July 17, 2011 “OBJECTIONS TO JESUS”

MATTHEW 9:1-17                                                                                     JULY 17, 2011

                                                                            

“OBJECTIONS TO JESUS”

It is no surprise when non-Christians raise objections about Jesus and those who seek to be faithful followers. In Matthew Jesus is confronted with objections to who He is and opposition to his ministry. What often surprises us today is that some of the most hostile objections and opposition come from religious people, from those who would identify themselves as good church folk.

I ask you to recall the well known story of the friends who brought their paralyzed friend and tore through the roof of the house and lowered him down in front of Jesus. The friends knew that Jesus could heal their friend. As humans we tend to focus exclusively on external problems: like paralysis, cancer, all types of health problems. Yet we rarely stop there as we also tend to concentrate on other external difficulties such as jobs, our looks, our weight, and the list goes on. I’m sure Jesus surprised everyone when he directed his attention to the number one problem that all humans face: sin. ² Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." ³ At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!" ⁴ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? Jesus asked a real question in which he expects an answer. The Pharisees accused Jesus of blasphemy- of dissing God; blasphemy meant in the scripture anything that brings dishonor upon God. When Jesus claimed to forgive sin they rightly think he is claiming to have the authority to forgive sin. Jesus is God, but almost no one recognizes this vital truth. Is it easier to say the words, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? Of course it is easier to say the words than to actually have the authority to heal the man of his paralysis. Only God has the right to heal and to forgive sin. The Pharisees denied the reality of what happens before their very eyes. The Pharisees were very proud of their knowledge of how their Jewish faith worked. In their eyes Jesus did everything wrong as he did not follow their man made laws on how to live for God.

Jesus sought to open their minds and hearts of everyone to the truth of who he was and is. Jesus is God.  ⁶ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." ⁷ And the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men. Neither the Pharisees nor the people understood what occurred before their very eyes. They still focused on the external healing of the man which Jesus indicated was really the secondary problem. Unless our sins have been forgiven, none of these things really matter. Matthew 16:26 (NIV) “²⁶ What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

 Matthew was a tax collector in the city of Capernaum, the home base of Jesus. It was also the home of Peter and Andrew, James and John. It is most likely that Matthew (Levi) collected taxes from these same men who sold their fish to make a living. Tax collectors were notorious for adding exorbitant commissions on top of the money they collected for the Roman government. The opposition that Jesus faced next came from the Pharisees and from the general population. This can be seen in Luke 19:7 when Jesus went to the home of Zacchaeus (NIV) “⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"  

Tax collectors were seen as traitors to their country and as crooks. In the south we would call them carpet baggers. So what does Jesus do? ⁹ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Remember Jesus earlier rejected two other men who had asked to become disciples, one of whom was a scribe (a teacher). Jesus calls Matthew to follow him even though everyone else would have been horrified.

Yet Jesus did not stop there in doing what was considered socially unacceptable. Sitting down to have a meal with someone indicated acceptance and approval. ¹⁰ While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" ¹² On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."  Matthew invited his friends to hear Jesus at the party he gave for Jesus. This action of eating with Matthew’s friends, all who were considered socially unacceptable, was very offensive to the Pharisees. The Pharisees identified everyone who refused to follow their traditions as being a sinner. The Pharisees saw themselves as spiritually healthy because they rigorously followed their religious traditions. Yet Jesus identifies a sinner as one who does not follow the will of God, which includes everyone. Jesus returns the attention to the central problem of sin which blocks us from accepting God’s love and mercy. Matthew wanted his friends to find the same spiritual healing for their souls as he did. Jesus did not come to invite people who think they are already good, but to invite those who know they are sinners in desperate need of God’s forgiveness.

Jesus also aggravated the followers of John the Baptist. ¹⁴ Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"  The Old Testament required all faithful Jews to fast one day a year, on the Day of Atonement. The Pharisees fasted twice a week to show others just how religious they were. The disciples of John the Baptist also fasted weekly as a sign of their spiritual commitment. These disciples of John are questioning the level of commitment that Jesus disciples are showing. In other words they think that the apostles are not really as committed as they are. John’s disciples were accusing Jesus of not doing it right. ¹⁵ Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. Jesus lets them know that the time will come when the apostles will fast. But at the moment they are enjoying being in the presence of the Messiah. Jesus takes the opportunity to inform them that the old religious traditions are being replaced with something that is much better.¹⁶ "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷ Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." Jesus upset everyone as he was establishing what God desired from those who wanted to worship the Lord. The problem was that few people were willing to see and hear what the Son of God was bringing.

When I was a young boy attending church there were several unwritten rules which were rigorously upheld as the only accepted way to worship God. Every man and boy had to wear a white shirt and tie and coat. Young boys were sometimes allowed not to wear a coat. Every woman and girl had to wear a dress, and hose, and most important a hat. We had a woman whose hat I later thought was either mildewed or the feathers were molting. If anyone dared to wear jeans I think the walls would have caved in due to the whispered comments that would have been flying through the room. Whenever we make our expectations, our traditions, and the way it was when we grew up as being the only correct rule we are on dangerous ground. God is more concerned with our spiritual healing than the physical externals. I have heard of churches where some of the members have asked people to move as the visitors were sitting in their seats. We must help people to concentrate on change that comes from the heart. Unless our inner person is changed and we fall in love with Jesus we fail to understand the new Covenant that Jesus started. As believers it is our job to bring sinners to Jesus so they can be forgiven, to be saved. It is not our job to force people to abide by the rules and traditions of how church was done when we were children. Are we more concerned with the externals or whether or nota person comes to know Jesus Christ and is forgiven?

Let us pray.

Burden or Blessing

          One of the best places in the entire Bible about God’s Sovereignty is Psalm 139, an Israelite hymn of four stanzas: the first (verses 1-6), is  about God’s omniscience, the fact that God knows everything, the second (verses 7-12), his omnipresence, the fact that he is in all places at all times, the third (verses 13-18) his omnipotence, the fact that he is all powerful, and finally (verses 19-24) his “omni-justice

Predestination:  Burden or Blessing?

First Reading:  Isaiah 55.8-11

Second Reading:  Psalm 139

Introduction:  If you were given the choice to include or not include in your Christian belief the idea of Predestination, considering, for the moment, that it is one of those things that our church considers a “non-essential”, which would you choose?  Would you choose to believe in Predestination, or take a pass?  Most of us probably know of some believers who are uncomfortable with the idea of Predestination, and at the same time, also those who enthusiastically embrace it!

          Now I must make a confession:  This sermon is not only about Predestination, but more broadly about the Sovereignty of God.  I just threw in the idea of Predestination to get your attention.  Now that I have either gotten you attention, or made you angry, let’s get on to the subject of God and his Sovereignty.

” (I had to make that word up), the fact that his justice applies to all of mankind, and I might add, most especially to his own people!

I.     First, David, the author of this psalm, marvels at the fact that God knows all things, even including his inner-most thoughts, the words he is about to say, his comings and goings:   “You hem me in – behind and before!”  Or as the Jerusalem Bible has it, “You fence me around.”

A.  Now that may be a clue as to why some folks don’t like this idea.  Not everybody likes to be “fenced in” or “hemmed in” by anybody. Their theme song is “Don’t Fence Me In!”  Or, the poem by William Henley, “Invictus” which ends with the words, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”   Let’s face it, we Americans like our freedom, and that idea of even God hemming us in, in front and behind, cramps our style.

      Let me read the first and last verses of that poem, “Invictus” by Henley:

                Out of the night that covers me;            It matters not how straight the gate,

          Black as the pit from pole to pole;                   how charged with punishment the Scroll,

          I thank whatever gods may be              I am the master of my fate’

          for my unconquerable soul.                   I am the captain of my soul.

[That poem, although not familiar to many Americans, came into national attention when Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, was executed.  He had a portion of this poem read at his execution moments before he met the real Captain of his soul!]  Now let me read that again:

Now, on a brighter note, the Christian antidote for that pessimistic poem is the hymn that we just finished singing:  “Make Me a Captive, Lord, and then I Shall be Free”.

                               

B. Then, there is another phrase that David uses that may cause us problems, when David says, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”  Or as the living Bible says, “…too wonderful to believe.” Too Wonderful to Believe?!  Does that mean we cannot believe that God is sovereign enough to know and guide our lives in a way that escapes our miserably limited brains?

No, it means that such knowledge is beyond human comprehension, and the wonder of it all is too much for our limited minds.  David is dumfounded by the grandeur and majesty of God’s sovereignty.  Do you have trouble wrapping your brain around God’s majesty and sovereignty?  Well, join the club! King David seems to be a charter member.  And the fact that God’s majesty is so great is not a burden to David, but a blessing!

Listen again to what David sings:

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me, o LORD, are your thoughts.”  -    A blessing and not a burden.

Why do we feel uncomfortable about God’s power to exercise his sovereignty over our lives?  Because we cannot conceive how anyone of us could do that!  And, by some strange manipulation of our reasoning, if we cannot do it, therefore God cannot!

Brothers and sisters, that is nothing more or less than creating God in our own human image, when the Scripture tells us that God created us in His image!  Not the other way around.  And listen to what he tells us through his servant Isaiah:

“…. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the LORD.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

If you think God cannot do something just because you think it is humanly impossible, or you cannot imagine how it could conceivably be done, Your god is too small!  Remember, God is infinite and we are finite!    

II. Now, let us look at God’s omnipresence , the fact that he is in all places at all times.  This is what David writes:  “Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your Presence?....If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me….even the darkness will not be dark to you….”

          Well, now if you are trying to hide from the LORD, that may be a problem.   And after all is said and done, that may be why some folks don’t like the idea that God can be found everywhere. 

          However, when Jonah was prisoner in the gut of that great fish in the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, do you think it was a blessing or a burden for him to cry out to the LORD?  Or, of those three gentlemen with those funny names, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, thrown into the fiery furnace.  Not only did the LORD know where they were. He was there, too, right alongside them, inside the fiery furnace!  What do you think?  Was that a burden to them, or was it a blessing?

          Or again, when Civilla Martin, the Canadian music teacher who wrote the hymn we sang a few weeks ago, “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” where the chorus goes, “I sing because I am happy; I sing because I am free.  His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.”  Does that sound like a burden, or a blessing?  Civilla Martin did not invent that phrase.  It came from friends of hers who lived in Elmira, NY.  The wife had been bedridden for 20 years with an incurable disease, and her husband was confined to a wheel chair.  Civilla asked them how they were able to remain cheerful and hopeful.  They answered with those words, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”  That was all Civilla Martin needed to pen the words of that beloved hymn.  Their health problems may have been a burden, but the LORD’s sovereign presence was a blessing.

III. The third stanza of this Israelite hymn celebrates God’s power through his creation, and especially in his creation of our bodies.  Way before ultrasound became the common practice in looking into the womb of our mothers to see how our bodies were being formed the LORD himself was present and privy to our formation, which David describes as “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

          In Richard Wurmbrand’s book, “Tortured for Christ”, which tells of his fourteen years in Rumanian Communist prisons, he relates the story of two Russian Communist sculptors, a  man and his wife, whose specialty was to create statues of important people.  One day when they were working on a statue of Stalin, the wife said to the husband, “If we didn’t have thumbs to oppose our fingers, we could never even hold a tool in our hand, or a book or a piece of bread.  Who could have invented the human thumb?  If we honor Edson for inventing the light bulb and Bell for inventing the telephone, why not honor the Creator for inventing the human thumb?   Her husband became angry with her, recalling to her that they both had been trained in Marxist schools to know that there was no such thing as heaven, and that there was nobody in heaven.  But she insisted, saying, “If in heaven there were an Almighty God in whom our forefathers believed, it would be only natural that we should have thumbs.  An Almighty God can do anything, so he can make a thumb too.  But if in heaven there is nobody, then as for me, I will worship with all my heart that “Nobody” in heaven, who has made the thumb.  Eventually, both husband and wife became believers in this “Nobody-God”, not unlike the few believers who came to follow the “Unknown God” that Paul announced to the Greeks in Athens (Acts 17.16-34).

          Do this little experiment with me:  Try turning the pages of your hymnal or Bible.  The sensitive nerve endings in your thumb and finger can tell you if you are turning one or several pages.  Who could have created such sensitive nerve endings in your fingers?  We have at our very fingertips impressive evidence that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by an all-powerful Creator!

IV. Finally, we come to perhaps the most challenging stanza of this hymn, the fact that God is the judge of all people. 

          The disturbing part of this last stanza is David’s “hate speech”:

                “If only you would slay the wicked, o God….your adversaries misuse your name….

          Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?

          I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them as my enemies….”

What we need to understand here is that David is not asking for a personal vendetta against a personal enemy. He is not fighting his own personal war. He is siding with the LORD against the LORD’s enemies.  David is on the LORD’s side, showing his solidarity with God in this dark and dangerous world.

          But in addition to this (And this is important as we approach the table of the Lord’s Supper), David recognizes that with the same sense of Justice and Righteousness, this Sovereign LORD has the full right to apply the same standard of Justice and Righteousness to David himself. 

          “Search me, O God and know my heart.”

          Not only does David recognize that God already knows his inner-most thoughts, as in the beginning of this Psalm (“You have searched me and know me….”). but he voluntarily opens his life and heart to God’s examination and judgment.  It is no offense to David that God already knows his heart.  He willingly invites this Righteous and Just God to shine the light of his judgment on him,

          “…test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me.”

And finally………..  “Lead me in the way everlasting.”

          Now as we gather around this Communion Table, that is the recommendation of the Apostle Paul, in I Cor. 11.27-29:

                “Therefore, whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of  the Lord in an unwor-

          thy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body  and blood of  the Lord.   A  

          man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.  

          For anyone who eats and drinks  without  recognizing the  body of the Lord  eats  

          and drinks judgment on himself.” 

          We have the help of God’s Holy Spirit to aid us in this examination.  Now is the opportune time to do this around the Lord’s Table.

         

June 19, 2011 “DISPELLING THE DARKNESS”

MATTHEW 8:28-34                                                                                   JUNE 19, 2011

                                                                            

“DISPELLING THE DARKNESS”

C.S. Lewis, the well known author of the Chronicles of Narnia, wrote a book entitled the “Screwtape Letters”. The book contains the satirical and fictional correspondence between a sly older demon giving advice to his younger demonic nephew, Wormwood, on how best to win over the human he has been assigned to torment and bring him over to their master. The following is an excerpt:

My dear Wormwood, I wonder you should ask me whether it is essential to keep the patient in ignorance of your own existence. That question, at least for the present phase of the struggle, has been answered for us by the High Command. Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves. Of course this has not always been so. We are really faced with a cruel dilemma. When the humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all the pleasing results of direct terrorism and we make no magicians. On the other hand, when they believe in us, we cannot make them materialists and skeptics. …I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that ‘devils’ are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.

Our culture is currently fascinated with spirits and ghosts. Yet many who are fascinated are blinded to the reality that the spirit world poses. Satan and demons are real and are much more dangerous than the “reality shows” reveal. Demons are always identified in scripture as spiritual beings hostile to God. In this passage in Matthew Jesus encounters two demon-possessed men. The parallel account in Mark 5:1-20 also provides more details. Matthew 8:28 (NIV) “²⁸ When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.”

Jesus traveled to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. This portion of the lake is adjacent to a region where Gentiles lived. Remember that Gentiles are all those who are not Jewish. Part of this region is filled with caves that were used as a burial ground. Jews who came in contact with the dead were considered unclean and were unable to participate socially until they went through a ceremonial cleansing conducted by a priest. Thus Jews always sought to avoid contact with anyone who would make them “unclean”. Matthew records that there were two demon possessed men who lived in this region. They were known to attack travelers and they were so strong as to be able to break any chains that bound them. (Mark 5:3-4) The gospel of Mark and Luke only record the presence of the one man, most likely as he was the one most well known. Yet Jesus did not avoid traveling in this region.

The apostle John records the reason why Jesus performed miracles. John 20:30-31 (NIV) “³⁰ Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Jesus in performing miracles was revealing himself as God so that the people would acknowledge his authority and thus listen to him and come to repentance and be saved. It is not until after the resurrection of Jesus that the disciples came to understand that Jesus truly was God. Scripture records that most people were blinded and deaf in regards to perceiving the identity of Jesus, but not these two.  The two men immediately challenge Jesus as they know who he is. Their knowledge came from the demons who possessed them. ²⁹ "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"

In the encounter that Jesus had with Satan in the desert, Satan from the beginning clearly identified Jesus. Matthew 4:3 (NIV) “³ The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Satan was trying to make Jesus doubt his own identity. Jesus spoke of the coming of the kingdom of God in Matthew 4:17 (NIV) “¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." In a later conversation with the Pharisees Jesus talked about his authority to cast out demons in Matthew 12:28 (NIV) “²⁸ But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Christians need to understand that the arrival of the kingdom of God was also the defeat of Satan. The spiritual forces of darkness led by Satan know that judgment day is coming and their destruction will be total and complete. Revelation 20:10 (NIV) “¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

The two men possessed by demons wanted to be free until the appointed time for judgment arrives. ³⁰ Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹ The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs." The demons had their own agenda, which is to cause pain and suffering to humans or animals. In Matthew 17:14-20 the demon would cause the child to fall into a fire to be injured. A pig was considered an unclean animal according to the Jewish dietary laws in Leviticus.

³² He said to them, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. ³³ Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region. Jesus in healing the two men removed the danger of traveling through that region. Jesus restored these two men providing for them the opportunity to have a decent life. You might think that those who lived nearby would have been thrilled to have these dangerous men no longer able to cause anyone harm? We sometimes forget that not all people are thrilled when someone’s life is changed.

It is interesting to observe the reaction of the Gentiles over the destruction of the herd of pigs from the Gospel of Mark. Mark 5:14-17 (NIV) “¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man--and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.” The people of that region were more afraid of Jesus affecting their financial prosperity than they were pleased of the healing of the two men. As one commentator described, “all down through the ages the world has been refusing Jesus because it prefers the pigs.” (NIV Application Commentary) We should never be surprised when the people of this world react negatively to people repenting and being healed. I have often observed those who make a change in their life struggle with their old friends who want them to return to the darkness. Their so called friends would rather have their friends remain in the dark with them.

For those of us who trust and believe in Jesus Christ, the power of Satan and his demons has been defeated. The poisonous venom of death has been removed as we have eternal life. Yet a wounded animal can still cause great harm if we deny the reality of the spiritual forces of darkness. Someone sent me the story of a huge boa constrictor that had entered into the home of a missionary. One of the locals killed the snake. When the missionary started to reenter the home, the native believer stopped the missionary saying, “The snake is dead, but his body does not know it yet.” We should not fear Satan, as his end is near. Paul warns us to put on our spiritual armor. Ephesians 6:11-13 (NIV) “¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Satan desires to trip us up, but do not fear as Jesus has defeated Satan and his demons and they will be cast into the eternal lake of fire. Jesus has won the victory.

Let us pray.

June 5, 2011 “THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS”

MATTHEW 8:18-22                                                                                   JUNE 5, 2011

                                                                            

“THE COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS”

Our emotions are a gift of God. They are an integral part of who we are. I still remember the thrill of riding a bicycle for the first time, once I figured how not to fall. The sheer joy of my courtship with Frances remains with me to this day. And I will never forget the ecstasy of holding my new-born daughters. However, I also recognize that my emotions should not be the sole criteria in making a decision. Over the past years I have bought items on the spur of the moment, only later to regret my hasty, impulsive decision. The end result of those hasty decisions has led to many things being donated to our trash and treasure sale. And how often have you joined a club or group only to discover that you really do not have the time to do it?

Years ago I attended a Billy Graham crusade at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. It was thrilling to be there with so many people. I watched with joy the throngs who answered the call to make a decision to accept Jesus Christ. I knew of several high school classmates who made decisions that week. Many of them later joined the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and had their picture taken to be in the annual. They never attended the meetings, but they “belonged to the club”. I also observed that several who went forward during the crusade did not make any lasting changes in regard to their behavior. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association put out statistics indicating that only 3% of those who prayed the sinner’s prayer at their crusades were active in a church a year later. As any family of an alcoholic can testify: there is a big difference between people admitting one has a problem with drinking, from one who is willing to make the necessary changes to stop the addictive behavior.

Jesus did not go by the rules, surprising his listeners and his followers. Instead of addressing the crowds who came because of the miraculous healings, he left them. Matthew 8:18 (NIV) ^{18 “}When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake.”
Jesus chose to be with his disciples. In this passage in Matthew, Jesus speaks to those individuals who desire to become a disciple, one of his followers.

“¹⁹ Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."  The man who came to Jesus was a scribe. In the time of Jesus few people could read or write. The scribe was one who was specially trained to handle written documents. As a part of his training he learned and taught the scriptures to the people. The scribe was impressed with Jesus and was asking permission to follow him. The scribe intended to become a disciple of Jesus. If the man was willing to follow then why would Jesus say anything that might discourage him?

²⁰ Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Jesus throws up a stop sign on the man’s enthusiasm to learn from him. Jesus indicates that even the wild animals have homes, but not the Son of Man. Jesus used the term Son of Man, which was used mainly in Ezekiel, to speak about his purpose for his ministry. Rabbis were highly esteemed by the people. They would often start their own school centered near a synagogue. However, Jesus did not follow this pattern. Once Jesus began his ministry he did not have a home to which he returned. You might recall that when he was in Capernaum he stayed at Andrew and Peter’s home. Jesus did not establish a business or institution. There would not be a comfortable life awaiting his followers. Jesus forced the scribe to reconsider his decision. Before you become one of my disciples, consider that you will not have a permanent home.

Many people come to Jesus with preconceived ideas of what it means to be a Christian disciple. We pick up these notions from other people, mostly from our families and the traditions we grew up with. Jesus confronted the scribe because he knew that the man was making a decision based on how and what he was expecting from a rabbi. Jesus was not following that pattern. When I was in seminary, I went through a period of six months when I tried to live up to what I thought a minister should be. It was the worst time in my life as I was miserable. I tried to say the right words, and have the right attitudes, and be proper as I thought a minister should be. The problem was that I was using my pre-conceived notions of the role of a pastor, instead of simply following Jesus. When people tell me that I am not like any other pastor they have ever known, I respond with a thank you. A follower of Jesus Christ is one who listens to the words of the Master.

People were coming to Jesus asking to join him without fully understanding what being a disciple meant. There were many who followed Jesus who left him because of what Jesus taught. John 6:60-66 (NIV) “⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" ⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? ⁶² What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." ⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

Jesus was not finished with his radical call to faith. ^“21 Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." ²² But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  Burial of the dead was considered to be very important, especially for your immediate family. Burying your parents was seen as being a part of the commandment, to honor your father and mother. Jesus later rebuked the Pharisees for not taking care of parents in Matthew 15:1-9. So what did Jesus mean? “There are three explanations: 1) some think that the man’s father had not yet died, and he wanted to stay with him until then; 2) or perhaps he was returning to fulfill the second stage of burial, which takes place after a year passes and the bones were placed in an ossuary; or 3) Jesus was speaking metaphorically “letting the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.” (NIV Application Commentary) What we do know is that Jesus was most concerned that the call to “follow me” was to be the most important of all allegiances, even before parents.  Jesus went on to say in Matthew 10:37-39 (NIV) ³⁷ “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸ and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

John McNeill, a well known Scottish preacher of the 19^th century told of the time when his father died in Scotland. He was in the English midlands, and was advertised to preach at evangelistic services in a city on the day scheduled for his father’s burial. People would have understood if he had sent a message cancelling his speaking engagement. He said, “But I dared not cancel my speaking, for this same Jesus stood by me, and seemed to say, “Now, look, I have you. You go and preach the gospel to those people. Whether would you rather bury the dead or raise the dead? And I went to preach.” (William Barclay’s commentary on Matthew)

Each person who calls himself a Christian must answer the question for themselves: what does it mean to be a disciple. Is your definition based on tradition or is it based on the words of Jesus? Picture Jesus speaking with you. Will he ask you to reconsider your decision because he knows what is in your heart and mind? How will you answer Him if He asks you if you love (fill in the blank) more than me? During communion, ponder the great love Jesus has for you, in dying for you. Jesus does not want his followers to be swept away by a flood of emotions. He desires that you understand what it means to take up the cross and follow him.

Let us pray.

May 29, 2011 “DOING THE UNEXPECTED!”

MATTHEW 8:1-17                                                                                     MAY 29, 2011

                                                                            

“DOING THE UNEXPECTED!”

Our life experiences have taught us to expect children to do the unexpected. Children will run into traffic without noticing that cars are present. Children will often say things that make their parents want to crawl under a table. At our home we had unexpected visitors. Frances hurriedly picked up items and stuffed them into a parson’s bench to straighten the house before we opened the front door. Our foster daughter excitedly told our visitors about our hurried clean up. As children grow older they learn the social mores that informally govern our actions in polite society. We learn that there are certain behaviors that are frowned upon and we learn to behave accordingly. In this passage Jesus does the unexpected and violated his societies’ social mores.

In Leviticus 13-14, are purity laws detailing with what to do when someone has a skin disease. All skin diseases at that time were considered leprosy. Once a person was declared to have leprosy he/she was required to wear torn clothes and shout out “unclean, unclean” and have the lower part of their face covered. Skin diseases were considered to be highly contagious. Thus to maintain the physical purity of the nation the infected person was cut off from society and shunned. Jesus knew the purity laws but consider his actions. Matthew 8:1-17 (NIV) “¹ When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ² A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." ³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Jesus came to tell the people about the new kingdom and he would do so. Jesus did not violate the law as he healed him. Only God can heal so Jesus is making a statement about himself. Notice that Jesus told the man after healing to go to the priest as required in Leviticus as a testimony to the priesthood. Some have thought it strange that Jesus told the man to keep quiet. Consider, how people will react as the man tells his story to all. Jesus wanted the people to also hear the good news of God’s forgiveness instead of focusing solely on the physical healing. Jesus wanted the people to realize the spiritual impact of his miracles. The lepers were estranged from their society in the same way that our sins keep us estranged from a holy God and we need spiritual cleansing even more than we need physical healing.

Jews at the time of Jesus were extremely prejudiced against everyone who was not a Jew. They despised their next door neighbors, the Samaritans, and the Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians, and so on. They knew they were God’s chosen people and they thought that everyone else was inferior to them. Jews would not even allow non-Jews (Gentiles) to enter their homes nor for them to enter the home of a non-Jew. Entering the home of a Gentile by a Jew would “defile” them and make them unclean. The Romans were also despised as they were the occupying army that controlled the Jewish state.

“⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." ⁷ Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him." ⁸ The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  A centurion was the commanding officer over one hundred soldiers. Recent archaeological discoveries indicate that here was a Roman garrison next to the town of Capernaum, which was where Jesus’ home base was located.  Thus, it is understandable that the Roman officer would have known of the previous healings. The officer put two and two together and rightly understood the significance that Jesus had the authority and power to heal. He asked with humility for the healing of his servant. This is one of the few times that scripture indicates that Jesus was amazed.

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." ¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.” The Roman centurion had recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah, the deliverer of Israel. Jesus praises the man for his understanding based on faith. Jesus declares that God’s chosen people had not shown as much insight as this Gentile. Jesus then condemns the people for their lack of faith and insight. The time had arrived Jesus says, that the kingdom of God is now open to all nations, all peoples, from east to west. Those who do not believe in Jesus, even if they are born Jews, will be condemned. The servant of the Roman centurion is healed as the soldier responded with faith to the message of Jesus.

There was another group of people who were considered inferior by Jewish males. The role of women at the time of Jesus was very limited. Women, as a group, were often seen as second class citizens. In polite society, women were often not recognized. Jesus did not allow these attitudes to prevent him from seeking them out. ¹⁴ When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. Jesus did not ignore the woman as of no account, instead he healed her. In gratitude Peter’s mother-in-law began immediately to then look after the needs of Jesus. She was the first that evening to be healed.

The Sabbath was over and people could travel freely. The sick and demon-possessed began to show up at the door.¹⁶ When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases." All sickness and death are a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden, where sin took hold of the human race. Jesus in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah begins to heal the people, physically and spiritually. These acts of healing point to Jesus as being God, the source of all healing. In the upper room Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 26:27-28 (NIV) “²⁷ Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The purpose of Jesus was to present the way to a relationship with the Almighty God by the forgiveness of sins.

Matthew provides these three scenes to show how Jesus did the unexpected and crossed the social barriers of his day to reach out to all people, even the ones who were on the fringes of “acceptable folk”. Jesus calls us to still reach out to those on the fringes of society. “Jesus broke down the purity, the ethnic, and gender boundaries so that all may respond to the kingdom of heaven.” (NIV Application Commentary)  We must reach out with the good news of God’s offer of forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. We are called to reach out to all people: the Muslim, the illegal immigrants, the homosexuals, the addicts, and ex-cons, and any other subgroup you can name.

Satan also wants to throw up barriers in our society so that we won’t share the good news of the Gospel. Our society frowns upon praying in the name of Jesus, as well as praying in public. What are some of the other rules of society that would hinder a Christian from sharing the gospel?  ………………………….

May we follow our Savior and to the unexpected by sharing our faith, regardless what our society says is in appropriate. We can only have one master. May we choose well.

Let us pray.