A man sat in a marriage counselor’s office in despair. His wife was threatening to leave him. He desperately loved his wife. He wanted to stay with her; to be with her. No one else had ever caught his attention, and he had devoted himself to caring for her. He was flabbergasted when she told him that she felt unloved. He couldn’t understand it at all. So, he sought help and advice.
The counselor asked the man what was going on.
The man began, “I don’t know. She says that she feels unloved. She says that she feels like I don’t care about her. But nothing could be farther from the truth. I love her dearly, desperately. I only want what is best for her. I work as hard as I can each and every day to show my love to her. I make sure and get all my work done so I can get home. I cook dinner for her almost every day. I know what kind of food she likes and doesn’t like, and I take great pains to make sure it’s cooked to her taste. I know what kind of clothes she likes to wear, so I make sure her wardrobe is full of those clothes. I have purchased several things personally, and she never tells me that they are bad. She has always marveled at how well I can buy stuff for her. I also take her on vacations to whatever destination she wants. Never have I refused her a single request to a place she wants to go. I have constantly done things for her and given her gifts, so I don’t understand why she feels unloved. I haven’t a clue why she believes I don’t love her. Can you help me?”
The counselor scratched his head for a moment and then replied, “When is the last time you told her?”
The man sat in silence and struggled to remember.
It is certainly true that love without action is merely words. You can tell someone you love them over and over and over again, but if your actions contradict your words, you are a liar. If there are no actions following the words, they remain empty.
However, words matter. Messages matter. Not only do we need to see things in action, we need to hear those words. We need to hear messages. We need people to verbalize what is going on deep within their own hearts and souls. News carries weight.
We all know that news carries weight. We all know that words that are spoken or read sometimes hit us where we live–even if we are far removed from the events that are taking place, news still impacts our lives. For instance, on September 11, 2001, four passenger airplanes were hijacked. Two were flown into the World Trade Center towers. One was flown into the Pentagon. One was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. As far as I know, none of us here this morning had any direct contact with those events–if someone here did, please correct me later. As far as I know none of us here were really, truly impacted by what happened. We weren’t there. We were over a thousand miles away.
But the news about those events hit many of us hard. We grieved for the people who were killed. We grieved for the families who lost loved ones. We grieved for our nation as we came under attack. We were angered by those who attacked us. We wanted vengeance. We also were inspired by the acts of heroism that we heard about. We took pride in police officers and other first responders who risked and gave their lives to help others. Reflecting on such stories, we hugged our families a little tighter. We turned to God in bewilderment, in frustration, in questioning. We rallied together as a nation. The event itself may have had little impact on us, but the news of what happened certainly did.
News always elicits a response. Whether it is emotional or physical, news always causes us to react–sometimes with joy; sometimes with sadness; sometimes with elation; sometimes with anger. When the news really hits home, we talk about it; we discuss it; we share it. Those of us with Facebook know this all too well.
Christianity, at its core is about news. To be precise, Christianity is about THE good news. We use the technical, theological term: Gospel. Gospel literally means good news. The question that often arises is: what is the good news? What is the gospel?
Well, in order to know the good news, we first have to hear the bad news. The bad news is that we are separated from God. The bad news is that we live in a world where that separation shows itself on an all too regular basis. The technical term for this is that we live in sin. Now, this term has fallen out of favor with many. Most folks today prefer to talk about the mistakes we make. Everyone readily admits that they are not perfect, but no one wants to admit that they are sinful. No one wants to admit that deep down they are inherently selfish or that they seek their own wishes and desires over everything else. Truly evil people are rare and to be held in contempt. Most folks aren’t bad but perhaps misunderstood. And if we simply manufactured the right conditions or put the right sorts of laws in place or produced the right environment, then everyone would turn out perfectly fine. Everyone would get along swimmingly and be completely happy and satisfied.
What is truly intriguing about such commentary is that it is not new. Folks have thought this for thousands of years. The idea of utopia–or the perfect society with perfect living conditions has been around for a long, long time. And each and every time it has been attempted, it has failed. Just like every end time prediction. They’ve all failed. Folks have tried to come up with the answer, but one answer has stood the test of time–even though it isn’t popular, and that answer is: there is something deeply wrong and deeply flawed with us. No matter what kind of society. No matter what kind of government is established. No matter what kind of laws are on the books, humans do not do what we know is right. We do not follow the laws like we should. We end up seeking our own interests above the interests of others. Scripture calls this the original sin–seeking our self interest over what God has instructed us to do. This selfish orientation has left us estranged from God–separated from Him and His goodness.
Now, God is a God of love, and He has given us free will. He will allow us to go our own way and walk away from Him should we choose. He will allow us to engage in our destructive behavior and seek our own desires for eternity. And, left to our own devices, we would. You may ask: what’s wrong with that? Here’s what: we will never be satisfied. We will always be searching. We will always be hungry. And imagine your hunger growing and growing in an eternal search for satisfaction and fulfillment. Imagine never finding what you seek and desperately longing for what you desire with no end. You would be miserable. You would be desperate; in pain; in longing. My friends, you would be in hell. And that is exactly what the Bible says will happen to us left to our own devices and our own desires.
But God does not desire this for us. God does not want us to end up in this condition. God wants us to thrive. God want’s us to find satisfaction; to find fulfillment; to find joy, peace, and hope. But He knows we will not find that in any thing but Him. He knows He alone can fulfill our deepest desires and hungers. And He knows that we must turn to Him; we must trust Him; we must seek Him and make Him our greatest heart’s desire.
But how would God do this? He could warn us. He could try and tell us of all the things that we should and shouldn’t do. He could tell us to love Him above all and love our neighbor as ourselves. And God did just this thing. But, our selfishness wouldn’t allow us to accomplish these things. Our selfishness would not let us see beyond ourselves in loving God and loving our neighbor.
And so God sought to change our hearts–to turn us away from our selfishness. There is one powerful force that can indeed change a heart. There is one powerful force that can cause us to step outside of ourselves and seek to please others instead of ourselves. That force is love. When we fall in love with someone, we will to anything we can to please that other person; we will live for that other person; we will strive to do what they ask us because we know it brings them joy. And God had to wonder how to make us fall in love with Him. How could He demonstrate His love and share His love with us?
Last night, we heard about the birth of the Christ child in the manger. We heard of angels singing, shepherds running, and Mary pondering these things in her heart. Today we heard about the light shining in the darkness, the Word becoming flesh and living among us. We heard of God becoming human in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus who came to speak of God’s love; who told us that God is the good shepherd who seeks out the one lost sheep out of the 99; God is the woman who tears up her house to find one lost coin; God runs out to meet the son who squandered His wealth and throws a party for that son; God also leaves that party to welcome in the son who has done everything right and is bitter at God’s graciousness. Jesus told of an extravagant God who loves those who are far away from Him.
And Jesus didn’t simply tell of this love. The God become man showed that love as He took our sin upon Himself. He took the just punishment for the wrongs we have done. He poured out Himself on the cross and died for us when we least deserved it speaking those haunting words, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Dying for a family member is common place. Dying for a friend is something we might do. People have even died for strangers. But dying for an enemy? Dying for someone who does not believe or follow you? That is a special kind of love. That is the love that Jesus shows. That is the love of God for you and for me. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.
God poured out His love for you on the cross, and then three days later, He showed what happens to those who trust in Him; who trust in Jesus’ work on their behalf. They will be raised to eternal life and glory. All of their hungers and wants will be satisfied. Their future is safe and secure in the hands of the one who created and redeemed them.
This my friends, is the Gospel. This my friends is the good news. When we were separated from God, He bridged that gap. He reconciled us unto Him. He provided for us; saved us; and ensured our future.
This is the news that we are now commissioned to tell. We are now messengers on God’s behalf to tell the world about what God has done for them. Not only with our deeds. Not only with our acts of kindness and generosity, but with our voices. We are called to share what God has done for the world. For you. For me.
And then, so shall come to pass what is written in the book of Isaiah. It will be spoken about the Church and all who believe, “7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ 8 Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the Lord to Zion. 9 Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” Merry Christmas!! Amen.
Showing posts with label Good News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Good News. Show all posts
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Good News Drives Away Fear
You know that feeling, don’t you? That feeling that you get when a DPS Trooper, Sheriff’s Deputy, or Police car starts following you. You are sitting in the driver’s seat, and your body tenses up. You look at all the gauges. You check your speed. You wonder about your tags. You wonder about your lights. Your heart races, and you wonder if lights will suddenly flash and sirens will wail. If the trooper follows you for any length of time, your symptoms become worse. The fear starts rising. Are you in trouble or not?
Take that little bit of fear that you have felt during those times and multiply it by a thousand, and you might get close to what the shepherds were experiencing on that hillside outside of Bethlehem nearly 2000 years ago. Luke recounts the tale, and we heard it just a few minutes ago, “8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” English sometimes is a poor conveyor of meaning, and this is one case in point. The ancient Greek literally reads, “and they feared great fear.” Whenever Greek uses two of the same words in conjunction like that, it is adding tremendous emphasis. Terrified might not quite cut what the shepherds were experiencing at that moment. Perhaps a better word might be–panic. The shepherds panicked!!
Have you ever wondered why? Why would the shepherds panic when they saw an angel of the Lord? I mean we don’t seem to have too much of a problem with angels. We talk about them showing up from time to time. We put them on the tops of our Christmas trees. We dress up kids as angels during our Christmas programs. We consider them blessings; signs of hope; signs of peace and joy. We seemingly have no fear of angels. But these shepherds did. They panicked when they saw one. They were absolutely terrified. Shaking. Trembling. Cowering with deep fear. Have you ever wondered why?
Consider the idea that these shepherds believed that the Day of the Lord was now upon them. Consider the idea that they believed that the Lord was now coming to judge the world and set up His kingdom. Now, if you have been raised as a Christian, you might wonder why this is such a bad thing. Aren’t we hoping for that day? Aren’t we longing for the day when the Lord will come to make everything right? Why would this be such a bad thing for those shepherds? Well, to be blunt, you are looking at this day post-Jesus. The ancient Jews had a very different understanding of the day of the Lord. It wasn’t going to be all that bright and shiny.
Consider these important biblical texts regarding the day of the Lord. These would have been the scriptures read to those shepherds who were on that hillside watching this angel appear to them.
Consider Isaiah 13 verses 6-9, “6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty! 7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will fail, 8 and they will be dismayed. Pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. 9 See, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy its sinners from it.” Does that sound like a day to look forward to?
Consider Amos chapter 5 verses 18-20, “18 Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; 19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. 20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?”
One last passage. Consider Zephaniah chapter 1 verses 14-17, “14 The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, the warrior cries aloud there. 15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. 17 I will bring such distress upon people that they shall walk like the blind; because they have sinned against the Lord, their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.”
Now, after hearing those passages, and if you had been taught this from the beginning of your religious life, and if you suddenly seen a heavenly angel towering above revealing the power of God, how do you think you would feel? Don’t you think you might be a little concerned that all that once was told you was coming true? Don’t you think you would be terrified, panicked, overwhelmed and ready to crawl into a hole? The shepherds were. They were terrified. They panicked.
But their panic was transformed with some unexpected words that flowed from the lips of the angel, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” What the angel spoke was good news. If there is nothing else that you remember from this sermon tonight, please remember these next words: Good news drives away fear.
Good news drives away fear.
The shepherds were expecting the promised day of the Lord–a day that was foretold to be horrible as God’s wrath was poured down and God exacted vengeance upon sin. The shepherds expected to be blasted with holy fire, but instead were met with the news that God was acting in quite a different way. Instead of unleashing wrath, God was unleashing salvation. For the Jews believed that the Messiah would usher in God’s kingdom of peace, joy, and prosperity. The Messiah would be the one who was to set things to rights. The Messiah would be the one who would turn the world upside down and bring freedom from all that oppresses! Oh, this news was not to be feared in the least. This news was not to cause panic. This news was full of hope. This news was full of promise. This news was full of joy.
Certifying that this was indeed the case, a whole host of angels filled the skies and broke into song. They proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest and peace among those whom He favors!!” This was not a wrathful day at all. It was a day to be celebrated.
It is no wonder that the shepherds’ fears were transformed into hope and joy. It is no wonder they arose and spoke amongst each other and said, “Let us go now to Bethlehem to see this thing that the angels have made known to us.” Good news drove away their fear, and they responded with reckless abandon to seek out total strangers and witness God’s action in the world. Truly good news has that effect on people.
Think about how transformative good news is. Think about the cancer patient who is declared cancer free. What is the reaction? Think about the person who has suffered the loss of a job who is told, “We’d like to offer you a better job.” Think about the couple who has struggled with infertility who discovers they are pregnant. Think about the family who is struggling to make ends meet who receives an unexpected financial windfall. Think about the military family who received word that their deployed loved one will be home for Christmas. Good news transforms folks and brings true joy.
But in most cases, such joy is short lived. Either by the fact that something else comes along that changes circumstances or the fact that what is good news to one person is the exact opposite for another person. For instance, in some of the above examples–the family who was struggling to make ends meet receives and unexpected financial windfall, but in two months, the windfall has run out, and they are back to square one. The military family whose loved one came home for Christmas finds out their loved one will be deployed for Easter. Circumstances change.
This past election cycle saw roughly half of the country pleased and excited about the outcome–it was good news. However, for the other half of the country, fear, angst, and anger was the response–it was not good news. A factory that decides to uproot and move to another location is certainly bad news for the current employees of that factory, but it is good news to the jobless who will benefit from the factory’s move. Hearing that Tom Savage is going to be the Texans’ quarterback is good news for all Texan fans, but it is certainly not good news for Brock Osweiller. Do you see how that works? Do you see how oftentimes good news is short lived or how good news is not necessarily good news for everyone? Can you see how because of this fear easily gains a foothold and even sometimes becomes the driving force in our lives?
And so we must ask: Is there good news that indeed is good news for everyone; that is long lasting; that brings joy and peace and assurance no matter if circumstances change? Is there such news that can bring transformation to our entire lives? Is there such news that will drive away fear and give us a sure and certain hope?
What if I told you, there was? What if I told you that the news of this night–the birth of the Messiah who is Christ the Lord–leads us straight toward that Good News of Great Joy that never ends? No, it’s not simply a baby in a manger that encapsulates that good news, but it is the fact that that baby will grow and lead us all to a cross and an empty tomb.
For it is on the cross that the God of this universe dies for each and every one of us. It is on the cross that the God of the universe makes sure that we are right with Him. It is on the cross where all of the things that separate us from God–our sin, our selfishness, our desire to call our own shots, our failure to love one another, our failure to be compassionate, our failure to live the lives that deep down we know we are supposed to live–all of these things are forgiven and paid for by God Himself. Jesus, the God in flesh, takes all of these things and much more upon Himself so that you are free of any guilt of your failures. Nothing in the past can haunt you. You can walk free. This is good news.
And it is in the empty tomb that we find assurance that all that is bad will be transformed. All that is evil will become good. All pain will be taken away. All hate will turn to love. All darkness will turn to light. All despair will turn to hope. All death will spring to life. Whatever it is that you are facing, even should it bring death to your body, will be transformed by the God who holds the future in His hands. The resurrection is proof of God’s transformative power over the future. And if you trust that your future is in God’s hands–if you trust the promises of God, what do you have to fear? The answer is nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The cross. The resurrection. God’s reconciling action. God’s promise of hope. This is good news for all. This is news which has no down side. This is news of a life-changing scale. Countless Christians from the time of the resurrection have had their lives changed because they trusted in these promises. From the shepherds on that hillside to the martyrs who died singing in flames to ordinary people like you and me. This good news has taken away fear and brought hope to billions. This good news that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who trust in Him should not perish but have eternal life; for God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but to save it.
May we trust in this promise. May we trust in this good news. May we have our fears removed so that we may experience peace, hope, love and joy. Merry Christmas!! Amen.
Take that little bit of fear that you have felt during those times and multiply it by a thousand, and you might get close to what the shepherds were experiencing on that hillside outside of Bethlehem nearly 2000 years ago. Luke recounts the tale, and we heard it just a few minutes ago, “8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” English sometimes is a poor conveyor of meaning, and this is one case in point. The ancient Greek literally reads, “and they feared great fear.” Whenever Greek uses two of the same words in conjunction like that, it is adding tremendous emphasis. Terrified might not quite cut what the shepherds were experiencing at that moment. Perhaps a better word might be–panic. The shepherds panicked!!
Have you ever wondered why? Why would the shepherds panic when they saw an angel of the Lord? I mean we don’t seem to have too much of a problem with angels. We talk about them showing up from time to time. We put them on the tops of our Christmas trees. We dress up kids as angels during our Christmas programs. We consider them blessings; signs of hope; signs of peace and joy. We seemingly have no fear of angels. But these shepherds did. They panicked when they saw one. They were absolutely terrified. Shaking. Trembling. Cowering with deep fear. Have you ever wondered why?
Consider the idea that these shepherds believed that the Day of the Lord was now upon them. Consider the idea that they believed that the Lord was now coming to judge the world and set up His kingdom. Now, if you have been raised as a Christian, you might wonder why this is such a bad thing. Aren’t we hoping for that day? Aren’t we longing for the day when the Lord will come to make everything right? Why would this be such a bad thing for those shepherds? Well, to be blunt, you are looking at this day post-Jesus. The ancient Jews had a very different understanding of the day of the Lord. It wasn’t going to be all that bright and shiny.
Consider these important biblical texts regarding the day of the Lord. These would have been the scriptures read to those shepherds who were on that hillside watching this angel appear to them.
Consider Isaiah 13 verses 6-9, “6 Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty! 7 Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will fail, 8 and they will be dismayed. Pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame. 9 See, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy its sinners from it.” Does that sound like a day to look forward to?
Consider Amos chapter 5 verses 18-20, “18 Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; 19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. 20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?”
One last passage. Consider Zephaniah chapter 1 verses 14-17, “14 The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter, the warrior cries aloud there. 15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16 a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. 17 I will bring such distress upon people that they shall walk like the blind; because they have sinned against the Lord, their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung.”
Now, after hearing those passages, and if you had been taught this from the beginning of your religious life, and if you suddenly seen a heavenly angel towering above revealing the power of God, how do you think you would feel? Don’t you think you might be a little concerned that all that once was told you was coming true? Don’t you think you would be terrified, panicked, overwhelmed and ready to crawl into a hole? The shepherds were. They were terrified. They panicked.
But their panic was transformed with some unexpected words that flowed from the lips of the angel, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” What the angel spoke was good news. If there is nothing else that you remember from this sermon tonight, please remember these next words: Good news drives away fear.
Good news drives away fear.
The shepherds were expecting the promised day of the Lord–a day that was foretold to be horrible as God’s wrath was poured down and God exacted vengeance upon sin. The shepherds expected to be blasted with holy fire, but instead were met with the news that God was acting in quite a different way. Instead of unleashing wrath, God was unleashing salvation. For the Jews believed that the Messiah would usher in God’s kingdom of peace, joy, and prosperity. The Messiah would be the one who was to set things to rights. The Messiah would be the one who would turn the world upside down and bring freedom from all that oppresses! Oh, this news was not to be feared in the least. This news was not to cause panic. This news was full of hope. This news was full of promise. This news was full of joy.
Certifying that this was indeed the case, a whole host of angels filled the skies and broke into song. They proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest and peace among those whom He favors!!” This was not a wrathful day at all. It was a day to be celebrated.
It is no wonder that the shepherds’ fears were transformed into hope and joy. It is no wonder they arose and spoke amongst each other and said, “Let us go now to Bethlehem to see this thing that the angels have made known to us.” Good news drove away their fear, and they responded with reckless abandon to seek out total strangers and witness God’s action in the world. Truly good news has that effect on people.
Think about how transformative good news is. Think about the cancer patient who is declared cancer free. What is the reaction? Think about the person who has suffered the loss of a job who is told, “We’d like to offer you a better job.” Think about the couple who has struggled with infertility who discovers they are pregnant. Think about the family who is struggling to make ends meet who receives an unexpected financial windfall. Think about the military family who received word that their deployed loved one will be home for Christmas. Good news transforms folks and brings true joy.
But in most cases, such joy is short lived. Either by the fact that something else comes along that changes circumstances or the fact that what is good news to one person is the exact opposite for another person. For instance, in some of the above examples–the family who was struggling to make ends meet receives and unexpected financial windfall, but in two months, the windfall has run out, and they are back to square one. The military family whose loved one came home for Christmas finds out their loved one will be deployed for Easter. Circumstances change.
This past election cycle saw roughly half of the country pleased and excited about the outcome–it was good news. However, for the other half of the country, fear, angst, and anger was the response–it was not good news. A factory that decides to uproot and move to another location is certainly bad news for the current employees of that factory, but it is good news to the jobless who will benefit from the factory’s move. Hearing that Tom Savage is going to be the Texans’ quarterback is good news for all Texan fans, but it is certainly not good news for Brock Osweiller. Do you see how that works? Do you see how oftentimes good news is short lived or how good news is not necessarily good news for everyone? Can you see how because of this fear easily gains a foothold and even sometimes becomes the driving force in our lives?
And so we must ask: Is there good news that indeed is good news for everyone; that is long lasting; that brings joy and peace and assurance no matter if circumstances change? Is there such news that can bring transformation to our entire lives? Is there such news that will drive away fear and give us a sure and certain hope?
What if I told you, there was? What if I told you that the news of this night–the birth of the Messiah who is Christ the Lord–leads us straight toward that Good News of Great Joy that never ends? No, it’s not simply a baby in a manger that encapsulates that good news, but it is the fact that that baby will grow and lead us all to a cross and an empty tomb.
For it is on the cross that the God of this universe dies for each and every one of us. It is on the cross that the God of the universe makes sure that we are right with Him. It is on the cross where all of the things that separate us from God–our sin, our selfishness, our desire to call our own shots, our failure to love one another, our failure to be compassionate, our failure to live the lives that deep down we know we are supposed to live–all of these things are forgiven and paid for by God Himself. Jesus, the God in flesh, takes all of these things and much more upon Himself so that you are free of any guilt of your failures. Nothing in the past can haunt you. You can walk free. This is good news.
And it is in the empty tomb that we find assurance that all that is bad will be transformed. All that is evil will become good. All pain will be taken away. All hate will turn to love. All darkness will turn to light. All despair will turn to hope. All death will spring to life. Whatever it is that you are facing, even should it bring death to your body, will be transformed by the God who holds the future in His hands. The resurrection is proof of God’s transformative power over the future. And if you trust that your future is in God’s hands–if you trust the promises of God, what do you have to fear? The answer is nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The cross. The resurrection. God’s reconciling action. God’s promise of hope. This is good news for all. This is news which has no down side. This is news of a life-changing scale. Countless Christians from the time of the resurrection have had their lives changed because they trusted in these promises. From the shepherds on that hillside to the martyrs who died singing in flames to ordinary people like you and me. This good news has taken away fear and brought hope to billions. This good news that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who trust in Him should not perish but have eternal life; for God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but to save it.
May we trust in this promise. May we trust in this good news. May we have our fears removed so that we may experience peace, hope, love and joy. Merry Christmas!! Amen.
Monday, February 8, 2016
The Purpose of the Church
This morning, I am going to shift gears a little bit. Many of my sermons recently have been geared to invite people who are outside of the faith to consider having Jesus as the Lord and Savior of their lives. I have tried to show how and why He is worthy of such a position and how the Gospel offers insight and answers to a lot of the problems we all face in this world. I have done very little recently to talk about the role of the people of God in living out our calling to be children of God. Today’s text from the Gospel of Mark leads us directly there, so if you are not a part of the church or if you are considering Christianity, please know that this sermon is not directly intended for you. Hopefully, however, you will appreciate the information included within.
Let me begin by asking you: what is the church’s main purpose? What is the reason for the church on earth? At first, this might seem like the answer is obvious, at least to each and every one of us individually. But as you dig into this question and reflect upon it deeply, I think you will see that it is actually a very complicated question. I mean, if you really want to see just how complicated it is, those of you with computers, go home and Google the question, "What is the purpose of the church?" You will get a whole lot of responses. Some of them similar. Quite a few of them different. And as each author of each article begins to delve into the question, you will see a whole lot of non-negotiables:
The purpose of the church is to worship.
The purpose of the church is to care for those in need.
The purpose of the church is to make and train disciples.
The purpose of the church is to be the earthly representation of Jesus.
The purpose of the church is to be a place of prayer.
The purpose of the church it to provide a place where all are welcome.
The purpose of the church is to enact the kingdom of God on earth.
All of these are good, solid answers. They are theologically and biblically based. One can easily provide all kinds of support for these answers, and I certainly don’t want to demean any of them. They are all correct, but there is a danger that lurks behind all of them. There is a danger that creeps in and lures us away from the true purpose of the church on earth. That danger is our own selfish nature–a nature that emphasizes survival and security over everything else. What am I talking about?
For the last several weeks, we have traveled through the book of Mark, and every lesson that we have had before us has either been in or been about the temple. Jesus triumphally entered into the city of Jerusalem and then entered the temple. Because it was late, He went camping. The next day, Jesus cleansed the temple with a parallel encounter with a fig tree that was rotten from the inside out. The next day, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders asked Jesus by what authority He was doing these things. They asked Jesus that question while Jesus was teaching–in the temple. In each of these circumstances, lurking in the background was the Sanhedrin’s decision to turn the courtyard of the Gentiles into a marketplace thereby excluding the vast majority of the world’s population from worshiping the One, True, God. Jesus exposure of this travesty angered the Sanhedrin, and they wanted to put Jesus to death, and instead of trying to soothe hurt and damaged feelings, Jesus doubles down. He tells everyone a parable. A parable that riles the chief priests, scribes, and the elders even more.
Jesus begins, " ‘A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed."
Now, this situation was not uncommon in the ancient world. We have discovered a great stash of legal papers in which landlords leased their lands to tenants and agreed upon receiving parts of the harvest as payment. We have also discovered many instances where tenants refused to pay their landlord, and they indeed mistreated the servants that landlords sent to retrieve their payments. Jesus is using real world situations to illustrate His point.
And the point has to do with the nature of the landlord–which we are pretty sure is a reference to God the Father; and the nature of the tenants–which are the Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders. Mind you, this is not a parable directed at all the Jewish people. It is directed squarely at the Jewish religious authorities who have abandoned the purpose of the temple.
So, what does this parable say first about the nature of the landlord? Think about this for a moment: what would you do if you had leased a property to some renters and they refused to pay the rent? What would you do if you knew that they were reaping the benefits of living on your property without just repayment? What would you do if you sent someone on your behalf to collect the payment and your renters drove them off? How long would you wait before getting the authorities involved? How long would you wait before calling the police? How long would you wait before evicting your tenants? If you are like most people, you would have almost zero tolerance for such behavior. You would act quickly to prevent such abuse, but does this landlord do that? No. Not in the least. In fact, the landlord’s actions almost bespeak of major weakness. He is literally letting the tenants get away with murder. He does nothing except send more representatives. One might come to the conclusion that this landlord is daft.
And the tenants take advantage of this. The tenants are selfish and not only want all the proceeds of the vineyard. They want ownership of the vineyard themselves. According to the New Interpreter’s Bible commentary, "Villagers could take over land from an absentee landlord, if the villagers felt the landlord was too weak to enforce the claims." Think about that for a moment as you think about the fact that Jesus is comparing God the Father to this landlord. Think about that as you compare the actions of these tenants to the actions of the Sanhedrin in the temple. Think about the injustice being perpetrated by these tenants and the Sanhedrin. It should begin to make you angry.
We return now to the landlord. Again, we might think this landlord to be absolutely daft because even after all of His servants were beaten and killed, the landlord decides to send His only, beloved son. What Father in His right mind would do such a thing?!! I mean, if you were that landlord, would this thought ever cross your mind? Of course it wouldn’t. People would think you crazy. You would send a swat team, not your only, beloved child. But that is the difference between you and this landlord. The true Landlord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The True Landlord will go to great lengths to give the tenants a chance to pay–to honor their agreement. The True Landlord will take the chance that His only Son might meet with death because He is a Landlord unlike any other Landlord.
And the unthinkable happens. The tenants reject the Son; kill him; leave his body unburied and disgraced thinking they will now inherit the vineyard. Their thoughts aren’t totally unfounded. It is highly likely they thought the landlord dead when they recognized the son coming. They believed that, according to the laws of the land, if they killed the son and retained possession of the land, they would indeed inherit. Their plan was perfect.
But the Landlord was still around, and Jesus makes no bones about what will happen next. The tenants will be driven out and the vineyard given to others. It’s not a surprising outcome. Again, according to the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, "Since the Law permits the son to act on behalf of his father, the legal definition of agency implies that dishonor and insult to the son would be equivalent to dishonoring the one who sends him." Think about that in light of the Sanhedrin’s questioning of Jesus’ authority last week. If Jesus’ authority indeed comes from God, then to reject Jesus’ authority is to reject the One who sent Him. This is the strongest condemnation possible for the religious leaders.
But here is the interesting part: in the parable, the Son is dead. The Father is still coming to enact judgement, so why does Jesus include the rest of His teaching? For Jesus quotes a portion of Psalm 118 directly, "22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."
Now, there are couple of things here that are of note. The first is the translation of the words "cornerstone" from the Greek. When we hear this word, we think of a stone at the corner of a foundation–the foundational stone, so to speak; however, the Greek doesn’t really fit that kind of a stone. The Greek, according to Craig Evans, is better translated as, "‘head of the corner’, which probably refers to either a capstone that completes an arch or a capital that sits atop a column or pinnacle of the building." Therefore, it is a stone above all other stones. It is the stone to which most attention is drawn. It is the stone that everyone looks at. This is an important point in light of the last statement, "That this is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." What is so significant about this verse?
Again, Evans says, "Thaumastae, ‘marvelous’ suggests that God is accomplishing something against all odds, something completely unexpected, something that mortals cannot achieve apart from dvine assistance." Reflect upon that for just a moment as you think about Jesus who is the Son sent by the Father. Reflect upon that for just a moment as you think about the Son who is rejected and killed by the Jewish authorities–who is disgraced. What happens to Him? What happens to Jesus? He is lifted up; resurrected for all to see. Jesus becomes the chief stone, the cap stone, the stone above every other stone that all are to gaze upon.
Which takes us squarely to the purpose of the church today. I mean, I don’t think it’s that hard to figure out now, do you. The purpose of the church today is to point to Jesus. The purpose of the church today is to proclaim Jesus. The purpose of the church today is to lift up the name that is above all other names and tell the world what God has done through Jesus.
I hope that those of you who are sitting here this morning are saying to yourself right now, "Well, that’s obvious. Tell us something that we don’t know." I hope that you believe this is a no-brainer observation. I hope so, because the reality in most of our congregations is quite the opposite. The reality in our congregations is that we focus most of our attention and most of our arguing on things without even referencing Jesus.
Now, I want to be very clear here. I am not trying to get us away from doing things. As James writes in his letter, "Faith without works is dead." And there are those who are quick to point out a very important truth. It is worthless to go up to a hungry person and tell them, "Jesus loves you," while they are dying of hunger. They will immediately think that Jesus has no concern for their hunger–which simply is not true. However, let me ask you a couple of questions: without raising your hands, how many of you have given to some sort of charitable organization in the past month or so? My guess is that many of you have. Second question: how many of you have proclaimed the gospel and told someone about Jesus in the past month or so? I’d bet a good chunk of change that the number of hands would be far, far fewer. In fact, I’d say we have been trained to let our actions speak louder than words. In fact, you may have also heard that wonderful saying, "Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary, use words."
I’ve used that saying numerous times in the past. I no longer use it. Why? There was a brilliant illustration that the late preacher Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones used when talking about the Gospel. He said: Imagine a king went off to war against an enemy that is threatening your country. If that king loses the battle, what does he send back? He sends back military advisors who say, "Archers over here, calvary over here, infantry over here. Get ready to fight for your lives." In other words, get ready to do everything you can. However, if the king wins the battle, he sends back heralds. They proclaim! They tell the good news, "The battle is done. The king has won. Live into the freedom!" The Gospel is literally translated "Good news." News is told. It is not lived. History is told. It is not lived.
What Jesus has done in bringing reconciliation with God is news. It cannot be lived. It must be told. Therefore, all we do must in some way, shape or form point to Jesus. Everything about our congregation, about our lives should lead people to look at the capstone, the head of the column, the stone that the builders rejected that became the chief cap stone. We must proclaim that the Lord has done this. We didn’t. We didn’t do anything. We have been saved by sheer grace. Humankind could never accomplish the salvation that was given through the cross of Jesus: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him."
This is the ultimate focus of the church and the reason it exists. Jesus is trying to convey just this to the religious leaders of His day. They reasoned that they were helping others by putting sacrificial animals on sale in the market place, but they were only truly helping themselves. Likewise, when we focus on being kind to visitors, having a lot of programming, keeping our grounds looking nice, giving through our community care fund, having perfect worship music, and all other sorts of things–FOR THE PURPOSE OF GETTING MEMBERS, then we too are working for and pointing to ourselves. Christianity is not about that. The church is not about that. We are not to be about that. We are called to point to and tell others about Jesus, and when we are pointing to Jesus; well, then we will be nice to visitors, have a lot of programming, keep our grounds looking nice, help others, worship well, and all sorts of things not for our own benefit, but for His. Amen.
Let me begin by asking you: what is the church’s main purpose? What is the reason for the church on earth? At first, this might seem like the answer is obvious, at least to each and every one of us individually. But as you dig into this question and reflect upon it deeply, I think you will see that it is actually a very complicated question. I mean, if you really want to see just how complicated it is, those of you with computers, go home and Google the question, "What is the purpose of the church?" You will get a whole lot of responses. Some of them similar. Quite a few of them different. And as each author of each article begins to delve into the question, you will see a whole lot of non-negotiables:
The purpose of the church is to worship.
The purpose of the church is to care for those in need.
The purpose of the church is to make and train disciples.
The purpose of the church is to be the earthly representation of Jesus.
The purpose of the church is to be a place of prayer.
The purpose of the church it to provide a place where all are welcome.
The purpose of the church is to enact the kingdom of God on earth.
All of these are good, solid answers. They are theologically and biblically based. One can easily provide all kinds of support for these answers, and I certainly don’t want to demean any of them. They are all correct, but there is a danger that lurks behind all of them. There is a danger that creeps in and lures us away from the true purpose of the church on earth. That danger is our own selfish nature–a nature that emphasizes survival and security over everything else. What am I talking about?
For the last several weeks, we have traveled through the book of Mark, and every lesson that we have had before us has either been in or been about the temple. Jesus triumphally entered into the city of Jerusalem and then entered the temple. Because it was late, He went camping. The next day, Jesus cleansed the temple with a parallel encounter with a fig tree that was rotten from the inside out. The next day, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders asked Jesus by what authority He was doing these things. They asked Jesus that question while Jesus was teaching–in the temple. In each of these circumstances, lurking in the background was the Sanhedrin’s decision to turn the courtyard of the Gentiles into a marketplace thereby excluding the vast majority of the world’s population from worshiping the One, True, God. Jesus exposure of this travesty angered the Sanhedrin, and they wanted to put Jesus to death, and instead of trying to soothe hurt and damaged feelings, Jesus doubles down. He tells everyone a parable. A parable that riles the chief priests, scribes, and the elders even more.
Jesus begins, " ‘A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watch-tower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed."
Now, this situation was not uncommon in the ancient world. We have discovered a great stash of legal papers in which landlords leased their lands to tenants and agreed upon receiving parts of the harvest as payment. We have also discovered many instances where tenants refused to pay their landlord, and they indeed mistreated the servants that landlords sent to retrieve their payments. Jesus is using real world situations to illustrate His point.
And the point has to do with the nature of the landlord–which we are pretty sure is a reference to God the Father; and the nature of the tenants–which are the Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders. Mind you, this is not a parable directed at all the Jewish people. It is directed squarely at the Jewish religious authorities who have abandoned the purpose of the temple.
So, what does this parable say first about the nature of the landlord? Think about this for a moment: what would you do if you had leased a property to some renters and they refused to pay the rent? What would you do if you knew that they were reaping the benefits of living on your property without just repayment? What would you do if you sent someone on your behalf to collect the payment and your renters drove them off? How long would you wait before getting the authorities involved? How long would you wait before calling the police? How long would you wait before evicting your tenants? If you are like most people, you would have almost zero tolerance for such behavior. You would act quickly to prevent such abuse, but does this landlord do that? No. Not in the least. In fact, the landlord’s actions almost bespeak of major weakness. He is literally letting the tenants get away with murder. He does nothing except send more representatives. One might come to the conclusion that this landlord is daft.
And the tenants take advantage of this. The tenants are selfish and not only want all the proceeds of the vineyard. They want ownership of the vineyard themselves. According to the New Interpreter’s Bible commentary, "Villagers could take over land from an absentee landlord, if the villagers felt the landlord was too weak to enforce the claims." Think about that for a moment as you think about the fact that Jesus is comparing God the Father to this landlord. Think about that as you compare the actions of these tenants to the actions of the Sanhedrin in the temple. Think about the injustice being perpetrated by these tenants and the Sanhedrin. It should begin to make you angry.
We return now to the landlord. Again, we might think this landlord to be absolutely daft because even after all of His servants were beaten and killed, the landlord decides to send His only, beloved son. What Father in His right mind would do such a thing?!! I mean, if you were that landlord, would this thought ever cross your mind? Of course it wouldn’t. People would think you crazy. You would send a swat team, not your only, beloved child. But that is the difference between you and this landlord. The true Landlord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The True Landlord will go to great lengths to give the tenants a chance to pay–to honor their agreement. The True Landlord will take the chance that His only Son might meet with death because He is a Landlord unlike any other Landlord.
And the unthinkable happens. The tenants reject the Son; kill him; leave his body unburied and disgraced thinking they will now inherit the vineyard. Their thoughts aren’t totally unfounded. It is highly likely they thought the landlord dead when they recognized the son coming. They believed that, according to the laws of the land, if they killed the son and retained possession of the land, they would indeed inherit. Their plan was perfect.
But the Landlord was still around, and Jesus makes no bones about what will happen next. The tenants will be driven out and the vineyard given to others. It’s not a surprising outcome. Again, according to the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, "Since the Law permits the son to act on behalf of his father, the legal definition of agency implies that dishonor and insult to the son would be equivalent to dishonoring the one who sends him." Think about that in light of the Sanhedrin’s questioning of Jesus’ authority last week. If Jesus’ authority indeed comes from God, then to reject Jesus’ authority is to reject the One who sent Him. This is the strongest condemnation possible for the religious leaders.
But here is the interesting part: in the parable, the Son is dead. The Father is still coming to enact judgement, so why does Jesus include the rest of His teaching? For Jesus quotes a portion of Psalm 118 directly, "22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."
Now, there are couple of things here that are of note. The first is the translation of the words "cornerstone" from the Greek. When we hear this word, we think of a stone at the corner of a foundation–the foundational stone, so to speak; however, the Greek doesn’t really fit that kind of a stone. The Greek, according to Craig Evans, is better translated as, "‘head of the corner’, which probably refers to either a capstone that completes an arch or a capital that sits atop a column or pinnacle of the building." Therefore, it is a stone above all other stones. It is the stone to which most attention is drawn. It is the stone that everyone looks at. This is an important point in light of the last statement, "That this is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." What is so significant about this verse?
Again, Evans says, "Thaumastae, ‘marvelous’ suggests that God is accomplishing something against all odds, something completely unexpected, something that mortals cannot achieve apart from dvine assistance." Reflect upon that for just a moment as you think about Jesus who is the Son sent by the Father. Reflect upon that for just a moment as you think about the Son who is rejected and killed by the Jewish authorities–who is disgraced. What happens to Him? What happens to Jesus? He is lifted up; resurrected for all to see. Jesus becomes the chief stone, the cap stone, the stone above every other stone that all are to gaze upon.
Which takes us squarely to the purpose of the church today. I mean, I don’t think it’s that hard to figure out now, do you. The purpose of the church today is to point to Jesus. The purpose of the church today is to proclaim Jesus. The purpose of the church today is to lift up the name that is above all other names and tell the world what God has done through Jesus.
I hope that those of you who are sitting here this morning are saying to yourself right now, "Well, that’s obvious. Tell us something that we don’t know." I hope that you believe this is a no-brainer observation. I hope so, because the reality in most of our congregations is quite the opposite. The reality in our congregations is that we focus most of our attention and most of our arguing on things without even referencing Jesus.
Now, I want to be very clear here. I am not trying to get us away from doing things. As James writes in his letter, "Faith without works is dead." And there are those who are quick to point out a very important truth. It is worthless to go up to a hungry person and tell them, "Jesus loves you," while they are dying of hunger. They will immediately think that Jesus has no concern for their hunger–which simply is not true. However, let me ask you a couple of questions: without raising your hands, how many of you have given to some sort of charitable organization in the past month or so? My guess is that many of you have. Second question: how many of you have proclaimed the gospel and told someone about Jesus in the past month or so? I’d bet a good chunk of change that the number of hands would be far, far fewer. In fact, I’d say we have been trained to let our actions speak louder than words. In fact, you may have also heard that wonderful saying, "Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary, use words."
I’ve used that saying numerous times in the past. I no longer use it. Why? There was a brilliant illustration that the late preacher Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones used when talking about the Gospel. He said: Imagine a king went off to war against an enemy that is threatening your country. If that king loses the battle, what does he send back? He sends back military advisors who say, "Archers over here, calvary over here, infantry over here. Get ready to fight for your lives." In other words, get ready to do everything you can. However, if the king wins the battle, he sends back heralds. They proclaim! They tell the good news, "The battle is done. The king has won. Live into the freedom!" The Gospel is literally translated "Good news." News is told. It is not lived. History is told. It is not lived.
What Jesus has done in bringing reconciliation with God is news. It cannot be lived. It must be told. Therefore, all we do must in some way, shape or form point to Jesus. Everything about our congregation, about our lives should lead people to look at the capstone, the head of the column, the stone that the builders rejected that became the chief cap stone. We must proclaim that the Lord has done this. We didn’t. We didn’t do anything. We have been saved by sheer grace. Humankind could never accomplish the salvation that was given through the cross of Jesus: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him."
This is the ultimate focus of the church and the reason it exists. Jesus is trying to convey just this to the religious leaders of His day. They reasoned that they were helping others by putting sacrificial animals on sale in the market place, but they were only truly helping themselves. Likewise, when we focus on being kind to visitors, having a lot of programming, keeping our grounds looking nice, giving through our community care fund, having perfect worship music, and all other sorts of things–FOR THE PURPOSE OF GETTING MEMBERS, then we too are working for and pointing to ourselves. Christianity is not about that. The church is not about that. We are not to be about that. We are called to point to and tell others about Jesus, and when we are pointing to Jesus; well, then we will be nice to visitors, have a lot of programming, keep our grounds looking nice, help others, worship well, and all sorts of things not for our own benefit, but for His. Amen.
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