Looking for a job can be difficult.
 
Searching for jobs online.
Filing out applications.
Phoning, emailing, texting to check on those applications.

And the interview!
You rent a suit coat.
You part your hair ever so particularly.
You practice saying: “I’m not in it for the money, but because of the sheer joy I get from filling out spreadsheets and alphabetically filing documentation.”
 
Yet…
As challenging as finding a job can be…
It gets exponentially more difficult if you have something on your record.

Jail time.
Charges.
A terrible credit report.
A job history with a few firings.
Even an incriminating Facebook photo or post that you forgot to delete.

Past mistakes can make it difficult to find work in the now…
But what about God’s kingdom?
What if you have mistakes in your past?
Surely – if humans wouldn’t hire you – God, who is perfect, wouldn’t want you to work in his kingdom either…right?
 
Today’s EYEWITNESS account is about a guy named Peter, who had made some rather big blunders while working in God’s kingdom. We want to learn (1) what his failures were (2) how they affected his role in God’s kingdom and (3) what that means for our roles in kingdom work. 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. Peter’s Story
 
We are continuing where we left off last week. If you remember, Jesus had appeared to his disciples on the Sea of Galilee. When he appeared, he told them to toss their nets into the lake and – immediately – the net is full of fish. Amazing – because Jesus was 100 yards away on shore and the disciples had been out all night without catching anything.
But that wasn’t it – as the disciples row the boat to shore, Jesus already has fish sandwiches cooking over the fire for them to eat. It’d be similar to someone gifting you a $100 Starbucks gift card and then, when they invite you to Starbucks – they pay for the coffee for you.
Jesus did the same. He provided abundantly.

He provides abundantly.

And I’ll bet the disciples were loving this interaction.

Because Jesus was back!
He conquered death!
He was alive!
He was just as powerful as ever!
And he was with them.
This was great news --- for most of them.

While Peter was happy to see Jesus alive, it also reminded him of the last conversation that they shared.

It had been back before Jesus died.
Back before Jesus was arrested.
They had been sitting down for a meal and Jesus had said, “I tell you the truth. You will all fall away on account on me.” (Matthew 26:31)
And Peter heard it.
And believed most of it.
“Even if all fall away on account of you, Jesus, I never will.” (Matthew 26:33)
I mean…I’m Peter!
Jesus gave me that name.
It means “Rock.”
I am Peter and…I will not fall!

And Jesus…
Turned to Peter.
Looked him straight in the eye.
And said this:
“Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me – three times.” (v.34)
Peter would never forget those exact words.
Before that night was over a group of soldiers had come to arrest Jesus.
Swords, clubs, and spears – Peter was frightened like the rest of the disciples and ran away.
Then, sure, he regained his senses and made it into the courtyard where they were holding the illegal late-night trial of Jesus.
Only to deny knowing him.

Not once.
Not twice.
But three times.

And then? The rooster crowed.
The one Jesus had predicted would crow - it crowed!

Peter hated roosters now.
Because now they were a reminder of how he had sinned.
A reminder of how he had failed…
A reminder of how he had fallen…
A reminder of his guilt.
 
Guilt is always tricky. It can easily burden a soul.
But Peter’s guilt was especially difficult for a trifecta of reasons that are especially hard to get over. For a few reasons:
 
Repeated Guilt.

He didn’t deny Jesus one time. He didn’t deny Jesus two times. He denied him three times in one evening. (Although during that third time it says that he called down curses upon himself, so even thought it was one “time period” perhaps it was a bunch of times within that time period).
 
Repeated guilt is hard.

We were given a good deal on a Prius a while back. Great car. Great gas mileage. Fun to drive.
But it’s extremely low to the ground. The bumper is about 2 inches from the street. So, when you come down our driveway which is on a decent incline…if you don’t turn the wheels at a specific angle to the right and back out at that exact angle – the front bumper scrapes.

Do you know how many times I’ve gotten that wrong? (I’m especially guilty of it every morning when I haven’t had my coffee yet) I keep messing up and I keep feeling guilty about it. In fact, the front bumper is cracked in all kinds of places. And it now serves as a 21st century, sheen black version of a rooster. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of my failures!

Repeated guilt is hard.

Repeatedly drinking too much.
Repeatedly losing your temper.
Repeatedly looking at porn.
Repeatedly lying to your spouse.
Repeatedly being jerk at work.
Repeatedly being a bully to your family.

Repeated guilt is hard because there’s no excuse.
The devil comes along and says,
You know better!
But you did it anyway.
This is unforgivable.
 
Leader Guilt.

Because Peter was a leader. He was a disciple; more than that – an apostle. There were only twelve of those hand selected and chosen by Jesus. And of those twelve disciples – Peter was definitely a leader among them: He had the privilege of walking on water. He saw Jesus heal a dead girl when many of them didn’t. He was chosen along with only two others to see Jesus go up on a mountain and reveal his heavenly brilliance. Peter was a leader.
 
And then he fell.
And when leaders fall…
They quickly become leaders in holding onto guilt.

Maybe you know.

Whether you’re a leader in your family.
Or a leader here at church.
Or a leader among your friends.
Or a teacher of kids.
Or even…you’re the only one at work who is Christian – making you a spiritual leader by default – and then you sin…?

How’s that feel?
The devil comes along and whispers:

“You’re a leader…and you did that?”
“That’s pathetic.”
“I’m not sure you’re a leader anymore…”
“…I’m not even sure you’re a part of his kingdom.”

Public Guilt.
Because by the time Peter gets to the third denial, there’s a crowd of people gathered around him:
 
A crowd of people watch him as he shakes his head vigorously.
A crowd of people listening as cusses out Jesus.
A crowd of people taking mental note of his sin.
 
I wonder how many of those people Peter saw again.
I wonder how that went?

Public guilt is hard.
 
There’s this thing I receive every Monday called a Call Report. “Call” is a reference to the special “calling” that a ministry worker has to their particularly congregation. The “call report” details any changes in those ministry positions. It’ll say: “Pastor So-and-So retired.” “Pastor what’s-his-face is switching congregations.” And even “Pastor who’s-his-name has decided to remain at his current congregation.”

But every once in a while, it says this:
“Pastor removed for cause.”
 
To me, it’s a terrifying expression. It means “removed for doing some gross outward sin.” It’s a phrase that no pastor ever wants said about them. It’s terrifying among our pastor circles, because it is a phrase that screams: “Failure.”

Moral failure.
Teaching failure.
Pastor failure.
Failure …failure.

And everyone now knows you as…

Not as a brother.
Not as a pastor.
Not even as your first name…
But as “Pastor, Removed for Cause.”
 
But as a non-pastor you can feel the same thing.
You might have a sin that your family knows about.
That your coworkers know about.
That your friends saw you do.
And now every moment you spend around them is spent like Peter:

Did they see me sin?
Do they know about my guilt?
Do they think of me as SINNER?
Like you’ve got a big old black marker on your forehead everywhere you go that says: “INSERT SIN HERE.”

Public sin is hard.
 
Any one of these three types of guilt are challenging on their own! If you’re dealing with any of these, they can overload you. Burden you. Suffocate you.
Peter had to deal with all three all at once. That’s an extreme amount of guilt.

And it needs an extreme amount of restoration.

II. Peter’s Restoration
 
Peter finished up his breakfast.
Another meal done.
Another visitation from Jesus without having to talk about the sinful things that I did.
If I just keep a low profile, stay quiet, and avoid eye contact, I should be able to avoid him altogether.

Peter turned around to find Jesus standing right in front of him.
Face to face.
Eye to eye.
Heart to heart.

“Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
 
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
 
At this point, the conversation seemed a bit too familiar.
Three times? Really?
It reminded him of those three times that he denied Jesus.

Peter said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. (Jn. 21:15-17)
That’s it.
He doesn’t ream Peter out.
He doesn’t kick Peter out.
He doesn’t even respond to Peter’s claims of loving him with: “Umm…No, you didn’t. Remember?”

Nope.
Jesus doesn’t bring guilt.
He brings restoration.

TRUTH:
Restoration to God’s kingdom comes out of Jesus' work.

It didn’t come out of Peter earning it. Peter hadn’t done anything to make up for what he did.
But Jesus did do something.
Jesus did everything.

He lived perfectly when Peter could not.
He died innocently in his place. 
He rose triumphantly for the forgiveness of Peter’s sin.

The same is true with you.

If you’ve sinned against God.
If you have repeated guilt.
If you have public guilt.
If you have leader guilt.

Jesus doesn’t make you do something to make up for it.
Jesus did everything for you.

He lived perfectly when you could not. 
He died innocently in your place.
He rose triumphantly for the forgiveness of your sin.

Remember earlier – when we talked about having a criminal record and how hard it is to find work with that record. One thing that you can do is you can get your record exponged.

It takes a lot of money.
A lot of time with lawyers. '
A lot of paperwork and a lot of pleading with a judge...
But it is sometimes possible to get it expunged, erased and cleared.

Understand this – Jesus has expunged your record.
He did all the work. 
He paid for it completely. 
Your guilt is expunged, erased, cleared.

In short – listen to Jesus’ message to you right now:
You are restored to my kingdom.
You are guilt free.
You are forgiven…and…You have work to do.

TRUTH:
Restoration to God’s kingdom means Restoration to Kingdom Work.
 
That’s a bit unexpected. Because the devil would love to have you think:
“OK, fine. You are a part of his kingdom, but…Stay in the back. Go into the corner. Hide. Because you are not worthy of being on the front lines.”

But that’s not what Jesus says.

In Peter’s restoration, He goes straight to telling him to work for his kingdom.
He gives him a job.
He restores him not only to his kingdom, but to work in his kingdom.

And God has done the same for you.
He restored you to his kingdom.
He has restored you to kingdom work.

III. Kingdom Work
 
And what does that kingdom work look like? You get an idea in Jesus’ instruction to Peter.

Feed His Sheep.

Jesus says that is what true love for him is:  

Feed my lambs. (v.15)
Take care of my sheep. (v.16)
Feed my Sheep. (v.17)
 
Does he own a farm I’ve never heard of?
Did he develop some petting zoo?
Does Jesus have a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow?

Nope.

When Jesus talks about his lambs and his sheep, he’s talking about his people.
When Jesus talks about feeding those lambs and sheep, he’s talking about sharing the message of reconciliation with others.
You know the same message that gives you hope and comfort…
Give it to others!

TRUTH:
Love for Jesus means sharing his message.
 
Telling your neighbor about Jesus.
Spreading the Gospel to your coworkers.
Sharing forgiveness with a church friend.
Teaching the little children about their Savior.
Inviting the community of North Raleigh to hear of God’s love.
He’s talking about our very mission:
To plant the Message of Jesus in the heart of north Raleigh.

When you are sharing the message of forgiveness, you are caring for sheep.
You’re leading someone to streams of living water.
You’re giving them some of God’s forgiveness.
You’re feeding them a steady diet of “Jesus died for you. Believe in him. You are forgiven.”
Here’s the challenge. The devil will love to convince that we aren’t worthy of sharing the message.
He’ll say that you aren’t qualified for that kind of work.
He’ll say that you are a failure.
He’ll say that you should leave that to others who aren’t as much of a failure.
 
But here’s the thing about feeding sheep.

It doesn’t matter if the farmer puts the food in the bucket.
It doesn’t matter if the farm hand puts the food into the bucket.
It doesn’t matter some disenfranchised, former farm hand puts the food into the bucket.

The sheep eat the food.
The food nourishes the sheep.
The sheep get the health benefits of the food -- no matter the moral background of the one who put the food into the buckets.

It’s the same with kingdom work.
The power is in the Word.
And those who are a part of kingdom are qualified to work with it.
And you…are an important part of his kingdom work.

Feed his lambs.
Take care of his sheep.
Feed them with the Gospel of Jesus.

Amen.

We are in the middle of our Eyewitness sermon series and so far, we have heard Eyewitness reports from Mary Magdalene and from the Emmaus Disciples (Named? Cleopas and the other guy). In addition, we heard there’s a group of at least three other women (Mary the mother of James, Joanna and others—Lk. 24:10) who saw Jesus alive as well. That means by evening on Easter Sunday there are 5 people who have witnessed Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

The unlikely story is building credibility.
 
DNA testing was introduced into our court system in the early 90s. Did you know that hundreds of people who were previously convicted by eyewitness reports have been found not-guilty thanks to the DNA Testing? In 70% of those cases, the reason for conviction was the eyewitness testimony of one or two people.
 
John Wixted, a psychologist for the University of California, San Diego – wanted to see how useful eyewitness testimony was. He conducted an experiment with police that focused on 348 robberies in 2013 that involved an eyewitness and a single suspect. He showed the eyewitness a group of 5 photos in which one was the convicted robber. The eyewitnesses got the correct suspect 1/3 of the time.

Not great.

But…in addition to quizzing eyewitnesses on the correct suspect, he also asked them about their certainty – whether they were unsure, certain, or very certain.

Of the people who were very certain? They correctly identified the suspect 75% of the time.
And when there was even one other supporting eyewitness, the rate of correct identification shot up to 90%.

By evening on the very first Easter, Jesus was identified as risen by at least 5 eyewitnesses.
Not one.
Not two.
Five.

And their confidence? It was through the roof! They didn’t see Jesus running away or from a distance, but up close and personal.
 
But…they aren’t even the beginning of the eyewitness accounts.

Today we’ll look an eyewitness account that probably quadruples the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. The goal? Gain your confidence that Jesus is alive. 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. The Eyewitness Account
 
The eyewitness account is recorded in both the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Luke. We’re going be in both, starting with John. It says, “On the evening of that first day of the week...the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders…” (Jn. 20:19)
The section starts by describing a group of disciples together. The Gospel of Luke helps us better define who the group was gathered together.
 
A few notes:
It doesn’t involve Judas – he betrayed Judas and took his life because of the guilt.
It doesn’t involve Thomas – take note – we’ll talk more about that next week.
It does involve the Emmaus disciples – Cleopas and what’s-his-name show up to tell them all about their eyewitness experience.
It involves the women – Mary Magdalene, other Mary and Joanna, the other woman – who had seen Jesus rise from the dead.
And…maybe even a few others.

In short, the group is somewhere around 15-20 people.
That’s important.

And the doors were locked. It’s almost a horror film like setting. The disciples have the doors locked, latched, barred, with a couple pieces of furniture stacked against the door – all because they are afraid of the Jewish leaders.

Why?
The Jewish leaders just killed Jesus.
They crucified him.
They acted like a mob, wrongfully arrested him, falsely accused him, illegally convicted him, and forced Pilate’s hand to have him crucified.

What if the leaders did the same to them?
What if they had 12 more crosses just waiting to be filled with 12 more disciples?
What if any encounter with a Jewish leader would end the same way that Jesus’ encounter did…death?

And so, they hid.

And…all day long people had been entering the room with really weird accounts.
 
“We went to the grave and we thought he’d be dead, but the stone was moved!”
“An angel. A brilliantly bright angel. He saw us and spoke to us and said Jesus was alive.”
“It’s true. We listened to Mary. We ran to look. There wasn’t a body in the tomb.”
“I came back later and saw Jesus himself! I know it…because I heard his voice. A voice that healed me from demons.”
“We walked on the road with him. We talked with him. Would we have come all the way back here from Emmaus – a 7-mile sprint? – if we hadn’t really seen something?”
 
And to be fair – the reports brought excitement.
They brought mystery.
They brought questions.

But mostly…they brought fear.
Lots and lots of fear.
 
Because this fear of the Jews – had obviously caused their friends – delusions….
…their mind was playing tricks on them!
…a slow descent into madness.

How long until it hit them?
 
In the midst of the fear, confusion and hushed conversations…
Another guest appeared into the room.
Everyone was so distracted that they did not hear him enter.
Granted --- he didn’t knock.
He just appeared.

While they were…talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (Luke 24:36-37)
 
And the disciples…have anything but peace!
It’s the ghost!
He’s seeking vengeance.
He’s back to haunt us.

Jesus lifted up his hands.
The disciples braced themselves for the inevitable plasma-ball to come out and consume them.

But…
Instead…
Jesus said this, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?  Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” (v.38)
 
One by one…the disciples looked at each other.
“Touch him? Touch the ghost?”
“You do it.”
“No, you do it.”
“I’m not touching the ghost!”
Finally, Peter pushes his brother Andrew forward.

Andrew gulps.
He lifts up his hand.
He places it on Jesus’ hand…and…

“Whoa…Guys. It’s real.”

The other disciples quickly come over.
They feel the bumps on his skin.
They feel the hairs on his arms.
They touched the holes near his hands.
 
He has flesh and bone – just like any other living human has.

Jesus asks, “Do you have anything here to eat?” (v.42)
One of them hands over the fish sandwich.
They pass it to Jesus.
It’ll probably fall to the floor – he’s a spirit.

Nope.
Jesus ate it in their presence. (v.43)
It went into his mouth.
Chewed by his teeth.
Tasted by his tongue.
Into his throat
Into his belly.
Digestion happened.

Just like it does with any living human being.
 
Then, Jesus gave them something else.
He said to them, “This is what I said would happen.  Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Old Testament.” (v.44)
 
I had to die.
And I had to rise.
Just as it was written:

“God, you will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor let your Holy One see decay.” (Psalm 16:10)
“After he has suffered, the Messiah will see the light of life…” (Isaiah 53:11)
“Just as Jonah was three days and night in the belly of a fish, so the Son of man will be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth.” (Mt. 12:40)
 
Friends I am alive.
 
Jesus’ words echoed…
Seemingly…joyful.
And the disciples came to a realization.

This wasn’t a hallucination.
This wasn’t a vision.
This wasn’t even a ghost.

Nope.

This was something much worse.

This was real.
Jesus rose.
And it couldn’t be more terrifying!
 
Why terrifying?
Because the last time most of them saw Jesus?
It was in a garden, late at night, running away as he got arrested.
They had abandoned him.
They had denied him.
They had watched…without doing anything…as he died a slow, painful death on the cross.

They sinned against him…
Greatly.

Now he was back.
Proof that He was who He said He was.
Proof that He was God Almighty who controlled hurricanes, volcanoes and flash floods.
Proof that He was real --- and He was back – and He was back for one reason only:

Vengeance.

One by one by the disciples looked towards the grounds.
They winced.
They knew they were sinners and they were awaiting their sin-hating God to utterly destroy them.

But…
He didn’t.
Instead he repeated:
 
“Peace be with you.”
 
I am God.
I am alive.
I have the power of life and death.

But I am not angry. (Isaiah 27:4)
I am not here to get you.
I am not here for revenge.

I am here because we won.
Because your sins are forgiven.
Because we are at peace.
 
II. Resurrection Truth
 
There it is. The biggest, most populated eyewitness account that we’ve encountered to date.
It’s filled with reasons for confidence.
It’s filled with truth.

What is that truth? Three things:
 
(1) Jesus Rose from the Dead
 
Yep. Third time that it’s come up as a truth to learn from the eyewitness account.
 
Think about it. Jesus goes out of his way to prove that His physical, tangible body is in working order again.

His digestive system works.
His joints work.
His skin works.

He even invites the disciples – all 20-some of them – to do a full, thorough investigation.
Don’t you think they did everything possible to determine if it really was real or not?
Some tapped him.
Someone pinched him.
I gotta imagine someone might have even tried to pluck his arm hair out.

And Jesus allows it! Because it’s real.

And, it’s not just any old tangible working body, but his own working body.

He’s had the nail marks in his hands to prove it.
He’s had holes in his feet to prove it.
He had a big, old slit in his side to prove it.

If this was all one big ruse, then Jesus would have had to convince someone, “Hey, do you mind posing as me after I die on the cross? Really? Cool. Now…I know it sounds crazy, but would you be willing to shove nails into your hands, a stake through your feet and a spear into your side? We’re gonna need those wounds to heal up in order to convince people that it’s really me.”

It didn’t happen.
What did happen?
Jesus really, absolutely, complete rose from the dead.

And that’s important.
Because that means…
 
(2) We Have Peace
 
It’s a phrase that Jesus repeats a few times.
“Peace be with you.”
“Peace be with you.”

Because as hard as it might be to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, it might be harder to believe that we have peace with God.

Because we have guilt.
We have sinned.
We have shame.

Truth is – you might be believing that God is so angry with you.
Because of past sins.
Because of BIG past sins.
Because of repeated sins.
Because of unbelief.
Because of not following Jesus.
Because you haven’t been whom God called you to be!

And so…you don’t believe.
And the biggest reason you don’t believe in the resurrection is not be a lack of evidence.
But your biggest reason for not believing in the resurrection is the ramifications.

I am a sinner and lo, God hates me!

But…if Jesus rose.
Then, sin has been defeated.

And…if Jesus rose,
Your sin has been paid for.

And…if your sin has been paid for. Completely. 100% perfectly.
Then, God’s wrath has subsided.

And if God’s wrath has subsided.
Then, you have no reason to be afraid.

Hear Jesus’ words to you:
“Peace be with you.”

Understand. It isn’t because your sin isn’t a big deal – it’s a huge deal.
It isn’t because God doesn’t hate sin and evil – He absolutely does.
It isn’t because you’ve done enough to make up for it – you can’t, and you won’t.

It’s because of Jesus.

Unbelievable as it is – it’s true.
About as unbelievable as a resurrection – also true.

The visible nature of the resurrection provides tangible proof of the invisible truth of reconciliation with God. (Romans 4:25)
The resurrection is the visible proof of the invisible truth:
You have peace with God.
 
Which leads to our final truth:
 
(3) You have been Sent
 
To end his encounter with the disciples, Jesus says, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
 
Do you get it?

God sent Jesus to bring us back to peace with Him.
And He sent risen Jesus to His disciples to confirm that peace with Him.
And He is sending us to share that peace with others.
 
He is sending YOU to share that peace with others.

Because there are people out there who are far apart from God.
Who are entangled in sin.
Who are covered in guilt.
Who are like those disciples huddled in that room afraid to face the world because they have no peace.

You give them that peace.
You tell them about Jesus.

And there aren’t any qualifications!
He doesn’t say, “If you have Seminary Certification then you have been sent.” Nope.
Qualifications for sharing Jesus include:

(1) Believing in Jesus.
(2) Hearing his call to “Go” and “Be sent.”

Which you just heard…

SO…this means you!

If you’ve known about Jesus since you were a child? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you’ve known about Jesus since this last Easter. Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you are a 40 plus year member of this church? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you aren’t even a member yet? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.

If you are going home to a retirement community? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you are going home to hang out in your playroom? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.

If you have a master’s degree? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you have a bachelor’s degree? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you have a high school degree? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you don’t have any degree? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
 
If you live near people who look and act like you? Sent. Go tell about Jesus.
If you live near people who don’t look and don’t act like you? Sent. Go tell about Jesus.
 
If you are a Republican? Sent. Go tell about Jesus.
If you are a Democrat? Sent. Go tell about Jesus.
If you are a political agnostic? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.

If you live in Raleigh? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you live in Durham? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you live in Wake Forest? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
IF you live in Chapel Hill? Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
If you live in Cary, Zebulon, Fuquay Varina, Rolesville, Louisburg…or any other villle or burg that I’m forgetting to mention here:
Sent. Go, tell about Jesus.
 
If you are a someone or an anyone who knows about Jesus…
(And friends – Jesus is talking to you)
You have been sent. Go and tell about Jesus.

And the Holy Spirit will be with you. 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.

In the early 1990s, there was a SURE deodorant commercial that would start with a man at a sporting event next to a beautiful woman. His arms would be raised in excitement. He smiles at her. She looked impressed. Meanwhile in the background, a low-key beat accompanied a voice which sang: “Sure. Sure. Sure.” Then, the camera would pan past the woman to another guy – also looking to court the woman – raising his arms, but quickly catching a whiff of his underarms and immediately lowering them into a not-as-excited, half-touchdown pose…while the musical refrain changed from a deep “Sure. Sure. Sure.” to a wimpier sounding, “Unsure. Unsure. Unsure.”

The trend would continue for the duration of the 30 second ad.
From the classroom. (Sure hands raised; unsure hands not so much).
To adjusting the overhead light on an airplane (The person who’s sure is able to; the unsure person…just deals with it).
To (my personal favorite) the weather woman who is SURE and certain of a snowy forecast and the weather man who is as UNSURE about his pit stains as he is about the precipitation index.
 
The point? Using SURE deodorant will keep you SURE that you are STAYING FRESH.
 
Over the last weeks we have learned a lot about being FRESH in 2019. We talked about getting a FRESH start, out FRESH identity, the personalized FRESHness of baptism, how to have reFRESHing friendships, how to have FRESH speech, what our FRESH purpose is and how to be a part of that purpose and be a breath of FRESH air for the North Raleigh community. Today’s goal is to learn how to be sure that we’re staying FRESH for God’s purposes throughout the entire year. 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. Feeling Tired…?

The section from God’s Word that we’re going to focus in on today is an Old Testament Lesson from the book of Isaiah.  Isaiah was a guy who lived around 740-700 B.C. He served as a prophet. That is – he spoke messages from God that God told him to speak. Usually it was through visions or dreams that God would give him these messages.

The main message of Isaiah had to do with the Assyrian army. For years, God had warned the people of Israel to stop sinning, to stop worshipping false Gods, to worship the True God, to stop abandoning Him and return to Him.

But the people didn’t listen. While Isaiah was still prophesying, God allowed the Assyrian army, a terrible, violent army, to ransack the countryside of Israel. They went along destroying villages, burning houses, and killing any stragglers, destroying everything in the North Kingdom of Israel, from there the army made its way south to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, eventually culminating in a siege of Jerusalem, the capital city.

Have you ever been under siege? The closet I can think is whenever it snows around here. The city shuts down. The streets shutdown. If you live on any kind of side road, the snow plows don’t come, and you are under siege. You can’t go outside. You can’t go to the store. You can’t grab a coffee at Starbucks…you have to (gasp)…make your own coffee!

But it was much worse for the people of Jerusalem.

They couldn’t get outside to the well waters, so they had to ration water that was located in their storage areas. Many were dehydrated.
They couldn’t get any food from the farms, so they had to ration the flour for making bread – maybe one slice once a day. They were lacking nutrients.
They needed to be on constant alert – watching from the watchtowers at the top of the wall – to ensure that the Assyrians weren’t making an attempt at scaling the wall and climbing in. And when they weren’t in charge of visually watching them, they were in the city trembling and worrying that any day the siege could break!

Israel was tired of being under siege.
Because being under siege is exhausting.
 
But…maybe you already know that.

Maybe you are under siege by bill collectors.
Or under siege by a pile of work.
Or under siege to the demands of raising a child.
Or under siege in a relationship that seems filled with anger and resentment.
Or under siege to depression and anxiety.
 
That’s not fun.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with that.  
When you are under siege – it is easy to blame God. 

That’s exactly what the Israelites did, they said: “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God!” (Isaiah 40:27)

Think about that. Their claim was that God couldn’t see them.
As if there was some type of obstruction in God’s sight - and that’s why he can’t see what’s going with me.
Or maybe God can see, but just doesn’t care! Like an old sticky note that He’s tired of looking at – God just crumples up my needs and disregards them into the waste basket.
 
But Israel wasn’t under siege because God didn’t care about them.
In fact, he had sent Isaiah and about 20 something prophets before Isaiah to delivers constant warnings to the people so that this besiegement would NEVER take place.

God cared.
God saw.

The issue wasn’t that God grew tired of caring about Israel.
It was that Israel grew tired of caring about God.

Truth: Spiritual tiredness exists when we tire of caring about God.
 
When we remove ourselves from his promises of grace…
When we remove ourselves from his love…
When we remove ourselves from doing the things that God says, “Won’t cause you grief and pain and stress!”
We will get spiritually tired.

It’s the most oddball thing. But I’ve seen it again and again…
A terrible thing happens.
Someone is struggling spiritually.
So, what do they do?

They remove themselves from God.
They remove themselves from their only source of strength.

If that’s you, today God says, “Repent.”
He says, “Return to me.”
He says, “Return to me because…”
I. Never. Tire.
 
II. The One who NEVER Tires

Check out what Isaiah writes next, he says, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom.”  (v.28)

I love that beginning.
Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
Do I need to teach you a fundament thing about God?

The fundamental thing is that God NEVER gets tired.
And Isaiah gives us three reasons this is true:

1) God is Everlasting

Not to be stuck in 80’s commercials, but do you remember the Energizer bunny rabbit. He was a pink rabbit that had on a cool pair of shades as he drummed across cities, forests, deserts and Antarctic wastelands. The point? The energizer bunny keeps going and going and going and going and going and going and going and…You get the point.

But I remember one time I bought that Energizer battery and I was playing on my Gameboy. And guess what? That battery died!
It stopped going and going and going…

God isn’t like that.

God is everlasting and unending.
He doesn’t get sleepy.
He doesn’t get lethargic.
He doesn’t need to catch his breath.

God has been around from before the beginning of the world.
He will be around after the end of the world.

God is everlasting.

2) God is All-Powerful

Isaiah says, “The LORD…is the Creator of the ends of the earth.” (v.28)
 
Creating things usually takes energy. For me, I know that if I’m creating something, I get pretty tired. At the end of a long day of creating a birdhouse for our backyard – or even half the bird house – I get tired and want to quit.

God?

He created lofty mountain ranges
He fashioned tens of thousands of tree types.  
He crafted this gigantic, burning ball of gas known as the sun.
 
And then, when he was done creating, he immediately shifted to the work of sustaining the very universe that he just created:

Sending rain on the earth to water the new plants.
Holding earth in its rotation around the sun.  
Revolving all the other the planets across our galaxy.

And all of universe sustaining? It’s like lifting up a cotton swab to God.
It’s not tiring.

Because God is all powerful.  
 
3) All-Knowing

That’s important to remember, because sometimes the most tiring kind of tired isn’t a physical kind of tired at all.
It’s a mental kind.

Spending mental energy to figure out the next step in fixing this relationship.
Contemplating the next step in trying to raise a kid.
Stressing over how to fix issues at work.
 
Mental exhaustion is a real thing for humans. But not for God.

Isaiah writes, “God will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom.” (v.28c)

God knows all things.
He knows how to fix whatever issue you’re having.
He knows how to fix the issues that you don’t know you’re having.
He knows how to fix the issues that eventually one day you’ll be having.

He knows how to fix all of your issues.
And all of my issues.
And all of the issues of every person sitting here today.

And it does not stress Him out.
He doesn’t tire, because He’s all-knowing.

These three truths – everlasting, all-powerful and all-knowing are proof that nothing can tire God out.
But…maybe you need one more example?

Do you remember what happened to Jesus near the end of his time at earth?
He dealt with immense physical suffering: arrested, beaten, bruised, bloodied, and nailed hand and foot to a cross!
He dealt with intense emotional suffering, convicted by his own people, betrayed by one disciple, denied by another, abandoned by the rest.
And that was nothing compared to the massive spiritual suffering: of the world’s guilt, shame and sin.

Eventually, his body gave out.

He died.

But…

Don’t think that God stopped working.
Because, while his body died, God, as God, was holding the entire world together.
And God, as human, was simply biding his time.

Until…
Three days later…
Jesus came back to life!

If death can’t stop Jesus, nothing will.

He’s not too tired to care for you.

He’s not too tired to keep you safe.
He’s not too tired to protect your family.
He’s not too tired to rebuild your relationship
He’s not too tired to strengthen your faith.
He’s not too tired to guide your kids.
He’s not too tired to defeat addiction.
He’s not too tired to remove guilt.
He’s not too tired to defeat death.
 
God doesn’t get tired.

III. The Source of your reFRESHment
 
And God doesn’t keep his strength to himself. Look at his promise in verse 29. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”
 
Notice it doesn’t say that he makes us earn this gift of strength by doing some kind of spiritual heavy lifting.
Or gives until he can’t give anymore.
Nope.
 
He gives.
And gives.
And gives.
And gives some more.

This is different from the way it works with humans.
Because even the best of humans gets tired.
Even the best of humans runs out of energy.
Even the best of humans has to stop giving of themselves.

It’s like a 2 Liter Bottle of Coca-Cola. If I walk around and pour people a glass of Coca-Cola and all day long I pour people a glass of Coca-Cola with my 2 liter bottle, but I never stop to refill my bottle of Coca-Cola…eventually I run out.

But God’s different.
He’s got more than 2 liters of strength and grace and mercy.
He’s got a gushing water fall’s amount.
A never ending, ever flowing fountain of power, grace and mercy.

That’s really important.
Because take a look at something Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Do you hear him?
Do you hear your Savior’s voice?
He’s calling. And he says:

“Take a break from ‘worrying that you won’t be able to do it.’”
 “Because I got this.”
 
“Take a break from the anxiety of ‘I don’t have enough.’”
“I do.”

“Take a break from ‘the stress of guilt, sin, and shame.’” 
“You are forgiven.”
 
Rest.

IV. What Now?

1. Practice a Spiritual Sabbath

Do you know about the Sabbath?

In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to keep something called “the Sabbath.” In fact, that’s the third commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” What happened on that Sabbath day was that the Israelites rested. They didn’t go to work. They didn’t do a business trip. They stayed at home and rested.
 
Over time, the religious leaders developed some rules to ensure that people were really resting.

It was illegal to do work at work.
It was illegal to do work at home.

You couldn’t turn off the lamp because that would be work.
You couldn’t sweep up that piles of dirt, because that would be work.
In fact, you were only allowed to take a couple thousand steps before stepping would be work, too.  

Guess what?
All these laws meant to bring rest led the whole Sabbath experience not being very restful.

I just husked the corn for supper…was that work?
Don’t tell the rabbi. I think I went over by about 76 steps.
I’m sorry God! On this day of rest, I lifted the salt shaker and have added more sin to my spirit!
 
Fast forward.
When Jesus came along, he corrected the people.
He said that people weren’t made to keep the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for people.

The Sabbath was to be a spiritual rest.
A time for them to take a break from the stress of everyday life and focus in on God.
To hear his voice.
To be uplifted by his promises.
To find rest in God.

Friends, do the same.

That’s what we’re doing here today. We are here to take a break from the everyday and focus in on God.
But don’t let that be it.

Take a 5-minute Sabbath in the morning before you begin your day by listening to your Bible app.
Take a 5-minute Sabbath at noon as you read a devotion.
Take a 5-minute Sabbath at night as you say your prayers.

Spend time each week – each day with God. When you do so, he will renew your spiritual strength.

2. Practice a Physical Sabbath

Because even though the main point of the Sabbath wasn’t physical rest, it was an ancillary benefit.

The Bible is clear – physical rest is important.
Jesus, as a human, took rest breaks.
We probably don’t need anymore proof than that.
 
In fact, being physically well-rested helps you spiritually.
 
You don’t feel as much like being a jerk.
You don’t feel too tired to care for others.
You don’t feel too sleepy to say nice things to your coworkers in the morning.
As a result, you don’t have to deal with as much guilt and shame that zaps you of spiritual strength.
 
Here’s the point: Physical rest is a good thing.
And even though we live in a ‘go, go, go’ culture – today, God gives us encouragement to slow down.
And rest.

3. Soar

Have you ever seen an eagle in flight? Compared to most birds, they are pretty majestic. Cause most birds, take a sparrow, flap their wings like crazy. They flap and flap and flap and use up all kinds of energy just to keep themselves up.

The eagle? Not so much.

He opens up his majestic wings, he pushes off of whatever ledge he is sitting on…and he soars.
He trusts the wind to hold himself up and as a result, he soars.
 
Isaiah writes this, “Those who hope in the Lord will soar on wings like eagles.” (v.31)
 
Too often we hope in ourselves.
And we’re like a tiny sparrow – flapping and flopping and panicking and trying to keep ourselves up.
 
Instead, our encouragement today is to be an eagle. To open our wings.  To trust God. To soar.

God will keep you up. He doesn’t tire.  
Friends, may God keep us refreshed and enable you to soar! Amen.

We are continuing our series called the Light of the World. We have already heard that the Light shines against the Darkness of this world and that it shines into the darkness of our own hearts. But today we want to unveil in Scripture how Jesus’ light shines through you.

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. Why Shine?

The lesson for this morning comes from Matthew 5:14-16. In this section, Jesus says: You are the light of the world… (v.14-16) 
In context, the “you” is a reference to the people that were listening to Jesus out on a mountain.
By extension, it is a reference to people that listen to Jesus’ words in the 21st century.
By specific extension, it is a reference to people that are listening to Jesus in a cozy little church building in North Raleigh on December 23rd, 2018.

AKA?
You.

And Jesus has an important edict for you. He says, “You are the light of the world…Let your light shine.”
 
It’s similar to putting up Christmas lights. Maybe this happens to you. You put all of the lights up. You intricately string the lights around the tree. You pass over branches and under ornaments. You have it all nicely arranged and then? You gather the family around with a mug of hot cocoa to plug the lights in and…

NOTHING.

You might say to the lights “SHINE! That’s what I bought you for. Shine already!” You might turn and twist and prod and poke and replace the little bulb that “I think it looks burnt out.” All along the way you start muttering: “Shine already.”

When you tell a light to shine, you are simply telling it to do what it is was made to do.
And when God tells us to shine, he is asking us to do exactly what he made us to do.

God tells you to shine:
Because that’s what light does.
 
Growing up, one of my sisters saved up some money and bought a little mechanical sunflower from Radio Shack. The little mechanical sunflower was an alarm clock that when it went it off – it didn’t make one of those loud BEEPING noises. Nor did it make one of those obnoxious CLANGING sounds.

It was worse.

Whenever the alarm went off it began to sing:
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey.
Haven’t you noticed, how much I love you; so don’t take my sunshine away.”
 
It always sang in this high-pitched chipmunk voice.
It always sang very early in the morning.
It always sang when I didn’t feel like being anybody’s sunshine!

Maybe Jesus’ words strike you like that.

Pastor, I don’t feel very much like shining.  I’ve been really cranky this Holiday season.
Rather than jolly, I’ve been “jelly” of all the other mom friends on Facebook who have it together enough to get Christmas photos taken – and in the mail – and with actual words on them!
Rather than merry, I’ve been mercilessly badmouthing my coworker Fred so that I might get the biggest Christmas bonus this year.
Rather than cheery, I’ve been rather dreary. Because Christmas doesn’t distract from the fact that my life isn’t going so well right now!

And honestly…I FEEL like a screw up.
I FEEL like a sinner.
I FEEL like a no good, dirty rotten scoundrel.
I feel like a terrible husband, a horrible mom, and a very bad child.
I do not feel like a light at all.
How can I possible be one?

Do remember this phrase from a sermon or two ago?
“You were once darkness, but now…you are light in the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8)
 
Do you get it?

You are not a light based on what you do for God; but on what God has done for you.
You are not a light based on how you lived; but on how Christ lived.
You are not a light based on how you feel; but on what Christ felt for you.
 
And here’s what Christ did.
He lived perfectly when you could not.
He died innocently in your place.
He rose triumphantly – in a brilliant flash of light – conquering sin and death.
 
And now He has made you a light.
 
Like a match that lights a candle, Christ lights the fabric of our hearts. 
 
He calls you forgiven.
He calls you his child.
He calls you HIS LIGHT.  
 
Even when you don’t feel like light.
That is exactly what you are.
Because that is what Christ made you.
 
Shine.
 
But that’s not even the end game.  Look at the next point:  
“You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before people that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (v.14)

Glorify is an interesting verb. It means to make brilliant. To light up. To exalt brilliantly.
It’s a word associated with hosts of angels shining brightly in the sky on the very first Christmas.
With Jesus’ face when it shone brightly on a mountain outside Jerusalem.
With the glory of the light filled resurrection of Jesus.

And the word has a subtle shift when it comes to those who don’t have the ability to manifest actual, physical, visible light:

When we see the amazing thing of our Savior’s birth, we glorify God.
When we see the brilliance of his face on the mountain, we glorify God.
When we hear of the amazing truth of his resurrection, we glorify God.

And when we let our light shine before people, they see it and sometimes – they glorify God too.

It’s like a chain reaction.
God enlightens your heart.
You become a light.
Then, he uses you to share the message of his glory.

And…over time…
Eventually….
God willing…

He brings them to the light, too.

Also:
God wants us to shine, because that’s how the light spread
 
To put it differently:
God wants us to share our faith because that’s how faith spreads.

II. Tips on Shining

1) Hide it Under a Bushel? NO!
 
That’s a phrase from a famous children’s song, but I think it finds its origins in this section from Matthew. Jesus says, “People do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl.” (Mt. 5:14)
 
That doesn’t make much sense does it? I doubt, for instance, that any of you spent hours adorning your Christmas tree with Christmas tree lights only to cover it with a big, black shroud.
Nor would it make any sense to buy ask for a brand-new lamp for Christmas. One from Joanna Gaine’s collection. Open up the present at Christmas, run over to a nearby outlet, plug it in, turn it on, and then place a big old bucket over the top of it.

It doesn’t make much sense to cover any kind of a lamp.

Similar – it doesn’t make sense to cover up your faith.
And yet, it’s so easy to do.
 
Don’t cover up your light.
Don’t hide it under a bushel.
Or a bowl.
Or a non-Christian everyday life veneer.

Don’t hide your faith.
Let it shine.

2) Put your Faith in a Prominent Place
 
Jesus says, “People do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand so that it gives light to everyone in the room.” (v.15)
 
We’ve been talking about getting some new LED lamps in the parking lot. And I was talking to the Duke Energy guy and he started discussing with me the amount lumens, the wattages and the shine radius. The shine radius allows you to see where the light of the new lamps will touch. He even had graph paper with little lines to show exactly how far we might expect light to go and the best position to place the fixture on the pole to get maximum exposure.

Why not do the same with our faith?
Why not position ourselves to maximize the sharing of our faith?

Rather than hide it, place your faith in a prominent place of your life.
 
Talk about your Savior with a family member who doesn’t believe in their Savior.
Make sure your Christmas cards mention the reason for the season.
Tell your kids that Jesus loves them.

Don’t shy away from posting inspirational Bible passages on social media.
Don’t stop asking your spouse to join you for worship.
Don’t remove the Jesus’ background from your computer just because that one guy in the cubicle next to you doesn’t love it.
 
And let your faith shine through your actions -
 
Hold more doors than normal.
Smile nicely.
Make someone else a cup of cocoa.
Give a very generous gift to someone that you know needs it.

Let your light have a prominent place in your life and then…

3) Be Non-Selective in Shining

Because it is so easy to be picky and choosy with whom we want to share the message of Jesus.

Let’s see – I’ll invite that coworker who I know already knows about Jesus. But that one guy – that I’m unsure about? I’ll just wish him Happy Holidays.
And I’ll be sure to give a nice Christmas card to neighbor A. But neighbor B? He’s kind of my enemy. So…no card for him.
I will absolutely share the message of Christmas with my family – except for cousin Bob, because his sexual preference makes sharing Jesus, kinda, uncomfortable.

Jesus says that when someone puts a light on a stand it “gives light to everyone in the room.” (v.15)
Lamps aren’t selective.
They don’t stop shining when they are around someone who makes them uncomfortable is around.

You don’t stop shining either.
 
So, here’s the challenge. You still have time.
Think about someone that makes you nervous.
Someone that you don’t necessarily like.
Got them in mind?

Cool. Now, go and shine.
Shine the light of your Savior into their heart.
 
For motivation? Think of your Savior!
He died for you while you were knee deep in disgusting sins.
He rose for you while you treated him like an enemy.
He brought his message of love to you while you were doing the very things that he hates!
 
Because of his non-selective way of shining on us, we are non-selective in the way that we shine, too!

4) Share in Your “House” 

Because it mentions that the lamp on a stand gives light to everyone in the house. (v.15) It doesn’t give light to people outside the walls of the house, because it’s just a small table lamp. It can only be expected to shine so far.

That’s important.

Because it might be impossible for you to let your light shine to someone in China.
it will be really hard to let your light shine to someone in Australia.
It may even be difficult to let your light shine to someone across town.

But…
That doesn’t mean that we stop shining.
We simply shine wherever God has placed us.

That means in your literal home.

…With your spouse.
…With your children.
…With the guests that join you for Christmas meals!

But it also means…anywhere you have spherical influence!
 
…at the hair salon.
…at the Starbucks.
…in line at the grocery store.

…to your mail person.
…to your UPS guy.
…The FedEx guy.
…to your Amazon Prime delivery guy.
 
…at the health club
…at the brewpub.
…even with your fellow friends at Raid night!
 
Whatever your sphere of influence is, be sure to shine!

Show love.
Show love with your actions.
Share the message of Jesus.  
 
Conclusion:
 
Because we have kind of a big task.
God tells us to shine around the world.
That’s intimidating!

Even when we understand our sphere of influence and we aim to let our light shine in North Raleigh…
That’s intimidating.

But remember – you aren’t shining alone.
You aren’t responsible as one little candle with lighting up the whole city of Raleigh.

You have each other.
You have other Christians.
You have your Savior.

And Jesus? He’s not just another candle.
He’s like one of those gigantic, 10,000 lumen LED spotlights at a football stadium.

He shines brighter than anyone.
He shines brightly with you.
He shines brightly through you.

Amen.

This is a great question. There are a ton of resources for studying God’s Word. However, I think that might be the biggest problem. If there was only book to read, I think we would be in pretty good shape. Get book-read book. However, there are literally hundreds of Bible translations, not to mention the thousands of devotional books.
Where to start? I see four possible ideas:

1. Start with a little each day.  I know, I know, some of you are driven people, so you like to try to knock off the whole thing. We are in this for the long game…take a breath and take in a little of God’s Word each day. There are some great plans to track your progress via YouVersion (an app store app)
2. Subscribe to a few “quick hit” type email devotions.  I like the videos at www.YourTimeofGrace.org  or the simple devotions from www.Timeofgrace.org both sites make it super-easy to subscribe to the regular emails.
3. Keep a notebook to write down any thoughts, prayers ideas or questions you may have so you can remember them or ask questions/investigate later on.
4. Pray before or after your regular devotion time.  Regular is important. It helps us set time for God's Word each day.  For me, I love drinking coffee and reading early in the morning. 
   

I am hoping this is helpful. Reach out to me if you need more help. 
Pastor Phil

Today we are having a Youth Confirmation and an Installation of a Teacher. Our message in Acts 4 fits perfectly. And I think it will be a blessing for you even if you aren’t being confirmed or installed. Before we begin our study, 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. The Story

This morning we’re going to pick up with our study exactly where we left off. Peter and John had just healed the Paralyzed Man at the Gate called Beautiful. It was a miracle so amazing that a crowd had gathered after the miracle. And Peter had used the opportunity to do two things: (1) give a public confirmation of his faith in Jesus and (2) teach the people about Jesus and his message.
 
The reality is that while many believed, not everyone did. Not everyone in the city was a believer.
Not everyone in the city was a part of the church.

But while some just didn’t believe and went about their business without becoming a part of the church; others took their unbelief a step farther:
 
The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. (V.1-2)
 
A couple notes from this section:
 
They were greatly disturbed. These people didn’t just ‘not believe.’ They were ‘disturbed’ by what was being taught. (That’s a word that’s usually used for tragedies or horror films). These people were disturbed at Peter’s teachings.

Which might seem strange! Everyone else was excited and in awe of the teaching that had enabled this Paralyzed Man to be able to walk.
But these people weren’t surprised.
Or excited.
Or thrilled.

They were disturbed.
 
Why?

Proclaiming the Resurrection. That’s what Peter’s teaching was all about. He was teaching that not only could the Paralyzed be able to rise up to their feet; but one day the dead will be raised to life.
 
That might be a bit disturbing – if you think of zombie apocalypse – but also might be disturbing if you didn’t think it would ever happen.
 
If you think that the resurrection will never happen, then Peter’s message was dangerous! It was causing people to be distracted from important things like money, fame and family – and focusing on worthless things that would happen – like eternal life.

In Jesus. That phrase tells us the reason that Peter believed a resurrection would happen. It was because of Jesus.

You know…
The guy that the Sadducees had falsely arrested.
The guy that the Sadducees had falsely convicted.
The guy that the Sadducees had killed.

And the guy that had ‘supposedly’ come back to life.

They thought they had killed the message of Jesus with the death of Jesus!
But now he was supposed to be alive.
And his message was definitely alive and well.

And so, they take action:
They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. (v.2-3)

The next morning, I imagine Peter and John awoke to a gruff, “Get up! It’s time to go.”
One soldier bent down to unlock the chains around their wrists, while another stood close by – sword draw – in case of any funny business.

They walked through the dark hallway of the underground and slowly made their way up the torch lit stairwell. The sun was barely risen – it’s dawn light revealing the path to a large courtroom.

As Peter and John entered, the hubbub of the crowd turned to loud hisses!
Every direction the disciples looked they saw eyebrows furled and teeth clenched in anger.

And there – at the front – in the middle of this angry crowd were two men that the disciples recognized: Annas, the former high priest and Caiaphas, the current high priest.
(If those names sound familiar to you, they should. These were the exact same two people that were in charge of the courtroom when they sentenced Jesus to death.)
 
“Silence!” Caiaphas barked. He leaned in and started the trial:
“By what power or what name do you do these things?” (v.7)
 
Demons?
Trickery?
Some kind of illegal drug?

Peter cleared his throat. All eyes were on him.

Peter knew what they were capable of.
Peter knew that he was teaching the same message that had gotten Jesus killed. 
Peter knew that if he spoke about Jesus, he could possibly be killed right now.
Peter knew…
 
...and he didn’t care.

“Rulers; elders…It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘the stone the builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (v.10-12)

II. Withstanding Opposition

Now, (Cullen; Jenni).
 
You’ll probably never be put on trial.
You’ll probably never have to face crucifixion.
You’ll probably never be faced with death because of your faith.
 
But…you will encounter opposition.

The high school teacher who tells you that your faith is foolish!
The preschool parent who thinks that kids don’t sin, and you shouldn’t tell their kids he’s a sinner.
The friends who tell you ‘church’ is stupid. And you’d be stupid to go to church.
Your own family question your career choice because…” You could make a lot more money somewhere else.”

Here’s the truth:
You will encounter opposition because you are Christian.

How will you respond?

Quit church?
Stop mentioning Jesus in your Bible time lessons?
Tell your friends, “I just come because my mom and dad make me.”
Hide the fact that you love Jesus on your Facebook profile?

OR

Will you be like Peter?
Will you boldly confess your faith?
Will you boldly state that you follow Jesus?
Will you boldly share that YES! I believe?

It is my prayer and our prayer and God’s desire that you confess boldly.
In fact, this lesson teaches us that we have a lot of reasons to confess boldly.

1. You are Spirit-Filled

Did you catch that right before Peter spoke? The Bible tells us that Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” (v.8) That’s God’s himself. That’s the Almighty Lord. That’s the same Holy Spirit who did incredible things on Pentecost Day!

He was able to give them instantaneous foreign language comprehension; the scribes took years to perfect Hebrew alone.
He placed flamelike apparitions upon their head; the teachers of the law had acolytes keep the candles in the sanctuary burning for them.
He made a tornadolike sound come into the midst of the living room; the Sadducees could only make a quiet raspberry noise.
 
And that same Holy Spirit is with you.
And He is way more powerful than any spiritual opposition you will face.
 
Be bold.

2. You are backed by Resurrection Power

In fact, verse 10 says, “By the name of Jesus Christ, whom you killed but whom God rose from the dead,” we speak this message. In other words, the disciples had seen Jesus die. But then they saw him come back to life. And then he promised that he would bring them back to life as well.
Think about that! If someone who had the ability to bring you back to life promised to bring you back to life, would you be a lot bolder?

It’s like on a video game when you have a few lives more than you usually do when facing Bowser at the end of Mario. You are more confident and do things more dangerous than you normally do!

Guess what.
You have been promised that you will live even though you die.
You’ve been promised this by one with the resurrection power to heal you.
You have a powerful resurrection backing you.

A resurrection more powerful than sin….
More powerful than guilt.
More powerful than death.
And more powerful than any threat the group of angry religious leaders could make.
 
Be bold.

3. Your faith is Essential  

Peter says this, “There is no other name given to humans by which we must be saved.” (v.12)

Think about that.
The name “Cool” won’t save.
The name “Popular” won’t save.
The name “Enlightened,” won’t save.

Only the name “Jesus” will save.

Don’t disown the one name that will save. That’d be like fall off the dock down at Shelley Lake. And you aren’t good at swimming. And you start to flail. And you start to drown. And you need someone to help you. And you see your friend Bob over there on the dock. And he’s got a life preserver in his hand. And he’s a trained lifeguard.

But…your friends told you, “Bob isn’t cool.”
And you don’t want anyone to hear you asking for Bob’s help so…
You keep flailing…

That’s what it’s like to throw away the name of Jesus.
His name alone saves.
Jesus alone is our Savior.
Jesus alone died for you and rose for you.

There is no other name under heaven, given to mankind, by which we must be saved. (v.12)

No one else did that.
Not your friends.
Not your classmates.
Not some preschool parent.
Not even your family.

Only Jesus did.

Be bold.
Confess Jesus.

​III. What Now?

Confess your faith boldly.

And I don’t just mean in a minute when Cullen, you are able to confess your faith before loving family and friends.
And I don’t just mean in a moment when you, Jenni, are confess your faith and desires to teach before a congregation that is excited for you to teach.

I mean confessing boldly in front of whomever opposes your faith.

Because Jesus confessed you boldly before the devil himself.
When the devil said, “She’s a sinner.”
When Satan shouted, “He’s a failure.”

Jesus spoke loudly and confidently,
“She’s forgiven.”
“He’s my son.”
“They are a part of my kingdom.”

Jesus boldly confessed us in the midst of the fiercest opposition. You boldly confess Jesus, in the midst of any opposition.
Amen. 

Today we’re in our final lesson of the Rise Up series. We’re going to learn that Jesus wants us to Rise Up and Go to Make Disciples.  Our goal is to learn (1) Where Jesus wants us to go, why we should go, and (2) What we should do when we get there. Before we do that, let’s say a prayer and ask God to help us.

I.               Go and Do What?
                                    
The lesson comes from Matthew 28. It’s another appearance of Jesus after his death and resurrection. Timeline wise, it takes place after the appearance to Thomas. We know this because a reference is made to the Eleven – which would include Thomas. In fact, lots of scholars point to the finality of Jesus’ language in this section to place this appearance near the end of his 40 days on earth after Easter.
Let’s start by reading the command that Jesus gave them. He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28)

I want you to put yourself in the disciple’s shoes for a moment. They had heard Jesus’ teaching. They had seen him die for making disciples!

Can you hear the collective gulp?  

You mean, keep preaching your Words?
The very words that got you killed?
And to the nations? Like not just our families, but to strangers?
Yes.

Because that’s what Jesus meant with those words. He wanted them to take the message beyond their group of Eleven!

He wanted them to…
Go to the Jews.
Go to the Samaritans.
Go to the Greeks and the Romans and the Egyptians.
Go to the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the teachers of the law.
Go to the prostitutes and the drunkards and the tax collectors.
Go to the people wherever they are people!

And he wants you and me to do the same.

Because – here’s the deal. Modern day believers are Jesus’ disciples and as Jesus’ disciples they carry on the disciples’ mission. DO YOU BELIEVE IN JESUS? Then, you have the same mission: Go and make disciples of all nations.
Go to your neighbor who speaks more Spanish than English.
Go to the immigrant who only moved here a month ago.
Go to the tattooed barista with the big stones in his ear holes.
Go to the coworker whose skin is a different shade of brown than yours.
Go to your cousin who’s gay.  
Go to your husband even when he’s made it clear that he’s sick of you talking about Jesus with him.
Jesus wants you to GO!
Jesus wants Gethsemane to GO!
He wants us to go and make disciples!

II.             Do What?

Now if you’re thinking, “OK. I’m going home. I’m going to put my dad in a headlock and force him to believe.” Don’t. That’s not what I’m saying. (And I don’t need a lawsuit).  Jesus explained how to make disciples in his commission. “Go and make disciples by … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

You may be thinking, “Pastor, how do I know what Jesus said? I’m not one of the Eleven?” Easy. You read what a few of the Eleven wrote down that Jesus said. That just so happens to be in the Bible.  

Granted. You might not have the Bible memorized yet. (You probably never will.) Nor do you need to start sharing the message of Jesus by outlining the genealogy of Jesus with all of the names in order. Start with the main message.

What is that message? Do you remember the phrase S.O.S? It’s a series of letters that first started in WWI as a way for ships to communicate with others ships that they were in need of help. If they were in danger of sinking or under attacked, they’d use over Morse code to deliver the signal S.O.S. It communicates immensely important information very quickly.

When you are sharing the message of Jesus just remember S.O.S. to communicate the two most important concepts to your friends.  

1) Show Our Sins
 
That’s what the Bible does. It shows us we haven’t measured up. It shows us our sin. It shows us that we need a Savior.

How so? It tells us what sin is and when we read what sin is – we think – it sounds familiar.  For instance, the Bible says, “Don’t hate.” When I read that, I think, “Wait. I’ve done that. I couldn’t be?” Then, I keep reading and the Bible says, “Don’t lust.” I think, “Wait, I did that last week.” The Bible doesn’t miss a beat and says, “Love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.” I think, “Uh oh.” And if for some reason that doesn’t work, the Bible straight up says this, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23 – In fact, write that down and memorize it for an easy way to share the Gospel.

The Bible shows our sin. It’s like a mirror that shows you where a stray whisker is or an x-ray that shows where the problem is – it shows our problem of sin. When you are talking with a friend, it will show them their problem of sin, too. 

2) Show Our Savior
 
Thankfully the Bible doesn’t stop there. Thankfully, the Bible has a second S.O.S. In fact, it’s the bigger and more important message. The Bible also Shows our Savior.  It tells us about Jesus, that he lived perfectly, died innocently and rose triumphantly for us in order to save us from all of our sins! To put it another way – it gives us the solution to the problem it exposes – it gives us Jesus, the solution for sin!

And I’ll tell you guys. There’s nothing better than looking someone in the tear-filled eye, struggling with guilt, up all night because their sins have been bothering them and causing them to feel like they will always be far apart from God eyes and telling them – Jesus lived for them. Jesus died for them. They are forgiven!

It’s awesome.

You can be a part of that. Remember: S.O.S. Show our Savior to your friends. In fact, remember Romans 3:23? Write down the second half right now (verse 24). All have sinned and fall short of the glorified God (vs. 23) and all are justified freely through grace in Christ Jesus (vs. 24). If you don’t feel comfortable explaining all this, then simply share that passage with a friend.

Not comfortable speaking? Email them.
Text them.
Facebook message them.

Worst case scenario? Just invite them to church where they’ll be Shown the Savior! That’s part of going!

3)  Baptize!
 
This is a separate point, but related to the past two. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (v.19) Baptism too make disciples. It’s an incredible blessing from God. It’s physical, tangible, visual Gospel.

Think of baptism like a Sharpie. I used Sharpies when I was younger to write my initials on the bottom of my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures. That way I wouldn’t lose the toys when my friends took their toys home.

In Baptism, God writes his name on you. He says that you are his through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He calls you his own. In order to make you his own, he cleansed you; purifies you; and makes you holy. He bathes you in the love of God the Father, in the precious blood of Jesus Christ and in the faith strengthening power of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor, I’m in. I’ll go get a firehose and a loud speaker. Let’s go downtown and baptize the whole city of Raleigh.

No! (Again – no need for a lawsuit.)

For adults, we baptize those who have heard God’s Word and ask to be baptized.

But there are some people you could baptize…
Some people who are apart of all nations and whom God has called you to go to!
Some people who are little people.

Baptize your child. If you haven’t done it yet, you need to. Jesus says it to you hear, “Go and make disciples of all nations – your kid is included – by baptizing.” Listen to Jesus. Make your child a disciple of Jesus. Baptize them in God’s name.

If you want to do this, email me. Text me. Talk to me after church. We’ll make happen! There’s no need to delay. We need to heed his direction and go!

III.         But Why?

Granted. You might not want to do this. Telling your friends, your family, a stranger about religion might not seem like a very 21st century thing to do. It might not even be on your bucket list. Why should you?

Check out verse 19:  Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

(1)    Jesus said So
 
Have you ever worked in fast food? Imagine you were at McDonalds and you normally work the drive thru – the drive thru that your manager said you were to manage all night and never leave that post unless you wanted a “McDock” in salary.

What happens when the guy at the counter who just started his job says, “I need you to clean out the bathrooms.” Hopefully, you don’t listen. He doesn’t have the authority. But what if your manager, who told you to stay, who wears a special manager’s shirt, and even has a name tag that says, “Manager’ comes over and says, “Go and arrange the ketchup packets.”

Well…then you go and construct the Taj Mahal of ketchup packets. He has the authority.

Why listen to Jesus? Simply put. He has the authority. Not just some authority. Not just a little authority. But all authority in heaven and on earth.

If you questioned him on this, think of what happened a couple of weeks before this command. He rose from the dead. I can almost hear Jesus now:

Ya’ll remember a few days ago? Remember when you thought I was dead forever? Remember when I came back to life, but instead proved my authority over death? Remember how I have authority over life and death for you?

You should listen to me.

It makes sense. If you listen to him for the way to eternal life, why not listen to him for purpose in life?  Why not Go?

(2)    It’s of Eternal Importance
 
The second reason is a bit hidden. Listen again to Jesus’ words, “Go and makes disciples…”  A disciple is a follower. A follower is a believer. According to Jesus himself who has the authority to authorize such things, “All who believe in me will be saved.”

In other words:
Jesus alone saves us to heaven.
Jesus alone saves us from hell.
Jesus alone saves us from eternal damnation to eternal life.

To put it simply – It’s of eternal importance to go and make disciples!


Granted. Most modern Americans do not see it this way. They see going and sharing your faith as unloving:

You’re forcing your beliefs onto me.
You’re trying to make me feel bad and yourself feel better.
Let me believe what I want and let me live my life. You’re being selfish!!!

But is sharing Jesus really selfish?
 
What if you were going on a date and you asked me how I looked and as you smiled at me, I saw a big, old, green, leafy spinach sticking out of your teeth. And what if I thought, “I don’t want this to get uncomfortable and I don’t want to hurt their feelings because I don’t want them to speak gruffly to me, so…You look great!”

Is that loving?
Nope. It’s selfish.

It’s the same thing with faith on a grander scale. If you are convinced that Jesus is your Savior and it is by faith in him alone that we are saved, you have to share this message. Sharing your faith isn’t selfish; not sharing is!

And Jesus isn’t about selfishness.
That’s why he went through the uncomfortable death on the cross for you.
Maybe it’s worth going through a much less uncomfortable moment with your friends?

(3)    God has Your Back

Finally, remember that God has your back. Because this can be very intimidating. Go and make disciples of all nations! So Jesus told them that they would not be alone. He said this, “Surely I will be with you always to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:21)

That’s good news. Because Jesus wasn’t afraid of even the scariest of situations.
He wasn’t afraid of storms in the middle of the sea; he stopped them.
He wasn’t afraid of legions of demons; he drove them out.
He wasn’t afraid of fatal illness; he cured it with a snap of his fingers.
He wasn’t afraid of death; he rose triumphantly on the third day.

He isn’t afraid of your uncle getting a bit cranky.
He isn’t afraid of a few friends calling you a loser.
He isn’t afraid of someone BLOCKING him on Facebook.

Don’t you be either. He’s with you. He’ll protect you.

We’ve got a mission. And that’s the main message for this morning. Jesus has a mission for you and me – to go!

So don’t lollygag.

That’s what happened with the disciples. A couple of days after this commission, Jesus took them out to a hill and something amazing happened. He literally lifted off of the ground and levitated up to heaven.

No jet packs.
No rope.
No trampoline.

Just Jesus and his God power heading up into the clouds.

It was amazing enough that the response of the disciples was to stare, mouth open up into the sky.

That is, until a stranger tapped their shoulders.

The angel said, “Why do you stand there staring up into the sky? This same Jesus will come back in the same way you saw him go. But ya’ll? Go to Jerusalem. Wait for God’s gift. And then? Begin your work.”

Go and make disciples.

Allow this to be your divine shoulder tap:

Stop staring and go make disciples! Amen. 

 The petition we are looking at tonight is what we might call the Superhero petition. It’s just like the Bat signal. When someone is in need of help from Batman, the commissioner turns on this giant spotlight to let Batman know that his help is needed to stop evildoers. If you’re more into realism, then think of it as the 911 petition. It’s what we call to get the police to help when evil is happening.

Of course – the One we’re going to for help is more powerful than the Batmobile and has a better response time than the first responders to an emergency scene.

It’s God. God to whom we pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”


I.              What is Evil?
 
The question we need to answer first is: “What is evil?” Of course, there are certain things that immediately pop into our minds when we hear the word “evil.” Things like terrorism. Things like sex trafficking. Things like kidnapping. Things like mass shootings, serial killers and drunk driving.

Earlier today in the UK a police officer was stabbed near Parliament. Believe it or not – CNN and Fox News are in agreement. It’s bad. It’s evil.
 
But then there are the things we consider evil that are a little closer to our hearts. The coworker who consistently bad mouths us to the boss. The friend who betrays us. The guy at the coffee shop who is just plain rude to us.

What do these smaller evils have in common with those bigger evils? They are sin. Sin done to us.  That’s the first thing that we are asking in this petition. To deliver us from Sin Done to Us.
 
But right before the seventh request is a request that ties closely to it: Lead us Not Into Temptation.
 
The reality is that if you are asking for protection from some sin that your coworker might do to you – Don’t you think there are people asking for protection from some sin that you do to them?

The Bible tells us, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
That includes you. That means you sin. That means you do evil.

What’s interesting about the sixth petition is that it recognizes this. “Lord, lead us not into temptation,” means, “Lord, deliver me from doing evil. Protect me from my struggle with pornography. Keep me from raising my voice at my spouse. Stop me from gossiping about my friends. Lord, protect me from…me.”

That’s the second things we ask in these petitions: To deliver us from Sin Done by Us.

But this sin – the sin you and the sin done to you – comes from somewhere. There’s a bigger bad guy. A source of evil.
 
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)
 
The devil.
Fallen angels.
Demons.

They aren’t the things of fiction. They aren’t myths. They are very, scarily real.

To put it simply – If we believe the Bible and we believe Jesus is our Savior and we believe angels are protecting us (the comforting things) – We also need to believe the scary things. That the devil is real. That evil angels are real. That long ago – the devil and the fallen angels rebelled against God and have been fighting against God’s plans ever since then.

God’s plan is to have you in heaven.
The devil’s goal is to have you in hell.

Look at how much the devil wants it:  The devil is prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

He stalks. He prowls. He pounces. And if you’ve ever seen National Geographic, perhaps you know how brutally violent it is when the lion catches the antelope. That’s nothing compared to what happens when the devil catches ahold of you and me.

It’s grisly.
It’s intimidating.
It’s evil.
 
So, we pray a third thing – Deliver Us from The Evil One. Deliver us from the devil.

This all sounds scary. You might have gone into this night thinking, “It’s a pretty scary world.” But after recognizing the reality of the devil and his legions of demons – it only gets scarier. It’s like a horror movie come true.

But I’m not scared.
Not of the devil.
Not of his demons.
Not of evil.

Neither should you be.

Galatians 1:4 says this, “Jesus gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age.”

Which sounds strange.

You might have expected Jesus to fight him one on one. To go fisticuffs with the devil. To shoot powerful lightning bolts from his hands.
But the Divine knockout punch was much different:

It started on a Thursday evening. Jesus had gotten done eating a special celebration supper with his closest friends. It was a night that was supposed to be filled with joy. A night that was supposed to be a great connection between friends.

But there was something about that night that was off. About halfway through the meal, Jesus looked up to his disciples. His expression was sorrowful. He explained, “One of you will betray me.” (Matthew 26:21) “One of you will be tempted by evil and fall. One of you will do evil to me.”

Later that night as they were in a beautiful garden praying – the mood shifting again. Torches and clanking of metal preceding a mob of people led by Judas – the betrayal – hell-bent on killing Jesus.

Jesus approaches them.
Jesus sizes them up.
Jesus offers them his hands for arrest.
He says, “This is your night. The night when darkness reigns.” (Luke 22:53)
 
And it was.
Evil arrested Jesus.
Evil mocked Jesus.
Evil slapped Jesus.
Evil condemned Jesus.
Evil killed Jesus.

But the night when darkness reigned – was only one night.

Three days later, Jesus came back to life.
Three days later, Jesus defeated sin.
Three days later, Jesus defeated death.
Three days later, Jesus defeated the devil.
Three days later, Jesus delivered us from evil.
 
And he has the same promise for us. One day – at just the right time – he will take us home to heaven – a place apart from this evil world. A place apart from sin. A place apart from the devil.

A place of peace.
A place of love.
A place with the victor of life itself – Jesus.

Lord, deliver us from evil now until you deliver us from evil then. Amen.