Mistaken Identity
Matthew 7: 13 – 23.
I. Introduction.
One Sunday afternoon, when we were living in a different town, we came home from church to find a note from the Police. The note read, “Andrew Pittman, Please call Detective John Smith at Police Department, phone number 123-4567.”
I wouldn’t say that we were freaking out, but it can be a little unsettling to find a note from the Police on your front door.
When we checked our answering machine, there was a message from the Police. The message said, “Mr. Pittman, This is Detective John Smith with the Police. Please give me a call when you get home. My number is 123-4567.”
At this point, we were a little closer to freaking out. I had a note and a phone message to call the Police.
I quickly called the phone number and got a switchboard operator. I introduced myself and made a point to say, “My name is Andrew Pittman. I just got home from church and got a message to call Detective John Smith.”
The operator put me on hold while I waited on the Detective to answer. When the Detective answered, I told him that I got his messages when I got home from church. The first words out of his mouth were… “Mr. Pittman, Is there anything you want to tell me?” I said, “No Sir. There is NOTHING that I want to tell YOU.”
At this point he started laughing and said… “I found the Andrew Pittman I was looking for, but I wanted to give you an opportunity to confess …Just in case.”
My story was a case of mistaken identity. I didn’t do anything intentionally to resemble the person the detective was looking for, but we had the same name.
Have you ever been confused for someone you are not? Sometimes it is good to be mistaken for a famous person. But it’s not so good to be mistaken for someone who is wanted by the Police.
What about your spiritual life? Do people look at your life and automatically think you are a follower of Jesus? Do your actions reveal that you love God and love your neighbors? Or, perhaps you have learned how to pretend to be Christian. Perhaps, your heart is far from God, but your actions have everyone around you fooled. Not everyone is fooled. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that in the final day of judgment there will be no more mistaken identity. Jesus will know you for who you really are!
Read Matthew 7: 13 – 23.
We have come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. There are no new teachings in the rest of the sermon. Jesus has arrived at his conclusion. I’m sure the First Century listeners closed their Bibles and gathered up their purses, because they recognized that the sermon was coming to an end.
Instead of introducing new material, Jesus is here making an emotional appeal to his listeners. He gives them a series of illustrations that demonstrate how they are forced to choose what to do with Jesus’ words.
II. Verses 13 – 14… "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
The first illustration describes a choice between two roads. It’s possible to read this illustration as a warning that only a few people will ever be saved and that the majority of the world is going to Hell. And I suppose that is a valid interpretation. However, the Book of Revelation contains a vision of what Heaven will look like. In that vision, John tells us there are so many people in Heaven that no one person could ever count them. For this reason, I think we must think of this as a secondary understanding of Jesus’ words. The primary meaning must have something to do with discipleship, since that is what the Sermon on the Mount has been about thus far.
Jesus’ words are reminiscent of words that were spoken by Moses to the Hebrew people as they were wandering in the desert for 40 years. In Deuteronomy 30: 15 – 20, Moses said:
See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There are two roads in life. One road leads to life. The other road leads to death and destruction. It seems obvious that both Moses and Jesus are referring to Eternal Life and eternal death. These are the roads that lead to Heaven and Hell.
The road to Heaven is a very difficult road that requires us to be obedient to all of God’s commands. The road to Hell does not require anything. The difficulty of the road to Heaven is offset by the great reward at the end. The comfort and ease of the road to Hell is offset by the destruction that comes at the end.
The road to Heaven is a difficult road, because it is a narrow road. This road is defined by clear boundaries on all sides. The boundaries on the road to Heaven are God’s expectations. Since God’s expectations are contained in the Word of God, we might even say that the road to Heaven is defined by the Bible itself. If you are following the Bible, then you are traveling on the narrow road. This is not the most popular road. This is not the road with the most travelers. It is not an easy road. In fact, it is a narrow and difficult road with very few travelers.
The road to Hell is a very wide and broad road. It is an easy road. It is a very popular road. It is popular, because it is an easy road. It doesn’t matter which side of the road you drive on: you can drive how ever you want to drive in whatever direction you want to travel. There are no laws, no requirements, no expectations. People who drive on the road toward death make their own rules. No one follows the same rules, because no one has a right to tell another person how to live on the road to Hell.
Does that sound familiar? The road to Hell is the road most of our culture is traveling. There are no absolutes on the road to death and destruction. Each man or woman decides for himself or herself what is right and wrong. Morality is subjective. No one has the right to make absolute claims on the lives of others. Lifestyle choices do not matter. The only rule that is absolute is the rule of toleration. Everyone is accepted and tolerated on the road to Hell.
III. Verses 15 – 20… "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Then Jesus turned his attention to the church. These are the people who are traveling on the narrow road defined by the character, morality and ethical teachings of the Bible. Jesus refers to the people who travel on the narrow road as the sheep.
In fact, it is Jesus’ use of sheep in these verses that leads me to believe he is describing the church. “Sheep” was a common image in both the Old Testament and the New Testament to refer to the People of God.
Most families in Ancient Israel kept their own sheep. Sheep provided the family with wool, milk, meat and sacrificial offerings. Jesus’ audience knew about sheep. And, they knew that wolves are the sheep’s natural enemy.
So, Jesus’ illustration of a wolf in sheep’s clothing would have been easily recognizable to his audience. If a wolf could disguise himself as a sheep, then he could easily sneak into the flock undetected. Once the flock accepted him, he could destroy the entire flock. He wouldn’t have to settle for just one sheep.
Wolves can’t disguise themselves as sheep. But, people can disguise themselves as anything they want to be. If sheep is a common description for the people of God, then a wolf in sheep’s clothing is a description of a person who disguises himself or herself as a member of the community of faith in order to destroy the entire flock. So, Jesus gave us a test to determine the difference between true sheep and wolves pretending to be sheep.
The test is in the fruit. I know it’s a mixed metaphor. Wolves don’t grow fruit. Plants and trees grow fruit. But the fruit of a plant reveals two things about the plant: the character and the condition.
Grapes can only come from one kind of plant: a grape vine. Figs can only come from one kind of plant: a fig tree. Don’t look for figs on a grape vine, and don’t look for grapes on a fig tree. The same thing can be said about people.
Only Christian people produce Christian fruit. Non-Christian people cannot and will not produce Christian fruit. We don’t need to complicate the definition of fruit in this illustration. Jesus is using this illustration as a conclusion to his Sermon of the Mount. Therefore, fruit is not a new concept. It is the prevailing concept throughout the entire Sermon. Christian fruit is the kind of righteousness and Christian morality Jesus has been describing all along. Just as the fruit of a plant reveals what kind of plant is growing, the fruit of a person reveals what kind of person is growing.
Fruit also reveals the condition of the plant. If the plant is good, it will produce good fruit. If the plant is bad, it will produce rotten fruit. If the plant is dead, it cannot produce any fruit at all.
IV. Verses 21 – 23… "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
In this final illustration, Jesus turned his attention to the future, final judgment. One day all people will stand before Jesus in judgment. This final day of judgment will determine your eternity. Some will be granted eternal life in Heaven. Others will face an eternity of death and destruction in Hell.
Jesus used a consistent theme in all three illustrations. The narrow road is the road that leads to Heaven. The narrow road will not be easy, because it is defined by obedience. Sheep are the true People of God. They are not like the wolves. Sheep are more like a good tree that produces good fruit. This fruit is obedience. On the final day of judgment, the only ones who will be welcomed into eternal life in Heaven are the ones who have been obedient.
V. Conclusion.
Obedience is an important part of being a Christian. The most important part of being a Christian is faith in Jesus. But, obedience is a very close second place. Christian faith is not supposed to be a private thing or something that is reserved for Sunday mornings. True faith is an obedient faith.
The Christian life is not a cafeteria plan. When I was a kid, I used to love eating Sunday lunch at the Morrison’s Cafeteria. I knew that I could choose everything I wanted and nothing that I didn’t want. This is not the Christian faith. Yet, there are people who try to live this way.
“I want Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, French Fries and a Baked Potato. Don’t give me anything green.”
“I want Jesus to be my Savior and extra Grace and Forgiveness. But, don’t give me any judgment.” … “I want all the Blessings and none of the discipline.”
“I want Jesus to be my Savior, but I want to hang on to my Anger (Matthew 5: 21 – 22)…I want Jesus to forgive me of my sins, but I want to commit Adultery, look at Pornography and hang on to my Lust (Matthew 5: 27 – 28)…I want to call myself a Christian and still get an easy Divorce (Matthew 5: 31 – 32)…I want to go to Heaven, but I don’t want to tell the truth (Matthew 5: 33 – 34)…I want to be a Christian, but I’m still going to get revenge on my enemies (Matthew 5: 38 – 39)…I am going to call myself a Christian, but don’t expect me to love people who are not like me (Matthew 5: 43 – 44)… I want to go to Heaven, but I don’t want to give away my money (Matthew 6: 2)…I want Jesus to be my Savior, but I’m not going to Pray and Fast (Matthew 6: 5, 16)…I want to go to Heaven, but I’m going to store up money and possessions on earth (Matthew 6: 19)…I want to be a Christian and continue to worry about temporary things (Matthew 6: 25)…I want Jesus to save me while I criticize and judge others (Matthew 7: 1)…”
This is not a salvation based on works! This is salvation by Grace through Faith in Jesus. The truth is, none of us can accomplish these things for ourselves. This is fruit! Obedience like this can only come as a result of Jesus working in our lives. Salvation is not accepting Jesus as your Savior. Salvation is allowing Jesus to be your Lord. Giving him absolute control over every area of life.
The faith that saves you will also change you.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010: God's Generosity
God’s Generosity
Matthew 7: 7 - 12
I. Introduction.
Earlier this month, we visited my parents in Tupelo, Mississippi. Most of our time in Mississippi was spent in Tupelo with my parents and my brother’s family. But, one day, we went to Corinth to see my grandmother in the nursing home and to eat supper with all my cousins on my mother’s side of the family.
This was probably the first time in ten years that I had been in the same place with my cousins Eddie and Mark at the same time. Eddie, Mark and I were born within about six months of each other. We spent a lot of time together at family gatherings and probably got into trouble together.
In the restaurant, my Aunt Helen pulled out on old picture of me with my cousins, Eddie and Mark. She lined us up and “recreated” the picture. Except, in the picture we were about one year old. And, we were all dressed alike. We were all wearing the overalls our grandparents had just given us.
Of course, these were no ordinary overalls. These were “Tuff Nut” overalls. Perhaps it was a regional brand, because not many people in Texas seem to know about “Tuff Nut” jeans and overalls.
What made Tuff Nut overalls special was the fact that they came with a pocket knife. As I grew older, that Tuff Nut knife became my prized possession. I didn’t get to play with it or to carry it around. (I don’t even think I was strong enough to open it without my dad’s helping me.) But, I loved that knife…Until, one day…Tragedy struck. I lost my Tuff Nut knife.
That night, in our family devotion, I started praying that I would find my “Tuf Nut” knife. I listed it on our prayer calendar to pray for every night until I was able to find it. And I found it.
My mother said that I prayed for it every night for about three months until we finally found it. But remembering it through the mind of a child, it seemed more like two years. We marked it off the prayer calendar, and I will always remember the time I learned what it meant to have a prayer answered.
My Tuff Nut knife is special to me, because it represents the first time in my life when I felt like God answered my prayers. I was six years old.
Do you have a vivid memory of an answered prayer? Perhaps there was a time that you prayed daily for God’s guidance in a decision you were about to make, and he responded by showing you the right choice.
But what about the other side of that story? Have you ever experienced the pain that goes with an unanswered prayer? How did you respond? Did you think that maybe you weren’t a very good Christian? That maybe you failed to show enough faith to deserve having your prayer answered?
Jesus addressed this problem in his teachings on prayer in Matthew chapter 7. Let’s look at what he teaches us about prayer and then turn our attention to the problem of unanswered prayer.
Read Matthew 7: 7 – 12.
II. What Is Prayer?
Webster’s dictionary defines prayer as: “A humble communication in thought or speech to God or an object of worship expressing supplication, thanksgiving, praise, confession, etc. . .”
This doesn’t help me a lot because I will have to define several other words in order to understand what the definition means. Let’s use Jesus’ words to define prayer.
The first thing I notice about Jesus’ words is the fact that he gives us three commands: “Ask, Seek, Knock.” The second thing I notice is that these three commands are written as Present Imperatives. (I have said this so many times over the past few weeks, that most of you will know where I am going with this.)
The present tense in Greek is used to describe continuous action. Therefore, we can translate Jesus’ commands to us as: “Keep on asking…Keep on seeking…Keep on knocking…”
Jesus is not describing a one time event, or a once a week event, or even a once a day event. Jesus is describing prayer as something that we do continuously. It is a lifestyle of “Asking, Seeking and Knocking.”
Another interesting thing about Jesus’ commands is the fact that there are no objects to any of the verbs. Jesus does not specify that for which we are to ask, to seek or to knock. This leaves the discussion very broad. We can find some good possibilities by looking back at Jesus’ words in the Model Prayer. On one hand, we are supposed to pray for our “daily bread.” On the other hand, we are supposed to pray for “God’s Kingdom to come” and “God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Therefore, Prayer can be for just about anything from the miraculous (Kingdom of God) to the mundane (bread for today). From the request of God acting on behalf of a sick loved one to the request for provision or guidance.
We also notice that there is no mention of faith. Jesus does not say ask with faith, seek with faith, or knock with faith. Instead, Jesus said anyone who asks, seeks, knocks will receive, find, have it open. This is not to discount our faith, but to shift the focus to God and his faithfulness and generosity toward us. Prayer does not depend on my faith, but the faithfulness and the generosity of the one on whom I put my trust. It’s better to have small faith in a great God than great faith in small god.
“Asking, Seeking and Knocking” have something in common. The person who asks is lacking something. The person who seeks has lost something. The person who knocks has been shut out. All three of these people are needy people. Therefore, prayer is something only needy people are willing to do.
This is my personal definition of prayer: Total dependence on God. This is also why we do not pray. We do not like to think that we need to go outside of ourselves for anything. Much less our very existence. So, what is prayer?
It is childlike dependence on God for anything, from the miraculous to the mundane, and is not based on our faith, but the faithfulness of the one on whom we depend.
III. Why We Pray.
This is not the first time Jesus has taught us about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6, Jesus gave us both a teaching about prayer and a Model for how to pray. Jesus closed his teaching with these words: “Do not be like them (the hypocrites and the pagans), for your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matthew 6: 8).”
If God already knows what we need before we even ask him, then why do we need to pray? Obviously, the reason is not that God needs to know what we lack. Obviously, the reason we pray has more to do with us than it has to do with God.
For example, God knows what we need. However, there are times when we don’t know what we need. There are other times when we know what we need, but we are not yet ready to receive it from God. Prayer is the way we learn what we need and we become ready to receive what God wants to give us.
In the passage, Jesus gives us an illustration of childlike dependence on a parent. This illustration demonstrates why people pray.
People who pray admit that they cannot survive on their own power and therefore must ask for outside help. People who do not pray claim to know better than God. They think they are independent and have no need for outside help. This is very American, but not very Christian at all.
This question brings us face to face with the question of God’s sovereignty. In other words, do my prayers affect the outcome of the universe or is the course of the universe determined and my prayers just an exercise in futility? If our prayers do not matter, then we will have a difficult time explaining why we are to pray and why Jesus himself prayed. We know that it is not in God’s character to change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Therefore, we do not pray in order to change God’s mind. We pray so that we might change. If prayer is to communicate as Webster tells us, then it is to enter into the presence of God with our requests. When we encounter God, face to face, we realize the areas in our own lives that are contradictory to the character and nature of God. Then, we change those areas. We conform to God’s image.
In other words, when we encounter the one upon whom we depend, we change so that God’s will becomes our will; God’s love becomes our love; and God’s desires become our desires.
IV. The Problem of Unanswered Prayer.
Now, let’s turn to the problem of unanswered prayer…
I have always heard the explanation that there is no such thing as unanswered prayer. God answers all prayers: “Yes,” “No,” or “Not Yet.”
In our text, Jesus never tells us exactly what we will receive, find, or what will open for us. In some English translations the phrase “what you asked for” appears, making the text say something like “Ask and you will receive what you asked for.” But that is not in the Greek text.
The text literally says, “Ask and to you will be given; Seek and you will find; Knock and to you will be opened.” We are never promised that we will get what we asked for. Jesus simply promises that we will receive something.
Then Jesus describes what this “something” is by giving an illustration. It is an illustration of what happens when children make requests of their parents. I can just hear the humor in this story. What parent would try to trick his or her child by giving them something that would harm them?
On our best days, we will do everything in our power to give our children what they need and what is best for them. If we, being sinful, give our children good things, how much more might God, who is without sin. And, God knows better than we do anyway.
The illustration is a promise that when we ask we will receive a “Good Gift,” when we seek we will find a “Good Gift,” when we knock a “Good Gift” will be opened to us. Even though we do not know what these “Good Gifts” are, we can be assured that if they come from the Father, they will be “Good Gifts.”
The fact is that what we often interpret as being unanswered prayer is really nothing more than simply not getting what we asked for. Often we ask for what is not in our best interest, and the Grace of God prevents us from suffering from our prayers being answered. We can rest assured that the Father only gives Good Things, and if we didn’t get it, then it wasn’t a Good Thing.
Other times, our prayers are influenced by our own sinfulness. Instead of asking for what is in the heart of God, we ask for what is in our own heart. Our prayers seem to go unanswered b/c we do not know what Good Thing God desires to give us.
There are some who would say that unanswered prayer is the result of our own lack of faith or that we did not call on the name of Jesus. I challenge that by returning our attention to Jesus’ own prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Our own Savior experienced what seemed like unanswered prayer, but look at the Good Thing that the father gave instead. God gave the “Good Gift” that is the Good News. That Jesus died and was raised on the 3rd day so that you and I might have Eternal Life.
V. Conclusion: The Golden Rule.
Jesus concludes this teaching on prayer with a familiar verse we know as the Golden Rule. Verse 12 begins with the word “therefore”—telling us that it is somehow connected to the teaching before it. (The NIV does not use the word “therefore.” It uses the word “so.”)
This tells me that Jesus is teaching us to treat other people the way God treats us. God gives us “good gifts,” and never something dangerous or malicious.
God is good. God is faithful. God is generous. This is demonstrated in our prayer life. And, it should be revealed in the way we relate to others.
Prayer is one of those subjects that is very easy to talk about philosophically without ever being effected in our own religious experience. In other words, we believe a lot about prayer but would have a difficult time proving it to those who know us well.
If prayer really is “childlike dependence on God for anything, from the miraculous to the mundane, not based on human faith, but upon the faithfulness of the one on whom we depend,” then we should exhibit this dependence in all areas of our lives.
Prayer should not become something we do in times of need or at night before we go to bed. Instead, we should adopt a lifestyle of prayer. A lifestyle that illustrates childlike dependence on the Father.
A we close, I would like to leave a question for all of us to consider. When was the last time we approached the Father as dependent children asking, seeking, knocking? Was it because the situation had become an emergency? Or was it simply a way of life for us?
Matthew 7: 7 - 12
I. Introduction.
Earlier this month, we visited my parents in Tupelo, Mississippi. Most of our time in Mississippi was spent in Tupelo with my parents and my brother’s family. But, one day, we went to Corinth to see my grandmother in the nursing home and to eat supper with all my cousins on my mother’s side of the family.
This was probably the first time in ten years that I had been in the same place with my cousins Eddie and Mark at the same time. Eddie, Mark and I were born within about six months of each other. We spent a lot of time together at family gatherings and probably got into trouble together.
In the restaurant, my Aunt Helen pulled out on old picture of me with my cousins, Eddie and Mark. She lined us up and “recreated” the picture. Except, in the picture we were about one year old. And, we were all dressed alike. We were all wearing the overalls our grandparents had just given us.
Of course, these were no ordinary overalls. These were “Tuff Nut” overalls. Perhaps it was a regional brand, because not many people in Texas seem to know about “Tuff Nut” jeans and overalls.
What made Tuff Nut overalls special was the fact that they came with a pocket knife. As I grew older, that Tuff Nut knife became my prized possession. I didn’t get to play with it or to carry it around. (I don’t even think I was strong enough to open it without my dad’s helping me.) But, I loved that knife…Until, one day…Tragedy struck. I lost my Tuff Nut knife.
That night, in our family devotion, I started praying that I would find my “Tuf Nut” knife. I listed it on our prayer calendar to pray for every night until I was able to find it. And I found it.
My mother said that I prayed for it every night for about three months until we finally found it. But remembering it through the mind of a child, it seemed more like two years. We marked it off the prayer calendar, and I will always remember the time I learned what it meant to have a prayer answered.
My Tuff Nut knife is special to me, because it represents the first time in my life when I felt like God answered my prayers. I was six years old.
Do you have a vivid memory of an answered prayer? Perhaps there was a time that you prayed daily for God’s guidance in a decision you were about to make, and he responded by showing you the right choice.
But what about the other side of that story? Have you ever experienced the pain that goes with an unanswered prayer? How did you respond? Did you think that maybe you weren’t a very good Christian? That maybe you failed to show enough faith to deserve having your prayer answered?
Jesus addressed this problem in his teachings on prayer in Matthew chapter 7. Let’s look at what he teaches us about prayer and then turn our attention to the problem of unanswered prayer.
Read Matthew 7: 7 – 12.
II. What Is Prayer?
Webster’s dictionary defines prayer as: “A humble communication in thought or speech to God or an object of worship expressing supplication, thanksgiving, praise, confession, etc. . .”
This doesn’t help me a lot because I will have to define several other words in order to understand what the definition means. Let’s use Jesus’ words to define prayer.
The first thing I notice about Jesus’ words is the fact that he gives us three commands: “Ask, Seek, Knock.” The second thing I notice is that these three commands are written as Present Imperatives. (I have said this so many times over the past few weeks, that most of you will know where I am going with this.)
The present tense in Greek is used to describe continuous action. Therefore, we can translate Jesus’ commands to us as: “Keep on asking…Keep on seeking…Keep on knocking…”
Jesus is not describing a one time event, or a once a week event, or even a once a day event. Jesus is describing prayer as something that we do continuously. It is a lifestyle of “Asking, Seeking and Knocking.”
Another interesting thing about Jesus’ commands is the fact that there are no objects to any of the verbs. Jesus does not specify that for which we are to ask, to seek or to knock. This leaves the discussion very broad. We can find some good possibilities by looking back at Jesus’ words in the Model Prayer. On one hand, we are supposed to pray for our “daily bread.” On the other hand, we are supposed to pray for “God’s Kingdom to come” and “God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Therefore, Prayer can be for just about anything from the miraculous (Kingdom of God) to the mundane (bread for today). From the request of God acting on behalf of a sick loved one to the request for provision or guidance.
We also notice that there is no mention of faith. Jesus does not say ask with faith, seek with faith, or knock with faith. Instead, Jesus said anyone who asks, seeks, knocks will receive, find, have it open. This is not to discount our faith, but to shift the focus to God and his faithfulness and generosity toward us. Prayer does not depend on my faith, but the faithfulness and the generosity of the one on whom I put my trust. It’s better to have small faith in a great God than great faith in small god.
“Asking, Seeking and Knocking” have something in common. The person who asks is lacking something. The person who seeks has lost something. The person who knocks has been shut out. All three of these people are needy people. Therefore, prayer is something only needy people are willing to do.
This is my personal definition of prayer: Total dependence on God. This is also why we do not pray. We do not like to think that we need to go outside of ourselves for anything. Much less our very existence. So, what is prayer?
It is childlike dependence on God for anything, from the miraculous to the mundane, and is not based on our faith, but the faithfulness of the one on whom we depend.
III. Why We Pray.
This is not the first time Jesus has taught us about prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 6, Jesus gave us both a teaching about prayer and a Model for how to pray. Jesus closed his teaching with these words: “Do not be like them (the hypocrites and the pagans), for your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matthew 6: 8).”
If God already knows what we need before we even ask him, then why do we need to pray? Obviously, the reason is not that God needs to know what we lack. Obviously, the reason we pray has more to do with us than it has to do with God.
For example, God knows what we need. However, there are times when we don’t know what we need. There are other times when we know what we need, but we are not yet ready to receive it from God. Prayer is the way we learn what we need and we become ready to receive what God wants to give us.
In the passage, Jesus gives us an illustration of childlike dependence on a parent. This illustration demonstrates why people pray.
People who pray admit that they cannot survive on their own power and therefore must ask for outside help. People who do not pray claim to know better than God. They think they are independent and have no need for outside help. This is very American, but not very Christian at all.
This question brings us face to face with the question of God’s sovereignty. In other words, do my prayers affect the outcome of the universe or is the course of the universe determined and my prayers just an exercise in futility? If our prayers do not matter, then we will have a difficult time explaining why we are to pray and why Jesus himself prayed. We know that it is not in God’s character to change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Therefore, we do not pray in order to change God’s mind. We pray so that we might change. If prayer is to communicate as Webster tells us, then it is to enter into the presence of God with our requests. When we encounter God, face to face, we realize the areas in our own lives that are contradictory to the character and nature of God. Then, we change those areas. We conform to God’s image.
In other words, when we encounter the one upon whom we depend, we change so that God’s will becomes our will; God’s love becomes our love; and God’s desires become our desires.
IV. The Problem of Unanswered Prayer.
Now, let’s turn to the problem of unanswered prayer…
I have always heard the explanation that there is no such thing as unanswered prayer. God answers all prayers: “Yes,” “No,” or “Not Yet.”
In our text, Jesus never tells us exactly what we will receive, find, or what will open for us. In some English translations the phrase “what you asked for” appears, making the text say something like “Ask and you will receive what you asked for.” But that is not in the Greek text.
The text literally says, “Ask and to you will be given; Seek and you will find; Knock and to you will be opened.” We are never promised that we will get what we asked for. Jesus simply promises that we will receive something.
Then Jesus describes what this “something” is by giving an illustration. It is an illustration of what happens when children make requests of their parents. I can just hear the humor in this story. What parent would try to trick his or her child by giving them something that would harm them?
On our best days, we will do everything in our power to give our children what they need and what is best for them. If we, being sinful, give our children good things, how much more might God, who is without sin. And, God knows better than we do anyway.
The illustration is a promise that when we ask we will receive a “Good Gift,” when we seek we will find a “Good Gift,” when we knock a “Good Gift” will be opened to us. Even though we do not know what these “Good Gifts” are, we can be assured that if they come from the Father, they will be “Good Gifts.”
The fact is that what we often interpret as being unanswered prayer is really nothing more than simply not getting what we asked for. Often we ask for what is not in our best interest, and the Grace of God prevents us from suffering from our prayers being answered. We can rest assured that the Father only gives Good Things, and if we didn’t get it, then it wasn’t a Good Thing.
Other times, our prayers are influenced by our own sinfulness. Instead of asking for what is in the heart of God, we ask for what is in our own heart. Our prayers seem to go unanswered b/c we do not know what Good Thing God desires to give us.
There are some who would say that unanswered prayer is the result of our own lack of faith or that we did not call on the name of Jesus. I challenge that by returning our attention to Jesus’ own prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Our own Savior experienced what seemed like unanswered prayer, but look at the Good Thing that the father gave instead. God gave the “Good Gift” that is the Good News. That Jesus died and was raised on the 3rd day so that you and I might have Eternal Life.
V. Conclusion: The Golden Rule.
Jesus concludes this teaching on prayer with a familiar verse we know as the Golden Rule. Verse 12 begins with the word “therefore”—telling us that it is somehow connected to the teaching before it. (The NIV does not use the word “therefore.” It uses the word “so.”)
This tells me that Jesus is teaching us to treat other people the way God treats us. God gives us “good gifts,” and never something dangerous or malicious.
God is good. God is faithful. God is generous. This is demonstrated in our prayer life. And, it should be revealed in the way we relate to others.
Prayer is one of those subjects that is very easy to talk about philosophically without ever being effected in our own religious experience. In other words, we believe a lot about prayer but would have a difficult time proving it to those who know us well.
If prayer really is “childlike dependence on God for anything, from the miraculous to the mundane, not based on human faith, but upon the faithfulness of the one on whom we depend,” then we should exhibit this dependence in all areas of our lives.
Prayer should not become something we do in times of need or at night before we go to bed. Instead, we should adopt a lifestyle of prayer. A lifestyle that illustrates childlike dependence on the Father.
A we close, I would like to leave a question for all of us to consider. When was the last time we approached the Father as dependent children asking, seeking, knocking? Was it because the situation had become an emergency? Or was it simply a way of life for us?
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010: Judging Judgmentalism
Judging Judgmentalism
Matthew 7: 1 – 6.
I. Introduction.
Two events happened this past week that cast Christians in a bad light. The first took place when TV evangelist Pat Robertson attempted to interpret the Haitian earthquake as God’s judgment on Haiti. Robertson claims that in the 1700’s the Haitian people were being held as slaves to the French. In order to escape their slave masters, the people made a “pact with the devil.” They would worship the devil if he would rescue them from slavery.
If you subscribe to Jim Denison’s daily email devotional, you probably know that he wrote about this “pact with the devil” four days last week. If you want to learn more of the “facts” behind this, you can read his archived devotionals at http://www.godissues.com. Suffice it to say, there is no historical evidence that such a “pact with the devil” ever took place. Also, it seems problematic to me that if the devil freed the Haitian slaves, then God is on the side of the oppressors and Satan is on the side of freedom.
This isn’t the first time Pat Robertson has made outrageous claims about disasters and God’s judgment. He said the same thing about Hurricane Katrina and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He said September 11 was God’s judgment on the United States for our approval of homosexuality and abortion. He claimed Hurricane Katrina was God’s judgment on the wickedness of New Orleans. In both of these cases, it seems that God “missed.” September 11 had little affect on homosexuality in the United States, and Bourbon Street in New Orleans is in the section of the city least affected by Hurricane Katrina. (Bourbon Street is one of the few areas of New Orleans built above sea level.)
The second event took place in the McLennan County Courthouse in Waco, Texas. A pastor—with whom I went to seminary—was convicted of killing his wife and making it look like a suicide. Every day of testimony, the Waco Tribune Herald posted a live blog on their website (http://www.wacotrib.com) from inside the courtroom. So, at least once a day, I read summaries of all the testimony and proceedings.
If you are familiar with the way the blogosphere operates, you know it is an interactive experience. You don’t just read the written posts. You can add your “two cents worth” in the comments section. You will be glad to know that I did not post any comments last week. But, I did read some of the comments.
Most people wrote comments about their opinions of the case or of their relationship with the defendant and his wife. However, there were some comments of a theological nature. Some people projected this pastor’s actions onto all pastors or even onto all Christians. These people expressed their view that all Christians are hypocrites—claiming to believe in love and forgiveness and living like Jesus, but actually living secret lives. Non-Christians accuse us of expecting them to live a lifestyle that we are unwilling and unable to live ourselves.
Our response to these events is to claim that not all Christians are like Pat Robertson or the pastor in Waco. Or, we insist that the world should stop judging all Christians by the conduct of a few.
But, perhaps we deserve the criticism and judgmentalism. After all, Christians can be some of the most difficult people to be around when life is falling apart. Would you rather talk to your friends at work or your friends at church when you find out that your son is in jail or your daughter is pregnant? Sometimes the friends at work are more likely to be supportive and less likely to be judgmental.
This was not God’s intent for the church. This is not what Jesus had in mind when he preached his Sermon on the Mount.
Read Matthew 7: 1 – 6.
We are coming to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has taught us about character and ethical behavior. The followers of Jesus are supposed to be different in character from the rest of the world. We are to live like salt and light in an unsavory and dark world. Then, we are supposed to live out our character in unique ethical behavior. For example, Christians are to move the boundary between sin and obedience from the body to the heart. It is not enough to resist killing another person—Christians must remove the hatred from our hearts. It is not enough to resist committing adultery—Christians must remove the lust from our minds.
Now, Jesus turns his attention to our relationships with others. I believe this includes our relationships inside the church as well as outside the church. Very simply, Jesus said we should remove judgmentalism from our lives. He gave us a command, a warning and two parables about judgmentalism.
II. A Command: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged (verse 1).
The words “do not judge” are written as a command from Jesus to his followers. It is a very simple command—at least it is simple grammatically. It is a much more difficult command when we take seriously what Jesus commands us to do.
Grammatically, Jesus’ words are a present imperative. Imperative means it is a command. The present tense indicates continuous action. There are two ways to translate Jesus’ words. Either, “Do not judge;” or “Stop Judging.”
Judgment is a way of life for most people. In fact, we can argue a case for our mental capability to judge as one way we were created in the image of God. The animal kingdom does not have the kind of reasoning abilities found in the human mind. Every day human beings make decisions about right and wrong, obedience and sin, life and death. Animals are too preoccupied with matters of food, shelter and reproduction to be concerned with things like right and wrong or obedience and sin. If we obey this command to stop judging, we might cease to be human and become more like the animals.
However, since these words come as a commandment from Jesus, they are a call to live a higher form of human life. This is a matter of obedience and not a return to animalistic instinct. This tells me that Jesus has something different in mind than simply choosing between right and wrong or obedience and sin. Instead of judging between right and wrong, Jesus is telling us not to judge people.
As human beings, we have been created in the image of God. Our lives are to be a reflection of God, just as the moon is a reflection of the sun. We are to reflect God’s character in the way we live our lives. We are to reflect God’s love in the way we love other people. We are to reflect God’s grace in the way we extend grace to others. We were created in the image of God…BUT…We were not created to be God. That job is already filled.
Any time a human being places himself or herself in a position to judge another person, that person is claiming to be God. The problem with this is that we are not qualified to sit in judgment. God is sinless and without fault. Therefore, God is qualified to be our judge. I am not sinless and without fault. Therefore, I am one of the judged and not the judge.
Followers of Jesus are supposed to be good judges of right and wrong and obedience and sin. However, we are not to be fault-finders and critical of the shortcomings of others. God sees the motives in a person’s heart. We do not.
III. A Warning: For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (verse 2).
After giving us a simple command, Jesus gives us a warning: you will be judged in the same way you judge others.
There are two ways to interpret the passive voice of Jesus’ warning. On one hand, Jesus could be warning us that other people will judge us in the same way we judge them. On the other hand, this could be another example of a “divine passive.” In other words, you will be judged by God in the same way you judge other people.
If this is a “divine passive,” then this verse seems to parallel Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness in the Model Prayer. In Matthew 6: 12, Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Then, in verse 14, Jesus said, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
There is a close connection between our forgiveness and our willingness to forgive others. Also, there is a close connection between the way God judges us and the way we judge others.
I don’t subscribe to a legalistic view of either forgiveness or judgment. In fact, Jesus has been preaching against the legalism of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law. They are legalistic. And, Jesus does not want us to be like them. He wants us to be different. He wants us to be gracious and forgiving and non-judgmental. Perhaps the relationship is more like this… A person who has been forgiven by God knows how to forgive other people… A person who has experienced grace knows how to be gracious… A person who knows that God is my judge is non-judgmental toward others…
IV. A Parable: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye (verses 3 – 5).
This is one of several parables that I think people laughed at when Jesus first spoke it. It is a caricature. It is hyperbole. It is a little bit silly. Imagine what a person would look like with a giant log stuck in their eye! It’s an impossible scenario. Logs and planks don’t get stuck in your eye. Well, if a log did get stuck in your eye…you should seek medical attention immediately. You have a big problem.
Perhaps that is the point Jesus is making. Get help for your own imperfections before you start looking for imperfections in other people. None of us can take the plank out of our own eye. We can’t forgive our own sins. We can’t remove temptations from our lives. But we think we can remove “specks” from someone else’s eye.
In verse five, Jesus used the word “hypocrite” again. A hypocrite is an actor, who wears a mask to pretend to be someone he is not. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned us not to give financial gifts like hypocrites, not to pray like hypocrites and not to fast like hypocrites. Giving, praying and fasting are righteous acts that should be done before God and not other people. We are not supposed to do good deeds so other people can see us and congratulate us.
In this context, “hypocrite” has the same meaning. It is an actor, a pretender, someone who is wearing a mask to hide their true character. Have you ever thought of judgmentalism as a hypocritical act? Jesus says it is. Any time we try to remove a tiny speck from someone else’s eye (or life) we are pretending that we don’t have any specks or logs in our own eye (or life).
V. Another Parable: "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces (verse 6).
This is a strange parable. Its truth is fairly obvious. Dogs and pigs would rather have food than anything else. If you give something holy to a dog, it might get mad when it discovers it is not food. If you give pearls to pigs, they will trample them when they discover they cannot be eaten. That much is true. But, what does this mean?
The terms “dog” and “pig” are significant here. Ancient Jews often referred to Gentiles as “dogs.” First Century residents of Israel referred to their Roman occupiers as “pigs.” “Dogs” and “pigs” were derogatory terms for outsiders.
In verse 5, Jesus used the word “brother.” This is a word the New Testament uses to describe other Christians—people who are also members of the church. It refers to insiders, not outsiders.
VI. Conclusion (Matthew 18: 10 – 35).
In Matthew 18, there is a teaching of Jesus which has been interpreted by many as a four step process for church discipline. In other words, it is a process to follow in order to “kick someone out of your church.” And this is what I always thought it was, until I actually read it:
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. (Matthew 18: 15 – 17).”
Two things about this passage make it difficult for me to think of it as a process for church discipline.
First, notice the context. This teaching falls in between two parables. The first parable is about a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep safe in the pen to find one lost sheep. The second parable is about a slave who receives mercy from his master and immediately shows no mercy to others. This entire context is a teaching about showing mercy to a fellow Christian and seeking a lost brother.
Second, notice how Jesus ended his teaching in verse 17: “treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Jesus never used the phrase, “cast them out,” or “send them away” or “kick them out of the church.” Jesus said, “treat them like pagans and tax collectors.” How did Jesus treat pagans and tax collectors? Jesus loved pagans and tax collectors. Jesus reached out to them. Jesus ate supper with them. Jesus made them disciples! (We think Matthew himself was a tax collector!)
I think if we understand what Jesus said about dogs and pigs, we will understand what he was saying about judgmentalism. For example, judgmentalism is always wrong—both inside the church and outside the church. However, it is acceptable for one Christian brother to help another Christian brother. First, take your own sins and faults to Jesus for forgiveness. Then, extend forgiveness to your brother as you restore him or her.
However, if someone will not accept the grace and forgiveness of Christ, then they will certainly not accept your attempts to correct their behavior. Correcting a non-Christian is as foolish as giving something holy to a dog or giving pearls to pigs.
Matthew 7: 1 – 6.
I. Introduction.
Two events happened this past week that cast Christians in a bad light. The first took place when TV evangelist Pat Robertson attempted to interpret the Haitian earthquake as God’s judgment on Haiti. Robertson claims that in the 1700’s the Haitian people were being held as slaves to the French. In order to escape their slave masters, the people made a “pact with the devil.” They would worship the devil if he would rescue them from slavery.
If you subscribe to Jim Denison’s daily email devotional, you probably know that he wrote about this “pact with the devil” four days last week. If you want to learn more of the “facts” behind this, you can read his archived devotionals at http://www.godissues.com. Suffice it to say, there is no historical evidence that such a “pact with the devil” ever took place. Also, it seems problematic to me that if the devil freed the Haitian slaves, then God is on the side of the oppressors and Satan is on the side of freedom.
This isn’t the first time Pat Robertson has made outrageous claims about disasters and God’s judgment. He said the same thing about Hurricane Katrina and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. He said September 11 was God’s judgment on the United States for our approval of homosexuality and abortion. He claimed Hurricane Katrina was God’s judgment on the wickedness of New Orleans. In both of these cases, it seems that God “missed.” September 11 had little affect on homosexuality in the United States, and Bourbon Street in New Orleans is in the section of the city least affected by Hurricane Katrina. (Bourbon Street is one of the few areas of New Orleans built above sea level.)
The second event took place in the McLennan County Courthouse in Waco, Texas. A pastor—with whom I went to seminary—was convicted of killing his wife and making it look like a suicide. Every day of testimony, the Waco Tribune Herald posted a live blog on their website (http://www.wacotrib.com) from inside the courtroom. So, at least once a day, I read summaries of all the testimony and proceedings.
If you are familiar with the way the blogosphere operates, you know it is an interactive experience. You don’t just read the written posts. You can add your “two cents worth” in the comments section. You will be glad to know that I did not post any comments last week. But, I did read some of the comments.
Most people wrote comments about their opinions of the case or of their relationship with the defendant and his wife. However, there were some comments of a theological nature. Some people projected this pastor’s actions onto all pastors or even onto all Christians. These people expressed their view that all Christians are hypocrites—claiming to believe in love and forgiveness and living like Jesus, but actually living secret lives. Non-Christians accuse us of expecting them to live a lifestyle that we are unwilling and unable to live ourselves.
Our response to these events is to claim that not all Christians are like Pat Robertson or the pastor in Waco. Or, we insist that the world should stop judging all Christians by the conduct of a few.
But, perhaps we deserve the criticism and judgmentalism. After all, Christians can be some of the most difficult people to be around when life is falling apart. Would you rather talk to your friends at work or your friends at church when you find out that your son is in jail or your daughter is pregnant? Sometimes the friends at work are more likely to be supportive and less likely to be judgmental.
This was not God’s intent for the church. This is not what Jesus had in mind when he preached his Sermon on the Mount.
Read Matthew 7: 1 – 6.
We are coming to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has taught us about character and ethical behavior. The followers of Jesus are supposed to be different in character from the rest of the world. We are to live like salt and light in an unsavory and dark world. Then, we are supposed to live out our character in unique ethical behavior. For example, Christians are to move the boundary between sin and obedience from the body to the heart. It is not enough to resist killing another person—Christians must remove the hatred from our hearts. It is not enough to resist committing adultery—Christians must remove the lust from our minds.
Now, Jesus turns his attention to our relationships with others. I believe this includes our relationships inside the church as well as outside the church. Very simply, Jesus said we should remove judgmentalism from our lives. He gave us a command, a warning and two parables about judgmentalism.
II. A Command: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged (verse 1).
The words “do not judge” are written as a command from Jesus to his followers. It is a very simple command—at least it is simple grammatically. It is a much more difficult command when we take seriously what Jesus commands us to do.
Grammatically, Jesus’ words are a present imperative. Imperative means it is a command. The present tense indicates continuous action. There are two ways to translate Jesus’ words. Either, “Do not judge;” or “Stop Judging.”
Judgment is a way of life for most people. In fact, we can argue a case for our mental capability to judge as one way we were created in the image of God. The animal kingdom does not have the kind of reasoning abilities found in the human mind. Every day human beings make decisions about right and wrong, obedience and sin, life and death. Animals are too preoccupied with matters of food, shelter and reproduction to be concerned with things like right and wrong or obedience and sin. If we obey this command to stop judging, we might cease to be human and become more like the animals.
However, since these words come as a commandment from Jesus, they are a call to live a higher form of human life. This is a matter of obedience and not a return to animalistic instinct. This tells me that Jesus has something different in mind than simply choosing between right and wrong or obedience and sin. Instead of judging between right and wrong, Jesus is telling us not to judge people.
As human beings, we have been created in the image of God. Our lives are to be a reflection of God, just as the moon is a reflection of the sun. We are to reflect God’s character in the way we live our lives. We are to reflect God’s love in the way we love other people. We are to reflect God’s grace in the way we extend grace to others. We were created in the image of God…BUT…We were not created to be God. That job is already filled.
Any time a human being places himself or herself in a position to judge another person, that person is claiming to be God. The problem with this is that we are not qualified to sit in judgment. God is sinless and without fault. Therefore, God is qualified to be our judge. I am not sinless and without fault. Therefore, I am one of the judged and not the judge.
Followers of Jesus are supposed to be good judges of right and wrong and obedience and sin. However, we are not to be fault-finders and critical of the shortcomings of others. God sees the motives in a person’s heart. We do not.
III. A Warning: For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (verse 2).
After giving us a simple command, Jesus gives us a warning: you will be judged in the same way you judge others.
There are two ways to interpret the passive voice of Jesus’ warning. On one hand, Jesus could be warning us that other people will judge us in the same way we judge them. On the other hand, this could be another example of a “divine passive.” In other words, you will be judged by God in the same way you judge other people.
If this is a “divine passive,” then this verse seems to parallel Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness in the Model Prayer. In Matthew 6: 12, Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Then, in verse 14, Jesus said, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
There is a close connection between our forgiveness and our willingness to forgive others. Also, there is a close connection between the way God judges us and the way we judge others.
I don’t subscribe to a legalistic view of either forgiveness or judgment. In fact, Jesus has been preaching against the legalism of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law. They are legalistic. And, Jesus does not want us to be like them. He wants us to be different. He wants us to be gracious and forgiving and non-judgmental. Perhaps the relationship is more like this… A person who has been forgiven by God knows how to forgive other people… A person who has experienced grace knows how to be gracious… A person who knows that God is my judge is non-judgmental toward others…
IV. A Parable: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye (verses 3 – 5).
This is one of several parables that I think people laughed at when Jesus first spoke it. It is a caricature. It is hyperbole. It is a little bit silly. Imagine what a person would look like with a giant log stuck in their eye! It’s an impossible scenario. Logs and planks don’t get stuck in your eye. Well, if a log did get stuck in your eye…you should seek medical attention immediately. You have a big problem.
Perhaps that is the point Jesus is making. Get help for your own imperfections before you start looking for imperfections in other people. None of us can take the plank out of our own eye. We can’t forgive our own sins. We can’t remove temptations from our lives. But we think we can remove “specks” from someone else’s eye.
In verse five, Jesus used the word “hypocrite” again. A hypocrite is an actor, who wears a mask to pretend to be someone he is not. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned us not to give financial gifts like hypocrites, not to pray like hypocrites and not to fast like hypocrites. Giving, praying and fasting are righteous acts that should be done before God and not other people. We are not supposed to do good deeds so other people can see us and congratulate us.
In this context, “hypocrite” has the same meaning. It is an actor, a pretender, someone who is wearing a mask to hide their true character. Have you ever thought of judgmentalism as a hypocritical act? Jesus says it is. Any time we try to remove a tiny speck from someone else’s eye (or life) we are pretending that we don’t have any specks or logs in our own eye (or life).
V. Another Parable: "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces (verse 6).
This is a strange parable. Its truth is fairly obvious. Dogs and pigs would rather have food than anything else. If you give something holy to a dog, it might get mad when it discovers it is not food. If you give pearls to pigs, they will trample them when they discover they cannot be eaten. That much is true. But, what does this mean?
The terms “dog” and “pig” are significant here. Ancient Jews often referred to Gentiles as “dogs.” First Century residents of Israel referred to their Roman occupiers as “pigs.” “Dogs” and “pigs” were derogatory terms for outsiders.
In verse 5, Jesus used the word “brother.” This is a word the New Testament uses to describe other Christians—people who are also members of the church. It refers to insiders, not outsiders.
VI. Conclusion (Matthew 18: 10 – 35).
In Matthew 18, there is a teaching of Jesus which has been interpreted by many as a four step process for church discipline. In other words, it is a process to follow in order to “kick someone out of your church.” And this is what I always thought it was, until I actually read it:
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. (Matthew 18: 15 – 17).”
Two things about this passage make it difficult for me to think of it as a process for church discipline.
First, notice the context. This teaching falls in between two parables. The first parable is about a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep safe in the pen to find one lost sheep. The second parable is about a slave who receives mercy from his master and immediately shows no mercy to others. This entire context is a teaching about showing mercy to a fellow Christian and seeking a lost brother.
Second, notice how Jesus ended his teaching in verse 17: “treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Jesus never used the phrase, “cast them out,” or “send them away” or “kick them out of the church.” Jesus said, “treat them like pagans and tax collectors.” How did Jesus treat pagans and tax collectors? Jesus loved pagans and tax collectors. Jesus reached out to them. Jesus ate supper with them. Jesus made them disciples! (We think Matthew himself was a tax collector!)
I think if we understand what Jesus said about dogs and pigs, we will understand what he was saying about judgmentalism. For example, judgmentalism is always wrong—both inside the church and outside the church. However, it is acceptable for one Christian brother to help another Christian brother. First, take your own sins and faults to Jesus for forgiveness. Then, extend forgiveness to your brother as you restore him or her.
However, if someone will not accept the grace and forgiveness of Christ, then they will certainly not accept your attempts to correct their behavior. Correcting a non-Christian is as foolish as giving something holy to a dog or giving pearls to pigs.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010: Why Worry?
Why Worry?
Matthew 6: 25 – 34.
I. Introduction.
A friend shared with me a list out of the book How to Make Yourself Miserable, by Dan Greenberg and Marcia Jacobs. If you want something to worry about, this is a good place to start.
· Make a list of all the people you know who are younger than you and more successful than you.
· Go on vacation and imagine either the office falls apart without you or that the office runs better without you.
· Write a letter and place it in the mailbox. Then, try to figure out which part of the letter will be misunderstood.
· Get a medical book (or log onto www.webmd.com) and look up ten fatal diseases. Then, see how many symptoms you already have.
· Go to the cosmetics counter at the mall. Ask the woman working there what you can do to improve your face.
· Buy a stock and check the market value of the stock every day. Try to figure out how much money you are losing per day.
Anxiety and worry are an important part of who we are. If we think of anxiety and worry as forms of fear—fear of the future, then we could even build a case that we would not have survived as a human race without anxiety and worry. In some cases, fear can be a positive and protective force. Imagine a prehistoric man coming face to face with a saber tooth tiger…Or an African man who walks up on a lion…Or a Texas cowboy hearing the rattles of a rattlesnake. Fear is what protects us from danger.
Worry is a positive when it causes us to wear our seat belts or to resist the urge to drive 100 miles per hour. Worry is a good thing if it leads us to buy insurance policies for our homes, cars and even our lives. Worry is a helpful thing as long as it drives us away from risky lifestyle choices, because we don’t want our kids to grow up without a father. However, there is a difference between the fear of a rattlesnake and worrying about children growing up without a father. Fear is a response to a real threat. Worry is the fear of an imagined threat. Most of what we worry about never actually happens in the real world.
We have all experienced worry at one time in our lives. You know what worry feels like. But, do you know what the word “worry” actually means?
“Worry” comes from the Old English word “wyrgan,” which means “to strangle”…In other words, to worry is to allow your imagination of the future to strangle you and squeeze the life out of your present life.
One of my favorite words to use describing my own worry is the word “Fret.” “Fret” comes from the Old English word “fretan” and the German word “fressen.” Both of these words refer to the act of an animal’s eating. Therefore, to fret is to allow something to eat away at your heart or mind.
Maybe you are thinking: “I don’t worry or fret. I am just anxious.” Well, “anxious” comes from the Latin word “anguere,” which also means “to choke.” It has the same root as the word “anger.”
From a practical standpoint, I think we can all agree that worrying, fretting and being anxious are not good for us. Worry paralyzes us in the present, because we are so afraid of our imagined future.
Medically speaking, we have learned in recent years that worry can shorten our lives and cause health problems.
Spiritually speaking…Well, Jesus had something to say about worry in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells us that worry is a sin, because it reveals how little we actually trust God to take care of us in the future.
Read Matthew 6: 25 – 34.
The first word Jesus said in this passage is the word “therefore.” Usually, the word “therefore” tells us to look back at the passage that came before. In this case, Jesus is calling our attention to his teaching about storing up treasures in heaven rather than treasures on earth. Treasures on earth is the biblical phrase for “stuff.” Jesus teaches us that “stuff” we accumulate on earth cannot satisfy our desires. It does not satisfy, because it is only temporary and it can never be secure. The more “stuff” we accumulate on earth, the more likely we are to worry about our “stuff.” We worry about thieves, rust or market fluctuation. In this case, we don’t have “stuff.” Our “stuff” has us. It controls our lives through worry and anxiety. Therefore, do not worry.
On one hand, there is a difference between worry and fear. Fear is real. Worry is imagined. On the other hand, there is also a difference between worry and faith. Worry is obsessed with the future. Faith places the future in God’s hands.
II. Worry Cannot Provide Security
Sometimes we worry about security because we can’t see any good options. We run out of week before we run out of work to do. We run out of money before we run out of month. We never know week to week or month to month how it is going to work out, but it always works out.
Jesus tells us that worrying over security is a distinctive human characteristic. The plants and the animals don’t worry about their security.
For example…Birds do not plant crops, harvest crops or hoard crops in barns. Yet, the birds have plenty of food to eat.
Wildflowers do not labor and spin. I used to imagine flowers in the field spinning around in circles when I read Jesus’ words. That is not what “spin” means. It refers to the act of spinning wool into thread. In other words, flowers do not labor over making their own clothes. And, they don’t go to the mall or drive to Tyler and The Woodlands trying to find something to wear.
Worrying is something only humans do. And worrying is silly when we compare ourselves to the rest of God’s created order. Human beings are the only created beings that were created in the image of God. Human beings were the only created beings with whom God desired an eternal relationship. Therefore, if God can provide for the birds and the flowers, God must also be capable of providing for those he loves.
Food and clothing are two of the three basic human needs: food, shelter and clothing. Jesus is not talking about something that is insignificant. Yet, we once had an even greater need. Sin separated us from God. Our sin condemned us to eternal death in hell. So, God took the initiative to send his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and to rise again. If God can be trusted in eternal matters, then God can be trusted with temporary matters like food and clothing.
III. Worry Cannot Make Life Better or Longer
Verse 27 demonstrates the true futility of worry. Life is in God’s hands, not ours. Worrying does nothing to improve life.
There are two ways to translate verse 27. Literally, it reads: “Who of you by worrying can add a single cubit to his height?” Symbolically, we can translate it: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Believe me…If I could worry myself about 4 inches taller, I would have done it 20 years ago. And, if I could make myself younger…Well, I’ll be 40 in about a year and a half… No one can make themselves taller or younger through worry. This is in God’s hands.
This verse contains a hint of irony as well. Worry cannot make life longer, it makes life shorter. Worry does not make life better, it makes life worse.
Since none of us can make our lives longer, the only choice we can make deals with the kind of life we will live. We cannot control the quantity of life, but we can control the quality of life. Since we cannot add days to our lives, we ought to add life to our days! The best quality of life is a life lived with Jesus in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the place where God is the King…The place where God is in control of all our decisions and all our steps.
IV. Worry Cannot Honor God
Jesus makes two statements about how worry does not honor God.
In verse 30, Jesus makes a connection between worry and a lack of faith. Obsessing about food, shelter and clothing denies God’s ability to provide for all our needs. It is a confession that we trust more in our own ability to provide for ourselves than God’s ability to provide for us.
Of course, this does not mean that Christians are not supposed to earn a living or to plan for the future. In the context, it teaches just the opposite. Jesus praised the birds and the flowers for their ability to live life without worry. Yet, notice that the birds are very industrious creatures. Robins dig for worms…Woodpeckers burrow holes in trees for insects…Buzzards fly in circles for hours searching for dead animals…Hawks hunt and stalk live prey. Also notice that plants develop buds and flowers as a result of an internal process of growth and development. Both birds and flowers are good examples of the ways we are to work and trust in God. Do what you can do to provide for your needs, but recognize that only God provides. Do what you can do, and leave the rest in God’s hands.
In verses 31 and 32, Jesus compares our worried activity with a pagan lifestyle. The pagans were not atheists. Pagans believe in a whole pantheon of gods. If you have ever read the stories of ancient Roman and Greek mythology, you will remember how these false gods were preoccupied with their own needs and desires. The false gods could not be trusted. They were unreliable and constantly changing their minds.
When we worry, we confess to the world that we do not believe our God is trustworthy. Yet, Jesus teaches us that God is like a Heavenly Father who knows us, loves us, and places our needs above all else. He knows what we need even before we ask. He wants to bless us and provide for all our needs…Just as an earthly father desires to give good gifts to his own child.
V. Worry Cannot Make Tomorrow a Better Day
Jesus ends his teaching about worry with a confusing statement about tomorrow. I think we can interpret this by saying something like: “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow there will be something entirely different to worry about.” Face tomorrow when tomorrow comes. Don’t obsess about something that may never happen. How many of your worries have actually happened? Most of the time we worry about the “worst-case-scenario,” only to face problems that are not as difficult as we first imagined them.
Some people live in the past, nostalgic for the “good ole days.” Living in the past guarantees that we do not have a present or a future.
Other people worry about the future, exchanging life today for the worries of tomorrow. Living in the “worst-case-scenario” guarantees that the past does not matter and the present is irrelevant.
Jesus did not tell us to stop worrying, because the future will be better than the past or present. He actually told us that tomorrow will be filled with “trouble.” Literally, Jesus said, “Each day has enough EVIL of its own.” Yet, he did promise to be with us… The same yesterday, today and tomorrow. As long as it is today, live in the presence and provision and protection of Jesus. Tomorrow will bring its own problems, but Jesus is already there.
VI. Conclusion.
The remedy for worry is found in verse 33… Seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
The verb “seek” is a present tense imperative. Imperative means it is a command from Jesus. The present tense means that is should be interpreted as continuous action. In other words, Jesus said: “Keep on seeking the Kingdom of God…” Don’t stop seeking the Kingdom of God. Don’t interrupt your seeking to spend time worrying about things you cannot control.
In 1934, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr prayed a short, simple prayer that has become life changing for many people. It has been titled “The Serenity Prayer” and has been adopted by many groups of folks, including Alcoholics Anonymous.
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things that I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Imagine a world in which we lived out that prayer…Accepting the things that we cannot change…Working to change the things we can change…Listening to God to discern the difference between the two…
Imagine a world in which we followed the command of Jesus…Keep on seeking God’s Kingdom…Don’t allow the cares of the world to interrupt our number one priority…
Matthew 6: 25 – 34.
I. Introduction.
A friend shared with me a list out of the book How to Make Yourself Miserable, by Dan Greenberg and Marcia Jacobs. If you want something to worry about, this is a good place to start.
· Make a list of all the people you know who are younger than you and more successful than you.
· Go on vacation and imagine either the office falls apart without you or that the office runs better without you.
· Write a letter and place it in the mailbox. Then, try to figure out which part of the letter will be misunderstood.
· Get a medical book (or log onto www.webmd.com) and look up ten fatal diseases. Then, see how many symptoms you already have.
· Go to the cosmetics counter at the mall. Ask the woman working there what you can do to improve your face.
· Buy a stock and check the market value of the stock every day. Try to figure out how much money you are losing per day.
Anxiety and worry are an important part of who we are. If we think of anxiety and worry as forms of fear—fear of the future, then we could even build a case that we would not have survived as a human race without anxiety and worry. In some cases, fear can be a positive and protective force. Imagine a prehistoric man coming face to face with a saber tooth tiger…Or an African man who walks up on a lion…Or a Texas cowboy hearing the rattles of a rattlesnake. Fear is what protects us from danger.
Worry is a positive when it causes us to wear our seat belts or to resist the urge to drive 100 miles per hour. Worry is a good thing if it leads us to buy insurance policies for our homes, cars and even our lives. Worry is a helpful thing as long as it drives us away from risky lifestyle choices, because we don’t want our kids to grow up without a father. However, there is a difference between the fear of a rattlesnake and worrying about children growing up without a father. Fear is a response to a real threat. Worry is the fear of an imagined threat. Most of what we worry about never actually happens in the real world.
We have all experienced worry at one time in our lives. You know what worry feels like. But, do you know what the word “worry” actually means?
“Worry” comes from the Old English word “wyrgan,” which means “to strangle”…In other words, to worry is to allow your imagination of the future to strangle you and squeeze the life out of your present life.
One of my favorite words to use describing my own worry is the word “Fret.” “Fret” comes from the Old English word “fretan” and the German word “fressen.” Both of these words refer to the act of an animal’s eating. Therefore, to fret is to allow something to eat away at your heart or mind.
Maybe you are thinking: “I don’t worry or fret. I am just anxious.” Well, “anxious” comes from the Latin word “anguere,” which also means “to choke.” It has the same root as the word “anger.”
From a practical standpoint, I think we can all agree that worrying, fretting and being anxious are not good for us. Worry paralyzes us in the present, because we are so afraid of our imagined future.
Medically speaking, we have learned in recent years that worry can shorten our lives and cause health problems.
Spiritually speaking…Well, Jesus had something to say about worry in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells us that worry is a sin, because it reveals how little we actually trust God to take care of us in the future.
Read Matthew 6: 25 – 34.
The first word Jesus said in this passage is the word “therefore.” Usually, the word “therefore” tells us to look back at the passage that came before. In this case, Jesus is calling our attention to his teaching about storing up treasures in heaven rather than treasures on earth. Treasures on earth is the biblical phrase for “stuff.” Jesus teaches us that “stuff” we accumulate on earth cannot satisfy our desires. It does not satisfy, because it is only temporary and it can never be secure. The more “stuff” we accumulate on earth, the more likely we are to worry about our “stuff.” We worry about thieves, rust or market fluctuation. In this case, we don’t have “stuff.” Our “stuff” has us. It controls our lives through worry and anxiety. Therefore, do not worry.
On one hand, there is a difference between worry and fear. Fear is real. Worry is imagined. On the other hand, there is also a difference between worry and faith. Worry is obsessed with the future. Faith places the future in God’s hands.
II. Worry Cannot Provide Security
Sometimes we worry about security because we can’t see any good options. We run out of week before we run out of work to do. We run out of money before we run out of month. We never know week to week or month to month how it is going to work out, but it always works out.
Jesus tells us that worrying over security is a distinctive human characteristic. The plants and the animals don’t worry about their security.
For example…Birds do not plant crops, harvest crops or hoard crops in barns. Yet, the birds have plenty of food to eat.
Wildflowers do not labor and spin. I used to imagine flowers in the field spinning around in circles when I read Jesus’ words. That is not what “spin” means. It refers to the act of spinning wool into thread. In other words, flowers do not labor over making their own clothes. And, they don’t go to the mall or drive to Tyler and The Woodlands trying to find something to wear.
Worrying is something only humans do. And worrying is silly when we compare ourselves to the rest of God’s created order. Human beings are the only created beings that were created in the image of God. Human beings were the only created beings with whom God desired an eternal relationship. Therefore, if God can provide for the birds and the flowers, God must also be capable of providing for those he loves.
Food and clothing are two of the three basic human needs: food, shelter and clothing. Jesus is not talking about something that is insignificant. Yet, we once had an even greater need. Sin separated us from God. Our sin condemned us to eternal death in hell. So, God took the initiative to send his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and to rise again. If God can be trusted in eternal matters, then God can be trusted with temporary matters like food and clothing.
III. Worry Cannot Make Life Better or Longer
Verse 27 demonstrates the true futility of worry. Life is in God’s hands, not ours. Worrying does nothing to improve life.
There are two ways to translate verse 27. Literally, it reads: “Who of you by worrying can add a single cubit to his height?” Symbolically, we can translate it: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
Believe me…If I could worry myself about 4 inches taller, I would have done it 20 years ago. And, if I could make myself younger…Well, I’ll be 40 in about a year and a half… No one can make themselves taller or younger through worry. This is in God’s hands.
This verse contains a hint of irony as well. Worry cannot make life longer, it makes life shorter. Worry does not make life better, it makes life worse.
Since none of us can make our lives longer, the only choice we can make deals with the kind of life we will live. We cannot control the quantity of life, but we can control the quality of life. Since we cannot add days to our lives, we ought to add life to our days! The best quality of life is a life lived with Jesus in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the place where God is the King…The place where God is in control of all our decisions and all our steps.
IV. Worry Cannot Honor God
Jesus makes two statements about how worry does not honor God.
In verse 30, Jesus makes a connection between worry and a lack of faith. Obsessing about food, shelter and clothing denies God’s ability to provide for all our needs. It is a confession that we trust more in our own ability to provide for ourselves than God’s ability to provide for us.
Of course, this does not mean that Christians are not supposed to earn a living or to plan for the future. In the context, it teaches just the opposite. Jesus praised the birds and the flowers for their ability to live life without worry. Yet, notice that the birds are very industrious creatures. Robins dig for worms…Woodpeckers burrow holes in trees for insects…Buzzards fly in circles for hours searching for dead animals…Hawks hunt and stalk live prey. Also notice that plants develop buds and flowers as a result of an internal process of growth and development. Both birds and flowers are good examples of the ways we are to work and trust in God. Do what you can do to provide for your needs, but recognize that only God provides. Do what you can do, and leave the rest in God’s hands.
In verses 31 and 32, Jesus compares our worried activity with a pagan lifestyle. The pagans were not atheists. Pagans believe in a whole pantheon of gods. If you have ever read the stories of ancient Roman and Greek mythology, you will remember how these false gods were preoccupied with their own needs and desires. The false gods could not be trusted. They were unreliable and constantly changing their minds.
When we worry, we confess to the world that we do not believe our God is trustworthy. Yet, Jesus teaches us that God is like a Heavenly Father who knows us, loves us, and places our needs above all else. He knows what we need even before we ask. He wants to bless us and provide for all our needs…Just as an earthly father desires to give good gifts to his own child.
V. Worry Cannot Make Tomorrow a Better Day
Jesus ends his teaching about worry with a confusing statement about tomorrow. I think we can interpret this by saying something like: “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow there will be something entirely different to worry about.” Face tomorrow when tomorrow comes. Don’t obsess about something that may never happen. How many of your worries have actually happened? Most of the time we worry about the “worst-case-scenario,” only to face problems that are not as difficult as we first imagined them.
Some people live in the past, nostalgic for the “good ole days.” Living in the past guarantees that we do not have a present or a future.
Other people worry about the future, exchanging life today for the worries of tomorrow. Living in the “worst-case-scenario” guarantees that the past does not matter and the present is irrelevant.
Jesus did not tell us to stop worrying, because the future will be better than the past or present. He actually told us that tomorrow will be filled with “trouble.” Literally, Jesus said, “Each day has enough EVIL of its own.” Yet, he did promise to be with us… The same yesterday, today and tomorrow. As long as it is today, live in the presence and provision and protection of Jesus. Tomorrow will bring its own problems, but Jesus is already there.
VI. Conclusion.
The remedy for worry is found in verse 33… Seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
The verb “seek” is a present tense imperative. Imperative means it is a command from Jesus. The present tense means that is should be interpreted as continuous action. In other words, Jesus said: “Keep on seeking the Kingdom of God…” Don’t stop seeking the Kingdom of God. Don’t interrupt your seeking to spend time worrying about things you cannot control.
In 1934, theologian Reinhold Niebuhr prayed a short, simple prayer that has become life changing for many people. It has been titled “The Serenity Prayer” and has been adopted by many groups of folks, including Alcoholics Anonymous.
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things that I can;
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Imagine a world in which we lived out that prayer…Accepting the things that we cannot change…Working to change the things we can change…Listening to God to discern the difference between the two…
Imagine a world in which we followed the command of Jesus…Keep on seeking God’s Kingdom…Don’t allow the cares of the world to interrupt our number one priority…
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Advent 4: Amazing Love
Amazing Love
Micah 5: 2 – 5a
I. Introduction.
Christians at Christmas time do not need to be reminded that Jesus is the reason for Christmas. We know that this is the season of the year when we celebrate God's love for us. In fact, Christmas is the fulfillment of one of our favorite Bible verses--John 3: 16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (NIV)."
Christmas is not an event that sneaked up on us. It was prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem...
Read Micah 5: 2 – 5a.
II. Verse 2… "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
The first word of verse 2 is the word “but.” It indicates that Micah is making a transition. In chapter 4, Micah addressed his prophecy to the city of Jerusalem. In chapter 5, Micah addressed his prophecy to the “little town of Bethlehem.”
There are many ways we can draw a distinction between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Jerusalem is the capital city of the nation of Judah. It is the center of Judah’s political life. Jerusalem is home to kings and princes and political movers and shakers and not a few political “want to be’s.” Jerusalem is also the center of commerce for Judah. Businessmen from all over Judah moved to Jerusalem to seek their fortunes. And, many of them found their fortunes there, selling their products at highly inflated rates. Jerusalem was the home for the Temple in Micah’s day. The priests offered sacrifices almost daily. People came to worship God and traveled to Jerusalem on religious pilgrimages. It was also commonplace to see and hear prophets preaching the Word of the LORD on the streets of Jerusalem.
By contrast, Bethlehem was nothing like Jerusalem. Bethlehem was not even big enough to be considered a city. We might think of Bethlehem as a town, but the writers of the New Testament refer to Bethlehem as a village. There are no powerful political figures living in the village of Bethlehem. The citizens of Bethlehem were not members of the social elite. They were not wealthy businessmen, like in Jerusalem. The residents of Bethlehem were more than likely peasant farmers. They worked hard all day, every day and were never able to get ahead. More than likely, they could never get ahead, because they did not own their own farmland. They were renting the farmland from wealthy people who lived in Jerusalem.
This is one of Micah’s consistent themes in his prophecy. Micah was a small town prophet who preached against the big capital cities of Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah). In fact, this is another reason why the word “but” appears in verse 2. There is a sharp contrast between the landscape of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. There is a sharp contrast between the people who live in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. AND…There is a sharp contrast in the way God will deal with Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Micah prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed by God’s judgment, BUT Bethlehem would be blessed as the birthplace for a new King of God’s people.
It’s no surprise that Micah prophesied destruction for Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the epitome of everything Micah despised. Micah was a bold prophet, who spoke harsh words of judgment against the people of Jerusalem. Micah singled out three groups of people for God’s judgment: the political leaders, the business leaders and the religious leaders.
The political leaders of Jerusalem had turned their backs on the everyday needs of the people of Judah. There was no justice in the land, because the king and his cabinet could be bribed to do whatever the rich wanted them to do. The business leaders of Jerusalem were exploiting the poor. They were engaged in immoral practices like price gouging. The rich were getting richer, while the poor became poorer. The religious leaders of Jerusalem were more interested in money than being faithful to the LORD. The priests were corrupt and the prophets gave good news to anyone who was willing to pay the prophets…Even when they had to lie to give a good report.
Micah’s words to Bethlehem are a little surprising. God’s plan for his people would be accomplished through an insignificant village and not a great city. If you have read the Bible, this might not come as a surprise to you. After all, this is the way God works. God uses the weak to lead the strong. God chooses the youngest to rule over the oldest. We see this in the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Joseph was the youngest of eleven brothers. (Eventually, Benjamin was born and became the youngest, but much of Joseph’s story happened before Benjamin was born.) His ten brothers despised him. Yet, God used Joseph to save the entire Hebrew people from a world-wide famine. We see this in the story of David, the ideal King of Israel. Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint a king to replace Saul. Jesse brought seven sons before Samuel to see which one God would choose. David was left tending the sheep in the pasture, because surely God would not choose the youngest of eight brothers. Yet, God chose David, because God’s choice does not usually look like the world’s choice. God chooses the least to lead the greatest.
There is another surprising thing about Micah’s prophecy to Bethlehem. When God’s people needed a savior, God would bring that savior out of Bethlehem and not Jerusalem. This is surprising, because Bethlehem is the home of country folk. Bethlehem is the home of peasant farmers. Jerusalem was the home of kings, wealthy men and religious leaders. Think about what that implies. The savior of God’s people will not be a king, a wealthy businessman or a religious leader. The savior will not have any of the earthly characteristics of a leader.
III. Verse 3… Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
When we read the book of Micah, we encounter a dual theme. On one hand, Micah preached about coming judgment. On the other hand, Micah preached about future hope for God’s people.
More than likely, Micah preached in Judah around 750 BC. His career included the time when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians. His primary audience was the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Micah used the destruction of Israel as a warning to Judah. He told Judah that they were not exempt from God’s judgment. Just as God brought judgment on Israel for her sins, God would bring judgment on Judah for her sins. Of course, Judah did not experience this judgment for another 200 years. However, Micah was right. Judah was defeated by the Babylonians, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the people were carried off as captives into a foreign land.
Yet, even in the face of judgment, Micah preached about hope. One of his common themes to describe judgment and hope was the image of a woman in labor. If you think about this image, it makes a lot of sense. A woman in labor experiences extreme pain and discomfort. But, this pain does not last forever. It will come to an end. And, when the labor pains are over, there is joy in the birth of a newborn baby.
This is how Micah wove together his themes of God’s judgment and hope. Judgment would be extremely painful and uncomfortable for Judah, but it would be temporary. Once the pain of judgment was over, there would be joy and hope and peace and love in the land. This joy, hope, peace and love was dependent on a new King who would be born in Bethlehem.
It’s interesting to me that Micah never gave the people of Judah a precise timeline of when they could expect this new King to be born. He told them WHO the king would be—he would be a descendant of David. He told them WHAT he would be—a new and perfect King. He told them WHERE the King would be born—Bethlehem. He told the WHY the King would be born—to fulfill God’s plan for God’s people. But, Micah never told them WHEN.
It was the later interpreters of Micah that wrestled with the question of WHEN the new King would be born. First, they looked for the new King to come immediately after the Exile. The Judahites were only in Babylonian captivity for seventy years. After seventy years, they returned home…But there was no new King. Then, Jewish religious leaders turned their attention to the future. The new King would be born in Bethlehem as a sign of God’s new Kingdom—when God would reestablish Israel as the center of all earthly politics.
However, the Gospel of Matthew has a different understanding of when the new King would be born. In Matthew 2, we read the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Luke tells us the story of the shepherds, who were “out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Luke tells us that the shepherds were the first to visit Jesus in Bethlehem. Matthew doesn’t mention the shepherds. Instead, Matthew tells us about Magi (Wise Men), who traveled to Israel from foreign countries.
The Wise Men were searching for a King. Where do you go to find a King? You go to the capital city. It makes perfect sense that the Wise Men first stopped in Jerusalem to search for the new King. There was no new King in Jerusalem. There was an old king. The old king asked his religious leaders where the new King was supposed to be born, and they quoted Micah 5: 2. The new King was to be born in Bethlehem. Jesus is the new King.
IV. Verses 4 – 5a… He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.
Micah gave us a great description of the new King that make it easy for us to associate Jesus and the new King.
1. Jesus is not a political King…Jesus did not come to create a new political kingdom through politics or military strength. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, which is a spiritual kingdom with impact on the physical world we live in. A spiritual relationship with God affects our politics just like it affects the way we live our everyday lives, but the Kingdom of God is neither limited to geopolitical boundaries or one political system.
2. Jesus is not a King for the wealthy…Even in the midst of a recession, you and I live in one of the wealthiest nations on the earth. So, it may sound like bad news to say that Jesus is not King of the wealthy. God’s Kingdom is available equally to wealthy, poor, middle class, any economic status. However, not all wealthy people feel attraction to God’s Kingdom, because Jesus teaches us not to focus our lives on accumulating wealth.
3. Jesus is not a religious King…On one hand, this seems contradictory in that Christianity is listed among the world religions. On the other hand, this is not a contradiction in that Jesus calls us to a relationship, not a religious system. Jesus did not come to restore or even to reform Judaism. Jesus came to grant access to God outside the parameters of religion, especially the sacrificial system.
4. Jesus’ origins are from eternity…The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was not the beginning of Jesus’ life. It was the beginning of his Incarnation. Jesus is fully God and was present with God in the act of creation. However, Christmas is when God condescended to us as a baby in a manger. God did not reveal himself as something to be feared or as something to be manipulated. God revealed himself as a person, with whom relationship is possible.
5. Jesus is our Shepherd…There are several aspects of a shepherd that also describe Jesus. Shepherds nourish, protect and provide for their sheep. Shepherds live among their sheep. Shepherds love their sheep and lay down their lives for their sheep.
6. Jesus is the Name of the LORD…Name in the Bible is a reference to a person’s character. When God changed a person’s character, he often demonstrated it by changing their name. Jesus is fully God in Name and in Character. No other king in Israel’s history drew their authority from the Name of God. Jesus was not wealthy, elite or even of noble birth. His authority comes from his character.
7. Jesus rules over the ends of the earth…Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise God made to David that one of David’s descendants would always be king of Israel. However, Jesus’ reign goes beyond the geopolitical boundaries of Israel. All nations, all races, all peoples are part of God’s Kingdom through faith.
8. Jesus is the source of Peace…The Hebrew notion of Peace does not refer to the absence of conflict. The Hebrew word shalom is built on the root word that means “whole” or “complete.” The only true peace in this life comes from a relationship with God through Jesus, making us complete…
V. Conclusion.
At Christmas, we celebrate and worship, because God loves us so much that he gave us the greatest gift. He gave us himself. This year, instead of thinking of Christmas as a “gift giving” season, let’s think of it as a time to receive God’s gift of love.
Micah 5: 2 – 5a
I. Introduction.
Christians at Christmas time do not need to be reminded that Jesus is the reason for Christmas. We know that this is the season of the year when we celebrate God's love for us. In fact, Christmas is the fulfillment of one of our favorite Bible verses--John 3: 16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (NIV)."
Christmas is not an event that sneaked up on us. It was prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem...
Read Micah 5: 2 – 5a.
II. Verse 2… "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
The first word of verse 2 is the word “but.” It indicates that Micah is making a transition. In chapter 4, Micah addressed his prophecy to the city of Jerusalem. In chapter 5, Micah addressed his prophecy to the “little town of Bethlehem.”
There are many ways we can draw a distinction between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Jerusalem is the capital city of the nation of Judah. It is the center of Judah’s political life. Jerusalem is home to kings and princes and political movers and shakers and not a few political “want to be’s.” Jerusalem is also the center of commerce for Judah. Businessmen from all over Judah moved to Jerusalem to seek their fortunes. And, many of them found their fortunes there, selling their products at highly inflated rates. Jerusalem was the home for the Temple in Micah’s day. The priests offered sacrifices almost daily. People came to worship God and traveled to Jerusalem on religious pilgrimages. It was also commonplace to see and hear prophets preaching the Word of the LORD on the streets of Jerusalem.
By contrast, Bethlehem was nothing like Jerusalem. Bethlehem was not even big enough to be considered a city. We might think of Bethlehem as a town, but the writers of the New Testament refer to Bethlehem as a village. There are no powerful political figures living in the village of Bethlehem. The citizens of Bethlehem were not members of the social elite. They were not wealthy businessmen, like in Jerusalem. The residents of Bethlehem were more than likely peasant farmers. They worked hard all day, every day and were never able to get ahead. More than likely, they could never get ahead, because they did not own their own farmland. They were renting the farmland from wealthy people who lived in Jerusalem.
This is one of Micah’s consistent themes in his prophecy. Micah was a small town prophet who preached against the big capital cities of Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah). In fact, this is another reason why the word “but” appears in verse 2. There is a sharp contrast between the landscape of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. There is a sharp contrast between the people who live in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. AND…There is a sharp contrast in the way God will deal with Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Micah prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed by God’s judgment, BUT Bethlehem would be blessed as the birthplace for a new King of God’s people.
It’s no surprise that Micah prophesied destruction for Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the epitome of everything Micah despised. Micah was a bold prophet, who spoke harsh words of judgment against the people of Jerusalem. Micah singled out three groups of people for God’s judgment: the political leaders, the business leaders and the religious leaders.
The political leaders of Jerusalem had turned their backs on the everyday needs of the people of Judah. There was no justice in the land, because the king and his cabinet could be bribed to do whatever the rich wanted them to do. The business leaders of Jerusalem were exploiting the poor. They were engaged in immoral practices like price gouging. The rich were getting richer, while the poor became poorer. The religious leaders of Jerusalem were more interested in money than being faithful to the LORD. The priests were corrupt and the prophets gave good news to anyone who was willing to pay the prophets…Even when they had to lie to give a good report.
Micah’s words to Bethlehem are a little surprising. God’s plan for his people would be accomplished through an insignificant village and not a great city. If you have read the Bible, this might not come as a surprise to you. After all, this is the way God works. God uses the weak to lead the strong. God chooses the youngest to rule over the oldest. We see this in the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Joseph was the youngest of eleven brothers. (Eventually, Benjamin was born and became the youngest, but much of Joseph’s story happened before Benjamin was born.) His ten brothers despised him. Yet, God used Joseph to save the entire Hebrew people from a world-wide famine. We see this in the story of David, the ideal King of Israel. Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint a king to replace Saul. Jesse brought seven sons before Samuel to see which one God would choose. David was left tending the sheep in the pasture, because surely God would not choose the youngest of eight brothers. Yet, God chose David, because God’s choice does not usually look like the world’s choice. God chooses the least to lead the greatest.
There is another surprising thing about Micah’s prophecy to Bethlehem. When God’s people needed a savior, God would bring that savior out of Bethlehem and not Jerusalem. This is surprising, because Bethlehem is the home of country folk. Bethlehem is the home of peasant farmers. Jerusalem was the home of kings, wealthy men and religious leaders. Think about what that implies. The savior of God’s people will not be a king, a wealthy businessman or a religious leader. The savior will not have any of the earthly characteristics of a leader.
III. Verse 3… Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
When we read the book of Micah, we encounter a dual theme. On one hand, Micah preached about coming judgment. On the other hand, Micah preached about future hope for God’s people.
More than likely, Micah preached in Judah around 750 BC. His career included the time when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians. His primary audience was the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Micah used the destruction of Israel as a warning to Judah. He told Judah that they were not exempt from God’s judgment. Just as God brought judgment on Israel for her sins, God would bring judgment on Judah for her sins. Of course, Judah did not experience this judgment for another 200 years. However, Micah was right. Judah was defeated by the Babylonians, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the people were carried off as captives into a foreign land.
Yet, even in the face of judgment, Micah preached about hope. One of his common themes to describe judgment and hope was the image of a woman in labor. If you think about this image, it makes a lot of sense. A woman in labor experiences extreme pain and discomfort. But, this pain does not last forever. It will come to an end. And, when the labor pains are over, there is joy in the birth of a newborn baby.
This is how Micah wove together his themes of God’s judgment and hope. Judgment would be extremely painful and uncomfortable for Judah, but it would be temporary. Once the pain of judgment was over, there would be joy and hope and peace and love in the land. This joy, hope, peace and love was dependent on a new King who would be born in Bethlehem.
It’s interesting to me that Micah never gave the people of Judah a precise timeline of when they could expect this new King to be born. He told them WHO the king would be—he would be a descendant of David. He told them WHAT he would be—a new and perfect King. He told them WHERE the King would be born—Bethlehem. He told the WHY the King would be born—to fulfill God’s plan for God’s people. But, Micah never told them WHEN.
It was the later interpreters of Micah that wrestled with the question of WHEN the new King would be born. First, they looked for the new King to come immediately after the Exile. The Judahites were only in Babylonian captivity for seventy years. After seventy years, they returned home…But there was no new King. Then, Jewish religious leaders turned their attention to the future. The new King would be born in Bethlehem as a sign of God’s new Kingdom—when God would reestablish Israel as the center of all earthly politics.
However, the Gospel of Matthew has a different understanding of when the new King would be born. In Matthew 2, we read the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. Luke tells us the story of the shepherds, who were “out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” Luke tells us that the shepherds were the first to visit Jesus in Bethlehem. Matthew doesn’t mention the shepherds. Instead, Matthew tells us about Magi (Wise Men), who traveled to Israel from foreign countries.
The Wise Men were searching for a King. Where do you go to find a King? You go to the capital city. It makes perfect sense that the Wise Men first stopped in Jerusalem to search for the new King. There was no new King in Jerusalem. There was an old king. The old king asked his religious leaders where the new King was supposed to be born, and they quoted Micah 5: 2. The new King was to be born in Bethlehem. Jesus is the new King.
IV. Verses 4 – 5a… He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.
Micah gave us a great description of the new King that make it easy for us to associate Jesus and the new King.
1. Jesus is not a political King…Jesus did not come to create a new political kingdom through politics or military strength. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, which is a spiritual kingdom with impact on the physical world we live in. A spiritual relationship with God affects our politics just like it affects the way we live our everyday lives, but the Kingdom of God is neither limited to geopolitical boundaries or one political system.
2. Jesus is not a King for the wealthy…Even in the midst of a recession, you and I live in one of the wealthiest nations on the earth. So, it may sound like bad news to say that Jesus is not King of the wealthy. God’s Kingdom is available equally to wealthy, poor, middle class, any economic status. However, not all wealthy people feel attraction to God’s Kingdom, because Jesus teaches us not to focus our lives on accumulating wealth.
3. Jesus is not a religious King…On one hand, this seems contradictory in that Christianity is listed among the world religions. On the other hand, this is not a contradiction in that Jesus calls us to a relationship, not a religious system. Jesus did not come to restore or even to reform Judaism. Jesus came to grant access to God outside the parameters of religion, especially the sacrificial system.
4. Jesus’ origins are from eternity…The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was not the beginning of Jesus’ life. It was the beginning of his Incarnation. Jesus is fully God and was present with God in the act of creation. However, Christmas is when God condescended to us as a baby in a manger. God did not reveal himself as something to be feared or as something to be manipulated. God revealed himself as a person, with whom relationship is possible.
5. Jesus is our Shepherd…There are several aspects of a shepherd that also describe Jesus. Shepherds nourish, protect and provide for their sheep. Shepherds live among their sheep. Shepherds love their sheep and lay down their lives for their sheep.
6. Jesus is the Name of the LORD…Name in the Bible is a reference to a person’s character. When God changed a person’s character, he often demonstrated it by changing their name. Jesus is fully God in Name and in Character. No other king in Israel’s history drew their authority from the Name of God. Jesus was not wealthy, elite or even of noble birth. His authority comes from his character.
7. Jesus rules over the ends of the earth…Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise God made to David that one of David’s descendants would always be king of Israel. However, Jesus’ reign goes beyond the geopolitical boundaries of Israel. All nations, all races, all peoples are part of God’s Kingdom through faith.
8. Jesus is the source of Peace…The Hebrew notion of Peace does not refer to the absence of conflict. The Hebrew word shalom is built on the root word that means “whole” or “complete.” The only true peace in this life comes from a relationship with God through Jesus, making us complete…
V. Conclusion.
At Christmas, we celebrate and worship, because God loves us so much that he gave us the greatest gift. He gave us himself. This year, instead of thinking of Christmas as a “gift giving” season, let’s think of it as a time to receive God’s gift of love.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Advent 3: Songs of Joy
Songs of Joy
Zephaniah 3: 14 – 20.
I. Introduction.
I’ve told this story once before…About the first time I attended the Rotary Club in Canton, Mississippi. Every pastor of First Baptist Church, Canton, Mississippi had been a member of the Canton Rotary Club. It was either written in my job description, or it was assumed that I would join the Rotary Club.
After I had been in Canton for about a week, a man in the church (Robert Filgo) called and announced that he would pick me up on Thursday to take me as his guest to the Rotary meeting. As I recall, he didn’t ask a question. He simply told me when to be ready.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we went through the buffet line and carried our food into the back room where the Rotary Club met. Mr. Filgo sat down and asked me to sit next to him. We were the first to sit at our table. In a few minutes, we were joined by the men who normally sat with Mr. Filgo. The first person introduced himself to me and said, “You are sitting in Cecil’s seat.” The next person introduced himself to me and said, “You’re sitting in Cecil’s seat.” Then, Cecil came in. I knew him from church. I asked him if I needed to move to another seat. He said, “No. I’ll sit in Jim’s seat.” When poor Jim came in, he had to find another table.
After the meal, the Rotary president called us to order and announced that we would sing the Rotary Song. He told us that since we were singing such a familiar song, we wouldn’t need the song books. Everyone in the room knew the words and sang along. That is, everyone except me.
When Mr. Filgo took me back to the church, he explained how I could join the Rotary Club. Again, he assumed that I would join and assumed that I wanted to join. I remember thinking to myself about how uncomfortable I was through the entire meeting. I wondered why anyone would want to join the Rotary. You don’t know where to sit and they sing strange songs. That is when I realized…This is what church looks like to some people. We sing songs that might be familiar to us but sound strange to the rest of the world. We sit in the same seat every week and think it is appropriate to tell new people they are sitting in the wrong seats.
Do you ever wonder why we sing in church? After all, church is perhaps the only public gathering in modern day life where we sing. But that is not the case with other cultures. If you watch soccer on TV—or if you plan to watch any of the World Cup soccer matches next year—you hear people singing. You don’t usually hear people singing at American sporting events like football, basketball and baseball. But soccer is not an American sport. It is a world sport. And the fans from other cultures sing in unison throughout the entire match.
Historically, singing is the way people express their joy. When the soccer match begins, people sing, because they are excited about what they hope their team will do in the match. As their team wins the game, the singing becomes louder and more joyous. This is why we sing in church. It is an expression of our joy. We have joy because of what God has done for us by sending his Son Jesus. We have joy, because we have been saved from sin, death and the devil. We have joy, because God has given us his presence to sustain us through any trouble or trial we might face in life. We have joy, because one day Jesus is coming back to take us to heaven to live with him eternally.
The prophet Zephaniah preached about the connection between joy and singing. Zephaniah did not describe one song of joy. He told us about two songs of joy.
Read Zephaniah 3: 14 – 20.
I am going to assume that you are a lot like me. Until this week, I have never really studied the book of Zephaniah. I am going to assume that you have not heard many sermons from Zephaniah. After all, today is my first time to preach from Zephaniah in ten years of preaching every Sunday. And I have learned a lot about Zephaniah and the context of his prophecy.
The words I just read come as somewhat of a surprise if you have read the entire book of Zephaniah. These are words of joy and singing, which don’t seem to fit with the rest of what Zephaniah has said.
II. Zephaniah 1: 2 – 3… "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. "I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth," declares the LORD.
The first words out of Zephaniah’s mouth were words of doom. He predicts that a day is coming when the entire world will be swept away by the hand of God. In many ways, Zephaniah’s words remind me of the words God spoke to Noah in Genesis 6: 7, about the coming flood.
In the days of Noah, the world had become so corrupt that God decided to start over. On one hand, the great flood was an act of judgment in that God destroyed all that he had created. On the other hand, judgment is never God’s ultimate or final goal. The destruction of the flood created a new world inhabited by a new people.
In the same way, this is the kind of judgment Zephaniah described. God does not take delight in judgment. God takes delight in the restoration and redemption that comes as a result of the judgment. Yet, judgment is necessary before God’s redemption can be established.
III. Zephaniah 1: 12… At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.'
As you can imagine, this was not a very popular message. It would be OK for Zephaniah to preach about God’s judgment on Assyria. After all, Assyria had recently destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It would be Ok for Zephaniah to preach about God’s Judgment on Egypt. After all, Egypt had held God’s people as slaves for hundreds of years and at this particular time in history, they were trying to become an international empire. It would be OK for Zephaniah to preach about God’s judgment on Babylon. After all, Babylon was the empire that eventually conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the empire that God’s people needed to worry about the most.
Yet, Zephaniah preached about God’s judgment coming on God’s own people. The people of Judah. The city of Jerusalem.
This is a message we need to hear today. God was bringing his judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, because God’s people had become complacent. Do you know what “complacent” means? It means to be satisfied with the way things are. It means to have opportunities to make the world a better place and to choose to do nothing. It means to be satisfied with being lazy and doing nothing.
Should I preach a sermon on “complacency” for our church today? I am reluctant to preach on “complacency,” because most of us would hear that sermon and make a list of all the OTHER people who need to hear it, never acknowledging that we are the ones who are complacent!
God’s people had become complacent by carrying on their lives as if there was no God. God sent his prophets to speak God’s word to God’s people. Yet the people ignored the word of God and lived in ignorance. God made a covenant with his people in the form of the Law. God kept his part of the covenant, but the people found the Law to be too constricting and preferred to live free from restraint. God had provided unfailing love and care for the needs of his people. Yet, the people preferred to think the blessings of God were really the results of their own individual hard work. God protected Judah from the political upheavals experienced by the other nations around them. Yet, the people…Well, I don’t really know what they thought. Perhaps they simply thought they were lucky.
Again, God’s people faced judgment because they were complacent. God’s judgment always has a redemptive purpose. Judgment comes so that God can start over with a new people, who will acknowledge him and keep their part of the covenant. Could we, as a church, experience the same kind of judgment? Would God want to start over with a new people, who are not complacent about all God has done for us?
IV. Zephaniah 2: 3… Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger.
Zephaniah’s prophecy contained both a warning and a promise. It’s as if Zephaniah was saying, “God is going to destroy all that you see here, but there is still hope.” This hope is found in the fact that God will start over with a new people. The new people of God will be formed from a “remnant” of those who are God’s people today. If you want to be a part of the “remnant,” then you need to repent—seek the LORD, seek righteousness and seek humility.
The remnant Zephaniah preached about would be the ones who returned from the seventy-year exile in Babylon.
Zephaniah preached these words BEFORE the nation of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. In Zephaniah’s day, it looked like things were going to turn around. King Josiah had begun wide sweeping reforms by re-committing himself and all the people to the covenant of Law. Josiah had ordered the destruction of all the pagan sanctuaries and altars. But, for some reason, Zephaniah recognized that these reforms would not be enough. The nation was too far gone. They were too complacent and too much like the nations around them. God would have to start over.
God used the Babylonian Empire to accomplish his purpose for Judah. The Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem, torn down the walls of the city and burned the Temple to the ground. Then, they carried off the strongest, wealthiest and best leaders into captivity.
On one hand, Zephaniah warned that this destruction was coming. On the other hand, Zephaniah promised that destruction would not be the end. SOME of the captives would return to Jerusalem.
V. Zephaniah 3: 14 – 17… Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
According to Zephaniah, this is what it would look like when the remnant returned to Jerusalem. Actually, this is what it would SOUND like. There would be singing throughout all the land.
The people who returned from a foreign land would have four reasons to sing for joy.
God has “taken away your punishment.” It’s important to read this in its proper context. God did not prevent their punishment. They were taken captive into Babylon. But there would be an end to their trials. Difficult days would not last forever.
God has “turned back your enemy.” Again, keep the context in mind. It looked like God’s people had been defeated. There was a period of time when it appeared that the enemies had been victorious. In the end, God prevailed over the enemy.
“The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you.” This is one thing that is different about Zephaniah’s prophecy. Other prophecies focus on the Davidic line. Zephaniah seems to say that there will be no need for a king, because God himself will be the King of Israel.
God is “mighty to save.” There may be times when God’s sovereignty is in question. But there is coming a day, when we will see—once and for all—that God keeps his promises. God is faithful and able to keep all that he promised.
Verse 17 contains my favorite part of this passage. When God rescues his people, there is only one thing that can stop God’s people from singing. They will sing and sing and sing and sing. They will sing until they are quieted by the sound of God’s voice. God will not be speaking. God will be singing. When God’s salvation becomes final, God’s people will be so full of joy that they can’t stop singing…Until they hear the sound of God singing his own joy of having a people to himself.
VI. Conclusion.
Zephaniah spoke these words of prophecy to God’s people BEFORE they were carried into a foreign land. They lived as strangers in a strange land. They worshipped God in a land that did not worship God as Lord. However, this was only a temporary arrangement. Eventually, God brought them back to their land and restored them as his people. Does this sound familiar?
Today, you and I live as strangers in a strange land. We worship God and serve him as Lord in a world that does not acknowledge God. However, this is only temporary. There is coming a day, when Jesus will return. He will rescue us from punishment and defeat our enemies. Jesus will be the King in our midst, and we will recognize God’s faithfulness to keep all his promises.
Oh, what a day of singing. We will sing for joy, and nothing will stop us…That is, nothing until we hear the voice of God, singing his joy over us.
Zephaniah 3: 14 – 20.
I. Introduction.
I’ve told this story once before…About the first time I attended the Rotary Club in Canton, Mississippi. Every pastor of First Baptist Church, Canton, Mississippi had been a member of the Canton Rotary Club. It was either written in my job description, or it was assumed that I would join the Rotary Club.
After I had been in Canton for about a week, a man in the church (Robert Filgo) called and announced that he would pick me up on Thursday to take me as his guest to the Rotary meeting. As I recall, he didn’t ask a question. He simply told me when to be ready.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we went through the buffet line and carried our food into the back room where the Rotary Club met. Mr. Filgo sat down and asked me to sit next to him. We were the first to sit at our table. In a few minutes, we were joined by the men who normally sat with Mr. Filgo. The first person introduced himself to me and said, “You are sitting in Cecil’s seat.” The next person introduced himself to me and said, “You’re sitting in Cecil’s seat.” Then, Cecil came in. I knew him from church. I asked him if I needed to move to another seat. He said, “No. I’ll sit in Jim’s seat.” When poor Jim came in, he had to find another table.
After the meal, the Rotary president called us to order and announced that we would sing the Rotary Song. He told us that since we were singing such a familiar song, we wouldn’t need the song books. Everyone in the room knew the words and sang along. That is, everyone except me.
When Mr. Filgo took me back to the church, he explained how I could join the Rotary Club. Again, he assumed that I would join and assumed that I wanted to join. I remember thinking to myself about how uncomfortable I was through the entire meeting. I wondered why anyone would want to join the Rotary. You don’t know where to sit and they sing strange songs. That is when I realized…This is what church looks like to some people. We sing songs that might be familiar to us but sound strange to the rest of the world. We sit in the same seat every week and think it is appropriate to tell new people they are sitting in the wrong seats.
Do you ever wonder why we sing in church? After all, church is perhaps the only public gathering in modern day life where we sing. But that is not the case with other cultures. If you watch soccer on TV—or if you plan to watch any of the World Cup soccer matches next year—you hear people singing. You don’t usually hear people singing at American sporting events like football, basketball and baseball. But soccer is not an American sport. It is a world sport. And the fans from other cultures sing in unison throughout the entire match.
Historically, singing is the way people express their joy. When the soccer match begins, people sing, because they are excited about what they hope their team will do in the match. As their team wins the game, the singing becomes louder and more joyous. This is why we sing in church. It is an expression of our joy. We have joy because of what God has done for us by sending his Son Jesus. We have joy, because we have been saved from sin, death and the devil. We have joy, because God has given us his presence to sustain us through any trouble or trial we might face in life. We have joy, because one day Jesus is coming back to take us to heaven to live with him eternally.
The prophet Zephaniah preached about the connection between joy and singing. Zephaniah did not describe one song of joy. He told us about two songs of joy.
Read Zephaniah 3: 14 – 20.
I am going to assume that you are a lot like me. Until this week, I have never really studied the book of Zephaniah. I am going to assume that you have not heard many sermons from Zephaniah. After all, today is my first time to preach from Zephaniah in ten years of preaching every Sunday. And I have learned a lot about Zephaniah and the context of his prophecy.
The words I just read come as somewhat of a surprise if you have read the entire book of Zephaniah. These are words of joy and singing, which don’t seem to fit with the rest of what Zephaniah has said.
II. Zephaniah 1: 2 – 3… "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. "I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of the earth," declares the LORD.
The first words out of Zephaniah’s mouth were words of doom. He predicts that a day is coming when the entire world will be swept away by the hand of God. In many ways, Zephaniah’s words remind me of the words God spoke to Noah in Genesis 6: 7, about the coming flood.
In the days of Noah, the world had become so corrupt that God decided to start over. On one hand, the great flood was an act of judgment in that God destroyed all that he had created. On the other hand, judgment is never God’s ultimate or final goal. The destruction of the flood created a new world inhabited by a new people.
In the same way, this is the kind of judgment Zephaniah described. God does not take delight in judgment. God takes delight in the restoration and redemption that comes as a result of the judgment. Yet, judgment is necessary before God’s redemption can be established.
III. Zephaniah 1: 12… At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.'
As you can imagine, this was not a very popular message. It would be OK for Zephaniah to preach about God’s judgment on Assyria. After all, Assyria had recently destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It would be Ok for Zephaniah to preach about God’s Judgment on Egypt. After all, Egypt had held God’s people as slaves for hundreds of years and at this particular time in history, they were trying to become an international empire. It would be OK for Zephaniah to preach about God’s judgment on Babylon. After all, Babylon was the empire that eventually conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the empire that God’s people needed to worry about the most.
Yet, Zephaniah preached about God’s judgment coming on God’s own people. The people of Judah. The city of Jerusalem.
This is a message we need to hear today. God was bringing his judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, because God’s people had become complacent. Do you know what “complacent” means? It means to be satisfied with the way things are. It means to have opportunities to make the world a better place and to choose to do nothing. It means to be satisfied with being lazy and doing nothing.
Should I preach a sermon on “complacency” for our church today? I am reluctant to preach on “complacency,” because most of us would hear that sermon and make a list of all the OTHER people who need to hear it, never acknowledging that we are the ones who are complacent!
God’s people had become complacent by carrying on their lives as if there was no God. God sent his prophets to speak God’s word to God’s people. Yet the people ignored the word of God and lived in ignorance. God made a covenant with his people in the form of the Law. God kept his part of the covenant, but the people found the Law to be too constricting and preferred to live free from restraint. God had provided unfailing love and care for the needs of his people. Yet, the people preferred to think the blessings of God were really the results of their own individual hard work. God protected Judah from the political upheavals experienced by the other nations around them. Yet, the people…Well, I don’t really know what they thought. Perhaps they simply thought they were lucky.
Again, God’s people faced judgment because they were complacent. God’s judgment always has a redemptive purpose. Judgment comes so that God can start over with a new people, who will acknowledge him and keep their part of the covenant. Could we, as a church, experience the same kind of judgment? Would God want to start over with a new people, who are not complacent about all God has done for us?
IV. Zephaniah 2: 3… Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger.
Zephaniah’s prophecy contained both a warning and a promise. It’s as if Zephaniah was saying, “God is going to destroy all that you see here, but there is still hope.” This hope is found in the fact that God will start over with a new people. The new people of God will be formed from a “remnant” of those who are God’s people today. If you want to be a part of the “remnant,” then you need to repent—seek the LORD, seek righteousness and seek humility.
The remnant Zephaniah preached about would be the ones who returned from the seventy-year exile in Babylon.
Zephaniah preached these words BEFORE the nation of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. In Zephaniah’s day, it looked like things were going to turn around. King Josiah had begun wide sweeping reforms by re-committing himself and all the people to the covenant of Law. Josiah had ordered the destruction of all the pagan sanctuaries and altars. But, for some reason, Zephaniah recognized that these reforms would not be enough. The nation was too far gone. They were too complacent and too much like the nations around them. God would have to start over.
God used the Babylonian Empire to accomplish his purpose for Judah. The Babylonians destroyed the city of Jerusalem, torn down the walls of the city and burned the Temple to the ground. Then, they carried off the strongest, wealthiest and best leaders into captivity.
On one hand, Zephaniah warned that this destruction was coming. On the other hand, Zephaniah promised that destruction would not be the end. SOME of the captives would return to Jerusalem.
V. Zephaniah 3: 14 – 17… Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
According to Zephaniah, this is what it would look like when the remnant returned to Jerusalem. Actually, this is what it would SOUND like. There would be singing throughout all the land.
The people who returned from a foreign land would have four reasons to sing for joy.
God has “taken away your punishment.” It’s important to read this in its proper context. God did not prevent their punishment. They were taken captive into Babylon. But there would be an end to their trials. Difficult days would not last forever.
God has “turned back your enemy.” Again, keep the context in mind. It looked like God’s people had been defeated. There was a period of time when it appeared that the enemies had been victorious. In the end, God prevailed over the enemy.
“The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you.” This is one thing that is different about Zephaniah’s prophecy. Other prophecies focus on the Davidic line. Zephaniah seems to say that there will be no need for a king, because God himself will be the King of Israel.
God is “mighty to save.” There may be times when God’s sovereignty is in question. But there is coming a day, when we will see—once and for all—that God keeps his promises. God is faithful and able to keep all that he promised.
Verse 17 contains my favorite part of this passage. When God rescues his people, there is only one thing that can stop God’s people from singing. They will sing and sing and sing and sing. They will sing until they are quieted by the sound of God’s voice. God will not be speaking. God will be singing. When God’s salvation becomes final, God’s people will be so full of joy that they can’t stop singing…Until they hear the sound of God singing his own joy of having a people to himself.
VI. Conclusion.
Zephaniah spoke these words of prophecy to God’s people BEFORE they were carried into a foreign land. They lived as strangers in a strange land. They worshipped God in a land that did not worship God as Lord. However, this was only a temporary arrangement. Eventually, God brought them back to their land and restored them as his people. Does this sound familiar?
Today, you and I live as strangers in a strange land. We worship God and serve him as Lord in a world that does not acknowledge God. However, this is only temporary. There is coming a day, when Jesus will return. He will rescue us from punishment and defeat our enemies. Jesus will be the King in our midst, and we will recognize God’s faithfulness to keep all his promises.
Oh, what a day of singing. We will sing for joy, and nothing will stop us…That is, nothing until we hear the voice of God, singing his joy over us.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Advent 2: Promised Peace
Promised Peace
Malachi 3: 1 – 4.
I. Introduction.
I am really proud of the way our church members responded to my challenge last Sunday. (Some might say it was more of a “guilt trip” than a challenge.) On Thursday night, the downtown Christmas Parade marched by our church property on two streets. The parade began at the Civic Center and marched South on First Street. Then, it turned around and returned to the Civic Center, North on Second Street.
We blocked off Groesbeck Street with tables on both ends. We served free hot chocolate and cookies (from Brookshire Brothers’ bakery). And, we gave away information about our church and our Lord. The information about our church was printed on a color flyer, promoting the music ministry, children’s ministry and youth ministry. The information about our Lord was on a multi-media CD.
When I got home Thursday night, I made a list of all the people from First Baptist who showed up to help with this project. I am not going to read the list, because I know I missed some folks. But I counted 57 names of people who came to help! That is really good, but it’s not my favorite part of the project.
My favorite part of the project is the fact that it was not my idea. Kurt England came up with the idea at last year’s Christmas Parade. Then, Kurt came by and met with our church staff to work out all the details. Kurt claims that he was just the organizer, but without his organization this would not have been successful. Kurt was so organized that he actually counted the cups before we started serving hot chocolate. Then, he counted the cups when we finished to see how many we served. We served 1,100 cups of hot chocolate!
Every time we gave away hot chocolate, we also gave away the flyers and the CD’s. But, most people came to us in family groups. We typically gave away one flyer / CD and three or four hot chocolates. So, we sent out groups of our folks to walk the parade route and give away flyers and CD’s to people who never came by for hot chocolate and cookies.
Let me tell you what is on the multi-media CD… If a person places the CD in a music CD player, they can listen to a dramatic reading of John 3 in either English or Spanish. At the end of the reading, there is a presentation of the Gospel and explanation of how to become a Christian. If a person places the CD in a computer, there is more available. There are six video testimonies of people describing how and why they became Christians. There is a dramatic reading of the entire Gospel of John. There is a Gospel presentation. And, there is a link to an Internet site where the person can download an audio copy of the entire New Testament in one of 350 languages. (You can preview the contents of the CD at http://whatsmissingtexas.com )
There are two reasons why we did this project. First, we wanted to make First Baptist Church more visible in our community. I walked up First Street and Second Street and think I gave away around 100 flyers and CD’s. I told people, “This is a gift from First Baptist Church.” Probably 1 out of 4 people asked me, “Where is First Baptist Church?” Some people asked me that while standing on our church property!
Our second reason was to share the Gospel with our neighbors. I know this is not politically correct, but this is the truth. There is a real heaven and a real hell. Heaven and hell are the final, eternal destinations of all human beings. There is only one way for a person to go to heaven and not hell after death. It is to give your life away to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life.
Anyone who has faith in Jesus as Lord, has a future. Those who do not have faith in Jesus as Lord, do not have a future.
As Christians, we believe that the decisions made in the present affect the future. In fact, if you live your life with Jesus in the present, you can live in the future with Jesus. If you serve Jesus on earth, you can serve Jesus in heaven. There is no other way to have the promise of heaven, the promise of a future peace.
The Scripture we read this morning is a Scripture about the future. On one hand, the prophet Malachi was writing about the future for a people who lived approximately 450 years before the birth of Jesus. On the other hand, he was writing about our future, 2000 years after the birth of Jesus.
Read Malachi 3: 1 – 4.
My grandfather died in 2004, after suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease for more than 12 years. During these 12 years, we watched his mental abilities deteriorate. My grandmother never wanted to place him in an Alzheimer’s home. She wanted to take care of him at home. But, eventually it became too difficult to meet his needs at home.
I remember one Christmas when he was still at home. He didn’t even know who I was. He knew my grandmother; he knew my dad; but he didn’t know me.
After Christmas dinner and after all the gifts had been opened, I sat down by myself and looked at a photo album. I found a picture of my grandfather’s high school basketball team. While I was looking at that picture, my grandfather sat down next to me and told me every name of the boys in the picture. He knew their names, where they had served in World War 2, which ones died in the war and which ones made it home. He could remember the distant past but could not remember the more recent past.
Soon after this, we had to place my grandfather in the Veteran’s Home in Oxford, Mississippi. He no longer knew my dad or my grandmother. He eventually stopped talking altogether. All he did was smile and laugh. At this point, I think he lived the rest of his life with no knowledge or understanding of his past.
It is a terrible thing not to remember your past. But, imagine how much worse it would be to have a past and no future.
This was the situation facing Malachi and the people of Israel. Technically, it was the people of Judah.
II. Verse 1…"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.
In 587 BC, the Babylonian army destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. They tore down the walls of Jerusalem and burned down the Temple. Then, they selected the strongest, wealthiest, smartest and best leaders to take into captivity into Babylon. With the best leaders held in Babylonian captivity, the people remaining in Judah had no hope of ever restoring their nation or their status.
This captivity lasted only as long as Nebuchadnezzar was the king. The kings who followed him did not have the ability to hold the empire together. Eventually, the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persians. The Persians were not interested in holding their conquests as captives. Instead, they returned the captives to their native lands and controlled their politics from afar. So, they sent the Judahites back to their native land and gave them the money they needed to re-establish their nation and to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Persian Empire provided Judah with peace. At least there was no war. Persia valued the small piece of property that Judah called home. It gave them a buffer from their enemies in Egypt. If Egypt tried to move North toward the center of the Persian Empire, Persia could stop them before they got too close. As long as Judah belonged to Persia, there was no threat of war. They were safe. They were at rest. They experienced what the world would call “peace.”
This sounds like a good arrangement, but it wasn’t. Judah was back home in their own land. The Temple was rebuilt. The Levitical priesthood was restored. The sacrificial system was in effect. BUT…Something was missing. The glory of God never returned to the Jerusalem Temple. All of the worship and sacrifices taking place in the Temple were nothing more than simply “going through the motions.” They were doing the right things, but God was not present in their worship.
This is where the world’s idea of peace contradicts the Bible’s idea of peace. The biblical notion of peace is based on the Hebrew word “Shalom.” Shalom literally means “whole” or “complete.” In other words, peace is not simply the absence of war or conflict. Peace is the result of a life that is “complete.” You can go searching for peace in your life, but it will be elusive. You may feel that peace is within your grasp, but it’s not. Peace cannot be obtained. Peace can only be given. Peace is the by-product of a life that is “complete.”
Judah experienced the absence of war. But they did not have peace, because they also experienced the absence of God. If God is not present in your life, you will never experience “wholeness,” “completeness,” peace.
Notice the promise Malachi made. “…Suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple…” There would be no true peace until the Lord, himself, comes. Yet, this coming of the Lord would be preceded by a coming messenger from God. The messenger would not be the Lord. The messenger would be the one to “prepare the way” of the Lord.
It is ironic that these words are quoted in Mark 1 as a description of John the Baptist. This is ironic, because Malachi was the last prophet to speak to God’s people until the coming of John the Baptist. There was a 400 year silence between Malachi’s prophecy and the fulfillment of this prophecy in John the Baptist. John was the one who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the Lord himself, who has come to bring peace to God’s people.
III. Verse 2… But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap.
This is the meaning of Christmas—and the meaning of Advent. Christmas Day is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. Advent is the season in which we prepare for the coming of Jesus. We anticipate the coming of Christmas Day, when Jesus came in the past. We also anticipate the future coming of Jesus, when he does not come as a baby in a manger but comes as our victorious Lord.
On one hand, we look forward to the future coming of the Lord. It will mark the end of our temporal lives on earth and the beginning of our eternal lives in heaven. It will mark the end of sin’s reign over us and the beginning of a new, sinless life in the presence of God.
On the other hand, Malachi tells us this is not something to look forward to. The coming Day of the Lord will be a day of judgment and purification. We should not delight in judgment. And purification is not appealing.
Malachi used two images to describe the way the coming Lord will purify his people. He will be like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap. The refiner used a very hot fire to separate impurities out of precious metals. The metal was melted down and the impurities burned away. The launderer washes clothes by soaking them in water and scrubbing away the impurities with soap. The goal of both the refiner and the launderer was to take something impure and to change it into something pure. The end product was beautiful. But the process was painful.
We say we want the Lord to come. Yet, just like with a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap, the coming of the Lord will produce a beautiful product through a painful process. He separates the sin from our lives and scrubs away all impurities. This is a process that we cannot do ourselves. Only the Lord can take away our sins and impurities.
In its historical context, this passage was a word from God to the people of Post-Exilic Judah. God told his people that he was not willing to give up on them, but he was also not able to condone their sin. Therefore, God would provide a way for his people to be purified…Even if it requires fire and water.
In our modern day context, this is a message about Christmas. God is not willing to give up on you and simply allow you to spend eternity in hell. Therefore, God sent his Son to provide a way for you to be purified. Jesus was born so that our sins can be taken away…That you and I can be pure…That we can stand in the presence of God.
IV. Verses 3 – 4…He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
The last thing we read in Malachi’s prophecy is God’s desire not only to purify his people but to purify his priests. In Old Testament times, the Levites were God’s representatives on earth. They spoke God’s Word to God’s people and offered the people’s sacrifices to God. When Jesus came, there is no longer a need for priests. Jesus is the ultimate and final priest—representing God to God’s people and representing you and me before God through the sacrifice of Jesus’ own life.
V. Conclusion.
Perhaps this will help us to understand the words the angels sang to the shepherds on that first Christmas in Bethlehem. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests (Luke 2: 14 NIV).”
Jesus was born on that first Christmas so that we might have peace. Peace can only come when our lives are complete…The presence of God in us. But, the presence of God brings purity, like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap.
Malachi 3: 1 – 4.
I. Introduction.
I am really proud of the way our church members responded to my challenge last Sunday. (Some might say it was more of a “guilt trip” than a challenge.) On Thursday night, the downtown Christmas Parade marched by our church property on two streets. The parade began at the Civic Center and marched South on First Street. Then, it turned around and returned to the Civic Center, North on Second Street.
We blocked off Groesbeck Street with tables on both ends. We served free hot chocolate and cookies (from Brookshire Brothers’ bakery). And, we gave away information about our church and our Lord. The information about our church was printed on a color flyer, promoting the music ministry, children’s ministry and youth ministry. The information about our Lord was on a multi-media CD.
When I got home Thursday night, I made a list of all the people from First Baptist who showed up to help with this project. I am not going to read the list, because I know I missed some folks. But I counted 57 names of people who came to help! That is really good, but it’s not my favorite part of the project.
My favorite part of the project is the fact that it was not my idea. Kurt England came up with the idea at last year’s Christmas Parade. Then, Kurt came by and met with our church staff to work out all the details. Kurt claims that he was just the organizer, but without his organization this would not have been successful. Kurt was so organized that he actually counted the cups before we started serving hot chocolate. Then, he counted the cups when we finished to see how many we served. We served 1,100 cups of hot chocolate!
Every time we gave away hot chocolate, we also gave away the flyers and the CD’s. But, most people came to us in family groups. We typically gave away one flyer / CD and three or four hot chocolates. So, we sent out groups of our folks to walk the parade route and give away flyers and CD’s to people who never came by for hot chocolate and cookies.
Let me tell you what is on the multi-media CD… If a person places the CD in a music CD player, they can listen to a dramatic reading of John 3 in either English or Spanish. At the end of the reading, there is a presentation of the Gospel and explanation of how to become a Christian. If a person places the CD in a computer, there is more available. There are six video testimonies of people describing how and why they became Christians. There is a dramatic reading of the entire Gospel of John. There is a Gospel presentation. And, there is a link to an Internet site where the person can download an audio copy of the entire New Testament in one of 350 languages. (You can preview the contents of the CD at http://whatsmissingtexas.com )
There are two reasons why we did this project. First, we wanted to make First Baptist Church more visible in our community. I walked up First Street and Second Street and think I gave away around 100 flyers and CD’s. I told people, “This is a gift from First Baptist Church.” Probably 1 out of 4 people asked me, “Where is First Baptist Church?” Some people asked me that while standing on our church property!
Our second reason was to share the Gospel with our neighbors. I know this is not politically correct, but this is the truth. There is a real heaven and a real hell. Heaven and hell are the final, eternal destinations of all human beings. There is only one way for a person to go to heaven and not hell after death. It is to give your life away to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life.
Anyone who has faith in Jesus as Lord, has a future. Those who do not have faith in Jesus as Lord, do not have a future.
As Christians, we believe that the decisions made in the present affect the future. In fact, if you live your life with Jesus in the present, you can live in the future with Jesus. If you serve Jesus on earth, you can serve Jesus in heaven. There is no other way to have the promise of heaven, the promise of a future peace.
The Scripture we read this morning is a Scripture about the future. On one hand, the prophet Malachi was writing about the future for a people who lived approximately 450 years before the birth of Jesus. On the other hand, he was writing about our future, 2000 years after the birth of Jesus.
Read Malachi 3: 1 – 4.
My grandfather died in 2004, after suffering with Alzheimer’s Disease for more than 12 years. During these 12 years, we watched his mental abilities deteriorate. My grandmother never wanted to place him in an Alzheimer’s home. She wanted to take care of him at home. But, eventually it became too difficult to meet his needs at home.
I remember one Christmas when he was still at home. He didn’t even know who I was. He knew my grandmother; he knew my dad; but he didn’t know me.
After Christmas dinner and after all the gifts had been opened, I sat down by myself and looked at a photo album. I found a picture of my grandfather’s high school basketball team. While I was looking at that picture, my grandfather sat down next to me and told me every name of the boys in the picture. He knew their names, where they had served in World War 2, which ones died in the war and which ones made it home. He could remember the distant past but could not remember the more recent past.
Soon after this, we had to place my grandfather in the Veteran’s Home in Oxford, Mississippi. He no longer knew my dad or my grandmother. He eventually stopped talking altogether. All he did was smile and laugh. At this point, I think he lived the rest of his life with no knowledge or understanding of his past.
It is a terrible thing not to remember your past. But, imagine how much worse it would be to have a past and no future.
This was the situation facing Malachi and the people of Israel. Technically, it was the people of Judah.
II. Verse 1…"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.
In 587 BC, the Babylonian army destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. They tore down the walls of Jerusalem and burned down the Temple. Then, they selected the strongest, wealthiest, smartest and best leaders to take into captivity into Babylon. With the best leaders held in Babylonian captivity, the people remaining in Judah had no hope of ever restoring their nation or their status.
This captivity lasted only as long as Nebuchadnezzar was the king. The kings who followed him did not have the ability to hold the empire together. Eventually, the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persians. The Persians were not interested in holding their conquests as captives. Instead, they returned the captives to their native lands and controlled their politics from afar. So, they sent the Judahites back to their native land and gave them the money they needed to re-establish their nation and to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Persian Empire provided Judah with peace. At least there was no war. Persia valued the small piece of property that Judah called home. It gave them a buffer from their enemies in Egypt. If Egypt tried to move North toward the center of the Persian Empire, Persia could stop them before they got too close. As long as Judah belonged to Persia, there was no threat of war. They were safe. They were at rest. They experienced what the world would call “peace.”
This sounds like a good arrangement, but it wasn’t. Judah was back home in their own land. The Temple was rebuilt. The Levitical priesthood was restored. The sacrificial system was in effect. BUT…Something was missing. The glory of God never returned to the Jerusalem Temple. All of the worship and sacrifices taking place in the Temple were nothing more than simply “going through the motions.” They were doing the right things, but God was not present in their worship.
This is where the world’s idea of peace contradicts the Bible’s idea of peace. The biblical notion of peace is based on the Hebrew word “Shalom.” Shalom literally means “whole” or “complete.” In other words, peace is not simply the absence of war or conflict. Peace is the result of a life that is “complete.” You can go searching for peace in your life, but it will be elusive. You may feel that peace is within your grasp, but it’s not. Peace cannot be obtained. Peace can only be given. Peace is the by-product of a life that is “complete.”
Judah experienced the absence of war. But they did not have peace, because they also experienced the absence of God. If God is not present in your life, you will never experience “wholeness,” “completeness,” peace.
Notice the promise Malachi made. “…Suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple…” There would be no true peace until the Lord, himself, comes. Yet, this coming of the Lord would be preceded by a coming messenger from God. The messenger would not be the Lord. The messenger would be the one to “prepare the way” of the Lord.
It is ironic that these words are quoted in Mark 1 as a description of John the Baptist. This is ironic, because Malachi was the last prophet to speak to God’s people until the coming of John the Baptist. There was a 400 year silence between Malachi’s prophecy and the fulfillment of this prophecy in John the Baptist. John was the one who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. Jesus is the Lord himself, who has come to bring peace to God’s people.
III. Verse 2… But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap.
This is the meaning of Christmas—and the meaning of Advent. Christmas Day is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. Advent is the season in which we prepare for the coming of Jesus. We anticipate the coming of Christmas Day, when Jesus came in the past. We also anticipate the future coming of Jesus, when he does not come as a baby in a manger but comes as our victorious Lord.
On one hand, we look forward to the future coming of the Lord. It will mark the end of our temporal lives on earth and the beginning of our eternal lives in heaven. It will mark the end of sin’s reign over us and the beginning of a new, sinless life in the presence of God.
On the other hand, Malachi tells us this is not something to look forward to. The coming Day of the Lord will be a day of judgment and purification. We should not delight in judgment. And purification is not appealing.
Malachi used two images to describe the way the coming Lord will purify his people. He will be like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap. The refiner used a very hot fire to separate impurities out of precious metals. The metal was melted down and the impurities burned away. The launderer washes clothes by soaking them in water and scrubbing away the impurities with soap. The goal of both the refiner and the launderer was to take something impure and to change it into something pure. The end product was beautiful. But the process was painful.
We say we want the Lord to come. Yet, just like with a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap, the coming of the Lord will produce a beautiful product through a painful process. He separates the sin from our lives and scrubs away all impurities. This is a process that we cannot do ourselves. Only the Lord can take away our sins and impurities.
In its historical context, this passage was a word from God to the people of Post-Exilic Judah. God told his people that he was not willing to give up on them, but he was also not able to condone their sin. Therefore, God would provide a way for his people to be purified…Even if it requires fire and water.
In our modern day context, this is a message about Christmas. God is not willing to give up on you and simply allow you to spend eternity in hell. Therefore, God sent his Son to provide a way for you to be purified. Jesus was born so that our sins can be taken away…That you and I can be pure…That we can stand in the presence of God.
IV. Verses 3 – 4…He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
The last thing we read in Malachi’s prophecy is God’s desire not only to purify his people but to purify his priests. In Old Testament times, the Levites were God’s representatives on earth. They spoke God’s Word to God’s people and offered the people’s sacrifices to God. When Jesus came, there is no longer a need for priests. Jesus is the ultimate and final priest—representing God to God’s people and representing you and me before God through the sacrifice of Jesus’ own life.
V. Conclusion.
Perhaps this will help us to understand the words the angels sang to the shepherds on that first Christmas in Bethlehem. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests (Luke 2: 14 NIV).”
Jesus was born on that first Christmas so that we might have peace. Peace can only come when our lives are complete…The presence of God in us. But, the presence of God brings purity, like a refiner’s fire and a launderer’s soap.
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