Future Hope
Matthew 24: 36 – 44.
I. Introduction.
Today is the first Sunday in Advent—the beginning of the Christian calendar. I don’t know how long we have observed Advent as a church, but I do know that I didn’t grow up with Advent. In my home church, we called this season of the year Christmas…or the Lottie Moon Offering for Foreign Missions.
This might be a new experience for you if you didn’t grow up observing Advent. You may wonder if Advent is Baptist. It’s not Baptist. It’s Christian. Christian churches of many different denominations observe Advent.
Basically, the season of Advent is based on the word “advent.” Just as the word “advent” means “coming,” we observe the season of Advent as a way to anticipate the coming of Jesus at Christmas. We are not going to rush into Christmas. We are going to spend four weeks anticipating the fact that Christmas is coming.
It is good for us to anticipate the coming of Christmas, because Christmas is not just a break from work and school. Christmas is the holiday we observe to celebrate the first coming of Jesus.
The first coming of Jesus was very simple in all its outward appearances. He was born in the small, insignificant town of Bethlehem. He was born to simple parents—an unmarried carpenter named Joseph and an unmarried virgin named Mary. Jesus spent his first night on earth in a stable, sleeping in a feeding trough, because there was no other place for him. Yet, this simple birth was part of God’s plan. In this simple birth, God signaled to all the world that at last there was true Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.
Christmas is not the end of the story of Jesus. In the birth of Jesus, God announced Hope, Peace, Joy and Love for the world. In the life of Jesus, God accomplished this new kind of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.
The life of Jesus began at a stable in Bethlehem. It led him to a cross in Jerusalem, where Jesus voluntarily gave his life in order that we might have salvation and forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ story continued three days after his crucifixion. Jesus rose from the grave in order to prove that he is in fact the Unique Son of God and to offer us the Hope of eternal life. Yet, the empty tomb was not the end of Jesus’ story. Jesus ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father.
The story of Jesus does not end with him in Heaven… Today, we are waiting for the Second Advent—the Second Coming—of Jesus on earth.
As we begin the season of Advent, we have two reasons to anticipate. We anticipate Christmas Day as the day God first announced true Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. We anticipate the Second Coming of Jesus as the day when God will bring all his plans to completion.
Matthew 24 is one of the places in Scripture where Jesus spoke to his disciples about his Second Coming…
Read Matthew 24: 36 – 44.
36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.
41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.(NIV)
To put this Scripture in context, we need to remember that Jesus is nearing the end of his earthly ministry. He is in Jerusalem with his disciples, and he knows the cross is near. Yet, this does not cause Jesus to be cautious in his teachings. In fact, it is just the opposite. Jesus has just finished teaching in the Jerusalem Temple. In this teaching, Jesus condemned the religious traditions of the Jews. He told them that they were majoring on minor things. They are focused on upholding the Old Testament Law instead of doing the things that are pleasing to God. Jesus even criticized the Jewish religious leaders. He said their leaders are merely hypocrites who do things for show. He said they were nothing more than painted tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled with death and decay on the inside. Then he ended his Temple speech by calling the Pharisees a “brood of vipers.”
When Jesus and his disciples left the Temple, Jesus invited them to look at the beautiful buildings of the Temple complex. “Get a good look, because these beautiful buildings will not last forever. The Temple will be completely destroyed one day. There won’t even be a single stone on top of another stone.”
This led the disciples to ask Jesus two questions. Matthew 24: 3, “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
I think it is important to interpret this as TWO questions instead of ONE question, because this will affect the way we interpret the rest of Jesus’ teaching.
For example, if the disciples asked only ONE question, then Jesus only answered ONE question. If this is the case, then we should associate the Second Coming of Jesus with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. There is a problem with this…The Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. If the Second Coming of Jesus and the destruction of the Temple are the same event, then we have missed it. It happened over 1900 years ago!
However, if the disciples asked TWO questions, then Jesus answered TWO questions. On one hand, he answered a question about when the Temple would be destroyed. On the other hand, Jesus answered a second question about the signs of his Second Coming.
For this reason, I interpret Matthew 24: 4 – 35 as a description of the events leading up to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD. Jesus warned them about false messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, persecutions and the “abomination that causes desolation (Matthew 24: 15).”
In that same context, Jesus tells the disciples to flee into the mountains. This is another reason why I interpret Jesus’ answers as answers to two questions. When the disciples see the signs of destruction coming, they are to escape into the mountains. It is possible to escape the destruction of the Temple. It is NOT possible to escape the Second Coming of Jesus. The Second Coming of Jesus is God’s final judgment. Some people might escape the destruction of the Romans. But, no one will escape God’s judgment.
II. No One Knows When Jesus Is Coming.
In verse 36, Jesus gives us two more clues that he is answering a second question. First, he tells us that no one knows about that day. That seems like a strange statement to make after giving a list of signs. Second, Jesus begins to describe “that day.” In the previous passage, he has described “those days” (plural). Now, he is describing “that day” (singular).
The destruction of the Temple was something which could be predicted. The Second Coming of Jesus can NOT be predicted. It is known only by the Father…And the father has not shared his plans with the angels in Heaven or even with Jesus himself.
It bothers us to think that Jesus does not know the time of his Second Coming. After all, Jesus is divine. Does this statement cause us to question the divinity of Jesus? Of course not. Rather it demonstrates the nature of the Incarnation. When God sent his Son to earth, Jesus took on every aspect of humanity.
III. The Second Coming Is a Day of Judgment.
Jesus tells us that his Second Coming is a Day of Judgment by comparing it to the flood in the days of Noah.
In Noah’s day, people were eating and drinking, dating and getting married. They were living in rebellion against God and gave no thought to God or to God’s plans for their lives. Then the floods came and took them away.
Immediately after comparing the Second Coming of Jesus to the flood, Jesus made a strange reference to what will happen to people at the Second Coming. Matthew 24: 40 – 41, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”
Some people read this as a reference to a Secret Rapture—that all Christians who are living in the end times will be raptured out of this world and will escape any kind of suffering associated with a Great Tribulation. However, Jesus does not tell us which person will be taken and which person will be left behind.
Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 24: 38 – 39, “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
When the floods came, the wicked were TAKEN in judgment, and Noah’s family was left behind. Perhaps Jesus has the same thing in mind here. In the final Day of Judgment, there will be one ultimate Coming of Jesus. All the world will see as the Son of man comes on the clouds in power. The wicked will be taken into judgment. The faithful will be left behind to receive God’s blessings.
We should not get bogged down in who will be taken and who will be left. Jesus doesn’t make that clear. Instead, we should recognize that the Second Coming of Jesus will be a Day of Judgment for all who do not follow Jesus as Lord.
Just as in the days of Noah, in the days of the Second Coming of Jesus people will be minding their daily responsibilities. Some people will be working in the field. Some people will be working in their homes. Some people will be at play. The judgment of the Second Coming will be swift and unexpected.
IV. Be Ready.
In fact, Jesus continues to emphasize how unexpected his Second Coming will be by telling us the first of five parables. In this first parable, Jesus compares the Second Coming to the work of a thief.
Thieves do not announce when they plan to rob your house. In fact, thieves depend on the element of surprise. If you are not ready, the thief will catch you unawares and rob you of all your valuables. BUT…If you are expecting the thief to come, you will be there with shotgun in hand to protect your valuables.
Now Jesus is not a thief. He is not a lawbreaker. He does not plan to break into your home and take your possessions. But, Jesus is coming at a time we cannot predict. There are no signs to read and get ready. There is no time to relax and hope we can get ready once the final signs have been accomplished. Jesus is coming.
The truth is that everything that needs to happen has already happened. God sent his Son, Jesus. Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins. Jesus rose again on the third day. Jesus ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Everything is complete. Jesus could come at any time. All that is left is for us to Be Ready.
V. Conclusion.
In the next two parables (Matthew 25), Jesus continues to teach us about his Second Coming.
In one parable, he tells the tragic story of five foolish virgins who were not ready for the coming of their Lord. These five virgins were unprepared, because they thought they would have more time. No one should assume we have more time. We need to live as if Jesus might return today.
The next parable is about three slaves who receive money from their master before he goes out of the country. At first, they think he will only be gone for a short trip. But, his trip is much longer than they expected. Because of the delay in his return, one slave was not prepared. The other two slaves were prepared. They continued to work faithfully throughout their master’s delay.
So Jesus is telling us to be ready. Be ready for Jesus to return today. Be ready for Jesus to return next year. The time might be short. The time might be long. But, our job is the same. Be Ready.
When Jesus returns, he will take us to be with him in Heaven for all eternity. In some ways, we can think of this as God’s reward. Placing faith in Jesus as Lord assures us that we will be with him in Heaven. In other ways, this is what we were created for. We were created for a relationship with God that is experienced better in Heaven than on earth.
And when we get to Heaven, we will have a job to do. We are not going to sit around on clouds and play harps all eternity long. God is going to give us work to do.
This work will involve two things: Stewardship and Worship.
Stewardship means that we will have the responsibility of taking care of someone else’s possessions. Heaven is God’s creation as he originally intended it. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve to take care of the creation. That creation was marred when sin entered. But, in Heaven, there is no sin. It will be God’s creation at its finest, in all its perfection. And our job will be to take care of God’s creation.
Worship means that we will be constantly praising God. We will celebrate what God has done in creation…Celebrate what God has done in history…Celebrate what God has done to provide salvation through Jesus…Celebrate what God has done to save me…And celebrate what God has done to sustain my life.
If Stewardship and Worship will be our Heavenly jobs, what do you think our earthly jobs ought to be? The same!
The only way to be ready for the Second Coming of Jesus is to get busy doing the work we were created to do.
The creation does not belong to us…It belongs to God. Your physical resources do not belong to you…They belong to God. Manage God’s possessions in ways that are pleasing to God. That is different from taking care of yourself and your family.
Worship God. Don’t try to take credit for the good things in your life. Give all the thanks…Give all the praise…Give all the credit to God alone.
We hope for a future in Heaven. But Jesus tells us to get busy in Stewardship and Worship now as we prepare for his unexpected Second Coming.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Faith and Thanksgiving
Faith and Thanksgiving
Luke 17: 11 – 19.
I. Introduction.
When Shauna was seventeen years old, she was really looking forward to the end of the school year and the beginning of her summer vacation. Right before the school year ended, her parents asked her where she planned to work for the summer. There went the summer. Shauna thought long and hard about where to apply for her first job. She thought that since Steak and Ale was her favorite restaurant, she would apply to work at Steak and Ale. She got a job as a hostess, greeting the customers and showing them to their tables.
After a couple of weeks on the job, Shauna got her first look at the kitchen and the way things work behind the scenes at Steak and Ale. Once she saw the kitchen and learned how things work behind the scenes…She never ate at Steak and Ale again.
I like to tell this story to people who think working at the church is a wonderful thing. It is wonderful to work at the church, but things are not always godly and spiritual behind the scenes. Sometimes church people can be some of the meanest people you have ever been around.
I learned this the hard way in my first church as pastor. I was only 28 years old when I became the pastor. I knew that I loved Jesus and wanted to lead Jesus’ church. I knew how to manage the day-to-day and week-to-week church scheduling. But, I didn’t know how to officiate at a wedding or how to conduct a funeral. I learned how to do this on the job. I knew how to run business meetings and deacons’ meetings. But, I didn’t know how the true political processes of the church operate through emails and phone calls that happen after the meetings are over. I had always believed that church people are human beings capable of both the best and the worst of what it means to be human. But, I had never experienced the way people can act when they are angry at the pastor.
After about eighteen months, the honeymoon was over. The old divisions in the church resurfaced. No one was actually angry at me. They were angry at each other. But, I was caught in the middle.
If you have ever been in a divided church, you know that it consumes all your thoughts and all your energy. It was the only thing people talked about at church, the Post Office, the grocery store, the pharmacy… People called me on the phone to talk about the church. People came by my house to talk about the church. We could never get away from the conflict.
During this time, I had my thirtieth birthday. Several church members gave me gifts or cards with money for my birthday.
A couple of days after my birthday, I was sitting in my church office unable to get anything done. I was just too worried and stressed to focus my mind on work. So, I decided to take the afternoon off. I walked across the street to the parsonage and sat down to write thank you notes to the people who had sent me birthday gifts.
As I was writing those thank you notes, something remarkable happened. I stopped thinking about my problems and started thinking about my blessings. Perhaps this is why we sing the hymn “Count Your Many Blessings (name them one by one).” When we think about all the good things God has done for us, it gets harder and harder to feel sorry for ourselves. When we express thanksgiving to others, we get a better perspective on our problems.
Thanksgiving does not make our problems go away. It simply helps us to have a better perspective on blessings, problems, and even life itself.
One of the classic biblical stories about thanksgiving is the story of Jesus’ healing the ten lepers. All ten were healed, but only one returned to say “thank you” to Jesus.
Read Luke 17: 11 – 19.
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him-- and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."(NIV)
At this point in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem. This is Luke’s way of telling us that Jesus knows where he is going and he knows the cross is waiting for him in Jerusalem. Jesus didn’t avoid the pain and suffering of the cross. He made a conscious decision to fulfill God’s will and plan of salvation for all of us.
On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus had to pass through Samaria. Samaria is the land of the Samaritans. You remember the Samaritans. This was the race of people most despised by the Jews. The Samaritans were the ones left behind in Judah, when the Babylonian Empire took the strongest and healthiest Jews into captivity. The weak and unhealthy were left in their homeland. Since the rest of the Jews were taken off to Babylon, these people intermarried with other races and other religions. This mixed race, mixed religion and mixed culture became known as the Samaritans.
The Jews did not like the Samaritans, because the Jews placed a high priority on purity. In the mind of the Jews, Samaritans were not pure. They had sullied the Jewish race, religion and culture by compromising and bringing foreigners into their land.
As Jesus was traveling along the border between Jewish territory and Samaritan territory, a small group of lepers called to him by name.
The way Luke tells the story makes a lot of sense. The Old Testament teaches us that Lepers were considered unclean. They could not mix and mingle with the rest of the population. Instead, they were required to live outside the city and shout “Unclean! Unclean!” if anyone came near them.
In this story, the Lepers did not shout “Unclean!” Rather, they shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.”
II. Obedient Faith.
In any other setting, I would interpret their words to mean, “Hey Buddy, can we have a couple of dollars to buy some food?” However, the fact that they used the name Jesus and referred to him as Master seems to suggest something else. Master indicates Jesus has the authority to do something no one else can do. He has authority to cast out demons, to inaugurate God’s Kingdom on earth AND to heal the sick.
Remarkably, Jesus didn’t DO anything. He didn’t mix spit and dirt into mud. He didn’t wave his hand over their leprous spots. He didn’t even announce, “You are healed.” Jesus surprised all of us by saying, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
Jesus’ words were the normal protocol for Jews with leprosy. The Old Testament prescribed the proper way for priests to treat leprosy. It was not something for the doctors. It was taken care of under the care of religious leaders. This was either because leprosy made the sick person ceremonially unclean, and only the priest could declare a person clean or unclean. Or, this was because many people associated leprosy with sin. Sin is a spiritual problem, therefore, it requires a spiritual solution.
It’s possible to interpret Jesus’ words as a rude and insensitive response to their suffering. “This is a priestly problem. Don’t bother me with priestly concerns.”
It’s also possible to interpret Jesus’ words as an act of healing. Again, Jesus didn’t do anything to make these men think Jesus had healed them. There was no mud and no waving of hands and no announcement. Instead, Jesus told them to step out in faith. It’s as if Jesus said, “Go see the priest. By the time you get there, you will be healed.”
What do you think would have happened if these men had never gone to the priest? Could they have remained right where they were and still receive the miraculous healing? I don’t think so. I believe Jesus is asking them to step out on faith. To do something that makes no sense in an earthly way. To risk looking like fools by asking the priests if anything had changed. In a word, Jesus asked them to obey.
There are two things we need to keep in mind when we talk about obedient faith. Many people would tell us that obedience is really just doing the right thing. It is NOT! Doing the right thing is a dangerous thing. When we tell people to go and do the right thing, we are teaching a false view of God. We are telling people that it is possible to earn God’s love and grace and direction in our lives. Obedient faith is not the same thing as doing the right thing. Obedient faith is first listening to Jesus. Then, doing what Jesus told you to do.
Outside of this biblical story, we see places where the disciples were obedient to Jesus. They preached the Gospel. They healed the sick. They cast out demons. These are good things to do. But, this was only obedient faith, because they were doing what Jesus told them to do. The same thing is true for these ten Lepers.
As Christians, we are not supposed to go out and do good deeds for others UNLESS and UNTIL we have spent time in the presence of Jesus. Spending time with Jesus will change your life. He offers you forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life in Heaven. But, Jesus also gives us a new kind of life on earth. He calls us to join him in his work of mission and ministry.
Obedient faith requires coming and going. Coming to Jesus… Going out to the world… If you only come to Jesus, your faith is not obedient. If you only go out to the world, your obedience does not contain faith.
III. Two Places Where People Are Equals.
Luke is such a good story teller. He has just told us a wonderful story about a miraculous healing. Ten Lepers came to Jesus, asking him to heal them. Jesus, in turn, asked them to take a risk of faith. I’m certain the Lepers had exhausted all possible cures. Jesus’ words were at least worth a shot. But, Jesus’ words were not like all the other cures. Jesus’ words worked.
On their way to the priests, all ten Lepers noticed that their conditions were healed. What would you do if you condition were healed?
There are some people who would go straight to work. After all, Lepers were not allowed to mix with the rest of the population. As long as they were sick, they could not work. They had been out of work for months. If they go back to work, they can show their bosses and their clients that things will get back to normal.
There are some people who would go straight home. Lepers were not allowed to live in the cities. As long as they were sick, they were required to live outside the city gates in Leper colonies. They have not kissed their wives for months. They have not seen their children as they have grown up and changed. Going home would be an emotional welcome, and it would feel really good.
There was one man who went back to Jesus. He knew from whence his healing had come. The doctors had not healed him. The priests had not healed him. Only Jesus had healed him. Jesus is the first person he wants to see, because he wants to say thank you.
This is where Luke’s ability as a story teller is apparent. He reserved one big detail until the end of the story. The only man to come back to say thank you was a Samaritan.
On one hand, it makes sense that this man was a Samaritan. The ten Lepers were living in isolation, outside the populated areas, on the border between Jewish and Samaritan territories. On the other hand, it doesn’t make sense. The way Luke tells the story, he leads us to assume the other nine Lepers were Jews. Jews hate Samaritans. Samaritans hate Jews. Why would this Samaritan live among Jews? Why would the Jews live with a Samaritan?
This is one of Luke’s points in telling the story. And most of us have skipped over it every time we read the story. There are only two places where it does not matter who you are. There are only two places where humans do not discriminate against race, gender, financial standing, social standing, etc… The first place is a Leper colony. There is only one requirement for a person to be admitted to a Leper colony. You have to have leprosy. If you are not sick, do not apply. If you are sick, then it doesn’t matter who you are. You can be male or female, Jew or Samaritan, rich or poor, high class or low class… It doesn’t matter.
Truthfully, we can say the same thing about any kind of human suffering. Suffering has an incredible way of bringing people together, regardless of their race and standing. Think about when hurricanes come to East Texas. When a hurricane comes, we do not look at the barriers that separate us. We are all human beings, facing the same set of circumstances. Or think about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. On September 12, there were no Democrats and Republicans. We were all Americans, facing the same struggles.
There are only two places where all people are equals. First, we are all equals when we suffer. Second, we are all equals in the presence of Jesus.
Jesus did not discriminate in his healing. He did not skip over the one Samaritan in favor of the nine Jews. He did not heal the one Samaritan and let the Jews continue their futile attempts at healing with the priests. Jesus is the same for all people.
IV. Thanksgiving Is Praising God.
In verses 16 and 18, we see a connection between thanking Jesus and praising God. Luke tells us in verse 16 that the Samaritan came back to say thank you. Jesus tells us in verse 18 that the Samaritan thanked God. This connection is significant for at least two reasons.
First, Jesus is obviously claiming to be God. Jesus has the power to heal the sick. While it might be possible to say Jesus is a regular human being endued with a special power to heal sickness, that does not fit the context of this story. If Jesus were only a human with special powers over sickness, then Jesus is committing blasphemy here. If Jesus were only a human, he should have deflected the man’s praise and admonished him to give praise only to God. Since Jesus received his praise, it is apparent that Jesus and God are the same. In fact, Jesus goes a step farther by suggesting the man’s response is appropriate.
Second, thanking Jesus and praising God is the same thing.
Notice Jesus’ words to the healed man in Luke 17: 19, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Literally, Jesus said, “You faith has saved you,” or “Your faith has made you whole.”
There is a difference between being healed and being made whole.
There is a difference between being healed and being saved.
All ten Lepers were healed by faith. They heard a word from Jesus and obeyed Jesus word. Obedience led to a blessing—they were healed.
Only one man returned to say thank you. And that was the only man who was made whole…
V. Conclusion.
There are two types of people represented in this story of healing. I am not going to make any further reference to the difference between Jews and Samaritans. The two types of people include the nine with superficial faith and the one with true faith.
Superficial faith is all about the blessings. What can Jesus do for me?
True faith is about praising God. The person with true faith receives blessings from God and always returns to say thank you.
Superficial faith receives God’s blessings and never goes back to Jesus. If we never go back to Jesus to say thank you, we will miss out on the greatest blessing of all.
Praising God leads us to the most blessed life possible.
Luke 17: 11 – 19.
I. Introduction.
When Shauna was seventeen years old, she was really looking forward to the end of the school year and the beginning of her summer vacation. Right before the school year ended, her parents asked her where she planned to work for the summer. There went the summer. Shauna thought long and hard about where to apply for her first job. She thought that since Steak and Ale was her favorite restaurant, she would apply to work at Steak and Ale. She got a job as a hostess, greeting the customers and showing them to their tables.
After a couple of weeks on the job, Shauna got her first look at the kitchen and the way things work behind the scenes at Steak and Ale. Once she saw the kitchen and learned how things work behind the scenes…She never ate at Steak and Ale again.
I like to tell this story to people who think working at the church is a wonderful thing. It is wonderful to work at the church, but things are not always godly and spiritual behind the scenes. Sometimes church people can be some of the meanest people you have ever been around.
I learned this the hard way in my first church as pastor. I was only 28 years old when I became the pastor. I knew that I loved Jesus and wanted to lead Jesus’ church. I knew how to manage the day-to-day and week-to-week church scheduling. But, I didn’t know how to officiate at a wedding or how to conduct a funeral. I learned how to do this on the job. I knew how to run business meetings and deacons’ meetings. But, I didn’t know how the true political processes of the church operate through emails and phone calls that happen after the meetings are over. I had always believed that church people are human beings capable of both the best and the worst of what it means to be human. But, I had never experienced the way people can act when they are angry at the pastor.
After about eighteen months, the honeymoon was over. The old divisions in the church resurfaced. No one was actually angry at me. They were angry at each other. But, I was caught in the middle.
If you have ever been in a divided church, you know that it consumes all your thoughts and all your energy. It was the only thing people talked about at church, the Post Office, the grocery store, the pharmacy… People called me on the phone to talk about the church. People came by my house to talk about the church. We could never get away from the conflict.
During this time, I had my thirtieth birthday. Several church members gave me gifts or cards with money for my birthday.
A couple of days after my birthday, I was sitting in my church office unable to get anything done. I was just too worried and stressed to focus my mind on work. So, I decided to take the afternoon off. I walked across the street to the parsonage and sat down to write thank you notes to the people who had sent me birthday gifts.
As I was writing those thank you notes, something remarkable happened. I stopped thinking about my problems and started thinking about my blessings. Perhaps this is why we sing the hymn “Count Your Many Blessings (name them one by one).” When we think about all the good things God has done for us, it gets harder and harder to feel sorry for ourselves. When we express thanksgiving to others, we get a better perspective on our problems.
Thanksgiving does not make our problems go away. It simply helps us to have a better perspective on blessings, problems, and even life itself.
One of the classic biblical stories about thanksgiving is the story of Jesus’ healing the ten lepers. All ten were healed, but only one returned to say “thank you” to Jesus.
Read Luke 17: 11 – 19.
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him-- and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."(NIV)
At this point in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has set his face toward Jerusalem. This is Luke’s way of telling us that Jesus knows where he is going and he knows the cross is waiting for him in Jerusalem. Jesus didn’t avoid the pain and suffering of the cross. He made a conscious decision to fulfill God’s will and plan of salvation for all of us.
On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus had to pass through Samaria. Samaria is the land of the Samaritans. You remember the Samaritans. This was the race of people most despised by the Jews. The Samaritans were the ones left behind in Judah, when the Babylonian Empire took the strongest and healthiest Jews into captivity. The weak and unhealthy were left in their homeland. Since the rest of the Jews were taken off to Babylon, these people intermarried with other races and other religions. This mixed race, mixed religion and mixed culture became known as the Samaritans.
The Jews did not like the Samaritans, because the Jews placed a high priority on purity. In the mind of the Jews, Samaritans were not pure. They had sullied the Jewish race, religion and culture by compromising and bringing foreigners into their land.
As Jesus was traveling along the border between Jewish territory and Samaritan territory, a small group of lepers called to him by name.
The way Luke tells the story makes a lot of sense. The Old Testament teaches us that Lepers were considered unclean. They could not mix and mingle with the rest of the population. Instead, they were required to live outside the city and shout “Unclean! Unclean!” if anyone came near them.
In this story, the Lepers did not shout “Unclean!” Rather, they shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.”
II. Obedient Faith.
In any other setting, I would interpret their words to mean, “Hey Buddy, can we have a couple of dollars to buy some food?” However, the fact that they used the name Jesus and referred to him as Master seems to suggest something else. Master indicates Jesus has the authority to do something no one else can do. He has authority to cast out demons, to inaugurate God’s Kingdom on earth AND to heal the sick.
Remarkably, Jesus didn’t DO anything. He didn’t mix spit and dirt into mud. He didn’t wave his hand over their leprous spots. He didn’t even announce, “You are healed.” Jesus surprised all of us by saying, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
Jesus’ words were the normal protocol for Jews with leprosy. The Old Testament prescribed the proper way for priests to treat leprosy. It was not something for the doctors. It was taken care of under the care of religious leaders. This was either because leprosy made the sick person ceremonially unclean, and only the priest could declare a person clean or unclean. Or, this was because many people associated leprosy with sin. Sin is a spiritual problem, therefore, it requires a spiritual solution.
It’s possible to interpret Jesus’ words as a rude and insensitive response to their suffering. “This is a priestly problem. Don’t bother me with priestly concerns.”
It’s also possible to interpret Jesus’ words as an act of healing. Again, Jesus didn’t do anything to make these men think Jesus had healed them. There was no mud and no waving of hands and no announcement. Instead, Jesus told them to step out in faith. It’s as if Jesus said, “Go see the priest. By the time you get there, you will be healed.”
What do you think would have happened if these men had never gone to the priest? Could they have remained right where they were and still receive the miraculous healing? I don’t think so. I believe Jesus is asking them to step out on faith. To do something that makes no sense in an earthly way. To risk looking like fools by asking the priests if anything had changed. In a word, Jesus asked them to obey.
There are two things we need to keep in mind when we talk about obedient faith. Many people would tell us that obedience is really just doing the right thing. It is NOT! Doing the right thing is a dangerous thing. When we tell people to go and do the right thing, we are teaching a false view of God. We are telling people that it is possible to earn God’s love and grace and direction in our lives. Obedient faith is not the same thing as doing the right thing. Obedient faith is first listening to Jesus. Then, doing what Jesus told you to do.
Outside of this biblical story, we see places where the disciples were obedient to Jesus. They preached the Gospel. They healed the sick. They cast out demons. These are good things to do. But, this was only obedient faith, because they were doing what Jesus told them to do. The same thing is true for these ten Lepers.
As Christians, we are not supposed to go out and do good deeds for others UNLESS and UNTIL we have spent time in the presence of Jesus. Spending time with Jesus will change your life. He offers you forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life in Heaven. But, Jesus also gives us a new kind of life on earth. He calls us to join him in his work of mission and ministry.
Obedient faith requires coming and going. Coming to Jesus… Going out to the world… If you only come to Jesus, your faith is not obedient. If you only go out to the world, your obedience does not contain faith.
III. Two Places Where People Are Equals.
Luke is such a good story teller. He has just told us a wonderful story about a miraculous healing. Ten Lepers came to Jesus, asking him to heal them. Jesus, in turn, asked them to take a risk of faith. I’m certain the Lepers had exhausted all possible cures. Jesus’ words were at least worth a shot. But, Jesus’ words were not like all the other cures. Jesus’ words worked.
On their way to the priests, all ten Lepers noticed that their conditions were healed. What would you do if you condition were healed?
There are some people who would go straight to work. After all, Lepers were not allowed to mix with the rest of the population. As long as they were sick, they could not work. They had been out of work for months. If they go back to work, they can show their bosses and their clients that things will get back to normal.
There are some people who would go straight home. Lepers were not allowed to live in the cities. As long as they were sick, they were required to live outside the city gates in Leper colonies. They have not kissed their wives for months. They have not seen their children as they have grown up and changed. Going home would be an emotional welcome, and it would feel really good.
There was one man who went back to Jesus. He knew from whence his healing had come. The doctors had not healed him. The priests had not healed him. Only Jesus had healed him. Jesus is the first person he wants to see, because he wants to say thank you.
This is where Luke’s ability as a story teller is apparent. He reserved one big detail until the end of the story. The only man to come back to say thank you was a Samaritan.
On one hand, it makes sense that this man was a Samaritan. The ten Lepers were living in isolation, outside the populated areas, on the border between Jewish and Samaritan territories. On the other hand, it doesn’t make sense. The way Luke tells the story, he leads us to assume the other nine Lepers were Jews. Jews hate Samaritans. Samaritans hate Jews. Why would this Samaritan live among Jews? Why would the Jews live with a Samaritan?
This is one of Luke’s points in telling the story. And most of us have skipped over it every time we read the story. There are only two places where it does not matter who you are. There are only two places where humans do not discriminate against race, gender, financial standing, social standing, etc… The first place is a Leper colony. There is only one requirement for a person to be admitted to a Leper colony. You have to have leprosy. If you are not sick, do not apply. If you are sick, then it doesn’t matter who you are. You can be male or female, Jew or Samaritan, rich or poor, high class or low class… It doesn’t matter.
Truthfully, we can say the same thing about any kind of human suffering. Suffering has an incredible way of bringing people together, regardless of their race and standing. Think about when hurricanes come to East Texas. When a hurricane comes, we do not look at the barriers that separate us. We are all human beings, facing the same set of circumstances. Or think about the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. On September 12, there were no Democrats and Republicans. We were all Americans, facing the same struggles.
There are only two places where all people are equals. First, we are all equals when we suffer. Second, we are all equals in the presence of Jesus.
Jesus did not discriminate in his healing. He did not skip over the one Samaritan in favor of the nine Jews. He did not heal the one Samaritan and let the Jews continue their futile attempts at healing with the priests. Jesus is the same for all people.
IV. Thanksgiving Is Praising God.
In verses 16 and 18, we see a connection between thanking Jesus and praising God. Luke tells us in verse 16 that the Samaritan came back to say thank you. Jesus tells us in verse 18 that the Samaritan thanked God. This connection is significant for at least two reasons.
First, Jesus is obviously claiming to be God. Jesus has the power to heal the sick. While it might be possible to say Jesus is a regular human being endued with a special power to heal sickness, that does not fit the context of this story. If Jesus were only a human with special powers over sickness, then Jesus is committing blasphemy here. If Jesus were only a human, he should have deflected the man’s praise and admonished him to give praise only to God. Since Jesus received his praise, it is apparent that Jesus and God are the same. In fact, Jesus goes a step farther by suggesting the man’s response is appropriate.
Second, thanking Jesus and praising God is the same thing.
Notice Jesus’ words to the healed man in Luke 17: 19, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Literally, Jesus said, “You faith has saved you,” or “Your faith has made you whole.”
There is a difference between being healed and being made whole.
There is a difference between being healed and being saved.
All ten Lepers were healed by faith. They heard a word from Jesus and obeyed Jesus word. Obedience led to a blessing—they were healed.
Only one man returned to say thank you. And that was the only man who was made whole…
V. Conclusion.
There are two types of people represented in this story of healing. I am not going to make any further reference to the difference between Jews and Samaritans. The two types of people include the nine with superficial faith and the one with true faith.
Superficial faith is all about the blessings. What can Jesus do for me?
True faith is about praising God. The person with true faith receives blessings from God and always returns to say thank you.
Superficial faith receives God’s blessings and never goes back to Jesus. If we never go back to Jesus to say thank you, we will miss out on the greatest blessing of all.
Praising God leads us to the most blessed life possible.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Forgiveness Among God's People
Forgiveness Among God’s People
Genesis 33: 1 – 10.
I. Introduction.
One of the most frequently asked questions—at least most frequently asked of me—is “How can we know if a child is old enough to understand salvation?” The best answer I have ever found for this came from The Baptist Standard’s interview with a Christian counselor (probably about 10 – 12 years ago…before I thought it was important to cite my sources). This woman said that children are old enough to understand salvation when they are old enough to understand “sin” and “forgiveness.”
This is the answer I give to parents when they ask about their children. And, this is the approach I take when talking to someone—of any age—about becoming a Christian. I always start with a discussion of sin. You see, if we do not think we have ever sinned then we don’t think we need to be forgiven. And forgiveness stands at the heart of the Christian faith.
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23).”
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still SINNERS Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
These two verses teach us about the very basic meaning of salvation: Human beings have a sin problem, which separates us from God. This is a problem we cannot solve for ourselves.
Therefore, God took the initiative to solve our sin problem. Sin separates us from God. God wants us to be in relationship with himself. God sent his Only Begotten Son, Jesus, to live…to die…to rise again. Anyone who places their faith in Jesus as their Lord will receive forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation.
But there is an interesting thing about forgiveness… I don’t want you to think that forgiveness comes with a price tag. No, God offers us forgiveness at no cost; it is a free gift, a grace. However, Jesus teaches us that men and women who have been forgiven notice something new and different about our personal relationships.
Because we have been forgiven by God, we ought to forgive others. Jesus teaches us that Christians are supposed to be the most forgiving people in the world. In fact, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. In BOTH places Jesus said we should pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
I find Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness to be a very difficult teaching. In all honesty, I do not want God to forgive me AS I forgive others. I want God to forgive me BETTER than I forgive others.
Think about what Jesus taught us about forgiveness. First, there is a connection between the forgiveness I receive from God and the forgiveness I extend to others. The person who has been forgiven knows how important it is to forgive others. Second, Christians are supposed to be the most forgiving people on earth. But, that is not always the case. Sometimes, Christians are the least forgiving and most judgmental people on earth.
We should recognize the connection between the forgiveness we receive and the forgiveness we extend. This should be true for us both inside the church and outside the church. Even church people need to be forgiven.
Read Genesis 33: 1 – 10.
1 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants.
2 He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.
3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
5 Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked. Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."
6 Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down.
7 Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
8 Esau asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?" "To find favor in your eyes, my lord," he said.
9 But Esau said, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself."
10 "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.(NIV)
The story of Jacob and Esau begins in Genesis 25 with the story of their birth. They were twins who wrestled in their mother’s womb. Esau was born first and got his name from his hairy appearance—Esau means “hairy.” Jacob was born very quickly after Esau, because he was holding onto his brother’s heel. Thus he was named Jacob, which means “he grasps the heel,” or “he deceives.”
We know very little about Esau. We know that he was the oldest son in his family. We know that he should have been the family leader after his father’s death, but he sold that birthright to his brother Jacob. We know that he should have gone off into the world with the family blessing, but that was stolen by the same crafty brother, Jacob. Then we know that Esau took a vow to kill Jacob as soon as their father, Isaac, died.
We don’t know anything else about Esau for the next twenty years. But when we finally do see Esau again…He is different…Esau is a changed man.
During those twenty years when Esau was silent. The Bible tells us a lot about Jacob. Jacob had three encounters with God that changed his life. God made a promise to Jacob. God promised to bring Jacob back to the Promised Land…The land of his ancestors and make him into a great and powerful nation.
But before Jacob could return to his ancestral land he had to do something dangerous. He had to travel through Edom—the land belonging to his angry brother Esau. It is probably obvious to you that this poses somewhat of a problem. If Esau wanted to kill Jacob, what do you think is going to happen as Jacob crosses into Esau’s territory?
We don’t know what might have led to this decision, but Jacob decided that it was time to make peace with his brother. So Jacob sent one of his slaves to go and find Esau and tell him that his brother was in the region and wanted to speak to him. The slave came running back to Jacob and said, “Esau is coming…And he is bringing 400 men.”
Now there are two ways we can interpret Esau’s actions. On one hand, he is bringing 400 men to impress Jacob and show him that Esau has become a very important man in Edom. On the other hand, we know by reading the rest of the Bible that 400 men is the standard number for a military regiment or a raiding party. That is the same number of men that was used throughout 1 and 2 Samuel.
Jacob was left with no other option…He had to take desperate measures. Specifically, Jacob did three desperate things…
1. He Prayed…He stayed awake all night praying and “wrestling” with God.
2. He divided his family into several camps and arranged them in order of importance—The maidservants and their children went first, then Leah and her children, then Rachel and Joseph (his favorites) were last in line so they could be the first to escape and the most likely to get out alive…
3. He sent herds and flocks of animals ahead as gifts…These gifts were divided into five units that were led by a different slave…Each slave was instructed to say the same thing to Esau… “Jacob is sending this to my lord Esau, that I may find favor in your eyes”…Perhaps Esau’s heart would be softened after hearing the same message five different times…
There are a couple of interesting things to notice at this point…First, if you go back and count the number of animals that Jacob sent Esau, it is an astonishing 550 animals…Perhaps Jacob was trying to earn forgiveness from his brothers…Some people wonder if Jacob is trying to restore the family blessing to Esau—If so, it is interesting that Esau did not accept Jacob’s gifts until Jacob pleaded with him to take the flocks…Secondly, the Bible uses a religious word to describe this gift…It is a “present” which was a form of sacrificial offering that was intended to appease the anger of God…This leads us to believe that Jacob was trying to atone for his past sins and restore his relationship with his brother…
Then Esau surprises everybody…Instead of coming to attack Jacob and take revenge for the ways he had deceived him in the past, Esau FORGAVE his brother…
This is really hard for some of us to believe, because Jacob had taken everything from Esau…Of course we realize that is exactly what Jesus told us to do…He told us to pray for our enemies and to forgive the men and women who absolutely hate us and desire nothing but evil for us…He also taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”…Again…That is the part I don’t like…I don’t want God to forgive me LIKE I forgive others, I want God to forgive me BETTER than I forgive others…
II. Be Specific When You Forgive.
Forgiveness cannot be general…It must focus on a specific person and a specific sin…There must be a face…
We cannot say, “I forgive everyone who has hurt me.” We have to name the specific person and the specific sin.
But, forgiveness is NOT something that happens immediately. Usually, forgiveness is a process that begins with prayer.
If there is someone whom you need to forgive, begin by praying for that person. Pray for them specifically…Pray for them by name. Pray that God will bless them. Pray that God will help you to forgive the sin they committed against you. Pray specifically. Pray for that person by name. But pray in private. The offertory pray in Sunday morning worship is not the time to pray for someone by name.
III. Remember Your Own Forgiveness.
It is easier to forgive others when you recognize the many ways you have been forgiven by God and by others…
Perhaps this is what Jesus had in mind in the Model Prayer…Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…
IV. Sacrifice Your Rights.
This is perhaps the most difficult part of forgiveness…Everyone would understand if you make the offending person suffer for the ways they sinned against you…After all you were right…You ought to show the world that you were right…
Ultimately this is what forgiveness is all about…Forgiveness is when you refuse to make someone suffer for their sins against you…In fact, true forgiveness is the only way to release the offending person from suffering, to let go of the personal pain, and to stop the cycle of violence and offense.
Christian spiritualist Thomas Merton says that this is the difference between God’s theology and the devil’s theology…The devil likes to exaggerate the differences between right and wrong…The most important thing is to be absolutely right all the time and to prove everybody else absolutely wrong…If you are right, you should punish and eliminate those who are wrong…
But God’s theology includes Forgiveness…It is to act toward others on the basis of mercy…Not giving others the pain or the punishment they deserve…In other words, the offended person can GIVE forgiveness, but the guilty person can never EARN (or DESERVE) forgiveness…Even Jacob could not buy his forgiveness with lavish gifts to Esau…
V. Re-Establish the Relationship.
This is the ideal…It happened in the Jacob and Esau story…It happened in the death of Jesus on the cross…However, it does not and cannot always happen…
There are times when we need to forgive someone without ever restoring the relationship…Forgiving a dead parent or sibling…Forgiving an abuser…Forgiving an unfaithful spouse who has left…Forgiving an unrepentant person…
If what I said earlier is true—No one can earn or deserve forgiveness—then it is also true that the guilty person does not need to repent and apologize in order for us to forgive…Yet repentance and apology IS necessary for reconciliation and restored relationship to occur…
Forgiveness is the responsibility of the innocent person. Reconciliation is the responsibility of the guilty person. Jesus requires us to forgive. Jesus does not require us to reconcile a broken relationship.
VI. Conclusion: Forgiveness = The Face of God.
Genesis 33:10… “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”
We didn’t read Genesis 32 this morning. But, do you remember what happened in Genesis 32 (we read it last Sunday)? Jacob stayed awake all night long wrestling with a man…That man turned out to be God…And Jacob renamed that place Peniel—The Face of God—because he saw God face to face and lived…(Genesis 32: 30)
One night, Jacob stayed awake all night looking into the face of God…The next day, he saw his estranged brother extend his hand in forgiveness and said, “To see you is to see the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”
That is a tall compliment coming from a man who had actually seen God.
So how can we show the Face of God to others?
The Face of God = Forgiveness of those who have committed the greatest sins against us…And hopefully to bring them back into a restored relationship…
I am sure that each of us can think of at least one person whom we need to forgive this morning…That is human nature…We may forget our anniversary date, but we cannot seem to forget times we have been hurt by someone in the distant past…We may forget all the kind and gentle things our friends have done for us, but we cannot seem to forget the ways these same people have betrayed us…We may forget the many times our brother or sister helped us with our homework, but we cannot seem to forget the day he / she ridiculed us in front of friends…
To extend forgiveness to others is to show them the face of God.
Genesis 33: 1 – 10.
I. Introduction.
One of the most frequently asked questions—at least most frequently asked of me—is “How can we know if a child is old enough to understand salvation?” The best answer I have ever found for this came from The Baptist Standard’s interview with a Christian counselor (probably about 10 – 12 years ago…before I thought it was important to cite my sources). This woman said that children are old enough to understand salvation when they are old enough to understand “sin” and “forgiveness.”
This is the answer I give to parents when they ask about their children. And, this is the approach I take when talking to someone—of any age—about becoming a Christian. I always start with a discussion of sin. You see, if we do not think we have ever sinned then we don’t think we need to be forgiven. And forgiveness stands at the heart of the Christian faith.
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23).”
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still SINNERS Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
These two verses teach us about the very basic meaning of salvation: Human beings have a sin problem, which separates us from God. This is a problem we cannot solve for ourselves.
Therefore, God took the initiative to solve our sin problem. Sin separates us from God. God wants us to be in relationship with himself. God sent his Only Begotten Son, Jesus, to live…to die…to rise again. Anyone who places their faith in Jesus as their Lord will receive forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation.
But there is an interesting thing about forgiveness… I don’t want you to think that forgiveness comes with a price tag. No, God offers us forgiveness at no cost; it is a free gift, a grace. However, Jesus teaches us that men and women who have been forgiven notice something new and different about our personal relationships.
Because we have been forgiven by God, we ought to forgive others. Jesus teaches us that Christians are supposed to be the most forgiving people in the world. In fact, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. In BOTH places Jesus said we should pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
I find Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness to be a very difficult teaching. In all honesty, I do not want God to forgive me AS I forgive others. I want God to forgive me BETTER than I forgive others.
Think about what Jesus taught us about forgiveness. First, there is a connection between the forgiveness I receive from God and the forgiveness I extend to others. The person who has been forgiven knows how important it is to forgive others. Second, Christians are supposed to be the most forgiving people on earth. But, that is not always the case. Sometimes, Christians are the least forgiving and most judgmental people on earth.
We should recognize the connection between the forgiveness we receive and the forgiveness we extend. This should be true for us both inside the church and outside the church. Even church people need to be forgiven.
Read Genesis 33: 1 – 10.
1 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two maidservants.
2 He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear.
3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.
5 Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. "Who are these with you?" he asked. Jacob answered, "They are the children God has graciously given your servant."
6 Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down.
7 Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.
8 Esau asked, "What do you mean by all these droves I met?" "To find favor in your eyes, my lord," he said.
9 But Esau said, "I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself."
10 "No, please!" said Jacob. "If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.(NIV)
The story of Jacob and Esau begins in Genesis 25 with the story of their birth. They were twins who wrestled in their mother’s womb. Esau was born first and got his name from his hairy appearance—Esau means “hairy.” Jacob was born very quickly after Esau, because he was holding onto his brother’s heel. Thus he was named Jacob, which means “he grasps the heel,” or “he deceives.”
We know very little about Esau. We know that he was the oldest son in his family. We know that he should have been the family leader after his father’s death, but he sold that birthright to his brother Jacob. We know that he should have gone off into the world with the family blessing, but that was stolen by the same crafty brother, Jacob. Then we know that Esau took a vow to kill Jacob as soon as their father, Isaac, died.
We don’t know anything else about Esau for the next twenty years. But when we finally do see Esau again…He is different…Esau is a changed man.
During those twenty years when Esau was silent. The Bible tells us a lot about Jacob. Jacob had three encounters with God that changed his life. God made a promise to Jacob. God promised to bring Jacob back to the Promised Land…The land of his ancestors and make him into a great and powerful nation.
But before Jacob could return to his ancestral land he had to do something dangerous. He had to travel through Edom—the land belonging to his angry brother Esau. It is probably obvious to you that this poses somewhat of a problem. If Esau wanted to kill Jacob, what do you think is going to happen as Jacob crosses into Esau’s territory?
We don’t know what might have led to this decision, but Jacob decided that it was time to make peace with his brother. So Jacob sent one of his slaves to go and find Esau and tell him that his brother was in the region and wanted to speak to him. The slave came running back to Jacob and said, “Esau is coming…And he is bringing 400 men.”
Now there are two ways we can interpret Esau’s actions. On one hand, he is bringing 400 men to impress Jacob and show him that Esau has become a very important man in Edom. On the other hand, we know by reading the rest of the Bible that 400 men is the standard number for a military regiment or a raiding party. That is the same number of men that was used throughout 1 and 2 Samuel.
Jacob was left with no other option…He had to take desperate measures. Specifically, Jacob did three desperate things…
1. He Prayed…He stayed awake all night praying and “wrestling” with God.
2. He divided his family into several camps and arranged them in order of importance—The maidservants and their children went first, then Leah and her children, then Rachel and Joseph (his favorites) were last in line so they could be the first to escape and the most likely to get out alive…
3. He sent herds and flocks of animals ahead as gifts…These gifts were divided into five units that were led by a different slave…Each slave was instructed to say the same thing to Esau… “Jacob is sending this to my lord Esau, that I may find favor in your eyes”…Perhaps Esau’s heart would be softened after hearing the same message five different times…
There are a couple of interesting things to notice at this point…First, if you go back and count the number of animals that Jacob sent Esau, it is an astonishing 550 animals…Perhaps Jacob was trying to earn forgiveness from his brothers…Some people wonder if Jacob is trying to restore the family blessing to Esau—If so, it is interesting that Esau did not accept Jacob’s gifts until Jacob pleaded with him to take the flocks…Secondly, the Bible uses a religious word to describe this gift…It is a “present” which was a form of sacrificial offering that was intended to appease the anger of God…This leads us to believe that Jacob was trying to atone for his past sins and restore his relationship with his brother…
Then Esau surprises everybody…Instead of coming to attack Jacob and take revenge for the ways he had deceived him in the past, Esau FORGAVE his brother…
This is really hard for some of us to believe, because Jacob had taken everything from Esau…Of course we realize that is exactly what Jesus told us to do…He told us to pray for our enemies and to forgive the men and women who absolutely hate us and desire nothing but evil for us…He also taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”…Again…That is the part I don’t like…I don’t want God to forgive me LIKE I forgive others, I want God to forgive me BETTER than I forgive others…
II. Be Specific When You Forgive.
Forgiveness cannot be general…It must focus on a specific person and a specific sin…There must be a face…
We cannot say, “I forgive everyone who has hurt me.” We have to name the specific person and the specific sin.
But, forgiveness is NOT something that happens immediately. Usually, forgiveness is a process that begins with prayer.
If there is someone whom you need to forgive, begin by praying for that person. Pray for them specifically…Pray for them by name. Pray that God will bless them. Pray that God will help you to forgive the sin they committed against you. Pray specifically. Pray for that person by name. But pray in private. The offertory pray in Sunday morning worship is not the time to pray for someone by name.
III. Remember Your Own Forgiveness.
It is easier to forgive others when you recognize the many ways you have been forgiven by God and by others…
Perhaps this is what Jesus had in mind in the Model Prayer…Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…
IV. Sacrifice Your Rights.
This is perhaps the most difficult part of forgiveness…Everyone would understand if you make the offending person suffer for the ways they sinned against you…After all you were right…You ought to show the world that you were right…
Ultimately this is what forgiveness is all about…Forgiveness is when you refuse to make someone suffer for their sins against you…In fact, true forgiveness is the only way to release the offending person from suffering, to let go of the personal pain, and to stop the cycle of violence and offense.
Christian spiritualist Thomas Merton says that this is the difference between God’s theology and the devil’s theology…The devil likes to exaggerate the differences between right and wrong…The most important thing is to be absolutely right all the time and to prove everybody else absolutely wrong…If you are right, you should punish and eliminate those who are wrong…
But God’s theology includes Forgiveness…It is to act toward others on the basis of mercy…Not giving others the pain or the punishment they deserve…In other words, the offended person can GIVE forgiveness, but the guilty person can never EARN (or DESERVE) forgiveness…Even Jacob could not buy his forgiveness with lavish gifts to Esau…
V. Re-Establish the Relationship.
This is the ideal…It happened in the Jacob and Esau story…It happened in the death of Jesus on the cross…However, it does not and cannot always happen…
There are times when we need to forgive someone without ever restoring the relationship…Forgiving a dead parent or sibling…Forgiving an abuser…Forgiving an unfaithful spouse who has left…Forgiving an unrepentant person…
If what I said earlier is true—No one can earn or deserve forgiveness—then it is also true that the guilty person does not need to repent and apologize in order for us to forgive…Yet repentance and apology IS necessary for reconciliation and restored relationship to occur…
Forgiveness is the responsibility of the innocent person. Reconciliation is the responsibility of the guilty person. Jesus requires us to forgive. Jesus does not require us to reconcile a broken relationship.
VI. Conclusion: Forgiveness = The Face of God.
Genesis 33:10… “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”
We didn’t read Genesis 32 this morning. But, do you remember what happened in Genesis 32 (we read it last Sunday)? Jacob stayed awake all night long wrestling with a man…That man turned out to be God…And Jacob renamed that place Peniel—The Face of God—because he saw God face to face and lived…(Genesis 32: 30)
One night, Jacob stayed awake all night looking into the face of God…The next day, he saw his estranged brother extend his hand in forgiveness and said, “To see you is to see the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”
That is a tall compliment coming from a man who had actually seen God.
So how can we show the Face of God to others?
The Face of God = Forgiveness of those who have committed the greatest sins against us…And hopefully to bring them back into a restored relationship…
I am sure that each of us can think of at least one person whom we need to forgive this morning…That is human nature…We may forget our anniversary date, but we cannot seem to forget times we have been hurt by someone in the distant past…We may forget all the kind and gentle things our friends have done for us, but we cannot seem to forget the ways these same people have betrayed us…We may forget the many times our brother or sister helped us with our homework, but we cannot seem to forget the day he / she ridiculed us in front of friends…
To extend forgiveness to others is to show them the face of God.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Human Pain and Struggles
Human Pain and Struggles
Genesis 32: 22 – 32.
I. Introduction.
I have been visiting church members in the hospital for several years now. In fact, I started visiting in the hospital when I was a College Minister in Waco. Every staff member of our church was required to go at least once a week to check on our folks.
Over the years, I have gotten a little more comfortable around doctors, in waiting rooms and walking through the hospital hallways. And I have learned a lot about hospitals and the health care professions.
There is something I have noticed in just the past couple of years. There is a new kind of doctor now that did not exist a few years ago…A Pain Specialist or a Pain Management Specialist.
Doctors and hospitals used to believe that pain was just a symptom of something else going on in our bodies…Illness, Disease, or some other type of Disorder. If you treat the illness or disorder, the pain will eventually go away. We also used to believe that pain was something that was just inevitable and folks need to learn how to cope with or at least how to survive pain.
But that is not the case anymore. Now, there are medical personnel whose entire practice is dedicated to relieving pain. These are the Pain Specialists. They often function as a team of doctors and therapists to treat the patient’s pain and to help the patient learn how to live with pain.
Pain Specialists work with people who are suffering from diseases that normally bring a lot of pain—I think of Cancer as a perfect example—Or from injuries such as a severe back injury or at least something that never seems to heal. Pain Specialists have also been very helpful for men and women who suffer from these types of Chronic Pain.
There are between 30 million and 50 million Americans who suffer from some form of Chronic Pain…That is defined as continuous pain that lasts longer than six months. More than likely, you can think of someone you know who suffers like this. Sometimes this Chronic Pain comes from identifiable disorders—like cancer or injuries—but often Chronic Pain is mysterious and not related to any identifiable disorder.
This is where Pain Specialists have been very helpful. Their treatments for pain range from medications physical therapy to psychotherapy to spinal cord stimulation to more New Age techniques such as transcendental meditation—Of course those techniques seem to be nothing more than just denying that one is suffering pain at all.
Of course you don’t have to suffer from Chronic Pain to recognize that pain is a natural part of human life. In fact, we might even say that to be human and to be alive is to know what it means to suffer.
I wish I had the answer to human suffering. I wish I could make your pain and suffering go away. Or, at least I wish I could answer the question “Why?”
The best I can do is to open the Bible and show you that you are not alone. The men and women of the Bible faced the same kinds of struggle and pain that we face today.
Read Genesis 32: 22 – 32.
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.
(NIV)
Jacob really wasn’t proud of his past. There were a lot of things that he would just prefer to forget and not have to talk about again. Like the time when he tricked his brother Esau into selling his birthright for a bowl of red beans.
You see, Esau was the firstborn son—of course he was only a few seconds older than Jacob, because they were twins, and the Bible tells us that Jacob came out of his mother’s womb grasping onto the heel of his older brother. In fact, that is where Jacob’s name came from. Jacob means, “one who grasps at the heel” or the one who tries to trip or deceive another. And that is exactly what Jacob did—deceived other people.
He deceived his older brother into trading all the rights of a firstborn son for a bowl of red stew—probably nothing more than just a pile of beans. Can you imagine that? Trading half of the family fortune and all the rights to family leadership for a pile of beans. That is what Esau did, because Jacob deceived him.
Then there was that time that Jacob deceived his father out of the family blessing. Now this is something entirely different from the birthrights of a firstborn son. The birthright was a way of carrying on the past success. The blessing was a way of guaranteeing future success. Such a blessing was closely related to the ancient Hebrew belief in the power of the spoken word. Fathers were hopeful that the words they spoke over their firstborn sons would in fact come true. But only one of the sons could receive such a promise of a good future.
And Jacob—with his mother’s help—dressed up like his brother and put animal skins on his arms and wore sweaty, nasty clothes to make his father think he was blessing the older brother Esau. The deceiver had struck again. And Esau had lost again.
Immediately after Jacob left his ailing father’s bedside, Esau walked in expecting to receive his father’s blessing. But it was too late. Jacob had just left with the only blessing. And Esau vowed that day that he would kill his younger brother Jacob. But he would wait until their parents were dead.
That is when Jacob went into hiding. He spent twenty years in foreign lands trying to avoid any contact with his family. Jacob missed the funerals of both his mother and his father, because he was afraid of Esau.
During those twenty years on the road, something began to happen to Jacob. We don’t exactly know what was going on in his life, but we do know there were three places where Jacob came into the presence of God.
The first time Jacob encountered God was on the side of the road as he traveled from Beersheba to Haran. There wasn’t a Holiday Inn Express in the area, so Jacob had to sleep on the ground with his head on a stone for a pillow. During the night, God gave Jacob a vision of a beautiful staircase that spanned the distance between heaven and earth. There were angels of God walking up and down that staircase. And then it happened…God spoke! “I am the God of your father Abraham and Isaac, and I am your God Jacob. I will go with you wherever you go and protect you and bring you back to your own land and make a great nation out of you.”
Then Jacob woke up and realized that he had been resting in the presence of God. Therefore he set up a monument and gave that place a name. You see, in the Old Testament names were important. Names reveal character. And when there is a character change, there needs to be a name change. So Jacob gave that nameless place a name. He called it Bethel…The House of God.
The second time Jacob found himself in the presence of God was even more mysterious than the first. He had just deceived his father-in-law out of hundreds of sheep. Now he was on his way back to the land of Canaan—the Promised Land, the Land of his people. But again, the angels of the Lord came to Jacob and he began to realize how blessed he truly was. And once again, Jacob had such a profound experience of God that he gave the place a name. He called it Mahanaim…Two Camps. This may mean…God has blessed me so much that my family and possessions cannot fit into just one camp. Or it may mean…God is camping here with me.
The Scripture that I read earlier is actually the third time Jacob encountered God. This time there was no mistaking what happened…It was God. It wasn’t a dream…It wasn’t some bad pizza he had eaten earlier that day…It was truly and unmistakably a one-on-one encounter with God himself. In fact, Jacob stayed up all night wrestling and struggling with God.
On one hand, we can say that what happened to Jacob in this story is very similar to what happened in the other stories. Jacob had an experience with God that was so real to him that he gave the place a name…Bethel…Mahanaim…And this time, Peniel—the Face of God.
On the other hand, this encounter was different. On two other occasions, Jacob had an experience with God, changed the name of his location and walked away unchanged…This time Jacob was changed. Something happened in his life that made him different than he had ever been before.
Jacob wrestled all night with an unnamed assailant. As the dawn approached, Jacob seemed to be winning. He had the man pinned to the ground. Then something unexpected happened. The man simply touched Jacob’s hip and it was immediately dislocated. Jacob was in serious pain and began to realize that he could not beat this man. So, he asked for a blessing.
When Jacob asked for a blessing the man asked Jacob for his name. On one hand this seems logical…He needed to know who he was blessing. On the other hand it doesn’t seem to fit…Who wrestles all night with someone they don’t even know.
This makes me think there is something else at work here. There is something even more significant. Remember, a name in the Old Testament is very important. A person’s name reveals their character, and when a person’s character changed their name changed as well. Therefore, we might say the man asked “What is your character?”
Jacob had to confess his true character. “I am Jacob, the Deceiver.”
Here is the most important part of the story. The man replied, “You are no longer Jacob, the Deceiver. You are Israel, for you have struggled with God and with people and have survived.” This was more than just a change of name. It was a character change.
This is where we get our first clues that this man in the night was actually God. He said, “You have struggled with God.” Then, he changed Jacob’s character. Only God can change a person’s character.
II. Confession: I Am Jacob.
Too many people miss this part of the struggle…We tend to think that we are too good to suffer—as if suffering and pain were reserved for the bad people…
Pain and struggle is a normal and natural part of what it means to be human. As long as we live earthly lives, we will have pain and disappointment…Broken relationships, death, disease and loss. The wrong way to approach pain and struggle is to ask the question, “Why me? Why do bad things happen to me?”
At the heart of this question is the belief that I am too good to suffer or that bad things do not happen to good people. Both of these views are false. On one hand, we are not good people. We are sinners in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. On the other hand, Jesus is an example of how good people do indeed suffer. God has only one Son without sin, yet even God’s Son without sin felt the pain and the struggle of human life.
III. Let God Be God: Israel = God Reigns, or God Prevails.
The name Israel can have two different meanings. It can mean, “One who struggles with God.” It is built from two Hebrew words…One meaning “struggle” or “fight”…The other is the Hebrew word El which means God. It is normally the case that when a word ends in El, God is the subject of the action not the object. Therefore, we can say that Israel literally means “God fights.”
To think of God as the subject of Jacob’s new name, Israel, can help us in at least two ways. First, it helps us to make sense of his struggle. Jacob did not prevail against God in his struggle. Jacob survived in his struggle with God. Second, it helps us to understand what is taking place in our own struggles. If God were fighting against us, we would not survive. Therefore, we must acknowledge that God is fighting for us, and not against us.
When it seems that God is fighting against us, God is actually fighting on our side. How else could we survive unless God fight on our behalf?
IV. Allow the Struggle to Change Us: Changed Character & Walked Away with a Limp.
I am not saying that God causes us to struggle and suffer, or even that God inflicts pain…I am saying that when we place our struggles and suffering and pain in God’s hands we allow him to change us—inside and out—and to form us into the image of Christ who also struggled…
V. Conclusion.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Genesis 32: 22 – 32.
I. Introduction.
I have been visiting church members in the hospital for several years now. In fact, I started visiting in the hospital when I was a College Minister in Waco. Every staff member of our church was required to go at least once a week to check on our folks.
Over the years, I have gotten a little more comfortable around doctors, in waiting rooms and walking through the hospital hallways. And I have learned a lot about hospitals and the health care professions.
There is something I have noticed in just the past couple of years. There is a new kind of doctor now that did not exist a few years ago…A Pain Specialist or a Pain Management Specialist.
Doctors and hospitals used to believe that pain was just a symptom of something else going on in our bodies…Illness, Disease, or some other type of Disorder. If you treat the illness or disorder, the pain will eventually go away. We also used to believe that pain was something that was just inevitable and folks need to learn how to cope with or at least how to survive pain.
But that is not the case anymore. Now, there are medical personnel whose entire practice is dedicated to relieving pain. These are the Pain Specialists. They often function as a team of doctors and therapists to treat the patient’s pain and to help the patient learn how to live with pain.
Pain Specialists work with people who are suffering from diseases that normally bring a lot of pain—I think of Cancer as a perfect example—Or from injuries such as a severe back injury or at least something that never seems to heal. Pain Specialists have also been very helpful for men and women who suffer from these types of Chronic Pain.
There are between 30 million and 50 million Americans who suffer from some form of Chronic Pain…That is defined as continuous pain that lasts longer than six months. More than likely, you can think of someone you know who suffers like this. Sometimes this Chronic Pain comes from identifiable disorders—like cancer or injuries—but often Chronic Pain is mysterious and not related to any identifiable disorder.
This is where Pain Specialists have been very helpful. Their treatments for pain range from medications physical therapy to psychotherapy to spinal cord stimulation to more New Age techniques such as transcendental meditation—Of course those techniques seem to be nothing more than just denying that one is suffering pain at all.
Of course you don’t have to suffer from Chronic Pain to recognize that pain is a natural part of human life. In fact, we might even say that to be human and to be alive is to know what it means to suffer.
I wish I had the answer to human suffering. I wish I could make your pain and suffering go away. Or, at least I wish I could answer the question “Why?”
The best I can do is to open the Bible and show you that you are not alone. The men and women of the Bible faced the same kinds of struggle and pain that we face today.
Read Genesis 32: 22 – 32.
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.
(NIV)
Jacob really wasn’t proud of his past. There were a lot of things that he would just prefer to forget and not have to talk about again. Like the time when he tricked his brother Esau into selling his birthright for a bowl of red beans.
You see, Esau was the firstborn son—of course he was only a few seconds older than Jacob, because they were twins, and the Bible tells us that Jacob came out of his mother’s womb grasping onto the heel of his older brother. In fact, that is where Jacob’s name came from. Jacob means, “one who grasps at the heel” or the one who tries to trip or deceive another. And that is exactly what Jacob did—deceived other people.
He deceived his older brother into trading all the rights of a firstborn son for a bowl of red stew—probably nothing more than just a pile of beans. Can you imagine that? Trading half of the family fortune and all the rights to family leadership for a pile of beans. That is what Esau did, because Jacob deceived him.
Then there was that time that Jacob deceived his father out of the family blessing. Now this is something entirely different from the birthrights of a firstborn son. The birthright was a way of carrying on the past success. The blessing was a way of guaranteeing future success. Such a blessing was closely related to the ancient Hebrew belief in the power of the spoken word. Fathers were hopeful that the words they spoke over their firstborn sons would in fact come true. But only one of the sons could receive such a promise of a good future.
And Jacob—with his mother’s help—dressed up like his brother and put animal skins on his arms and wore sweaty, nasty clothes to make his father think he was blessing the older brother Esau. The deceiver had struck again. And Esau had lost again.
Immediately after Jacob left his ailing father’s bedside, Esau walked in expecting to receive his father’s blessing. But it was too late. Jacob had just left with the only blessing. And Esau vowed that day that he would kill his younger brother Jacob. But he would wait until their parents were dead.
That is when Jacob went into hiding. He spent twenty years in foreign lands trying to avoid any contact with his family. Jacob missed the funerals of both his mother and his father, because he was afraid of Esau.
During those twenty years on the road, something began to happen to Jacob. We don’t exactly know what was going on in his life, but we do know there were three places where Jacob came into the presence of God.
The first time Jacob encountered God was on the side of the road as he traveled from Beersheba to Haran. There wasn’t a Holiday Inn Express in the area, so Jacob had to sleep on the ground with his head on a stone for a pillow. During the night, God gave Jacob a vision of a beautiful staircase that spanned the distance between heaven and earth. There were angels of God walking up and down that staircase. And then it happened…God spoke! “I am the God of your father Abraham and Isaac, and I am your God Jacob. I will go with you wherever you go and protect you and bring you back to your own land and make a great nation out of you.”
Then Jacob woke up and realized that he had been resting in the presence of God. Therefore he set up a monument and gave that place a name. You see, in the Old Testament names were important. Names reveal character. And when there is a character change, there needs to be a name change. So Jacob gave that nameless place a name. He called it Bethel…The House of God.
The second time Jacob found himself in the presence of God was even more mysterious than the first. He had just deceived his father-in-law out of hundreds of sheep. Now he was on his way back to the land of Canaan—the Promised Land, the Land of his people. But again, the angels of the Lord came to Jacob and he began to realize how blessed he truly was. And once again, Jacob had such a profound experience of God that he gave the place a name. He called it Mahanaim…Two Camps. This may mean…God has blessed me so much that my family and possessions cannot fit into just one camp. Or it may mean…God is camping here with me.
The Scripture that I read earlier is actually the third time Jacob encountered God. This time there was no mistaking what happened…It was God. It wasn’t a dream…It wasn’t some bad pizza he had eaten earlier that day…It was truly and unmistakably a one-on-one encounter with God himself. In fact, Jacob stayed up all night wrestling and struggling with God.
On one hand, we can say that what happened to Jacob in this story is very similar to what happened in the other stories. Jacob had an experience with God that was so real to him that he gave the place a name…Bethel…Mahanaim…And this time, Peniel—the Face of God.
On the other hand, this encounter was different. On two other occasions, Jacob had an experience with God, changed the name of his location and walked away unchanged…This time Jacob was changed. Something happened in his life that made him different than he had ever been before.
Jacob wrestled all night with an unnamed assailant. As the dawn approached, Jacob seemed to be winning. He had the man pinned to the ground. Then something unexpected happened. The man simply touched Jacob’s hip and it was immediately dislocated. Jacob was in serious pain and began to realize that he could not beat this man. So, he asked for a blessing.
When Jacob asked for a blessing the man asked Jacob for his name. On one hand this seems logical…He needed to know who he was blessing. On the other hand it doesn’t seem to fit…Who wrestles all night with someone they don’t even know.
This makes me think there is something else at work here. There is something even more significant. Remember, a name in the Old Testament is very important. A person’s name reveals their character, and when a person’s character changed their name changed as well. Therefore, we might say the man asked “What is your character?”
Jacob had to confess his true character. “I am Jacob, the Deceiver.”
Here is the most important part of the story. The man replied, “You are no longer Jacob, the Deceiver. You are Israel, for you have struggled with God and with people and have survived.” This was more than just a change of name. It was a character change.
This is where we get our first clues that this man in the night was actually God. He said, “You have struggled with God.” Then, he changed Jacob’s character. Only God can change a person’s character.
II. Confession: I Am Jacob.
Too many people miss this part of the struggle…We tend to think that we are too good to suffer—as if suffering and pain were reserved for the bad people…
Pain and struggle is a normal and natural part of what it means to be human. As long as we live earthly lives, we will have pain and disappointment…Broken relationships, death, disease and loss. The wrong way to approach pain and struggle is to ask the question, “Why me? Why do bad things happen to me?”
At the heart of this question is the belief that I am too good to suffer or that bad things do not happen to good people. Both of these views are false. On one hand, we are not good people. We are sinners in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. On the other hand, Jesus is an example of how good people do indeed suffer. God has only one Son without sin, yet even God’s Son without sin felt the pain and the struggle of human life.
III. Let God Be God: Israel = God Reigns, or God Prevails.
The name Israel can have two different meanings. It can mean, “One who struggles with God.” It is built from two Hebrew words…One meaning “struggle” or “fight”…The other is the Hebrew word El which means God. It is normally the case that when a word ends in El, God is the subject of the action not the object. Therefore, we can say that Israel literally means “God fights.”
To think of God as the subject of Jacob’s new name, Israel, can help us in at least two ways. First, it helps us to make sense of his struggle. Jacob did not prevail against God in his struggle. Jacob survived in his struggle with God. Second, it helps us to understand what is taking place in our own struggles. If God were fighting against us, we would not survive. Therefore, we must acknowledge that God is fighting for us, and not against us.
When it seems that God is fighting against us, God is actually fighting on our side. How else could we survive unless God fight on our behalf?
IV. Allow the Struggle to Change Us: Changed Character & Walked Away with a Limp.
I am not saying that God causes us to struggle and suffer, or even that God inflicts pain…I am saying that when we place our struggles and suffering and pain in God’s hands we allow him to change us—inside and out—and to form us into the image of Christ who also struggled…
V. Conclusion.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Monday, November 01, 2010
Moving at the Speed of Church
Moving at the Speed of Church
Matthew 16: 13 – 20 and Ephesians 4: 11 – 13.
Matthew 16: 13 – 20 and Ephesians 4: 11 – 13.
I. Introduction.
In this week’s edition of the Baptist Standard, there are a series of articles on the various ways Baptist churches make decisions. Traditionally, Baptists have organized around committees and regular business meetings. This committee structure is a natural by product of one of our historical Baptist view of the Priesthood of All Believers.
We believe all Christians are priests before God. As priests, each Christian has access to God as well as the responsibility to serve God. Baptists do not recognize a special class of priests who have more and better access to God or even more and better responsibilities to serve God. Rather, we believe God gives his Holy Spirit to all believers—men and women, clergy and laity. Therefore, all Christians can pray to God without a priestly mediator; all Christians can hear God speak to us through his Word; and all Christians have the responsibility to serve God in the church.
For these reasons, the traditional Baptist church places leadership responsibilities on every member of the church. Church members serve on committees, which provide leadership and direction to the church body. In our context, we have four primary committees that we call trustees. Our board of trustees consists of a finance committee, a personnel committee, a long range planning committee and a building and grounds committee. These committees meet at least once a month to discuss the business and financial matters of the church. However, every decision the board of trustees make has to be approved by the church in business meeting. (Of course, we hold business meeting once a month on Wednesday nights. All members are both invited and encouraged to participate in our business meetings. Yet, typically we have approximately 50 people present to discuss and approve our church business. You don’t have to come to business meetings. But you are invited and encouraged to participate. Our next business meeting won’t happen until November…)
One of the benefits of our church polity is the way we involve many different people with many different gifts in church decisions. One of the drawbacks of our church polity is that it takes a very long time to get things done. This is where I got the idea for my sermon title today. As far as I know, a friend of mine came up with this phrase…Moving at the Speed of Church… It takes a meeting of the trustees, a deacons’ meeting and a business meeting to get things done.
In my opinion, there are many decisions that have to move at the speed of church. A fine example might be the way we dealt with an offer from the City of Lufkin. The City wanted to purchase or lease a piece of property from us to use as a parking lot for their planned expansion of the Civic Center. That was not a decision I wanted to make alone. I wanted to involve our trustees, deacons and church business meeting to make sure we accomplished what is in the best interest of our church.
However, not every decision has to move that slowly. There are certain things that the church is supposed to do every week. You have heard me talk about the five purposes of the church…Worship, Evangelism, Discipleship, Missions and Fellowship. A church should not have to vote on whether or not we will be involved in Worship, Evangelism, Discipleship, Missions and Fellowship. This is our purpose for existing as a church. This is the reason God placed us in Lufkin, Texas. We are not here to vote on church decisions. We are not here to maintain our buildings and our budget. We are here to do God’s work in Lufkin and around the world.
I mentioned this last Sunday, but it is worth repeating. In fact, this is so important that I could probably say it every Sunday for the rest of my life. Our idea of church is dependant on what we believe about Jesus and God’s mission in the world. We must first look at Jesus before we decide what we want our church to look like.
Since God revealed himself to us in Jesus, when we look at Jesus we not only see who God is…But, we also see what God wants us to do. God gave us our mission by giving us Jesus as our example. Jesus spent his earthly life and ministry reaching out to people who were far from God. Some of those people were unclean and undesirable sinners. They spent their time doing things that were in direct opposition to God’s will and God’s word. Yet, Jesus went to them and invited them to enter into a relationship with God. Other people Jesus went to were people who were held captive by demonic forces, physical disease and even poverty. Jesus went to them and met their needs. Then, Jesus invited them to enter into a relationship with God. Sometimes we see Jesus’ going to church…But that was rare and was not where Jesus spent most of his time.
When we look at Jesus, we see God. When we see God, we also see God’s mission for us as individuals and as a community of God’s people. Then, we develop our concept of church around God’s mission for God’s people.
Here is the sad reality. There are too many churches who reverse the order. We develop a concept of church around what I like to do…The songs I like to sing…The programs and ministries that make me happy…The decisions to do things the way I like them. Then, we think our mission is to get more people to like church the way we like church. Then, we take the next step and develop a theology about God and Jesus that proves to the world Jesus likes the same things about church that I like about church.
I want to look at two Scriptures about the church. In one Scripture, we will read what Jesus has to say about the church. In the second Scripture, we will read one of Paul’s many comments about the church.
II. What Jesus Said about the Church.
Read Matthew 16: 13 – 20.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
(NIV)
This story appears toward the end of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. Jesus began his ministry by selecting twelve disciples. Jesus taught them privately about the Kingdom of God. The disciples were present with Jesus when he taught publicly about the Kingdom of God. In fact, as I read the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus, I find more references about the Kingdom of God than about the church. I think this reference to the church might be the only time Jesus talked about church. Jesus was more concerned that his original disciples understand the true nature of God’s Kingdom.
While Jesus did spend a lot of his time talking about the Kingdom of God, that is not all Jesus did. He also demonstrated the Kingdom of God in the way he reached out to people who were far from God. Some people had a difficult time coming to God, because they were held in bondage to demons, sickness, hunger or poverty. In these situations, Jesus performed miracles. Jesus cast out demons, healed the sick, fed the hungry and preached Good News to the poor. Jesus’ ministry involved teaching about the true nature of God’s Kingdom and demonstrating that God’s Kingdom is different from all the kingdoms of the world.
The disciples heard all of Jesus’ teachings and witnessed all of Jesus’ miracles. Yet, at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry it was important for Jesus to make sure his disciples really understood who he was and why he came. So, Jesus asked the disciples two questions.
First, Jesus asked, “Who do (the) people say the Son of Man is?” In some ways, this is a cryptic question. Jesus did not say, “Who do people say that I am?” Instead, he asked who they thought the Son of Man was. If you have read the Gospels, you will recognize that “Son of Man” was Jesus’ favorite expression to use to refer to himself. In that sense, we can interpret this question as a question about Jesus’ own identity. However, if you have read the Book of Daniel, you will recognize “Son of Man” as an Old Testament designation for the coming Messiah—the one God promised to send to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. In this sense, Jesus’ question was asking who the people thought the Messiah was. And, according to the disciples, the people of Israel thought the Messiah was “John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
Second, Jesus asked, “But what about ya’ll? Who do ya’ll say I am?” This question was more specific than the first question. The question was specifically addressed to the disciples. The question was specifically in reference to Jesus and who the twelve disciples thought Jesus really was.
Simon Peter was the spokesman for the rest of the disciples. They may not have elected him as their spokesman, but he was the quickest on the draw. He answered the question before the others could take a breath to speak. Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
There are two very important points in Simon Peter’s confession of faith. First, he says that Jesus is the Christ. The Greek word Christos is the Greek form of the Hebrew word Messiah. So, Simon Peter is confessing that Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Jesus is the One God sent to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. Second, he confesses that Jesus is the “Son of God.” To confess Jesus as the Son of God is to confess that Jesus is divine. He is not another prophet or simply a Jewish rabbi.
Notice how Jesus responded to this confession of faith. He accepted it. He agreed with it. He affirmed Simon Peter in three ways. First, he affirmed that this kind of understanding can only come from God’s revelation and not from human learning. Second, he changed Simon’s name from Simon to Peter. Third, Jesus said that since the name Peter means “rock,’ this would be the foundation of Jesus’ church.
I do not believe that Peter, as an individual, would be the foundation of the church. There is nothing in the Bible or even church history to suggest that the church was built on any person other than Jesus. Rather, I believe Jesus is referring to Peter’s confession of faith. The church is built on a foundation of men and women who confess Jesus is both the promised Messiah and the divine Son of God.
The only way to enter into the church is to confess Jesus as Messiah and Jesus as divine. This is important, because we worship Jesus. This is important, because we want to join Jesus in his mission to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. This is not a political Kingdom. This is not a Kingdom defined by national boundaries. This is a spiritual Kingdom where the forces of evil and poverty no longer hold us in bondage.
This is also important, because we have the same mission as Jesus. In fact, Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6, “Let your Kingdom come, Let your will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven.” We are to pray for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. We are to work for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in Heaven. This is the mission of the church…to share in the mission of Jesus.
III. What Paul Said about the Church.
Read Ephesians 4: 11 – 13.
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
(NIV)
This is one of many places where the Apostle Paul teaches us about the church. In fact, this is the primary theme of the Book of Ephesians. Paul tells us the church is an expression of God’s Kingdom on earth—embracing people of all races, all genders and all nationalities. Paul tells us that the church is God’s family—God is not the Father of all human beings, but God is the Father of all who place their faith in Jesus. Paul tells us the church is the Body of Christ—many different people coming together into one body, with Jesus as the head.
In this context, Paul is describing four different roles and / or ministries that exist within the church as the Body of Christ: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists and Pastor-Teachers.
· Apostles = Those who are sent…
· Prophets = Those who speak God’s Word to God’s people…
· Evangelists = Those who preach the Good News to non-Christians…
· Pastor-Teachers = Those who shepherd the church through teaching ministry…
There is a lot of overlap in these four ministries. In fact, I would have a difficult time choosing which term best describes the work I do as pastor of the church here in Lufkin. In many ways, I think my job involves all four roles. However, I don’t think the most important thing is to define and describe the four roles of ministry. Rather, I think the most important thing is to look at the verses following the ministry roles. These verses describe the PURPOSE of ministry.
In verse 12, Paul tells us that God has given Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists and Pastor-Teachers for the purpose of preparing God’s people for works of service.
As the pastor of this church, I believe this verse is specifically addressed to me. God sent me to this church with a purpose in mind. God sent me to prepare you individually and corporately for works of service.
I also believe this verse is specifically addressed to you as a church. Specifically, Paul tells us that God did not give you a pastor so that you can sit back and allow the pastor to do all the work of the church. God wants us all to work! We all have different jobs. But we are all supposed to work.
IV. Conclusion.
In the past couple of months, I have seen Ephesians 4: 12 at work in our church through two ministry opportunities.
One example is our new Women’s Ministry. I had two young women in our church come to me with ideas of organizing and developing a ministry for women. They want to create a full slate of Bible study options, hold annual retreats, do ministry projects in our community, and develop relationships among the women of our church across generational lines. When I had that first conversation, I had to make a choice. I could move at the speed of church, or I could encourage them to do the work God had called them to do. Moving at the speed of church would have killed their idea—present the idea to the trustees and deacons; vote on creating a Women’s Ministry in business meeting; asking the committee of committees to form a Women’s Ministry committee. Some things need to move at the speed of church. That is not true when God’s people are asking to do God’s work.
Another example is an idea that is still in development. This past summer, we participated in a local mission project here in Lufkin. We called it On Mission Lufkin. We did work on three Lufkin school campuses—demolishing a building at Trout Primary School and painting the classrooms at Herty Primary and Coston Elementary. Working on school campuses is great and meaningful work. But, there wasn’t a lot of contact with people. Right now, I have a group of people who are beginning to ask questions about how to do ministry projects which will impact low income families and give us an opportunity to interact with more people.
On Sunday, November 14, we will have an opportunity to learn about a ministry taking place in Birmingham, Alabama called Metro Changers. The Baptist churches in Birmingham do construction work on an average of 160 houses every year without ever leaving town. What kind of impact could we make on our community by starting a similar ministry in Lufkin? I’m excited about this, because it wasn’t my idea. We have church members who want to start this ministry. I simply made the phone calls to find someone who is already doing this in their own town.
Moving at the speed of church can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing. When it comes to making church-wide decisions that affect all of us, I promise to move at the speed of church. But, if it involves God’s people being engaged in works of service. I promise to turn you loose and encourage you.
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