jesus’ resurrection and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those who were guarding Jesus with him saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:32-54) There’s a detail in the passion reading that may have blown by you with everything that happened, and I’d like to focus on it this evening. But to understand its significance, we have to go back. Way back. Hundreds of years back to the earliest days of the Israelite nation, on their journey away from Egypt, wandering in the desert. Back then, the primary place of worship was the tabernacle of the Lord. It was built exactly as God prescribed to them. The Temple of the Lord built in Jerusalem built centuries later would simply be a larger-scale version of this same house of worship. The space was laid out like 3 cubes set side by side by side. The first two formed a single space, the Holy Place, where the majority of worship was done. The last cubic space was separated from the rest by a curtain. Not a lot of detail is given about the curtain, except that it was thick enough that you couldn’t possibly see through it, and that it covered the space entirely, making it 15 feet tall by 15 feet wide. The last space was called the Most Holy Place or Holy of Holies. Here was where the ark of the covenant sat, containing a number of holy relics God instructed the Israelites to store there. But what is more significant is that God said his presence would dwell in the Most Holy Place. Of course, we know from our Lenten series that God is everywhere, but he was making a point here, that his presence dwelt there in a unique way, and so to enter this space behind the curtain was truly to come into the presence of the living God. In this account from Leviticus, God establishes a festival called the Day of Atonement. And in it, he impresses upon the people just how ridiculously difficult and dangerous it is to approach a holy God as a sinful human being. Aaron’s two sons had already died for not treating God’s presence with the proper respect. Listen how strictly God defends his holy presence and how difficult it is for a sinner to approach him. Only with blood could Aaron make this one, tentative approach to God on behalf of the people once every year. The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who had died when they approached the presence of the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, “Tell your brother Aaron that he must not enter into the Holy Place at any time he chooses by going inside the veil which is in front of the atonement seat that is on the ark. This is so that he will not die, for I appear in the cloud over the atonement seat.” This is how Aaron shall enter the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a whole burnt offering. He is to wear a sacred linen tunic, with linen underwear covering his flesh, with the linen sash as his belt, and with his head wrapped with the linen turban. These are the sacred garments. He must wash his body with water and then put the garments on. From the congregation of the people of Israel he shall also receive two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a whole burnt offering. Aaron shall present the bull for his own sin offering, to make atonement for himself and for his household. After Aaron has presented the bull for his sin offering to make atonement for himself and for his household, he shall slaughter the bull for his sin offering. Then he is to take a full pan of glowing coals from the top of the altar, which is before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and bring them inside the veil. He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord so that the cloud from the incense covers the atonement seat that is over the Testimony, so he will not die. He is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger upon the surface of the atonement seat on its east side. He is also to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement seat. He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering of the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he had done with the blood of the bull. He is to sprinkle it on the atonement seat and in front of the atonement seat. He shall make atonement for the sanctuary to cleanse it from the uncleanness of the Israelites and from their rebellions and all their sins. This is what he shall do for the Tent of Meeting, which dwells in the midst of Israel’s uncleanness. When he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary, no other person may be in the Tent of Meeting until he has come out. In this way he shall make atonement for himself and his household, as well as for the entire assembly of Israel. He shall then come out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and smear it all around the horns of the altar. With his finger he is to sprinkle some of the blood upon it seven times. In this way he is to purify it and set it apart from the uncleanness of the Israelites. (Leviticus 16:1-6,11-19) And here’s where we come to our point. The Most Holy Place still existed in Jesus’ time. It was simply much bigger and was part of the stationary temple built in Jerusalem, and not a mobile Tabernacle that could be put up and taken down as needed. The linear dimensions were double that of the tabernacle, which means if you remember your volume equations, it was eight times larger inside than the previous model. The curtain separating the Holy from the Most Holy place would hang 30 feet in the air down to the floor. The rules and promised consequence around the Most Holy Place still stood. No one could just approach God. You didn’t go in there unless you were instructed to and only if you did everything just right or literally being in God’s presence would kill you. Sin cannot stand in the presence of a Holy God. It is a stark reminder of how seriously we are separated from him. But on this day: After Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. Suddenly, the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. Thirty feet, top to bottom. This was not some damage as a result of the earthquake that happened here. This was a deliberate, miraculous sign. Jesus went to the cross for our sin, and he suffered there for it. It was ugly and he died. It looked like a miserable defeat. But then, the curtain was torn. You see...the divide was gone. Our sin, our un-holiness is what separates us from a Holy God. It’s what keeps us from being able to approach him. It divides us from him. But it’s gone. Your sins are paid for. They don’t exist to God anymore. You can approach him with confidence, because you are holy in his eyes now. The tearing of the curtain says, “Come on in.” As we sit here, day by day feeling cut off from the rest of the world, we have this privilege. We can approach God ourselves with petition and prayer, not needing any intermediary. And at the end of all this nonsense, we go to him. Nothing stops us anymore. The curtain is gone. We leave here, we go direct to God’s presence, to be with him forever. This is our promise, bound up in the tearing of that curtain as Jesus gave up his life for you. Tonight, with reverence we humbly remember why this was necessary. We let ourselves be reminded what the stark cost of our sin really is. We feel the shame that it was my fault this happened. It is good to be reminded why we need a Savior. It’s good to look at the cost of our sins so we stay humble. But we should not wallow in this evening as though it were a loss. More than ever we need to remember that this was a triumph for God and for us. Jesus went willingly for you and for me. He stayed there because he loves you. He died to pay your price. It looks ugly, but it was a victory. God did exactly what he set out to accomplish this night. The curtain is torn, the divide between us is removed. Defeat? No; victory! We are finishing up our sermon series by looking at one of the most visually incredible miracles in the Bible. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
I. Peter’s Problem The miracle itself is recorded in Matthew 17. But for a bit of context, we’ll start at the end of Matthew 16. At this point, the disciples had seen Jesus do a plethora of miracles. As they sat down near a campfire, I wonder if they didn’t imagine the next ones: What if Jesus suddenly made these rocks into delicious Steak dinners? Do you think I should ask him? How about if he turns all the Roman soldiers into a bunch of chicken? Speaking of the Roman empire, maybe he could take us to Pontius Pilate’s palace, and he could make it disappear! I’ve got a better idea than that! Maybe he could make, you, Andrew, disappear! Whatever they thought Jesus might be planning to do, it’s doubtful any of them considered what Jesus had planned: Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (v.21) Wait…What!?! You can cure leprosy. You can banish demons. You stopped the weather! Why would you let these humans beat you up? Why not give them leprosy? Why not send the demons after them? Why not cause a storm to take place within the walls of the Pharisee’s hideout!?! But Peter was the boldest. Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” (v.22) The disciples didn’t get it. It didn’t make sense. Jesus did all those miracles… …so he could die? TRUTH: To human reason, Jesus’ use of his power can seem ODD. It’d be like going to a magic show where the magician has already levitated, sawed someone in half, and then, escaped a hyperbolic chamber filled with water while he was strapped into a strait jacket and then .for his final act, he pulls a quarter from a little girl’s ear. How could death be Jesus’ final act? I was talking to a friend the other day who whose aunt was very sick with cancer. The test results weren’t positive. The doctor’s predictions weren’t good. So, the believer said this: Isn’t this what Jesus is for? Isn’t the point of his POWER to help his people? I wish I could talk to God. I’d set him straight on how he should be using his POWER. I’d tell him, “NEVER Jesus! This shall NEVER happen.” You know… Like Peter. You ever thought something similar: Jesus you’ve got power. Here’s what you should do with it. You should heal my aunt’s cancer. You should fix my marriage. You should end my job hunt. You should give me more friends. You should give me a child. You should give me a husband. God, if you don’t do that, you’re not doing a very good job with your power. But do you know how Jesus responded to Peter’s rebuke? He didn’t say, “Goodness, Peter. You’re right. Your sinful, imperfect, incomplete human reason has bested my sinless, perfect, all knowing divine reason.” Nope. “Get behind me Satan! You don’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (v.23) TRUTH: REBUKING Jesus’ use of power leads to Jesus’ REBUKE. Because rebuking Jesus’ use of power is sin. It’s like being a back-seat driver. If your spouse is driving, you may find yourself on occasion telling them where they are driving incorrectly: Turn on your blinker sooner. Speed Limit is 65. Your hands aren’t at 10 & 2. But can you imagine doing that to a professional race car driver? Like 2019 NASCAR Cup Series Champion, Kyle Busch? Excuse me, Mr. Busch. But…I think you’re taking the turns a smidge tighter than you should. Kyle Busch is better at driving than you. And God is infinitely better at using his power than you. It’s why he’s God and you’re not. And if you’re telling him what to do, don’t be surprised if his response is simply: Get behind me Satan. II. The Miracle Six days later… Six days of Jesus’ words echoing in Peter’s ears. Six days of cooling off. Six days of thinking about what Jesus had said about his “death.” Then, …Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John…and led them up onto a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured in front of them. (17:1) The Greek word for “Transfigured” is “morphe.” It’s where we get the word Metamorphosis. It refers to a transformation or a change in one’s essence. (Like a butterfly, the Animorphs, or even the Mighty MORPHIN Power Rangers.) Jesus’ metamorphosis beats them all. His face was shining like the sun. (v.2a) Not just reflecting some morning sunlight off it. His skin was luminescent. It was shining so brightly that the disciples must have had to squint to look in his direction. His clothing became as white as the light. (v2b) A bit odd, since Jesus’ desert clothing would have contained a bit of desert dirt stains on it. A yellow or light brown. But instantly it transformed to a bleach white that was so bleach white it twinkled – like the light. And as the disciples squinted in Jesus’ general direction, they noticed two other figures standing there with him. Moses. A prophet through whom God did incredible miracles: 10 plagues, the splitting of the Red Sea, and bread from heaven. Elijah. Another prophet through whom God did incredible miracles: fire raining from heaven, birds delivering food, a young man brought back to life. Two incredible miracles performers standing at the beckoning call of Jesus. Also… …they had both been dead. For years. Now they stood…alive. And as Peter stood there looking at this ethereal, incredible, amazing sight, I think he came to one conclusion TRUTH: Jesus’ miracles were only a HINT of his power. The healing of incurable leprosy? Only a hint. Jesus could cure all disease with just a snap of his finger. The enabling of the paralytic? Only a hint. Jesus could remove all paralysis with just a clap of his hands. The resurrection of Jairus’ daughter? Only a hint. Jesus could bring all dead back to life, with only a whisper. It’s like playing basketball, as a dad, with your 4th grade son. At first, you play easy. You let him score on you. You pretend to trip up. You only shoot three pointers. But then, when your son gets a little cocky and starts to trash talk: “Your game stinks so much, you need a shower.” So, the next time he goes for a layup, you swat it out of the air like Dikembe Mutumbo. Just a HINT. Jesus’ miracles were powerful. But they were only a hint of his power. Peter was so amazed. He had seen snippets of Jesus’ power before, but now? He was in full view of his glory. Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (v.4) Because… This whole face shine thing is pretty amazing And I wouldn’t want it to go out because of a gust of wind and a bit of rain. I’ll get some sticks. I’ll get some leaves. I’ll get you some protection from the elements… ..that… …you… ….control. While he was still speaking, the elements started to be controlled. A bright cloud overshadowed them. It surrounded him. It covered everyone else. Till all Peter saw was bright cloud. Then, a voice… “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” (v.5) TRUTH: Jesus is GOD’S own SON. That’s been the point of the miracles this whole time. They were SIGNS pointing to the fact that Jesus was God! Curing the incurable? Only God could do that. Jesus did that. Jesus is God. Eliminating paralysis? Only God could do that. Jesus did that. Jesus is God. Banishing a legion of demons? Only God could do that. Jesus did, so Jesus is God. Walking on water? Only God could do that. Jesus did that. Jesus is God. Developing bread out of thin air? Only God could do that. Jesus did that. Jesus is God. Raising the dead? Only God could do that. Jesus did that. Jesus is God. III. A Two-Fold Reaction All of this was overwhelming to Peter and the other disciples. When the disciples heard this, they fell face down and were terrified. (v.6) They were trapped in the middle of a Divine cloud. They were in the presence of God himself. God was POWERFUL. They were WEAK. God was DIVINE. They were HUMAN. God was HOLY. They were SINNERS. So… They hit the floor. Hoping that God wouldn’t be able to distinguish between them and the dirt. TRUTH: Jesus’ power leads to FALLING DOWN in TERROR. Yet, I don’t know that this happens all the time in church. When you get ready for church in the morning, what do you think about? I hope that one guy is there that I like to give high fives. I hope that we can get in and get out in an hour. I hope that the cookies are pretty good after worship. I’m starving. Those are common things. Things that I’ve thought of myself. But… How often do you think? I’m about to encounter, the face shining, clothing glowing, surrounded by dead prophets and a brilliant cloud, God. Because it’s true. You are. In fact, the disciples were encountering that God long before being on the mountain. Peter and the disciples had been walking with the divine Holy God himself for the last two years. When they stopped for breakfast? It was God who stopped with them. When they needed a break from walking? It was God who took a break with them. When he complained out loud about not trusting God? It was the God whom he was complaining about that was in earshot. And you encounter God, too. You encounter ALL POWERFUL God when you gather to worship. You encounter SIN HATING GOD, when you approach the Lord’s Table. You encounter the ONE WHO CONTROLS THE CLOUDS, when you pick up a devotional book and spend 5 minutes reading God’s Word. Honestly… That’s terrifying. It’s why the disciples were lying face first on the ground. Eyes closed. waiting for the inevitable lightning bolt. But instead, They felt a hand. Jesus approached and as he touched them, he said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” They opened their eyes. No cloud. No Moses. No Elijah. No brilliant light. Only Jesus. TRUTH: Jesus’ mercy leads to STANDING UP in CONFIDENCE. Yes, you are standing in the presence of ALL HOLY, SIN HATING GOD. But you are also standing in the presence of your ALL MERCIFUL Jesus. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world. But to save the world. He didn’t come into the world to condemn us. But to save us. He didn’t come into the world to condemn you. But he came to save you. He is the Savior. IV. The Aftermaths As they disciples were walking down the mountain, they began to conclude that Jesus was the Savior after all. But one prophecy didn’t add up. It was a prophecy from Malachi that said Elijah would come before the Messiah. And since, they had just stood in the face of all holy God and not been destroyed, they were confident enough to ask about it: Jesus explained. Elijah is coming. (v.11) In fact, he already did. (v.12) They didn’t recognize him. And instead killed him. Just like they’ll kill me. (v.11-12) There’s one more note about this interaction. It said that the disciples realized “Elijah” was a reference to John the Baptist. Who had to come. Who had to be killed for prophecy to come true. But they were still missing one point. Jesus had to suffer. Jesus had to die. For prophecy to come to true. TRUTH: Jesus’ impending death was NECESSARY. This was the whole purpose of Jesus’ coming to earth. Not to do miracles. Not to heal everyone. Not to defeat the Romans. Not to do impressive feats of strength. He came to suffer and die for your sins. To conquer guilt. To conquer shame. To conquer death itself. In fact, this Mount of Transfiguration, it’s pretty glorious. But it isn’t the mountain on which God showcased his greatest glory. That mountain? Calvary. Because on Calvary, Jesus suffered. On Calvary, Jesus died. On Calvary, Jesus displayed his greatest glory… …and saved you. So…LISTEN TO JESUS. You’ve got to imagine that plagued Peter for a bit. He hadn’t listened to Jesus. He had rebuked the Divine God, to HIS FACE. And now that thundering cloud’s voice rang in his ears. “Listen to Him.” Do the same. Even when it looks silly. Even when it looks odd. Even when it looks like God is calling you to do something that doesn’t make sense… Be baptized? Listen to him. Take and eat? Listen to him. Worship an invisible God? Listen to him. Stay faithful? Listen to him. Amen. "Kobe Bryant died."
I was reading that message on my phone Sunday evening and my first reaction was that it was probably a hoax. But I kept seeing reported by CNN, Fox News, NBC, CBS, ABC, and ESPN. NBA Legend Kobe Bryant had been tragically killed in a helicopter accident. There was even live video footage of the helicopter crash. It was real. And it really affected a lot of people. Person after person on social media mourning the death of Kobe Bryant. This is strange. Because… People die every day. People die every hour. People die every minute. Why did Kobe’s death affect so many people? Perhaps it has something to do with his celebrity. Kobe was the best in the business. He was at the top of his game. He was the pinnacle of his craft. He was involved in much charity work. It looked like there wasn’t anything Kobe couldn’t do. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t conquer. But then…death. Maybe it affects us so much because, “If Kobe couldn’t beat death, how can anyone of us?” This morning, we continue our MIRACLE series, by pitting Jesus against death itself. The question: Who is more powerful? Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Jairus’ Last Hope We’re going to look at an account that is written about by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Each of them provides some different insight into the miracle, so by looking at them together we get a full picture of the event. When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. (Mk. 5:21) Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house, because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. (Lk. 8:41-42) Jairus was a synagogue leader, that is Jairus oversaw the upkeep and activities of this local place of worship. He was the one who made sure the synagogue was properly decorated for each religious festival. He made sure it was scheduled appropriately and the ladies’ group didn’t book the fellowship area the same night as the men’s group. He made sure that when little Hezekiah spilled cheerios in the back seats that those cheerios were picked up and removed before the next worship service. And since Jairus worked with the synagogue, he also worked closely with the Pharisees. Do you remember those Pharisees? They loved their synagogues. They loved to have people watch them walk into synagogue. They loved to have people watch them walk out of a synagogue. They loved to have people associated them with synagogues. They loved to have Jairus schedule activities for them to go to the synagogue so that they could be seen by others going to the synagogue. And I doubt Jairus minded it. Because if the Pharisees had your back, then you were a made man: Well-liked and well taken care of. That’s important. Because Jairus needed to be taken care of. Because Jairus was also a father. He had a little twelve-year old girl that he loved dearly. Just like any father of a young girl, I’m sure that Jairus loved watching his daughter mature into a young lady. He loved watching her discover her love for art. He loved hearing about her dreams and goals in life. He loved protecting her from all the “stupid” boys in her life. He loved making her laugh funny faces, goofy noises…For some reason, I picture Jairus being a big fan of dad jokes. But…I won’t dogmatic about it, but… “What did the drummer name his two daughters? Anna One! Anna Two!” “Why did the picture go to jail?” “Because it was framed.” “What do you call a bear without any teeth?” “A gummy bear.” Jairus loved his daughter. He loved her laugh. He loved her smile. He loved her twinkle in her eye. Jairus would do anything for his daughter. And that was being put to the test. Recently Jairus’ daughter had been very sick. And I’ll bet he tried all things: Getting her rest. Still sick. Taking her to the doctor. Still sick. Taking her to another doctor. Still sick. Giving her over the counter medication. Still sick. Giving her prescription medications. Still sick. Even giving her Essential Oils like lavender and peppermint. Still sick. He had tried everything. Well…Almost everything… Jairus knew about Jesus. He had heard how Jesus had healed many people. How he had cured disease after disease with just a few words. But, do you remember those Pharisees that Jairus worked with? Remember how they loved the synagogue so much they would take good care of Jairus as long as he did what they asked? Those same Pharisees hated Jesus. If Jairus went to Jesus, he might lose his friendship with the Pharisees. He might lose his “in” with the Pharisees. He might lose his job and his salary and his means of income to take care of his little girl. I wonder if this gave him pause. …made him wait to go to Jesus. …made him think I’ll try everything else until… Until, his daughter was almost dead. Then, things changed. The Pharisees’ approval wasn’t worth risking his daughter’s life. He rushed off from his house, found Jesus, and threw himself at the ground. An impressive, noble of a man, on his knees before Jesus. Pleading… “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” (Mark 5:23) So Jesus went with him. (Mark 5:24) Jairus must have been excited. The healer was coming with him. Jesus and his miraculous power was going to do a miracle to his daughter. His daughter wouldn’t die, because in Jesus there was hope. But… As they kept walking… And the crowd talked excitedly about other miracles Jesus had done. And Jairus started to strut with confidence that his daughter would be healed. Someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” (Lk. 8:49) Because she’s dead. And so is her creativity. And so is her laughter. And so is her future. Your daughter is dead. TRUTH: Making Jesus your LAST hope may make you too LATE. Jairus must have felt horrible! If only he had come to Jesus sooner. If Jesus would have been his first option way back when he daughter first was diagnosed, then she wouldn’t be dead. Maybe you’ve felt similar. If only I’d sought Jesus’ help with stress first, before I ended up addicted to Methamphetamine. If only I’d sought Jesus’ guidance on my sexuality, not what I read in dark, pornographic chatrooms. If only my spouse and I sought spiritual counseling sooner, before the infidelity, the yelling, and the moving out. If only I’d taught my kids about Jesus first, brought them to worship, taught them about Sunday school, before they became a teen and turned their back on God. If only I’d sought Jesus heart first, before I sought the heart of that guy who used me and abused me. If only I’d gotten to the message of Jesus’ love sooner, before years of depression thinking that God hated me. If only I’d worked through the Gospel to be reconciled with my friend, before…they died. Making Jesus’ your last hope can lead to all kinds of regret. But, even in the midst of Jairus’ like, “I-killed-my-daughter-because-I-didn’t-get-her-to-Jesus-soon-enough” regret…. Jesus offers hope. II. Hope when there isn’t any Back to the scene. Jairus must have been in shock. He’d never seen his daughter’s eye twinkle again. He’d never get another hug. He’d never hear another song. The people were right. He should send Jesus away. His daughter was dead and there wasn’t any hope. But… Before Jairus could muster the strength to dismiss him. Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid.” “Just believe.” “She will be healed.” (Lk. 8:50) From some hope. To no hope. To Jesus’ hope. TRUTH: Jesus gives HOPE when there isn’t any. When you can’t figure out where the finances are coming from, Jesus gives hope. When the seventeenth job application has been rejected, Jesus gives hope. When your heart hurts from that breakup, Jesus gives hope. When you feel like you’ll never find “the one”, Jesus gives hope. When you lose to that temptation again and again, Jesus gives hope. When the parenting techniques aren’t working like they should, Jesus gives hope. When the doctors tell you that it doesn’t look good, Jesus gives hope. III. The World’s Hope Jesus dismissed the crowd. Probably to spare Jairus’ from the embarrassment of his emotions. Then, Jesus, a few disciples, and Jairus made their way to the home. Upon arriving, they came upon quite a scene. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. (Mk. 5:38) At the time of Jesus, it was customary to hire professional mourners when someone died. These people would arrive and instantly develop a sad atmosphere. They’d sob and throw their heads back and make a big scene Matthew notes that there were flute players. (Mt. 8:23) They’d shed some tears, playing a sad song, and hand you a bill for their trouble. It makes you wonder if they ever got together and practiced: “Hold up guys. We are supposed to be professional mourners. Right now? We seem like a bunch of amateurs. Our choreography is all over the place. Bob, when I throw my right arm into the air and start wailing, “that’s your cue to throw yourself onto the ground and start convulsing. And Mary, it would be good if you shook your head back and forth while you screamed! You’ve got long hair and it really gives it that wild effect of wild sadness. And for goodness sake, Elizabeth, could you give us more tears? I’ll stick a cut-up onion in your sash if I have to.” This is the best kind of hope the ancient world had to offer. A distraction – at best. But it doesn’t heal. It doesn’t provide hope. It’s nothing more than a SHOW. TRUTH: The world’s HOPE is nothing more than a SHOW. Think back to the Kobe Bryant Story. Celebrities tweeted out all kinds of support and memories about Kobe. Taylor Swift wrote, “My heart is in pieces hearing the news of this unimaginable tragedy… Sending my prayers, love, and endless condolences.” Shaquille O’Neal said, “My condolences goes out to the Bryant family and the families of the other passengers on board,” he added. “I’M SICK RIGHT NOW!” Khloe Kardashian simply said, “This can’t be true. My heart is broken.” Scottie Pippen said, “I’m stunned. Words can’t even begin to describe how I feel about this tragedy.” Now these people were hurting. They were sad. And offering prayers to others is absolutely a blessing. And it can be cathartic to talk to one another about your feelings. But…Did you notice something? None of these tweets brought Kobe back. None of them promised LIFE. Some of it, is just people going online, checking out the fact that others tweeted, and saying, “I’d better tweet about him – or I won’t look good.” The world’s hope is nothing more than a show. There’s a popular show on Netflix called The Casketeers It’s about a family owned funeral home in Hawaii. Each episode consists of a few funerals that they are planning for. In each episode, they work hard to make the funeral “nice.” They practice ukulele. They put out flower arrangements. They polish the selected coffins. The owner is kind of a clean freak and at least once per episode, he can be caught using a leaf blower to blow away the 4 or 5 leaves that have made their way into the parking lot. The theory is that if they make it nice, it will help the family heal. But… None of this gives ACTUAL HOPE. Not the ukulele. Not the flower arrangements. Not the polished coffin. Not even the leaf blower! The person is still dead. And there is no hope of LIFE. The world’s hope is nothing more than a show…. But…. Jesus is not “of the world.” IV. Jesus’ Hope Jesus had enough of the show. “Go away, for the girl is not dead but is sleeping.” But they laughed at him. (Mt. 8:23-24) “Oh? Does your pulse usually stop when YOU sleep?” “Are you trying to say that you can fix this?” “What a bunch of baloney! Stop giving Jairus false hope.” Jesus did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother (Lk. 8:51) After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. (Mk 5:40) And there was Jairus’ daughter…. No smile. No laughter. No twinkle in the eye. No life. The pit in Jairus’ stomach was unbearable. He grabbed his wife as she buried her tears into his shoulder. But Jesus approached the girl. He slowly got onto one knee. He grabbed the girl by the palm. He looked her right in the eyes. and said…. “Talitha koum!” (Mk. 5:41) Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around. (v.42) Jairus was amazed! He watched as she walked to Jesus and gave him a hug. He watched as she walked to his wife and gave her a hug. He watched as she made her way over to him, looked at him with that twinkle in her eye and gave him a hug too. TRUTH: With a WORD, Jesus robs DEATH of its power. He doesn’t do CPR. He doesn’t hook her up to a defibrillator. He doesn’t make her drink some kind of life-giving elixir made from the tears of a mythical Phoenix. He just speaks. This is how Jesus won life for you and me. Because on the cross, Jesus defeated death with one word: TETELESTAI! It’s the Greek word for the last thing that Jesus said on the cross. It means, “It is finished.” As in, “Sin is finished.” “Guilt is finished.” “Death is finished.” I defeated them all and my work of defeated them is finished. And now through faith in me…. You too will life. Death is not the end. You will be with me in heaven. That’s REAL hope. But that’s not even the end of the story. Because as Jairus and wife and child are all celebrating this amazing victory – and people start to flock in to celebrate this miracle, Jesus thinks about the girl. He told them to give her something to eat. (Mk. 5:43) He isn’t showboating. He isn’t flexing his muscles. He isn’t taking a victory lap. Jesus is caring. TRUTH: Despite his ALMIGHTY Power, Jesus still cares TENDERLY. There is no better combination. He isn’t just able to defeat sin, but he tenderly speaks of forgiveness when you need it most. This last week – I was able to visit a brother of ours in hospice. Things didn’t look good when I went in. And… I didn’t bring with me any medication. I didn’t have any cures. I didn’t even have a doctor’s nametag. I simply had this message of forgiveness. This message of God’s love. This message that because Jesus lives, you brother, will live too. Yesterday, we celebrated the fact that because Jesus has power over death, this man lives eternally. And today we celebrate the fact that because Jesus has power over death – One day… You will live eternally too. Amen.
When I was in Seattle, WA, I had the goal to get to the top of the highest point in the lower 48 states, Mt. Rainier. I bought the right gear. I went into training. I learned from a woman who had been up Mount Everest three separate times.
On the day of the climb, we hiked up to Camp Muir, a base camp about 10,000 feet up. From there, we slept in a tiny wooden cabin to acclimate to the altitude and rest up for the final ascent. We went to bed at 6pm and woke up around Midnight. (You have to leave early in order to cross the ice bridges before the daylight gets too hot, the bridge melts and you fall to your death.) It was about eight hours up when a blizzard kicked in. The air was sparse. The wind was frigid. My fingers were frozen. And it was only getting nastier. Some of the other climb groups had already turned around and gone back. About an hour from the top, the lead expeditions said: “This is getting pretty bad. I haven’t seen it this bad before. What do you think? We could go to the top and see the marvelous views, but… If we don’t turn around, we could get frostbite or die. So we thought about it and said: “I’m sure Google images probably has some might fine photos of the top. So... Sometimes suffering isn’t worth it. Today we are continuing our series called Dear Church. It’s a series based on letters from Jesus to seven different churches. The letter for today looks at a church that was dealing with suffering…even suffering because they were believers. Our goal today is to understand what kind of suffering believers have to deal with and whether it’s worth that suffering. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The One who Knows Suffering This letter starts in Revelation 2:8: “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty —yet you are rich!” A few notes: The letter is again written to the angel. We said that’s most likely referencing their pastoral leadership which, in turn, means it’s a letter written to the church in Smyrna. Smyrna was an ancient Greek city at a central point on the Aegean coast. Because its positioning allowed for advantageous port conditions and an easily defendable city, Smyrna was full of people. In other words, it was a great place to start a church. And someone had. We don’t know the exact apostle or disciple that founded it, which shows that the Gospel was spreading beyond the work rate of the apostles alone. This church was probably not started by one of the 12 apostles, yet Jesus considers it a church. Similarly, our church wasn’t started by one of the Apostles, yet Jesus would call it a real church. Why? Because the Holy Spirit was at work in the word. In Smyrna. Here in Raleigh. So, both are churches. Finally, the speaker is Jesus. This is his letter. And since this is a letter to a church that is suffering, he offers his credentials on the subject: (1) Jesus Existed before SUFFERING These are the words of him who is the First (v.8) Jesus existed eternally long before suffering ever existed. He created a world that was perfect, apart from suffering. Then, he watched as humans foolishly were led by the devil into suffering. Don’t think that Jesus’ main goal is to end suffering? To bring life back to the way that it once was? It’d be like cleaning your living room, putting all the toys in their place and removing all the crumbs from the floor – making the place a gorgeous Better Homes and Gardens style living area. Then, your kids happen. And you’d like to see it back to the way it was when you were finished cleaning. The same is true for God. He has on his heart a desire to bring things back to the way they were long before suffering happened. And here’s the good news about that: (2) Jesus will OUTLAST Suffering These are the words of him who is the Last. (v.8) As in, he will last beyond all suffering. He will outlast cancer. He will outlast financial difficulties. He will outlast persecutions. He will outlast terrorism. He will outlast racism. He will outlast the little angry emojis that people put upon Christian content on Social Media. He will outlast every form of suffering. But… That doesn’t mean he hasn’t suffered. (3) Jesus is FAMILIAR with suffering These are the words of him who died. (v.8) Do you know how Jesus died? He was arrested by a mob. He was beaten by that mob. He was smacked and slapped till the early hours of the morning. He was whipped thirty times with a 7 stranded leather whip that had metal shards on the end. (Also known as flogged) He had a crown of thorns smashed down onto his head. He was hit with a staff. He was laid down upon two giant pieces of wood. He had one nail driven through his right hand. He had another nail driven through his left hand. He had one more nail driven through his feet. He hung on that cross as his lungs slowly collapsed. He was abandoned by his friends. He was betrayed by his disciples. He was crucified by his people. He had our sin and guilt and shame plaguing his soul. He was familiar with suffering. Suffering even to death! And yet-- Now – he lives. He lives and walks among his churches. And… (4) Jesus Knows YOUR suffering Pause and reflect on that truth. Because it’s easy to think: No one knows my suffering. No one understands. No one gets this sadness I feel. No one grasps the loneliness that I go through. No one truly gets the depths of my depression. Jesus does. He knows. He understands. Jesus is speaking to you. He says: “I know. I know it feels like no one knows, but I know. I know what it’s like to suffer. I know that you are suffering. I know what it is you’re suffering: I know that you feel so poor because you are suffering. But… In the midst of suffering… Never forget… You are rich. (5) Jesus Gives Eternal RICHES to the Suffering Wait, what? You are rich. Rich in my love. Rich in forgiveness. Rich in the promise of eternal life. You have a place in my family that all of the money in the world would be unable to buy. You may be suffering, but you are not suffering from a lack of my promises. II. Truths about Our Suffering After giving his credentials as to why he is an expert in suffering, Jesus has a few things to say about the suffering that the people of Smyrna were going through. He says: I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan. (v.9) Apparently there was a group that was slandering the church. It was a group that claimed to be Jewish but wasn’t. This isn’t genealogical. Jesus is referring to people who were did not have a faith that matched the Old Testament faith, but pretended they did. Because the Old Testament Jewish faith was that God would send a Messiah to save us from our sins. Overtime some Jews abandoned that faith and replaced it as, “God doesn’t need to save us from our sins, because I am Jewish and do Jewish things.” When Jesus showed up, a “phony” Jewish faith is exactly what the Pharisees had. Jesus was the Messiah. The real Jewish faith would have believed in him. Instead, the “phony” Jewish faith rejected Jesus as Messiah because “they were good enough Jewish people on their own.” Now after Jesus, this group was persecuting the church in Smyrna and it was bad enough to be called “suffering”: Maybe they were calling them names. Maybe some of them worked on the local tax board and were taxing their church building heavily. Maybe some of them paid of the Roman soldiers to throw church members in prison. Regardless, the church was suffering. What did Jesus say about this suffering? A few things: (1) Believers WILL Suffer for their Faith Look at what Jesus says in Verse 10: Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. At first glance, this seems comforting. But if you are a Smyrnian, don’t you think they read this and responded by saying: What? About to suffer? You mean this isn’t even done yet? Yes. That’s the truth. For the Smyrnian people. And for us: The truth is that believers in Jesus will suffer. Some suffering will happen because we’re on a sinful world where sinful people hurt one another. (Gossip, racism, and unfaithfulness) Some suffering will happen because we’re in an imperfect world. (Cancer, pollution, and natural disasters) Some suffering will happen because we’re believers in Jesus. (Things like angry comments on your Christian blog, being excluded from parties because you’re “That lousy Christian,” being yelled at by your spouse because “I’m not into that Jesus junk.”) Jesus said this: Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me. (Luke 10:16) Just like you might not like a football team and, as a result, you don’t like fans of a certain football team. Or you don’t like a politician and, as a result, you don’t like followers of that politician. It’s the same thing with Jesus: If someone doesn’t like Jesus. They don’t like his followers. If sinners made Jesus suffer, They will make his followers suffer too. (2) The Real Villain is the DEVIL Because if it was just a bunch of humans making us suffer, you might think: I can take them, Jesus. I took a few defense classes once, so…I got this. But these people aren’t the real ones behind it. Look at what Jesus says about who was really behind the Smyrnian suffering: I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. (v.10b) Now it wasn’t as if the devil showed up with a red pitchfork in his hands and pointy ears like some kind of Halloween costume. But he influenced. He tempted. He gave people ideas like: You should tell that Jesus supporter that he’s an idiot. You should tell that Roman guard that Christian is breaking law by praying in public. You should break up with your wife because the amount of Bible talk she has is crazy. The same is true today. The real villain isn’t whoever is persecuting you. It’s the devil himself. (3) Suffering Lasts for AWHILE Because look at what Jesus says next: You will suffer persecution for ten days.” (v.10c) That doesn’t sound awful. It’s the reason I sign up for ten days at a fitness camp. I figure – that’s not too long. I can handle it. Or maybe you sign up for a ten day visit to your in-laws. You figure – that’s just over a week. I got this. 10 days of persecution? That’s doable. But here’s the thing about numbers in revelation. They are metaphoric: The number 3 represents God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The number 4 represents humans. Humans were created in God’s image, but aren’t God. The number 7 represents the church. It’s 3 plus 4, where God connects with humans. The number 10? It represents completeness. Meaning the church at Smyrna would suffer until the suffering was completed. In other words, for a while. And the reality is that Christians will suffer…until their suffering on earth is completed. Suffering will be a part of your life when you’re 5. When you’re a teenager. When you’re middle aged. When you’re a senior. Suffering… Even suffering for your faith… …will be a part of your life for a while. But… Only for a while. Not… Forever. (4) The faithful will receive the CROWN of LIFE Look at what Jesus says at the end of verse 10: Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. Back at this time, the victor’s crown was associated with the Olympics. It was made of olive branches and given to the winner. To the winner of the 100-meter dash: Victor’s crown. To the winner of the 1600-meter run: Victor’s crown. To the winner of the pole vault: Victor’s crown To the winner of the steeple chase (whatever a steeple chase is): Victor’s crown. After all the training. After all the sweating. After all the suffering. A victor’s crown. Look at what Jesus promises to those who are victorious. Who go through suffering in this life. But hold on to Jesus: A victor’s crown. But not just any victor’s crown. This isn’t made from olive branches. It’s made of life. Do you get it? If you hold to Jesus despite the suffering this life brings, you will have eternal life. Death won’t win. You will defeat it. Just like Jesus defeated death, you will defeat death too. You will live. And about this life… It won’t be one of suffering. Because… (5) The Faithful’s SUFFERING will END Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. (v.11) Second death? That’s sounds awful. First death is bad enough. Second death? That’s terrible. It’s nothing but suffering. Nothing but awful. Nothing but hell… …because it is hell. But dear believers, that’s not anything you have to be worried about. The faithful will not be hurt even in the slightest by hell. Because in heaven? There is no hell. In heaven? There is no death. In heaven? There is NO suffering. No suffering for faith. No cancer. No loneliness. No sadness. No diseases. No arguments with spouses. No rebellious kids. No ostracization from friends. No racism. No sexism. No terrorism. No violence. No suffering of any amount, variety or kind. In heaven, SUFFERING is done. Because you’re with the one that defeated suffering. You’re with Jesus. III. WHAT NOW? Jesus’ words are simple: Be Faithful. Because when being a believer gets hard, it’s tempting to not be faithful. “I became a believer and I still get sick. I still have work problems. I still have financial difficulties. Only now people ridicule me for my faith.” It might seem easier to stop being faithful so that you won’t have this momentary suffering. But… If you stay faithful, in the midst of the momentary suffering, you will have eternal blessings. Not might. Not could. Not possibly. Will. Because God is faithful. That won’t change. He sent his Son Jesus for you. And through faith in him you will be removed from suffering…forever. Amen.
There’s a lot of different kinds of soap.
Dish soap. Laundry soap. Shampoo soap. Antibacterial soap. Lotion soap. Smelly soap. Toilet soap. Guest soaps. Beauty soap. Medical soap. Degreaser soap. Dial Soap. Irish spring soap. Ivory Soap. Soap in the shape of little flowers. Soap in the shape of cartoon characters. Soap that’s big and manly (and smells of rich mahogany). Over our sermon series, we’ve discussed the spiritual mess of sin. We talked about what it is, where it comes from and how serious it is. Today we want to talk about how to clean it -- what kind of spiritual soap should we use. Before we do that, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Wrong Kind of Soap The Scripture for today is from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah was a prophet who lived 700 years before Jesus. He wrote this down at a time when the people of Israel had made a mess of their spiritual relationship with God. They had sinned by disobeying God. It had come from their hearts. They were in danger of spiritual death as a result of it. But Israel wasn’t unaware of it. In fact, they had been taking actions to clean up their acts. They had been attending worship. They had been offering sacrifices. They had been bringing offerings. They did this in order to clean up their sinful mess. But was it working? Look at God’s response through the Prophet Isaiah: 11 “The multitude of your sacrifices-- what are they to me?” says the Lord. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. Old Testament worship was very different from our worship of today. Instead of bringing your offering in your wallet, purse, or iPhone, you’d bring it on a leash. Instead of this pleasant altar with clean linens pressed upon it, there was a blood-stained altar with pieces of animal flesh hanging off the edges. Instead of the beautiful music of organ or guitar, there was the loud, pained bleating of dying goats. Instead of the nice smell of floral arrangements and morning coffee, there was the smell of burning and rotten corpses. The reason the Israelites worshipped like this was that God had commanded it. In the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, you can still read about how God commanded that his people worship by offering sacrifices. The reason he did this was to impress upon his people the harsh reality that the wages of sin was death. (Because blood equals death.) So, the Israelites sacrificed. They sacrificed and assumed that the animal sacrifice would clean up their sins. They were wrong. TRUTH: Sin cannot be cleaned by ANIMAL SACRIFICES And maybe you’re thinking “duh”. But remember this was the Old Testament version of worship. This is what they were used to. It was the way that they worshipped. In fact, I wonder if the Israelites might have thought that Isaiah was just telling them they had bad form! Should the altar be relocated to the front right? Is that the wrong kind of knife for the job? Maybe we should be using penguins instead of lambs? But the problem wasn’t the type of worship. It was that they thought their worship could clean them from sin. Look at what God says next: When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? (v.12) Can you believe that? God’s calling all the people coming to worship tramplers. As if he’s shaking his fist and shouting: “Get off my lawn!” Stop bringing meaningless offerings! (v.13a) Whether the offering was an animal or some money or their latest supply of corn. It was meaningless. Even if they brought the best crop of corn they have ever grown: NC State Fair, best in show, blue ribbon corn – that corn couldn’t remove sin. Your incense is detestable to me. (v.13b) It doesn’t smell like the sweet aroma of calamus and lily of the valley, but it still smells like the greed in your heart from work yesterday. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations-- These were special ceremonies. Special gatherings. Extra ceremonies and extra gatherings. The Israelites would come to worship on more than just one day a week. Yet, God says: I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. (v.13c-14) Did you hear that? A burden. God is calling all these extra religious festivals and extra religious activities, a burden. As if God looks at his watch on a Sabbath and says “Aw man! There’s worship in 5 minutes? Ugh. Not again…” Is this a strange section of Scripture? Why is God upset with their worship? Why was he upset with this religious activity? Check out verse 15: When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! A helpful note: The Old Testament stance for prayer was to spread your legs apart, to raise your hands above your head, and open your hands towards God. The message this stance conveyed was “Dear God, hear my prayer.” But… God said he wasn’t looking. God said he wasn’t listening. God said he wasn’t looking or listening because when they reached their hands up towards his heavenly throne, their hands were a mess. They were filled with blood. And he’s not talking about animal blood. He’s talking about sin. TRUTH: Sin cannot be cleaned by RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY. It didn’t work for Old Testament Israel. It doesn’t work for us. If you think that your attendance today will wash away your sin… If you think that the angle at which you bow your head for prayer will clean your soul… If you think that the decibel at which you sing the upcoming hymns will knock lose sin from your heart… If you think that because you do a certain kind of worship that kind of worship is designated to clean sin unlike any other kind of worship… You’re wrong. If you think that the offering you put in the plate will pay for your guilt…. If you think that the talent you display in serving will distract God from your shame… If you think that the time you put in at 1100 Newton Road will counterbalance the time you put it sinning… You’re wrong. God still sees the greed all over your hands. God still hears the words that you let out against your spouse. God still sees the fingers that typed away to the latest porn site. God still sees the finger that shot up in rage at your coworker. Religious activity cannot wash away sin. What then do we need to do? Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. (v.16-17) God says: Instead of worrying about the cleanliness of your Sunday clothing; worry about the cleanliness of your heart. Instead of taking a coin out of your pocket; take sin out of your life. Instead of doing worship; just do good. Stop sin. Do good. Figure out some way to remove all the guilt that you’ve amassed in your life up to this point. Then, you’ll be clean. Does this message from God leave anyone else in a panic? This sounds impossible. Because it is. Here’s the truth: Sin cannot be cleaned by YOU. This is the truth God was impressing on the Israelites: They were worshiping with the idea that their worship would remove their sin. It couldn’t. This is the truth God is impressing on you. If you are worshiping God with the idea that YOU worshiping will remove your sins, you’re wrong. It won’t. In fact, if you are trusting that your worship is the key to your forgiveness. It’s not only wrong. It’s sin. II. The Right Kind of Soap Then, what is the right kind of spiritual soap? Check out what God says next: “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (v.18) Did you see it? This is the part of the Scripture where God tells us how to clean our heart. Look closely. Don’t miss it. It’s extremely important. What does God tell us to do. Nothing. He doesn’t tell us to do anything to clean our sins, because there isn’t anything we can do to clean our sins. But he still says our sins will be clean. How? Because of him. TRUTH: Sin is cleaned by OUR LORD. It’s only fall, but briefly. Let’s talk about snow. The first snowfall is so very beautiful. The crisp, white flakes cover up everything in a nice, pristine blanket of white. In fact, if you look outside after a fresh snow fall you can’t see anything but snow. Gone is the muddy area where grass wasn’t growing out back. Gone is the pile of leaves that your kids forgot to clean up. Gone are the piles of yuck that your dogs left behind. Gone is the garbage. Gone is the trash. Gone is the oil spill from your nephew’s car. All the gross is gone. Covered up by the clean snow. That’s what God does to your sins. They are covered. White as snow. Imagine you had a pair of wool socks. And as you wore those socks, tripped on a rock. In fact, you hit that rock so hard that you opened up the skin on your toe. It bled. Suddenly, your socks became crimson, the color of blood. Blood is a tough stain to get out. It’s deep. It’s red. It’s obvious. You can’t hide it very well at all and you might not ever be able to get it out. Unless… you use the right kind of detergent. The right kind of bleach can do the miraculous. It can remove the blood red stain and leave behind nothing but wool. White. Clean. As if the stain never existed. That’s what God does to your sins. They have been removed. White as wool. How does God cleanse us from the stain of sin? Is it some divine form of bleach? Does it involve a long soak in holy water? Does he just use a bunch of holy elbow grease? Take a look at Hebrews 11. It’s a New Testament book written after Jesus that makes a connection to Old Testament worship. It says: The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ…cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death. (v.13-14) Do you get it? In the Old Testament, animal sacrifices never cleansed anyone’s sin. But these sacrifices foreshadowed a sacrifice that would. TRUTH: Sin is cleansed by JESUS’ BLOOD. Jesus lived perfectly. Jesus died innocently. Jesus rose triumphantly. As a result, the blood of Christ cleanses you from all acts that lead to death. (aka: sin) Because of Jesus’ divine blood, the blood of sin on your hands has been removed. Your heart is clean. Your heart is pure. Your heart is spotless because of the blood of the eternal lamb, Jesus Christ. Of course, God need to connect us to this washing. And we can’t have a sermon on washing our souls clean without commenting on one very powerful way he connects us to the cleaning power of Jesus’ blood: TRUTH: Sin is cleansed THROUGH BAPTISM. Titus 3:5, “We were saved not because of the righteous things that we have done, but because of the washing with water through the Word.” Baptism doesn’t look as impressive as the slaughtering of many sacrificial animals. It’s just a little bit of water. It’s just poured upon a head. It looks like a regular old bath. But it’s so much more. Titus 3:5, ”we were saved not because of the righteous things that we have done, but because of the washing with water through the Word.” That is baptism. Baptism that washes. It washes away our sins as it connects us to the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood. III. What Now? (1) Worship because you’ve been cleaned Notice how that is phrased. It doesn’t say, “Worship in order to be clean,” but, “worship because you are clean.” And you have been cleaned by Jesus’ Christ. It’d be like if you had a party and the party left a big mess. Streamers everywhere. Drink glasses throughout. Birthday cake sprinkles all over the kitchen floor. Wrapping paper in the living room. And a spot of spit up from your young niece on the couch cushion. And you lay down for a quick nap in order to get some energy to clean. But when you wake up, it’s all done. Mom did it while you were sleeping. Everything’s clean: dusted, vacuumed, and picked up. How do you react to that? With thanks! It’s the same with Jesus. We worship out of thanks for his forgiveness. We worship out of thanks for the clean he left in our heart. We worship out of thanks for the purity that he brought into our souls. (2) Cherish Baptism Baptism is one of the incredible ways God connects us to the powerful washing of his blood. So, we cherish it! If you haven’t been baptized, cherish it – and be baptized. If you have been baptized, cherish it – and thank God for your baptism. Rather than an Old Testament sacrifice. Baptism connects us to Jesus’ sacrifice. Rather than something we do daily. Baptism connects us to something Jesus did once. Rather than something we hope might work. Baptism connects us to Jesus’ death that worked completely. Rather than leave you with bloody hands and a sinful heart. Baptism leaves you with a wet head and a heart cleaned by your Savior. Conclusion. So…You are clean. We’re finishing up the sermon series all about the messiness of sin. And maybe by the end of it you thought: “Man, my sin has really made a mess.” “My life’s a mess.” “I’m a mess.” If so, hear the message of today one last time: Jesus cleans messes. Jesus cleans your mess. He doesn’t call you “Mess,” but, “clean.” Amen.  Last week we talked about the riot in Ephesus where the crowd chanted against the Gospel for two straight hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!!” The crowd was rowdy. They were violent. They were angry. In fact, the situation was so dangerous that Paul’s friends wouldn’t even let him appear before the crowd in order to defend himself.
You might have expected that to end in tragedy. It didn’t. The crowd quieted. They went home. Paul was safe. But the Christians didn’t think it would be wise to keep Paul in Ephesus. So, after two years pastoring in Ephesus, Paul left. Acts 20:1 says, “He said goodbye and set out for Macedonia. He traveled throughout that area speaking many words of encouragement to the people.” It means Paul headed east. He crossed the sea and began revisiting the churches that he had started. He went back to Philippi. He went back to Thessalonica. He went back to Berea. He went back to Apollonia, Amphipolis, and Corinth. Finally, he arrived in Greece where he stayed for three months. (v.3) While there he most likely revisited Corinth. Maybe even Athens. After those three months (most likely winter months where sailing is discouraged), Paul was about to sail for Syria, but because some Jews had plotted against him, he decided to go back through Macedonia. (v.3) Whether they were plotting to throw him overboard, sink the ship, or get him really drunk on rum in order to convince him to walk the plank, Paul found out and was kept safe. Again, tragedy avoided. In fact, Paul safely returns through all those cities to Philippi and from there he crosses the sea back to the Middle East and gets to Troas. It’s not far now. It’s should be a smooth journey, right? Home is just around the corner. And it’s there that tragedy strikes. Today we’re going to learn about that tragedy that hit close to home. Then, we’ll learn how Jesus helps us through tragedy. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. A Tragedy The lesson starts in verse 7. It says, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.” Slow down. Read that again. The disciples came together on the first day of the week. That’s a Sunday. It’s neat to note that Christians are gathering together, not on a Saturday like they did in the Old Testament, but on a Sunday. The same day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. It’s also shortly after Passover. Just it was shortly after Passover that Jesus rose from the dead. As they gathered, they were planning to break bread. That’s a reference to a fellowship meal. A 1st century potluck. Complete with Mazza balls, lamb casserole and (if it’s anything like our potlucks) about 17 different kinds of dessert. But before they could get to the meal, Paul began preaching. Since it was the dinner hour, that the gathering probably started happening somewhere around 6pm. During that first hour, people greeted each other, the fellowship team arranged the meal, and the musicians warmed up on their instruments. That means Paul would have began his sermon about an hour later, around 7pm. Five hours later? He’s still talking. Insert joke about sermon length here. One person there that evening was a young man named Eutychus. That’s impressive. Because most young people in Troas would be focused on other things in the evening: Spending their money at local establishments. Getting home to their families. Going out to eat with a young woman so that he might one day have a family. But Eutychus was at church. In the evening. Since it was their version of Monday, he was probably tired and ready for a nap at home. But he didn’t want to miss seeing the Apostle Paul one last time before he left so… Eutychus attended the gathering. He greeted other church members. He let his elders have the seats in the front. He let the women with children have seats in the back. He stood near the back, excited to listen to what Paul had to say. And that’s what he did. For fifteen minutes. Thirty minutes. An hour. An hour fifteen minutes, an hour thirty minutes, two hours. Eutychus started fanning himself: Why is it so hot in here? Probably all those lamps. I mean…it makes it easier to see at night, but they are torches. It’s like there’s fifteen mini bonfires in this room. Eutychus made his way over to the breeze of the nearest open window. Two hours and two and a half hours. Three hours. Three hours, forty-five minutes. My legs are started to get tired. I’ve been up on them all day at work. It’ll be ok. I’ll just sit on this window ledge right here. Four hours. Four and a half hours. Five hours. Suddenly, Eutychus started to get rather sleepy. Paul’s words sounded so far away. He was sure if he had just mentioned the Gospel or the Blospel… Maybe, he’d close his eyes. Just for a second. He could still listen to his words. He could still hear his sermon. He could still… ZZZZZ. And then… THUD. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story… (v.9) And suddenly, there was a commotion. What was that? I think someone fell. From on the ground. Nope from the window. Who was it? I don’t know. I didn’t see. It’s Eutychus! That’s where he was sitting. And they rushed down the stairs. And they rushed out the building. And they rushed to his body. And they tried CPR. And they felt for a pulse. Meanwhile, Paul was up in the front of the room where he had been preaching. His heart was racing. And then he heard it: He’s dead! Eutychus is dead! Paul rushed to the door. He ran to the steps. He looked at Eutychus’ now limp body. Oh God! This is a tragedy. Oh God this is… Oh God? That’s it. Now I don’t know exactly what happened next. Did Paul speak any words? Did Paul say prayer? I don’t know exactly what Paul did next. But… We do know what Eutychus did next: Sat up. “Don’t be alarmed,” Paul said. “He’s alive! (v.10) II. Dealing with Skeptics This account is amazing! A young man falls to his death in the middle of worship. But when Paul gets down to the body without performing CPR, without a defibrillator, without hitting his chest repeatedly in desperation…Eutychus lives! It’s a miracle. Granted. You might be skeptical about this. If you tried this with a dead ant out on your driveway, it wouldn’t work. In fact, a Google search for Eutychus, will lead to some scholarly articles that propose an alternative. They write that: (1) Eutychus never died. He just got knocked out. (2) Paul simply got him out of his stupor, because someone dying and coming back to life is IMOPSSIBLE. But there are quite a few things in the text that defend against that interpretation: (1) The Number of Witnesses Back to the mapwork section. In verse 4, there’s an interesting list. It’s a list of all the different people who are now accompanying Paul on his missionary journey. This list is interesting because it’s a where’s where of places Paul has shared the Gospel: Sopater…from Berea, the place where the people studiously God’s Word. Secundus from Thessalonica, the place where persecution was quite intense. Gaius from Derbe who along with Aristarchus had been dragged through the streets of Ephesus during the riot. Timothy from Lystra who joined Paul all the way back at the beginning of the second missionary journey. Tychichus and Trophimus from the province of Asia…representing the various churches of the Galatians. That’s seven men in all who present in that upper room. Add in Eutychus for eight. Then, verse 7 says that Paul was speaking to “the people”. If it would have been just these seven guys, the writer would have said the disciples. By choosing the word “people”, the writer reflects the fact that there were more than these eight. In fact, there were so many that Eutychus had to sit on the ledge of the window. Here’s the point: Fooling the whole crowd into thinking that Eutychus had resurrected when he never really died in the first place would have been very challenging with so many present. Especially since, the crowd got there first. (2) Logistics of a Lecture Notice how our church is setup. The pastor is in the front. You all are facing me. The doors to exit the place are closest to you, the audience. I am the farthest from the common exits. It’s the same in most churches and lecture halls. Why? So, it is easy for someone to slip out without causing much of a disturbance. If a mom is quieting a child or someone needs to use the restroom, leaving from the back is so much easier than having to leave through the front and walking right by the pastor in the middle of the sermon. Can you imagine reversing it? (Leaving worship would soon be the “walk of shame.”) It would have been the same way for Paul’s speech. Even though the room may not have been any kind of lecture hall, they still would have setup the room so that Paul was farthest from the door so that the people could easily come and go if needed. Why is this important? Because Paul was not the first to get to Eutychus. The people were. He couldn’t trick them into thinking Eutychus was dead, when he really wasn’t. In fact, some get to Eutychus and pick him up “dead” in verse 9 and it isn’t until verse 10 that Paul “goes down” to see him. Paul couldn’t have tricked them. Eutychus died. And that really solidifies when you consider one more thing (3) The Presence of Dr. Luke Back to the group of missionaries with Paul. I left one out. It’s subtle, but it’s there. Verse 6 says, “We sailed…to Troas.” The “we”? That’s a reference to the man who wrote down the book of Acts. It wasn’t Paul, but a man named Luke. Luke had joined Paul’s missionary crew in Mysia. He travelled with Paul throughout missionary journey two and three. Paul even references Luke in some of the letters that he writes to the various churches. Look at what he reveals about Luke in Colossians: Our dear friend Luke, the doctor…” (v.4:14) Did you catch that? Do you see the significance? Luke knew how to look for a pulse. Luke knew how to check for breathing. Luke knew how to identify a dead person. I guarantee that Luke was one of the first people down to check on Eutychus. And he was one of the first people to say: “There’s nothing we can do. He’s dead.” “Time of death: 12:16am” In fact, when Paul had stones thrown at him Lystra on his first missionary journey, the crowd left when they saw him fall to the ground in a clump. Luke wrote that Paul was dragged out of the city and that the Jews were “supposing that he was dead” (Acts 14:19). Here’s the point: if Luke wanted to present the idea that the believers in Troas merely “supposed” that Eutychus was dead, he could have written that. But he didn’t. Because he was dead. Until he wasn’t. Because of Jesus. Stop being skeptical. The miracle was real. III. Transforming Tragedy Jesus really transformed the situation. He really transformed the tragedy. (1) Jesus Transforms Tragedy into Celebration. Look at what happens next: Then Paul went upstairs again. He broke bread and ate. (v.11a) Which...praise the Lord, the potluck food is finally being eaten. At least by Paul, probably by anyone else who didn’t want to be rude and hadn’t eaten while Paul was speaking. After the tragedy of falling out a window, people aren’t sobbing and crying tears, but laughing and eating some potluck eclairs! Jesus transformed the situation so that now they’re having a dinner party. Jesus still transforms tragedy into celebration even today. Because Jesus said that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (Jn. 3:16) Just to prove his power to make that promise, Jesus brought people like Eutychus back to life. But better than that: Jesus brought himself back to life. He died on the cross. Hundreds of people watching his bloody, lifeless body taken down from the cross. No one! Not a single person stopping to say: “Wait, he’s just knocked out.” Nope. He was dead, dead. Dead, dead, dead. Dead enough to be wrapped up in clothes and placed in a grave. But… Three days later, Jesus came back to life. He breathed. He moved. He walked. Jesus has power over life and death. He provides believers with eternal life even when they die. It’s why at the last funeral that we had here at Gethsemane. And people were feeling sad. And people were thinking it was a tragedy. But then, we read the Gospel. Then, we heard about Jesus promises. Then, we remembered that our dear brother was in heaven above residing in eternal life. And suddenly, people are in the fellowship hall, talking, laughing, swapping stories and in general, celebrating! Because Jesus transformed tragedy into celebration. (2) Jesus Enables ministry to Keep Going…Even when Tragedy Strikes. Because sometimes when tragedy happens, life comes to a stand-still. Even during lesser tragedies! Like Spiderman. This past week Sony Pictures and Marvel/Disney ended their deal working together. As of right now, Spiderman cannot appear in the MCU anymore. And…tragedy. People are on social media like HOW CAN I MOVE ON!?! The same is true for bigger tragedies. People stop. They’re shocked. They need a moment to process. And to be fair, for a moment that evening in Troas, Paul stopped his sermon. The people stopped listening. Everyone needed to process. But once Jesus brought Eutychus back to life, Paul grabbed some food and continued doing ministry. He kept talking until morning. (v.10b) Then, he set off for the next stop on the missionary journey. Jesus enables ministry to keep going even during tragedy. He gives us comfort. He gives us joy. He keeps us uplifted and implores us to keep sharing the Gospel. In fact, the fact that tragedy happens doesn’t decrease the need for ministry; It increases the need for ministry. Because awful things happen in this sin filled world. Terrorism. Racial hate crimes. Hurricanes, car accidents, and horrific illness. Somewhere something horrible happens every day. That doesn’t mean we should run and hide. But we need run and tell. About the God who saw the sadness of tragedy. About the God who saw the tragedies of this world. About the God who saw the tragedies in your life. And didn’t run from it. But to it. He came into this tragic world and died on the cross. To rescue us from the tragedy of death. To transform tragedy into celebration. Through your message of the Gospel, he transforms the tragedies of others into celebration. That’s our job. That’s your job. Whether it’s your child, your spouse, your friend, your neighbor, your coworker, or your followers on social media. Because tragedy exists, God calls you to increase your ministry and share the message of Jesus. Because… (3) Jesus brings GREAT Comfort That’s the final verse of the account. It says that after Paul left, “The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.” (v.12) Because that evening, they heard about God’s grace for sinners and saw his power over death. That message of Jesus still brings great comfort even today. Even amid horrific tragedy. This past week Monday I was on social media, because sometimes as a pastor of a small medium sized church you’re in charge of social media. So, I was sitting there trying to plan (what kind of posts should we have this week) when I came across a post from a friend’s account that shocked me. It was from a former Precious Lambs’ parent. One that had been a part of our preschool family a while back. We had ministered to her. Talked with her. Shared the Gospel with her. The kid sang in worship. The parent attended, even got their phone out to record his dancing while he was singing. I enjoyed them. On Monday, I saw a Facebook post that said she had passed away. Young mom. Son of around 3rd grade. She passed away. Tragedy. But… When I looked closer at the post, I had seen that the one posting was her son. He was writing from her account. He had posted a picture of him and his mom and he had written this: “I’m sorry to say that my mom is gone. But she is in heaven now. Thank you, Jesus.” Are you kidding me? I’m tearing up as I’m reading about the tragedy. I’m tearing up as I’m thinking about the tragedy. This young man? He’s found comfort. Great comfort. Great comfort in his Savior. May Jesus be the one who gives you great comfort, too. Amen.  We are continuing our summer sermon series on the Early Church. Last week we heard how God directed the missionaries to the west, across the sea, into a foreign colony, down by a river – all for the sake of one woman named Lydia.
Lydia heard the Gospel, believed, and was baptized. Then, she became a partner in kingdom work. That’s where we pick up. Lydia’s home was now the base of operations for Paul, Silas, and their mission crew. Today we’re going to see how God worked through their mission work in Philippi to proclaim FREEDOM. Before we begin, let’s pray: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Freedom from Evil Acts 16:16 picks up the story some weeks later. The missionaries had gone back to the river where they met Lydia. It was a decent place for them to meet with people, preach sermons, and share the message of Jesus. They even started to get a bit of a following -- just not one they wanted: Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” (Acts 16:16-17) A few notes: This girl was a female slave. Unfortunately, you read that right. It was the 1st century and slavery was very common. Slaves were used to by their owners for housework, for fieldwork, for work down at the local harbor, and for any type of job that could earn the owner some money. This slave worked for her owners by predicting the future. She read people’s palms. She gazed into crystal balls. She flipped over cards and told them about whether their dreamy new boyfriend was going to end up being Mr. Right. She was able to do this because she had a spirit. Understand: This was not a spirit of ambition. It isn’t the type of “spirit” that gets people to work hard and end up on America’s Got Talent. It wasn’t a good spirit. It wasn’t the Holy Spirit. It was an evil spirit. This might be an undesirable truth, but it’s true nonetheless. Evil spirits are real. The Bible says that they are fallen angels. The devil was the first to fall by rebelling against God. But he wasn’t the only one. Others followed. They lost their godliness. They became evil. They became demons. And it’s the truth. Think about it: If Jesus said he would rise from the dead…And he did. Then, we need to believe what Jesus said. And Jesus said that angels were real. And so are demons. One of those demons had possessed this slave girl. While this allowed her to do some amazing things like tell the future, it was a wretched life: She was a prisoner in her own body. She was influenced by demonic forces. She was a slave in her own mind. But not just to the demons! Her owners didn’t care one bit. She made them money! She was their ticket to the fancy new home theater with the 70” HD TV that they wanted. It didn’t matter if she suffered; she made them cash. But now she found herself a second job. She followed the missionaries around shouting to the crowds: “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days…Paul became…annoyed. (Acts 16:17-18a) That might seem strange. Because if you look at her words, they are filled with truth! The missionaries were the servant of the God? Truth. That God is the Most High God? Truth. They were telling people the way to be saved? Yes, through Jesus. Why is Paul annoyed at this addition to their missionary team? Imagine for a minute that someone stumbled into church right now. They reeked of booze. They smelled of alcohol and cigarettes. In fact, they’d been on a booze bender ever since the 4th of July. They made their way to the front. And every time I made a point in the sermon, they lifted their bottle of Mad Dog 20/20, took a swig and shouted: “This guy’s speaking the truth about Jesus.” Best case scenario? It’s annoying. Worst case scenario? People leave before they hear the saving Gospel of Jesus. It was the same thing for Paul. People were beginning to think: “If this Paul guy is associated with that demon-possessed slave girl, then they probably just want our money. It’s another hoax. Time to move on.” But what could Paul do? She was possessed by a demon. She was held captive by the evil spirit. She was a prisoner in her own body and mind – terrified and corned by a powerful devil. Paul couldn’t do anything. But… Jesus could. Paul said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. (v.18b) “At that moment.” Not: “After a long period of time.” Not: “After a struggle.” Not even: “After a while.” “At that moment.” Because “at that moment” Jesus defied Satan. “At that moment” the demon cowered at God’s power. “At that moment” the evil spirit went running at the mention of Jesus’ name. “At that moment” Jesus freed her. Free from demonic influence. Free from her owners’ heavy hand. Free from her life as a sideshow. She was free. Here’s the first truth for this morning: Jesus frees us from the power of evil. We had an ant problem at our house. On top of the front banister there were hundreds of ants crawling around near our front door and making their home out of rotted a piece of wood. So, I went to the store and looked at pest control options. There was a poisonous spray. There was a baited trap. There was a good old fly swatter, if I wanted to spend the next 48 hours waiting and swatting. I came home with a little tube of gunk. (Call it “anti-ant gunk”) The directions state to take the gunk, spread it across the area that the ants will be crawling and wait. What happens is that it smells so sweet to the ants that they can’t help but make their way onto it. But then? It’s so sticky they can’t get away from it. They become trapped. Evil is just like that. It seems nice. Then, it traps you. The fun of a mildly racist joke that leads to racism firmly entrenched in every conversation made throughout the workday. The allure of pornography’s next exciting click leading to click number 178. The pull of greed’s desire for more – even if that greed is standing over me, like a master – forcing me to work more and more and more… The initial high of a drug. The chemical induced desire to give over all your money for just one more taste. The feeling of release from letting your rage on your spouse – a moment you’ll need to defend – by releasing the rage all over again. Evil takes over. Evil takes control. Evil leave us as prisoners. Embarrassed. Ashamed. Helpless. Enter Jesus. Jesus lived perfectly against evil. He died innocently for the evil you have committed. He rose triumphantly after having conquered evil on the cross! Jesus frees from the power of evil. Jesus frees YOU from the power of evil. In fact, Jesus said this: If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (Jn. 8:36) And Jesus did set you free. And you are free. You are free… Indeed. Whatever evil you’re fighting against. Whatever evil feels like it’s controlling you. It isn’t. Jesus is. He is your leader. He is your Savior. He is your Rescuer. II. Freedom from Fear Unfortunately, not everybody was thrilled with the freedom that this young woman was now experiencing. When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. (Acts 16:19) Because they didn’t care that she was free from the demon that possessed her. They were losing money! It might be like a strip club owner that is losing a dancer. Or a drug dealer that’s losing one of his customers. Or even a boss that’s losing a worker’s availability to make him more money on a Sunday morning. Sometimes when you try to abandon sin, people get upset that you’re doing so. Watch out. That’s what happened to this girl. Her former employers became angry and they had some weight with the city. They got leaders to listen to their side of the story… That Paul and Silas had broken their merchandise. That they had ruined their income. That they had looted their business. And the leadership listened. Paul and Silas were stripped. They were beaten with rods. They were flogged. They were thrown into prison. And as they were thrown into prison, the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. (16:23) So, he put them into the inner cell. The maximum-security part of the prison with extra doors and extra locks. In addition, he fastened their feet in the stocks. (v.24) They couldn’t even stand up to begin investigating an escape route. The jailer brushed his hands together: “That should hold them. I’ve done my job. Nothing can break those bonds.” About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the other prisoners were listening to them. (v.25) “The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want.” (Psalm 23:1) “Surely it is God who saves me, I will trust in him and not be afraid.” (Isaiah 12:2) “This is the Day the Lord has made. Rejoice! And be so very glad.” (Psalm 118:24) The jailer could hear them in the distance: How could they sound so free when they were so…NOT!?! I wouldn’t be like that. I’d be terrified. I already am. Because if I were to mess this job up, well… I’d rather just go to sleep rather than consider the outcome of that. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. (v.26) And the jailer woke up in a panic! The doors are open! If those prisoners are gone, then I’m as good as dead. I won’t see my family again. I won’t see my kids again. If the Romans don’t kill me, then that angry mob will. The jailer threw himself on the floor. Weeping. He drew his swords and was about to kill himself… “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (v.28) The jailer stopped. He sniffled back a few tears. He recognized that voice. It was the one that had just been singing to God. He set the sword down and made his way to the jail cells to find the prisoners still there. His job wasn’t in jeopardy. His life wasn’t in jeopardy. A rush of emotion came over the jailer. His eyes were filled with tears of thankfulness as he looked at the men who had a chance to leave the jail cell but remained. He spoke: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved.” (v.29) Because I’ve lived my whole life in fear. I’ve lived my life afraid of death. Afraid of losing everything. Afraid of punishment and eternal hellfire. What must I do to be saved? (v.29) Paul didn’t state it explicitly. But it’s implied. The jailer couldn’t do anything to save himself. But Jesus… He could. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. (v.31-32) Friends, the same is true for you. Jesus provides freedom from evil’s power. But he also provides freedom of another variety. TRUTH: Jesus brings freedom from fear. If you’re a dog, the 4th of July must be on the scariest holiday. There are strange people attending backyard BBQs, their owners’ hands turning into sparking things, and loud booms, signifying the end of the world…all night long. But if you’re a human, there’s plenty to fear as well. That some terrorist will be part of an Independence Celebration. That war will break in America – ending many lives. That the sickness will end in death. And there’s nothing scarier in the world than our natural spiritual state before God. We are sinners. We are guilt. We deserve death. And it’s coming for each one of us. Enter Jesus. Jesus removed our sins. Jesus removed our guilt. Jesus removed our eternal death sentence. Jesus transformed death from a separation from God and our believing loved ones. Into an eternal reunion together with our Father and them. Praise the Lord! There is no reason to be afraid. Look at the change in the jailer: At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wound. No longer afraid. He had himself and all his household baptized. No longer afraid. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them. No longer afraid. He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household. No longer afraid of death, because death would not stop him. (v.32-34) You don’t have to be afraid any longer. The worst thing that could happen to you in this life, it’s also the best: Your death means your eternal life. All because of Jesus! Friends, Jesus means freedom. Freedom from sin. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from shame. Be free from fear. Be free from evil. Because FREE is who you are in Jesus. Amen.  We recently got a cat.
I know. I know…this sounds like a confessional. But, it’s true. After 33 years of claiming that I would never own a cat, I caved, and I did. And it’s been fun. She enjoys keeping us safe from any fuzz balls and dust balls that she sees. She loves to go hunting for leaves. She even enjoys a playful, piercing bite to my front toe. But the other day, my wife told me that she had done something crazy. Julianna texted me that we needed to close the windows so that the cat couldn’t climb the screen. I said, “Yeah. How could she do that?” Julianna said, “I see holes in the screen right now.” I said, “Those are probably from bugs or some severe storm.” She said, “I’m pretty positive it’s from the cat.” I said, “Oh yeah. Prove it. How do you know?” My wife texted me a photo of the cat climbing the screen. Oh. Eyewitnesses are important. They are verbal proclaims of the visual truth. They are the difference between… Fiction and non-fiction. A fairy tale and history. A lie and truth. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be starting our sermon series called EYEWITNESS. It’s all about the eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. I think we need to do this because the resurrection of Jesus is too big a deal to rely on hearsay, to trust maybes and to listen to theories. Our goal today is to look at a real eyewitness accounts… Of real people… Who had real interactions… With the really risen Jesus… As real proof of your real salvation. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Mary’s Background The first eyewitness account that we are going to look at comes from a woman named Mary Magdalene. What interesting about Mary is that she doesn’t play a big part in Jesus’ three years of ministry on earth. In fact, there’s very little that is written about her except for this: Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had driven out seven demons. (Mark 16:9) It’s not even a full sentence. Just a passing adjective comment. But…one that’s pretty heavy. She had been possessed by 7 demons. Evil spirits. Fallen angels. Powerful. They had taken hold of her mind. Something that Bible theorists will suggest happens from dabbling in the demonic activity (the occult, psychics, blood sacrifices) and excessive drug use. Regardless how it happened to Mary, we know it was terrible. She had no control of her personality. She was a prisoner in her own mind. In a state of deep depression. With a helplessness that doesn’t go away. Except, it did. Mary was possessed. Jesus healed her. I don’t know exactly how, but if it is anything like Jesus’ other miracles, then it was probably as simple as Jesus lifting his hand and saying: “Be healed.” Which…Can you imagine? If you’ve ever had a counselor help you with a breakthrough. Or a pastor help you grasp God’s forgiveness. Or a fatal diagnosis that a doctor diagnosed, prescribed medicine and helped you defeat. You know the kind of deep connection that Mary had with Jesus. That’s why she had become a follower of his: She had been trapped, Jesus freed her. She had been guilty, Jesus brought her forgiveness. She had been depressed, Jesus brought her joy. She had been lonely, Jesus brought her family. She had been hopeless, Jesus made her hopeful. Until… Jesus died. He was violently, publicly, cruelly crucified on a cross. And all of her hope? Went away. All of her joy? Evaporated. All of her sanity… Started to slip away…. She could feel the devil’s grip tightening on her again. II. The Eyewitness Account That’s why she got up so early Sunday morning. You see -- Jesus had been killed Friday evening. They buried him. She would have gone to his grave to mourn, but they have this Sabbath rule where you can’t go to visit the dead on a Saturday. But Saturday was over. Like…just over. So…5am. It was still dark. It’s not like she was sleeping anyways. She threw on her sandals. Fastened on her cloak. And walked off to her friend’s house. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! “What do you want?” “It’s Sunday. We were going to go to his grave. We were going to go to Jesus’ grave so that we can honor him.” “But Mary. It’s not even light out yet. It’s still night time. It’s…just gonna take me a second while I get ready.” As they walked through the slowly evaporating darkness, it was mostly quiet. Whenever her friends tried to make small talk, Mary quieted them. “We’ve just gotta get to Jesus’ grave.” As they approached the garden, Mary worked into a sprint walk. She began opening up the bottle of perfume she had brought to pour on his grave and anoint his body. “Mary, did you think about how we were going to get into the grave? There is that giant stone that the soldiers put there to make sure that no one could get in. I saw some of those guys. They’re built like models. It took about 5 of them to move it, I don’t see how we…” She stopped talking. Off in the distance was Jesus’ grave. And… The giant stone? It was moved. Immediately, Mary burst into tears: “What did they do? What have they done? They couldn’t just leave him alone. Those jerks! Those losers! How could they do this? How could they leave us like this? Without even a chance…to heal.” She broke down. Her friends tried to console her. But Mary shrugged them off. She turned around and sprinted back towards town. She could barely see where she was going with tears clouding her vision. She made her way to where some of the twelve disciples were staying. She pounded at the door. She screamed at the door. She made a commotion till their let her in: “They took his body. They took his body. They book his body…the tomb is empty!” Two of the disciples rushed out. They sprinted to see what she was saying. And Mary tried to follow, but she grew too tired. Her legs got wobbly. She slammed her back against tree trunk. And fell to the floor. A mess. After sobbing for a good 15 minutes, She stood up. She didn’t have any tears left. She had to get to the bottom of this. She had to get back to the tomb and find some kind of a clue…a witness…a footprint that would lead her to Jesus’ body. She went back to the tomb. Her friends were gone. The disciples were gone. The stone…was still gone. This time…she took a deep breath…and approached the tomb. Inside the tomb, she found some men. Dressed in white. A gleaming, blinding white light. Radiating from their clothes. Radiating from their faces. Both sitting on the bier where Jesus’ body had been. Between them? Grave clothes. Folded ever so nicely, ever so gently, as if they were no longer necessary. “Woman, why are you crying?” they asked. “They have taken my Lord away! And I don’t know where they have put them!” Mary turned around. The men were nice. And it was strange that they were glowing, but…she didn’t have time. She needed to find his body. Outside the tomb, someone else. Hard to tell who – with the tears blurring her vision. It was probably the gardener. “Woman, why are you crying?” This is the one. He must have taken the body. He must have moved it at the requests of the Pharisees! “Tell me sir. Tell me…Please…Where did you take his body? Why did you leave the grave….empty?” “Mary!” The air was still. Mary’s breath paused for a moment. She had heard that voice before. She had heard that voice teach her about God. She had heard that voice proclaim forgiveness. She had heard that voice drive away her own demons! It was Jesus! “Teacher!” She cried as she grabbed a hold of him with a hug. As she hugged, she knew it was real! She felt his shoulders. She held him by the back. She felt the warmth of his breath. Jesus was alive. III. Resurrection Truth This is the eyewitness account of Mary. It is an eyewitness account that is recorded for us in Scripture. The guy who wrote it? John – he was one of the disciples that went running to the tomb after Mary told him it was open! And the book of John? It was written down and passed around at a time when Mary Magdalene would have still been alive. And she didn’t say “Nah, man. That’s wrong. It didn’t happen this way.” Nope. She said, “That’s the truth.” Which means. There are three really important divine truths that we need to take home with us today. (1) Jesus Rose from the Dead Granted. You might be skeptical of that truth. That’s understandable. Because most people when they are dead? They can’t do much. Their bodies just lie there and slowly decompose. And even people who are living – they haven’t figured out a way to bring people that are dead back to life either. But if this is true… When Jesus was dead, he figured out one thing that no one else could ever figure out while they were alive – conquering death itself! If you’re skeptical, Mary’s account is for you. Because think about how long it took her recognize that Jesus was alive. She saw the immovable stoned – moved and her first reaction? “They took his body.” She went into the tomb and saw two angels –glowing with divine splendor. Her reaction? “They took his body!” She went outside the tomb and saw Jesus – but was so overcome with emotion that she says to Jesus, “You must have taken his body!” Thing is. She wasn’t wrong. It isn’t until Jesus… Gently… Calmly… Calls her name… That she realizes the incredible truth right in front of her! Friends, you might be dealing with sadness. You might be dealing with difficulties in your marriage. With abandonment. With challenges at work. With a financial crisis. With a terrifying diagnosis. With guilt, shame, and sin. And sometimes that can all cover our hearts and close our eyes and make us say, “There is no HOPE in this world! This Jesus’ thing can’t be true.” But… When that happens… Hear Jesus’ voice… He’s calling to you. “I am alive.” (2) The Work of Salvation is Finished Check out verse 17: “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” The reason Jesus came to earth was to win your salvation. He came to suffer death for your sins. He came to earn your way to heaven. He came to pay for eternal life. If he’s heading up to heaven, guess what? That work is done. Granted – that can be hard to believe. It’s like Easter weekend. Maybe you are planning on having relatives to your house. Maybe you wanted to clean for your relatives -- so you make a check list: Sweep the floor, dust the counters, disinfect the countertops, clean the bathrooms, do the laundry, make the beds, clean up the toys, etc. And you go to work. And you come home and…. Your husband says, “Surprise! I did it already. It’s finished. You don’t have to clean anymore!” How do you respond? Probably…by sweeping the floor, dusting the counters, disinfecting the countertops, etc. When Jesus tells you that it is finished. It is finished. Your salvation is won. Your sins are forgiven. Eternal life is yours. Heaven is your home! “It is finished.” You don’t need to try and earn his love. You don’t need to complete your salvation. You don’t need to pay your way into heaven by working hard and becoming perfect. Nope. Jesus did it for you. Believe. And… (3) Go and Tell Because right after Mary realizes that Jesus is standing right in front of her… Having conquered sin and death… Renewing her hope again… She’s overcome with emotion. She holds onto him. She doesn’t want to ever go back to guilt and loneliness and despair. Never again! But Jesus says something interesting: “Do not hold onto me. Instead, go and tell.” (v.17) Why? Because there were others who had lost their hope. There were others who were in despair. There were others who were shacked to guilt. Mary’s eyewitness message – would change that. She would give them hope. She would give them joy. She would give them freedom. Friends, there are still people like that today. There are people who don’t know their Savior. People who don’t know the resurrection story. People who think Easter is all about sugary yellow marshmallow chicks They are overcome with guilt. They are dealing with a lack of joy. They are struggling with despair. Can you do me a favor? Listen to your Savior. Go and tell. Later today at your Easter party, turn to the people who didn’t come to worship to celebrate this message and share the story of Easter. Go and Tell. Later this evening when you are on your phones, take a note or two from this sermon and share on social media. Go and tell. Tomorrow morning as you head to work – gather around the coffee pot, talk with your coworkers about why you liked Easter and how amazing this message of the risen Savior is. Go and tell. And understand this. You won’t be just giving them a story. You won’t be just telling them a fairy tale. You’ll be giving them true hope. Absolute. Real. True. Hope. Amen.  We’re picking up right where we left off last week in the book of ACTS. If you remember, last week we heard about a guy named Saul. Saul was the Commander-in-Chief of Destroying the Gospel and murdering any Christian he came across. He hated Jesus. He hated Christians. He persecuted Christians to death.
Then, something happened. Jesus appeared to him. Jesus spoke to him. Jesus brought him to repentance. Jesus forgave him. And Saul came to faith. He was baptized. He learned from other Christians and soon began preaching the very message he had been persecuting. Jesus visibly appeared to Saul. And empowered Saul to turn his life around. QUESTION: Do you ever wish Jesus would do that to you? Do you ever wish he would appear to you in the flesh, holes in hands, a reassuring pat on the back and a few magic tricks to prove that your faith is the truth? Today we’re going to follow the Gospel as it makes its way to a few different cities filled with people who didn’t get to personally see Jesus and who hadn’t gotten to witness His miracles. Our goal is to discover, along with those people, that the Gospel is ABSOLUTELY TRUE. It’s powerful. It’s public. It’s proven. But before we do that, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Two Stories of the Gospel’s Power The true stories we want to look at start in Acts 9:32. Both these stories center around the Apostle Peter. He is one of the original 12 disciples. He lived with Jesus, worked with Jesus, and learned from Jesus. He saw Jesus die. He saw Jesus rise from the dead. He was personally commissioned by Jesus to “go and preach the good news of forgiveness in Jesus.” At this point – Peter had done that. He had preached a sermon to over 3000 people at Pentecost. He had stood up for the Gospel in front of the enemies of Jesus. He had taught, commissioned and sent out newer disciples to share the Gospel. Peter is kinda like District President (DP) Don Tollefson. Who’s Don Tollefson? He’s a pastor. But a Pastor of a lot of people. Pastor Tollefson is the President of the North Atlantic District of our group of Lutheran churches. He encourages all the churches in the district. He helps facilitate ministry ideas. He shares resources. He travels from city to city to city, up and down the North Atlantic Coast uplifting congregations with the Gospel. Over the past couple of weeks, I know he’s been to Harrisburg, PA to help a mission congregation ready to get a pastor; he went up to Orleans, Ontario, Canada to commission a new pastor for our congregation up there; he made his way to Milwaukee, WI to meet with other District Presidents and develop plans for continuing to share the Gospel throughout the U.S In short, district presidents rack up quite the good number of frequent flier miles. Peter was doing something very similar – without the frequent flier miles. He was travelling about the country. And he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. (v.32) Lydda was 27 miles to the Northwest of Jerusalem. Christians from Jerusalem had fled there during Saul’s persecution in Jerusalem and a tiny congregation had formed. Peter went to that small congregation at Lydda to encourage them. While he was there, Peter did what pastors sometimes do when they visit other pastors. He went with local leadership into the community. Maybe grabbed some local fare, stopped by the local coffee shop and went by the park. It’s good to get to know the leaders of the local church and their community so that you can offer the proper advice and encouragement. While Peter was doing this, he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for 8 years. (v.33) He hasn’t been able to walk. He lays on the side of the street. He never leaves the bed-like mat that his friends set up. And the local congregation leaders must have been like: “Oh him!?! He’s there all the time. It’s a sad story really. He can’t get a job. He doesn’t have a lot of money. Sometimes we stop and give him bits of leftover sandwich from our last potluck, but…he’s kind of a lost cause. Anyways Peter, have you ever tried Potato Rounds before…eh…What are you doing?” Peter moved away from the other leaders. Peter moved towards the bedridden man. Peter said to him: “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” And immediately Aeneas got up. (v.34) Let that sink in. No physical therapy. No pills. No medicine. No injection. No knee braces. No robotics. Not even an Essential Oil treatment. Just words spoken in the name of Jesus. And immediate, incredible, complete healing. Meanwhile – 11 miles Northwest of this miracle – another congregation is having a tough time. In the town of Joppa, a very important member of the congregation had just passed away. Her name is Tabitha. According to Scripture, Tabitha was always doing good and helping the poor. (v.36) It appears she made clothes for them. She made food for them. She delivered food to them. She helped a lot of people. But she had gotten sick and died. When the disciples in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” (v.37) Because this was a hard one. Tabitha was such a blessing to the church and the community. Why would God take her? Why would she die? Her death was confusing, maddening and saddening! They needed answers. They needed comfort. They needed someone with a connection to Jesus like Peter had to uplift them with Godly words. And Peter quickly realized this. He hurried up to Lydda. He went to Tabitha’s home. When he arrived, it was filled with people. Mourning. In tears. Holding up shawls and dresses that Tabitha had made for them. Handing him a piece of cake – in the style of which Tabitha used to make. Falling to their knees and asking Peter, “Why?” Eventually, they led him upstairs. They showed him to the room where there lay Tabitha’s body. Her cold, dead body. Peter fought back tears. If only he had gotten here earlier. He could have asked Jesus to do what he did for Aeneas. He could have helped her. He could have healed her just like Jesus had done. But… Then again… There was something else Jesus had done, too… Peter asked everyone to leave the room. They obliged because – “Peter probably needs a moment or two to process…” When he was alone, he fell to his knees. He prayed. Then, he looked up. He turned to Tabitha’s cold, lifeless body and said: “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes and seeing Peter she sat up. (v.40) Alive. II. Three Truths about the Gospel There are a lot of interesting themes to explore in these two stories. We could talk about the importance of working for the Lord like Tabitha. We could talk about the value of getting into the community how Peter found Aeneas. We could discuss the value in sending Synod Leadership to encourage congregations in faith. But the heart of these stories – is the heart of the entire Bible – Jesus. And Jesus is directly tied to the Gospel. Here are three truths about the Gospel from these lessons: (1) Jesus is Powerful Look closely. Peter didn’t do the healing by himself. Peter said to Aeneas, “Jesus Christ heals you.” (v.34) Peter got down on his knees and prayed. Then Tabitha was healed. (v.40) Notice Peter didn’t say: “I heal you,” nor did he get down on his knees and pray: “Dear Me, Please help Me and Heal this lady for me.” Nope. Peter turns to God. Peter turns to his Savior. Peter turns to Jesus. Jesus heals Aeneas and Tabitha! To be fair – we shouldn’t be surprised! Jesus did the same thing while he physically walked the earth. He made the blind to see; the deaf to hear; the lame to walk; the sick to be well; the water to become a walking surface; the storms to become quiet; the bread to multiply; the water to become wine; the dead to come back to life. But – I guess the only incredible caveat with these miracles, is that Jesus does them while he’s not even physically, visibly, tangibly there! I’ve got some power. Sometimes the Office Supply company we work with delivers boxes of paper. Each box holds about 10 packages of 500 sheets of paper. They’re pretty heavy. About 50 pounds. If I am around, I can lift it and put it away. If I’m not around, I can’t do squat. Jesus wasn’t even physically around, yet his power was able to: (1) Instantly heal a man who had not been able to walk for the last 8 years. (2) Bring to life a woman who had died! Jesus is still Powerful. He removes all your sins. He destroys all your guilt. He busts through the gates of hell itself. He powerfully penetrates the preventive walls of unbelief and brings believers into his family. (2) Jesus is Public But you might say: Yeah, right! Peter is in on it! It’s all a big scam. Aeneas pretended to be unable to walk for 8 years just so that Peter could appear to be the hero with the message of Jesus – even though Peter probably wasn’t even a follower of Jesus when Aeneas began his ruse? And Tabitha pretended to be dead – she held her breath (for days?) and got the hundreds of people mourning at the house to believe that she was dead just so that Jesus would “appear” powerful. Really? Here’s the deal. Both of these miracles are extremely public. They aren’t done in private. In regard to Aeneas it says: All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas and turned to the Lord. (v.35) Notice it doesn’t say “All of Aeneas’ friends who were in on the 8-year ruse.” Nope. All the city. Everyone. Even the people who were kind of annoyed with Aeneas being bedridden, asking for money, day after day after day. Peter meets Aeneas. Many are watching. Aeneas stands up. They don’t think: “Faker.” They think: “Savior.” And with Tabitha it’s just as public. Remember – She died. The people washed her body and cleaned it. They sent for Peter. Peter arrived when they were in the middle of the Ancient version of the “wake.” They are throwing Tabitha’s blankets in Peter’s face and everyone is talking about how she is dead and how sad it is. No one is saying; “I think she’s faking it, Peter.” After Jesus raises her through Peter: Peter called for the believers, especially the widows and presented Tabitha to them alive. This became known all over Joppa and many people believed in the Lord. (v.41-42) Because…She was dead and now. She was alive. This is key for you and me. Because what Luke wrote down for us in Acts; he wrote down only a maximum of 10 years later. And this book of Acts was circulated throughout the churches. The people in Lydda read it and said, “Yep. That’s right. I remember when he healed Aeneas.” And the people in Joppa read it and said, “Yes. They got it right. I remember when Tabitha came back to life.” The point? This stuff is public. It’s real. It’s not that way in other religion. It’s not like… The Prophet Mohammed who went up on a mountain by himself. Or Joseph Smith, found of Mormonism, who went into the forest by himself. Or some scientist who hypothesizes this world must have started this way – even though I wasn’t even there. Nope. Jesus’ power is public. Real, visible, viewed by many. Even at the highlight of his story… Jesus died before hundreds. He hung on a cross before hundreds. He was confirmed dead by hundreds. Then, he rose. He appeared before hundreds. He showed himself before hundreds. He spoke again with hundreds. Jesus is public! (3) Jesus is Proven This leads to our third “P” word. If Jesus is powerful and public. Then, Jesus, is also proven. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus offers visual proof of invisible truth. Public visual proof of private invisible truth. Aeneas visibly gets to his feet before hundreds. Tabitha comes back to life before hundreds. Jesus visibly dies and visibly is buried and visibly comes back to life. It’s proof. Proof that the Jesus is truth. Proof of the invisible miracles that Jesus claims for us: Proof that your sins are forgiven. Proof that you have peace with God. Proof that Jesus is the Savior. Proof that by believing in him you will enter eternal life. If you doubt!?! You’re doubting the power of a Savior that has done countless visible miracles in the face of tens of thousands of witnesses. If you doubt!?! You’re doubting God. You’re doubting the Holy Spirit. You’re doubting Jesus. Don’t doubt. Believe. III. What Now? 1. Turn I don’t mean do a physical turn right here, right now. This isn’t P90x. The Bible tells us to “turn” spiritually. That’s what the people in Lydda did. They saw the power of Jesus in healing Aeneas. They turned to the Lord. (v.35) They stopped trusting themselves. They stopped trusting their own abilities. They stopped trusting some statue god. They trusted their Savior. Do the same. Even if you are a longtime Christian! Turn. Because the devil has a way of getting us to turn to ourselves, to money, to things and stuff and to trust them rather than Jesus. Examine your heart. See where you’re wrong. Turn back to Jesus. And if you’ve never trusted in Jesus, hear God’s plea: Stop trusting yourself. Stop trusting your money. Stop trusting your abilities. Stop trusting your own modern fake gods and start trusting the real, only true God, Jesus Christ, who died to save you. And he did so. Powerfully. Publicly. 2. Kneel Because when Peter was faced with a dire situation. When he came face to face with death in the face of Tabitha. When he said to himself, there is literally nothing I can do to help – he got on his knees and prayed. Do the same thing. Too often when things get out of hand; when things are out of our control; when things are beyond our control we keep thinking: I can do this. I can figure this out. I can stand. Jesus doesn’t want us standing. He wants us kneeling. Humbly in prayer before our God. This isn’t necessarily physically; but a ‘kneeling’ in your heart. Humbly agreeing that you are a sinner and the situation is beyond your control and you need your almighty, all powerful, paralyzed man healing, dead widow raising, out of the grave conquering God. Turn to your God. Fall on your knees. Trust in your powerful, public, and proven Savior. Amen. |
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October 2022
Pastor Phil Kiecker
and his wife, Julianna love serving the community of North Raleigh.
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