February 23, 2020 - Pre-Lent 3 - John 12:23-26

Because God did not Spare His Son...

Application #1: Failure is not necessarily outside of God’s plan.

Application #2: Service is restructured in Jesus

Application #3: Your life is changed 

I read an article this week about parenting. Among other things, I learned that if you’re rich enough you can hire “recreation experts” to basically teach your child how to socialize with others. If your child struggles with sharing, doesn’t like to play at recess, or can’t manage their emotions in a positive way – the recreation expert can teach them how. At least, this is the theory.

What recreation experts do seems a lot like what parents are supposed to do for their kids. The article continued by warning parents of seeing their kids as little more than accessories or vicarious shells through which parents can exemplify their success and popularity. There’s truth to this warning. Too many parents today care little about what’s best for their kids, and put themselves over their kids. Fast paced society, loads of activities, dual-income families, and adult-centered goals have all contributed in some way to a lack of family togetherness and time.

An added temptation that comes along with that is farming out parental duties to so-called experts. Teach my kid to like baseball. Force them to learn that second or third language. Coach them to handle disappointment. Educate them on emotion and meaning in life. The article’s point was well taken. We, as parents, have to spend time with our kids. Not just time at the store, or the movie theater, or the library story time – but time with them, talking to them, helping them, teaching them, listening to them. And with that comes the ability to let them learn, grow, and mature. The article concluded with this thought:” “Let them build emotional muscle that is capable of enduring a failure and seeing that they can live through it — that there really is life afterward.”

There’s a certain amount of Biblical truth to those principles of parenting. But, we should also ask ourselves, are we helping build our children’s spiritual muscle? That’s really what faith is. Do we invest in that as parents or are we content to farm it out to the pastor, the teacher, their friends at school, or even the media they consume daily? 

What we see today in God’s Word is that God the Father did not neglect His parental duties. He did not take it easy on His Son. He did not farm out the responsibility to someone else. He allowed Jesus to go through trial and pain. Now the exact comparison to our lives and our relationship with our Heavenly Father does not fit. Jesus was unique as the Son of Man, because He was also God. But, there is a bearing for your life. Because of what God’s Son endured, what He was exposed to, what He overcame without a watering down of easiness from His Father – you have blessings eternal. As the article postulated, that we need to help our kids see life after struggle, you have even more than that as a believer – life eternal in heaven. And your life today will follow a similar pattern as your Savior’s. We explore these thoughts in our portion of God’s inspired and holy Word from John 12:23-26:

John 12:23-26 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

The context was early on holy week. Jesus was in Jerusalem. His death by crucifixion was close at hand. A few Greek individuals had found Philip and requested to see Jesus. They wanted to see what He was all about. This miracle worker. This raiser of the dead. This controversial prophet who claimed to be God’s Son. Philip, in turn, found Andrew and Andrew came to Jesus with the request. The verses of our text provide Jesus’ answer.

We don’t know if the Greeks who made this inquiry ever heard these words. Regardless, these verses stand as a testament to all people who ask about Jesus. Who is He? What did He do? They are the true picture of God’s Son and our Savior. But you’ll notice, of all the things that fascinate people about Jesus – whether past or present, there is no mention of miracles, of supernatural healings, of spectacular demonstrations of power, not even of wisdom from teaching. Service is really the theme. Service that leads to death. Service that leads to love. Service that leads to glory. This is the true Jesus.    

Jesus prefaces His answer with “Most assuredly…” a marker of divine truth. He is speaking as God here. He is relating something that is unchangeable and absolute in its effect for all people. In the Greek, He is literally saying “Amen, Amen.” What we see of this true Jesus is not censored by God the Father. When Jesus died on the cross, the Father did not intervene. Jesus would suffer this punishment, our punishment, on His own. He would be absolutely forsaken, in the worst way possible, the way that sinners deserved to experience. God would not be a “helicopter parent.” He did not spare His Son from the agony to come and Jesus knew that going in. He would be the seed that would die in order to bear the fruit of righteousness.

This also affects how we see Jesus, just as much as it affected the Greeks, and Philip, and Andrew. As we approach the season to meditate on the passion of our Savior, we do not insulate ourselves from the bitter truth. Jesus is not a simple moral teacher. He is not someone to unite all nations of the earth under the banner of world peace. He is not my therapeutic buddy that whispers in my ear to inflate my self-esteem. Rather, He is the battered sacrifice. He is the chosen object of God’s wrath – the only one who could atone for your transgressions and my iniquities.

We don’t have the luxury of protecting our image of Jesus from the harsh and unfair reality of His death because He didn’t have that luxury. God did not shelter Jesus. The Son wasn’t farmed out to “recreation experts” to develop, mature, and accomplish His mission. He was subjected to it all, down to the final insult, and last strike of the scourge, and the concluding thud of the hammer and nail.

Because we have this Jesus. Because He served you in such a way, there are three great applications to your life.   

Application #1: Failure is not necessarily outside of God’s plan.

We’re conditioned to believe that if Christianity is true, and God is loving, then faith should make us happy and it should make life easy. But when you are led to such a conclusion, you aren’t able to cope with struggle, especially if it’s connected to your faith. The true story is that struggle is often part of God’s plan. That doesn’t mean He desires it to be that way or that He’s the author of toil and pain. It means that even though the causes of struggle are foreign agents to God’s design, He is able to use them for your good, nonetheless.

So, because Jesus didn’t run and hide from His Father’s judgment, you don’t have to either. Because Jesus wasn’t spared, you can go through more than you think. Faith is not about seeking the easiest path. Everywhere that Christ is truly preached, Christians who truly believe will face struggles and obstacles. Jesus taught that a servant is not above his Master. If the world hated the Master (in this case Jesus) they will hate His servants (you). The thing is, what Jesus said also applies to His work. He was rejected, despised, subjected to punishment, and killed because He didn’t backtrack from faithfulness to God’s Word. He served His Father in total righteous obedience.

Therefore, your life will follow your Master’s to some extent. You will fail. You will struggle. Life under the sun of this universe is vanity and toil. Yet, God can use that for your good and for the strengthening of your faith in Jesus. He doesn’t have to shelter you from it either. Don’t run from faithfulness just because it’s tough.   

Application #2: Service is restructured in Jesus

One of the reasons we avoid service is because it involves giving up something for the good of someone else. That means obedience, denial, humility – tough virtues to strive for in a happiness-based cultural mindset. Service under Jesus doesn’t change from this, but it is restructured, especially in how we trust what Jesus enables us to do. Instead of thinking only of what we must give up, or what we lose out on, when we serve, Jesus points us to consider the honor it gives Him and the ways in which we can bless one another.

Here’s where you are like that seed of grain. You are not the same as Jesus. You don’t die to atone for your sins. You don’t walk the path to righteousness on your own merits, or under your own power of will. But, through Christian service, you do die a bit. Death in the Biblical sense is simply separation. When you serve in the name of Jesus, your faith demonstrates a separation from your sinful flesh. It is validation and proof that Jesus is the one you trust, that He is making a change in your life. And His Word of promise to you is that your death of giving up your self-will, pride, or whatever it may be, yields fruit. But the opposite is true also. When the seed remains alone. When your faith is attached to your flesh and not to Jesus, it will die alone. 

Application #3: Your life is changed

You are probably thinking, of course this changes my life, that’s a no-brainer. Everything we’ve mentioned from this text certainly changes your life, but there’s an even greater point. Verse 25 reads: 25 "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Jesus is speaking about two different types of life here. Now, that may seem apparent with the contrast between life on earth and eternal life, and that is a difference. But, Jesus is looking even deeper. When He talks of loving and hating life in this world, He’s speaking of your life in an immaterial sense. We might think soul in spiritual terms. The Greek word is psyche, where we get psychology from. This life is the way a person thinks of their life – their purpose or destiny. Jesus says – don’t let that become the sum and substance of your hope. You are more than just what you think about yourself. The psyche manifests itself in a variety of ways – do people like me? Am I successful? How well do I fit in? What should I do with my life? How good of a person have I been? There is no limit to the ways we can think about our lives in this way, and also no limit to the ways in which we can attach ourselves to worldly things to fulfill our lives.

The one who keeps his or her psyche in God’s hands is the one who receives eternal life. Not only is this gift eternal, it’s a completely different type of life. This is not an immaterial life. It’s not about how you view yourself. It’s not just an inward thought. It is life that is tangible, real, full. Biblically, it is life in God’s presence, not just an idea, but literally, standing before Him, sharing with Him, gazing upon Him, being with Him locally, not just by faith – and it’s eternal. The Jesus who was not spared changes your life and that’s really what heaven is – life (inward and outward) as God intended it from the start.

God doesn’t shelter you from the truth, even the difficult parts of truth, because you need to full truth to have this hope. If you feel frustrated, lost, or simply unsure because of the trouble of following Christ, remember that you’re not walking that path alone. You have countless other believers with you, but more importantly you have Jesus too. God did not spare His own Son. Just as Jesus could not gain salvation for the world without dying, so also we cannot hang onto the world and still have eternal life. Both the gospel of salvation and the life of your faith involve something left and something gained. This is the real story of the real Jesus – For you, it’s the real fruit of real faith.  Amen.

Pre-Lent 2 - February 16, 2020 - Mark 4:26-32

Theme: The Harvest is the Lord’s

1. In growth

2. In bearing fruit

Those of you who have worked with children before know that it takes patience. That’s a no brainer, right? This basic truth is even more readily apparent when a certain task involves carefully planned and executed steps that take time. I remember as a child, the first time I tried to build something out of wood. It was a TV stand. It was very basic – in part because I was inexperienced, in part because I was impatient. The edges weren’t rounded down or sanded. I used simple screws to attach the pieces, didn’t even drill pilot holes or putty over the top – certainly didn’t use a jig. The stain was a quick coat of a 2-in-1 stain and finish – not exactly to the standards of the word working professional.  

In fact, long after that project, I remember the first time I learned about gluing wood together with clamp, rather than using screws or nails. Again, though, that takes more time. You have to be willing to let the clamp sit and the glue dry overnight. If you’re going to stain something correctly, you need to contemplate the number of coats, you need to sand and re-finish with poly. This is really a microcosm for many other areas of life. We like to look at the finished product of something and have that right away. This is exasperated even more with ready access to viewing finished products. We see people who lose tremendous amounts of weight, and we want that right away without exercising or watching what we eat. We see lavish homes redone by do-it-yourselfers, but we don’t consider the blood and sweat that goes into such projects. Even something as simple as a well-manicured lawn. It looks neat, tidy, beautiful, but scarce are we willing to fire up the mower, the edger, or even dust off the lawn gloves from our garages.

I recognize the times that I go through this with my own kids, when I want to work on a project or build something with them. Too often, they’re more than content to let me do the work or to give up if something takes too much time or effort. They want the finished product – on demand. But though we speak of this in the lives of children, it’s really something that is not bound to any age. We even see it apparent in matters of faith, which is exactly where Jesus leads us today in His Word.

Mark 4:26-32 "The kingdom of God is like this," He said. "A man scatters seed on the ground; 27 he sleeps and rises-- night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows-- he doesn't know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself-- first the blade, then the head, and then the ripe grain on the head. 29 But as soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come."

32 And He said: "How can we illustrate the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It's like a mustard seed that, when sown in the soil, is smaller than all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the vegetables, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade."

We have before us two parables about planting and growing. This is a familiar metaphor in the Bible to describe faith in the believer’s life and the effect of God’s Word (John 15:5). Jesus spoke these two parables just on the heels of perhaps the most famous growth parable – that of the Sower and the Seed.  

But these two parables were shared only to Jesus’ 12 disciples. They are more direct and specific than the Sower and the Seed. They peel back the curtain of faith and describe exactly how God operates in His grace and power. And though every word of God proves faithful, true, and relevant to every person, Jesus here is specifically speaking to those who carry and bear the Word of God in ministry and service. We think of public servants – pastors and teachers. They are the faces of that work in congregations. But every believer has a part and calling in that task and therefore every believer should listen, learn, and be encouraged by the words of their Savior. For our purpose today, I propose to narrow your thoughts down to two themes – one for each parable. Jesus is the Lord of the Harvest, and as such He oversees the growth and He blesses the fruit. In other words, He takes of the seed, and He takes care of the sower.

Part 1:

Growth is a buzz word in Christian culture today. For many, it’s the mark of the true Church. You may live close to your church, you may know the people there, you may like the sermons, you may understand the doctrine, but the real question is – is there growth? Not surprisingly, the meaning of growth in these terms is often relegated to numerical growth. With such a fascination with growth in this sense, for many the church has become something to put very little investment or effort into. Like many things for our children – people would rather jump to the results. Do I like it or hate it? – or maybe I’m too indifferent to decide. How can the growth of one’s faith – which is really the purpose of church – be quantified in such a shallow way?

Jesus teaches us a bit about growth in the kingdom of God in this first parable, and the way that He describes it sounds straightforward. It’s like any plant, The soil produces a crop by itself-- first the blade, then the head, and then the ripe grain on the head. The key to the parable is in the previous verse and is captured in this phrase, he (the one who plants) doesn't know how the seed sprouts and grows. The one who scatters the seed, in spiritual terms the one who shares the Word, doesn’t know how it grows. It’s the same with a literal plant. We know what we can see. We know that if you plant a seed in soil and tend to it with water and sunlight, it will grow. But the deeper reason why it works this way is not based on what we see or know. HOW God designed the seed like that – with what properties and potential God put into it – escapes what we can measure on our own. This is the method of growth and the same principle is true in terms of spiritual growth.

To simplify spiritual growth to numbers is foolish. Jesus says, you know not how it grows. Paul expounded on this mystery about ministry in 1 Corinthians, by, again, speaking of growth - 1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. HOW exactly God accomplished spiritual growth was also unknown to Paul. But, like growing a plant, we don’t need to know the growth of faith as God knows it. We’re content to use what God provides and that is simple. (How many times have you planted without seeing the growth?)

Isaiah tells us most simply about spiritual growth (in our Scripture reading): “For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, 11 so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do." For a long time in my ministry I struggled with this passage – as I still do at times. I reasoned, how could it be possible that God’s Word accomplishes His purpose if so often we are met with skepticism, cynicism, rejection, and unbelief? How can it be possible even in my own life when I despise and manipulate God’s truth so often? And it caused me to doubt, not just this word from God, but others. Really it came down to this – is the Word of God effective for growth? He says it is, but what I see and experience seems to be so much to the contrary.

But I realized, in part through a passage like the parable before us this morning, that I was captive to my own thought of growth – to the world’s insistence that the value of faith must be measured in numbers, like the bottom line of a budget. The growth that God is concerned about is growth of faith – growth of trust and reliance on our Savior, Jesus – with His works, efforts, and merits leading the way. At times, God’s purpose is to rebuke, admonish, and disassemble the human constructs we build in our hearts. The method is akin to (our other Scripture reading) 2 Timothy 4:2 Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching.

And this is why, scatter though we may, plant as we try, we know not how God achieves the growth. We leave it to Him and we concern ourselves with the matters He has entrusted to us.

When we understand this about growth, it helps us see properly about bearing fruit. This is where our second parable comes in. Jesus taught that His kingdom – think of this as the ruling activity of God in your heart by faith – is like a mustard seed. Tiny. Almost indiscernible from a grain of sand. Easily trampled or crushed. Fragile. Yet, it has the potential and ability to produce abundant fruit. That’s really the purpose of growth right – to produce fruit? Growth without fruit is pointless – in spiritual terms it’s hypocrisy. But, important as fruit is, it’s still at the end of the line. Faith starts as this tiny mustard seed.

The world has it turned around. Whatever the philosophy or religion you think of, it uses a person’s actions as the catalyst for growth. It starts with the fruit. And it can happen to many Christians too. No one boasts about the mustard seed. No one lavishes weakness, fragility, and complete and total reliance on God for life. Those are not things that people are proud about in their lives today. But that is true faith. And properly understanding spiritual growth and bearing fruit in that faith is essentially to sharing the Word of God and serving others. But these parables are more than heavenly lessons of how to be a good Christian. Most importantly, they are messages of hope.

There is hope for your ministry. You are an unobservant mustard seed – that is the summary. You know not how growth comes. You are tiny and fragile. Yet, God works through you. God entrusts to you the message of salvation. God allows you to lead young and old to their Savior’s arms. Jesus walks with you in His Word, and teaches you, admonishes you, trains you, encourages you, and blesses your efforts, and he renews you – He lifts you up in forgiveness which is the single greatest attribute for ministry. So, it does not depend on your eloquence of speech, on your quick-witted intuition, on how well you relate to millennials, or any other demographic. The simple voice that speaks, the ordinary hand that gives, the gentle mind that considers, the attitude that willingly says, “Here am I, send me!” – when combined with the powerful Word of the gospel, with the hope of Jesus Christ - are all tools that God uses to effectively grow His Kingdom.

But hope reaches beyond your ministry, your service, as well – to the greatest mystery of all – that God would love a sinner like you enough to die for you. That’s the renewal – and why it’s the single greatest quality of ministry, you are simply giving what you have already been giving. Grace is concerned with your salvation just as much as the unbelievers’. These parables stretch beyond the scope of service and touch on you as an individual child of God – because your faith is at the heart of sharing the gospel with others. You are not here on earth as just as worker for God. You are a living, breathing, walking, talking proof of salvation in Jesus Christ. You live by the same gift you give – unconditional love from your Heavenly Father – displayed by His Son, brought to you daily by His Spirit.

This is your hope. It’s not just for your neighbor, or your student, or the next church or missionary prospect. It’s not just to be shared with the world or your community. Most of all it’s yours, through Jesus, the Lord of the Harvest. The One who know the growth. The One who blesses the fruit. The One who died for all. Amen.

Pre-Lent 1 - February 9, 2020 - Acts 17:22-31

A Message for Modern Ears

1. Substance that dates to the beginning

2. Subjectivity checked by truth 

Acts 17:22-31 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'

29 Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." (ESV)

As I was driving this week, I happened to have a strange intersection of cultures in a sort of way. On the radio, I was listening to two commentators as they explained a current scandal in major league baseball. The Houston Astros, who won the World Series in 2017, were recently ousted as sign stealers. This means they were communicating in some way during games to give their players a heads up on the opponent’s plan, even down to the kind of pitches that were about to be thrown. When you know the other team’s signs, you can figure this out. The problem is that it’s illegal to communicate it in the game. Word is that some Astros players in the dugout would bang on a metal garbage can to indicate one sign. Some of the players were even wearing special devices under their jerseys that would shock them when a certain sign was indicated. As you can imagine, it has caused a great deal of controversy.

In an interview this week, the Astros manager was asked if this scandal cast doubt on their validity as champs in 2017. His answer was that "It's a fair question," and his assessment was that "And I think everyone's going to have to draw their own conclusion." The radio hosts were blasting this manager for giving such a generic answer. In their mind, it’s no question that there should be doubt on their entire season and whether or not they should be viewed as champions. But according to the manager, at least in his literal reply, it was a matter for each person to decide for themselves.

So, I’m listening to this conversation, where this manager is explaining how it’s a matter of subjectivity to decide if cheating took place, and I notice a bumper sticker on the car in front of me. The sticker simply reads, Peace, Tolerance, Love, Empathy, Wisdom, Kindness, in a single column. Here’s where it dawned on me – what a strange intersection of cultures we see in America today. You can have someone arguing that each person needs to draw their own conclusion and at the same time be looking at a message of straight up truths that are not subject to change. This summarizes part of the spiritual conundrum we have in our nation. We recognize the existence of virtues that should not change across generations, cultures, races, or any other demographic of people. Yet, at the very same time there is an insistence in our culture that each person must draw their own conclusions – even in the most moral of matters. In reality – you can’t have both at the same time. Not only will it lead to complete obtuseness and confusion – something we are keen to in America – it also has no room for the existence of singular truth from God.

The Athenians were in a similar position in their culture. While Paul happened to be in Athens, without even the intention to preach, God created an opportunity. When Paul entered the Areopagus, a building dedicated to religious practice and dialogue, named after the Greek god Ares, this altar to the unknown god piqued his interest. What this told Paul was that the Athenians were attempting to do what do many in our day continue to try – standing for what’s right, but also letting everyone come to their own conclusions.

The Athenians were pluralistic in their religion, which means that they believed in multiple gods who served multiple purposes. However, this last altar was a “catch all” technique more than anything else. Just in case the Athenians missed anything with the specific shrines they had, they added one more – to the unknown god. By doing this, the Athenians proved to poke a hole in their pluralistic thought – as Paul said, the true God is not shaped by man’s hands or ideas, and He certainly isn’t contained in man’s buildings or shrines. Most importantly, God does not need man to serve Him. Yet, this last altar was also proof that the Athenians knew all these things already, because the real reason they wanted an altar to the unknown God is because they knew there was more out there.

Paul testified to the simple fact that even the Greek poets knew this truth. In one of those rare moments, we have a secular writing quoted in the Holy Scriptures. Paul made this reality known in other places too, telling the Romans that God wrote His law on all peoples’ hearts. All creation has an inward knowledge of God’s existence, and through their conscience, a beginner’s understanding of the impact of God’s commands. In his dialogue to the Athenians, Paul gets to the purpose of all this - that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

This is why we have bumper stickers that say Peace, Love, Tolerance, Wisdom, etc. This is why radio hosts call out a baseball coach when he’s purposely vague in a clear issue of cheating. This is why your emotions get stoked when you feel mistreated or when you see the guilty getting off. You know there is truth in the world. You know it exists. You know there are unchangeable principles that do not depend on a person’s feelings, beliefs, upbringing, social status, or any other factor. You know this because God created you that way – this is the substance that dates to the beginning – the beginning of your life and the beginning of all creation – God designed it into humanity so that they would seek Him.

If that is the case, then substance has a bearing on subjectivity. If truth exists, then it applies to my life whether I like it or not, or whether I want to believe it or not. And that means it is ultimately the most healthy thing for my life to learn, understand, and accept the truth. This was the dilemma for the Athenians. They longed for substance. They couldn’t ignore truth in their hearts. They knew what many today refuse to admit – that when you suppress the truth in favor of subjectivity you hurt yourself. But the Athenians also wanted to keep their subjectivity. They wanted to be able to choose. They wanted to tout multiple paths to enlightenment and meaning in life. They wanted to be purposely broad when asking the direct question that we all face. And Paul blew a fatal blow to their subjectivity.   

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Just as the Athenians were not bashful about their altar to the unknown god, so they won’t worried about being call ignorant. This wasn’t a diss or put down by Paul. He was using ignorant in the proper sense of the word – simply one who does not have knowledge about a topic. The Athenians readily admitted that about themselves, it was carved into the stone of their own Areopagus.

Likewise, many today embrace their ignorance of God and His ways – of the one Man that God has sent and what that Man has accomplished. The actual word in the Greek is where the modern-day moniker of agnostic comes from. Agnostic is a popular label in our culture. People consider themselves mature and wise if they claim to be agnostic. Agnostics believe that a higher power exists, but it’s unknowable. It could be the God of the Bible, it could be the god of the Koran, it could be the gods of Rome or Greece, or it could be all of them in one – or none of them at all. Agnosticism is the breeding ground for religious pluralism and concluding that each person needs to decide truth for themselves.

But agnosticism is also the very mechanism that denies the deeper quest for meaning and knowledge that God created in us. We long for absolute truth. Even the most ardent subjectivist has shining moments where they take a stand for truth – where they use that same word Paul did – ought. Anytime you tell someone they ought to do this or believe that, you better have a deeper reason than just your opinion. God designed us to search for that better reason and we’ve found it in the gospel of Christ. The good news of Christ is uplifting, comforting, endearing, and more – but perhaps most of all we could say the gospel is truth. It is absolute truth. It doesn’t change depending on how you feel. It doesn’t shift so that you have it one day and not the next. It doesn’t fade from relevancy. It is rock solid truth that Jesus died for sinners and offers free forgiveness and eternal life – even for ignorant sinners at that.

You see, in a way we’re all agnostics in a basic sense. We lack definite knowledge about God. There are unknowns. We feel the longing that the Athenians felt. The only way to accept some truths of God is by faith, not our own knowledge. We’ve discussed that the last few weeks as we’ve talked about the nature of faith. Here’s the difference of faith though - As long as we hang on to our personal subjectivity – we stay agnostic. As soon as we trust and follow Christ – we gain the knowledge we lack. The truth of salvation in Christ busts the doors off our vain attempts to have it our way – to come to our own conclusions in matters that God has clearly spoken on.

The gospel truth has the same effect on the dirtiness of our consciences and the shame of our hearts. When we feel unworthy – Christ declares us valuable enough to die for. When we are told that there is no hope – darkness becomes light in Jesus as much as the opening of the grave! When Satan envelops us in the clutches of self-pleasure, lust, greed, selfishness, or any other vice – the gospel breaks those clutches and heals those wounds precisely because it is powerful truth. Isn’t that the shame of agnosticism – you end up denying the one Savior who gives meaning and fulfillment to everything you’re seeking. We may mourn the loss of personal subjectivity, but at its expense comes full knowledge, righteousness in Christ, healing and comfort on an eternal level, and true purpose leading to fulfillment in life. Without truth – the gospel, or any other word from God for that matter – in rendered useless.

This is a message for our modern ears. Many have been sold the false bills of goods, that when you experience need – of body, soul, mind, or heart – you need to come to your own conclusion. That’s a band aid on a broken bone. The heart that’s been murdered by sin needs more – it needs a resurrection, and deep down we all know that. You may think you’re way different than the ancient Athenians, or any other culture you can imagine – but you’re not. We all long for truth and until we get it we’re missing something vital. There are many things to cover up that void today but it’s still easily exposed, especially when complication and trial call upon us in life.

The word of God and hope in His Son, Jesus Christ, is the truth that all people need to move out of ignorance into the light of faith. It is a true “ought” proposition that stands on the merits of someone who is greater, stronger, and more loving than you. We need this truth today and every day. We need our modern ears to hear it and our modern hearts to believe it. Let us stop running to other solutions. Let us boldly proclaim and trust Christ in our words and actions. Let us be confident in knowing who He is and what He has done. Amen.

Transfiguration Sunday - February 2, 2020 - Matthew 11:25-30

Theme: Don’t Fear Certainty in Your Savior

1. It’s okay to let go of your influence

2. The gospel liberates and leads

Matthew 11:25-30 At that time, Jesus continued, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from clever and learned people and have revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, because this was pleasing to you. 27 Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.

28 “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I had the opportunity this week to watch the movie, “Zero Dark Thirty.” You may have seen it before, it’s the story of the CIA operatives who tracked down Osama Bin Laden – the Taliban leader responsible for several terrorist attacks on Western nations, including the Twin tower attacks of 9/11.

There’s a scene in the movie when top CIA operatives are sitting around a table trying to decide if they should go ahead with an assault on this unknown compound, where they think bin Laden might be hiding. They go around the table, giving the percentage they think he might actually be there. One says there’s a 60% chance. Another thinks it’s about 80% likely. The main protagonist, who has actually done most of the work of tracking bin Laden says confidently – 100%. She then adjusts it, saying, “Well, 95%, since I know how certainty freaks you out.”

If you’re a CIA analyst, you have to be careful about certainty. Putting all your proverbial eggs in one basket could backfire on you if you end up being wrong. There’s a certain amount of personal safety in staying away from absolute certainty. But, it’s a dangerous game to play in all matters of life. Some things require certainty, and without it, there’s no hope.

Our faith in Jesus is one such thing. Everything we believe in as Christians comes down to certainty that Jesus has done what He promised and that what God has given to us in His Word is accurate. Today, our thoughts center on a moment in Jesus’ ministry where God the Father placed His seal of approval on the chosen Messiah, His own Son, so that people would know and believe that He is the Savior of the whole world. As soon as you doubt that, you immediately enter dangerous territory for your life and your soul. Certainty is necessary when it comes to faith.

But why then, does certainty freak us out so much? One reason could be that we equate certainty with having everything figured out. Being sure of what God has done in Christ, and in what God tells us throughout His Word in a variety of other areas of life, does not mean you have to have all questions answered. It doesn’t mean you will never be puzzled by aspects of God or that you have to be brimming with complete confidence in all areas of life. Certainty is like the lifeboat that saves you from shipwreck. You may not know every detail about it, you may not be able to construct one in your garage at home, but in the hour of need your personal knowledge doesn’t matter. All you need is something to save you and hold your life in that moment – at certainty is being sure of that.

But there’s another more personal reason why we don’t like certainty. This is a deep matter of the heart, an inward attachment to your sinful flesh and the world around you. And therefore, it’s difficult to break free from. We don’t like certainty because we want to account for something in our spiritual lives. Think about it. The most certain things in life still all contain an element of human error. We know that airline travel is safer than driving an automobile. We trust our bridges and overpasses to engineers, concrete, and re-bar, never stopping to worry about collapse. We enact safety measures, disaster protocols, and fire escape routes in times of crisis and peril but nothing is guaranteed. Every element of life contains a certain measure of human error. Nothing is absolutely certain; and that prospect alone, though not comforting of itself, is usually what we want to hear. Because, it means we have a say in some way and we can understand what we’re up against. We know the odds and we play the odds.

But the only true path to absolute certainty is through God. Theoretically and theologically, that sounds good, but we resist it because that means we do not have the say and we do not have the understanding. Absolute certainty robs us of our ability to dictate terms in life, and by nature we hate that.

If that sounds like a paradox, that means you’re listening, because it is. Even a child can sense that the more God is in control, the less we are. Recognize the other paradoxes in Jesus’ words. 

·        you have hidden these things from clever and learned people and have revealed them to little children.

·       No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son.

·       Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

·       My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

These are some of the most comforting passages of all Scripture. But have you considered the paradox? To be comforted by Christ means you are burdened first. To receive the promise of God means you are a fool in the ways of the world. To know God the Father, you must first know God the Son. The yoke of Christ is easy and light.

What we see in these verses is the personification of the opening verse of our text. Jesus tells us that faith puts human reason and effort on the back shelf and submits and listens to God as a little child would. And so, we find the eternal, Almighty God of all creation through the humanity and humility of Jesus. We have comfort, not in how we feel about ourselves, or what we’ve done for God, or the relevancy of our current Christian community – but solely through what Jesus freely gives as our loving Redeemer. We are liberated and set free by the one of a kind good news in Jesus, easy and light; yet, a yoke it still is. Even the gospel ties us to Jesus, faith makes the connection between your life and His. You are bound to Jesus, and that is not a personal or self-chosen freedom but obedience of the highest virtue and submission to His every Word. Through the gospel you are completely set free from the strongest vice and from the heaviest chain, but you are still bound to Jesus and therefore you walk in His path, according to His will and word, and in the one ordained way of total righteousness. The gospel makes you freer than you’ve ever been, yet at the very same time it constrains you to the deepest commitment that you’ve ever had.    

This blessing is only given through Christ and the certainty of such is a product of His faithfulness. But if we had the say, we’d settle for a much lesser brand of good news. We like to boast of the certainty of our faith, but often only in the things we’re sure of ourselves, not based on what God says definitively. We like to say, “Yes, that is important – that part of the Bible, but not that part – that’s not necessary to the gospel.” As foolish as it is to allow the Word of God to be chipped away at, we do it because we’re scared of absolute certainty. Because in order for us to be completely certain, God has to mean what He says and has to say what He means. And that includes all things He says – no matter how we feel about them today.

Notice how important that last word is – today. If your struggle with certainty, remember that there was a time when you didn’t. There was a time for you when you took God at His Word and you believed with 100% certainty. Not because you knew it all; certainly not – you know more now don’t you? Certainly not because you were so experienced. In fact, for almost all of this, we are most certain in our faith when it’s new and fresh – at the very beginning. Just like Jesus said, “I have revealed them to little children.”

It works that way because certainty does not come from experience. It isn’t generated by hours accrued in the pew. It’s not a product of higher learning, even if it’s in Biblical fields of study. You can achieve certainty with your intuition or powerful will. God’s Word is scattered with passages that implore you to be wary of human wisdom and philosophy – you will not find certainty there. There is one way to certainty and that is through faith in Jesus. Every aspect of our lives should have in mind the building up and sustaining of our faith. Everything you do in God’s Word, for His name, under the label of “Christian,” should have a positive bearing on your faith. That is the only way. And it’s perhaps the greatest paradox of all, that complete sureness of the biggest obstacles to life and immortality is achieved by trusting God and holding dear to every Word He speaks.

The certainty of faith is as real as Jesus Himself was on the mount of Transfiguration. He was purposely bright so that He could be seen. It was unavoidable, right there for Peter, James, and John to witness is full glory and majesty. But the glory of Jesus was not shown for their own personal use. They were not to make a tent of security that day – whether by hand or by heart. The glory of Jesus was given to make them certain of salvation in the day of need. In the moment when the personal ship of self-righteousness and human effort and will went sinking to the bottom of life’s sea.  

And in that certainty – there is nothing to fear. So Jesus gently reminds you “Come to me…I will give … you will find “rest.” “Take My yoke – easy and light and let it be your strength and guide.” The peace we have in Jesus is not just about what He gives, but also what He helps us leave behind - personal desire, self-power, individual control, dictating all matters.

1. Jesus lives! The victory's won!

Death no longer can appall me;

Jesus lives! Death's reign is done!

From the grave Christ will recall me.

Brighter scenes will then commence;

This shall be my confidence.

4. Jesus lives! I know full well

Nothing me from Him shall sever;

Neither death nor powers of hell

Part me now from Christ forever.

God will be my sure Defense;

This shall be my confidence.