It seems like an eternity since I last stood before you and left you hanging in the middle of Mark Chapter 8. I began a sermon on the blindness that each and every one of us has, and I finished by describing a healing that Jesus performed on a blind man. This healing is unlike any other recorded healing in scripture. It is a healing performed in stages. First the blind man is touched, and he sees, but not clearly. The second time Jesus lays hands on the man and looks intently at him, the man is healed. This healing was not only historical, but it was metaphorical. It was meant to teach a lesson not only to the disciples, but to you and to me. As we finish Mark Chapter 8, I hope that we will see the significance of our blindness, our need for healing, and how we too are healed in stages.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus and His disciples are traveling toward Caesarea Philippi, and Jesus asks them, “Who do people say that I am?” It was very uncommon for rabbis to ask their followers things. Usually, it was the other way around. Usually, the rabbis students were constantly asking questions, but Jesus is no ordinary rabbi. Like a master teacher, Jesus has a point to draw the disciples toward.
The disciples begin spouting off all the things they have heard. “You are John the Baptist returned from the dead. You are Elijah who was taken bodily up into heaven who has returned to prepare the way for the Messiah. You are a prophet, perhaps the promised prophet Moses spoke about before he died.” It is an interesting list. One thing is for sure, all of these agree that Jesus is from God, and that He is in the prophetic line. Of this there is no dispute. Of course, these answers are not adequate. Jesus knows this. The disciples do too. How so?
Jesus continues, “Ah, but who do you say that I am?” Jesus is now putting the screws to His disciples. One of my commentaries said it best, “Who do you, my most intimate and trusted friends–in contrast to the other people who neither know me nor understand me–think I am?” There is no beating around the bush. There is no hemming and hawing. This is laying it all on the line right here. “Who do you say that I am?” Jesus asks. The answer to this question is the most important answer that the disciples–and that we could ever give.
Peter speaks for them all, “You are the Messiah.”
Now, you need to know that this statement is quite loaded. Today, we unhesitatingly say that Jesus is the Messiah, and we think about the cross and the salvation of the world. Not so with the ancient Jews. Not so with the disciples. Such matters would have been very far from their minds. Let me quote biblical scholar N.T. Wright in this matter:
By no means all Jews wanted or expected a Messiah. But those who did were clear (not least from their readings of scripture) that he had to do three things. He had to rebuild, or cleanse the Temple. He had to defeat the enemy that was threatening God’s people. And he had to bring God’s justice–that rich, restoring, purging, healing power–to bear both in Israel and out into the world...The Messiah would be God’s agent in bringing in the kingdom [of God] in sorting out the mess and muddle Israel was in, in putting the Gentiles in their place. (Mark for Everyone)
This is what the disciples would have thought about Jesus. They would have thought that He was going to cleanse the Temple; defeat the enemy that was threatening them–which at the present time was the Romans; and then bring God’s justice to bear on Israel and the world which meant cleaning up Israel and then putting the Gentiles into their place. This was the expectations of the Messiah. Every Jew that believed in the arrival of the Messiah believed these three things, and Jesus would accomplish all three–just not in the manner everyone thought. And as Jesus begins to tell the disciples about what Messiahship entails, we see that even though the disciples have begun to see, they cannot yet see clearly.
Jesus first tells everyone to keep silent about these matters. Some folks wonder why, I don’t any longer. Jesus doesn’t want them to give everyone the idea that He will be their Messiah. Jesus doesn’t want everyone in the surrounding countryside to think He is going to lead some sort of rebellion and religious/societal cleansing by force of arms. Jesus needs to open the disciples’ eyes. He needs to help them see clearly before they began to proclaim His rule. And Jesus begins to do that immediately.
Mark records, “Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly.” The Greek word for openly is “parrasia” which carries the connotations of someone who is completely free who speaks without restraint, who hides nothing. (Kittel–Theological Dict. of the N.T.) Jesus is being perfectly clear with His disciples about what will happen to Him–what will happen to the Messiah. But there are two fascinating things in what Jesus says. First, Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man. Jesus doesn’t use “Messiah” in reference to Himself. In fact, Jesus much prefers “Son of Man” instead of Messiah. Why? For two reasons: Messiah, as I said before was a loaded term which connotes military conquest. Jesus wasn’t about that. Secondly, there is a much broader scope with tying Messiah and Son of Man. Jews would have tied Jesus’ words with Daniel chapter 7 where the following is written:
13As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.
The reign of the Son of Man extends much, much further than the much smaller scope of the Jewish understanding of the Messiah. Jesus is trying to expand the disciples’ vision so that they see Jesus’ purpose for the whole world. Let me repeat that: Jesus is here for the whole world, not simply the Jews, and the salvation of the world will not be brought about by military conquest and purification, but by Jesus’ death. “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes...”
There are two comments to be made here. First from N.T. Wright again who pricelessly says, “Messiahs don’t get killed by the authorities. A Messiah who did that would be shown up precisely as a false Messiah.” And secondly from James Edwards in the Pillar New Testament Commentary on the book of Mark:
The prediction of Jesus passion conceals a great irony, for the suffering and death of the Son of Man will not come, as we would expect, at the hands of godless and wicked people. The suffering of the Son of Man comes rather at the hands of “the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law.” It is not humanity at its worst that will crucify the Son of God but humanity at its absolute best. The death of Jesus will not be the result of a momentary lapse or aberration of human nature, but rather the result of careful deliberations from respected religious leaders who will justify their actions by the highest standards of the law and morality, even believing them to render service to God (John 16:2). Jesus will not be lynched by an enraged mob or beaten to death in a criminal act. He will be arrested with official warrants, and tried and executed by the world’s envy of jurisprudence–the Jewish Sanhedrin and the principia iuris Romanorum.
These things are just too much for the disciples. They contradict everything they had ever been taught. They contradict everything they had ever thought for themselves. They believed such things to be absolutely, totally wrong. Hence, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes Him. Now, mind you, the same word that Mark uses for Peter rebuking Jesus is the same word Mark uses when Jesus rebukes the demons. It’s that strong a reaction from Peter.
But Jesus is just as strong. Jesus is just as harsh, perhaps harsher. “Get behind me Satan,” Jesus retorts, “For you are setting your things on human things and not the things of God.”
And now, we come to the crux of this whole passage–indeed one might say this is the crux of the Christian message itself. Jesus calls the crowd together. Jesus wants to make sure that everyone understands this, not simply the disciples. This teaching is for everyone–not simply those closest to Him. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Jesus plainly, openly, clearly teaches that if we want to see clearly; if we want to know clearly; if we want to understand clearly–we must die. At this point, let me ask you, do you still want to be a Christian? Do you still want to even consider following Jesus? Do you still want to be a disciple if He says, in the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” “For if you want to save your life, you will lose it, and if you lose it for Jesus sake and the sake of the Gospel, you will find it.” How can this be?
The Christian worldview starts with a very basic assumption about humanity. We were created to be good, but that goodness became warped. That goodness was over ridden by a deep selfishness which sought its own good; its own power; its own prestige; its own satisfaction; its own survival above its dependency upon God. To this day, our selfishness reigns. To this day, our ego tries to claim superiority. To this day, we do a lot to establish and preserve our identity and our self. I am who I am, and I will change for no one. And the world around us encourages this. And many churches do too.
I mean, I can tell you many, many churches who lead with the following sayings: Be yourself. Rejoice in your identity. Claim your heritage. God loves you just the way you are. All are welcome just as they are. I don’t know of a single church that leads and invites people with the following: deny who you are, come and die. It’s not a very popular advertising campaign. But it is Jesus. It is His call. And it is because He knows that if we spend our lives trying to maintain our identity and preserve ourselves, we will die a thousand deaths; never find fulfillment; and be searching for affirmation over and over and over again.
You know this as well as I do. Deep down you know this is the way the world works–that we are constantly taught to look out for ourselves, and we are constantly worried and burdened that we haven’t done enough. We tell our kids over and over, and you were probably told, “Work hard. Do well in school so that...what?” “You can get a good job and make enough money to live.” “Work hard, save your money, invest wisely so that...what?” You can retire and enjoy the years you have left. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” we repeat to ourselves striving to put off the pain of rejection when someone insults us. We try to preserve ourselves because we find our value and worth in ourselves.
And Jesus says, deny it. Deny yourself and find your value in me. For the world around you will strive to cut you down. The world around you will take every advantage of you it can. The world around you will try to drain your wealth and leave you poverty stricken. The world around you will demean your skin color and your heritage. The world around you will bash your gender and your sexuality. The world around you will cut you down at the knees because it will find your faults. It will find your weakness, and it will exploit them.
Now, here’s a question for you: how can the world exploit your faults if you no longer try to hide them but openly profess them? How can the world bash your gender and sexuality if you have denied them? How can the world trash your skin color or heritage if you say they don’t matter? How can the world harm you if you don’t find your value in what the world thinks of you?
Deny yourself. Die to yourself. See yourself as a dead person walking–for that is what carrying the cross means. Ah, but it doesn’t just mean death. No for whoever loses their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will find it. Find it? Yes. You will find it. For in Christianity, death is followed by resurrection. The cross is followed by the empty tomb. Denying one’s self is followed by finding one’s true self; true identity; true value and worth in the Savior who willingly died for you when you least deserved it.
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 may be saved through Him.
Find your self in Jesus. Understand what He did for you as He stretched out His arms and died for you. Grasp the power of the resurrection as it removes your fear of death. You will cease being caught up in the daily battle for self-preservation, you will find freedom, and you will truly see. Amen.
Showing posts with label Mark 8. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark 8. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
What Can You See?
Blindness can oftentimes be something much more than a physical disability. I do not mean to be insensitive with this comment because there are those who are very near and dear to me who suffer with literal blindness and loss of sight. I mean this to say that we all, and I mean all, miss things which are right in front of our noses. These things can be very small and somewhat insignificant, but they can also be very damaging.
For instance, this past week, I had a meeting scheduled on Wednesday with a representative of a company that sells playground equipment. We had corresponded by email, and in her initial contact, she relayed to me the contact information she had for me–including the church’s phone number. I hastily read through the email she sent, and replied setting up a meeting. She said she would call me when she was arriving. The appointed meeting time came and went. No phone call. After a period of time, I checked my email, and the sales rep said, “I waited for you for 30 minutes. I tried to call the number I had for you, and all I got was a busy signal. We can try again sometime later.” She left her cell phone number, and I scratched my head. Both Sam and I had been in the office, and no phone call had come. I scrolled down to the bottom of the email correspondence, and I read the contact number she had for the church 979-854-5444. Those of you who know the church number know now what the problem was. The church’s number is 979-865-5444. How had I missed this obvious mistake? How had I overlooked it? How is it that I had eyes but didn’t see? Fortunately, I made contact with the sales rep. She hadn’t gone too far, and we were able to meet. However, my “blindness” almost prevented us from conducting the business we had scheduled and could have led to hard feelings.
That one is minor. Unfortunately, not all such blindness is minor. There are other such things that are major. When I was on internship in Waco, I remember vividly driving through town one evening. Dawna and I were heading out to eat when we approached a stoplight. The light turned red, and a truck ran through the light and hit a motorcycle–at least that’s what I saw. The motorcyclist lay in the middle of the intersection, and people began rendering aid. Dawna and I stopped as witnesses to the incident. Police arrived, and I sought them out and gave a statement. Then, a guy walks up and says, “What about my truck?” Not only had the motorcycle been involved, but another vehicle had as well. I never saw it–even though I saw it. That added a whole other layer to the situation–which thankfully the police officer worked out.
I know I am not the only one this happens to. I know most of you here this morning have had similar things happen. You’ve been stopped at an intersection. You’ve looked both ways. You start easing off the break and driving forward only to see out of the corner of your eye a car coming. You wonder, “How did I miss that?” You work through paperwork on your job. You glance over it several times, and someone still manages to find an error on it. You are walking around in the grocery store looking for an item, and you walk by a section ten times. Suddenly, you finally see it, and you wonder, “Am I going insane?”
No. You and I are not going insane. We just simply miss things. Sometimes we are moving too fast or events are happening too fast around us. Our brains cannot process the information our eyes see fast enough. Gaps get automatically filled in. We think we see it all, but in reality, we don’t. We catch only in part, and our brains fill the rest in. And it doesn’t just happen when we are at an intersection or in the grocery store or looking at an email or paperwork. It happens in the rest of our lives as well. Whenever we see a situation unfolding, our brains take all sorts of information and link them together filling in missing information–and here’s the kicker–based upon a particular set of assumptions that govern the way we view the world.
Let me repeat that. Our brains automatically fill in missing information and construct a way of looking at the world based upon a particular set of governing assumptions. This is why two people can look at the same facts and come up with two very different ways of reading those two sets of facts. Oh, and here is the icing on the cake–if new information is added that contradicts our original “story” we are more apt to disregard the new evidence and cling to our particular, original story. Why? Not because the facts are irrelevant, but because we have to change our assumptions. We have to change the very foundation of the way we look at the world.
I know it may seem like I am talking way up here, but let me pull it into perspective by turning to our lesson this morning from Mark chapter 8. As we work through this, I hope you will see what I am talking about:
This text follows Jesus’ feeding of the 4000, an event that the disciples wanted nothing to do with because those gathered were Gentiles. The disciples had a major assumption that God would restore the Kingdom of Israel through the work of the Messiah, and the Gentiles would kowtow to the Israelites. The disciples believed that Israel mattered most in the eyes of God, and everyone else were second class citizens. This is the same thing the Pharisees believed way back in Mark chapter 7 when they had forgotten the basic premise of the covenant that God made with Abraham–that the Jews would be blessed to be a blessing. Jesus is working to unravel these assumptions, and He is having a difficult time.
For right after the feeding of the 4000, Jesus and His disciples have another encounter with the Pharisees. The Pharisees come to challenge Jesus, and they demand a sign. Now, we need to be very careful here in understanding what is going on. The Pharisees are not asking for another miracle. They have witnessed some of Jesus’ miracles. They have heard eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ miracles. The Pharisees come up to Jesus and ask for a sameion–the Greek word for sign. Mark uses the word dunamis in Greek to describe a miracle, so the distinction is very important. You see the Pharisees wanted to know the source of Jesus’ power. They wanted to know the source of His miracles, and they were asking for confirmation that God was working through Jesus. In effect, the Pharisees are saying, “How do we know that you are from God. Show us that you truly are from God. Give us a direct signal from God that He is responsible for what you are doing.”
Jesus sighs deeply. It’s a sigh of indignation. It’s a sigh of almost despair. The Pharisees, who were religious leaders should have gotten it. They should be able to see plainly that everything Jesus is doing is from God. There is no need for any sort of sign, and Jesus says exactly that. The language in the Greek is actually much stronger than the English translation we have before us. Jesus essentially says, “If any sign is given to you, may I die!” It’s really an interesting comment given what will eventually happen to Jesus, but I will get there in a little while.
The Pharisees just don’t get it. They are incapable of seeing God’s actions. Their assumptions run too deep. Their worldview is too entrenched, and they cannot even come close to seeing what Jesus is doing. One of the commentators said it best, “...the unbeliever despite the evidence will always find grounds for unbelief, especially if believing means abandoning the familiar, the source of security. For those who had the eyes of faith, Jesus’ ministry provided an ample “sign from heaven” of God’s confirming work. For those blinded by unbelief no sign could adequately reveal the nature of Jesus words and work.”
But it isn’t just the Pharisees who are having difficulty. It isn’t just the Pharisees who are blinded by things. The disciples are in that boat as well–literally and figuratively. When Jesus and the disciples leave the Pharisees, Jesus turns to them and says, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod!”
The disciples are very dense here. They fail to grasp what Jesus is trying to get across to them. In one of those very curious responses, they say, “Oh, it’s because we forgot to bring bread.” WHAT???
How in the world does “Beware the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod” have anything to do with a lack of bread? Maybe the disciples had heard just a few too many of Jesus’ teachings. Maybe they were looking for all sorts of hidden meanings, but this one seems just a little too far fetched.
Jesus, patiently tries to bring them around. “You think I am talking about bread? How many lunch boxes of bread did you take up after I fed 5000?” The disciples say, “12.” How many large baskets did you take up after I fed the 4000? “Seven,” the disciples respond.
Jesus says, “And you still don’t get it?” Mark leaves us hanging right there. We don’t see the disciples response to this. Maybe they do get it now. Maybe they don’t. One think we can see for certain is that Jesus isn’t talking about bread. He is talking about something much more important. Jesus can produce bread out of thin air. He can take five loaves and provide for 5000. He can take seven loaves and provide for 4000. He can take that one loaf and provide for 13. There is no issue here!!! But there is an issue with being able to see. There is an issue with trusting Jesus. The disciples aren’t there yet. They may be starting to see. They are in the boat with Jesus, but they only see dimly!
Which brings us to this next part of the text. It is a very, very intriguing story. It’s almost at the center of Mark’s gospel, and as I have studied it, I think it is a very, very important piece. It is the healing of a man who is blind, but it is unlike any other healing we find Jesus doing. No other Gospel has a healing like this, and most of the commentators I read, and I agree with them–is this healing is both a healing and a metaphor exposing the blindness of the Pharisees, the semi-sight of the disciples, and ultimately pointing to what can bring us sight.
People bring to Jesus a man who is blind, and much like He did with the man who was deaf and tongue tied, Jesus takes the man away from the crowd. Jesus spits in the man’s eye, lays His hands on him and then asks, “What do you see?” This is the only time Jesus ever asks this question of someone He is healing. Nowhere else does He ask such a thing.
The man replies, “I see people, but they look like trees.” Now, here is an interesting statement because it implies that the guy once was able to see. He must have known what trees looked like at one time. He must have known what people looked like at one time. This is a restoration miracle, but it isn’t complete. He cannot see clearly. Did Jesus mess up? No. As I said earlier, there is a metaphor–a teaching taking place. Why would I say this? Who would the blind man have seen? Who would be the men looking like trees? The disciples. The disciples must have been the ones the man saw who looked like trees walking around. The disciples would have been the ones seeing this healing taking place in stages. Jesus healing in this manner would hopefully be a lesson for them–a lesson about their own stages of belief, unbelief, blindness, and being able to see.
Jesus then takes the man, lays hands on him once again, and then the man can see clearly. Jesus doesn’t ask the man whether or not he can see. Jesus knows He’s completed the task. Jesus knows what He can do. Jesus then orders the man to go home and not to tell anyone what has happened–once again to show that Jesus is not simply here to be a miracle worker. He has a greater purpose.
And what is that purpose? We know that Jesus is here to redeem and save the world. We know that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God who has come to reconcile the world unto God by living the life we are supposed to live and dying the death we deserve. We know Jesus is here to bring about salvation. The Pharisees can’t see this at all. They are blind. The disciples have gotten a glimpse of this, but they don’t grasp it fully. They are partially blind. They can’t grasp it either–partially because their assumptions still have not been changed. Next week, we will see this very clearly–no pun intended.
The Pharisees’ blindness, and the disciples’ blindness will not be fully cleared until their basic assumptions about who the Messiah is supposed to be are changed. They will not be able to see Jesus for who He is until their very worldviews are shaken to the core.
And we will not be able to see Jesus for who He truly is until our assumptions are shaken as well. We will not be able to see what Jesus has done until our worldviews crumble and fall. We will not be able to understand what it is like to see clearly until we take a journey with Jesus to the cross. Next week is our youth service, so you will have to wait until the following Sunday to see how this is all brought about, but for today, we will have to stop here.
Let us pray. Gracious God, you so loved the world that you sent your only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. You sent Him into the world not to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved through Him. We have heard this good news. We have heard of Jesus’ work, but for some reason, we remain blinded. We still cannot seem to see but dimly. We ask that in the next couple of weeks, you will work on our hearts and minds that we may one day see clearly. Amen.
For instance, this past week, I had a meeting scheduled on Wednesday with a representative of a company that sells playground equipment. We had corresponded by email, and in her initial contact, she relayed to me the contact information she had for me–including the church’s phone number. I hastily read through the email she sent, and replied setting up a meeting. She said she would call me when she was arriving. The appointed meeting time came and went. No phone call. After a period of time, I checked my email, and the sales rep said, “I waited for you for 30 minutes. I tried to call the number I had for you, and all I got was a busy signal. We can try again sometime later.” She left her cell phone number, and I scratched my head. Both Sam and I had been in the office, and no phone call had come. I scrolled down to the bottom of the email correspondence, and I read the contact number she had for the church 979-854-5444. Those of you who know the church number know now what the problem was. The church’s number is 979-865-5444. How had I missed this obvious mistake? How had I overlooked it? How is it that I had eyes but didn’t see? Fortunately, I made contact with the sales rep. She hadn’t gone too far, and we were able to meet. However, my “blindness” almost prevented us from conducting the business we had scheduled and could have led to hard feelings.
That one is minor. Unfortunately, not all such blindness is minor. There are other such things that are major. When I was on internship in Waco, I remember vividly driving through town one evening. Dawna and I were heading out to eat when we approached a stoplight. The light turned red, and a truck ran through the light and hit a motorcycle–at least that’s what I saw. The motorcyclist lay in the middle of the intersection, and people began rendering aid. Dawna and I stopped as witnesses to the incident. Police arrived, and I sought them out and gave a statement. Then, a guy walks up and says, “What about my truck?” Not only had the motorcycle been involved, but another vehicle had as well. I never saw it–even though I saw it. That added a whole other layer to the situation–which thankfully the police officer worked out.
I know I am not the only one this happens to. I know most of you here this morning have had similar things happen. You’ve been stopped at an intersection. You’ve looked both ways. You start easing off the break and driving forward only to see out of the corner of your eye a car coming. You wonder, “How did I miss that?” You work through paperwork on your job. You glance over it several times, and someone still manages to find an error on it. You are walking around in the grocery store looking for an item, and you walk by a section ten times. Suddenly, you finally see it, and you wonder, “Am I going insane?”
No. You and I are not going insane. We just simply miss things. Sometimes we are moving too fast or events are happening too fast around us. Our brains cannot process the information our eyes see fast enough. Gaps get automatically filled in. We think we see it all, but in reality, we don’t. We catch only in part, and our brains fill the rest in. And it doesn’t just happen when we are at an intersection or in the grocery store or looking at an email or paperwork. It happens in the rest of our lives as well. Whenever we see a situation unfolding, our brains take all sorts of information and link them together filling in missing information–and here’s the kicker–based upon a particular set of assumptions that govern the way we view the world.
Let me repeat that. Our brains automatically fill in missing information and construct a way of looking at the world based upon a particular set of governing assumptions. This is why two people can look at the same facts and come up with two very different ways of reading those two sets of facts. Oh, and here is the icing on the cake–if new information is added that contradicts our original “story” we are more apt to disregard the new evidence and cling to our particular, original story. Why? Not because the facts are irrelevant, but because we have to change our assumptions. We have to change the very foundation of the way we look at the world.
I know it may seem like I am talking way up here, but let me pull it into perspective by turning to our lesson this morning from Mark chapter 8. As we work through this, I hope you will see what I am talking about:
This text follows Jesus’ feeding of the 4000, an event that the disciples wanted nothing to do with because those gathered were Gentiles. The disciples had a major assumption that God would restore the Kingdom of Israel through the work of the Messiah, and the Gentiles would kowtow to the Israelites. The disciples believed that Israel mattered most in the eyes of God, and everyone else were second class citizens. This is the same thing the Pharisees believed way back in Mark chapter 7 when they had forgotten the basic premise of the covenant that God made with Abraham–that the Jews would be blessed to be a blessing. Jesus is working to unravel these assumptions, and He is having a difficult time.
For right after the feeding of the 4000, Jesus and His disciples have another encounter with the Pharisees. The Pharisees come to challenge Jesus, and they demand a sign. Now, we need to be very careful here in understanding what is going on. The Pharisees are not asking for another miracle. They have witnessed some of Jesus’ miracles. They have heard eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ miracles. The Pharisees come up to Jesus and ask for a sameion–the Greek word for sign. Mark uses the word dunamis in Greek to describe a miracle, so the distinction is very important. You see the Pharisees wanted to know the source of Jesus’ power. They wanted to know the source of His miracles, and they were asking for confirmation that God was working through Jesus. In effect, the Pharisees are saying, “How do we know that you are from God. Show us that you truly are from God. Give us a direct signal from God that He is responsible for what you are doing.”
Jesus sighs deeply. It’s a sigh of indignation. It’s a sigh of almost despair. The Pharisees, who were religious leaders should have gotten it. They should be able to see plainly that everything Jesus is doing is from God. There is no need for any sort of sign, and Jesus says exactly that. The language in the Greek is actually much stronger than the English translation we have before us. Jesus essentially says, “If any sign is given to you, may I die!” It’s really an interesting comment given what will eventually happen to Jesus, but I will get there in a little while.
The Pharisees just don’t get it. They are incapable of seeing God’s actions. Their assumptions run too deep. Their worldview is too entrenched, and they cannot even come close to seeing what Jesus is doing. One of the commentators said it best, “...the unbeliever despite the evidence will always find grounds for unbelief, especially if believing means abandoning the familiar, the source of security. For those who had the eyes of faith, Jesus’ ministry provided an ample “sign from heaven” of God’s confirming work. For those blinded by unbelief no sign could adequately reveal the nature of Jesus words and work.”
But it isn’t just the Pharisees who are having difficulty. It isn’t just the Pharisees who are blinded by things. The disciples are in that boat as well–literally and figuratively. When Jesus and the disciples leave the Pharisees, Jesus turns to them and says, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod!”
The disciples are very dense here. They fail to grasp what Jesus is trying to get across to them. In one of those very curious responses, they say, “Oh, it’s because we forgot to bring bread.” WHAT???
How in the world does “Beware the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod” have anything to do with a lack of bread? Maybe the disciples had heard just a few too many of Jesus’ teachings. Maybe they were looking for all sorts of hidden meanings, but this one seems just a little too far fetched.
Jesus, patiently tries to bring them around. “You think I am talking about bread? How many lunch boxes of bread did you take up after I fed 5000?” The disciples say, “12.” How many large baskets did you take up after I fed the 4000? “Seven,” the disciples respond.
Jesus says, “And you still don’t get it?” Mark leaves us hanging right there. We don’t see the disciples response to this. Maybe they do get it now. Maybe they don’t. One think we can see for certain is that Jesus isn’t talking about bread. He is talking about something much more important. Jesus can produce bread out of thin air. He can take five loaves and provide for 5000. He can take seven loaves and provide for 4000. He can take that one loaf and provide for 13. There is no issue here!!! But there is an issue with being able to see. There is an issue with trusting Jesus. The disciples aren’t there yet. They may be starting to see. They are in the boat with Jesus, but they only see dimly!
Which brings us to this next part of the text. It is a very, very intriguing story. It’s almost at the center of Mark’s gospel, and as I have studied it, I think it is a very, very important piece. It is the healing of a man who is blind, but it is unlike any other healing we find Jesus doing. No other Gospel has a healing like this, and most of the commentators I read, and I agree with them–is this healing is both a healing and a metaphor exposing the blindness of the Pharisees, the semi-sight of the disciples, and ultimately pointing to what can bring us sight.
People bring to Jesus a man who is blind, and much like He did with the man who was deaf and tongue tied, Jesus takes the man away from the crowd. Jesus spits in the man’s eye, lays His hands on him and then asks, “What do you see?” This is the only time Jesus ever asks this question of someone He is healing. Nowhere else does He ask such a thing.
The man replies, “I see people, but they look like trees.” Now, here is an interesting statement because it implies that the guy once was able to see. He must have known what trees looked like at one time. He must have known what people looked like at one time. This is a restoration miracle, but it isn’t complete. He cannot see clearly. Did Jesus mess up? No. As I said earlier, there is a metaphor–a teaching taking place. Why would I say this? Who would the blind man have seen? Who would be the men looking like trees? The disciples. The disciples must have been the ones the man saw who looked like trees walking around. The disciples would have been the ones seeing this healing taking place in stages. Jesus healing in this manner would hopefully be a lesson for them–a lesson about their own stages of belief, unbelief, blindness, and being able to see.
Jesus then takes the man, lays hands on him once again, and then the man can see clearly. Jesus doesn’t ask the man whether or not he can see. Jesus knows He’s completed the task. Jesus knows what He can do. Jesus then orders the man to go home and not to tell anyone what has happened–once again to show that Jesus is not simply here to be a miracle worker. He has a greater purpose.
And what is that purpose? We know that Jesus is here to redeem and save the world. We know that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God who has come to reconcile the world unto God by living the life we are supposed to live and dying the death we deserve. We know Jesus is here to bring about salvation. The Pharisees can’t see this at all. They are blind. The disciples have gotten a glimpse of this, but they don’t grasp it fully. They are partially blind. They can’t grasp it either–partially because their assumptions still have not been changed. Next week, we will see this very clearly–no pun intended.
The Pharisees’ blindness, and the disciples’ blindness will not be fully cleared until their basic assumptions about who the Messiah is supposed to be are changed. They will not be able to see Jesus for who He is until their very worldviews are shaken to the core.
And we will not be able to see Jesus for who He truly is until our assumptions are shaken as well. We will not be able to see what Jesus has done until our worldviews crumble and fall. We will not be able to understand what it is like to see clearly until we take a journey with Jesus to the cross. Next week is our youth service, so you will have to wait until the following Sunday to see how this is all brought about, but for today, we will have to stop here.
Let us pray. Gracious God, you so loved the world that you sent your only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. You sent Him into the world not to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved through Him. We have heard this good news. We have heard of Jesus’ work, but for some reason, we remain blinded. We still cannot seem to see but dimly. We ask that in the next couple of weeks, you will work on our hearts and minds that we may one day see clearly. Amen.
Monday, August 31, 2015
The Tribal Brain Undone
This morning we have the second feeding of a multitude found in the book of Mark. Yes, you heard me correctly, this is the second time Jesus feeds a large group of people. Mark records two feedings. If you don’t believe me, you can look in your Bible at Mark chapter six. That’s the feeding of the 5000. This is the feeding of the 4000. Some scholars, while looking at these two accounts think that Mark is simply telling a story twice–a doublet is what they call it. They discount the historical accuracy of this second event. Other scholars are quick to say that there are very different circumstances here–circumstances that say this is indeed another historical feeding with a very important point. What might that point be? Let’s begin our journey this morning together.
In the July/August edition of "The Reader’s Digest", Chris Mooney writes an article titled, “Are We Naturally Born Racists?” It is a fascinating read about the nature of the human brain. The writer, Chris, takes the IAT test, which is a test that seeks to measure your initial reactions to people of color. Chris considered himself color blind, but the test revealed that he had an innate prejudice. He was not happy about this. But he asked numerous questions about this research, and it led him to write the following:
Let that sink in just a moment before hearing the next one.
What kind of problems?
Lebanese-born French writer Amin Maalouf says this in his 1996 book In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong:
Think about such things deeply for a moment as you think about the culture that surrounds us. Think about such things as you reflect on what took place and is taking place just down the road in Waller County surrounding Sara Bland. Think about such things as you contemplate the shooting of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Think about this as you ponder the execution of Houston Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth. Think about such matters as you remember the cold blooded killing of nine church people in Charleston, S.C.
In each of these situations, there is an us/them mentality. There is the idea that a particular group is persecuted and then justified in its actions. There is a great divide as tribal lines are drawn around the color of skin. Ah, but if Mooney and the researchers at Harvard are correct, such tribalism doesn’t just take place around skin color, our brain naturally draws distinctions between male and female, German and Czech, black and white, young and old, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican, and so on and so forth. Lines get drawn, sides get taken, and fights eventually erupt. And sometimes we scratch our heads in bewilderment wondering why.
And some of you might be wondering why I am even going down this train of thought when it looks like it has nothing to do with the feeding of the 4000. Such matters seem to be completely absent from this text from Mark chapter 8. And you would be right if you just look at this text at face value, but I don’t want to look at it on the surface. I want to dig into it and place it into context. I also want to compare it to the previous feeding found in chapter 6 because there are some very important differences.
First off, the location is important. Mark begins this little segment with the words, “In those days...” which connect this story to the one immediately preceding it–the healing of a deaf, tongue tied, Gentile man. This is important because Jesus is traveling through Gentile territory. You might say He was in hostile territory given the Jew’s animosity toward Gentiles. However, something very strange seems to be going on. The Gentiles are very receptive to Jesus’ message. A large crowd has gathered to hear Jesus preach and teach.
I pointed out last time with the feeding of the 5000 that you should be thankful that I don’t preach like Jesus. I will reinforce this once more as I point you toward Jesus’ statement, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for...” how many days? Yes. Three days. How many complaints do you think Jesus got about that sermon?
But let’s return more to the point. I want you to take a moment to turn to the feeding of the 5000 that you find in Mark chapter 6, and I want you to look at something carefully. I want you to look at the role of the disciples. Who initiates care and compassion for the crowd in Mark chapter 6?
It’s the disciples. The crowd has been there all day. The crowd is getting hungry. The disciples know they need to eat, and, knowing they could not provide for the crowd, they asked Jesus to send them away to get something to eat. As we look at the feeding of the 4000, the crowd has been with Jesus for three days–three days!!! How come the disciples didn’t say anything to Jesus about the people getting hungry? How come the disciples didn’t ask Jesus to send them away to get their own food? How come the disciples don’t show the same kind of concern? I think there is a reason.
Jesus is the one who begins the conversation and who has compassion. He, again says, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.”
Verse 4 reads: His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’
Now, there are a couple of ways of looking at this. First, we can wonder: are the disciples dense? Don’t they remember Jesus feeding the 5000? Don’t they remember His amazing miracle? Don’t they realize that Jesus could do once again what He did before? Do they truly lack faith in the one who fed the multitude before, walked on water, cast out demons, and then healed a man who was deaf and tongue tied?
I think the answer is no, and I base it on what I read in one of my commentaries. It was a very intriguing quote, and I would like to share it with you now. William Lane writes in The New International Commentary on the New Testament, “There is an indirectness in the response of Ch. 8:4 which is different in tone and function. It serves to refer the question of procuring bread back to Jesus and is tantamount to asking, What do you intend to do?”
What do YOU intend to do, Jesus? Not, how can we help. Not, should we spend a lot of money to provide food. It’s all up to you Jesus. Now, this could be seen as a statement of tremendous faith. It could be seen as a statement of trust in the Lord, but it doesn’t fit the context. It certainly doesn’t fit what will be happening in the next couple of texts. In fact–here is a bit of a foreshadowing for you–as we look at the next couple of snippets in the coming weeks, we will see that the disciples don’t get it. They don’t understand Jesus’ mission. They are starting to understand that He is the Messiah, but they don’t yet realize, Jesus is here to save, not simply the Jews, but is here to save the WHOLE WORLD. This means, I think, in the context of what is going on in this segment of the book of Mark, the disciples don’t want to feed this crowd. They don’t want to have compassion on them. They don’t like this crowd because this crowd is a Gentile crowd. This crowd isn’t like them. The disciples are being tribal.
But Jesus won’t let them get away with this. Jesus won’t let them keep those boundaries drawn. Jesus asks them how much bread they have. Seven loaves this time. Jesus takes them and begins breaking them, and He makes the disciples distribute the bread. Jesus finds that they have a few fish. He blesses them and starts distributing them through the disciples. Once again, the entire crowd is satisfied, and when all is said and done, seven baskets are filled. This time, it’s not seven lunch boxes-the Greek word here connotes large baskets constructed out of rope. Jesus dismisses the crowd, and everyone gets back into the boat and leaves.
Again, as we shall see in the next Sunday or so as we continue our journey through Mark, the disciples don’t get what Jesus is doing. They don’t understand this foray into Gentile territory. They don’t understand the nature and reality of what it means that Jesus is God incarnate. They don’t understand fully the nature of what it means that Jesus is the Messiah. They are still caught up in the idea that Jesus is here for the Jews. They are still caught up in the idea that this man who is full of power will restore the kingdom of Israel. The other nations of the world–the Gentiles are to be subjects to rule over. They are outsiders. They are those people over there. It is all too easy to look at the world and think such thoughts. The brain is hard wired to draw distinctions, and we are quick to act tribally. Do you see now why I started as I did? Do you see now how this ties to our present reality is a very real way? Do you see how we still struggle with the same issues the disciples struggled with?
And what does Jesus lead us to? What place does Jesus want us to arrive at?
Let me read to you a snippet from the book of Ephesians chapter 2:
Did you catch that phrase in there? Did you catch the fact that you were once “far off?” Did you catch that through the blood of Jesus, a new humanity has now been created? Did you catch that the world has been reconciled to God through Jesus’ body on the cross?
You see, Jesus is showing in the feeding of this Gentile crowd that He is the Messiah for the world. He is not simply the Messiah for the Jews. All are far off from God. The Jews are far off because they do not follow the commands given to them by Moses. The Gentiles are far off because the Jews have not taken the blessings of God and then sought to be a blessing to others. All are separated from God. All.
And we don’t like to hear that. No. We don’t like to hear that at all. We like to think that God and we are like this (hold intertwined fingers up). We like to think that God and we are on good terms. We like to think that we have it all figured out and God is walking with us affirming us every step of the way, and the people with all the problems are those people out there. If those people would just get their acts together then everything will work out. And I will surround myself with people who think like me and act like me and look like me. We will affirm each other and make ourselves feel good, and we can look down our collective nose at everyone else.
But Jesus says, “I don’t think so. You are not as good as you think you are. In fact, because of your sin–you are apart from God. You are out there. And so is everyone else in the world.” All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And there is nothing you can do to make it better. Your brain won’t allow it. You will always become tribal. You will always try to think in terms of us versus them. That’s how you are wired because of your sin.
But even though we can’t do anything about this, there is one who can. There is one who did. For when Jesus stretched out His arms on the cross, He brought you close to God. He brought me close to God. He brought the world close to God. “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 save through Him.”
All who were once far off have been brought near. All who have sinned receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ. And even if a person does not follow Jesus, do we see them as less than ourselves? Do we see them as unworthy of love and compassion and trust? Of course not. We see others as God sees them: as precious people who are in need of a Savior. And how do we bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus? Do we do so with hatred, animosity, anger, frustration, and the like? Of course not. No. We lead with the same things Jesus gave to us when we least deserved it: compassion, kindness, grace, and love. Yes, there are differences. Yes, there are divisions, but when we place our trust in Christ, we do not lead with blame, or hatred or animosity or drawing lines. We lead with compassion, love, and reconciliation. Amen.
In the July/August edition of "The Reader’s Digest", Chris Mooney writes an article titled, “Are We Naturally Born Racists?” It is a fascinating read about the nature of the human brain. The writer, Chris, takes the IAT test, which is a test that seeks to measure your initial reactions to people of color. Chris considered himself color blind, but the test revealed that he had an innate prejudice. He was not happy about this. But he asked numerous questions about this research, and it led him to write the following:
Humans are tribal creatures, showing strong bias against those we perceive as different from us and favoritism toward those we perceive as similar. In fact, we humans will divide ourselves into in-groups and out-groups even when the perceived differences between specific groups are completely arbitrary.
Let that sink in just a moment before hearing the next one.
In other words, if you give people the slightest push toward behaving tribally, they'll happily comply. So if race is the basis on which tribes are identified, expect serious problems.
What kind of problems?
Lebanese-born French writer Amin Maalouf says this in his 1996 book In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong:
People often see themselves in terms of whichever one of their allegiances is most under attack. And sometimes, when a person doesn’t have the strength to defend that allegiance, he hides it. Then it remains buried deep down in the dark, awaiting its revenge. But whether he accepts or conceals it, proclaims it discreetly or flaunts it, it is with that allegiance that the person concerned identifies. And then, whether it relates to color, religion, language or class, it invades the person’s whole identity. Other people who share the same allegiance sympathize; they all gather together, join forces, encourage one another, challenge “the other side.” For them, “asserting their identity” inevitably becomes an act of courage, of liberation.
In the midst of any community that has been wounded agitators naturally arise… The scene is now set and the war can begin. Whatever happens “the others” will have deserved it.
Think about such things deeply for a moment as you think about the culture that surrounds us. Think about such things as you reflect on what took place and is taking place just down the road in Waller County surrounding Sara Bland. Think about such things as you contemplate the shooting of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Think about this as you ponder the execution of Houston Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth. Think about such matters as you remember the cold blooded killing of nine church people in Charleston, S.C.
In each of these situations, there is an us/them mentality. There is the idea that a particular group is persecuted and then justified in its actions. There is a great divide as tribal lines are drawn around the color of skin. Ah, but if Mooney and the researchers at Harvard are correct, such tribalism doesn’t just take place around skin color, our brain naturally draws distinctions between male and female, German and Czech, black and white, young and old, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican, and so on and so forth. Lines get drawn, sides get taken, and fights eventually erupt. And sometimes we scratch our heads in bewilderment wondering why.
And some of you might be wondering why I am even going down this train of thought when it looks like it has nothing to do with the feeding of the 4000. Such matters seem to be completely absent from this text from Mark chapter 8. And you would be right if you just look at this text at face value, but I don’t want to look at it on the surface. I want to dig into it and place it into context. I also want to compare it to the previous feeding found in chapter 6 because there are some very important differences.
First off, the location is important. Mark begins this little segment with the words, “In those days...” which connect this story to the one immediately preceding it–the healing of a deaf, tongue tied, Gentile man. This is important because Jesus is traveling through Gentile territory. You might say He was in hostile territory given the Jew’s animosity toward Gentiles. However, something very strange seems to be going on. The Gentiles are very receptive to Jesus’ message. A large crowd has gathered to hear Jesus preach and teach.
I pointed out last time with the feeding of the 5000 that you should be thankful that I don’t preach like Jesus. I will reinforce this once more as I point you toward Jesus’ statement, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for...” how many days? Yes. Three days. How many complaints do you think Jesus got about that sermon?
But let’s return more to the point. I want you to take a moment to turn to the feeding of the 5000 that you find in Mark chapter 6, and I want you to look at something carefully. I want you to look at the role of the disciples. Who initiates care and compassion for the crowd in Mark chapter 6?
It’s the disciples. The crowd has been there all day. The crowd is getting hungry. The disciples know they need to eat, and, knowing they could not provide for the crowd, they asked Jesus to send them away to get something to eat. As we look at the feeding of the 4000, the crowd has been with Jesus for three days–three days!!! How come the disciples didn’t say anything to Jesus about the people getting hungry? How come the disciples didn’t ask Jesus to send them away to get their own food? How come the disciples don’t show the same kind of concern? I think there is a reason.
Jesus is the one who begins the conversation and who has compassion. He, again says, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.”
Verse 4 reads: His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’
Now, there are a couple of ways of looking at this. First, we can wonder: are the disciples dense? Don’t they remember Jesus feeding the 5000? Don’t they remember His amazing miracle? Don’t they realize that Jesus could do once again what He did before? Do they truly lack faith in the one who fed the multitude before, walked on water, cast out demons, and then healed a man who was deaf and tongue tied?
I think the answer is no, and I base it on what I read in one of my commentaries. It was a very intriguing quote, and I would like to share it with you now. William Lane writes in The New International Commentary on the New Testament, “There is an indirectness in the response of Ch. 8:4 which is different in tone and function. It serves to refer the question of procuring bread back to Jesus and is tantamount to asking, What do you intend to do?”
What do YOU intend to do, Jesus? Not, how can we help. Not, should we spend a lot of money to provide food. It’s all up to you Jesus. Now, this could be seen as a statement of tremendous faith. It could be seen as a statement of trust in the Lord, but it doesn’t fit the context. It certainly doesn’t fit what will be happening in the next couple of texts. In fact–here is a bit of a foreshadowing for you–as we look at the next couple of snippets in the coming weeks, we will see that the disciples don’t get it. They don’t understand Jesus’ mission. They are starting to understand that He is the Messiah, but they don’t yet realize, Jesus is here to save, not simply the Jews, but is here to save the WHOLE WORLD. This means, I think, in the context of what is going on in this segment of the book of Mark, the disciples don’t want to feed this crowd. They don’t want to have compassion on them. They don’t like this crowd because this crowd is a Gentile crowd. This crowd isn’t like them. The disciples are being tribal.
But Jesus won’t let them get away with this. Jesus won’t let them keep those boundaries drawn. Jesus asks them how much bread they have. Seven loaves this time. Jesus takes them and begins breaking them, and He makes the disciples distribute the bread. Jesus finds that they have a few fish. He blesses them and starts distributing them through the disciples. Once again, the entire crowd is satisfied, and when all is said and done, seven baskets are filled. This time, it’s not seven lunch boxes-the Greek word here connotes large baskets constructed out of rope. Jesus dismisses the crowd, and everyone gets back into the boat and leaves.
Again, as we shall see in the next Sunday or so as we continue our journey through Mark, the disciples don’t get what Jesus is doing. They don’t understand this foray into Gentile territory. They don’t understand the nature and reality of what it means that Jesus is God incarnate. They don’t understand fully the nature of what it means that Jesus is the Messiah. They are still caught up in the idea that Jesus is here for the Jews. They are still caught up in the idea that this man who is full of power will restore the kingdom of Israel. The other nations of the world–the Gentiles are to be subjects to rule over. They are outsiders. They are those people over there. It is all too easy to look at the world and think such thoughts. The brain is hard wired to draw distinctions, and we are quick to act tribally. Do you see now why I started as I did? Do you see now how this ties to our present reality is a very real way? Do you see how we still struggle with the same issues the disciples struggled with?
And what does Jesus lead us to? What place does Jesus want us to arrive at?
Let me read to you a snippet from the book of Ephesians chapter 2:
3But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Did you catch that phrase in there? Did you catch the fact that you were once “far off?” Did you catch that through the blood of Jesus, a new humanity has now been created? Did you catch that the world has been reconciled to God through Jesus’ body on the cross?
You see, Jesus is showing in the feeding of this Gentile crowd that He is the Messiah for the world. He is not simply the Messiah for the Jews. All are far off from God. The Jews are far off because they do not follow the commands given to them by Moses. The Gentiles are far off because the Jews have not taken the blessings of God and then sought to be a blessing to others. All are separated from God. All.
And we don’t like to hear that. No. We don’t like to hear that at all. We like to think that God and we are like this (hold intertwined fingers up). We like to think that God and we are on good terms. We like to think that we have it all figured out and God is walking with us affirming us every step of the way, and the people with all the problems are those people out there. If those people would just get their acts together then everything will work out. And I will surround myself with people who think like me and act like me and look like me. We will affirm each other and make ourselves feel good, and we can look down our collective nose at everyone else.
But Jesus says, “I don’t think so. You are not as good as you think you are. In fact, because of your sin–you are apart from God. You are out there. And so is everyone else in the world.” All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And there is nothing you can do to make it better. Your brain won’t allow it. You will always become tribal. You will always try to think in terms of us versus them. That’s how you are wired because of your sin.
But even though we can’t do anything about this, there is one who can. There is one who did. For when Jesus stretched out His arms on the cross, He brought you close to God. He brought me close to God. He brought the world close to God. “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 save through Him.”
All who were once far off have been brought near. All who have sinned receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ. And even if a person does not follow Jesus, do we see them as less than ourselves? Do we see them as unworthy of love and compassion and trust? Of course not. We see others as God sees them: as precious people who are in need of a Savior. And how do we bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus? Do we do so with hatred, animosity, anger, frustration, and the like? Of course not. No. We lead with the same things Jesus gave to us when we least deserved it: compassion, kindness, grace, and love. Yes, there are differences. Yes, there are divisions, but when we place our trust in Christ, we do not lead with blame, or hatred or animosity or drawing lines. We lead with compassion, love, and reconciliation. Amen.
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