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When you spend a long period of time alone, you get to thinking.
At first, the thoughts might be fun. Like: It isn’t fair that coffee stains your teeth brown, but milk doesn’t stain your teeth white. My dog probably thinks "fetch" is a game that I made up and he loves me for that. Who is Mr. Dorito and where do I find him? And is the factory just like Willy Wonka’s? And if I attended would I eventually fold to pressure, sample the Cool Ranch Carnations will I be turned into a Dorito and be trapped there forever? But eventually… The things you think about, become less fun. “Look! On Facebook, there’s that one girl you knew way back in high school. Do you remember what you did to her? That was awful. You’re a terrible person.” “Do you see that couch over there? It’s a nice and comfy place to rest and be very rude to your spouse. Remember? You did it, yesterday!” “Check out the empty beer cans in the trash. Remember when you drank way too many of them and made a fool of yourself and everyone saw!” “Oh Listen! Do you hear that? It’s quiet. Because your kids don’t live here any more and they don’t call you because of the awful way you’ve treated them. You should be ashamed of yourself.” Shame is difficult thing to master. It can come out of nowhere. Today we’ll see how Jesus gives us VICTORY OVER SHAME. Before we do that, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. Corinthian Shame Today’s lesson is from a book in the Bible called 1st Corinthians. It is the first letter written by a pastor named Paul to a church in a Greek city called Corinth. He writes this letter to encourage the believers, because a lot of these church members had been feeling ashamed. In Corinth, there weren’t a lot of believers. Most people believed in reason. They believed in science. They believed in what was socially acceptable. Some guy dying on a cross to take away our sins? That wasn’t reasonable. That same guy coming back to life? That wasn’t scientific. That guy being the one and only true God? That wasn’t very socially acceptable. And so… Society shamed the believers. The produce merchant grabbed the shiny red apple from the believer. “You believe in Jesus. Here. Have him bring this rotten, worm-infested apple back to life.” The neighbor knocked on their front door. “Listen! I heard you praying out loud from your front window. I don’t need to hear that. Keep that junk to yourself.” The church’s maintenance man got to church and did a double take. The decorated cross? It had more decorations in the form of a graffiti telling them to get out of town. The shame affected the believers. Some were questioning their resurrected Lord. Some were engaging in sinful things of the world in order to fit in. Some were trying to make themselves feel better by shaming other believers. In fact, there was a whole group that made it a point at each church to be divisive: “You were baptized by Pastor P? Ha. He’s kind of a dork. I was baptized by Pastor A. Pastor A is the real deal and so are his followers. The world might shame us, but at least I’m not as shameful as you.” God inspired Pastor Paul to write this letter to correct their thinking. He writes, “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. (1 Cor. 1:26) Take note of the verb. “Were.” It’s past tense. The adjectival quality ascribed to the Corinthians by the verb was true before they were believers. But now that they are believers. It’s no longer valid. They were not wise. They were not influential. They were of not of noble birth. Now? They were not, not wise. They were not, not influential. They were not, not of noble birth. To put it simply, the Corinthian believers had no reason for shame. If they were still feeling shameful? it was because… TRUTH: They were measuring their level of SHAME with the WRONG STANDARDS. It’s kind of like baking a cake. You need to follow the directions and use the correct measuring devices. If the recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla, putting in a tablespoon may mess up the consistency. If it calls for a ½ cup of flour, putting in a full cup may cause it to taste starchy. If it calls for one cup of sugar and you put in one quart, well, you’re following some six-year-old’s recipe for Kool-aid. The same thing is true for believers. When we’re measuring shame, we can’t use the wrong measuring device. II. Human Standards of Shame What were some of the wrong measuring devices? If you examine verse 26-27 closely, you can see the very standards. They are standards that are still around today and that can infect our mindset on shame. (1) Intelligence Paul begins by writing, “Not many of you were wise by human standards… (v.26) In preparation for our trip to Colombia, I am studying Spanish. I’ve been using phone book, telephone apps, and children’s books to practice. The other day I go to practice Spanish with one of my Spanish-speaking neighbors. And I said something to him in Spanish, the neighbor said, “Tu hablas Espanol?” which means, “Do you speak Spanish?” I replied, nonchalantly, “Si. Yo hablo un poco,” which means, “Yes, I speak a little.” To which my wife Julianna replied, “No. Tu hablas un poquito,” which means, “No, you speak a very little bit.” To be fair, that’s accurate. But I felt embarrassed and couldn’t wait to be described as “un poco” Spanish speaker. I use that phrase to bolster my Spanish speaking ability, because I was ashamed. I was ashamed because I was measuring my shame by intelligence. This happens to all of us. When our friends are mentioning the high-level universities they graduated from, we might feel ashamed of our Community College experience. When we’re in a conversation with people and they tell a joke that we don’t understand, we feel ashamed and laugh anyways to appear smarter. When someone points out that we misspelled some words on our social media post, we get mad. And block them from future posts. Even if you are intelligent, when the knowledge is from an area that you don’t know much about you downplay it. Like if you’re playing one of those trivia games at the local pub and you’ve been knocking it out of the park as you showcase your knowledge of history, arts, and literature. But the next question is: What is the biggest Football Game of the National Football League? And you answer: The world series? To save face, you start talking about how, “sports are the drudgery of society,” and, “true intellect is not measured by your ability to name batting averages.” But we say that, because we are ashamed. We’re ashamed because we’re measuring shame by intelligence. But your intelligence doesn’t determine your level of shame. (2) Power Paul continues, “Not many of you were influential…” (v.26) The word in Greek refers to “being able to do something” or “to be powerful”. This word is used to describe two different types of power, both of which, we often use to measure whether we should feel shame or not. (2a) Physical Power This is the reason that people can be so very intimidated to go to the gym. We measure worth by how much we can lift. If the muscle-bound monkeys are throwing a couple hundred pounds over their heads over there and I’m over here pulling apart a pink rubber band, I feel ashamed because I’m measuring greatness by physical power. Maybe this happens to you: Maybe you feel ashamed because your physical health isn’t where it should be. Maybe you feel ashamed because you aren’t as athletic as your friends. Maybe you feel ashamed because you ate a whole bag of Doritos for morning snack. But there’s a second kind of power that also induces feelings of shame: (2b) Influential Power This is the type of power that fits better into the context of 1 Corinthians. It has to do with influence in the community, at your job, in your family, or even in your church. Are you embarrassed by how many YouTube followers you have? Do you like your own Facebook posts just so it looks like you have more influence? Are you self-conscious about how your spouse has a better job title than you? So, you made up a title for yourself? Are you jealous of someone at church because they are in a leadership position? So, at every chance you get, you say things like, “That position’s really unimportant.” Be careful. Your level of influence doesn’t determine your level of shame. (3) Social Status Finally, Paul writes, “Not many of you were of noble birth… (v.26) The word in Greek here literally means “well-born”, that is, “born while well off.” It has to do with your genealogy and, as a result, your social status. Paul is reminding the Corinthians that not many of them were born into social privilege. It wasn’t as if they lost social privilege by becoming Christians. The point? Don’t measure your shame by your social status. Because the world would love to tell you when your social status should cause you shame. If you listen to it, it’s easy to feel ashamed. It’s easy to feel ashamed if your family doesn’t have a lot of money. It’s easy to feel ashamed if your family was homeless. It’s easy to feel ashamed if your dad was in jail. It’s easy to feel ashamed if you can’t afford the clothes to make you feel as put together as the other job applicants. It’s easy to feel ashamed if your family has a history of alcoholism. It’s easy to feel ashamed if you grew up in foster care. But if you’re feeling ashamed because of your social status, you’re believing the world’s lie. Social status doesn’t determine your level of shame. III. God’s Standards of Shame What does determine actual shame? It isn’t our standards. It is God’s standards. Look at what Paul writes next: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (v.27-29) Some of the most shameless people at the time of Jesus were a group called the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day. And to be fair… They were intelligent. They were quite rich. They were influential in their neighborhoods. But they were also quite shameless. They’d flaunt their intelligence by using big Hebrew words that commoners couldn’t follow. They’d flaunt their riches by walking around in expensive robes. They’d flaunt their influence by reminding people daily, “Did you know I’m a Pharisee?” As a result of their influence, intelligence, and social status, they were praised by society! So… Imagine how they felt when Jesus left them out. When he selected “idiot” fishermen… When he ministered to “street beggars”… When he rubbed shoulders with prostitutes, thieves, and outcasts. Only to turn to the Pharisees and say. These. These ones that you shame. These ones are valued members of God’s family. Why? Why did Jesus do this? Easy. So the Pharisees would be jealous. So the Pharisees would be forced to think. So the Pharisees would realize they were using the wrong measurement. TRUTH: God chose the “SHAMEFUL” things (according to human standards) so the “UNASHAMED” (according to human standard) would realize their SHAME (according to his standards). God finds value in holiness. God finds value in godliness. God finds value in “without-sin-ness.” So many people miss that. They think… God must love me ‘cause I’m smart. …‘cause I’m pretty. …‘cause I’m muscular. …‘cause I’m successful. …‘cause I’m privileged. Nope. God doesn’t use human standards. God uses God standards. God says, “Be holy as I am holy.” (Lev. 19:2) God says, “Be perfect as I am perfect.” (Mt. 5:48) God finds value in holiness. God finds shame in sin. Therefore, Jesus came to earth. To remove our sin. Which would remove our shame. Which would leave God unashamed to have us in his family. But if worldly things get in the way… If you think like a Pharisee and use your own human standards. Then, you miss out on the Savior. TRUTH: Real shame comes from missing out on your SAVIOR from SHAME. IV. The Savior from Shame But… When you see your REAL shame. When you see your REAL Savior from shame. When you see Jesus? Shame goes away. Paul writes, “It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (v.30) To be “in Christ Jesus” means to have faith in him. It means you are not in shame. But you are in Jesus. Believers in Christ are no longer in shame. And look at the benefits of being in Jesus: (1) Wisdom Because true wisdom comes from knowing Jesus. Knowing Jesus is knowing forgiveness of sins. It’s knowing removal of guilt. It’s knowing how to get to heaven. You don’t get that from achieving a high-level degree. You don’t get that from having honor cords. You don’t get that from answer 49 out of 50 IQ question on a Facebook quiz. You get to heaven by knowing and trusting Jesus. By God’s standard, knowing Jesus means you are wise. It doesn’t matter if you retook the 4th grade. It doesn’t matter if you got a high school diploma. It doesn’t matter what your GPA was. If you know Jesus, by God’s standards you’re wise. (2) Righteousness Righteousness is a courtroom term. It’s a term used by a judge. In fact, a judge determines if you are righteous or not. If you aren’t? Then you’re guilty. That’s shameful. The news will report that you’re guilty. Twitter will trend with your guilty verdict. Your face will appear on the front page of the Slammer. But in Jesus? You aren’t guilty. In Jesus? You’re innocent. In Jesus? You are unashamed because there’s not any wrongdoing anyone can pin on you. (3) Holiness Holiness has to do with purity. In the Old Testament, if there was something impure about you, you need to do a ceremonial washing. If you touched a dead body, unclean. Wash your hands. If you ate the wrong food, unclean. Wash your hands. If you had bled, unclean. Wash your hands. If you were impure, then you dare not come anywhere near the temple. You’d better stay outside the temple. Across the street. Near all the dirty scoundrels. But in Jesus? Cross the street. Walk up the temple steps. Go through the temple door. Walk all the way up to the front altar… Unashamed. (4) Redemption Imagine for a second that you’re a young man taking a young girl out for a first date. You promised you’d pay. They’re excited. You pick them up. You take them to the restaurant. You let them order up as my appetizers as they want. You’re excited to show them that you’re a working man at your newspaper deliver job. But when you get the bill. You don’t have enough money. You excuse yourself to the restroom and text your mom to wire you some money. Because it’s way less shameful than saying to your date, ‘Can you spot me a $5?” Jesus is our redemption. In Jesus, we have enough of a payment. In Jesus we have heaven. We are a part of God’s family. We are UNASHAMED. V. What Now? (1) Be Unashamed about Jesus! All of this leads to Paul’s final point for the Corinthians, “Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” What’s his point? Stop worrying about earthly standards. Stop finding your glory in how wise you are. Stop finding your glory in how influential you are. Stop finding your glory in how high your social status is. Stop bringing other people down just to make yourself look better. Instead, find your value in Jesus. Boast about his love for you. Boast about your Savior. Be unashamed of the one who removed your shame. Amen.
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Social distancing isn’t my favorite.
Maybe it isn’t yours either. But if you ever feel like you’re social distancing life isn’t very fun for you, google #SocialDistancingFails. You’ll quickly realize maybe you don’t have it so bad. Like this guy who wanted some bananas, because he wanted to stay safe, he ordered 3 bananas for delivery –and received three bunches instead. Or the guy whose phone stopped working, but because the repair shop was closed, he bought himself a brand-new phone – which he proceeded to drop as he opened the package. Or this family, whose kid heard his mom talking about how she’d have to give him a haircut since the barber was closed, so - he tried it himself. Social distancing is necessary for preventing the spread of the virus. But it may also exacerbate another struggle: Loneliness. Loneliness has been a problem in America before social distancing was ever a thing.
Today we’re going see how Jesus gives us VICTORY OVER LONELINESS. Before we do that, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. What Makes the Good Shepherd “Good” The Scripture we’re going to start with today comes from John 10. Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” (John 10:11) Shepherding was very common at the time of Jesus. Shepherds would usually take their flocks outside the city. They’d watch over them as they grazed. They’d lead them to water. They’d protect the sheep from any dangerous predators. If you were a good shepherd, the sheep would be generally well fed. You’d be awake watching the flock, for as long as your shift lasted. And when the owner showed up to ask how you were doing, you were amicable. That’s the human definition of “good” shepherd. But that’s not God’s definition of a GOOD shepherd: The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired man, who is not a shepherd, does not own the sheep. He sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. Because he works for money, he does not care about the sheep. (John 10:11-13) In the literal sense of what Jesus says, let’s not judge the hired hand too harshly. We see the passage and we think – how awful that hired hand is – he runs away from those poor sheep. How could he do that? Well… If you worked at Starbucks, would you be willing to mix up a Latte, if it meant dodging machine gun fire over your head? If you were a dog walker, would you keep doing your job, even if there were reports of land mines planted up and down your street? If you were an accountant, would you be willing to do people’s taxes, even if alligators kept attacking you every time you started a spreadsheet (because they love “crunching” numbers)? Of course not. These are just jobs. They might not be worth your life. This is happening right now. People aren’t going to work, because it isn’t worth getting the Coronavirus and possibly dying. It’s the same thing with shepherding. Shepherding was a regular line of work. You got paid to watch sheep. Most shepherds would not lay down their lives for their sheep. Because $10 bucks an hour is not worth becoming a deli sandwich for a wolf pack. Most shepherds wouldn’t lay down their lives for the sheep. Most… Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) Jesus is the Good Shepherd. You are his sheep. Jesus lays down his life for you. Key TRUTH 1: The Good Shepherd would rather lose HIS LIFE than lose YOU. II. The Good Shepherd Rescues And you ask, “How was God about to lose me?” OK… Do you want to know the honest truth about sin? Sin is reprehensible to God. Granted – some sins are repulsive to us too. Racism. Terrorism. Rape. But not all sin is. For instance: You probably don’t have a problem with a few lies. A gossipy comment on Facebook. A lustful look every now and then. A brief headache from a night of overdrinking. Even a short, three-minute complaint session about your spouse. Here’s where God is different. TRUTH: God won’t allow SIN in his PRESENCE. It’s like that one friend on Facebook that gets a bit too political for your taste. They post every hour on the hour. Unfortunately, you’ve paused to get angry at his posts long enough that Facebook recognizes your interests and shows you more and more of his political commentary. Until eventually, you can’t stand it anymore. You click in the upper right-hand corner. You SNOOZE him for 30 days. You have successfully removed him from your presence. That’s how God feels about sin. He hates sin so much that he wants sin completely removed from his presence. But it’s deeper than that. The other day there was a stink coming from our house. I couldn’t exactly identify what the stink was, so I tried various things. Open the windows? Didn’t get rid of it. Grab some Febreeze and cover the couches? Nope. Burn a Pumpkin Spiced Latte candle? Now it just smells like Pumpkin Spiced Latte stink. Finally, I got a bit too close to my dog, Clay. I gave him a sniff. And immediately took him outside. If you want to treat the stink, remove the source of the stink. God truly wants to treat sin. But he knows that he can’t just treat the symptoms of sin. He must remove the source. And what’s the source of a sin? A sinner. What’s the source of your sin? Look at what Isaiah 59:2, Your sins have separated you from your God! Read that again. Slowly. Your sins have separated YOU from God. It doesn’t say, “Your sins have separated themselves from God!” Nope. It says, “Your sins have separated YOU from God. “ TRUTH: God won’t allow SINNERS in His PRESENCE. Friend, listen to God’s Word. If this isn’t corrected, you’ll be socially distanced from God for all of eternity. It’s the worse social isolation of all time. Hell. Hell is eternal social distancing from God! It’s a place where God isn’t there. Grasp that: Sometimes on earth – things are bad. But…at least we’ve got God. Hell? There’s no GOD in hell. There’s only LONELINESS. And ISOLATION. Forever. But you see, this is where the Good Shepherd comes in. Even though God, as Holy Judge, can’t stand your sin, God, as Good Shepherd, can’t stand losing you. He noticed that you were missing. He noticed that you weren’t with the flock. He noticed that you weren’t safely in God’s pastures. So… The Good Shepherd picked up his staff. The Good Shepherd put on his cloak. The Good Shepherd walked out of his pasture. The Good Shepherd came into Valley of the Shadow of Death. (We call it: Earth.) And on earth, he found you. Surrounded by wolves: Sin. Shame. Guilt. All led by that alpha dog, Satan. But the Good Shepherd wasn’t afraid. The Good Shepherd didn’t turn back. The Good Shepherd made a deal with the wolves. “Let my sheep go.” “And…” “You can have me instead.” And the wolves tore him to shreds. They surrounded him! They roughed him up. They barked insults at him. They tore his clothing. They salivated as his blood. And howled with delight as he died. Why? Why did the Shepherd allow this? Why didn’t he run? Simple To save you. TRUTH: The Good Shepherd allowed the wolves to HARM him that they wouldn’t harm YOU. Allow me to give you a straightforward message from God’s word. Because of what the Good Shepherd did, the wolf of sin no longer surrounds you. Because of what the Good Shepherd, the wolf of guilt cannot lick its chops. Because of what the Good Shepherd did, you will not be eternally isolated. Because of what the Good Shepherd did, you are not separated from God. Because of what the Good Shepherd did, you…have been brought…home. KEY TRUTH 2: The Good Shepherd saved you from ETERNAL ISOLATION. III. The Good Shepherd Lives Granted, that is great news! You aren’t alone. You are in God’s flock. You are a part of God’s pasture. You aren’t spiritually isolated from God. Still… It’s a bit dissatisfying. We’re out of isolation. But we had to lose the Good Shepherd in order to get here. It’s too bad he couldn’t overpower the wolves. Look at what Jesus says in verse 18: No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. (v.18) Do you see that? The wolves didn’t take the Good Shepherd’s life, The Good Shepherd gave his life to them. And why did he give it? Because he knows he could take his life back again. TRUTH: The Good Shepherd let the wolves OVERPOWER him because he knew he could overpower DEATH. Talk about a skillset! I don’t think any other shepherd had that skill. Some were skilled at navigating to find water. Others were skilled at identifying non-poisonous plants for the sheep to eat. A few could probably sheer the wool into a killer mohawk. But the Good Shepherd’s greatest skill? Mastery over death. And that’s exactly what happened! Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. He came out of the grave. He resurrected his own body. And he lives! KEY TRUTH 3: The Good Shepherd LIVES! Right now, he’s with you. Right now, he’s watching over you. Even if you’re at home alone. Even if you’re in a hospital bed alone. Even if you haven’t seen another person in 16 days! Jesus is with you. You aren’t alone. IV. The Good Shepherd Knows You Sometimes you’d rather be alone than with someone. For instance, I have no desire to be left alone with any kind clown. Not a creepy one. Not a regular one. Not Bozo the clown. Nope. I’d rather be alone than with any of those clowns. Maybe it’s similar for you. Maybe you don’t want to be alone with your 7th grade math teacher. Maybe you don’t want to be alone with your ex-spouse. Maybe you don’t want to be alone with that former friend who dragged your name through the mud. Maybe you don’t want to be alone with a stranger! Picture that. Imagine you were isolated with someone who didn’t know you and you didn’t know them. Ummm…Hi! I see that you have hair. So…what’s your favorite flavor of Dorito? Jesus isn’t a stranger. “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.” (V.15) Granted, there are billions of people in the world. It would be downright impossible for any one human to know them all. In fact, I doubt there’s anyone in Raleigh who knows everyone in Raleigh. Honestly, I don’t think I know all the people on my Facebook feed. But Jesus knows all of those people. And Jesus knows YOU. And he knows you WELL. TRUTH: Jesus knows YOU as intricately as he knows his FATHER. God is Triune. That means he is three in one. The Father is God. Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is God. Yet there aren’t three gods, but one God. The Father is God. Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is God. Yet there isn’t just one person, but three distinct persons. This is impossible to fully grasp and understand. But God gets it. He understands how the three persons in the Godhead intersect. He knows where one ends and the other begins. He grasps how they are all three perfectly united as one Being. And that’s how well God knows you. He knows your fears. He knows your sadness. He knows your heartaches. He knows what you’re going through right now. And he is there with you. Jesus knew your SECRET sin – and still DIED for you. That’s what he repeats in verse 15. He says, “I lay down my life for the sheep.” But Jesus isn’t repeating it just to show off. He wants you to know how well he knows you. He knows that it was YOU who stole the cookie from the cookie jar way back when you were 6. He knows that it was YOU who graffitied that bathroom stall in high school. He knows that it was YOU who passed on that gossip about your best friend. He knows what YOU did behind closed doors. He knows what YOU did under cover of darkness. He knows what YOU did and have never told anyone. He knows it. And he still died for you. KEY TRUTH 4: The Good Shepherd KNOWS you better than ANYONE. He knows your strengths. He knows your weaknesses. He knows exactly how he’ll work through you to bring more sheep into his sheep pen. This leads to the “What Now?” for the week. V. What Now? (1) Call Out to Sheep Outside the Pen! Jesus says this, “I also have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. (v.16) Jesus isn’t satisfied with the sheep that are in his sheep pen now. There are others who don’t know about his love. There are others who aren’t believers. There are others who aren’t a part of his sheep pen... …yet. If that’s you, listen to his voice right now. He’s calling you. Follow him. Come into the sheep pen. But for those of us already in the sheep pen, this is Jesus command to us. Call out to those other sheep. Tell them about Jesus. Share with them the Gospel message. CHALLENGE: If you know someone who doesn’t know about Jesus, write their name down. Write it down and then, here’s what I want you to do. Look for ways to share Jesus with them. You could talk with them about Jesus. You could send them a text message with a link to this video. You could send them an inspirational scripture. Do this today – and then – put the note on your fridge – So that you can do it again later this week. The truth is that sometimes you must keep calling and calling. If you have a pet, you understand this. As you keep calling and calling, the Good Shepherd’s voice will be heard through your voice… Calling them home. (2) Call Out to Sheep Inside the Pen Right now, we can’t physically get together. But we need to still stay connected. Look at what verse 17 says: Then there will be one flock and one shepherd. We are one flock. We have one shepherd. It’s Jesus. So… CHALLENGE #2 Write down someone that you know from our church community. You can use the same piece of scratch paper. Write down someone that you know and haven’t talked to in a while. Got it down? Reach out to them today. Text to see how they’re doing. Call to see what’s been going on. Facetime so that you can smile at them. Not only will they be hearing your voice. Not only will you be hearing theirs. But together, you’ll be hearing the Good Shepherd’s. Because sheep know their shepherd’s voice. There’s this video on YouTube of a field trip to a farm. They came to the pasture with the sheep and the shepherd asked them to each take a shot at calling the sheep over to the gate. The first kid tried, “Here sheepy! Sheepy!” Nothing. The second kid tried, “C’mon! Sheep. This way!” Nothing. A chaperone tried, “Baa! Baa! Come over here!” Still nothing. Finally, it was the shepherd’s turn. Now, it’s in Norwegian, so I’ll give you my best guess, but… The shepherd calls out: “Alright sheep. Time to go!” As soon as they hear his voice, the sheep look up. As soon as he finishes his sentence, the sheep start moving. Within 15 seconds, the whole flock comes running to their shepherd’s voice. The sheep know the voice of their shepherd. We know the voice of our shepherd. And our shepherd says, “We aren’t alone.” Amen. We’re in the middle of our MIRACLE sermon series where we’ve seen Jesus’ power over a variety of things.
We saw his power over SICKNESS as he cured a man with incurable leprosy. We saw his power over DEMONS as he expelled a legion of demons from a man’s soul. We saw his power over PARALYSIS as he helped a man walk who had never walked before. We saw his power over DEATH as he brought a recently dead, 12-year-old girl, back to life. But, to be fair, each of these miracles was very INDIVIDUAL in nature. Jesus focused his power and did a miracle over one INDIVIDUAL person. But… What if the element that Jesus needs to control isn’t in the body, but in nature? This morning, we going to pit Jesus’ power against the power of NATURE itself. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Miracle The miracle is written about in Matthew 14: Jesus urged the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed the crowd, he went up onto the mountain by himself to pray. Jesus had just completed a day filled with preaching and teaching and he needed a moment. Notice Jesus doesn’t take a moment to get on Facebook. He doesn’t take a moment to get on Twitter. He doesn’t even take a moment to check to see if he has the highest score on Candy Crush. Jesus takes a moment…and prays. There’s a lesson in that. But before he goes to pray, Jesus sends his disciples on a boat across the lake. He tells them, “Go on ahead. Row across. I’ll catch up.” When evening came, he was there alone. This signifies the end of his prayer time. Jesus comes down the mountain and is ready to catch up to his disciples. But…how is he going to do it? By then the boat was quite a distance from shore, being pounded by the waves because the wind was against it. (v.24b) He doesn’t have a jet ski. Plus – the waves are roughing up the boat. It’s not the kind of weather that anyone should think about swimming. It’s the kind of weather that the lifeguard blows his whistle and makes everyone leave the beach – a RED warning – high hazard. Unfortunately, the disciples are in the middle of the lake when the worst of the weather hits. The waves keep pounding the boat. They are so rough that if a disciple pauses rowing to take a break – the waves push them back a couple of boat lengths completely negating their progress. This slows them down. In fact, they are still rowing during the fourth watch of the night (v.25). That’s a reference to the division of labor among the night watchmen. In the 1st century, the first watch was from 6pm-9pm. That’s evening. The time the disciples started rowing. The second watch was from 9pm-midnight, the third watch was from midnight-3am, and the fourth watch was from 3am-6am. The disciples have been rowing from the 1st watch to the 4th watch - around 9 hours. They must have been tired. They must have been exhausted. They must have been wishing that their Savior, their Powerful Savior, would have been with them. In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came toward them, walking on the sea. (Matthew 14:22-24) Read those words carefully: It doesn’t say Jesus was doing a backstroke. It doesn’t that he’s rowing a tiny boat. It doesn’t say that he’s wading near shore. He’s walking on the water. Even the most common assumption among skeptics: that Jesus is walking on some strategically placed rocks, couldn’t be. According to John, they were 3-4 miles out from shore. They had left from Tiberias down to the southeast and were headed for Capernaum to the North. According to depth maps, that’d put them somewhere in the 25 to 30 feet deep region of the lake. Way above any steppingstones. TRUTH: Jesus has power over NATURE. Whether or not an object sinks or floats depends on its density. The density of an object is based on the mass, size, and arrangement of the atoms. To put it simply: If atoms are more tightly compacted than water, the object will sink. If atoms are less tightly compacted than water, the object will float. A flat wax candle will float. The atoms are less tightly compacted than water. But a piece of clay that weighs even less than the wax candle will sink. The atoms are more tightly compacted than the water. For the record, a human foot supporting an entire human body sinks too. More tightly compacted than water. The human will sink. Anecdotally, I remember trying this when I was younger. I’d go the local Aquatic Center, head over to the five-foot section and try to see how far I could walk on water before I would sink. I never made it more than a step. Even if I ran as fast as I could… Humans don’t have power over nature. But Jesus does. Because Jesus is more than just a human. TRUTH: Jesus is the one who INVENTED nature. He’s God! Jesus invented the moon. Jesus invented the light. Jesus invented the stars that were shining during the 4th watch of that night. Jesus invented water. Jesus invented storms. Jesus invented winds that cause waves to pound. Jesus invented the foot. Jesus invented the human body. Jesus invented the laws of density making it impossible for a human to walk on water. Yet, it wasn’t (and isn’t) difficult for him to use his divine knowledge of nature to do things outside the natural laws of nature that were naturally set up! In fact, this isn’t a very high degree of difficulty for him. It’s not like me on a balance beam where I’m shaking and flailing my arms, and able to take about 3 steps before I come tumbling off. He’s like a seasoned Olympic gymnast on the balance beam. He’s calm. He’s confident. He’s walking on the very water that he invented. II. The Response Now remember – the disciples had been stuck in the middle of the lake for hours. They were exhausted. They were tired. It was early in the wee hours of the morning. So… When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out in fear, “It’s a ghost!” (v.26) To the disciples, it was more logical to assume that a ghost was attacking them, than that Jesus was walking on the water. Look at Jesus’ response: “Take heart! It is I! Don’t be afraid.” (v.27) I, the one who cured that incurable diseases of leprosy. I, the one who healed the centurion’s servant from across town. I, the one who drove out a legion of demons. I, the one who gave that paralytic the ability to walk. I, the one who brought that dead girl back to life. I, the one who has traveled with you the past two years. I, the one who has taught you the things of God. I, the one who is your friend. TRUTH: Jesus identifies himself as FRIEND. It’s like when you come home late at night and your dog starts barking, even viciously. She’s afraid that you are there to break into the house and steal all her bones. She assumes you’re a bad guy or a, worse yet, a cat guy. But, then, you identify yourself. “Sparky, take heart. It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Jesus is doing something crazy, incredible, and miraculous. But they needn’t fear! Because while he is God, he is also their friend. TRUTH: And with GOD as a friend, there is no reason to FEAR. That’s important to remember. Because… You might not be on a boat in the middle of a storm. But you might be in the middle of a life storm Cutbacks at work. Feeling betrayed by your friends. Cancer treatments. Separation papers from your spouse. Trying to get enough finances to keep your home. The death of a dear friend. You might be metaphorically paddling and rowing with all of you might to get out of danger! Terrified that you might sink. If that’s you, listen to Jesus: “Take heart! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Jesus’ presence calmed the fears of at least one disciple. Peter…said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” (v.28) You commanded the leprosy to leave the leper. You commanded the demons to leave the demon possessed man. You commanded life to return to Jairus’ little girl. If you want, command my feet to be buoyant – and they will. To which, Jesus simply replied, “Come!” (v.29) Can you picture what happened next? Peter took a deep breath. He grabbed a hold of the side of the boat. He stood up. He balanced himself. He lifted one foot. He hoisted it over the edge. His sandal hit the cold liquid. He took another deep breath. He shifted his weight. He planted his foot. He lifted his other foot. He planted it on the water. He took a step. Another step. Another step. He walked on water. TRUTH: BOLD faith walks with Jesus, even among the STORMS. Because for Peter, he didn’t see the storm anymore. He only saw his Savior. He saw his friend. He saw his God. He was filled with BOLD faith that Jesus would keep him up – and he did. Granted, Jesus didn’t command us to walk on water. But he did command us to walk with him. To be PURE, even when our boyfriend doesn’t want to be. To WORSHIP, even when none of our friends are. To TRUST, even when the diagnosis is bad. To BE GENTLE, even when everyone around you is harsh. To MEDITATE on his Word, even when something cool is on Netflix. To WALK WITH HIM, even when it means no longer walking with others. This is hard to do. Especially when the storms of life are happening all around you. III. When Walking becomes Drowning But that’s what Peter was doing. And he was doing it well. Maybe, even starting to strut a bit: This was amazing! The fish are underneath me. The water is flowing under my feet. My hair isn’t even that wet… But then… Off in the distance…. In his peripheral vision… The wind. A big old wave. Peter took his eyes off Jesus. He took eyes of faith off Jesus. And… KERPLUNK! Do you see his error? Peter was able to walk among the storms as long as his eye was on Jesus. But when he focuses was on the storm… KERPLUNK! It’s the same for you and me. TRUTH: Taking your eyes off Jesus will cause you to SINK. You might be walking the walk of faith in the middle of a terrifying life storm. But…the moment you take our eyes off Jesus? KERPLUNK! Because life is overwhelming. Life is challenging. Life is filled with storms. And on your own… We’re like Peter. Wildly splashing about. Water in his nose. Waves in his eyes. Seaweed wrapping his feet. As he’s sputtering and flailing, he manages a cry for help: “Lord, save me!” (v.30) To be fair, Jesus doesn’t say, “You’re on your own.” He doesn’t say, “Ask me again when you have more faith.” He doesn’t say, “Get to one knee and we can talk.” Nope. Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and saved him. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” I was walking on water. You were walking on water. Did you really think I’d let some wave ruin that? Trust me. TRUTH: When we’re drowning, GOD gives us a HAND. He doesn’t abandon us. He doesn’t leave us on our own. He doesn’t just throw us a life preserver, tell us to float to shore and then, walk on ahead. Nope. He rescues us. Like when we were drowning in sin! We were being slapped in the face by waves of guilt. Shame was washing over us. And death was about to take us to our watery grave. But Jesus… Reached out his hands. He reached out his hands to die on a cross. And… He lifted us out of certain eternal death. And rescued us to eternal life. PRAISE THE LORD! IV. What Now? But maybe a few things from this lesson, to keep us from feeling like you’re drowning. (1) Keep Your Eyes on Jesus Because it was the moment that Peter took his eyes off Jesus, that’s when he began to drown. It’s the same thing for us – the more time we focus on the storm and the less time we focus on Jesus, the more it feels like we’re drowning. So… Keep your eyes on Jesus. That’s why worship is so important. We’re putting our eyes on Jesus. This is why group study is so important. We’re putting our eyes on Jesus. It’s why studying the Bible, each day, is so important. You’re putting your eyes on Jesus. Take a moment. Think about it. Are you keeping your eyes on Jesus? If not, what are you going to do to keep your eyes on Jesus? Make worship an every week thing. Join a growth group. Commit to an online Bible study. Set aside 15 minutes each day to read and reflect on your Savior. Keep your eyes on the one who walks on water which will empower you to walk on water. (2) Worship Jesus as God That is what the disciples did at the end of this event. When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. Those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!” (v.32-33) They bow down. They start shouting Jesus’ praises. They say to him, “You are God.” God calls us to do the same thing. To worship Jesus, not as a nice guy, nor a powerful angel, but as the Almighty, Divine Creator of Nature itself. That makes all the difference. Not that long ago I was spending time with a woman named Kaliyah. She was struggling with finances because she was a single mother of two and didn’t have a job. She had kids to feed and she didn’t have enough money for rent. She also felt very guilty about this – if only she had made it work with the children’s father, then maybe they wouldn’t be in this mess. After listening for a while, I said to her, “Why don’t we say a prayer and ask for Jesus to help?” To which she responded, “Do you think he can handle it?” Do you see the problem? She didn’t see Jesus as God. She saw him as someone wanting to help, but not able to help. As a well-meaning human, but not God. No wonder she didn’t have any idea if he could handle it. But… When you worship Jesus as God, You know that it’s the one walking on water who invites you to walk, too. Amen.
We’re on the final lesson in our three-part PEACE series. Back on December 1st, Pastor Robin reminded us that, as believers, we have PEACE with God because of what Jesus did for us. Two weeks ago, we talked about how that PEACE with God leads us towards PEACE with our family and friends.
But if we stopped the series there, it wouldn’t be complete. It’d be like an unfinished Dot-to-Dot puzzle. Ever you seen one of those in a coloring book? You connected dot 1 to dot 2, dot 2 to dot 3, —all the way to dot 57 until there is a completed picture. But what if you leave 58 to 79 unfinished? The picture isn’t complete. What was supposed to be a cookie ends up looking like the letter “c”. The same thing is true with our sermon series. If we forget to connect the final dot in God’s plan for PEACE, the picture ends up being completely different. Because God’s declaration of PEACE to us and guidance in PEACE with family and friends isn’t just so that YOU have a peaceful Christmas. God brings us to PEACE with him and guides us to live in PEACE with others so that we can deliver HIS PEACE to them. Our goal for today is to: (1) identify the BEST gift you can give anyone this Christmas (2) understand WHAT MAKES this gift the best gift ever (3) make a game plan for bringing this gift to people in your life Before we begin: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The Best Gift The lesson for today comes from the book of Isaiah. It was written 700 years before the very first Christmas, at a time when the people of Judah didn’t have a lot to feel peaceful about. Recently, the Assyrian army had been conquering countries, devastating cities, and violently tearing apart armies. Now, the army had gotten very close to the country of Judah -- even completely destroying and devastating their sister country of Israel – where many of their relatives and friends resided. It was a time of war. People were anxious. People were concerned. People lived in fear. Young men were afraid to walk outside by themselves at night. Fathers were nervous that a letter may contain news of another relative killed in battle. Mothers cuddled their children closely, afraid they might not have many days left. It was to that kind of atmosphere that God brought this message: Rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck… For this is what the Lord says; “You were sold for nothing, And without money you will be redeemed… (Isaiah 52:2-4) Did you catch it? God’s message to the people of Judah was that Assyrian would not defeat them. God would free them from their oppression. Soon, they would be redeemed. But here’s what I want you to do. Put yourself in Isaiah’s shoes. He just heard from God’s mouth the very good news that the war would end soon and there would be PEACE. This is where there’s a shift in chapter 52. Because to this point, Isaiah has been recording what God has told him to tell others. Now, Isaiah comments on the job that God just gave him: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (v.7) Feet aren’t normally that beautiful. They can be stinky. They can be smelly. They can have ingrown toenails. They can have thick pieces of black hair on the big toe. If you want beautiful feet, you’ve usually got to work hard at it. You need to scrub off the calluses. You need to clip your toenails. You need to rub essential oils on them to keep them smelling good. Even at Christmas, if you’re opening up present on your living room floor, you might want to throw on a pair of elf slippers or maybe some socks with jingle bells on them. Feet aren’t normally very beautiful. Yet… How beautiful on the feet of those who bring good news. Isaiah’s feet? They got to walk to tell the young men; they were safe. They got to deliver the message to the dad; that their relatives would come home. They got to tell the mother’s; it’s ok to send your children outside now. TRUTH: There is no greater GIFT than the gift of GOOD NEWS. Think about it: How awesome when a friend text message you, “There’s a 50% off sale down at Kohl’s.” How wonderful when you get the email: “Your Amazon Prime order has shipped.” How excited do your kids get when you say: “There’s only 2 more days until Christmas!” The message of Jesus is also good news. In fact, the word commonly used to describe the message of Jesus is “the Gospel.” Did you know that the word “Gospel” literally means, “Good news.” It’s the “good news” that we have a Savior. Friends, there’s no greater gift than good news. And there’s is no greater GOOD NEWS than the GOSPEL. II. The Beauty of the Gospel If you believe the Gospel, then perhaps you understand the incredible effect the Gospel has had on you. But for a moment, I don’t want you to apply the Gospel to yourself. I want you to apply it to someone you know that doesn’t’ believe it. Think about it: What kind of an effect would the Gospel have on them? A few things: (1) It brings PEACE Christmas is a time that a lack of peace becomes very evident. Kids proclaim STRESS: “You didn’t get me what I wanted.” Parents proclaim STRESS: “You didn’t get your child what you should.” Friends proclaim STRESS: “I can’t believe you aren’t spending more time with me.” Spouses proclaim STRESS: “Christmas reminds me of how terrible of a spouse you are.” People proclaim stress to each other. But with the message of Jesus you get to proclaim PEACE. That out of all their relationships that they have…spouse, friend, coworker, parent, child, sibling, 2nd cousin twice remove, there is ONE relationship that they are guaranteed to have peace with and it just so happens to be the one being that they have sinned against the most: GOD! (2) It brings GLAD TIDINGS from God One thing that has been popular in Christmases past is the Christmas letter. People used to write down all the good things that happened over the past year and update friends and relatives on it. I remember receiving a letter from a nice elderly couple up from North Minnesota that only included the latest updates to their garden: “The colerabi came in good this year.” Even the millennial version of it – no letter; just a picture from Shutterfly – announces some kind of good news; “We’re still a family.” When you tell your neighbors about Jesus, it’s really like you’re delivering God’s Christmas letter to them. And it’s one of the only Christmas letters with good news for the recipients: “Dear friend, Things are going well in heaven. My Son Jesus is still the Savior. His death and resurrection 2000 some years ago still paid for all of your sins. You are still forgiven. You are still at peace with me. You are saved.” (3) It brings SALVATION Particularly verse 7 says that when you proclaim the message of Jesus, you proclaim salvation. (v.7) It’s kind of like participating in a giving (or angel) tree. We’ve got one in our hallway. If you happen to be the one that delivers the presents, you’ll be deliving to some people who didn’t have enough money to buy gifts for their kids. You’ll be “saving” Christmas. But how much greater when it comes to the message of Jesus. They owe a debt that they could never pay. Sin. But when you tell them the message of Jesus? That big guilt that they feel? They’re saved from it. That big sin that they did? They’re saved form it. That terrible death that they’re facing? They’re saved from it. (4) It says, “GOD REIGNS” Which is another layer to the Gospel message. Because if the God who saved them, has good tidings for them, and is at peace with them is also the KING of the universe… Then, whatever they’re going through… …financial hardship. …job loss. …relationship struggle. …estrangement from family. …health scares. …their loving God is in control. …and all will work out for their good. III. Game Plan Friends, it is eternally important to share the message of Jesus this Christmas. So…here’s what we’re going to do next. We’re going to game plan. Because if you are one of the College Football teams you are currently game-planning for their upcoming Bowl game. If you’re UNC, you’re game planning for Temple. If you’re Wake Forest, you’re game planning for Michigan State. If you’re Duke or NC State, you’re game planning for whoever you play in the opening game next year. If you’re a believer listening to this today, you’ve got to game plan for how you’re going to share the Peace of Jesus this Christmas. (1) Share TOGETHER Because look at what Isaiah writes next: “Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy.” (v.8) Notice it’s a plural. You have more than one watchman so that you can get the message out to the entire city, quickly and efficiently. It’s the same for us. We share the message of Jesus TOGETHER. TOGETHER we pool our funds for social media ads inviting people to Christmas Eve. TOGETHER we work together to put on the best Gospel proclamation service Tuesday night. TOGETHER we sharpen our skills in sharing faith through Bible study. TOGETHER we challenge each other to share our faith. TOGETHER we pray for each others’ efforts. TOGETHER we plan to follow up on those who join us and connect them with the message of peace. And it has to be TOGETHER. Because the effect is larger when it’s TOGETHER. It’s like going in with your siblings on a gift for mom and dad. If you pool you’re money, you can get the next HD TV. But on your own? You never will. It’s the same thing. TOGETHER, we reach North Raleigh. But only TOGETHER. On our own, we NEVER will. (2) Identify your End of the Earth Verse 10 says, “All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” (v.10) It’s a promise of our God. He died for ALL and he wants ALL to know about their Savior. But… It’s kind of hard to invite someone who lives in Australia to worship in Raleigh. Remember though – Christianity is a team sport. God isn’t calling you personally to go to the ends of the earth. He’s just calling you to go to the ends of YOUR earth. To the ends of your block. To the end of your cubicle. To the end of your couch. Who are the people you know who don’t know Jesus? Look at the bottom of your note sheet. There’s a spot for writing some of those people down. Take a moment, write them down. Plan to share Jesus with them. (3) Include ALL Nations Because its’ really, really, really, really, really easy to say, “I can’t think of anyone who looks like me to share the Gospel of jesus with, so I don’t know if there is any one for me to share the message of Jesus with.” But… Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” All nations. That includes the people who look like you. And the people who don’t. The people who have the same culture as you. And who don’t. The people who have the same religion as you. And who don’t. Do you know someone like that? Don’t be too nervous to write them down. God’s peace is for them too! (4) Rejoice TOGETHER The final thing that I want to include is found in verse 9: “Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.” (v.9) And this is where I think we could do better. Because, we all agree that many need to hear about Jesus. And we agree that sharing Jesus is challenging to do. So… Let’s celebrate when it happens. Let’s rejoice when someone invites someone to Christmas via text message. Let’s rejoice when someone shares a scripture on Facebook. Let’s rejoice when someone brings someone along to worship. Let’s rejoice together, because we share Jesus together. Celebrating these accomplishments, pumps us up. Gives glory to God. And motivates us to keep sharing Jesus. Friends, there is no better gift than the message of Jesus. May God be with you as you share the message of Jesus. Amen.
If I were to ask you to sum up your life in a word or phrase…especially this time of year… I’m going to just hazard a guess that “peaceful” was not the word that came to mind. “Hectic” perhaps. “Controlled chaos” maybe. Or perhaps it’s a little darker. “Oppressive”, “Grim”, “Painful”.
But peaceful? No, no not really. And yet, why not? How often do we say the word “peace” in our readings, our songs, our liturgies? Isn’t peace one of the most prolific gifts that God brings us? Why do we so often seem to utter lack this promised blessing? If you’re not feeling the peace this holiday season, then perhaps Advent is exactly what you need. Let me just unpack that for a minute for the uninitiated. The seasons of our church year revolve around the life of Jesus. His birth, life, death, resurrection, and spread of his church thereafter. We just wrapped up the season of End Times and we’re starting the church year anew with Advent today. Advent is a neat little wrapper of the church year because it overlaps both ends. It focuses on the coming of Jesus. It’s at the same time a look back to anticipate celebrating the first coming of Jesus at Christmas, and a look ahead to celebrate the time when Jesus will come again to end this world. So, Advent is all about God coming here. Whichever way you look at it. God coming to be with us. That should help bring some peace, right? Should I be happy that God is coming here? Any one of us could spend all day listing examples of ways we don’t put God first, don’t trust him first, and basically don’t make him our God. Every day is littered with the choices I make, deliberately, to not have God as my true god. I break God’s commands. I sin. And God is literally at war with sin. St Paul tells us elsewhere the sinful mind is hostile to God. Our default state is to be enemies of God. And what a dumb thing to do! Yes, let’s pick a fight with the ruler of the universe, that will end well. If he’s coming here, that is not something to look forward to so much, it’s more on the end of terrifying. Maybe it’s no wonder I can’t find any peace in my life. But let’s not forget the double meaning of Advent. It’s not just about Jesus coming again, it’s about his first coming as well. I think we’re all pretty familiar with the holiday “Christmas”. But look past the trees and lights and presents and cookies and parties and remember the manger. God came to this earth before and he didn’t come to terrify us or judge us then. He came to restore peace between God and his creation. Our sin is a debt we owe God. Our lives are not the perfect lives that God demands of us. But Jesus is our payment. Jesus is our perfect life. And all this before anything we do. Which is good… cause we would mess it up! Paul writes here: You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were enemies, while we fought God, while we had nothing to offer and wanted nothing to do with him…God lived and died for us. Jesus, God, came here and died as one of us so that your sins could be paid for, so that his perfect life could be counted as yours and he sent the Holy Spirit to you to change your heart, teach you this truth, and make you someone who loves God as much as he loves you. Because of his work, we are not enemies of God anymore. God looks at you and sees someone who always did what he asked, always loved him, and did everything right. There’s no reason to fight. God loves you. And because he loves you so much, he literally took your place so he wouldn’t have to punish you. He lived, died, and rose for you. As Paul says here: [Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… The God who rules over this world is not your enemy anymore. He is your loving Father. Imagine all that power, wisdom, and goodwill all applied for your benefit. Not only does the all-powerful God of creation no longer consider you an enemy, but he actively is interested in your well-being and when this life ends he will come to take you to paradise. What greater peace is there to know that whatever happens to you, you have God behind it all helping you out? When God comes here to judge the world, we don’t have to look at that with fear but rather we can look up and say, “finally!” We can set down our hard labor and rest with our God forever. Yes, he’s coming to judge, but because of Jesus, the judgment is going to be, “Not guilty!” And God will say, “Come home. Be with me. I’ll care for you forever. No suffering, pain, or trouble ever again.” And we will live in perfect peace and harmony with God forever. That’s really good news. The peace between you and God brings a profound internal peace to our lives, come what may. But there is still a problem. See, I doubt I said anything new to most of you. These are all things you know. And yet when I asked the question of you at the start, again, I’d guess “peaceful” is not how you would describe yourself. Maybe now, being reminded of it all, you’re feeling the peace. Maybe you’re feeling relaxed and ready to go back out and face life, knowing God is on your side now and for eternity. But…how long do you suppose that feeling is going to last you this week? How long until you hit the first roadblock, problem, tough choice, impossible to-do list, bad news, or whatever it is that steals this peace away from you? Maybe all the current troubles you’ve got right now are keeping you from even feeling at peace right here and now! Why? Why does that happen? God has called a truce! And we didn’t do anything to make it happen, he did all the work! He lived, died, and rose before we even wanted anything to do with him. Why… are we still not at peace? Well…engage with me in a little bit of logical deduction with me, if you will. God is… God. He’s perfect. He’s perfectly wise, perfectly loving, and all-powerful. He does everything he does without mistake. So, if that’s who has worked this peace between us and him… and we’re still not feeling the peace… Well, it’s not a huge logical leap to guess where the problem is. It’s not with God. It’s because even though God has done everything that he has for you and declared peace between you both… you are still fighting him. Either we’re fighting him through our active choices or we’re fighting him because we won’t accept his will in our lives. Both rob us of peace that we should have in him. Not that this life will ever be smooth sailing, nor should it be, but we can be at peace because of the peace we have with our God and what that means for everything else. So how do we fight God? We fight him whenever we refuse to do what he commands. God is our good Father. He does not impose his will arbitrarily. Like a good parent, he only commands his children whatever is best for them! How many of you remember the times you didn’t listen to your parents because they told you to do something you didn’t want to do or didn’t understand why you should? I do…and one whole bag of Oreos later, I did understand why that was a bad idea. Don’t touch the stove. Don’t run into the street. Don’t play with the outlet. We don’t tell children these things to stop them having fun, we say these things to protect them. Every single one of God’s commands is designed to protect you. And when we ignore him, when we defy him, or even worse, when we don’t even bother to learn or study his rules… we hurt ourselves. We suffer unnecessarily. It’s fighting God after he’s declared peace and it only hurts ourselves. So, take the time to study his will, study his word and learn what he wants from you so you can live that will in your lives. The more we listen to our Father and stay at peace with him, the more trouble we will avoid, and the more we stay at peace. But that still does not guarantee a trouble-free life. God actually promises us trouble. That’s a good thing. Remember last week how we talked about the lukewarm church that had it too easy? Too many creature comforts? They forgot how much they needed God. They forgot the point of this life was to look forward to the next. We need God to send us trouble so we don’t forget we need him. Paul tells us here for that very reason we glory in our suffering. When trouble finds us, do we let it shatter our peace? Do we even try to blame God? The correct, eternal, godly perspective can help us stay at peace no matter what happens to us here. But we fight God when we live only to be satisfied now instead of living for him forever. God keeps us from getting too comfortable so we don’t forget. When suffering comes, don’t fight God over it. Instead, say “Thank you, Father.” When a job is lost, say, “Thank you, Father, for reminding me you are the one who provides all I have.” When an illness is diagnosed, say, “Thank you, Father, for reminding me that my life, my strength, and all my abilities are in your hands.” When we lose things or people leave us, say, “Thank you, Father, for reminding me that you are all I truly need to be content.” And when death comes for you or your loved ones, say, “Thank you, Father, for reminding me I don’t belong here, that what is waiting for me is so much better, I have no reason to cling desperately to this life, I can let go in peace knowing you have me.” Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you can’t use your abilities and gifts to correct trouble or alleviate pain. But there’s no reason the trouble needs to steal our peace at all. And if we can’t fix the trouble, whatever it is, we are still at peace with God. There will be trouble. But we can be at peace with God through the troubles. He allows the troubles to help you. Don’t fight him. Let the troubles bring you closer to him. In all these things it is the strength of God and not our own strength that lets us keep this attitude. He promises to give you the power you need to carry out his will in this life and stay at peace with him. He promises to give you this power through the Holy Spirit working in study of his word. Read and study his word to stay in his power and keep the peace with him. And for the times we fail, which will not stop happening here, there is always the forgiveness of Jesus to bring us back to peace. Brothers and Sisters, through Jesus you have peace with God. He has given you a new life in him. You are forgiven and perfect in his eyes. God has established the peace. And through his Word he provides the power of the Holy Spirit to you so that you can keep the peace on your end. Even this is his power working through you. Stay in and study God’s Word and God’s will for you. By the power of his spirit, don’t fight him anymore. Look to him for everything good now and forever, and know the peace that he has established. Amen.
When I was in Seattle, WA, I had the goal to get to the top of the highest point in the lower 48 states, Mt. Rainier. I bought the right gear. I went into training. I learned from a woman who had been up Mount Everest three separate times.
On the day of the climb, we hiked up to Camp Muir, a base camp about 10,000 feet up. From there, we slept in a tiny wooden cabin to acclimate to the altitude and rest up for the final ascent. We went to bed at 6pm and woke up around Midnight. (You have to leave early in order to cross the ice bridges before the daylight gets too hot, the bridge melts and you fall to your death.) It was about eight hours up when a blizzard kicked in. The air was sparse. The wind was frigid. My fingers were frozen. And it was only getting nastier. Some of the other climb groups had already turned around and gone back. About an hour from the top, the lead expeditions said: “This is getting pretty bad. I haven’t seen it this bad before. What do you think? We could go to the top and see the marvelous views, but… If we don’t turn around, we could get frostbite or die. So we thought about it and said: “I’m sure Google images probably has some might fine photos of the top. So... Sometimes suffering isn’t worth it. Today we are continuing our series called Dear Church. It’s a series based on letters from Jesus to seven different churches. The letter for today looks at a church that was dealing with suffering…even suffering because they were believers. Our goal today is to understand what kind of suffering believers have to deal with and whether it’s worth that suffering. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. The One who Knows Suffering This letter starts in Revelation 2:8: “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty —yet you are rich!” A few notes: The letter is again written to the angel. We said that’s most likely referencing their pastoral leadership which, in turn, means it’s a letter written to the church in Smyrna. Smyrna was an ancient Greek city at a central point on the Aegean coast. Because its positioning allowed for advantageous port conditions and an easily defendable city, Smyrna was full of people. In other words, it was a great place to start a church. And someone had. We don’t know the exact apostle or disciple that founded it, which shows that the Gospel was spreading beyond the work rate of the apostles alone. This church was probably not started by one of the 12 apostles, yet Jesus considers it a church. Similarly, our church wasn’t started by one of the Apostles, yet Jesus would call it a real church. Why? Because the Holy Spirit was at work in the word. In Smyrna. Here in Raleigh. So, both are churches. Finally, the speaker is Jesus. This is his letter. And since this is a letter to a church that is suffering, he offers his credentials on the subject: (1) Jesus Existed before SUFFERING These are the words of him who is the First (v.8) Jesus existed eternally long before suffering ever existed. He created a world that was perfect, apart from suffering. Then, he watched as humans foolishly were led by the devil into suffering. Don’t think that Jesus’ main goal is to end suffering? To bring life back to the way that it once was? It’d be like cleaning your living room, putting all the toys in their place and removing all the crumbs from the floor – making the place a gorgeous Better Homes and Gardens style living area. Then, your kids happen. And you’d like to see it back to the way it was when you were finished cleaning. The same is true for God. He has on his heart a desire to bring things back to the way they were long before suffering happened. And here’s the good news about that: (2) Jesus will OUTLAST Suffering These are the words of him who is the Last. (v.8) As in, he will last beyond all suffering. He will outlast cancer. He will outlast financial difficulties. He will outlast persecutions. He will outlast terrorism. He will outlast racism. He will outlast the little angry emojis that people put upon Christian content on Social Media. He will outlast every form of suffering. But… That doesn’t mean he hasn’t suffered. (3) Jesus is FAMILIAR with suffering These are the words of him who died. (v.8) Do you know how Jesus died? He was arrested by a mob. He was beaten by that mob. He was smacked and slapped till the early hours of the morning. He was whipped thirty times with a 7 stranded leather whip that had metal shards on the end. (Also known as flogged) He had a crown of thorns smashed down onto his head. He was hit with a staff. He was laid down upon two giant pieces of wood. He had one nail driven through his right hand. He had another nail driven through his left hand. He had one more nail driven through his feet. He hung on that cross as his lungs slowly collapsed. He was abandoned by his friends. He was betrayed by his disciples. He was crucified by his people. He had our sin and guilt and shame plaguing his soul. He was familiar with suffering. Suffering even to death! And yet-- Now – he lives. He lives and walks among his churches. And… (4) Jesus Knows YOUR suffering Pause and reflect on that truth. Because it’s easy to think: No one knows my suffering. No one understands. No one gets this sadness I feel. No one grasps the loneliness that I go through. No one truly gets the depths of my depression. Jesus does. He knows. He understands. Jesus is speaking to you. He says: “I know. I know it feels like no one knows, but I know. I know what it’s like to suffer. I know that you are suffering. I know what it is you’re suffering: I know that you feel so poor because you are suffering. But… In the midst of suffering… Never forget… You are rich. (5) Jesus Gives Eternal RICHES to the Suffering Wait, what? You are rich. Rich in my love. Rich in forgiveness. Rich in the promise of eternal life. You have a place in my family that all of the money in the world would be unable to buy. You may be suffering, but you are not suffering from a lack of my promises. II. Truths about Our Suffering After giving his credentials as to why he is an expert in suffering, Jesus has a few things to say about the suffering that the people of Smyrna were going through. He says: I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan. (v.9) Apparently there was a group that was slandering the church. It was a group that claimed to be Jewish but wasn’t. This isn’t genealogical. Jesus is referring to people who were did not have a faith that matched the Old Testament faith, but pretended they did. Because the Old Testament Jewish faith was that God would send a Messiah to save us from our sins. Overtime some Jews abandoned that faith and replaced it as, “God doesn’t need to save us from our sins, because I am Jewish and do Jewish things.” When Jesus showed up, a “phony” Jewish faith is exactly what the Pharisees had. Jesus was the Messiah. The real Jewish faith would have believed in him. Instead, the “phony” Jewish faith rejected Jesus as Messiah because “they were good enough Jewish people on their own.” Now after Jesus, this group was persecuting the church in Smyrna and it was bad enough to be called “suffering”: Maybe they were calling them names. Maybe some of them worked on the local tax board and were taxing their church building heavily. Maybe some of them paid of the Roman soldiers to throw church members in prison. Regardless, the church was suffering. What did Jesus say about this suffering? A few things: (1) Believers WILL Suffer for their Faith Look at what Jesus says in Verse 10: Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. At first glance, this seems comforting. But if you are a Smyrnian, don’t you think they read this and responded by saying: What? About to suffer? You mean this isn’t even done yet? Yes. That’s the truth. For the Smyrnian people. And for us: The truth is that believers in Jesus will suffer. Some suffering will happen because we’re on a sinful world where sinful people hurt one another. (Gossip, racism, and unfaithfulness) Some suffering will happen because we’re in an imperfect world. (Cancer, pollution, and natural disasters) Some suffering will happen because we’re believers in Jesus. (Things like angry comments on your Christian blog, being excluded from parties because you’re “That lousy Christian,” being yelled at by your spouse because “I’m not into that Jesus junk.”) Jesus said this: Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me. (Luke 10:16) Just like you might not like a football team and, as a result, you don’t like fans of a certain football team. Or you don’t like a politician and, as a result, you don’t like followers of that politician. It’s the same thing with Jesus: If someone doesn’t like Jesus. They don’t like his followers. If sinners made Jesus suffer, They will make his followers suffer too. (2) The Real Villain is the DEVIL Because if it was just a bunch of humans making us suffer, you might think: I can take them, Jesus. I took a few defense classes once, so…I got this. But these people aren’t the real ones behind it. Look at what Jesus says about who was really behind the Smyrnian suffering: I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. (v.10b) Now it wasn’t as if the devil showed up with a red pitchfork in his hands and pointy ears like some kind of Halloween costume. But he influenced. He tempted. He gave people ideas like: You should tell that Jesus supporter that he’s an idiot. You should tell that Roman guard that Christian is breaking law by praying in public. You should break up with your wife because the amount of Bible talk she has is crazy. The same is true today. The real villain isn’t whoever is persecuting you. It’s the devil himself. (3) Suffering Lasts for AWHILE Because look at what Jesus says next: You will suffer persecution for ten days.” (v.10c) That doesn’t sound awful. It’s the reason I sign up for ten days at a fitness camp. I figure – that’s not too long. I can handle it. Or maybe you sign up for a ten day visit to your in-laws. You figure – that’s just over a week. I got this. 10 days of persecution? That’s doable. But here’s the thing about numbers in revelation. They are metaphoric: The number 3 represents God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The number 4 represents humans. Humans were created in God’s image, but aren’t God. The number 7 represents the church. It’s 3 plus 4, where God connects with humans. The number 10? It represents completeness. Meaning the church at Smyrna would suffer until the suffering was completed. In other words, for a while. And the reality is that Christians will suffer…until their suffering on earth is completed. Suffering will be a part of your life when you’re 5. When you’re a teenager. When you’re middle aged. When you’re a senior. Suffering… Even suffering for your faith… …will be a part of your life for a while. But… Only for a while. Not… Forever. (4) The faithful will receive the CROWN of LIFE Look at what Jesus says at the end of verse 10: Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. Back at this time, the victor’s crown was associated with the Olympics. It was made of olive branches and given to the winner. To the winner of the 100-meter dash: Victor’s crown. To the winner of the 1600-meter run: Victor’s crown. To the winner of the pole vault: Victor’s crown To the winner of the steeple chase (whatever a steeple chase is): Victor’s crown. After all the training. After all the sweating. After all the suffering. A victor’s crown. Look at what Jesus promises to those who are victorious. Who go through suffering in this life. But hold on to Jesus: A victor’s crown. But not just any victor’s crown. This isn’t made from olive branches. It’s made of life. Do you get it? If you hold to Jesus despite the suffering this life brings, you will have eternal life. Death won’t win. You will defeat it. Just like Jesus defeated death, you will defeat death too. You will live. And about this life… It won’t be one of suffering. Because… (5) The Faithful’s SUFFERING will END Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. (v.11) Second death? That’s sounds awful. First death is bad enough. Second death? That’s terrible. It’s nothing but suffering. Nothing but awful. Nothing but hell… …because it is hell. But dear believers, that’s not anything you have to be worried about. The faithful will not be hurt even in the slightest by hell. Because in heaven? There is no hell. In heaven? There is no death. In heaven? There is NO suffering. No suffering for faith. No cancer. No loneliness. No sadness. No diseases. No arguments with spouses. No rebellious kids. No ostracization from friends. No racism. No sexism. No terrorism. No violence. No suffering of any amount, variety or kind. In heaven, SUFFERING is done. Because you’re with the one that defeated suffering. You’re with Jesus. III. WHAT NOW? Jesus’ words are simple: Be Faithful. Because when being a believer gets hard, it’s tempting to not be faithful. “I became a believer and I still get sick. I still have work problems. I still have financial difficulties. Only now people ridicule me for my faith.” It might seem easier to stop being faithful so that you won’t have this momentary suffering. But… If you stay faithful, in the midst of the momentary suffering, you will have eternal blessings. Not might. Not could. Not possibly. Will. Because God is faithful. That won’t change. He sent his Son Jesus for you. And through faith in him you will be removed from suffering…forever. Amen.  We have a leak on our roof. The rain comes down through a circular vent that was installed through the shingles and OSB without a line of caulk to protect the space surrounding it. My first attempt at fixing it (cover the area with tin foil) only worked until the tin toil blew off the roof. (About 2 days) On my second attempt, I went up to the roof with a caulking gun that I had loaded with roofing tar. I took that tar and did a nice circle around the opening. Case closed. (Julianna, man do you have handy husband.)
But that wasn’t it. It was still leaky. I went back to the roof, but couldn’t find an opening, so I decided to approach it from the other side. I went up into our crawl space attic, maneuvered around the insulation and shined a tiny flashlight up to the hole from the other direction. Sure enough! There were a few tiny little holes that were still allowing water into our place. So, I picked up the caulking gun, pressed it against the holes and… …Nothing. I tried again. …Nothing. I pumped it a solid 7 or 8 times more until… Well… Apparently, I had forgotten to open up the top of the caulking tube. As a result, it busted out the back and all over my hands. That tar was messy. I scrubbed. I used soap. I used a second kind of soap. I used a third kind of soap. It was messy. Today we’re starting our sermon series called MESSY. It’s all about something that’s the spiritual equivalent of tar all over your hands: something called sin. Something that can get all over your life, all over your relationships, and all over your relationship with God. Today we just wanted to identify what sin is and how we deal with it. But before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. What is Sin? The Scripture that we’re looking at today is from the book of Mark. Mark is a guy who was an eyewitness to Jesus’ life. So, it’s likely that he was there for the event that we’re taking a look at today. Listen to what happens: As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17) This story is actually recorded in two other places of Scripture. In Matthew’s version, we learn that he was a young man. (Mt. 19:20) In Luke’s version, we learn that he was a ruler. (Lk. 18:18) In all of the stories, we learn that he was rich. So, here’s what you need to understand… This guy was impressive. He was the kind of guy who worked hard throughout his life. Maybe he was first chair trumpet, captain of the soccer team and the homecoming king all while graduating Cum Laude with three sets of honor cords. The kind of guy that was no stranger to inheritance. His grandpa’s 401k. His dad’s H&R Block business. He was…. The kind of guy with a family boat house on Lake Gaston. The kind of guy who’d gotten on Shark Tank and received a royalty deal from Mr. Wonderful. The kind of guy who’d be an Instagram influencer – literally paid by companies — just to include a shot of himself drinking a Coca-Cola on his next social media post. He was successful. But… He also knew that none of this stuff was eternal life. The assets would eventually run out. The Lexus would stop running. The six pack of abs would eventually fade to fat…then dust. But he had earned everything else in his life. Hence the question: Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus responds: Why do you call me good? There is no one good, but God alone. (v.18) Understand what Jesus is saying: God is good. And eternal life is God’s. Then eternal life must be good. And since God is good. And his commands are God’s. Then, his commands are good. And since eternal life is good. And God’s commands are good. To get to eternal life, one simply needs to do the good that your good God commands you to do: Do not murder. Murder bad. It isn’t good. Don’t do it. Do not commit adultery. Unfaithfulness is bad. It isn’t good. Don’t do it. Do not steal. Theft is bad. It isn’t good. Don’t do it. Do not give false testimony. Lying is bad. It isn’t good. Don’t do it. Do not defraud. Gossip is bad. It isn’t good. Don’t do it. Honor your Father and Mother. Disrespect is bad. It isn’t good. Don’t do it. Do the good things. You inherit eternal life. Do the bad things. You won’t. TRUTH: Sin is the MESSINESS of OPPOSING God. It’s like eating healthy. If you’re trying to eat healthy, then food is either good for your body or good for your taste buds. For instance… Carrot mush. Good for your body, not for taste. Deep friend Carrot Cake. Good for taste, not for body. Bran Flakes. Good for body. Frosted Flakes. Good for taste. Kombucha. Good for body. Vanilla Dr. Pepper. Good for taste. Brussel sprouts. Good for body. Doritos. Good for taste. Brussel sprout flavored Doritos? Not good for either. Let’s make sure that it’ll never happen. Sin and God are like that. They are in opposition. What’s good for sin is not good for God. What’s good for God is not good for sin. II. Sin is Messy And one of the reasons that God has assigned the sinful things as sin is because sin causes all kinds of messiness in our lives. Thinks about it: (1) Sin Messes up Relationships Just consider some of the sins that Jesus mentions here. Stealing? It messes up your relationship with the friend you stole 20 bucks from. Gossip? It messes up your relationship with the person who finds out you have been gossiping about them. Adultery? It messes up your relationship with your spouse, with the person you’re commit adultery with, with the spouse of the person you’re committing adultery with, with your parents, with your spouse’s parents, with your parents of the person you’ve committed adultery with, with the parents of the spouse of the persons you’ve committed adultery with, with your siblings, with your siblings in law, with their friends, with your friends, and, God forbid, any children that are in the mix. Now you might say: Only if I get caught! Is that really true? Because even if you don’t get caught stealing, the relationship with your friend is affected because now you have to think of ways to lie to your friend and remember the lies that you said in order not to get caught. And even if you don’t get caught by the person you’re gossiping about, the people you’re gossiping to hear what you’re saying, recognize what you’re doing, and are making mental notes to keep you at a distance. And even if you don’t get caught in adultery, you quickly find yourself nitpicking and complaining about any minor offense from your spouse because you need to soothe your conscience and come up with tangible reasons to tell yourself: “It’s ok what I’m doing.” Sin messes up relationships with others. (2) Sin Messes Up Self Image Because what happens when you sin? You don’t usually feel good about you it. You feel anxious. You feel sad. You feel guilty. And here’s the thing, when people say things like “You’re such a good person.” You nod and accept, but deep down there’s this little voice that says: “If they only knew…” They wouldn’t call me good. They’d call me -- unfaithful. Liar. Addict. Jerkface. Sinner. Which leads to our next issue… (3) Sin Messes Up Your Relationship with God It’s Back to Church Sunday. One thing I’ve been doing this week is reaching out to people who used to worship here but haven’t in a while. Just a simple message telling them that we missed them and would love for them to return. In the process, I invited one friend of mine. And the person responded: “I’ll think about it.” So, I followed up yesterday and asked if they might make it? They said they didn’t have a car. I said, “We could give a ride.” They responded: “I don’t think I can get up that early.” I said: “The last service is at 11 am.” Finally, they said: “Pastor, I can’t come, because life is mess right now. I need to get it together first. I can’t let God see me like this. I’m too guilty.” How sad. Sin drives people apart from God. It causes us to distance ourselves from him. We miss out on knowing we have his protection. We miss out on being uplifted by his love. We miss out on hearing about his incredible plan for us. We just kind of drift…away. But none of this worries our impressive young man. When he hears Jesus’ answer, he’s feeling pretty good. Because Jesus mentioned a bunch of commands, that he hasn’t broken. He hasn’t murdered. He hasn’t committed adultery. He hasn’t lied. He’s done good. He says to Jesus: All these I have kept since I was a boy. (v.20) Jesus looked at him. Jesus loved him. Jesus spoke to his heart: One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have. Sell your 401k. Sell your internet business. Sell your stock in Disney. Sell your 70” HD TV. Sell your XBOX. Sell your Coach Handbag. Sell your Air Jordans. Sell your season tickets. Sell everything. And give to the poor. To the homeless. To the impoverished. To the elderly man who can’t afford healthcare. To the guy at the I-540 on ramp asking for change. To the immigrant who can’t get a job because of the way he looks. And you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come follow me. (v.21) But the young man didn’t follow Jesus. His face fell. He grew sad. He turned and left. Because you see, Jesus had exposed his sin. Did you catch it? He loved earthly treasure more than heavenly treasure. He loved STUFF more than the CREATOR of stuff. He broke the 1st Commandment: You shall have no other gods. He did bad. He wasn’t good. But more intriguing than the young man’s response, is what Jesus says next. How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!... It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. (v.23,24) Have you ever seen a camel before? It’s a big old animal. The average camel is 6 feet tall at the shoulder, 7 feet tall at the hump. It weighs about 1500 pounds. The eye of a needle? It’s much tinier. It’s so tiny because it is designed for only a thread to pass through it. I don’t have a camel with me. (The Greensboro Zoo wouldn’t get back to my request to borrow one) But I do have this stuffed camel. And this needle. Note: No matter how hard I smush it. No matter how hard I jam it. No matter how hard I push it. It is impossible for this stuffed camel to go through the eye of this needle. It is impossible for a real camel to go through the eye of a needle. And it is impossible for a rich young man earn his way through the gates of heaven. In fact, it is impossible for anyone to earn their way into the gates of heaven. Because…Sin. (4) Sin Messes Up Our Entrance into Heaven Heaven is a good place. Heaven is a divinely good place. It is a place without any sin. And if you’ve got sin on you… If you’ve got a big sin… If you’ve got a little sin… If you’ve got any sin… Then… …it is impossible for you to earn your way into heaven. III. The Solution Jesus’ disciples are shocked all this. Because this impressive young gentleman, who had earned all varieties of accolades in his lifetime, wasn’t able to earn the accolade of heaven. If he wasn’t getting in, then… What about us? Because he’s got it together, we don’t. He’s impressive; we’re not. He’s got everything going for him; not us. He was the Bill Gates, the Mark Zuckerberg, the Elon Musk. If he wasn’t getting in, then… Who can be saved? (v.26) Listen to Jesus’ response: With humans, this is impossible. But not with God; with God all things are possible. (v.27) Do you get it? Heaven is impossible for any being with sin to earn. But God? He doesn’t have any sin. God? He doesn’t struggle with wrong. God? He isn’t messy…at all. (1) Sin hasn’t MESSED UP God Unlike all of the rest of us, God is sinless. He’s still good. He doesn’t do wrong. He doesn’t have any mess on his eternal being. He remains pure. You won’t catch God in the fellowship area after church gossiping about that one guy. You can’t Google for God’s criminal record because he doesn’t have any. You won’t find photos of God from 2011 on Social Media in which he’s engaged in lewd activity. You won’t find any racists tweets that have been deleted from God’s account. God is incorruptible. God is perfect. God is sinless. Sin hasn’t messed up God. And it never will. Which is big news. HUGE news. Because it means (2) God is the ONE to Clean the Mess Up Think about it: When I had that tar all over my hands, one of the worst things that could have done would be to try and wipe it off by rubbing my dirty hands together. (It’s what I did), but it failed miserably. Messy hands cannot clean up messy hands. Sinful hands cannot clean up sinful hands. But God’s hands aren’t dirty. God’s hands aren’t messy. God’s hands are holy. God’s hands are pure. God’s hands are divine. God is the one to clean the mess up. God is the one to clean YOUR mess up. He is the ONLY one to clean your mess up. He had to act. And he did. Back to the story. Peter is the name of one of Jesus’ disciples and he is having a hard time believing that he can’t earn heaven. So, he says to Jesus this: “WE have left everything to follow you.” (v.28) Remember? That’s what you told the young man to do. That’s what we did. Granted, we didn’t have as much as he did, but we still left it. We are following you. Does that count for something? Look at Jesus’ response: Truly I tell you…no one who has left home for me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age…and in the age to come eternal life. (v.29-30) Isn’t that strange? Jesus just promised Peter eternal life. Why? It wasn’t because Peter could earn it. He couldn’t. It wasn’t because Peter was perfect. He was a sinner. It was because Peter followed Jesus. But why would that work? Because… Jesus is God. (3) The MESSINESS of Sin is Removed by Jesus He is God come into this messy world. He is God dealing with the messiness of humanity. He is God who suffered a messy, bloody death at the hands of humans on the cross. But when he died. He took the messiness of your sins with him. He took the messiness of your guilt to the cross. He through the messiness of your sins into the grave…and the stone door was slammed shut. And there they remained. Jesus and our sins in the grave. One day. Two days. Three days. And… On the third day? Jesus came out alive. But our sins? They stayed there…dead. Understand: Jesus has removed the messiness of your sins. In Jesus you are clean. In Jesus you are messiness-less. In Jesus, you are forgiven. It’s amazing. It’s incredible. You might think - It’s impossible. All the sins I have. All the ways I’ve made a mess of it. All the messiness in my heart. It’s impossible. For humans… But not for God. God specializes in the impossible. Like rising from the dead. He did the visually impossible to prove the invisibly impossible He did the visually impossible: rising from the dead, to prove the invisible impossible: removal of all the messiness of your sins. IV. What Now? Follow Jesus. It’s what the rich young man didn’t do. Follow Jesus. It’s what the poor disciples did do. Follow Jesus. And it’s what God is calling you to do: Follow Jesus. It’s the way out of your sinful mess. Follow Jesus. It’s the way out of your messy guilt. Follow Jesus. It’s the way out of this messy world to place where there’s never any mess… I was once called to a hospital room late at night. The elderly man I went to see was in grave condition. He was hooked up to a breathing machine. He was unable to move. His eyes were red and there were purple splotches creeping up his neck. But when I got there…whatever brightness could come to his eyes, did. Pastor, I’m so glad you’re here. Pastor, I’m not gonna last much longer. Pastor, I’ve been thinking about my life. About how I messed things up with my wife. About how I messed things up with my children. About how I messed…things…up. But…as big of a mess up as I was… I know it’s not too big of a mess for Jesus. Because ain’t nothing too big of a mess for Jesus. He was right. And he is right with Jesus. Follow your Savior friends. He’ll fix your eternal mess and bring you to eternal life. Amen.  Last we left the Apostle Paul, he was in the city of Ephesus preaching the message that Jesus is the Savior. He stayed there for two years. During that time frame, a congregation had developed in Ephesus. A decent crowd of people would gather together each week to hear Paul’s sermons, sing hymns, say prayers, and high-five each other in the fellowship hall.
But this church crowd wasn’t the only kind of crowd that developed in Ephesus. Today we’re going to learn about a crowd that developed in direct opposition to the Gospel. Our goal is get some guidance about the dangers of crowd-following in 2019 Raleigh. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. A Crowd Forms The lesson comes from Acts 19. It says, “There arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there.” (v.23) A couple of notes: Demetrius is a Greek name. It means, “servant of Demeter.” Demeter was the Greek goddess in charge of crops. She made sure that the grains grew. She made sure the oats grew. She made sure the corn grew. She made sure that they were golden and delicious. She made sure that they were a part of a daily balanced breakfast. (Something tells me that Demeter looked something like a breakfast food character). But Demetrius wasn’t only worshipping deities around the food pyramid. He worked for the temple of Artemis. Artemis was the Greek goddess of hunting (meat). The story was that you could call on her and give gifts at her temple to increase your likelihood of bagging a quail on the morning hunt. In Ephesus was the Temple to Artemis. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temple was 425 feet long by 200 feet wide. It was tall and ornate with beautiful marble columns. People came from across the ancient world in order to visit this incredible wonder. And while the tourists were visiting the temple, they could pick up a souvenir! That’s where Demetrius came into play. He was a silversmith. His job was to build replica temples and replica statues of Artemis that he would sell on the corner right outside the monument. The little silver statue would become a keepsake or a household idol that people would pray to and hold close for protection. But business had been down recently. It wasn’t related to the economy. It wasn’t related to a lack of work. It wasn’t due to the weather keeping people from going outside. It was because of Paul. Paul had been preaching against idols. Paul had been telling people that Artemis wasn’t a real god. Paul had been telling people that Jesus was the only real God. People were believing him and subsequently buying fewer idols. So…Demetrius called together a meeting of all the people involved with the temple. Silversmiths, store owners, gift shop employees, temple janitors, even Amazon Prime drivers who delivered the statues across town… Demetrius gathered together everyone involved with the trade and said: You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty. (v.25b-27) Do you see the issue? Paul is ruining Demetrius’ fine way of living. Before you know it, Demetrius might not be able to go the Angus Barn. He might not be able to afford his fancy jewelry and fine cheese. He might not be able to buy Grey Poupon at the local grocery store. Demetrius was upset because he was losing money. You can almost hear him: Sure, these people get forgiveness. They get joy. They get the promise of heaven. But I won’t be able to make my payment on the second Lexus I bought, so… Paul must be stopped! Here’s the truth: Crowds led by SINFUL HUMANS are opposed to HOLY GOD. That was Demetrius. He was a sinful human. He was leading a crowd against God’s message. But this will be true in any situation. Why? 1) Because Sin opposes God. God is good. Sin is bad. God is against sin. Sin is against God. God doesn’t say to sin: “You’re awesome.” Sin doesn’t say to God: “Let’s be best friends.” They are drastically opposed to one another. It’s like UNC and Duke. When they are playing one another in their next basketball showdown, every time one team makes a basket those points are good for one side and bad for the other. Duke can’t throw an alley-oop slam dunk and divide the points evenly among both squads. UNC can’t hit a three pointer and have it appear on the other team’s scoreboard. By the very nature of a game with opposing teams, good news for one team means bad news for the other. By the very nature of reality, when something godly happens that’s good news for God’s side and bad news for crowds led by sin. When a sinful leader is the leader of the crowd, that crowd will inevitably clash with God. 2) Because the Perspective is different. Humans live on a timeline. We are born. We grow. We live 30, 40, 50 years. Everything we do is on a timeline: I need a report in by Friday. I need to finish schooling by December. I need to make enough money for my son’s inheritance before I die. God is different. God is eternal. He is off the timeline. He is concerned with eternity. Because the temporal perspective is so different from the eternal perspective, there’s a contradiction. Case in point: God wanted people to stop worshipping idols so that they could know the Savior and have eternal life. Demetrius wanted people to stop worshipping Jesus so that he could have more money and buy himself a nice steak dinner. The perspective is different. The result? Crowds led by SINFUL HUMANS are opposed to HOLY GOD. This is still true today. In 2018 in rural Mexico, Pastor Eduardo Garcia served at local country church. One of the struggles in Mexico is drug addiction. Crystal meth has taken over in the area. It’s ruined health, finances, and family. Pastor Eduardo Garcia preached against the danger of Meth. He taught that Meth couldn’t save you; only Jesus could. He taught that Meth didn’t remove guilt; only Jesus did. He taught that Meth eventually brought death; and Jesus brought life. And a few drug addicts listened. He got them help. They got off the drugs. Great news, right? Except for the Drug Cartel. They were losing money. So… The Drug Cartel had Pastor Eduardo Garcia gunned down in the streets. Crowds led by SINFUL HUMANS are opposed to HOLY GOD. Beware. II. The Crowd Rages Back to the story. When the crowd heard Demetrius’ speech, “They were furious and began shouting: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ ”(v.28) They rushed into the city. They shouted. They screamed. They pumped their fists. They motioned for others to join them. People joined the crowd who agreed with their cause. People joined the crowd who loved Artemis. People joined the crowd who enjoyed shouting. People joined the crowd who didn’t want others to get mad at them for not joining the crowd. People joined the crowd because they didn’t want to miss out on whatever was about to happen. Regardless, the crowd grew in number. They grabbed two men – Gaius and Aristarchus – two church members that worked with Paul. They dragged them through the streets. Eventually, the streets were so narrow – and the crowd was so big – that they had to make their way to the local theater. It was the only building big enough to house the large crowd that had gathered. As they gathered and shouted, they threw a guy named Alexander to the front in order to explain this message of Jesus. But – thing was – Alexander wasn’t even a believer. He just looked like he might be. When he tried to explain that, the crowd got angrier. They didn’t want to listen. And then it started. Two hours. Two straight hours of shouting: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! She’s the greatest god of all time. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! This guy named Jesus is costing us money. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! I really, really hate the Jews. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! I just drank a bunch of booze. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! I don’t know what I’m doing. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! That plane in the sky? Is that a Boeing? Two hours of screaming. Screaming from people who don’t even know why they’re screaming in the first place. Here’s the warning: Crowd following can be a MINDLESS activity. Maybe you’ve fallen victim. Peer pressure in high school, “It’s what the cool kids are doing.” Friends egging you on at a bar, “Come on. Just say it.” Your family, “Hate those people. It’s what we do.” Comments on your social media profile, “If you don’t believe this, you are despicable.” Society, “If you want to fit in, get rid of the god stuff. That’s the way the crowd is going.” It’s so easy to follow the crowd. Even mindlessly. But MINDLESS crowd following is NEEDLESLY dangerous. Jesus is loving. Jesu is our Savior. You trust him, right? He died for you. He rose for you. He loves you. There’s no one more trustworthy than Jesus, right? Look at what your trustworthy Savior said in the Gospel for today: Do not be afraid of the one who can kill the body, but be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell. (Mark 10:28) Do you hear what Jesus is saying? Don’t fear a dislike on Facebook more than holy hellfire. Don’t fear the loss of a friend more than the loss of your God. Don’t fear society calling you a name more than your Lord calling you DAMNED. Don’t fear anything more than your God. III. The Crowd is Defeated Because no crowd can OVERPOWER God. Back to Ephesus. The shouting had been going on for a solid two hours. Finally, the city clerk, who is a high-ranking individual in Ephesians society, made his way to the front of the steps. After motioning for them to be quiet, they finally chilled. He said to them: “Calm down; don’t do anything rash.” (v.36) Guys, we need to stop. Artemis is still known around the world. We’re still rich. Tourists are still visiting. These two church members haven’t done anything illegal. The reality is that if Caesar hears about this riot – we’re the ones who did something illegal. And we’ll be the ones getting into trouble. Chill. Relax. Go home. Then, he dismissed them. And the crowd went home. Because sometimes God protects his people through people that aren’t even his people. TRUTH: No crowd can OVERPOWER God. Take one more example from Jesus. He was arrested by a crowd of angry men. They brought him to the Assembly. They shouted for hours, not ‘Great is Artemis!’, but “Crucify Him!” They dragged him through the narrow streets. They hung him on a cross…all the while jeering, mocking, and spitting. He took his last breath and it looked like the crowd had won. But… Three days later. Three days later… Jesus came back to life. And that wasn’t the only crowd against him! Because Jesus went to the cross with a crowd of your sins on his back. The sins of rebelling against his Word. The sins of bowing to peer pressure. The sins of following the crowd opposed to God. But those sins didn’t overpower Jesus. He overpowered them. Through faith in him, those sins won’t overpower you. You are forgiven. You are victorious. Christ will bring you home to heaven. Because… Christ following ALWAYS leads to ETERNAL life. No other crowd will do that. Not a crowd of your friends. Not a crowd of your coworkers. Not a crowd of social media followers. Only Jesus can. And does. Only Jesus will. IV. What Now? 1) Identify the Leader. Have you ever driven cross-country in a caravan? That’s when a bunch of cars all follow one another. If you’re going to do that, suddenly it becomes very important that you know who you’re following. Because if you don’t pay very good attention. Well… I remember one time I was following a red van. I was supposed to follow it to a place in Durham. But after it was taking awhile, I looked up at the road signs and saw that I was approaching Greenville. Turns out? I had been following a red van that wasn’t the one my friend was driving. It’s important to identify the leaders in your crowds of people. Because that will tell you where you’re going. Is the leader a sinful human? Is it a sinful human who doesn’t care about Jesus? Is it a sinful human who is led by Jesus? That’s the crowd you want. 2) Unfollow the Sinful Crowd. Unfortunately, this is a lot harder than simply going onto Facebook and hitting “UNFOLLOW.” (Although that might be part of this.) If it’s a crowd that you’ve been following for a while, you might have acquaintances, friendships, and good friends in that crowd. Those relationships, emotions, and feelings will make it hard to unfollow that crowd. But… If that crowd is leading you away from your Savior… Don’t be Demetrius. Don’t forfeit the Christ in exchange for money, for fame, for fortune, for good times, for a momentary pleasure…for stuff that doesn’t last. 3) Follow the Christ. Because Christ is not overpowered by any crowd. And if you’re following him, neither will you. Because Christ always leads to eternal life. If you’re following him, that’s where you’ll be. Check out Revelation 7. It describes a different kind of crowd. A bigger crowd. A more diverse crowd. A crowd shouting louder than that Ephesus crowd. A crowd shouting longer than that Ephesus crowd. A crowd shouting about a being greater than the Ephesus crowd was shouting about. A crowd shouting in heaven: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Friends, that’s the crowd you want to be in.  We are in the middle of our sermon series on Acts. In this series we have been to a lot of different places and learned a different lesson in each place. Today we’re getting a potpourri of lessons from one place and all on hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy comes from the Greek word “hypokrusis.” The word was used in Greek theater. It meant: “to play a part,” which, in Greek theater, often meant “wearing a mask.” It’s a part of theater still today – specifically known as the Marvel Big Screen. Chris Evans dons a mask and becomes Captain America. Chadwick Boseman dons a mask and becomes Black Panther. Evangeline Lilly dons a mask and becomes The Wasp. Hypocrisy, then, is when someone claims to be one thing, when they are not. Before we begin our study of hypocrisy, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. I. One Kind of Hypocrisy The lesson from Acts 19 is the first big stop on Paul’s 3rd missionary journey. Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. (19:1a) Ephesus was the Capital of the Ancient province of Asia and a bustling commercial center. Paul had briefly been there at the end of the 2nd missionary journey. Before he left, he promised to return if God allowed. Paul’s appearance in chapter 19 is a fulfillment of that promise. When Paul arrives, he finds some disciples. (v.1b) These men claimed to be followers of the Christ. Paul greets them pleasantly. (Maybe with some high fives, jokes about not having rocks thrown at him, and an invitation to go grab lunch at the local Smashburger). As they are hanging out, Paul asks them some conversational questions: What’s your favorite worship song? What do you do to serve at the church? Do you like your coffee dark or light roast? And… Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? (v.2) Some explanation: The Holy Spirit is absolutely in the heart of all believers. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.” It’s simple. It’s clear. If you believe in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit, because you need the Holy Spirit in order to believe. But what Paul is talking about here is something different. Early in the history of the Christian church, during key faith-filled events, the Holy Spirit would visibly manifest his presence within a group of believers. This would serve to prove the truthfulness of the Gospel through miraculous signs. It happened at Pentecost (Acts 2) when tongues of fire appeared on the Apostles’ heads as they spoke in languages that they had never learned. It happened again in the house of the Roman Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10). In both instances, God was making it clear that this faith – and the message that this faith was placed in – was a very real and very divine message. Paul’s question was about whether that had happened with them. Did you get to speak in tongues? Did fire appear on your heads? Did you open your mouth and rainbows started shooting out? The answer was a bit surprising: “We hadn’t heard there was a Holy Spirit…” (v.3) Paul responded, “Wait. What!?! You don’t know the Holy Spirit? He’s a key part of our teachings. He’s the one who brings us to faith. He’s the one who came down on Jesus like a dove. And Baptism! Haven’t you been baptized? Into whose name were you baptized? Because as far as I know…believers are baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the HOLY SPIRIT.” The men responded, “We were baptized into John’s Baptism, into the name of the Christ who is going to come in the future.” “OK… The Christ. Good. Did you know he has already come? Did you know he already did his Christ work? Did you know his name?” And the men looked on at another, shrugged, and replied, “I don’t know…maybe…Bob?” Divine forehead slap. Here’s the truth: Sometimes hypocrisy comes from IGNORANCE. It’s like the time I was at Buffalo Wild Wings and a lady near me was decked out in Tarheel gear as she watched them battle on the football field. A while later, the Tarheels had their quarterback sacked in the end zone. The woman stood up, clapped, and shouted, “Great job! Way to go.” Until, her friends (also in Tarheel gear) motioned for her to sit down: “Stop cheering. That was a safety. That means its two points for the other team.” Sometimes hypocrisy comes from IGNORANCE. Yes, I’m a believer in Jesus…and I believe you can sleep with whomever you want. Does the Bible say differently? Yes, my social profile says: “Christian”; I like all kinds of quotes from the Bible. Also quotes from the KKK. Is there something wrong? Yes, I’m a Christian. I’ve been my whole life. But what do you mean when you are talking about salvation by grace? Never heard of it? I thought I’d get to heaven, simply because I was good enough…. Before you say, “But if someone doesn’t know, it’s no big deal.” Remember that ignorant hypocrisy is still hypocrisy. It’s still wrong. If your son winds up and punches your little daughter in the face, you don’t say, “It’s ok. He didn’t know. Let him be.” No! You course correct immediately! In the same way, it’s still wrong when we say we are followers of Jesus, but then do the opposite of followers of Jesus, even if we simply didn’t know followers of Jesus don’t do that. There’s a simple cure for this kind of hypocrisy. It’s called knowledge. That’s what Paul gave these men. He said to them in verse 4, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” Jesus is the Christ. He lived perfectly when you couldn’t. He died innocently in your place. He rose triumphantly for the forgiveness of your sins. I saw it with my own eyes! And the group believes. They are baptized into Jesus’ name. And that Holy Spirit that they didn’t know about? He makes himself visibly known. They began to speak in tongues, and they prophesied. (v.6) Visual proof of the invisible truth that their faith in Jesus wasn’t fake; it was real. The same is true for you. Repent of your any hypocrisy of ignorance. To do that, look at the truth. The truth may be that what you’ve been doing is sin. But the truth also is that you have a Savior. And in Jesus, you are forgiven. II. Another Kind of Hypocrisy But not all hypocrisy is caused by ignorance. Next Paul entered the synagogue, a place where they studied God’s Word. He went and spoke boldly there for three months. (v.9a) You would expect this to produce real believers. These people wore religious jewelry. They went to worship. They knew lots of the Bible. They knew all the words to all their favorite religious songs. They knew prayers. They knew religious logos. They knew God’s Word. And yet…when Paul was done speaking… Some of them were obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. (v.9b) And think about the hypocrisy of it all: They studied God’s Word. They knew God’s Word. Then, they refused to believe God’s Word. And even openly mocked God’s Word. Only to sit around congratulating each other for following that Word that they were mocking. It’s would be like sitting in the Fellowship Hall after worship and gossiping about another believer not being a very good believer and then congratulating yourselves on being such good believers even though you’re doing things that believers aren’t supposed to do. Take note: Sometimes hypocrisy comes from ignorance; but sometimes hypocrisy comes from obstinance. In fact, the Greek word there means “hardened.” Tough, rough, impenetrable. Like a rock. There’s nothing getting through the exterior into the heart of the rock. Try it. You can punch the rock. You can hit the rock with a blow dart. You could try karate chopping the rock. Nothing. Even if you took a hammer to it - that rock isn’t splitting. The same can happen with people’s hearts. Even the hearts of long-time Christians. I know racism is wrong. God is for all people. You should go tell it to those people over there. They’re the racist ones. In fact, that’s how all people like them are! I know it says that sex outside of marriage is wrong. And I haven’t had it! Look at my purity ring! Now excuse me…the adult film. I uploaded on my iPhone is coming after it’s done buffering. I know it! Pride is wrong. Preach it pastor! Especially at that guy over there. But don’t you preach it at humble me. There’s nobody humbler than I am. And God’s Word connects with the heart. And the heart hardens. And hypocrisy ensues. Take warning. If you are a long-time church goer, take extra warning! Don’t harden your heart to God’s Word. And then sit around congratulating yourself for following God’s Word. Instead of hardening your heart, look at God’s heart. Because God’s heart was not hard. His heart was filled with compassion. His heart was filled with love for you…even when you repeatedly hardened your heart against him. His heart was not hardened like a rock. Want proof? When he hung on that cross… Bleeding… Dying… For you… The soldiers reached up with a spear. They plunged it into his him. Blood. Not hardened. But softened with love for you. Even now. Even if you’ve hardened your heart before, listen to his heart for you. Repent of your hypocrisy. And do it quickly. III. All Kinds of Hypocrisy As Paul continued his ministry, God continued to bless Paul. In fact, look at the amazing things that God did through Paul: Even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul were taken to the sick and their illnesses were cured, and the evil spirits left them. (v.12) That’s amazing! Paul’s handkerchiefs cured from the flu and his aprons drove out evil spirits. But look at what happened, “Seven sons of Sceva (Which…Listen to the name. It sounds shady. Almost like an evil muppet or something) they went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” (v.12-13) To be fair, this doesn’t look hypocritical. It looks like they are trying to help. They aren’t ignorant of Jesus’ name. They use it. They aren’t obstinately opposed to Jesus. God is against demons, too. Yet, look at what happened. One day an evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. (v.15) Do you see the problem? I can’t. But God could. Maybe they weren’t doing this out of love for Jesus. But out of love for power. Maybe they weren’t doing this out of love for others. But out of love for themselves. They were hypocrites. Good ones too! It was hard to tell that they were doing anything wrong. But here’s the truth: Sometimes hypocrisy comes from ignorance. Sometimes hypocrisy comes from obstinance. But hypocrisy is always exposed. A family member finds out. A pastor discovers the truth. Your spouse learns about what you were trying to hide. Always hypocrisy is exposed. Even if you successfully hide it from all other human beings, God knows. God knows and he will expose it. At the end of time, you won’t be able to hide it. And he won’t be able to hide his displeasure. He’ll simply say: Jesus, I know… And Paul I know… But…You? Who are you? IV. What Now? Therefore, God calls us to repent. To turn from hypocrisy. To turn to our Savior. And the way to do that is to: (1). Switch Your Mask We said that hypocrisy is putting on a mask. Covering up our sins with a nice looking, “Christian” façade. Make me think of Halloween. That’s a time for masks. There’s a wide variety of them at Precious Lambs. I remember there was one kid who made his own mask. It was made of string and paper. The paper covered up…one of his eyebrows. He said: “You don’t know who I am.” And I said: “Uh-huh.” Hypocrisy? That’s like hiding behind the paper eyebrow mask. We think it hides our sinfulness from God. It doesn’t. Instead, check out Galatians 3:27 All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Christ’s clothing? It’s righteousness. It’s purity. It’s impenetrable. Just like a full-fledged mask, it fully and completely covers up all your sins. Jesus covers up your obstinance. Jesus covers up your ignorance. Jesus covers up your sin so much so that when God looks at you, He only sees – His child. That’s comforting. That’s empowering. So much so that God calls us to our second WHAT NOW: (2). Go Public Look at the reaction of the people to what had occurred. Many who believed came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. (v.18) Think about that: Believers gathered in the middle of the city with their arms filled of books that they had been storing in their homes. Books that weren’t about the Bible. Books that were about Satan, witchcraft, and sexual immorality. It’d be like someone coming to the front of church and making a pile of a raunchy racist DVDs, two illegal drug baggies, and an iPhone loaded with pornographic content. That’s take courage to do in front of everyone, right? But they had the courage. Why? Because Jesus. Because they were covered in Christ’s righteousness. Because they knew they were God’s children. Because they knew God’s children were serious about getting rid of sin. Because they knew God’s other children wouldn’t ridicule them, but support them. And so… They went public with it. Do the same. Examine your heart. Find your hypocrisy And Go public with it. Go public with a friend, a pastor, or a family member! And if someone trusts you enough to publicly confess a secret sin to you, don’t say: “Just a second while I share what you did on social media.” Nope. Help them. Share the Gospel. Remind them of Christ’s mask. Help them incinerate whatever it is they are struggling with! Because in that, God’s Word is spread. Conclusion: In fact, look at the last verse: In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely. (v.20) Because when God’s Word gets us to stop being hypocrites and start being real, then God’s Word really spreads. If we’re real -- real with God and real with each other -- then the community will notice. |
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January 2021
Pastor Phil Kiecker
and his wife, Julianna love serving the community of North Raleigh.
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