I love Peeps.
 
There’s something about gooey, sugary, artificially dyed animal shapes that really get a person hyped for Easter.
I enjoy trying to smoosh them together and see how many I can fit into my mouth at once.
And usually…they are the first thing to remind me that Easter is on its way.
Suddenly, they appear in a giant display at Food Lion visible as soon as I enter.
 
Not this year.
 
This year when I went to Food Lion?
Hand sanitizing stations.
Plastic gloves.
And plastic barricades.
 
Doesn’t it feel a bit like Easter has been overshadowed?
 
To be fair – this pandemic is still scary.
 
There have been 1,577,360 cases of COVID-19 and 93,637 deaths.
6.6 million Americans filed for Unemployment last week.
The stock market continues to volatilely jump up and down.
Experts warn that the curve hasn’t slowed down yet.
 
So…
When do we get a victory?
When do we get a win?
 
Right now.
 
Today we’re going to look at the very first Easter and remember the victory that’s ours Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Sadness of Easter
 
The lesson this morning chronicles a group of a women who were very close to Jesus. Their story doesn’t start on Easter, but on Good Friday:
 
Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last...But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
 
They saw the nails pierce his hands.
They saw the thorns break his skull.
They saw him bleed.
They saw the soldiers mock him.
They saw the religious leaders mock him.
They saw random travelers mock him.
 
They saw him face.
They saw him weaken
They saw his life slowly slip away…
 
Until…
 
He was no more.
 
Instead of Jesus, there was a cold lifeless body.
 
What ensued next was a bit of a hurried event.
It was Friday afternoon.
By 6 pm, the Jewish Sabbath would start.
It was against religious law to have a dead person exposed and unburied once the holy evening began.
(Granted, you might expect it to be against religious law to kill the Son of God, but…who’s keeping track really…)
 
So…
 
The soldiers took his body down.
They quickly carried it to Pilate.
Pilate gave it to a volunteer,
who quickly wrapped up the body.
 
Linens around the head.
Linens around the body.
Linens around the feet.
Skip the ointments.
Skip the oils.
Skip the perfumes…
 
There wasn’t much time left.
 
Grab some soldiers.
Carry the body to a tomb.
Put it inside.
And roll a giant stone in front.
Get home in time for supper.
 
While all of this was going on, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. (v.55-56)
 
And…
On that day of rest…
 
I imagine they couldn’t help but think of what they’d seen.
Flashes of the horrors that Jesus went through interrupting their daily thoughts.
 
Every door shut triggering the memory of that hammer.
Even the red liquid of the tomato soup matching the red of his blood.
Every unpleasant smell generating a nausea at what they’d seen.
 
They tried to busy their minds by busying their hands.
Crushing some herbs.
Mixing some ointments.
Heating things to the right temperature.
 
They needed to properly bury his body.
To do the things that time had not allowed them to do.
To give him the respect he deserved.
To get some closure on this death that was hanging over their heads.
 
Hmmm…
Death over their heads.
On the very first Easter.
 
I can’t help but notice that this year’s Easter and the first Easter have that in common because…
Like Easter 2020, the very first Easter began with DEATH hanging over the day.
 
But…
 
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. (v.1)
 
“Mary, you pour the myrrh on his feet.”
“I’ll take some frankincense to his head.”
“Other Mary, you put sprinkle some of your special blend near the torso.”
 
“Salome! How are we even going to do this? There’s that giant stone. It must weigh hundreds of pounds. Do you think the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb will even be willing to let us insi-”
 
They stopped.
They gasped.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. (v.3)
 
The women looked at each other.
Their question changed from who WILL roll away the stone to who DID roll away the stone.
 
Was it the soldiers?
Was it those nasty pharisees?
Was it some kind of grave robber?
 
But inside, they found nobody.
And no body.
 
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. (v.4)
 
Angels!
Messengers of the most high!
Divine servants of the All Mighty.
 
Holy.
 
The women fell to the ground with their faces in the dirt.
Because…
 
The only things more terrifying than DEATH is facing the one who CONTROLS it.
 
Angels were from God.
God hated sin.
They had sin.
Were they about to be struck down?
 
But the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!”
 
You came here searching for a tomb.
A body.
Death sealed within.
 
But there’s no death here.
There’s no DEATH in Jesus’ tomb. He LIVES.
 
Stop being sad.
Start being joyful.
Jesus lives.
 
II. Victory Truths
 
Because Jesus lives, the Bible has some important truths for us to consider.
 
(1) When it comes to Death, Your Level of FEAR Depends on whom You’re TRUSTING to Defeat It
 
I remember growing up we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Beforehand, we divided up into teams in order to go and find as many Easter eggs as we could and put them in our basket. My team? We had Jon Lindloff on our team. Jon was the fastest kid on the block. He was the most athletic. He could jump the farthest. Whatever team he was on would end up winning whatever athletic contest he was in because he was that impressive. He was like the 7-year-old, small midwestern town version of Lebron James.
 
So…
When we were about to start the egg hunt challenge, we were pretty confident.
We weren’t afraid of losing.
Because we had Jon Lindloff.
 
As you face COVID-19, where do you find confidence for victory?
 
A latex glove? These can break.
Some sanitizer bottle? They only kill 99.99%
Social distancing rule? What if someone else doesn’t follow it?
 
Doctors? What if they’re so sleep deprived and tired they can’t give you the best care?
The government? What if can’t get along and come to a partisan agreement to help?
Scientists? What if they don’t discover a vaccine before it’s too late?
 
Trusting in an EARTHLY things to defeat death leads to High levels of FEAR
 
Because all those things?
They’re earthly.
Earthly things die.
 
You can’t trust in a thing that dies to defeat the things that causes those earthly things to die.
You need to trust in something that doesn’t die.
 
Back in the tomb, as the women were trying to process what the angels were saying about Jesus, the angels were trying to process how the women didn’t expect this resurrection. They said,
Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words. (v.6b-8)
 
They remembered about the time Jesus said he was like Jonah. Jonah had been inside the belly of a big old fish for three day, then come out alive. Like how Jesus had been in the belly of the earth for three days, then come out alive. (Matthew 12:40)
 
They remembered about the time Jesus said the Pharisees should go destroy the temple, but he would rebuild it in three days. At the time, they had thought he meant the gigantic stone structure in which they worshiped, but he had really meant his body. (John 2:19)
 
They remembered when Jesus said he was the kind of Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. But one who did so confidently, because he had the authority to raise his body back to life again. (John 10)
 
They remembered when Jesus said plainly, “I am going to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. But three days after he is killed, he will rise.” (Mk. 9:31)
 
The truth is that…
Trusting in the HEAVENLY ONE leads to high levels of CONFIDENCE.
 
Jesus trustworthy.
He defeated death just as he said.
 
Jesus is trustworthy.
He’ll get you through what’s going on.
 
(2) Jesus Holds an UNBLEMISHED Record against Death.
 
This is the reason that the angel says to the women: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?”
 
Not just because Jesus is living.
But Jesus is the LIFE.
 
A paraphrase might be:
“You really thought measly old death could defeat Jesus? Ha! Hey, Clarence. Put down your harp. You gotta hear this. It’s a good one.”
 
In fact, Jesus had already proven his power over death.
 
He met a young girl who had died a few hours before he made it to her room. Jesus grabbed her hand and brought her back to life.
Jesus stopped a procession for a young man who had died just yesterday. Jesus touched the casket and the brought him back to life.
Jesus missed the funeral of a friend of his and approached the tomb where his friend had been buried for over four days. Jesus opened the tomb and brought him back to life.
 
Jesus holds an UNBLEMISHED Record against Death.
 
And to the victor goes the spoils!
 
If you win at the Olympics, you get the gold medal.
If you win at the Super Bowl, you get a super bowl ring.
If you win a boxing match, you get the winner’s purse. (Which…I always thought was an actual purse. And I wondered why manly boxers carried purses, but…turns out they just meant money…whatever).
 
To the winner goes the spoils.
 
What are the spoils for Jesus’ victory?
 
Forgiveness.
Peace with God.
Eternal Life.
 
But here’s the thing.
Jesus didn’t take these spoils for himself.
 
He gives them to you.
Jesus’s VICTORY over death means you receive the SPOILS.
 
You have forgiveness.
You have peace with God.
You have eternal Life.
 
This means that when it comes to the Corona Virus, you will get the victory.
Regardless of how it comes.
 
God keeps you safe and you never get COVID-19. You win.
You get sick, but God heals your body. You win.
You get sick. You don’t heal. You die. But then you live forever in heaven!
YOU WIN!
 
(3) With hope in JESUS, there is ZERO reason to fear Death.
 
There’s a pretty fabulous Bible passage that talks about the victory Jesus had over death. It’s found in Corinthians 15:55, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
 
There was a dad who was sitting outside with his little girl. They were playing. Enjoying the nice day.
When suddenly, a bee flew near them.
 
This was a bigger deal to the girl than to most. She was allergic.
Deathly allergic.
 
She began to cry.
She began to wail.
 
So…
Dad wrapped her up in his big bear arms.
He protected her.
 
The bee landed on his bicep and stung him.
 
After the sting, dad let the girl go.
The bee was still flying around, but dad wasn’t worried.
 
Why?
 
The bee’s stinger was stuck in him.
It couldn’t sting his daughter anymore.
 
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (v.56-57)
 
Death has lost its sting.
IT cannot sting you any longer.
It’s no longer separation from God,
But an entrance into the joys of heaven.
 
III. What Now?
 
(1) Share the Victory
 
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. (v.9)
 
There are others who are fearful.
There are others who are afraid.
There are others who are spending this Easter…with death hanging over their heads.
 
Give them Jesus.
 
It’s what the women were so excited to do. They ran out of the tomb. They left their spices behind.
Because suddenly all that mattered was telling others about Jesus’ victory over death.
 
Do the same.
Put everything else down.
Go to tell a neighbor.
Go tell a friend.
Go tell a family member.
Christ is Victorious!
Amen.

This Palm Sunday is a bit different.
 
Normally…
 
There’s loud trumpet music.
There’s a palm procession with kids waving palm branches.
Some little kid hits the other in the face with the branch.
There’s not a lot of room to sit down in church.
The church is packed full of people.
The ushers set up the extra chairs in the back.
 
And I’m amped up on 5 cups of coffee.
 
Today. It’s a bit different. (I’m still amped up on 5 cups of coffee, but…it’s a bit quieter.)
 
How do we celebrate Palm Sunday when we are so far apart?
How do you raise a righteous ruckus in a Quarantined Neighborhood?
Why would you raise a righteous ruckus in a quarantined neighborhood?
 
Today we’re going to hear from God’s Word for the answers. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth. Your Word is the truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see; open our ears to hear what you want us to hear; and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Original Ruckus
 
The story of the very first Palm Sunday starts n Matthew 21. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Immediately you will find a donkey tied there along with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” (v.1-3)
 
Take note of their plans. Jesus knew exactly what would happen. And keep in mind. Jesus couldn’t text the owner of the donkey to see if it’s ok. He couldn’t send him an email. He didn’t even set up a ZOOM account. Jesus simply knew. He knew where the donkey was and that the owners would lend it to him.
 
And he wants to ride on a Donkey. You and I might picture a king coming to his city on a white stallion or on a muscular black beauty. Even Aladdin, when he came to Agrabah as Prince Ali, he rode on the back of an elephant.
 
Jesus came on a donkey.
 
Small.
Stubborn.
Dirty.
Making obnoxious noises.
 
Why?
 
The text Scripture tells us by quoting another part of Scripture:
 
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: (v.4)
Look, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9b)
 
And Jesus was their king!
And unlike any other king in history:
 
He wasn’t riding to Jerusalem in order to make the history books.
He wasn’t riding with the express purpose of trending in Twitter.
He wasn’t riding in order to take over Caesar’s throne and become ruler of the Roman empire!
 
He was riding…to die.
He was riding…to serve.
He was riding…for you.
 
Jesus riding into Jerusalem was a part of a prophecy over 400 years in the making.
But that’s not all the prophecy said:
 
Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! (v.9a)
 
Because in Ancient Jerusalem, Jesus was something like a local celebrity.
 
He had taught with wisdom.
He had befriended the lowly.
He had silenced the Pharisees.
He had done miracle after miracle:
He had healed the sick.
He had made a man who was paralyzed to walk.
He had driven out demons.
he had walked on water.
He had stopped storms.
he had fed over 5000 people with a few loaves of bread.
He had raised the dead.
 
When people heard Jesus was coming, there were filled with excitement.
 
Scripture says that a very large crowd gathered.
 
You ever been in downtown Raleigh for one of their parades? Over on Fayetteville street? It can be tough to navigate. It’s like the opposite of social distancing. You bump into people on your right. You try to avoid people on your left. You have to watch out for that little kid that is twirling one of those light up spinny toys in front of you.
 
That’s the crowd on Palm Sunday.
It isn’t just family gathering.
It isn’t just neighborhood barbecue.
It’s a full-blown parade!
 
And the people begin spreading their clothing on road… (v.8b)
 
This is something that still happens today. Usually at the Oscars. What do the celebrities walk on? A red carpet. No one wants any dirt or bugs to get on their Armani shoes. (They take a couple thousand just to clean.)
 
The people didn’t have a red carpet.
So, they welcomed Jesus by laying on the ground whatever they had:
 
Coats.
Jackets.
Sweaters.
Shawls.
Hoodies.
Even Unicorn Onesies.
 
Whatever they were wearing, they took it off so that Jesus’ donkey could walk on it.
 
And they began cutting branches from the trees.
Locally, these were Palm trees. So, think of this – Someone ran to their garden shed, grabbed some kind of machete, and began chopping down palm branches for them to walk upon. It’s like photosynthetic version of a red carpet.
 
But there’s more.
The Palm branch? It was the ancient symbol for victory.
 
Jesus didn’t have any victory yet.
The people were simply anticipating it.
 
The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed kept shouting,
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest! (Matthew 21:9)
 
Hosanna is a Hebrew phrase.
It simply means, “Save us.”
 
Since they were shouting it at Jesus?
They were implying that he was their Savior.
 
II. Reason for a Righteous Ruckus
 
I don’t know exactly how y’all have been feeling lately.
But maybe you’ve been searching for a Savior.
And if you’re feeling lousy, you might find your Savior in a variety of places:
 
Hosanna, Coronavirus graph! Save me! Give me some hope that the social distancing is working.
Hosanna, Netflix! Save me! Save me from my stress and help me get lost in your plot devices and episodic storytelling.
Hosanna, bottle of booze. Save me! Make all my fears go away.
 
But…
 
Do you remember that prophecy from Zechariah?
The one that says:
 
Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! (v.9a)
 
At first, this a message for genealogical Jews.
Jerusalem was the capital of Israel.
Zion was another name for Jerusalem.
 
That means this is a direct call for the people the people that saw Jesus riding into town on a donkey to shout his praises!
 
But Scripture later says this:
It is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as his descendants. (Romans 9:8)
 
Did you catch it?
God’s children used to be a phrase that referred to genealogical Jews.
But now? God’s children are those who received God’s promises…by faith.
 
That means you are Jerusalem.
You are Zion.
 
You are the one that God is calling to REJOICE!
To SHOUT Hosanna.
To say, “Jesus Save us!”
 
Why raise a righteous ruckus? Here’s some reasons:
 
(1) The King is YOUR King.
 
“Look! Your King is coming to you.” (Zech. 9:9)
 
Every time there’s an election there’s a collection of memes and tweets that come out that say, “Not my president.” It happened for our last president, it happened for our current president, and it will happen for our next president.
 
Honestly, there’s some truth to that statement. Because it isn’t as if any president ever said, “Everything I do, all the laws I make, all the meeting that I attend, I will do so with YOU in mind Phil Kiecker. My presidency is dedicated to you.”
 
Nope.
 
But that is the case with Jesus!
Jesus is YOUR king, if ever there was one.
He knows you.
He knows your fears.
He knows your anxieties.
He knows your struggles.
He knows your guilt.
And he was riding into Jerusalem on that donkey to do something for you.
 
(2) The King is Righteous!
 
We’ve seen it a lot lately. Leadership in our state and country as asking for some grace during COVID-19.
The rationale? Leader are people too. They aren’t perfect. They make mistakes.
I echo that sentiment. Thanks for your forgiveness as we navigate the crisis. We’ll probably make some mistakes on the way. We’re human.
 
But here’s the things about Jesus.
He doesn’t ask for your forgiveness.
Because he doesn’t need it.
 
Jesus is NOT some bumbling, stumbling, mistake-making, error-prone human being. He didn’t mess up at all.
 
He is righteous (Zech. 9:9)
 
His plan was perfect.
His plan is perfect.
His plan will be perfect!
 
(3) The King brings Salvation
 
In this time of isolation, it is so every exciting to get a delivery. Usually, it’s my dog Clay that bounces up and down with excitement, but now I’m feeling the same way:
 
Is it my pizza?
Is it a shipment of toilet paper?
Is it an autographed photo of Ted Danson from Cheers that I ordered on my phone last night at 3am?
 
When Jesus shows up, look at what he brings:
He…brings salvation. (Zech. 9:9)
 
Salvation means saving.
 
Saving from sin.
Saving from guilt.
Saving from shame.
Saving from fear.
Saving from sadness.
Saving from death itself.
 
Saving to a place where there isn’t social distancing, where there isn’t a need for hand sanitizer, where no one dies.
 
Saving to heaven.
Saving to eternal life.
Saving to His kingdom.
 
(4) The King is Humble.
 
You might expect a king like this to show up very brazenly.
To kick off his boots.
To throw down his sword.
To put his feet up on the table and grab a giant turkey leg:
 
“Y’all should be thankful I am here.”
“You’d be lost without me.”
“Grab me a beer and I’ll get to saving you sometime tomorrow.”
 
Not Jesus.
He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (v.9b)
 
“Don’t worry. I am here.”
“And let me get to work.”
“I need to suffer.
“I need to be arrested.”
“I need to be falsely convicted.”
“I need to be crucified.”
“I need to die.”
“Humbly.”
“Next to criminals.”
 
“It’s a tragic end.”
“But…”
 
“When this happens to me?”
 
You will be saved.
 
III. How to Make a Ruckus in a Quarantined Neighborhood
 
So…
I know we’re all separated.
But…
 
God still calls us to raise a righteous ruckus.
He has given us good reason to raise a righteous ruckus.
The only question is how to do it.
 
I think there are some tips from the OG Palm Sunday crowd.
 
(1) With Your Families
 
On that first Palm Sunday, it wasn’t just “the adults” who were making this ruckus. There were kids there too.
 
In fact, that’s why the Pharisees were so mad. They could handle adults following Jesus. That felt like there choice…even if it was stupid.
But kids!?! Kids were young. Kids were impressionable. Kids could be brainwashed!
 
In fact, it’s just a little bit later that week that they confront Jesus:
“Teacher, do you hear what they are saying?” Stop them! (v.16)
 
Yes,” Jesus told them, “Have you never read:
From the lips of little children and nursing babies
you have prepared praise?” (v.17)
 
In other words:
 
Yes. Kids do believe what you tell them.
So…Tell them the truth.
Tell them about Jesus.
 
And I feel for you parents.
You’re getting emails every day filled with resources and things you should be doing for your kids during the pandemic.
 
You better teach them math.
You better hook them up to this LIVE violin lesson.
You better.
 
I don’t even have kids in my home, yet I received an email yesterday telling me to remember to stock up on Organic Brussel Sprouts during the pandemic.
 
I’m sorry. Brussel Sprouts are the last things on my mind.
 
But it’s a real deal.
All these stores telling you what to do with your kids.
It can make you feel overwhelmed.
 
Jesus says this.
Don’t be overwhelmed.
Just tell them about me.
 
Because I’m the one thing that lasts forever.
 
Today here’s what you can do.
 
Cut out some of the Palms.
Wave them up and down.
Blast some of the worship music.
Blast some kids worship songs.
Teach them what Hosanna means.
Teach them that we say it to Jesus.
Then, challenge them to see who can shout it the longest, the loudest, and the most boisterous!
 
Throughout this coming Holy Week – you have a chance to make it like Jesus unlike any other time in your life.
Through devotions.
Through Bible readings.
Through prayer.
Through family worship.
Through whatever way you can think of to teach your kids about Jesus.
 
Raise a righteous ruckus in your family.
 
(2) In Your Neighborhood
 
Because wouldn’t have happened if people had not passed on the word to others that Jesus was here.
It wouldn’t have happened if people had not shouted loudly enough for their neighbors to hear.
 
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, asking, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” (v.10-11)
 
What should you do? Go outside and bang pots and pans?
Probably not.
 
But you could take advantage of the conversations you have.
 
The truth is that you might not have a lot of interactions each day.
Take advantage of them.
 
Whether the conversation is….
 
Over the phone or over the fence.
Over the counter or over the computer.
Over a text message or over the property lines.
 
Take advantage of conversation to steer your neighbors towards Jesus.
 
In fact,
 
Here’s a way to get two sermon “What Nows” with one stone.
Get together as a family – with your children– and think about unique ways you might share Jesus in your neighborhood.
 
That’s raising a righteous ruckus in your family and in your neighborhood.
 
Unless, the way you plan on doing it is through the internet….
Because then you’re killing three WHAT NOWs at once.
 
(3) On the Internet
 
The crowds were pretty ingenious.
They grabbed their cloaks.
When they ran out of cloaks, they tossed down branches.
They used whatever was available to them to give Jesus glory.
 
Friends, we need to do the same.
We need to use whatever is available to us to Plant Jesus in North Raleigh.
 
Right now?
It’s email.
It’s Facebook messenger.
It’s Instagram.
It’s YouTube.
It’s Zoom.
It’s the internet.
 
Here’s how you can help:
 
Invite others to Come and See
 
This is our best chance to get people to hear the message of Easter. Because think about it:
 
One of the main reasons that Easter worship is so populated is because people come together to worship as a family.
Without that family invitation…they’ll probably sleep in.
 
Invite them.
Have your family join you.
 
You can do this on Facebook. You can hold a watch party for our Sunday service. Then, you can interact with others in your family as you attend online worship.
 
In fact, here’s a simple way.
 
Today is Palm Sunday. We are planning a Palm Processional Challenge. It’s as simple as this.
Use some of the links to this worship page in order to help you make your own palm branches.
Video record your family waving the branches or take a photo.
Then, post online with a message pointing people to Jesus!
 
It’s that simple.
 
Go and Tell.
 
Because now more than ever we may need to do more than simply invite others to come learn about Jesus.
But to actually bring the teaching of Jesus to them.
 
Do the same.
You know someone who is struggling.
You know someone who is fearful.
You know someone in need of the Gospel.
 
Share it.
Tell them that Jesus died.
Tell them that Jesus rose.
Tell them that in Jesus there is VICTORY.
 
In fact, look at verse 12 of Zechariah 9.
 
I will bend Judah as my bow, and I will load it with Ephraim. (v.12)
 
Remember that Judah can often be understood to be believers.
Spiritual Israel.
 
God says that you are his bow and arrow.
He loads you into weapon.
He takes aim.
He sets you to fly.
 
This Easter who are you aimed at?
Who are the people who need hope?
How will God work through you to bring them the message of Jesus?
 
Raise a righteous ruckus.

Wouldn’t it be nice to view things through the eyes of a child?
To be as excited about feeding the goldfish as they are?
To be as thrilled about touching grass as they are?
To be as exhilarated by one frosted cupcake as they are?
 
Today we are looking at another eyewitness account of the resurrected Lord Jesus. In this account, the people who get to see Jesus are filled with wonder. Our goal is to (1) determine why they are filled with wonder (2) how they express that wonder (3) consider what that means for expressing our own wonder at Jesus.
 
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. Waiting for God

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. (Jn. 21:1)
A brief timeline of events --- This occurs afterwards. After the encounter with Thomas which is already a week after Easter. Beyond that we don’t know for sure, but it might have taken some time, because the disciples meetup in Galilee.
 
The Sea of Galilee is important to note is located about 100 some miles north of Jerusalem, the last spot that the disciples saw Jesus. That means the disciples had taken a couple of days journey to get back to Galilee.
That’s important, because it isn’t as if Jesus keeps appearing in the same city, in the same house, in the same room. If that were the case, it’d be really easy to say: “There was something wrong with the room. Maybe there was some kind of mirror trick that was occurring. In the end, Jesus didn’t rise.”

The fact that this next account takes place up by the Sea of Galilee which is 100 miles away from the last appearances of Jesus lends credibility to the resurrection.
 
And the reason the disciples went up to the Sea of Galilee? Most likely they are responding to a command from Jesus that he had given them before his death and resurrection occurred. Look at Matthew 26:32. In it, Jesus said, “After I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
Since Jesus said he would die…and he did.
And he said he would rise…and he did.
He probably is going to go up to Galilee, because he said it…

So the disciples head on up to Galilee and they wait.
They wait.
They wait.
And they wait.
They are waiting for God to show up.
Literally.
And Peter…well…he isn’t great at just sitting around and waiting. (Maybe you can relate.)
He isn’t good at just sitting around and twiddling his thumbs.
He has to do something.

So…he does. “I’m going out to fish,” Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” (Jn. 20:3)

Sometimes God says the same to us. Sometimes God calls us to wait…
God told the ancient Israelites to wait for a Savior.
Jesus told his disciples to wait for his resurrection.
And now he told them to wait in Galilee for him to show up.
And that’s okay, right? Because I know that ya’ll are really, really good at waiting.
I know that you don’t have any problem…
When I-440 gets backed up.
When your phone says there’s a 20 minute delay on the drive home from work.
When someone is entering on the “On Ramp” and they do that thing where they drive all the way up to where the lane ends, just so that you have to wait longer.

Humans are real good at waiting, right?

One of the things that Julianna and I have always been looking forward to is becoming parents.
Personally, I think it would be a blast.
I look forward to teaching my kids how to tie a shoe.
I look forward to reading them my favorite stories.
I look forward to training them how to ride a bike.
I look forward to opening the first bag of Doritos with them!
I look forward to telling them about the Savior, about God’s love, about all that Jesus has done.
And…honestly…it has been our prayer and hope for almost 8 years.

So far…
God has said.

“Wait.”

Honestly, that’s hard.
In a society where we hardly have to wait for anything.
Waiting for God to show up is hard.

Whether it’s waiting for God to show up and cure a sickness…
Or to show up and help with finances.
Or to show up and reconcile your relationship.
Waiting for God is hard.
 
But I think if you learn anything from Peter here as he is waiting – it’s this. While you’re waiting for God, you do what you can.
What he could do was fish. In fact, it was his career before the three years of following Jesus. So…rather than sit around and do nothing – he did what he could. He got out the boat. He packed up the nets. He cast off from shore. He went about earning some kind of living.

He did what he could.

And if you’re waiting for God to show up and do something amazing, don’t do nothing.
Do what you can.
Go see a doctor.
Save up your money.
Reach out to those you’ve wronged.
Do something.
Trust God but do something while you’re waiting for God to show up and do something amazing!

II. Jesus Shows Up
 
Which is exactly what happens next.

Because the disciples are out on that lake all night. They are on the lake all night and they catch nothing. (v.3)
And you can imagine that Peter didn’t take that lightly. He and James and John were all fishermen of Galilee. So, they probably said things like:

“We need to try over behind that reedy section. The fish always bite there.”
“Oh, that didn’t work, because I forgot that when the wind is blowing to the northeast at 12 mph, the fish move over by that log over there.”
“Sure. There weren’t any fish by the log, but I imagine that’s because you sneezed, Thomas. You gotta be quieter.”

As they are thinking about packing it up and getting back to shore, they are greeted by the voice of a gentleman about 100 yards off. He calls out:

“Friends, haven’t you any fish?” (v.5)
And the disciples respond with a simple: “No.” (v.5b)

But the stranger from shore responds: “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some fish.” (v.6)

They throw their nets on the right side of the boat…and…When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. (v.6)
 
Which…

I don’t know if you know this or not, but…this had already happened to Peter, James and John.
In Luke 5, way back when Jesus first met them…He stood on shore, told them where to cast their nets, and they caught so many fish they fell at Jesus’ feet and proclaimed Jesus as the Lord.

Maybe John remembers.
Because immediately he responds: “It is the Lord!” (v.7)
 
TRUTH: Jesus lives
 
It’s a bit different than the first truth from the last four weeks, but not really. Again – Jesus appears and does something miraculous by knowing exactly where a bunch of fish are, collecting them all to the side of the disciples’ boat, and telling them when and where to drop net while he’s 100 yards away on the shore.

This is Jesus.
Jesus is alive.
Jesus is alive and still has all of his miraculous, incredible power.

So…if you’re waiting for God.
And you’re thinking…when is he gonna show up.
And you’re thinking…maybe he’s not because he’s not real.

You’re wrong.

Because…again…Jesus lives. And all of his resurrected power still lives with him.
 
And maybe add this to your notes:
He lives…even during the everyday times.
Because what’s unique in this appearance is that it doesn’t occur as a group of people are going to the tomb to mourn Jesus.
It doesn’t happen as two people are walking to Emmaus and discussing Jesus.
It doesn’t occur while an entire room of disciples is trying to wrap their minds around the implications of Jesus’ empty tomb.

It’s while they’re fishing!

Here’s the truth:
God shows up.
He is alive.
He is with you…even during the everyday stuff.

Even when you are trying to get your kids ready for gymnastics and they’re being kinda whiny and hard to work with…Jesus lives.
Even when you are at work bogged down by paperwork after email after Excel spreadsheet…Jesus lives.
Even when you are in the hospital for another routine checkup…Jesus lives.

Jesus is alive…even during the everyday stuff.
 
That’s great news.
And it warrants a reaction.

III. Responding to Jesus!
 
As soon as Simon Peter heard John say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. (v.7)
 
Did you hear that?
Impetuous.
Unhinged.
Fully clothed.
Even – putting more clothes on – before he jumps int the water.

You might call that silly.
God calls it “worship.”  
 
TRUTH: True worship flows from beholding the Risen Savior.

Granted. That might not be what you think of when you think of worship.
In fact, for some of you – especially if you’re not a worship goer – you might think of worship as something you were “forced” to do back when you were little.
Something that mom made you do.
Something that your dad insisted you do.
Something that your parents would do as they dragged you kicking and screaming to worship only so that you sat there with your arms folded “worshiping.”

Newsflash – If your heart isn’t into worship, it isn’t worship.
Look at John 4:23. Jesus says, True worshipers worship in spirit and truth.
 
That means true worship starts in your spirit.
True worship starts in your heart.
And it flows.
 
Like a natural spring of water.
It bubbles.
It flows.
It erupts.
Sometimes just like Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park.

True worship flows, naturally, freely, out of love for Jesus.
Now if you grew up as a Lutheran, you might hear the word “worship” and think of standing up and sitting down, singing beautifully worded hymns, and with four-part harmony coming from the back pews.

If you grew up from a different background, you might hear “worship” and think of candles, sprinkling oils, and chanting in Latin.

If you grew up from a still different background, you might hear “worship” and think of the music – guitars, piano and some drums.

Guess what…
If it’s a heart focused on Jesus.
It’s worship.
Even if it’s a different type of worship.

Take a look at the different types of worship in this section!
John sees Jesus and says, “It is the Lord!”
Peter sees Jesus and jumps in the water.
The other disciples see Jesus and happily steward all the gifts he just gave them and row back to shore.
 
All worship.

It’s important to remember that.

Because…if I start to believe that all people NEED to worship in one particular way…Do you know what that does?
If I turn to my friend and I say, “Listen, dude…If you aren’t on your knees when you’re worshipping God, then that’s not worship.”
Then, do you know what happens?
That guy will probably get onto his knees…
But it’s no longer flowing forth out of love for Jesus.
But out of being shackled to the mode of worship that you told him was necessary.  

Almost like he’s now worshiping the worship.
 
Don’t shackle your friends.
Worship your Savior.
In a variety of beautiful ways.
 
And there are a lot.
You might stand. You might sit.
You might speak. You might shout.
You might play the organ. You might play the guitar. You might play the drums.
You might speak English. You might speak Spanish. You might speak Mandarin Chinese.
You might even do what some of the little children do and speak some form of “Baby!”

 If it is a heart of praise proclaiming Jesus – it’s worship.

One more thing: Worship can be divided into two categories.  

What we’ve talked about so far is WORTHSHIP. That’s what John did. John saw Jesus and proclaimed His Worth: It is the Lord! Lord is a name that means “Master.” It means “leader.” It means “ruler.” For the disciples, it means, “There’s the risen Jesus, king of heaven and earth who rules over death itself and now lives as our resurrected Savior.”

True worship expresses itself in WORTHSHIP.
That’s what we do every Sunday. We worship God by expressing His WORTH in our songs, hymns, prayers, Bible readings.

But that’s not the only way we worship

Because look at what Peter does. He jumps into the water.
And the other disciples start rowing that boat load of fish.
That’s worship, too.
But instead of proclaiming worth, they go to work.

True Worship expresses itself in WORK-ship.

Romans 12: 1 says this, “In view of God’s mercy, offer yourselves as living sacrifices. This is your spiritual act of worship.”  
Because worship is not just a thing that you do by singing praises to God in one worship service on one day each week.  
Worship is something you for the glory of God all week.

When you invite someone to worship for the glory of God.
When you give a gift to his ministry for the glory of God.
When you teach little children for the glory of God.
When you share a passage on social media for the glory of God
When you cook your family dinner for the glory of God.
When you do your family’s laundry for the glory of God.
Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

CONCLUSION:
Because when God arrives, man does he do glorious things.
Look the last part of the account:
When they landed, the disciples saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it and some bread. (v.9)

Jesus had just given them 153 fish.
But that’s not all.

He gives them a net that doesn’t break.
But that’s not all.

He gives them a balanced breakfast!
That’s what happens when God arrives, God provides abundantly.
 
Think about it --
When Jesus arrived, after millennia of waiting for the Savior, He didn’t just provide forgiveness for one of your sins.
Not for two.
Not for 17.
But for all of your sins.

Friends, when God arrives, He provides abundantly.

That’s a reason a to wait.
It’s a reason to worship. Amen.

Last week we heard God’s call to RETURN to Him – to return to the God who really, really, really loves you! This week we’re taking it a step farther and we’re going to hear God’s call to return to HIS way. 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. The 4th Century B.C. Israelite Way
The text for today is an Old Testament lesson coming from 2 Kings 22. 2 Kings is a history book. It goes together with 1st kings. Both books detail the history of the kings among the Israelite nation. 1st Kings is the 1st book about the history of kings in the Israelite nations. And 2nd Kings is…wait for it…the 2nd book about the history of kings in the Israelite nation.

 If you follow the history throughout these books, the kingship starts in 1st Kings 1 with King David. He’s fairly well known and a king that was well connected to God. He built God’s temple, wrote hundreds of Psalms about God and led the nation in worshipping the true God. King David reigns in about 1025 BC. That means about 400 years of time take place before we get to chapter 22 of 2nd Kings.
 
The king at the end of those 400 years is a guy by the name of Manasseh. He is THE reason that there aren’t a lot of kids named Manasseh. As opposed to King David who 400 years earlier set up a temple and temple worship for the One True God, King Manasseh…well...ruled much differently:

Manasseh did evil in the eyes of the Lord. (2 Kings 21:2) 
 
More specifically:  
He increased the number of statues and worship centers to gods like Baal and Asherah – made up gods who weren’t really gods at all (21:3)
He set up some of those statues to other gods in the temple of the true GOD, the LORD himself. (21:4)
He sought advice from sorcery and Satanic rituals (v.5)

Ponder for those things for a minute:

It’d be as if all of our mission money went to handing out pamphlets about how we needed to worship Poseidon in order to stop hurricane Florence from hitting us.
It’d be as if one Sunday you came to worship and underneath the cross up front was a big statue of Buddha – with portraits of a Hindu elephant God hanging on the banners.
It’d be as if instead of having you all to open up your Bibles, I asked you to open up your Ouija boards.

Manasseh was bad. But…even if you don’t think so yet…one more thing Scripture included to help us understand just how bad he was:   
Manasseh sacrificed his own children in the fire. (2 Chronicles 33:6)
 
If that is the morality of the leader of Israel, where do you think the rest of the nation was at?

Enter chapter 22. In chapter 22, Manasseh’s grandson Josiah becomes king. Manasseh died. His son was killed, and Josiah becomes king at 8 years old.

Now, an 8-year-old king might not sound like the greatest idea. I imagine there’d be some good things: Free Twizzlers for everyone! A public transit system of piggy back rides. The police officers would literally be PAW PATROL! Yet…you could make a good argument that it isn’t the wisest to elect a kid to be in charge of the government.

Yet, in spite of that solid opinion and logic:
 
God’s Word says that Manasseh did evil in the eyes of the Lord. (2 Kings 21:2)
Josiah did good in the eyes of the Lord (2 Kings 22:2)

God preferred a God loving 8-year-old boy to a Satanic, child-sacrificing adult.
 
But as Josiah grew up, governing with the aid of officials and other governors, he was still governing in a mostly godless nation. Since his grandpa didn’t care about God’s way, he also didn’t teach Josiah God’s way and since Josiah didn’t know what God’s way, he could not lead his people in God’s way.

Then, one day - when Josiah is 18…

Temple maintenance was up for the month on Josiah’s kingly task list. Maybe some of the paint was chipping or some of the stone was cracking, I don’t know. But King Josiah sent his servants to the temple to obtain money from the treasury so that they might begin a temple repair project.

When the servants returned, they didn’t just bring the bags of money.
They brought a really old book that the priest had called “the Book of the Law.”

The Book of the Law is a reference to the books written by Moses.
Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Number and Deuteronomy – the first five books of the Bible – the same first five books that you and I have today.

When Josiah’s servants found that book, it was the very first time that Josiah had ever seen it! Maybe it was locked up. Maybe it was hidden. Maybe it was on some back shelf in the storage room of the temple, collecting dust and housing spiders.

Josiah reads the book for the very first time in his life and…
He isn’t excited.
He isn’t intrigued.
He is absolutely terrified:
 
Josiah said, “Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” (v.13)

Because Josiah read the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods,” and looked around at his own temple with statues of other gods for worshipping.
He read the sixth commandment: “You shall not commit adultery,” and looked out at the red light district nearby where people could pay cheap for a night with a prostitute!
He read the fifth commandment: “You shall not commit murder,” and he remember his own uncle who had been killed at the age of 3 at the hands of his own grandfather.

He read all of this and he read that God brings punishment against those who do evil.

And Josiah tore his clothing.
And Josiah was cut to the heart.
And Josiah was grief stricken.

Josiah started the day wanting to repair the temple – but now he realized the repairs were beyond what a tube of caulk could fix.

The people needed to RETURN.
They needed to RETURN from their own way.
They needed to RETURN to God’s Way.

II. The Problem with Human Ways
 
One of Josiah’s first actions after reading the book of the Law is to inquire of a prophet. The prophet gives this message from God: “These people have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.” (v.16-17)
 
Which maybe that seems a bit harsh.

Why is God’s anger burning? Why is He so wrathful?
That doesn’t seem like something a good God would do.
 
Sometimes preschool kids hit each other. It happens. What’s interesting is that if one of the kids is mean to another kid and leaves a mark, the parents want to know (1) Is my child ok? (2) What are you doing to ensure that kid is properly punished?

And fair enough. Parents need to know that we are not supporting and encouraging violent and wrong behavior.

Can you imagine if we did? Can you imagine if some little kid pushed another down and I ran up to him and said, “KID! That was awesome. Give me a high five.”
That doesn’t go so well, does it?

Or even if I did nothing and simply said, “Meh! No big deal?”
That doesn’t go well either.

There needs to be justice.
There needs to be a reaction against wrong doing.
A good teacher needs to react against wrong doing.
 
And a good God will always react against wrong doing.
He doesn’t react because He is wrong.
He reacts because He is Good.

If he didn’t react to Manasseh leading thousands astray into the worship of pieces of wood…
If he didn’t react to Manasseh calling to Satan for help…
If he didn’t react to Manasseh sacrificing his own children in the fire…

Then, he wouldn’t be a Good God.
He would be an Evil God.
 
Yet when we hear about God’s wrathful reaction against wrongdoing, it can still seem harsh. Many people don’t like reading the Old Testament and they sometimes treat the Old Testament God like a supervillain! He’s Thanos from Infinity War.

Why?

I think what’s helpful in this is to look at how God reacted to the reigns of Manasseh and Josiah respectively:

Manasseh did evil in the eyes of the Lord. (2 Kings 21:2)
Josiah did good in the eyes of the Lord (2 Kings 22:2)

“In the eyes of the Lord.” That’s seems to be an important phrase. Because I don’t imagine that Manasseh said to himself, “I can’t wait to do evil today. I can’t wait to do wrong. I think it’s the best part of my week.”

Nope.
I imagine that he thought he was doing good:

“I’ll set up statues to other gods just in case there are other gods. That’ll be a good thing.”
“I’ll go inquire of the devil in case he gives me an insight that I can’t get anywhere else. That’s a good thing.”
“I’ll go ahead and sacrifice my children to this Molech guy because if he is real, he’ll be flattered by such an action that he’ll probably give me a good luck – which is a good thing.”

Manasseh’s actions were good in his own eyes.
But they were evil in the eyes of the Lord.
 
Do you see the rub then?
When God is wrathful, the problem is not an evil God…
The problem is an evil people.

And when we get angry with God because His Word clearly claims wrath against one of our own actions…
The problem isn’t with God.
It’s with us.

Think of it logically:

If a good God calls an action evil, it’s evil.
If a sinful human calls an action good, it might not be good at all. (He has sinful, imperfect reasoning which prevents him from accurately labelling the action).
If a good God calls something evil, but a sinful human calls the same action good, then…

God’s right. The human is wrong. End of story.
 
If you think sleeping with you boyfriend before marriage is good because it feels good, but God calls it wrong. It’s wrong.
It you think stealing that money at work is good because your boss deserves it, but God calls it wrong. It’s wrong.
If you think gossiping about that person is good because it makes you look better, but God calls it wrong. It’s wrong.
If you think not helping the poor is good because you are teaching them a lesson, but God calls it wrong. It’s wrong.
If you think racism is ok because those people have brought it on themselves, but God calls it wrong. It’s wrong.
If you think homosexuality is right because ‘love is love’, but God calls it wrong. It’s wrong.

And if you keep following your sinful ways, they will lead you where you don’t want to go:

They will lead you against a good God.
They will lead you into his wrath.

Return.  
Return to God’s Way!
Return because…God’s Ways are Beyond Good.

III. God’s Ways are BEYOND Good

Look at God’s response to Josiah. He says this:

“Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.” (v.19-20)
 
This is amazing!
Josiah sees the problem his people are in.
He realizes it is beyond what a sinful human can fix.
Josiah simply turns to the only one with the inherent good to fix it all -
 
And when Josiah turns to God, God offers him peace.

Keep in mind! Josiah hasn’t even done anything to course correct yet.
He hasn’t fixed any of the problem in Israel.
He hasn’t destroyed any statues.
He hasn’t given any money.
He hasn’t DONE anything but turned to God for mercy.

And God’s ways are so beyond good—that God is merciful to Josiah.  

It is that same merciful God who hears your cry.
It is that same merciful God who heard your cry 2000 years in advance and went to the cross to achieve peace for you.

Romans 5:1 says this:
Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because, as we mentioned before, God is so good – he needed to pour out wrath for our sins.
And God is so beyond Good – He didn’t want to pour out that wrath against you!
And so, in a way that can only be described as God’s own, incredible, beyond good Way:
God suffered his own wrath against our sins to save us from wrath and bring us peace.

This is truth.
Jesus died to bring you peace.

It means no matter what sin you have done.
No matter how wrong you have been.
No matter how far off from following God’s ways you have gone – even if you’ve gone so far as to think you’re way is right and His way is wrong – God’s way is so incredibly Good that when you return He says the same thing to YOU that he did to Josiah:  

“Peace.” (v.20)

IV. What Now?

Our WHAT NOW is similar to last week’s WHAT NOW? Return to God. Return to His Way. Return to God because He is good. Return to His way because it is good.
But more specifically – how do we respond to his grace and follow his ways? A few clues from the text:

1) Read God’s Law  

Take note that in verse 16 God mentions that the people had gone against “Everything written in the book of the Law” and his wrathful reaction would happen “according to the book of the Law.”
 
In other words – God’s ways are NOT a surprise.  
They aren’t a mystery.
They aren’t hidden.

He wrote them down clearly. They’re only a mystery to us when we don’t study them.
Read God’s Word. Study God’s Word. Learn God’s Word.
Read it if you don’t know what God’s way is.
Read it if you think you do. 

Because REMEMBER: There is a big difference between what God wants me to do and what I want God to want me to do. 
Reading what God wants from his clear Word helps to set you straight.

2) Use your Influence  

Because when Josiah saw that 6th Century B.C. Israelite society was far from God’s ways – he used his influence on their behalf.
 
He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord.  (23:2)
 
There is no doubt that modern American society is far from God’s ways, too.
But unfortunately, none of us have the influence that King Josiah did to influence the whole nation.

Use the influence you do have:

Share His Word with your kids. Teach them the Ten Commandments.
Make Bible stories a part of your daily time with your family.
Memorize Bible Verses with your spouse.  
Don’t be afraid to speak up for God’s way with friends and coworkers.

Use your influence to teach God’s way just like Josiah did.

3) Repair the Temple  

This was Josiah’s original goal. But instead of spending money on caulk and fresh paint, he ends up buying sledge hammers and crow bars.

The king removed from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for the false gods.
He burned their statues.
He did away with the fake priests.
He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord, ground it to powder and scattered the dust. (23:4-6)
 
Wow.
That’s action.

Where in your life have you been following your own ways?
Where in your life have you been moving away from God?
Ask God to reveal it to you and then…

Repair the temple.
Repair YOUR temple.
 
Clean up the filth.
Take a sledge hammer to the wrong.
Throw away the evil.

God will help you do this! God is good AND He has declared you good because of what Jesus did for you!
That good God – who is excellent at destroying evil – even destroying evil on the cross – will fight beside you.

Conclusion:
 
2 Kings 23:25 says that King Josiah “turned to the Lord with all his heart.”
Not some of his heart.
Not a bit of his heart.
Not most of his heart.

All of his heart.

Friends, it is my prayer that God inspires our hearts to turn as well.
And I know God will work to do this…
Because God has already turned all of His heart to you.  Amen.

We are continuing our series on the book of Acts. Throughout the book, we have seen how the Gospel of Jesus confronts all kinds of sins. The self-righteousness of the Pharisees, the Satanic worship of Simon, the persecution of Saul…

But today, we are going to look at a time when the Gospel confronted a weird kind of sin. A kind of sin that is STRANGE, but not all that uncommon in our modern world. In fact, if we’re not careful, it can become a problem here at Gethsemane. In the next minutes, we want to identify (1) what the weird kind idol worship is (2) how does it manifest itself in our own lives and (3) how do we defend against it? 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. A Weird Kind of Idol Worship

The lesson starts in Acts 14:8 in a place called Lystra. Before we get into what happens there, let’s briefly recap where Paul and Barnabas have been so far:

Pisidian Antioch. While there, Paul and Barnabas had the opportunity to preach in the synagogue. The response? A few believed; others argued with them; shouted at them; and verbally abused them. When Paul responded by taking the Gospel outside the synagogue and to areas where people that weren’t even associated with the synagogue were, the opposers tracked him down, orchestrated a mob and threw Paul and Barnabas outside the city.
 
Iconium. While there, Paul and Barnabas again preached in the synagogue. Again, some believed. And again, some resorted to verbal abuse to get Paul to shut up. Paul responds by speaking boldly for the Lord (v. 4), but again the opposition is strong. The people of Iconium begin to plot, not just to throw Paul out the city, but to stone him to death – a fate avoided because of a few loving friends who sneak them out of the city.
 
In short, things weren’t going that well for Paul and Barnabas.
The Mission Trip had become a bit of a downer.
I imagine they hoped things would get better soon.
 
And…
They did…

In Lystra, there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking> Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. (v.8-10)
 
If you’ve been following this entire series, maybe you’re starting to think: “Another paralyzed man made to walk?” Isn’t that like three times already?
Yep.

Peter did it. (Acts 3)
Philip did it. (Acts 8)
Peter did it again. (Acts 9)
And now Paul did it.

But it doesn’t get any less impressive, does it?

He had been lame…from birth.
That means he had never walked.
He had never stood.
He had never taken a step.
Never ran.
Never jumped.
Never hopscotched.
Never done a burpee.

And all it takes is him hearing about Jesus’ incredible power…
About how He healed the paralyzed.
About how He healed the lame.
About how He walked again after his own predicament – this thing called death – where you really can’t move at all – and yet Jesus rose from the dead and walked again!
About how He promised all who believed in Him healing in heaven.

The man hears all of that, believes and is healed.

This wows the crowd!
They see the man healed.
And they started chanting…
…but not for God.
 
When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul they called Hermes. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas. (v. 11-13)
 
In the world of the Early Church, Greek was the main language that just about everyone knew. It was useful for trade and communicating between countries. It’s similar to English in today’s world. If you know English, you’ll be able to communicate in just about any country.

Paul had probably been speaking in Greek with the crowd. But when the crowd sees what happens, they are so excited that they immediately revert back to their Lycaonian language.
 
It’s kind of like if you’re practicing Spanish. And you’re thinking really long and hard about words to use. You’re considering tense and voice and mood. Until…you a get text message that your grades are in and you got an A” and you start shouting: “Awesome!” No Spanish; just English. It’s your heart language that speaks when you’re excited.
 
That’s the reaction of the crowd. They begin shouting in their native tongue with excitement because they believe that Paul and Barnabas are gods. More specifically; they call Zeus and Hermes.  Those are the names of the Greek gods which had a very prevalent religious following in the Ancient World. Zeus was the god of thunder. He’s the one who hurls lightning bolts from the sky. Hermes was the messenger god – he’s the one who brought messages from the gods of Mt. Olympus to the people of earth.

Nowadays there aren’t a lot of people that still believe in these gods. It’s kind of an ancient, defunct religion. But it still holds some power in Hollywood. Including one of my favorite versions from the movie Hercules: Zeus and Hermes.  (If this is what people thought of when they mentioned Hermes, I’d be a bit upset if I was Paul… Why does Barnabas get the big muscular guy?)
 
The people don’t stop at calling Paul and Barnabas gods; they want to worship them like gods. The priest of Zeus was nearby. He runs to the local temple. He opens it up with his keys. He grabs some of the oxen that they were going to sacrifice to Zeus later that week; he takes down some of the incredible, ornamental wreaths around the temple, and he makes his way back to the crowd – ready to offer his gifts to Paul and Barnabas.
 
The people are smiling.
They people are shouting.
The people are thinking that Paul and Barnabas are gods!

How are Paul and Barnabas going to react?

To be fair – this must have been pretty nice.
Recently, they had been verbally abused, rejected and threatened with being stoned.
It must have been nice to have a crowd that loved them so much that they LITERALLY: worshipped the ground they walked on.
 
Paul could tell them to “Go, get us a hammock.”
To “Go, grab us a margarita.”
To “Go, cut down some palm branches and keep them waving as we, your gods, begin our cushy new life and reign over the city.”

It might be nice to have people worship you like a god…
But…
That’s not what Paul and Barnabas do…

They get an interpreter.
They find out that the crowd thinks their gods.
They tear their clothes in agony.
And rush out into the crowd shouting:

“Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God.” (v.14-15)
 
Did you hear that?
Their message is to turn from THESE worthless things.
As turn from this worthless kind of idol worship.
And that worship kind of idol that you are worshipping…
 
…is us.
 
WRITE THIS DOWN: Idol worship is fearing, loving or trusting anything more than God. The specific weird kind of idol worship that the people of Lystra were dealing in was fearing, loving and trusting in Paul and Barnabas more than God. It was putting people – even Jesus preaching people - above God.

II. A Not So Weird Kind of Idol Worship  

But we are 21st century Americans.
We are an enlightened people.
We wouldn’t worship humans…right?
 
Remember the definition of idol worship:
It doesn’t necessarily mean that you bow down and worship them or that you hold worship services where you sing at a big statue of some person.
It means, loving, trusting, or fearing something or someone more than God.
And if that’s the definition, maybe this weird kind of idol worship is more common than we thought.

Here are a few ways that this weird kind of sin is plaguing society and maybe even plaguing your life.

Celebrities.
This might be an easy one to see. Because the truth is that humans spend more on Instagram to see if the Kardashians have any new hairstyles than they do in the Bible to see if God has anything holy we need to emulate.  
 
And it’s not just looking up to them either.

Imagine for a second that there a new social issue comes up. Some people say one thing about it. Other people say another thing.
But before you make a decision on how to react to the issue, you check to see –
 
What does Emma Stone have to say about that?
Did Arnold Schwarzenegger approve?
I can’t weigh in on the issue until the Rock posts a witty comment and tells me how to think.

Why go to a sinful people for how to think on an issue?
Why not go to God who is ALWAYS good and in fact invented absolute morality?

To trust a celebrity over God, that’s a weird kind of idolatry.
 
Scientists.
Notice I didn’t say science. I am not anti-science at all. I enjoy making a baking soda volcano as much as the next guy. Science is good. Science is valuable. Science helps you understand the complexities of God’s creation.
 
But science also has subjective presuppositions that go with it. When a scientist has the presupposition that there is no God and can be no God and anything not explainable by science must be a lie – then scientists will tell you that…

There’s no way that the miracles described in the Bible can happen.
There’s no way some dude died and then came back to life.
There’s no way some dude walked on water.
There’s no way some God made this world in 6 24-hour days. 
There’s no way some dude made some paralyzed guy walk by just telling him to.

Here’s where it gets dangerous: If you trust that scientist, more than the God’s Word, then who you are really trusting?

God wants us to use His Word to inform our understanding of science.  
Not scientists to inform your understanding of the Bible.


Because that’s trusting a scientist whose been here 40, 50, 60 years? More than God who was around since before eternity and has shown no signs of aging.
To trust a scientist over God… that’s a weird kind of idolatry.

Politicians.
This happens every time that elections roll around whether you are Democrat or Republican or any other kind of party. We listen to our favorite candidate speak. We become engrossed in their promises. We live and breathe whatever it is they are saying – and we put our trust in them to make our lives on this earth better.

And then when it doesn’t? We have a tendency to double down.
We have a tendency to defend that person no matter what they say and do.
Even if what they say and do is not godly. (And by the way. If you think I’m talking about one particular person right now, you’re wrong. This applies to a plethora of politicians from a plethora of political parties).

If the words of a sinful, fibbing politician become bigger dogma than the words of God, that’s a weird kind of idolatry.

Pastors.
Maybe you saw this one coming. This is essentially what happened with Paul and Barnabas. The people worshipped those who told them about worshipping the true God more than the true God. To be fair – this isn’t as obvious as it was in the story. There aren’t any hymns sung to the glory of me.

But…this is a danger.
A couple of years ago. I had been helping someone out over a few months. There had been counseling. There had been teaching. There had been phone conversations where I pointed them to Jesus and they found comfort.

But one week – as I had told this person – I was on vacation. I went up to the Midwest. I was visiting family and I saw his phone call. I saw it and tried to focus on my wife. They called again; I said …Nope I gotta focus on my wife. Finally, a third time… I figured it was an emergency.

“Yes, this is Pastor.”
“Pastor! We’ve got a problem. My wife said this, and I think she’s wrong. Can you please tell her so?”

Well…I’m kind of on my vacation.
Please, pastor? You’re the only one that can help.

Actually. No. God can help. Right now, I’m working on my family and I’m working on connecting with my wife.
But God can help. He speaks in his Word. He answers prayers.
Did you try any of that?

Silence.
 
“So, you’re not gonna help then?”

Did you know that I have never seen that person again? It wasn’t for lack of trying, but I think it highlighted an issue:
That person trusted me more than God.

And that cannot happen.

And if you trust me, or some other pastor, or some other theological speaker more than God…
That’s a weird kind of idolatry.
 
To be fair – we could keep going on with this list, but I think you get the point.

If you fear, love or trust a person…any person more than God, then you are just like those people in Lystra. You are committing idolatry.
If you have been committing idolatry, you need to do exactly God, the real God says and “Repent. Turn from these worthless things to the Living God.” (v14)

III. The Real God

Because the REAL GOD? He is capable of immensely more than any human being. Listen to three quick reasons that Paul gives for worshipping the Living God:

1. He made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them…(v. 15)   

We aren’t just talking about some celebrity who made one platinum record, but God who forged the very minerals necessary to make the entirety of all platinum within the bellows of earth.
We aren’t just talking about some scientist who has invented a way to identify one strand of DNA, but the God who invented and distributed every single strand of infinitesimal DNA in the history of the universe ever!
 
God is so much more powerful than any human could dream to be.
Worship him.

2. He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons…and plenty of food... (v.17)

We aren’t just talking about some politician who might make your life on earth better for a bit…if they can get their laws to pass and if they don’t change their mind, but we are talking about the God
who has provided food for the whole world.
Who keeps the sun shining.
Who keeps the rain raining.
Who keeps the plans growing.
Who has given you broccolis and bananas, grapes and grape wine, corn on the cob and the corn necessary to make the Dorito!
God takes cares of you – even when you don’t believe in HIM and don’t give HIM glory – he takes cares of you.

And beyond that – God promises to take care of you for eternity.
God is so much more consistent than any human being could ever be.
Worship Him.

3. He Fills your hearts with Joy. (v.17)

We aren’t talking about some pastor -- who might be able to help you feel a bit better…if he isn’t distracted, if his training allows and if he’s not sleeping.
God is always able to help.
He’s never distracted.
He knows all things.
He has never slept and will never sleep…not even for an afternoon nap.

God is constant.

And God brings the ultimate joy! Because…who else do you know that can save you from sin?
Ellen DeGeneres?
Donald Trump?
The Pope?

Nope.
No human can save from sin.
Only God himself who came down as a human to save us from sin.

Want proof? Easy.
Most humans die. Many humans that many have looked up to over history have died:
 
Confucius? Dead.
Julius Caesar? Dead.
Mohammed? Dead.
Stephen Hawking? Dead.

Jesus? He died, but then…He did the one thing that no living human has ever been able to do – He brought Himself back to life.
 
This is Jesus.
This is the REAL, LIVING GOD.
 
If you put your faith in Jesus, He provides complete, absolute forgiveness for all your sins of idolatry.
For all the times you have trusted others more…
For all the times you have feared others more…
For all the times you have loved others more…

Jesus brings absolute forgiveness.
And…
Absolute Life.

IV. WHAT NOW?  

Look at how this lesson ends. Paul tells them that he’s not God and the people get rather upset.
In fact, what happens is that the riot group from Antioch meets up with the people who plotted in Iconium, they make their way to Lystra – rile up the crowds there and suddenly:
 
The very group that had previously been worshipping Paul, drag him outside the city.
They throw him on the ground.
They shout violent and vicious things.
They pick up stones.
They hurl them at his head.

He bleeds.
He fades.
He falls to the ground in the heap.

And the people? They cheer.
They high five.
They leave feeling pretty good – they’ve killed that God lover.

But Paul? He’s not dead.
God has given him life.
And he gets up.
And he brushes himself off.
He meets up with Barnabas and keeps preaching about Jesus.

Friends, you do the same.

Keep trusting in the TRUE God.
Keep preaching about the TRUE God.

And the true God…He will give you Life. Amen. 

The scene was amazing.

Coats and jackets – big and small – new and old-- strewn on the ground – a make shift red carpet for the coming of the Messiah.
Palms branches broken off of trees and lining the streets – waving in a jubilant fashion. Like big foam fingers long before big foam fingers existed.
And shouting. Oh the shouting. Shouting from people to the left and the right. From the balconies and the gutters. Shouting for Jesus:

Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!
 
It was a straight up street party.
 
But not everyone was happy.

There was a certain group that was strangely silent on this occasion. Normally, they loved to be heard; but today they sat aside in bitter silence. They were standing at the entrance to the synagogue, wearing their finest religious clothing and decadent religious jewelry. They also had on their very best SNEERS.
 
They made a beeline for the ceremony. A group of them stood in the middle of the road – protestors. They were there to stop the celebration. As Jesus stopped the young colt and motioned for their leader to come near – the one with the longest beard made his way over. He leaned his mouth to Jesus ear and protested:

“Teacher, rebuke your disciples. Tell them to SHUT UP! Stop this party!”

And Jesus looks at him thoughtfully.
And Jesus smiles.
And Jesus leans in real close- - “I would; but then the stones would cry out!”

In other words – this party is off the chain – and there’s no stopping it.

Now if you’re a fan of parties, you might think of the Pharisees as a bunch of wet blankets – the bad guys in the story. But I think the situation is deeper than that. It poses an important question:  

Is Palm Sunday worth it?
Is Jesus worth shouting about?
Is Jesus worth getting your kids to shout about?
 
Today we hope to find the answer as we study the account of Luke 19.  Before we begin, let’s say a prayer: 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.              Why so quiet?   
 
A bit about the Pharisees -- The Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day. They were the ones that told people about spirituality. They were the people you would go to for all your spiritual needs. They were the ones who knew the names of every religious fabric and when to use what incense on what day and how many minutes of fasting a particular sin needed to be fasted for in order to bring you back to God.

But recently – with the arrival of Jesus – less and less people had stopped to question them.  Less and less people looked up to them. More and more people went to Jesus.
 
And the thing about Jesus’ message -- it was completely different from what they taught. In fact, we could summarize their problems with Jesus’ message in 3 BIG ways.



1)      He Treated Bad People the same as Good People.
 
If you want to find an example of this, back up in the very chapter of Luke 19 that we’re examining. In verse 1, Luke writes about a man named Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a tax collector.  That means he worked for the Roman government.  It means he got paid by telling people they owed more money than he did. It means he stole.

A lot.  

The Pharisees considered people like Zacchaeus a lost cause -- a sinner through and through. There was no hope for his soul. No hope for his righteousness. No hope for God to ever love him and no hope for them to ever spend a moment eating with them. He was bad; they were good.

But Jesus?
 
He ate with the man!
He had dinner with the sinner! (Sounds like a failed Dr. Seuss book.)

That’d be like Jesus holding a party for all of his closest friends. You pull up in the parking lot and there’s the people you expect. The usher, the lady who arranges flowers, and the organist. But as you walk through the parking lot there’s a car or two that’s unexpected. You get into the fellowship area and find your spot at the table.

Hi – I’m a member of this church. What do you do?

Me? I’m a drug dealer. Jesus invited me. This is my friend the pornography actress – she’s sitting over there next to the known terrorist. I can’t believe he sprung the money to get us all steak dinners.
 
Does that sit well with you?
Steak dinner just like all the other “Sinners?”
No?

Then you understand the Pharisees. 
 
2)      He Acted like He was God.    
 
This is illustrated in one particular occasion. There’s this paralyzed man.  He’d never been able to walk in his life. His friends bring him to see Jesus. The house that Jesus is inside of is so packed that friends have to climb up to the roof of the house. They use a handsaw to cut a hole in the roof. They lowered than man down via rope until he lands at Jesus’ feet.

What an entrance! If Jesus can help him walk, awesome.

But that’s not what Jesus does first. First, Jesus turns o the man and says, “Take heart, your sins are forgiven.”

The Pharisees – again – lose their minds! How can he say that? He’s not God! No one can forgive sins but God. This guy needs to be shut up! He’s teaching a deadly, false doctrine.
He’s telling people that he’s God! He’s teaching the children that he’s God!
 
Not that long ago there was some confusion at Precious Lambs. It was one of the kid’s first days. It just happened to be a chapel day. At the end of the day as mom was picking her up and she was leaving past my door she said, “Bye God!”

I immediately of course corrected her. “I’m not God.” I apologized and pointed out repeatedly, obnoxiously, “We definitely do not teach that I am God in any way shape or form.” If I did, I imagine that we would not have so many kids in our program.

But Jesus did teach he was God.
And he looked like an everyday, normal person.

Can you understand as to why the Pharisees wanted him to shut up?
Why they wanted him to stop teaching the children such stuff?


3)      He Revealed their Evil Plans.    
 
Fast forward two days from Palm Sunday. Luke 20. Jesus tells the Pharisees a parable:

A man planted a vineyard. He rented it out and went away for a long time. Then he sent some servants to give him rent payment. They refused. He sent another servant. They beat him up. They sent a third. They left him for dead. Finally, he sent his son, “They’ll respect him. He’s my son.”

They didn’t. They killed him.  
 
When Jesus finished the story, he said to the Pharisees, “What do you think will happen when he owner of the vineyard comes back?” The Pharisees – in all of their arrogance and pride answer correctly: “He’ll kill them. He’ll get revenge. He’ll get justice.” Jesus looked directly at them and said,

“The story is about you.”

Can you imagine the backlash from the crowd? “The Pharisees are planning on killing Jesus? How awful? They really are #Insecure.” Their personas took a nose dive! This was horrible press. I’m sure they started telling everyone that this was Fake News at its finest!
 
Never mind the fact that as soon as they get behind closed doors -- they respond to Jesus’ claim that they are trying to kill him by finalizing plans on how to kill him. Who would like a guy like this – that has no problem dropping truth bombs – that you are all sinners in front of all your friends?

No wonder they didn’t want to join the party!
No wonder they weren’t making any noise.
No wonder the rocks were louder than them.
 
II.           Why so Loud? 
 
But the Pharisees were the minority at the impromptu block party. The majority of the people there were shouting his praises and having a blast. Why? Right kind of music?  Nope. They also had their reasons: 
 
1)      He Treated Bad People the same as Good People.
 
Take Zacchaeus. (We mentioned him earlier). He probably didn’t have a lot of friends. Stealing from others and working for the IRS are not exactly the best recipe for friendships.) Zacchaeus had a lonely life. A friendless life. A life filled with guilt. No matter how he tried to ask for forgiveness, to change, to invite people over for hot wings and watching the big game – no one came.

No one forgave him.
No one thought he could ever be good.

Except for Jesus.

In fact, that’s exactly why Jesus came to Zaccahaeus’ house. He said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have come to seek the lost.” Zacchaeus was lost. Zacchaeus was found.

I bet you Zacchaeus was showing off his best dance moves on the streets of Jerusalem.

This is good news for you.

If you’ve done bad.
If you’ve done wrong.
If you think of yourself as the hussie, the jerk, the manipulative, the heathen, the drunkard, the addict, the homosexual, the one that God could never love! --- Jesus does.

Jesus loves you.
Jesus lived for you.
Jesus died for you.
Jesus wants to be with you.
 
And he has the power to do something to change you.
 
2)      He WAS God.     
 
Remember the story of the lame man that Jesus told his sins were forgiven?
Remember how people didn’t exactly believe that Jesus could do such a thing?
Remember how they were mad that they were equating himself with God?

Look at Jesus’ response. He said to the crowd of Pharisees:

“Which is easier to say: Your sins are forgiven OR get up and walk?”

Answer: Your sins are forgiven. Because I can say it and there’s not any proof in any way that what I just said actually happened. (Sins don’t start flying off of the body nor do you see someone’s heart change from black to bright pink!)

But if you tell someone to get up and walk – who has never gotten up and walked before in his life—he better do it. Or everyone will know you’re a phony.

So…to give people visual proof of the invisible truth?

Jesus turned to the man and said, “Get up. Take your mat and walk.”


And the man does just that.
Visible proof of the invisible truth.

And it’s not the only visible proof.

He made the blind see.
The deaf hear.
The mute talk.
He made storms clouds stop storming.
He made sick people stop being sick.
He made people who were dead come back to life.

The reason people were shouting his name in the streets? Because they had seen these miracles! They knew he wasn’t a phony. They knew he was the Son of God!

They knew he could do what he said he was going to do.
He was going to win them forgiveness.
He was going to restore peace with God.
He was going to bring peace between them and heaven.
He was going to -- and now has – brought peace between you and heaven.
Between you and your God.
 
3)      He Revealed His Plan to Defeat their Evil Plan
 
Because if you follow the Holy Week narrative – Jesus doesn’t seem ready to defend himself. If he knew the Pharisees were plotting to kill him, why does he go out into the temple courts preaching and teaching in front of their face? Why did he approach the mob that met him in the garden with his hands turned upside down – peacefully ready to be arrested?

It was all a part of his plan.

Because three days after he dies.
Three days after he was silenced.
Three days after the shouts of the party had been replaced with shouts of CRUCIFY…
 
…A rock shouts Jesus’ praises.
…A rock quakes with the loudness of a magnitude 7.
…A rock rolls away from a grave and screams for the world – for you and me to look inside.

He is not dead. He is alive. – The best visual proof of the invisible, incredible truth.

You have a Savior.
Your Savior won.
Death has been defeated.
By faith in him, you will live in heaven.
 
III.        What Now?
 
 

1. Be Louder than a Rock

 
What about you?  Are you louder than a rock?

Here’s a rock. Notice – there’s nothing all that impressive about it. I’ve flip it over and over and over again. There is not a mouth on his rock. There is no way for it to shout. No way for it to whistle. No way for it to hoot or holler or even blow a kazoo!
 
Are you louder than a rock? If you have a mouth, a pair of hands and feet, the answer is yet.

But – the question you need to ask yourself on a week to week basis – Am I louder than the rock about Jesus?

Who mentions Jesus more times on a daily basis? Or are you about the same?
Whose Facebook account talks more about the Savior? You? Or this inanimate chunk of minerals?
Who has said Hosanna more this year? Is it tied at zero? Are you winning by the number of Hosannas that we already mentioned in this service?


Wherever you’re at in your life -- be louder.
Be louder than this rock.
Talk more about Jesus than the rock.
 
 

1. Use Whatever You Got Laying Around

 
 
 That’s what the people did. Whether it was a hand me down coat, or a branch from a tree or their hands – the people used what they could find to shout Jesus’ praises.

Pastor – I don’t know how to play trumpet! Sing some Gospel music.
Pastor – I don’t sing very well. Tell your next-door neighbor Jesus’ loves them.
Pastor – I don’t know what to say. Bring an Easter invite along and invite them to see their Savior.
Pastor – I feel nervous to do that. Send an email. A text. Snapchat a video of you dressed as a dog inviting them to come learn about Jesus.

I don’t care. Use what you got. Use what you have. Share the message of Jesus. Be louder than a rock.


CONCLUSION:


Because here’s the truth – there’s no stopping this party. HOSANNA! Jesus is the Savior! Hallelujah. He defeated sin. He defeated death. Such that – even when we die, we enter into an eternal party that makes Palm Sunday seem like a Sunday School picnic.

The party will go on.
The party will be loud.
 There’s a spot for you at the party – consider yourself invited.

My only question is –
 
Will we need a rock to fill your spot?
Or are you joining in?

Amen.  

It was a grandiose concert hall.  

Beautiful aesthetics. There were chandelier like lights hanging from the ceiling, a perfect shape for the best acoustics, and stained glass windows depicting beautiful Biblical stories with such artistry that you could stare for hours – losing yourself in them.  

Up on the stage – an orchestra. Hundreds of professionals set to play for this worship service. Violins, cellos and a golden glint shining off of the brass section. 

It was impressive.  

And then they played. Fantastic melodies traversing beautiful harmonies. A smorgasbord of sounds for your ears. Melodious highs mimicking the shimmering of snowflakes and trammeling lows – beckoning to the quiet sleep of the manger scene. 

I remember my friend look over at me. He smiled. He said, “Now, that’s worship. This is Christmas.”

I’ve thought about that since then. Was he right? Was that worship? And are other forms of worship – forms without chandeliers and hundred member orchestras…are they worship? 

If so, I suppose we need to shore up thousands of dollars in the church budget to hire a professional orchestra. 

But then again – maybe there’s something more to worship. 
Maybe – it’s always been something more. 

Today we are going to continue our series called Old Fashioned Christmas. We will look at how people worshipped in preparation for the Savior – long before the first Christmas. We’re going to look at God’s Word and do two things: (1) identify a common worship pitfall (2) learn a few key traits about Old Fashioned Worship that we can put into practice this Christmas. Before we do that, join me in 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. An Old Fashioned Worship Pitfall

We are looking at a worship scene from 2 Samuel 6. This takes place right after the death of King Saul. Remember Him? We talked about him about a month ago in our sermon God & Voting. He was the king that the people chose to be their king – right after God warned them about a human king. God had said – A human king will be sinful. A human king will make sinful choices. A human king will have sinful effects on your life. 

Guess what? God was right. 

Especially in the area of worship life. Under King Saul, the worship life of the Israelite people became dreadful. The tabernacle – an ancient, portable church (very beautiful) –  had been forgotten about. It’s altar furniture had been lost throughout the countryside. Worship was the last things on people’s minds – and King Saul tended to turn to psychics rather than God for comfort.  

And worst of all  -- the Israelites had lost the Ark of the Covenant. 

Ever heard of that before? It makes a cameo in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s the box that the bad guys open up at the end – which causes them all to die.  

Of course, that’s fake.  (Indiana Jones – not the ark.) The ark was very real and very sacred. It was a box made of beautiful cedar wood. It was 4 feet long by 2 feet wide by 2 feet high. It had golden angelic statues which sat atop it’s cover and jewels encrusted in its etchings.

As holy sounding as that was, it was even more holy sounding inside.
It contained a jar of manna – heavenly bread that God had rained down on the Israelites as they were in the desert.
There was also a staff from Aaron, Moses’ brother. It was a staff that was originally a dead stick of wood, but God had caused to blossom with plant life. 
There were also two giant tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them – commandments etched by the very hand of God. 

In short – the Ark of the Covenant had been the center of worship for Ancient Israel. It was the connecting point between the Almighty, Holy God of heaven above and his people. It was the dwelling place of the one who didn’t need a dwelling place. 

And it was missing. 

So when King Saul’s successor, King David, came to power – he decided to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem. He located it in a dusty backroom outside the main part of the city. He arranged for a cart to hold the ark. (Think the most divine, holy Macy’s Thanksgiving Day float you’ve ever seen). He gathered together 30,000 men to protect the Ark and also cause a big enough commotion to draw attention to every small village they passed by in this glorious parade of divine proportions. 

Things started well enough. The Ark was set on the new cart. (v.3) They began walking. (v.4) The men began celebrating – with castanets, harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. (v.5)

It was a sight to behold. 
A glorious scene of pomp and circumstance. 
Now that’s what I call worship. 

But then…

…A bump. A jolt. A shift in the weight of the ark. 

And it began to slide. Slowly at first – then picking up speed. Making it’s way to the edge of the cart – about to fall onto the ground and bust open this divine furniture. 

Enter Uzzah.
Uzzah was walking alongside the ark.
Uzzah saw it start to slip.
Uzzah thought, “I can be a hero.”
Uzzah reached out his hand to stop it. 
Uzzah caught it. 
Uzzah stopped it from falling down. 

Only…something else did. 

Uzzah. 

v.7 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died. 

The procession was quiet. 
The soldiers stopped marched. 
The percussion stopped drumming. 
The sistrummers stopped sistrumming. 

And David stopped being joyful and started being frightened: “Just who is this God that we’re worshipping?” 

Does it sound a bit harsh? Remember – we said the Indiana Jones things where the people die for touching the ark wasn’t real. But the writers didn’t come up with that on their own. They come up with that from this verse. Uzzah is struck down by God!

But it’s not so much for touching the ark. 
It’s not so much because he tried to save it. 
It isn’t because God had a beef with Uzzah anyway and this was his way to get at him. 

v. 7 The Lord’s anger burned…because of Uzzah’s irreverent act. 

Irreverent is a key word then. What does it mean?

It means to not take seriously.
It means to not think deeply about.
It means to treat as more ordinary than you ought.

Which is so strange! Because this was such a huge festival. It looks like a big deal. Thousands of men. Hundreds of instruments. A grandiose parade. 

But that seems to have been all it was. 
What was there to distinguish it from the victory parade of the army? 
Or from the parade downtown when the Jerusalem Cubs finally won the World Series after 108 years? 

The answer isn’t: CW pg. 15.
It isn’t: a better liturgy. 
It isn’t: A long white robe. 
It isn’t: organ music. 
It isn’t: Chris Tomlin’s greatest hits. 
It isn’t: an electric bass. 
It isn’t: hands waving in the air like they just don’t care. 

It’s the heart.
​
Jesus said this, “Out of the heart comes…sin.” (Matthew. 15:19) 
Out of the heart comes irreverence for God. 
Out of the heart comes Uzzah’s sin 
Out of the heart includes David’s sin. 

It wasn’t necessarily caused by any external forces. 
Watch this. 

(Pause as the preacher gets down on a knee. Bows his head and appears to be praying)

That looked really reverent, right? 
It wasn’t! (I was thinking about whether Papa John’s or Domino's makes a better pizza!)

Understand then: 
Irreverence isn’t something you put on. 
It’s something you put out.

That’s huge. It means we can’t just boil it down to – You need a more traditional worship style. Because you might do what I’ve done plenty of times in a service like that – zone out and think about what “Thee” and “Thou” even mean. 

It can’t just boil down to – You need more excitement in your worship style…Because you might do what I’ve done plenty of times in services like that – zone out and think about what kind of hair gel the pastor has in his hair. 

The biggest pitfall with worship back then and the biggest pitfall with worship right now – is our own, sinful, distracted, irreverent heart. 

II. True Worship

That was the problem in this 2 Kings procession. And as David stared sullenly at the limp body of Uzzah, he took a break. The parade dispersed. The people went home. The ark went to a nearby home for three months. 

And David thought out the situation. 
He thought out his own struggles. 
He thought about how He hadn’t went to the Bible to learn of how God would have the ark transported.
He learned that the ark was never transported by cart, but by poles – held by four priests. 
He learned that the ark was a symbol of God’s holiness and a connection to his power – one to be approached with reverence. 
He learned that the Ark pointed to God’s mercy – it was covered with a seal – a visual portrayal of God’s mercy – sealing away God’s holiness and righteous anger against “not holiness”. 
He reflected that this mercy seat reflected the truth that God – in mercy – would cover his own sins. 
His sins of irreverence. 
His sins of transporting the ark irreverently. 

And David tried again. 
This time there is no mention of thousands of soldiers. 
There is no mention of a beautiful, new cart. 
There is no mention of an ancient orchestra. 

There are priests. 
There are sacrifices. 
There is David – in a linen ephod – ancient underwear – dancing before the Lord with all his might. 

And there in this less grandiose scene. 
There in this seemingly irreverent scene. 
There is reverence. 

And what caused it is this. The house that the Ark was being stored at for those 3 months was being blessed by God. God and his mercy was poured out on some guy named Obed-Edom! 

David saw God’s mercy. 
David remembered God’s mercy to him. 
David remembered God’s promise of mercy – that one day – “a Savior will be born – He is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2)

Brothers and sisters – this is the key. 
It isn’t more tradition. 
It isn’t less tradition. 
It’s more God. 

True worship comes from the heart focused on God. 

Because that heart sees God’s incredible might – that He created mountains and controls hurricanes. 
Because that heart sees God’s incredible knowledge – that he created our DNA, antibodies, and white blood cells. 
Because that heart sees God’s incredible holiness, that he hates even the slightest of sins. 
Because that heart sees God’s incredible love – that he sent his only Son to live perfectly, die innocently, and rise triumphantly for the forgiveness of all our sins. 
Because that heart sees God’s mercy – that he says to you and to me. “I forgive you. I forgive you for your irreverence.” 

It’s kind like NFL Films. Have you ever seen their team year in reviews? I’m a Packers fan and every time I am feeling down about the way that they play – like this year (5 - 6 isn’t too grand), I look up the film on Super Bowl 45. I watch Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and company win. I watch them score touchdowns. I watch the confetti fall from the sky. 

And I’m pumped.

It’s the same for you. If you want to get pumped up for God again – you’ve got to review his victory. See him crushing the devil. See him crushing your sin. See him winning eternal life…for you. 

III. What now? 

(1)    Focus on God

I mean really focus. Scripture says this, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.” That’s what David did as he danced that Ark into Jerusalem. He danced “With all his might.” (v.15)

That’s really important in our age of no focus. We have this thing. It’s called a cell phone. It’d be better named a cellular distractions device. 

Has it ever happened to you that you sit down to read God’s Word on your phone and you start reading John 3:16 and you reflect, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but…” Oh look! A new funny cat video!

At Chick-fil-A they give away free sandwiches if you can put your cell phone away for an entire meal and talk to your family. In his church, God gives away a distraction free, peaceful, reflection on his love if you put your cell phone away for an entire visit with your Dad. 

(2)    In Variety

I think it’s interesting – this is something that Lutherans – coming from a rigid, proper, German background – don’t do very naturally – David does: He dances for worship!

It doesn’t say what kind of dance that he does.
It doesn’t say if it’s a polka.
It doesn’t say if he waltzes. 
It doesn’t say if he whips and nae-naes. 

He simply dances from the heart. 

1 Corinthians 10:31 says this, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do—do it all for the glory of God."

It’s the same with worship. Because (and this might be surprising to you), did you know people are different? They like different things. They like different Christmas cookies, different Christmas traditions, and different Christmas eggnogs. 

They even like different styles of Christmas worship. 

Some like traditional, organ style. 
Some like contemporary, worship band style. 
Some like R & B, Gospel style. 

Here’s the deal – all these forms are valid. The validity comes from the focus. That focus comes from the heart. Are we focused on God? Good. Then we’re worshipping. 

That’s glorious. Because our God shows us that there are so many different ways to worship him. 

It’s like watching the preschoolers color a picture. I could demand that they all use the color grey always – always—and always. And throw away any coloring page that had any other color on it. 

But I don’t. You probably wouldn’t either. As a result, we see some beautiful creativity. Unhampered creativity. 

That’s what Jesus wants from you. A heart worshipping him. A heart worshipping him in a variety of forms. A heart worshipping him in your own, incredible, you way. 

(3)    Graciously

This is important. Because we are a church. When we gather together, we worship together. God says we need to worship together for accountability, for encouragement, for prayers, and for fellowship. 

But it means we will be worshipping with people who don’t all like the same things. 

Be gracious. Because that’s ok. 

Remember God’s grace – he lovingly, kindly, patiently waited for us to return to him after we have sinned! That’s amazing. Practice God’s grace --- lovingly, kindly, patiently endure a worship style that you don’t love (but isn’t even a sin), because of His grace. 

It’s necessary in our worship. We have kind of a blended worship. We have some traditional, some contemporary. Some services are more one or the other. Soon…the elders and the leadership are working on creating two services – one that highlights traditional styles and one that highlights contemporary styles. 

Fight the sinful urge to be angry! Be gracious. 

That means if you don’t love organ, you take a breath – remember your God – and belt out that hymn to God’s praise. 
That means that if you don’t love guitar, you take a breath – remember your God – and sing the refrain to God’s praise. 

Besides – God says to Love your neighbor as yourself. This means a heart focused on God – is going to be thinking of his neighbor, not just himself. 

It’s going to be gracious.

(4)    Ignore Haters

David had to do that. 16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

Afterwards, when David came back sweaty and short of breath, she got in his face. 
How pathetic! How foolish! What an absolute disgrace you are for the way that you worshipped today. 

Ouch! That would hurt my feelings. 
Maybe you’ve had something like that said about the way you worship. 
Maybe you’ve said something like that about the way someone else worships. 

But look at David’s thoughtful response. “It was before the Lord….that I did this. I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes…for the Lord.” 

David ignored the haters. David focused on God. David worshipped with all his heart. 
You ignore the haters. You focus on God. You worship with all your heart. 

CONCLUSION:

Like Jimmy. You ever hear of his story? Jimmy had down syndrome. But Jimmy wanted to be a part of his school’s Christmas worship program. He tried really hard, but he couldn’t get the words quite right. The night of program – he struggled. He fidgeted. He fumbled on words. He was (as some people put it) – a distraction. 

But while other kids were hanging out afterwards, eating their Christmas candy from the obligatory Christmas candy bag – they couldn’t stop talking about all the toys they were going to get. About how great it would be to get out of church. About how great it would be to stop singing Christmas songs. 

But then, they stopped…because it was hard to hear each other. 

Jimmy was passing them by, ignoring their looking, refusing to hear their snickers, focusing on his God and singing as loudly as his voice could carry: 

“Happy Birthday Jesus! I love you! Happy Birthday.” 

Now that’s worship. 

Amen.