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

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

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

Past mistakes can make it difficult to find work in the now…
But what about God’s kingdom?
What if you have mistakes in your past?
Surely – if humans wouldn’t hire you – God, who is perfect, wouldn’t want you to work in his kingdom either…right?
 
Today’s EYEWITNESS account is about a guy named Peter, who had made some rather big blunders while working in God’s kingdom. We want to learn (1) what his failures were (2) how they affected his role in God’s kingdom and (3) what that means for our roles in kingdom work. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.

I. Peter’s Story
 
We are continuing where we left off last week. If you remember, Jesus had appeared to his disciples on the Sea of Galilee. When he appeared, he told them to toss their nets into the lake and – immediately – the net is full of fish. Amazing – because Jesus was 100 yards away on shore and the disciples had been out all night without catching anything.
But that wasn’t it – as the disciples row the boat to shore, Jesus already has fish sandwiches cooking over the fire for them to eat. It’d be similar to someone gifting you a $100 Starbucks gift card and then, when they invite you to Starbucks – they pay for the coffee for you.
Jesus did the same. He provided abundantly.

He provides abundantly.

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

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

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

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

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

Not once.
Not twice.
But three times.

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

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

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

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

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

Repeated guilt is hard.

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

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

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

Maybe you know.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And everyone now knows you as…

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

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

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

And it needs an extreme amount of restoration.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The same is true with you.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But that’s not what Jesus says.

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

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

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

Feed His Sheep.

Jesus says that is what true love for him is:  

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

Nope.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen.

Over this sermon series, we’ve talked a lot about Fighting Temptation. But…How confident do you feel that you can fight temptation and win?
Today we’re going to study God’s Word and my goal is to teach you why you have every reason in the world to Fight Temptation confidently. Before we do that, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. Reasons for Lacking Confidence
 
The lesson for this morning comes from Isaiah. He was a prophet who lived around 640 B.C. Mainly he preached warnings about what would happen to the Israelites if they didn’t start fighting temptation.
 
But most people didn’t listen.
God, through Isaiah, even predicted that they wouldn’t listen. 
It’s why he prophesied that they would be taken into captivity.

Which…is exactly what happened. In 597 B.C., the Babylonian army ransacked the country of Judah. They destroyed the infrastructure and took hundreds of thousands of Israelites captive as prisoners back to Babylon.

It was then, in captivity, that many of the people began to listen.
They looked back at the prophesies of Isaiah and discovered sections like this:
“Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow his ways;
they did not obey his law. So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.” (v.24-25)
 
Can you imagine?
 
Being in captivity.
And realizing…
 
We sinned.
We didn’t follow his ways.
We did not obey his law.
We are in flames because of our sinful failures!
 
I can’t imagine that the Israelites had a lot of confidence.
Just a lot of “if onlys.”

If only I’d listened to God.
If only I had fought back against temptation.
If only I had told that merchant, “No. We don’t need your bejeweled god statues. We worship the one true, invisible God, the Lord.”
If only I had told my wife, “No, we aren’t going to teach our kids that worship isn’t important. We’ll tell them that worship is the most important thing to their eternal relationship with God.”
If only I had told my friends, “No, I’m not going to get drunk with you tonight…then I never would have done a lot of other things that I wish I had never done.”
If only I had told myself, “Get up. Fight these temptations. Stop being complacent and follow your God.”

Then, I wouldn’t be in captivity.

But now…?
It feels too late.
I’ve failed too many times.
God has abandoned me.
I’m alone.

Temptation will always win.

Can you relate?

Maybe your record against temptation isn’t good.
Maybe you keep losing in your personal battle against your personal demons.
Maybe you have a weakness that you’re so ashamed of – you question if you even belong in this church family.
Maybe you feel weighed down by guilt, alone in your battle, like you are in captivity to a particular sin!
Maybe you’ve tried psyching yourself up, waking up in prayer, saying, “Today is the day I beat that temptation,” only…to attempt your day…and…lose.
Maybe you feel alone like you are the only one who is fighting against a particular sin.

And, maybe, all of these thoughts convince you…

That you’ll never win.
That you’ll always fail against temptation.
That you have NO reason to be confident in ever winning again.

But…
If that’s how you think…
You’re wrong.
 
II. Confidence from God Himself

Listen to Isaiah 43.
It’s written for God’s people.
It’s written for God’s people in captivity to Babylon.
It’s written for God’s people in captivity to their own sinful choices.
It’s written to God’s people – like you.

And it’s filled with confidence-boosting statements from God himself.
 
But now, this is what the Lord says—

he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (Isaiah 43:1-3)
 
Look at those words.
Do you hear God’s voice?
He’s speaking to you.
And giving you all kinds of confidence.
 
(1) “You are my Creation.”
 
Look at the first verse. It says, “This is what the LORD says, he who created you, O Jacob; he who formed you, O Israel.” (43:1) It’s not even an actual statement of God yet, but through it, God still communicates something to you.

“You are my creation.”
 
Over at Precious Lambs, the kids take their artwork very, very seriously. They are proud of their artwork. They love to show off their artwork. They love to show me their artwork. They love to bring artwork home for mom and dad.
 
And they get really, really upset if they lose their artwork.
 
There was a girl the other day whose conversation with mom went something like this:

“Calm down. Honey. What’s wrong!”
“You threw my artwork away!”  
“Are you sure? I just threw some of the pictures with scribbles on them away.”  
“It wasn’t scribbles. It was a picture of a unicorn!”

Kids love their artwork because it’s their artwork.
They created it.
They put it on paper.
Their imagination developed the piece.

The same is true with God and you.

You come from the annals of God’s divine mind.
He thought you up before you ever thought your first word.
He knit you together with his own powerful, yet gentle hands. (Psalm 139:13)

Do you think God will just leave you to suffer?
Do you think God won’t come to your rescue?
Do you think God won’t work tirelessly to get you back even after your own sins have left you feeling like garbage?

He won’t.
He didn’t.
 
(2) “You are Redeemed.”
 
Verse 2 says this, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.” (Isaiah 43:2a)
Redeem means to “buy back.” To “pay for.” To “purchase again.”

And God has redeemed YOU.

Because yes! We fell to sin.
Yes, we were owned by our guilt.
We were owned by our shame.
We were owned by our addictions.
We were owned by our brokenness.

But then…
Jesus came to earth.
He offered the most precious currency of all:


His perfect blood.

Jesus bought you.
Jesus paid for you.
Jesus redeemed you.

You do not belong to your addiction.
You do not belong to your temptation.
You do not belong to your sins.

You belong to God!

It’s like at Sola café: They have this little card at Sola café that if you remember to have it stamped every time you order a drink, the 10th drink is free! Even if you do what I do and order a small coffee, the cheapest thing on the menu, for the other 9 drinks, you can get a large, 6-dollar Caramel Macchiato for FREE. Fully paid for.

You have been fully paid for.
No matter how much sin you have fallen to.
You belong to God – fully and completely.
 
(3) “I know you.”
 
God says, “I have called you by name.” (Isaiah 43:2b) That’ s an uplifting truth.
 
Because it’s easy to feel like you are just a number.
It’s easy to feel as if God’s redemptive power is big and great, but not that personal.

It’s like calling for tech support. And you say, “Hi! I’m Phil calling from Gethsemane Church” and they say, “What’s your equipment ID number?” And you say, “I don’t know that. But I’m from Gethsemane Church, we have an account with you.” And they say, “Equipment ID Number please.” And you say, “I spoke with you about 15 minutes ago? Don’t you remember me?” And they say, “I remember you. You haven’t given me the Equipment ID Number yet.”

God says you are more than an Equipment ID Number to him.
You are you.

He knows your name.
He knows your first name.
He knows your last name.
He knows your middle name.

He knows your nickname.
He knows your maiden name.
He knows your username.

He knows your pet name.
He knows your surname.
He even knows your Superhero name – that you found out from that one Facebook quiz you took way back in 2014.

God knows you.
Personally knows you.

He knows your struggles.
He knows your weaknesses.
He knows the things you’ve told your friends.
He knows the things you’ve told your counselor.
He knows the things you haven’t told your counselor.

He stands beside you.
And whispers: “You have a new name.”
I will call you, “Mine.”

This is why he also whispers:

(4) “I am With You.”
 
God has Isaiah write this, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:3)
 
This is a metaphor.
But…also literal.

Because in the Old Testament, the Israelite people had once been surrounded by their enemies and a deep, vast sea. They had no where to go! They were as good as dead.
But God was with them.
He split the waters and they crossed through on dry ground – fish and sea weed and currents on each side.

And again in the Old Testament, some men were thrown into a fiery furnace because they didn’t bow down and worship a giant golden statue of the king.
But God was with them.
He kept them safe in the flames so that not a hair, not a thread, not even a little piece of beard was singed in the fire. Neither did they smell of smoke.

And you…when you are surrounded by temptation.
When you feel all alone.
When you think there’s no way out.
When you are terrified of what’s going on in your life.

God is with you.

He will keep you safe.
He will help you out.
He will lead you safely – undrowned.
Unburned.
Victorious over temptation!
 
And here’s how he does it:
 
(5) “I am your Savior.”
 
God has Isaiah write this, “I am the LORD, your God, the holy One of Israel, your Savior.” (v.3)
That same powerful God who defeated split the Red Sea.
That same powerful God who kept the men safe in the furnace.
That same powerful God who died on the cross and saved you from sin – is your Savior.

It isn’t like waiting in the doctor’s office to see your specific specialist about your specific special problem and then someone walks into the room.
You don’t recognize them. You look closely at their name badge and it says: “Intern.”

Nope.

God is your Savior.
 
Not your “might be Savior.”
Not your “Try-the-hardest-to-save-but-failing Savior.”
Not even “Everyone else’s Savior.”

No. Your Savior.

Which leads to a very powerful passage. Friends – write this down. Memorize it. Bring it from God’s heart to your heart:
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions. I will forget your sins and remember your wickedness no more.” (v.25)
God has destroyed your sins so completely that he can’t even remember a single sin.
He can’t even remember that you’ve failed.
He can’t even remember that you’re a failure.

To him.
Because of him.
In him…
You are a winner.

III. What Now?

And so.
Fight like a champion.
 
And let me tell you:
Champions don’t come on out and let the other punch first.
Nope.

They come out swinging.
They come out dodging.
They come out with a plan.

Do you have a temptation that you struggle against?
Come out swinging.
Come out dodging.
Come out with a plan.  

(1) Come out Swinging
 
Because too often we are reactive against temptation. We wait for it to strike and hope that we can react when it does.

It’s like coffee. I drink too much.
Maybe…some of you knew that.
But here’s the thing…I know I drink too much yet, I put myself in the same situation each day.

I stay up later than I should.
I don’t have anything to drink until I have my morning coffee.
I hang out for the first hour of every weekday – within about 50 steps of the coffee pot.

No wonder I keep failing.
 
Why not go on the offensive?  Romans 8:13 says: “By the Spirit, put to death the misdeeds of the body.” Don’t just punch them in the mouth or put them in a headlock. The language is stronger. Put them to death!
 
Talking about my caffeine struggle:
Why not drink 2 glasses of water before the coffee pot gets put on?
Why not go to bed 30 minutes earlier so that I’m not so tired?
Why not tell an entire congregation about it so that they can hold you accountable and tell you to drink a bit less?

Whatever your temptation is, think about it: how can you attack it?
 
(2) Come out Dodging
 
But there will be times when temptation blindsides you.
When suddenly you find yourself in situations in which things don’t look good.
When Satan pulls some guerrilla warfare on you.
What then?

Dodge it. 
Run.
Flee.

The Bible tells the story about a guy named Joseph. He worked as a servant in the house of a rich government official. He loved working there. He respected his master. He wanted to keep his job.

One day – the government official’s wife – she developed a crush on Joseph – he was young and handsome – one day when noticed him working in the house when no one else is around. She said to him, “Come to bed with me. Sleep with me. No one is around. No one will know. You’ll be all mine.”

And Joseph said?
“I’m out of here.”

Literally – the Bible says that he runs away.
He flees.
He dodges the temptation.

Why not do that?
 
Too often I think we tried to play the hero. We try to put ourselves in situations that we know we fail at – and wait to see if we might beat temptation.
The Bible says differently. 2 Timothy 2:2 says, “Flee youthful passions.”
 
Don’t hover over the page with all the scantily clad women -- click the “x” and get out of there.
Don’t hang around the coffee pot or water cooler that’s bringing up your favorite gossip. Leave.
Don’t sit at the dinner table, getting angrier and angrier ready to blow your top on your spouse – say, “Honey. Give me a second.” Walk away. Cool down. Don’t sin.

Dodge temptation.
 
(3) Come out with a Plan
 
I imagine that’s what the final two teams in the NCAA tournament are doing right now. They are planning how to defeat each other. They are coming up with plays, they are coming up with values, they are getting ready to explain to their teams: “When we are in this situation, do this. When we are in this other situation, do this.”

It would be ludicrous for a team to be in the finals of the NCAA tournament and have their plan be, “I don’t have a plan. Try to win.”
It’s ludicrous for us to attempt to fight temptation without a plan.

Proverbs 14:22 says this, “Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.”

Friends, champions make a plan.
In Jesus, you are a champion.
Make a plan to fight against temptation.

If you have a sin that you struggle with…repeatedly, why not come up with a plan?
Why not take a moment and write it up. Literally write it up in a notebook.
Pray about it. Seek God’s wisdom about it. Ask a trusted friend about it. Then, write up your plan.

If you need help in this – I will help you.
So will the others at church.
That’s what I hope you’ll do for others.

Because that’s what church is.
Our goal is to help out, swing, dodge, and plan for your fight against temptation.
Which leads to our final point.
 
(4) View Yourself as the Champ!
 
Because it’s so easy to view yourself as nothing more than a sinner.
And to a certain extent that’s important. It leads us to Jesus.
But once we have heard the promise of God’s forgiveness and we leave these walls to battle temptation, it is so important that we see ourselves as God sees us – as winners in Jesus.

It’s like what happens during a basketball game. If you go into the game thinking, “We’ll probably lose because we are losers,” you’ll probably lose.
But if the coach can get you to think you have a chance or even that you’ll win, you have an advantage because you are already in a winning frame of mind.
 
Friend, you are a winner in Jesus.
Think of yourself as a winner.
Envision yourself squashing the devil and all of his foolish attempts – even if it’s a temptation by which he has squashed you over and over again.

Because you are in Christ.
Christ is in you.
And Christ?

He stomped the devil.
He stomped sin.
He stomped guilt.
He stomped shame.
He stomped death itself when…three days later…

Three days later, he rose from the grave.

Friends, as Christ is the winner, you are a winner.
Have confidence.
Fight temptation. Amen.

​Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Have you ever had one of those moments of sheer terror at being caught? I mean the total anxiety panic of knowing… there is no way out of this. If you know what I mean, it was probably when you were younger? Though maybe not, contrary to what we like to think of ourselves, the youth do not corner the market on stupid decisions.

Whatever it was you were doing or did, I’m sure it was very attractive. The thought of all you could gain from going down that path was irresistible. It was so simple, required so little effort, and the benefits, well, they were pretty amazing. I’m guessing that the thought of being caught or the consequences never actually entered your mind. Maybe you had to think about one or two ways to smartly keep it hidden, but the fact that it was just wrong never really was part of the decision-making process.

At least, until you were caught.

You were… not so clever as you thought. Or you over-reached out of greed and arrogance. And if you’re remembering that moment from your life right now just like I am, you can feel the panic. Feel the fear grip your heart as you face whatever might be coming.

And that might be the worst of it. You don’t know what might be coming. I suppose it depended on what it was, how old you were and the like? Maybe privileges would be taken away. Maybe it would just be the shame of letting someone else down. Maybe it would break a relationship. Maybe it would be legal action. But the fear of knowing you’d been caught and there was no getting out of it, that tightening of your heart… that’s what I’m talking about.

Now why… why would I make you relive something like that this evening? It’s bad enough when those memories haunt us at quiet moments during the day or night. Why drag them up on purpose?

Well because that is exactly the feeling I want you to think of when you picture what it’s like to stand before God almighty and try to justify yourself to him.

To better appreciate this evening, I’d like to walk you through… well it’s a metaphor. This isn’t really how things will happen at the end, not literally. But the truth of it holds. So, imagine with me. Imagine the moment comes. Your earthly life has ended, and you are waiting to see what happens next. You’ve heard that Heaven is the place to be and Hell, well not so much.

Though there is some nervous anticipation, you’re feeling – pretty good about what’s to come. You’re a good person. You were a good son or daughter, a good spouse or a good parent. You did right by the people around you. You worked your job, you went to church, you helped those in need. This should go well.

And the time comes that your name is called. You are escorted from a waiting area into a courtroom. There is no jury, only the judge. And there are no witnesses, only the judge. God. One look from his piercing stare and it all comes crashing down. The intensity of that gaze opens your own eyes and you know. You know, and you remember everything he knows about you.

      We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;
​
The façade of goodness that you wear becomes as flimsy and fragile as tissue paper. All the selfishness that backed all those “good” deeds. All the times that the cost of doing the right thing was a little too high for you so you just walked by on the other side of the street. The secret thoughts, the greed, the lust, the selfishness, the anger, and more than any of that all the times you just thought you knew better than God.

That’s the panic moment. You’re caught, there’s nowhere to go, and you are utterly guilty. You did all of it, thinking no one was looking, no one would notice, but he saw it. There’s nothing to say in your defense. Anything you could think of in your own mind falls so flat that you can’t even utter the words.
Is there nothing to be done? You survey the crowd. Surely someone could speak up on your behalf and ask for leniency, mercy, or just to ask the judge to let this one go? Someone some authority or power or charisma or money could maybe do something for you…

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
​
A man does step forward. Not the one you were looking for. He is not wearing anything fancy. He has no regal bearing about him. You do not recognize him as anyone rich or influential. He instead looks like someone in as much need of help as you are. If you were not simply frozen by the terror of the moment you might motion for him to blend back into the crowd.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,

He draws the judge’s attention. The man speaks.
“I did it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Every charge you are about to read. That was me. I openly confess to every one of those crimes. I did it.”
“You are aware of the punishment?” the judge asks.
“I am. It was me.”

The confession is accepted. The man is bound and led away. What could you do? It might seem dishonorable to let him go in your place, but the terror of what waits at that end is too much to face. You let him go.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;

You know what it means for that man. You know what you were expecting. The terror of hell itself. That the mercy and grace of God would be completely cut off from you. Absolutely lost in the outer darkness where there is no light and no hope and nothing but terror and pain forever. Maybe you didn’t grasp it before but you do now. That’s death. To be cut off from the source of life and creation is death.

It should’ve been you, but it wasn’t. What he suffers is of your making, no mistake. You earned and created the hell he is suffering now. You can’t help but stare at the door they led him through. It’s conflicting. You’re haunted by what he suffers in your place but there is still relief that it won’t be you.

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

As you muse, the judge speaks again.

“The guilty party having confessed and punishment rendered, the accused is declared not guilty. With no outstanding accusations, you are free to enter the Kingdom of God.”

Dumbfounded, you step forward. Heaven? You started with confidence you had no right to. It was quickly crushed and for what seems like an eternity you stood there with no hope, trying to accept the fact that you were going to die. And now so quickly that has changed to heaven? It seems so impossibly unlikely, but it’s happened.

You walk to the exit of the courtroom and the entrance of the kingdom. The reward is not just a perfect kingdom, it’s a perfect you. The last remnants of evil within yourself are stripped away and now you not only live in a place that will never cause you pain – you yourself will not be the cause of your own pain anymore.

This is your end. The eternal, loving, unchangeable God as your perfect king. The one who cares for you perfectly. You, made perfect, and living the life you were meant to live from the beginning. All the things from before that gripped your heart with fear are just… gone. There absolutely cannot be a better end. And this is your end.

And what of that man that so boldly confessed to your crimes? The one that was led away to die in your place?

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

He lives. He is your king. He is the judge. He is your God. He died. He lives. You live.

Amen.

There was something wrong with the night.

I mean, they knew that, they had been told that, but even so, even if you didn’t know – it just felt… off.

Maybe it was a chill beyond the usual that settled on the desert when the sun dropped beyond the horizon.  Maybe it was the way all the people in the homes around them were also rushing about to make their final preparations, to make sure nothing had been overlooked.  People were just a little more frenzied than usual for the end of the day.  Even if you hadn’t been paying attention, you’d notice – something was wrong.

And something was wrong, after all.  Death was coming that night.  Not that their lives were any picnic either.  Slavery in the desert was all they knew.  Many of them each day were worked to death before night ever fell.  But this was different.  This time, there was a statement from God.  This night, the oldest male of each generation, the firstborn son would be struck dead before dawn.  The threat, the warning of God hung in the air like a fog that refused to move.  And so the Israelites faced down this evening of death on their last night in Egypt.

There is something wrong with your life.

Maybe you know that already, maybe you don’t.  But if you don’t, I doubt hearing that really shocks you.

Even if you don’t know it as head-knowledge, you can probably feel it already, can’t you?  Something about your life just feels… off.

Maybe it’s just a feeling, like something just out of the corner of your eye that you just can’t see.  

Something ominous and looming out there in the shadows – dangerous, but it’s never there when you turn around.  I don’t mean there’s something literally stalking you though, I just mean this sense that there’s something wrong, there’s some danger there just out of perception but you can never quite look at it.  

In fact, maybe you could see it if you tried, if you turned and looked.  But the truth is you’re terrified to.  After all, who knows what it might really be.  No, no better to ignore it, better to stay distracted by what you’re doing than try to figure that out.  Focus on what you’re doing right now, on the job, the wife, the kids, the checkbook.  It’s probably just a trick of your imagination anyway, stop thinking about it and it will go away.  Or at least, if you concentrate hard enough on what you’re doing, you won’t notice it anymore.

But even that doesn’t quite work.  Rolling up your sleeves and plunging in elbow-deep to the work in front of you, it works sometimes, but it really doesn’t.  It’s still wrong.  Something is still wrong!  Why?  All the promises made to you when you were a child never seem to come true.  You work hard, you try your best, you have at least some of the things you were promised would make you complete, right?  A family, a home or a few nice things…  where’s the peace?  Where’s the contentment?  Why does it still feel wrong?  Maybe you’re still missing part of the puzzle.  You search for the one missing thing – each one you think, “this is it, now that I have this, I’ll be good and that feeling will go away.”  A vacation, a nicer house, a new home theater, a stronger relationship, a better paying job with less stress, each time something else and this time it will work.

But it never works.  I told you, there is something wrong with your life.  A statement from God himself hangs over your life like a fog that refuses to move.  Death is coming.  And not just any death.  Not just the end of this life, the end of your life forever.  God has programmed into you this truth; those who do evil will be punished.  Evil, huh?  Well then why am I nervous?  I’m not evil.  Aren’t you?  The world around may lie to you, tell you that’s not you, but the disquiet within you says otherwise.  You would never really ask those closest to you “do you think I’m evil?”, but even if you did they would say “of course not.”  That doesn’t mean they’re right.

But you know things they don’t know.  You know there’s not a perfect record stretching back across your life.  You’ve worked hard, done your best, but it’s not been perfect.  There were moments when you gave in and did what you wanted and maybe the cost for you or someone you cared about was high.  Maybe there didn’t seem to be any cost at all, but you could tell it wasn’t right.  And now you drag the guilt of that behind you.

I invite you to stop shifting your eyes away from it, to stop seeing this just out of the corner of your eye and look square at this; our God describes for us exactly what it is.  It is ugly and it is scary, but we cannot deal with it if we do not know what it is.  There is something wrong with your life; there is a hole running through you, a tear in your very self that we call “sin”.  That doesn’t really tell us enough though.  

What is “sin”?

Sin is what God is not.  Sin is shadow and darkness when God is light.  God is good, God is perfect.  Sin is not.  God operates on one driving principle; selfless love.  God seeks the good of everyone else above his own at all times, regardless of what it costs him.  Sin is the opposite; sin is to grab for yourself regardless of what it costs others.  I hope you see that you do not qualify on your own for holiness.  

Maybe you like to think of yourself as a pretty selfless person; but have you been at all times to everyone?  Don’t lie to yourself, it does no good.  We are all of us, unholy.  Sinful.

Now understand this.  Holiness and sinfulness are not just choices or lifestyles.  In a sense, they are like forces of nature, light and dark, magnetic poles and gravity.  Sin cannot exist in the presence of the Holy.  And that is where the fear comes from.  God is Holy.  You are not.  This life will end, and God tells us that you will either be brought in to be with him or you will be thrown out to spend eternity without him.  

If you are sinful, and if sin cannot exist in the presence of the holy, then which will it be for you?  This is what is wrong with your life.  A sentence of eternal death hangs in the air….and there is nothing you can do about it.

But the Israelites in Egypt were not panicked.  Frenzied, hurried, maybe even a little fearful, sure.  But not panicked.  God told them, warned them what was coming.  But he also told them exactly what was needed to escape the death that came that night.  It would take the blood of a lamb.  A single ewe lamb, one year old, spotless and without defect.  The lamb would die instead, the blood was to be painted on the door frames of their houses.  God would see the blood shed, and spare those inside.

So they did this.  That night, as God promised, an angel of death passed over Egypt as by God’s decree, the firstborn son of each household was struck down in his sleep.  But wherever there was the blood of the lamb, the angel stayed his hand.  The angel saw the household through the blood, and they were spared.  God had given the warning to all of Egypt, and he had given his directions just the same.  Those who ignored the feeling that something was wrong; those who did not listen and did nothing about it – there was death in that house that night.  Those who listened to God, who trusted his words of warning and deliverance were safe.

And so, I am not panicked either, and neither should you.  Yes, there is something wrong with our lives.  

We should feel the weight of how important this is.  Yes, we should maybe even be a little fearful just because of the stakes involved.  But truly afraid?  No.  God has warned us about this hole in our lives, about the holiness we are missing not to terrify us, but so that we pay attention, because of just how important this is.  He shouts that this is life and death to get eyes on him.  Because God tells us exactly what we need to escape the death that’s coming for us.  It will take the blood of a lamb.  A single ewe lamb, spotless and without defect.  The lamb will die instead and his blood will cover you; and death will pass over you.

As a remembrance of what he had done for them, God commanded the Israelites to observe the Passover every year.  At the same time of year, at the same day, at the same hour, each household would again sacrifice a single ewe lamb, one year old, without defect or blemish, to remember how God spared them from death.  Then, over a thousand years after the first Passover, on Friday of that week, the day that the lamb was killed, just before the moment when the sound would resonate from the Temple informing everyone that now was the time to sacrifice the lamb; the following happened:

After this, knowing that everything had now been finished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine was sitting there. So they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished!” Then, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

The time had come, the lamb was to be sacrificed.  But not just any lamb.  The real Lamb.  The one who was intended all along.  Everything that went before it was a show, foreshadowing.  It had no real effect.  
Only an equal sacrifice could count for you.  It had to be another person.  Yet if it was just another person, what good would that do?  Even if that person didn’t need saving themselves, their sacrifice would only save you.  But what if God himself were both a person and God?  How could you ever tip the scale of human life to outweigh that?  You can’t.  The one sacrifice would pay for everyone.  And the Lamb did just that.

You are not holy?  Jesus is.  You committed crimes against God?  Jesus didn’t.  The Lamb had no defect and no blemish.  He is what you are not.  He has what you lack.  God was ready to pour out his justice against all the evil ever committed, all in one fell swoop.  Jesus, his Son, the Lamb, stood up and took your place.  He climbed on the cross and there he took everything that your sin earned.  He became your sin, he became your curse.  And when it was done, he uttered those words.  “It is finished.”

One word really, and I’d like to render it a little differently tonight if you’ll permit me.  “Complete.”  That is what happened on the cross right then.  God’s plan to stand in your place so you would not suffer was completed – he died in your place.  The foreshadowing he’d been showing the world since the first Passover meal was completed – the Lamb was sacrificed so that death would pass over you.  You, missing the holiness God requires to be in his presence forever, you are completed.  At that one moment, everything was made complete, everything was made the way God intended from the beginning.

Look at the cross.  Realize what the sacrifice there has done for you.  There may have been something wrong with your life once, there may have been a hole, something missing, something terrifyingly wrong, but Jesus has filled that with his death.  The blood of the lamb was shed for you and so death holds no power over you.  You are complete with Jesus’ gift of himself.  You are given what you once lacked.  God the Father will gladly welcome you into his kingdom when this is all over.  You are complete in him.  
Tonight, we gather in reverent awe to pay our respects for the tremendous sacrifice our Lord went through on our behalf.  There is sadness, yes, because when I look at him hanging to die I know it is my fault he is there.  When his lifeless body is removed and placed in the grave, it is because of me that this happened.  But we are not here to leave this evening morose and depressed.  We know that God did this willingly, out of love for you, individually.  He knew you.  He knows who you are.  He could’ve spared himself that much more suffering by not including you in his sacrifice, but he didn’t.  He wanted to do it.  And as we close the tomb and walk away tonight we needn’t pretend we don’t know what Sunday will bring.  If Sunday did not bring what it does, then tonight would be meaningless.  We may leave tonight somber and reverent, but we still leave with hope and joy in our hearts.  We know what this night means for us.  Jesus made us complete.  In him, we are what we are meant to be forever.
​
I cannot tell you what will happen in your life in the days between now and the time you are called eternal rest in him.  I can tell you that in Jesus and his sacrifice, it doesn’t matter.  In him, your end is set and will not be changed.  Your life is complete.  In Jesus, your sins are paid for, the gift of holiness is given to you, heaven is yours.  There is nothing else to chase after.  There is nothing else to fear.  There is nothing else wrong with your life.  The Lamb has made you complete.  Amen.

Can you imagine going to the doctors and finding out that you aren’t covered?
And that they can’t remove the cancer?
Can you imagine standing before God and finding out that you aren’t covered?

That your sins are still there.
That your guilt is still there. 
That the guilt you feel from that big ol’ sin, that bogs you down, day after day will be with you forever. 
That you won’t be getting eternal life, but…

Today we are continuing our sermon series called Surprising Grace. Our goal is to look at the case study of the Apostle Paul and see why he was so sure that he was covered and to gain confidence that we are also covered. I want you to leave here today confident that you’re covered in God’s grace. But in order to do that, we’re going to need to hear God’s Word. Let’s say a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see. Open our ears to hear what you want us to hear. Open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen. 

I. A Case Study: Paul 

To learn about just who it is that God’s grace covers, we’re going to head to 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy is a letter written by one of Jesus’ disciples. His name was Paul. The Apostle Paul. Maybe you’ve heard of him? In fact, he’s probably one of the top 5 -- outside of Jesus -- famous people me in the Bible. Moses, David, Mary, Peter and Paul. 

Paul is kind of a man’s man of Christianity. He always puts me to shame when I read about how he preached God’s message to an angry group of men that told him to stop or they would kill him. Paul went on a missionary journey by foot, traveled hundreds of miles, started about 10 churches, and then returned home to grab a Pop Tart, take a shower, and head on another missionary journey. 

Paul went on 4 missionary journeys. 
He started over 20 churches. 
He wrote 13 books of the Bible. 

It’s why we shouldn’t be surprised to find out that Paul is covered: I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. (v.12)

Paul’s a part of God’s service. 
No one is a part of God’s service that isn’t covered in his salvation plan. 
Paul is covered in God’s salvation plan. 

And that’s probably not all that encouraging. 

Paul is a answer to Bible trivia.
Paul has had churches named after him.
Paul has had hundreds of thousands of sermons preached about him.
Of course, he’s getting covered!

That’d be like an insurance company saying, “Don’t worry. We’ll cover you. Look over there? Do you see that insanely in shape 22-year-old? The one with the bulging biceps, no history of heart problems, and the lesson than 2% body fat? He’s covered. No worries.” 

But I do worry. Cause I’m not in that kind of shape. 
And I’m not in the kind of spiritual shape that Paul was in. You?

But that’s not entirely accurate. There’s more to Paul’s story than the famous Apostle portion of his story. Check out verse 13. “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man….” 

Do you know the first time Paul shows up in the Bible? He actually has a different name. It’s like a superhero. He’s not originally known as the Batman, but billionaire Bruce Wayne. And Paul is not originally known as the incredible Apostle Paul, but lowly, mild-mannered Saul. 

In fact, Saul was kind of an apprentice. But he didn’t work for the Daily Planet or work as a lab technician in a government factory. 

He worked for the Pharisees. 
The very people that hated Jesus. 
The very people who spearheaded the movement to kill Jesus. 

In fact, when we first see Saul it’s in Acts 7. Saul is on the job helping the Pharisees stop the message of Jesus as the Savior of the world. 
How are they doing it? 

They aren’t blogging against it. 
They aren’t writing articles against it.
They aren’t even spray painting the disciple’s headquarters. 

They were throwing stones at one of Jesus’ followers. 
One by one. 
Until he was dead. 

57 At Stephen’s confession that Jesus was the Savior, the Pharisees covered their ears and yelling at the top of their voices,they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named – Saul.

“Nice shot sir. Hit that no good Jesus-lover in the throat.”
“Well, don’t guys. I love how he’s moaning for mercy.”
“Oh look out…you got a bit of blood on your coat. No worries. I’ll wash it out. You just keep killing.”

That’s the same guy from 1 Timothy?

I haven’t even finished yet. Because if you read on, the scriptures say that Saul was really moved by this gang murder. So much so that he spearheaded the movement to put an end to Christianity. In chapter 8, it says, he persecuted the church in Jerusalem and began to destroy the church…Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison…And in chapter 9 -- He was breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.

Yes. This same guy. This same guy writes this in 1 Timothy 1:13 “Though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy…because I acted in ignorance and unbelief."

Which is such a strange reason for mercy. Because usually ignorance and unbelief do not lead to mercy. 
Sorry officer I didn’t know that I was going 30 mph over the speed limit. 
Sorry, officer. I saw the stop sign; I just didn’t believe that I needed to stop. No worries, right? 

That’s not how it works. Ignorance and unbelief do not result in good things!
Ignorance and unbelief do NOT earn God’s mercy. 
Sin deserves death. 
Saul deserved death. 

But he didn’t get death. Because of God’s mercy. 

In fact, it had to be about God’s mercy. Just like we talked about last week. No one can earn God’s grace – God’s grace is a free gift to be given. Jesus came to Saul – literally when he was on the road to go throw more Christian men and women and children into jail, literally when he was about to take a sledge hammer to whatever house churches he could find – literally when he was going to post signs everywhere stated that “Any man or woman found practicing Christianity would be put to death,” 

Jesus appeared. 
Jesus rebuked. 
Jesus had mercy. 

And it covered Saul! Not because his sins weren’t too bad. (we just heard – they were really bad!) God’s mercy covered Saul because God’s mercy was more than enough. (v.14) The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 
 
It’s kind of like filling up a tea pot. Any of you have a teapot? I have a teapot that I use for coffee. But if you’re like me, I put it under the sink and let it start filling up --- then I go do something. I comb my hair. I brush my teeth. I pet the dogs. I read an article in Time magazine. I get distracted by a Facebook post. I put on my shoes. I get ready to leave and then I hear it! 

The teapot!

I run back to the sink and find the teapot overflowing. And since the teapot is sitting over the drain, the teapot looks like it is soaking in a hot tub of water. There’s an abundant, overflowing amount.

That’s God’s grace. It overflowed to Saul. It overflowed so much that his past was completely washed away from God’s sight. It even washed away his old identity. He was no longer – Saul the blasphemer, but Paul the believer. He was no longer Saul the persecutor, but Paul the Apostle. He was no longer Saul the violent, but Paul – whom Christ suffered violently for. 

Paul was completely covered by God’s grace. 

II. A Case Study of You 

And that’s awesome. Because it means something really, awesome for you. 

And I don’t know how you take notes. But when you take notes and it’s an important point, you might do something to draw your attention to it. You might put an ink star. You might underline it. You might highlight it. You might highlight, underline and star it. You might put a bookmark in the Bible. You might make an audio recording of it. You might do something – anything to let you know about the note!

In the next verse, Paul has such an important note for you that he even takes the liberty of drawing attention to it for you. He says, in verse 15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance…” That means: “LISTEN! PAY ATTENTION! IF YOU HAVEN’T BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO ANY OTHER PART OF THIS SERMON, YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION NOW!” 

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst!

This is so interesting, because usually the Bible puts us on equal footing. It says – “All have sinned and fall short and all are justified freely by Jesus.” (Romans 3:23) All are on the same playing field. That’s still true. 

But humanly speaking we do put levels on sins.
“I didn’t really commit adultery – I didn’t have complete intercourse.” 
“I’m not as bad as that guy because I wasn’t a knock out drunk.”

Paul knows the human heart. God knows the human heart. God has Paul write on that level of human wisdom. He says, “16 For that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”

He says, “Do you really think you’re so bad that Jesus couldn’t save you? Do you really think you’ve done too much bad that Jesus’ forgiveness couldn’t cover you? Well. Let me ask you this: 

Have you ever killed anyone for telling an elderly widow about Jesus?
Have you ever gone to church in order to tackle the pastor, handcuff him, and throw him into jail?
Have you ever taken a sledge hammer to the foundation of a church? 
Have you ever sent email after email after email to a Christian friend – telling them they were the most vile person on earth and if they didn’t stop, you’d kill them!?!

Paul did. 
God still had enough grace to cover him. 

Paul was that bad. 
But Jesus’ salvation was that good. 

If God did that for Paul, won’t he do that for you? 

In fact – that’s why Jesus came into the world: To save sinners! If you’re a sinner, Jesus came to die for you. He came to provide complete coverage for every last one of your sins. He came to completely cover you in his blood and conceal you in his pure and sweet forgiveness. 

This is true for you. 
No matter the sin. 

Struggle with lust? Jesus came for you.  
Struggle with hatred? Jesus came for you. 
Struggle with greed? Jesus came for you. 
Done something to get you in jail? Jesus came for you. 
Done something to ruin your marriage? Jesus came for you. 
Done something to ruin your relationship with your children? Jesus came for you. 

If you’ve done something or anything sinful, Jesus came into this world to save you. 

And? He did. 

He lived perfectly.
He died innocently.
He rose triumphantly. 

Jesus came into this world to save sinners – Jesus came into this world to save you!

Which means…You are fully covered. 

III. What Now? 

1) Revel in your New Identity

That’s what Paul did. He didn’t stay in the realm of “Woe is me! I’ve done so much wrong. I’m the worst of sinners.” He didn’t see himself like that because God didn’t see himself like that. In fact, the only reason he ever talked about it was to help others understand how incredible God’s grace was and is. 

It’s like Halloween. At Halloween, you may have put on a mask. You may have been someone else. For the rest of the night – depending on how good you are at playing the part – you became a Dr. Who, Doc McStuffins or a Pokemon! 

In fact, I came across one little kid who was doing an awesome job with his costume. He was pretending to be a ninja. He was such a good ninja. He was always tip toeing. He tried to sneak up on me a few times. He talked in a whisper.  And when his mom came calling him to get him into the car, he was so into his character that he forgot about who he really was. He hid!

Understand this: Paul is not advocating that you play a character. He advocates that you revel in who you really are. 

Forgiven.
Covered.
Child of God!

2) Honor the King!

Because there’s no reason to feel sorry anymore! We are forgiven. We are given grace. We are a part of his kingdom!

Praise God! 

That’s exactly how Paul closes that section…which is so interesting, because it’s not even the end of his letter. He’s still at the beginning. But he can’t mention God’s incredible grace without breaking into praise. He says, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen!”

Make that your refrain.

Instead of posting on Facebook about how bad you’ve got it; post about the awesome you’ve got it in God. 
Instead of getting to work to complain about the unfortunate consequences of sin; get to work tell others about the awesome consequences of God’s grace. 
Instead of avoiding God in fear; come, worship Him – because his grace had completely covered you!

CONCLUSION: 

Today is Last Judgment Sunday. A day that we remember what’s coming up. A day when the Bible reminds us that one Day, Our King, Our Immortal, Incredible, Divine, earth shaking, mountain quaking, flood pouring, lightning storing God comes to earth and judges us.

Each of us. 
Me. 
You.

And without coverage – that’s a terrifying thing. 

But you have been covered. 
You are covered.
By faith in Jesus, you will be covered. 

Your words to him will not be – Please don’t! But filled with praise “To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever!” (v.17)

Amen. 

​Brothers and sisters, how would you feel if myself or any pastor started a sermon like this: “Look at how many seats are filled today.  Look at the crowd who has come to hear the word of the Lord.  I am absolutely livid that there are so many people who think they have a right to be here in God’s presence!”
Brothers and sisters, I don’t really feel this way about you or about our Lord.  Hopefully it struck you as absolutely un-Christian, and rightly so.  But it’s pretty similar to what we’re about to hear.  When we look at Jonah here in a minute, we better be offended at his attitude toward what happened.  But before we start lining up to hurl rocks in his direction, we also better take a close look at our own hearts and make sure his attitude isn’t still alive and kicking within ourselves, showing itself in ways that aren’t so obvious and absurd.

So to start with, let’s go back to our final chapter of Jonah.  It’s been a real up and down ride through his story so far, but we left off on a pretty high note last week.  Things seemed to have turned around and come out well. In fact, it was a satisfying conclusion to the whole mess and would’ve made any modern Hollywood producer happy.  Jonah had been called to come preach a message of repentance to the city of Nineveh.  He ran away.  God pursued him.  Jonah gave up running and threw himself on God’s mercy, and God had mercy.  God rescued him and brought him home to try again.  And it looked like Jonah learned his lesson.  He went to Nineveh and he preached the message.  “40 more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”  And in a miracle greater than the fish, the people listened.  All of them, from the king down to the smallest child repented and called on God for mercy.  And God relented.  They would not be destroyed.  Jonah’s work bore the kind of fruit we dream about.  God’s mission through Jonah had succeeded.

And now in our last chapter, we finally get some psychological insight into what’s been driving Jonah this whole time.  Up until now we’ve kind of had to guess what’s been going through his head as he acted.  Now we get to see what’s really been going on.  It is a shocking contrast when you come across it.  Especially when you remember that these chapter and verse numbers we see in our Bibles are not something God gave us but just a human invention to help us find certain parts.  So let’s ignore those numbers and just look at the flow of the account.  We end up reading this, “When God saw what [the Ninevites] did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.  But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.”
​
What?  You want to run that by me again Jonah?  Your mission was an unprecedented, miraculous success, and you’re angry?  In fact, if you’ll permit me, I’d like to take a moment to give you an insight into the original language here in the Hebrew of this line.  It comes out much stronger.  It’s not good English, but a literal read of the Hebrew might sound something like this, “But this was evil to Jonah, a great evil and it burned to him.”  Do you see that?  This didn’t just upset Jonah some, he literally felt that what God did for the Ninevites was evil.  An utter miscarriage of justice we might say!  And that last bit, “it burned to him.”  This isn’t the kind of anger where you just sit kind of fuming quietly in the corner, this is the kind of angry where the blood floods your face and you get red and hot from it.  He was foaming at the mouth furious over this.

We can just picture Jonah now, going through the streets, going through the city, proclaiming his message.  And he notices a change.  People are starting to wear that unbearable sackcloth.  They’re shouting to the Lord begging mercy.  They’re sitting in the dust praying relentlessly with tears in their eyes.  And he knows what this means.  They’re listening to God’s message.  And he knows what’s coming next.  Or more to the point, he knows what’s not coming next.  He figures out that God is going to forgive these people instead of destroying them, and we can just imagine the scowl that clouds his face as he continues his mission.
 
Why?  He tells God exactly why.  At the end he prays to the Lord and says.  “I told you, God, I told you this would happen!  This is exactly what I was afraid of from the start.  You wondered why I ran away so quickly when you called me the first time?  This is why!  I know you.  You’re a compassionate God, you’re so slow to anger and quick to forgive.  I knew if I came out here and warned these people, they’d show some kind of repentance and you’d change your mind and let them go.  Haven’t you been paying attention?  Don’t you know what these people have done?  Haven’t you seen how violent and sexually immoral they are?  They should be destroyed!  Good riddance!  But no, you had me come and warn them and since they feel sorry about it and apologized you’re going to let them off the hook without any repercussions.  This is so infuriating I would rather be dead than see it.”

We can see now that Jonah didn’t run away at the beginning because he was afraid of persecution.  He wasn’t afraid of the enormity of his task.  He wasn’t intimidated by the work involved or by having to carry it out himself, alone against a half-million people.  He wasn’t afraid to tell all those people they were bad people and were going to die for it.  No, he was afraid that he would succeed.  He was afraid that they would listen.  He hated those godless Ninevites and the last thing he wanted was for them to be spared God’s wrath.  So he ran the other direction.  And we can see now that even when God turned him around and sent him back, he still didn’t want his mission to work.  Even now, after God decides to relent, we will see he still hopes that maybe it’ll change back.

God is patient and compassionate, of course, and his response to Jonah is a simple, calming rebuke, “Do you have any right to be angry?” he asks.

Jonah apparently has no response to this.  Instead, his appointed task complete, he storms out of the city like a pouting child leaving the room.  And does he go home?  Does he put this whole thing behind him and go back to his daily life?  No.  He feels so strongly about this that he goes out east of the city and finds a place where he can sit and look out at the city.  Forty days wasn’t up yet.  Maybe, just maybe God will change his mind back and wreck the place.  He builds himself a little makeshift shelter.  And he sits in the desert sun and he waits and he watches.  He is so single-minded in wanting these people punished that his life is literally brought to a standstill by this.

God cares just as much about Jonah as the entire city of Nineveh, and so he prepares a unique object-lesson to help Jonah understand.  As Jonah sits and watches, his little shelter of twigs and dried leaves doesn’t do a whole lot to keep out the beating sun, but then miraculously, a plant of some sort springs to life overnight and provides a shade.  Much better.  Jonah’s liking this.  His anger subsides some and he just enjoys relaxing there.  This plant is his new best friend.  But then the next day something has eaten away at the root of the plant and it withers away just as quick as it showed up.  The sun rises and a scorching wind tears across the sands, the temperature jumps about 20 degrees and sucks all the moisture out of the air and now Jonah starts to act again like a teenager who just got embarrassed by Mom or Dad at school.  He’s so angry that the plant is gone that he says he’d rather be dead than live without it.

Again God asks this question, “Do you have any right to be angry about this vine?”
We’re not at our rational best when we’re angry, so Jonah’s probably not thinking about his reply when he says, “I sure do!  I’m so angry I could die!”

And the Lord, in love, drops the truth on Jonah.  “Jonah you’re angry about the loss of this vine, right?  But why?  You had nothing invested in it.  You didn’t tend to it.  You didn’t make it grow.  You didn’t raise it from a seedling.  In fact, it was here one day and gone the next.  And yet look at how important it was to you.  A plant that lasted a day.  Now turn back around and look at this city.  People.  Human souls.  There are more than a hundred and twenty thousand children just in that city, never minding adults.  People I created.  Souls I care for.  I raised them all.  I caused them all to grow.  And you want to be angry that I just didn’t wipe them out because I had an excuse to?  Consider how precious they are to me.  Instead of looking for a reason to punish them, shouldn’t I look for any reason to pardon them?  Shouldn’t I look for any reason to forgive them?”

The story of Jonah ends here.  And if we’re not careful, we can walk away from it thinking that this is a cautionary tale of one guy with a bad attitude who learned a lesson we already know.  And yeah, I’m guessing not one of us has ever gotten so furious at the evil of a city that you went and sat out and watched to see if God would wipe it off the face of the earth (though maybe that fantasy occurred to you).  No, to really watch ourselves for Jonah’s attitude we have to backpedal all the way to the start of the story.  The word of the Lord came to Jonah and said, “Go preach against Nineveh.”  Go and tell the Ninevites exactly about their evil and how I as God feel about it so they have a chance to change their ways and be saved.  Jonah didn’t want them saved.  Jonah didn’t think they deserved to be saved.  So he went the other way.

Do we do this?  Perhaps not literally run from the Lord but do we just ignore the same command he gives us?  Do we treat someone differently because we have determined they’re not worth it?  By God’s grace I should hope we’re never as overt about it as Jonah, but I know my own heart and I think if any of us are sitting here today thinking “I’ve never judged myself to be better than someone else,” then we’re lying to ourselves.  We always do this.  In many different ways.  But before we wrap up this morning let’s look at first the root of where this attitude tends to come from and then at what God gives us to fight against it.

Like I said, this attitude of Jonah can manifest in many ways.  Maybe we just don’t tell someone about Jesus because we don’t think they’re worth it, because we want them punished for what they’ve done.  Usually it’s even more subtle than that.  Maybe we’re just indignant that someone we know is forgiven at all.  They come in here, unkempt, disrespectful, fresh from a life of blatant sin and they smile when God says they’re forgiven and we’re upset that this is it.  Where’s the lesson learned?  Where’s the guilt and shame poured out for a while?  Where’s the consequences? 

Okay I could keep going, but the point is, where does this all come from?  Where did it come from in Jonah?  It comes from a false sense of self-worth.  You think you’re better than the other person.  Again, you’d probably never say or even think those words as such.  But the attitude is there.  I deserve to have God save me because I’m worth it.  I take my faith seriously.  I try really hard for him.  I’m a good person that God should be glad to have on his side unlike those slackers over there.

And at the same time, like Jonah, we are undervaluing the lives, the souls of those others.  Rather than treasuring them and wanting them saved by any means possible, we’re more concerned with justice and fairness.  And humanly speaking, maybe we’d be on to something.

But let’s balance this value-equation.  Let’s consider our value, and their value.  Do you know the answer to this question, “What is something worth?”  Let me say that again in a different way, “How do you know what something, anything is worth?”  You might think that’s a nonsense question that can’t have a real answer, but it does have one.  A thing is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.

Now as you consider your value on your own, as you consider the value of those we try to devalue, look to the cross and balance the equation.  God himself became a human being so he could go in your place.  Your own sin, your own lack of value meant God had to make up that worth himself.  He had to pay for you.  How much did he have to pay to bring you up to an acceptable level?  Look at the cross.  It was the blood of God himself.  God himself had to suffer and die to complete your worth.  I should hope that gives you insight into how worthless you are to start with.

But now consider it from the other side.  How valuable are you to God?  How much was he willing to pay for you?  He was willing to pay for you in his own blood.  And the same is true of that other soul you would like to consider yourself above.  He or she is worth the blood of God.  And before we start to devalue the blood of God saying something like “well, sure but that was a once for all shot.  Jesus dying included everybody no matter who they were.” Sure, that’s true.  But that’s because we are all equal sinners.  If you and you alone were the only one who ever sinned, Jesus still would have done it.  If that person we’re tempted to look down on was the only one who ever needed it, Jesus still would have done it.

Brothers, sisters, I call you that because that’s what you are to me.  We are family in Christ, each equally important, each equally valued.  Each soul out there is equally in need of the same salvation we have come to know.  When we find ourselves struggling with that equality, when we start to think ourselves above or better than someone else, more deserving of God’s love and salvation, look back at that great equalizer; the cross.  Remember what about you drove Christ there.  Remember why he went anyway.  He loves you.  He treasures you.  May that same love show itself through you to others in everything you do.  Amen.

What in the world was going on?

The man looked around him. His friends were dragging him by the hand through a large group of people. Hands were moving and mouths were opening faster than he had ever seen them. He couldn’t make out a single word.  Not because there was so much noise, but because there was so little.

He was deaf. Always had been. So the scene was surreal – a sea of commotion without so much as the background music of a silent film.

If only he could slow them down and get them to explain the situation better. He opened his mouth to shout, but the people didn’t hear a thing. It wasn’t because it was too noisy either, but because he didn’t make a noise.

He was mute. Always had been. Just like it had always been the case. He was deaf. He was mute. Now he was frightened.

But as he and his friends made their way to the center of the crowd, the man’s eyes caught a glimpse of something that calmed him. A face. A kind face. A smile from a rugged looking man who seemed to be the leader of the group.

Not that he had heard his name before, but perhaps this was the one – the one his friends had written down for him. The one’s whose name whose name was spelled J-e-s-u-s.

Brothers and sisters, today we’re continuing our DEEP series by taking a look at DEEP COMPASSION. Our goal is to learn about (1) Our need for compassion, (2) God’s deep compassion and (3) how to show compassion like God.

I. The DEEP Need for Compassion

Take a look again at what exactly was going on in Mark 7. 32 "Some people brought to Jesus a man who was deaf and could hardly talk.” Notice that this man was unlike many others who had come to Jesus. He had more than one problem. Jesus had healed the blind, the lame, and the sick. He had probably healed the deaf and the mute. But nowhere else had Jesus run into someone who had two related, but different problems.

Doesn’t that make compassion more difficult? Think about it. A teacher might be willing to teach a student with ADD, but if they had Autism too, they might ask that they be taken to a special school. You might be willing to drop a buck to someone who is homeless, but if they are also addicted to drugs – you think, “Why even bother?” We might be willing to spend time with a friend who is handicapped physically, but if they are mentally handicapped too…don’t many of us suddenly become too busy because that takes a lot of work.

It’s kind of sad. But when people have more than one problem – we often label them UNTOUCHABLE and save our compassion to those who are easier to help!

But I think there’s something else that added to the UNTOUCHABILITY of this man was. Verse 32 says “Some people brought to Jesus a man who was deaf and could hardly talk.”

I was watching an episode of What Would You Do? the other day. It’s a show where they use actors to stage a social situation and hidden camera record the reactions of everyday – non-actor people.

In this episode, they recorded as a young woman walked around at the gas station asking for some money to help fill her tank and get her back home. Guess what? She didn’t have much a problem raising way more than she needed. She was kinda cute, so there were plenty of guys willing to help her. But even other women helped too.

Then, they changed one thing. Same story. Same gas station. Only this time, they used a man.

Guess what? It took him an hour and a half before he even got a buck.

Right or wrong – society has less compassion on men. Perhaps it’s because of the Biblical precedent that the man should be the leader  of his family and perhaps it is often the case that the man hasn’t taken any responsibility. Whatever the reason – it’s true that men often receive less compassion.

There’s one more thing to keep in mind. The man was mute. So it’s possible that he had no idea what was going on and he had no idea that he was going to get help. In other words, it’s kind of unlikely that he was even asking for help. No doubt that would be a nice thing, but in the specific scenario he isn’t the one leading the charge to Jesus. His friends brought him.

If someone isn’t asking for help, that severely reduces the risk that they will receive help, don’t you think? If you don’t send in to the government asking for social support and welfare payments, even if you qualify, you won’t get them!

All of these things lead me to believe that this man probably didn’t receive a lot of compassion in his life. Now here he stood before the Son of God himself. But there’s one more thing that, a hidden thing, that could have easily prevented this many from receiving any compassion from Jesus.

Sin.

If your child comes to you with a boo boo after falling down in roller skates, you might be compassionate. You get a band aid and some Neosporin and pour on a healthy dose of mommy love.

But if your child comes to you with a boo boo after falling off of the tree that he climbed up in roller blades AFTER you told him repeatedly not to climb up because "that’s a terrible idea and you will get hurt,” you might not be as compassionate. They might not deserve it.

Sin is what happens when we do that to God. He warned us. He told us not to. We did anyway. From Adam and Eve – to you and me — when we don’t do what God says, should we be surprised when there are consequences? Guilt, shame, relationship struggles, anxiety, even physical pain!

You’ve sinned. I’ve sinned. We’ve all sinned. We are as in need of compassion as this deaf and mute man was! We need an ALL HOLY God not to deal with us as we deserve, but to deal with us in His incredible COMPASSION.

II. How Deep is God’s Compassion

Listen to how deep God’s compassion is.

“After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly."

This is incredible. Notice Jesus puts his fingers into the man’s ears and touches the man’s tongue. That’s not just the touch of a human being. It wasn’t just his mom holding his hand or his grandma squeezing his cheeks. It wasn’t the doctor feeling for his heartbeat. This was the touch of God.

That’s how deeply involved God gets. He literally puts his touch into this man. The same hands that had formed this man in the womb; the same hands that had guided him on his way; and the same hands that would be crucified for him – were actively involved in healing Him!

Next Jesus looked up to heaven – this is key! Jesus is drawing attention to the fact that this is from God. It’s a prayer. It’s a communication with his heavenly Father. This doesn’t come from one of those Miracle Cure All Bottles that appear on the Home Shopping Network at 2 in the morning. This healing came from The Almighty Hand of God!

Do you want further proof? Look at his words: "Ephphatha!” (which means “be opened!”)  He doesn’t say, “this medicine should help.” He doesn’t suggest, “This treatment has a 50% success rate.” He doesn’t say, “This is about all we can do." He’s speaks directly to the problem. He commands the man’s ears to hear. He orders the man’s throat to open.

And what happens?

Quietly, a sound. A melody. A bird chirping in the distance. The mysterious rustling of the leaves. A voice asking, “Did it work?”

Then another sound. A sound that not only the man, but none of his friends had heard before.

His voice.

The man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. He felt God’s compassionate touch.

Jesus went out of his way to find this poor man and heal his inadequacies – Jesus went even farther for you and for me! His compassion drove him to the cross. His compassion for you drove him to suffer for you. His compassion for you drove him to die for you. His compassion for you drove him to rise triumphantly from that grave that whoever believe in him will not get as their sins deserve and perish, but will graciously, compassionately, be gifted eternal life in His name.

That’s a compassionate God. It’s the same compassionate God that is reaching out to you right now.

May he open your sin-blinded heart to see that He is your Savior. 
May he open your sin-stopped ears to hear that He forgives you.
May he open your mute mouth to sing aloud – I believe!

III. Compassion Like Jesus

Notice that the mouth of the formerly deaf mute man wasn’t the only thing opened that day.

 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. Most likely because the more word spread about him, the quicker the Pharisees decided in their hearts to kill him. But it didn’t even work. Look:  the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” People were singing Jesus’ praises everywhere they went. They couldn’t contain it. They told their sick aunts. They told their blind grandpas. They told the widow down the street who was feeling lonely.

Jesus didn’t just open the man’s ears and mouth; he opened the people’s mouths too! I’m also praying that this message this morning opens up a few things on us too. 

1)       Open Our Eyes.

There are people in need all around you too. I bet you that each day you will run into people who need compassion.

How do I know? Because you’ll run into people. People need compassion. 

Keep your eyes open: 

Instead of a bum in need of some money; see a soul in need of your compassion.
Instead of an addict in need of a 12 step program; see a soul in need of your compassion.
Instead of an impoverished family in need of the government to do something; see a soul in need of your compassion.
Instead of a mentally handicapped man in need of a professional’s help; see a soul in need of your compassion.
Instead of a physically handicapped woman in need of a physician’s therapy; see a soul in need of your compassion.
Instead of the terribly sick in need of a doctor’s prescription; see a soul in need of your compassion.
Instead of a coworker in need of a chat with human resources; see a soul in need of your compassion.

Then, approach them and ask God to…
 
2)       Open our Ears.

Too often we assume we know what others need right off of the bat. That guy needs a haircut. He needs to work harder. He needs some medicine.

But sometimes we are so interested in our answer, we miss the question.

Husbands, doesn’t this happen to you? At the supper table, you ask your wife about her day and she says, “It was a mess. The plumber couldn’t fix the leaky pipes, the kids were late to school, the baby has been crying all day; the dog made a mess in the living room, your mom called and reprimanded me for the amount of money I spent at Kroger last week. Ugh!”

And you’re like, “Call the plumber again. Leave the house earlier. Feed the baby some rum. Sell the dog and never answer my mom’s phone call again. Pass the potato salad, please.”

But she says, “What? You don’t care!!!”

She wasn’t asking you to fix it. She was asking you to listen.

Listen. That’s compassion. Listen to your spouse. Listen to your kids. Listen to your kids. Listen to that guy at work no one talks to. Listen to your boss. Listen to your neighbor.

And once you’ve listened…pray for God to...

3)       Open your Mouth!

Because it wouldn’t do a lot of good to be walking down the hall this week, see someone in need of compassion, state out loud, “That person needs compassion,” and then walk away whistling to yourself that you did a good job identifying someone in need of compassion.

We need to speak. After we’ve listened, we need to speak and bring comfort. It can start pretty simple: “How are you? Nice to meet you. Tell me about your week. I love your outfit.” Those are nice things.

But how can it not, at some point, in some shape or form, involve the message of your Savior? His message is true compassion. That deals with sin.  How much more compassionate is the message of Scripture, “That God so loved you – my dear friend – that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life!”

I'll bet that the formerly deaf and mute man – never forgot that day. Because he could hear? Sure. Because he could speak? Absolutely. But mostly because he could see – His Savior.

When you see someone in need of compassion, when you open your ears to listen to them and God gives you the courage to open your mouth and speak his love, may that be what they remember - their Savior. Amen.

I’m sure it seemed like every other, run of the mill crucifixion.

As the Roman soldier adjusted his cincture and wiped his brow after hoisting the heavy cross under the hot Middle Eastern sun, he was prepared for things to go just as they normally did. There would be cries of pain and moan of agony from the convicted. There would be crowds of people gathering to watch, more for the sport of it, than out of compassion. There would be curses hurled at the criminals, blood splattering the dust, and a few tears from the loved ones of the condemned. Slowly, just as always, he would have a front row seat as he watched the life of another human being gradually drift away from him.

At first, it looked like every other crucifixion he had been a part of. But then, it became very different.

It started with the criminal. Usually they were no good, scum of he earth types. They would curse those who were cursing htem. They’d spit and spew forth insults as their dying breath enabled them.

But this guy, this Jesus, remained silent. He didn’t say much. He didn’t sweat. He didn’t insult. In fact, the first time he spoke, he said words of kindness.

“Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

This Jesus had a sign above his head. It was common  for crimnals to have signs which explained their crimes. But the sign above Jesus didn’t say, “Murderer,” or “Adulterer.” It didn’t say, “Thief,” or even “Tax Evader.”

It said: “King.”

And the crowds. Never before had so many come to watch a crucifixion. The tone of this crowd was violent too. They vehemently hated this man. They despised him. It seemed that they couldn’t get enough of hurling insults at him.

But others…others loved him. As the soldier stood at his post,  he couldn’t help but overhear some of the things they called him, “Savior,” “Redeemer,” “Messiah,”….”Friend.”

Then things got very strange. It was the middle of the day, the hottest part of the day, the part when the sun is the strongest.

That’s when it grew dark. Nighttime dark. Can’t see your hand in front of your face dark.

While the soldier couldn’t see; he could hear. He heard the voice of this JEsus. Strong. Convicting. Careful. Loving. The gentle words of this Jesus penetrated and haunted his brutal, Roman heart.

Then, Jesus cried out. He cried out and shouted, “It is finished.” With finality. With authority. With joy…almost.

Then, he spoke once more, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Then, he died.

And as he died, at that exact moment of his death, the One who controls earthquakes, seemed to respond. The earth began to shake. It trembled. It trembled a powerful tremble – and as the soldier braced himself against he foot of the cross – he saw rocks splitting into two.
 
Then, the earth calmed. The soldier thought. He thought about what had happened. He thought about who this Jesus was.

He came to a terrifying conclusion: “Surely this was the Son of God.”

Can you imagine the terror going through his mind? He had just participated in the killing God’s divine Son? He had killed the divine Savior. He had murdered God Himself!

I’m sure his mind began racing. “What have I done? How will I ever be forgiven? I won’t. I killed God’s son. He’ll come after me. The Lord of heaven and earth will come after me, find me, and obliterate me.”

The soldier beat his chest. This was a terrible realization.

But to be fair. This soldier was not alone in killing God’s Son. He wasn’t the reason Jesus had died. Nor was it the fault of the other soldiers, the crowd that chanted “Crucify,” Pontius Pilate who condemned Him, or even the chief priests who plotted this whole death months in advance.

These people didn’t killed Jesus.

You did.

Romans 4:25 says this, “Jesus was delivered over to death, for (or “because of”) our transgressions.”

Do you understand what that is saying? It says that the reason Jesus was up there, the reason Jesus died, The reason he hung on the cross was your sins. He hung as a substitute. He hung to take the brutal punishment that your sins deserved.

It really forces you to rethink sin, doesn’t it? It’s so easy for us to go through life and think of sin as “no big deal.” “I’m not perfect.” “Everybody sins.” “I’m not as bad others.”

But you are bad enough that your sins resulted in Jesus dying on the cross.

I don’t care what kind of sin it was either. Your sins led to this. Whether “big sins” like adultery, murder, or brutal violence – or “smaller sins” greed, a white lie, a little name calling, not really worshipping God with all your heart.

Sin is Sin. Sin caused Jesus to die. Sin killed Jesus. Your Sin killed Jesus. My sin killed Jesus.

Our sins killed God’s Son.

The soldiers was right. Surely this was God’s Son. It’s a terrifying thought.

But we are gathered here today, not because what happened thousands of years ago is terrifying. But because it is good. Good Friday.

Consider Romans 4:25 again, “He was delivered over to death for our sins.” He was the substitute. He took the brunt force of God’s wrath against sin and there is no force of wrath left for you.

It’s true that you deserved to be on that cross 2000 years ago, but it’s also true that Jesus died for you. The punishment that happened – is over. There is no punishment that remains.

How do you know it’s true for you? How do you know that it’s not just true for his followers – his really good followers – the people who haven’t done as much wrong as you?

Remember the words of the soldier: “Surely, this was the Son of God.”

Jesus’ life was no ordinary life. His death was no ordinary death. His blood was no ordinary blood.

Jesus’ death covers your sin. And your sin. And your sin. And your sin. It covers every last one of your sins.

It covers the big sins that haunt your heart. It covers the repeated sins that you struggle against.
It cover the sins that have ruined relationships. It covers the sins that have kept you from God.

The Son of God is powerful. Just as he had done miracles all his life, so he did miracles on that Good Friday. As he had cleansed men from leprosy, so he cleansed you from sin. As he cast out demons, so he cast out the devil. As he made the mute to speak, so he causes us to shout in joy. As he restored the health of the sick, so he restored our spiritual health. As he stopped storms, so he stopped death. As he brought people back to life from the dead, so he brought us back from the dead—he gave us spiritual AND eternal life.

I read the first part of Romans 4:25 earlier, “He was delivered over to death because of our sins.” Now…let me read the second part, “He was raised to life because of our justification.”

Keep this in the back of your mind. Jesus’ substitute worked. The Father looked down at his Son and said, “Well done.” He looked down at the world and said, “Be at peace.”

He looked down at you and said, “You are forgiven.” He said, "You are my child." He said, "One day, by faith in my Son, you will join me in heaven...forever escaped from the very things that made Good Friday so sad."

No more Sin. No more sadness. No more pain. No more sorrow. 

No more death.

And Jesus? Don't worry about him. In fact if you look at the words of the soldier one last time there is reason to rejoice: 

"Surely this is the Son of God."
"Surely death cannot hold him."
"Surely he will rise." 

Please join us for Easter. Amen.

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

We are currently in the middle of a sermon series on Faith Tests. These have been a chance for us to consider how we would have acted in that Old Testament situation and how we do react in similar situations. The man being tested in today’s lesson is Jacob.

Jacob came from a family of faith. He was Abraham’s grandson and Isaac’s son. He had been raised in a God fearing family. He had been blessed by God with lots of wealth.

But when we meet Jacob in chapter 28 of today’s lesson, he doesn’t have any of that stuff. He is in the wilderness. He is all alone.

What happened?

I imagine that as Jacob tried to start a fire and prep a campsite for the night that he couldn’t help asking the same thing.

I.                  Jacob’s Fear


Jacob was the younger of two twins. But he was not identical to his brother Esau at all. Jacob liked to sit at home. Esau liked to be in the wilderness. Jacob liked to tend sheep. Esau liked to hunt. Jacob had smooth skin. Esau had gruff, red hair all over his body.

Traditionally that meant he would not receive the family blessing. Instead, the family farm would go to his older brother Esau; Esau would get double the inheritance of his family’s wealth; Esau would carry on the family’s name; and in a special blessing that was only given to Abraham’s family – the firstborn would have the promise of the Savior given to his genealogical line.

Jacob—the younger son –wouldn’t get any of that.

As Jacob stoked the fire – he wished he had just let it be.

Jacob had learned that his father was going to give the blessing to Esau over a special meal.  While Esau went out into the field to kill something extra tasty for this special moment with his dad, Jacob and his mom plotted. She began preparing some stew of her own and Jacob created a disguise. He put on his brother’s clothing and then covered his arm with goat fur so he’d be just as hairy as Esau. By the time he was dressed, his mom was done with the stew and Jacob went in to see his dad.

Now – you might think that a dad would know the difference between his two sons –especially two sons as different as Jacob and Esau. But Isaac was very old. His eyesight was fading. When Jacob entered with the stew, all he saw was his favorite meal.

Still – Isaac was cautious. He questioned if it really was Esau returning from the fields so quickly, but his nose caught a whiff of Esau’s clothing and his heart was at ease. Similarly when his ears became on alert when he heard Jacob’s voice, but the hairy goat skins convinced him that Esau must have just had a very bad cold.

Isaac blessed Jacob when he thought he was blessing Esau.

As the sticks his was rubbing together started to smoke, a tear rolled down his eyes. Jacob had done wrong. He had deceived his father.

Moments later Esau came in from the field. He was ready to have that special moment with his dad. They were both furious to find out that Jacob had just been in and received this irrevocable blessing.

Esau was furious. He immediately plotted to get revenge. He was going to kill Jacob.

As Jacob stoked the fire, he couldn’t blame Esau for his anger. He had done wrong. He had stolen from his brother.

But that wasn’t the worst. Another memory popped into Jacob’s mind. It was the memory of his mother’s assurance – “God himself has promised that you will be the one receiving your father’s blessing. Though you are younger – God has promised that you will be the one who gets the birthright. Don’t worry.”

Jacob had worried. He had doubted. He had deceived his dad, he had stolen from his brother, and worst of all – he had doubted God!

Now he had run away. He didn’t have his crime mate – his mother with him. He didn’t have the wisdom of his father. He didn’t even have the headlocks and playful fighting of his brother. He was all alone.

 

II.               God’s Test

I imagine it was hard for Jacob to sleep that night -- not just because he was using a rock for a pillow. Like a YouTube video on repeat – his mind kept replaying his sins over and over again.

“If only I hadn’t deceived my father…If only I hadn’t stolen from my brother…If Only I had trusted God…”

It was frightening to stay awake because all he could think of was his sin. But when exhaustion kicked in and he began dreaming, it got a whole lot more frightening:

He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. This wasn’t just some stone made stairway to the plateau that his brother and him would climb to check out all of their ranch. It was other worldly. It reached to heaven. It was intimidating.

It was filled with angels. Verse 12 continues the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  Not sheep. Not cattle. Not his dad’s servants. Not even a bunch of clones of his brother Esau – who had been running through his mind.

Angels. Glowing with light, dressed in white, sometimes winged, always otherworldly—angels.

There above it – at the top of the staircase --stood the Lord. God himself. The Holy, world creating, floodgate opening, hurricane twirling, earthquake shaking Lord of heaven and earth himself.

Can you imagine how frightening that was for Jacob? There stood his Holy God—His Holy God who HATED sin. He hated deception. He hated stealing. He hated those who didn’t trust in Him.

Jacob had just done all three of those!

Now God had found him. Now God had caught up to him. Now God was going to deliver the final blow!

Jacob winced as God spoke:

I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

Wait, what? Suddenly this wasn’t so terrifying after all. Suddenly this meeting with God had become very awesome.

For starters, God hadn’t destroyed him. As Jacob felt his body to make sure it hadn’t been burned to a crisp, he must have been elated. God was giving him a second chance. God held back his holy and righteous anger against him.

Instead God spoke kindly to him. There’s no hint of terror in what God is saying. He introduces himself as “The LORD.” That’s the Old Testament name that referenced God’s covenantal love. He calls himself “the God of Abraham and Isaac.” This filled Jacob with thoughts of God providing a ram for Abraham to sacrifice instead of Isaac and thoughts of God gifting his family with blessing after blessing. It reminded Jacob of God’s promise to send a Savior from sin. A Messiah. The Christ.

And from his own family’s line.

Then, God blesses him. Write those blessings down. He promises to bless Jacob with the land that he’s lying on. He promises to bless Jacob with many children –to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. (A promise that meant he would live! God wasn’t going to kill him like he deserved.)

Then, take a look at that last part of verse 14. He promised that “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.” That’s the promise of the Savior. The promise he had stolen from Esau. The Promise that God had promised beforehand would go to Jacob. In spite of the wrongs Jacob had committed, God was blessing Him with that incredible honor.

For Jacob it took on a new meaning. It didn’t just mean he would have a neat place in the line of salvation history. It meant he was forgiven. God had forgiven him for deceiving his Father. God had forgiven him for stealing from his brother. God had forgiven him for not trusting in Him.

But that wasn’t it. God continued, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

God Promised to be With Jacob. Though Jacob was hundreds of miles from home and though there wasn’t a soul in sight. God now promised to be with him. Not just as a buddy either. He promised to watch over Jacob. Not just for a day either. Or a few weeks. He promised to not leave…until He had done what He promised.


III. Jacob’ Response

Then, Jacob wakes up. No sign of the stairway. No sign of the angel. No sign of God.

Did Jacob really believe that God could love him and be with him even though he did wrong?

16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was in awe and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

Fear had changed to joyful awe! There’s a whole character change that takes place. Jacob trusts God and is in awe of God’s. His awesome power and his awesome love.

He makes a confession of faith. “Surely the LORD is in this place!” He doesn’t say, “Surely I had some bad mushrooms for dinner.” “Surely I had a restless sleep with strange dreams.” He says, “The LORD is here!” He believed it. He trusted it.

Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. It wasn’t that there was anything special about the stone, other than the fact that this was the place he heard God’s Word. So Jacob regards the place he heard from God as holy. He called it Bethel which literally means “House of God.”

Then, Jacob reveals that he is all in, “If God will be with me…then the Lord will be my God…and of all that you give me, O God, I will give you a tenth.” Jacob is confident that God is His God. He is confident enough to devote his life to him. He’s ready to change. Ready to be truthful. Ready to be trusting. Ready to give (even his wealth) to God because he trusts God. He trusts his words. He trusts his mercy.

IV. Your Response

What does this mean for you? Three things.

1) Trust God When You’ve Done Something Wrong.

Have you ever felt like Jacob before? Have you ever done something wrong – so wrong that you have lost friends over it? Or lost a spouse’s trust? Or lost a job over it? Have you ever done something that is so wrong you feel like God couldn’t forgive you? In fact, you run away from God. You avoid church. You avoid prayer. You never open your Bible, because you are convinced that you have done too much wrong for God to want to be by you.

Do you see the problem? You’re looking at you.

Today’s lesson reminds us to look at God. He is merciful. He is loving. He is compassionate. He is forgiving.

Remember that promise he mentioned to Jacob? He promised that through Jacob all nations on earth would be blessed. That’s because one of Jacob’s offspring ---great, great, great, many times over grandchild—was Jesus. Jesus lived perfectly, died innocently, and rose triumphantly for our forgiveness. 

When you’ve done something wrong, don’t avoid God. Don’t ignore his love. Don’t try to numb your mind with alcohol. Don’t give up and dive head first into your sin.

Come to God. Confess to God. Trust that he will respond with mercy just as He did with Jacob. 

2) Regard the Place You Hear from God as Holy

When he woke up, there was just a rock. No ladder. No angels. No glory of the LORD.  It didn’t look special at all. Yet Jacob considered it holy. The simple looking place remembered for an incredible message from God.

Today we also have a simple looking place that we hear the Word of the Lord. No heavenly ladders. No Angels. No shining glory of the Lord—20 some wooden pews, white washed walls, and a few brown sided front that until a cross was added recently, some had mistaken for a doctor’s office. Doesn’t sound like much.

But it is. This place. Gethsemane. This is where we hear God’s Word. We hear it in song. We hear it lessons. We hear it as we study God’s Word.

Regard it as holy!

Don’t just think of this as a social club. Don’t just think of it as a place to gossip. Don’t just think of it as a place to get your fill of donuts on a Sunday morning.

This is the place where you hear from God. It’s the place where you hear of God’s love. It's where God reminds you that you are a sinner and that God sinner.

Consider this place holy. Make every effort to be here. If you can't, hear from God on the web. Then, make time in God’s Word a special time. In your car on the way to work with your SmartPhone blasting the Word of God. In an easy chair with your Bible opened. Whatever it it...Make it a time that you don’t want to miss. Take advantage of the next step opportunity to hear from God! Tell your friends to come and hear of his love too!


3) Devote your Life to Jesus

When Jacob got up, what else could he do? He had been all alone. Now he realized he was with his compassionate Lord. How could he not listen to him? He owed him an unpayable debt of gratitude. He could figure out now better way to serve God than to devote life to Him.

You do the same. Serve the Lord. Serve him by getting involved at church. Serve him by telling your kids about Him. Serve Him by giving your money to support the ministry going on here. Serve the LORD by taking the Easter invitations and sharing the message of God’s love. 


CONCLUSION: 

Now as you finish reading this, you are about ready to go back into the world. Soon the devil will come into your thought. Your memory will be jogged to some wrong you have done. He will try to convince you that you can't be forgiven. Your pride will get you to think "I need to do better and then come to God."

Don't listen. 

Remember the story of Jacob.
Remember that God is compassionate. 
Remember what God did for you. 

Jacob must have done that. When haunted by his sins, he looked back to when he saw God at the top of the ladder and God was compassionate. 

You do the same. When haunted by your sins, look up. Look up at --not the ladder-- but the cross. See God at the top of it. See his compassion. See his mercy. See his love. 

Trust God...Even When You've Done Wrong. 

Amen.