God So Loved the World - Part 2 - Justice

Theme: God so Loved the World - What is Justice?

1. It is based on truth

2. If speaks forgiveness in Christ

John 8:3-12 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and had her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 They asked this to test him, so that they might have evidence to accuse him.

Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 But when they kept on asking him for an answer, he stood up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote on the ground.

9 When they heard this, they went away one by one, beginning with the older men. Jesus was left alone with the woman in the center. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, Lord,” she answered. Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.” 12 When Jesus spoke to them again, he said, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (EHV)

This portion of God’s Word gives us profound wisdom. It’s not because Jesus condones and allows sin and wants you to live your life however you please. It’s also not because Jesus is the heavy-handed authority who just tells people how it is without a concern at all for their well-being. This section is profound wisdom because it shows us what true justice is.

The cry of injustice abounds in our world. Everyone who witnessed what happened to George Floyd, and is honest, recognizes why – what occurred at the hands of that police officer was completely evil and wrong. But when it comes to seeking justice, many different opinions abound. Some say justice is being met in the fact that the four police officers involved were immediately terminated from their positions and are now being prosecuted under the law. But for some, that’s not enough. There are calls for financial reparations for past injustices to the Black community, with one prominent black leader calling for an amount of 14 trillion dollars. There are calls to defund and abolish law enforcement systems. Some call for the removal of historical reminders of past racial injustices. Still many call out “injustice” without really knowing what to do to make things better.

Justice seems like a such of simple concept, why do we struggle so much to achieve it? We speak of justice as a natural right that all people deserve, yet we can’t even agree on what it looks like. This is where Jesus’ profound wisdom comes forth and shows us the true nature of justice. Jesus may not have been speaking about racial divide, reparations, or community action, but His Words apply today because they show us the never-changing quality of true justice as God created it. This is the substance of our longing as individuals when we see injustices happen. We struggle to define justice because our thoughts are flooded with competing opinions from the human arena. Let us step into God’s Word today and seek the Holy Spirit’s blessing on our study as we learn about two important features of justice – it centers on truth and it emphasizes forgiveness by addressing sin.

We first see that justice is centered on truth. This single point leads to many fruits that will be displayed in the one who seeks and follows truth. It means that the one who is in truth will not cave to popular opinion. It means that the one who is in truth will not desire personal glory and fame. It means that the one who is in truth will not pick and choose based on their feelings, but instead will seek to be fair and honest in all angles. This is why justice is based on truth. Without seeking and living in truth, we will stray from the just path.

We see this clearly in our lesson for today. The Pharisees didn’t care about truth. We’re told they came to Jesus, not to receive His answer to the problem, but to test Him and trick Him into a corner. Jesus would not play their game. Not only did He see past their ruse, He also didn’t care what they thought of him. He wasn’t concerned about being persecuted or cast out of the popular culture. Jesus was focused on the truth of the matter at hand.

We see this also in Jesus’ interaction with the woman. This story is often lauded by false teachers as a banner of Jesus’ tolerance for sin. But Jesus never tolerated sin in the slightest. He told the woman, “Go, and from now on, do not sin anymore.” Jesus wasn’t worried about being spurned by this woman either. He spoke the truth to her because she needed to hear it. In this way, Jesus drew a clear line of division. He wasn’t speaking a truth that was self-determined by each person – it was the same for both. He didn’t tolerate sin. He wasn’t excusing away the adultery that the woman committed any more than He was excusing away the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.  

What Jesus wouldn’t do, however, was condemn the woman for her sin. Instead, He forgave her and every indication we have from the text shows that this woman was repentant before God. This is true justice because it is also truth. God forgives repentant sinners. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they’ve done. All who trust in mercy from Jesus, through a repentant heart that shuns sin, receive total forgiveness from God – and no condemnation.

The Pharisees, however, were fixated on condemnation. Why? Because they determined their own brand of justice, and their brand didn’t care about the truth. You see, the same attitude of the Pharisees is present whenever we focus more on the person rather than Christ. The Pharisees were focused on who the woman was. She was an adulterer. She was a sinner. In other words, she was judged by her identity. At the root of the Pharisees’ problem (both in their view of Jesus and their view of the woman) was identity. They considered themselves masters of the law. They thought they were morally superior to others. They shouted others into submission under their version of what was considered good behavior. They were intimidators who pushed authority by mob rule (Jesus’ crucifixion as an example). Before they even got to the details of the situation (truth) they had made their decision. And that fixation on labeling others based on identity and not truth, led them to focus only on condemnation and not justice.

We have many polarizing identities in our day too. Male and female. Christian and non-Christian. Lutheran and Catholic. Liberal and Conservation. Democrat and Republican. Black and White. Police and protestor. What comes along with those identities is the same desire of the Pharisees – to de-personalize people by lumping them into categories – and with that, the intention to condemn. Deep down we know that it’s wrong to judge people based on identity alone – that was the sum of our message from last weekend. But we love to do it because it makes it easier to evade the truth. One modern writer says this about our culture’s obsession with identity: “When groups feel threatened, they retreat into tribalism. When groups feel mistreated and disrespected, they close ranks and become more insular, more defensive, more punitive, more us-versus-them.”

If you can categorize a person with a label, then you don’t have to do the hard work of listening to them, trying to understand them, putting yourself in their position, and most important of all – loving them as God does. It’s so much easier to ignore the truth and convince oneself of a pre-conceived notion about someone that is based on identity. But that’s not justice. It wasn’t at Jesus’ time and it’s not at our time.

As our nation struggles to define justice, we would do well to heed the danger of relegating people to groups based on identity. When you look at the way our culture is reacting to the injustice we all witnessed – you see much more of the Pharisees’ attitude, than you do of Jesus’. You see factions developing and widening based on identity. You see mob mentality fueled by emotion that is out for condemnation – intimidating and threatening anyone who doesn’t fall in line. This is not the way of our Savior, because it treats the truth as insignificant. Much better, in God’s eyes, is to make judgments based on what a person actually says and does. Because to do that involves analyzing the truth – whether it fits your desire or not, and to follow truth is to seek justice.    

But there’s something even bigger at stake here too – because true justice is also about forgiveness. Most people remember this story for Jesus putting the Pharisees in their place by pointing out their hypocrisy. But as we mentioned earlier, He was equally as honest with the woman. It would have been unloving of Jesus to withhold the message of repentance from the woman because that would have also withheld forgiveness from her. She needed to hear that she should “go and sin no more” because that was the path of Jesus taking those sins away.

Sometimes a word of justice has to take an unpopular stance in order to speak forgiveness. True justice involves telling someone (even yourself) what is not readily accepted – the message no one wants to hear – the law’s accusation. But this is done in love because for all repentant, Jesus waits at the end of the process to renew with mercy and grace and to take sin and all of its consequences away. You need people in your life that love you enough to tell you the uncomfortable message of God’s justice in Christ, just like Jesus did in His love for this woman. Sometimes, you need the courage, by faith, to tell yourself that message when you have a sin hidden away from others. This is the loving path because God emphasizes forgiveness by calling out sin.

The unjust path, according to God, is to ignore sin and to change God’s Word whenever we confront a passage that reveals our sin. Eventually, you can’t keep dodging the holy Word of God without also running from the mercy of Christ. His justice is a two-sided coin – with both the law and the gospel. To run from one is to forsake the other.

What we see today in the world is a desire for justice but an unwillingness to forgive. We see this in three distinct ways.

First, forgiveness is empowered by Christ. Yet, the ways of the world clamor for personal power. Christ won the right to forgive us by exemplifying humility, obedience, and self-submission. Yet, how quickly we run from these virtues when God calls us to forgive one another. There’s no place for forgiveness in the power struggle of the world, because forgiveness is not about our power, but Christ’s. And it can only come by believing in Christ by faith.

Second, we struggle with forgiveness because we struggle with repentance. There’s no hope of calling good/good when we can’t first call evil/evil. When we adopt a philosophy of self-choice above God’s moral laws, then it’s no wonder we can’t forgive and heal division when we need to. This is where truth must guide our way. Justice is not about each group or identity choosing what is evil and what is good. It’s about finding unity under God’s Word by faith and trusting that the Holy Spirit can change hearts from evil to good, just as He has done for us.  

Third, we struggle with forgiveness because we don’t want to let go of past injustices. It’s true that consequences linger, and we should remember the lessons of past injustices. But that doesn’t mean drudging up the past and using it as a club in the present. God says that when He forgives us, those sins are cast into the depths of the sea and are removed as far as the east is from the west. He doesn’t bring them back to use against us when He feels like it. They are gone – forever. If we can’t do the same toward one another, we won’t find forgiveness and we won’t have justice.

The first step in healing injustice is rooting out the evil. When it comes to racial injustice, we are doing that as a society. Individuals and groups that want to hang onto principles of prejudice and racism are quickly called out and thwarted – and with good reason. What we need now is to step out of the way – with our raw emotions, are anger-filled speech, our identity-based tribalism, our personal politics, our lust for mob enforcement, our quest for consolidation of power, and our desire to get back at others – and let God heal us as only He can. His call to repentance and forgiveness always sounds forth from the gospel, but He won’t force on any person or nation. And we as Christians need to be on the front lines of standing for the gospel above all else, and sharing it with the world.   

As we close, consider these words from Psalm 37:

Psalm 37:5-9 Commit your way to the Lord.

Trust in him, and he will act.

6 He will make your righteousness shine like light,

your justice like noon.

7 Be silent before the Lord. Wait patiently for him.

Do not fret when an evil man succeeds in his ways,

when he carries out his wicked schemes.

 

8 Let go of anger and abandon rage.

Do not fret—it leads only to evil.

9 For evildoers will be cut off,

but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the earth.

Jesus is the light of the world. He can shine His grace forth and dispel any problem we face. Wait for Him in faith. Do not play the world’s game. Trust in Jesus. Stop speaking anger and emotion – stop relegating others to mere categories. Wait for Jesus by faith. He will shine forth righteousness and justice into your life and into our world. Amen.

God So Loved the World - Part 1 - Racism | Acts 10:34-43 | June 7, 2020

Theme: God so Loved the World – What does God say about racism?

• ·       He does not show favoritism (judge by appearance)
• ·       Racism isn’t as simple as we think
• ·       The gospel gives us the best model to address racism

This has been a difficult week in many ways. Our nation is hurting and suffering. We see images daily of anger and fear. This, in turn, causes us to lash out at others, whether in word, in deed, or in the heart. Everywhere we look hostility seems to exist and grow. Part of what makes this tough is that these events cause overwhelming feelings. We are continually reminded that we have so little control, as if we hadn’t had enough reminders of that fact this year. We also feel overwhelmed when we don’t know what to do for change or where to turn for hope. These feelings can be powerful enough that cynicism and despair seem inevitable.

God speaks to these issues in His Word and there is hope for our lives. We seek to analyze some of these topics in the next few weeks and look at each main theme according to God’s Word. This will help us understand what we’re facing and the causes behind it, but also what God can and has done to help us. Our series is simple – “God So Loved the World” – the very message of the gospel which we always need to hear – especially at this time.

This morning we take part one in our series, by addressing the topic on everyone’s mind – racism. What is it? What does God say about it? and What can we do about it? There’s no doubt you’ve heard a lot about this topic already this week. Everyone seems to have their own understanding of what we’re up against when it comes to racism and what needs to be done about it. Yet, these opinions are often laced with personal bias and agenda, which doesn’t help anyone in the end. Perhaps we get so caught up in arguing with one another that we forget to consider what God says. Let’s take a step back from the narratives of the world and listen to God.

While we readily grant that the word “racism” doesn’t exist in the Bible – God most certainly addresses the core issues of the sinful heart that lead to racism In the Bible, we have a clear teaching against racism because it directly connects to the core of our faith – salvation in Christ. There is strength in the Christian faith in this regard. We speak out against racism, in fact any sinful judgment of others based on appearance, not only because we know it to be wrong by experience, but because it directly endangers the promise of salvation in Jesus – a promise given and won for all people. This point alone offers a tremendous amount of hope in terms of attacking the evil of racism today and working toward changing the ways that people look at and treat one another.

To see and learn from such an example today, we turn to our text from Acts 10:34-43:

Then Peter began to speak: "Now I really understand that God doesn't show favoritism, 35 but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him. 36 He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ-- He is Lord of all. 37 You know the events that took place throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him. 39 We ourselves are witnesses of everything He did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, yet they killed Him by hanging Him on a tree. 40 God raised up this man on the third day and permitted Him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by us, witnesses appointed beforehand by God, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to solemnly testify that He is the One appointed by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about Him that through His name everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins." (CSB)

The first thing we see is that racism is wrong because of your relationship with God. We often think of racism in terms of how we view one another, which certainly applies. But it doesn’t matter who you are, God directs your attention to how He views you. We see this in verse 34 as Peter says, “Now I really understand that God doesn't show favoritism.” An application to racism comes out in the word favoritism. We tend to think of favoritism as preferring one thing over another, but it is a stronger word in the Bible. Here it means to make unjust distinctions between people by treating one person better than another. This certainly fits as a just condemnation of any racist thought, attitude, or action – but there’s an even deeper connection.

In the Greek, this word for favoritism is actually the combination of two words. The literal meaning of these two words is “to look upon someone’s face.” This was the cultural way of expressing favoritism among the Greeks – that you are making a decision or judgment of something based on what another person (lit. their face) looks like. Think about that for a moment, doesn’t that fit with the inherent nature of racism? 

Some people may assume the Bible doesn’t directly speak to racism, but passages like these, of which there are many throughout the Scriptures, really show how well God addresses the topic. And it comes back to how God views people. Because He doesn’t show favoritism, we shouldn’t either.  

What we also see from our text is that racism can come in many different forms. It’s not simply a matter of doing evil to a person with a different skin color than you, it’s about what’s in your heart and how you think of others. We’re learning this as we grow in our understanding about racism in our country. It’s not just about what you’ve done, but also what you’ve thought.

Similarly, it’s important that we recognize the ways that prejudice and discrimination affect the way we think of others and how we treat them. Prejudice is a word that points to those thoughts and feelings in the heart. It’s easy to hide prejudice, because others can’t always see it; and therefore it’s easy to stay prejudiced against someone without thinking that it’s racist. But evil thoughts in one’s heart lead to evil actions, what we might call discrimination. Continually throughout Scripture, God teaches about the connection between the heart and actions. Therefore, if left unheeded, prejudice will lead to discrimination in action. It’s important that each of us look at our lives to see where prejudice has taken root, and then to repent of this and ask God to cleanse our heart.

We also come to learn that racism can exist in different contexts, on an individual, an institutional, and a cultural level. These three domains are separate but linked together. A person may not be racist on an individual level, but that doesn’t mean the culture they live in is free from it. Likewise, there may not be any clear laws condoning racism on an institutional level in the United States, but that doesn’t mean racism isn’t shared from person to person in certain situations, or that isn’t part of certain cultures with the United States. As we seek to address this problem in our nation, we need humility and honesty about how pervasive racism can be and the many different forms it can take.

This lesson about Peter is valuable in this regard. We see the connection between culture, institution, and the individual quite clearly in Peter himself. We also see how prejudice affects attitude and action. Here in this context (and I invite you to read all of Acts 10) Peter is speaking to a man named Cornelius and his family. Cornelius was a believer, but he was also a Gentile. There was racial tension between Jews and Gentiles that affected the faith of each. This theme is present in many of the New Testament letters of Paul, almost as if God was provided a model for us.

Peter struggled in his heart about how to minister to Gentiles like Cornelius, not because Peter was overtly hateful of Gentiles, but because Peter had been raised in a culture that taught about separation between Jews and Gentiles. This culture manifested itself in the institution of the Temple and the ways in which the Jews practiced their faith. As Christ entered the scene and fulfilled these protective measures of the Old Testament that were designed to keep God’s people focused on the coming Messiah, many Jews struggled with how to transition into the New Testament era.  

Peter was one who found it hard to overcome thoughts in his heart that would lead him to look at Gentiles in a lesser light – even though that’s never the way that God intended people to think. So God gave Peter a vision at the beginning of chapter 10. This vision involved a sheet of ceremonially unclean animals coming down from heaven – things that were forbidden for the Old Testament believer. God called Peter to rise, kill, and eat. When Peter objected to this, God responded, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” Three times God did this.

The next day, as Peter spoke to Cornelius, he realized what the Lord’s message was. Peter said in verse 28: “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.” God’s message was not just about animals, but about people. This led Peter to lovingly and boldly proclaim the gospel to Cornelius and baptize his entire household. God helped Peter realize what we see in verse 43 of our text, “All the prophets testify about Him [Jesus] that through His name everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins.”

Racism is a problem from sin. At its core, racism is idolatry because it seeks to devalue and put a different label on a person whom God has created and redeemed. It’s valuable for us to recognize how prevalent racism can be, it’s unique history in our nation, and how easily it can affect our hearts. It’s necessary that we immediately turn away from it in repentance. But there are also a few things that racism is not…

·       It’s not a sin greater than any other.

·       It’s not something new.

·       It’s not a sin beyond the hope for healing and forgiveness in Jesus.

Sometimes the noise can be so loud in the world, that we forget these simple points. In this one chapter, we see both that which points out the evil of racism and that which fixes it – redemption in Jesus Christ. Use what you have before you now – education, activism, listening and empathy – to learn more about the destructiveness of racism and how it tarnishes the way God wants us to think of and treat others. But never leave out Jesus – He is the most important person that all people need – whether they are on the giving or receiving end of racist pain. Think of the power of Jesus as Peter described it: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him. But sadly, as our nation heaves with anguish over this issue, as communities react, as individuals speak – I’ve seen very little of Jesus on peoples’ thoughts and lips.

God grant us humility and wisdom to learn from our mistakes, and to apply the painful message of the law to our hearts. Peter, too, was confused and uncertain. But God made the answer clear and opened up a way for healing through the gospel, the very message that Jesus defeated the devil – through His crucifixion and resurrection – and overcame the racial discord of the early Church. God accomplished this seemingly impossible task, not because of the skill, education, or intuition of the early Christian culture, but because the gospel revealed to people the simple love of Jesus in being able to love others in a way that we can’t, and it reminded people – time and time again – that Jesus forgives the repentant sinner.

This good news changed hearts, which changed thoughts, which changed attitudes, which changed words, which changed actions. Racism may always be something we struggle with in this fallen world, but it doesn’t have to tear apart our nation, our communities, our families, our relationships, or our faith in Jesus. He is able to make the same change happen in our lives, and He pleads with us to listen to and use His Word for that very purpose.

We have a God who does not judge by looking at a person’s face – He can certainly lead, strengthen, and equip us to do the same. And through Jesus, God shines His face upon us – the enlighten, to forgive, and bless. Let us share that with the while world. May we look to Jesus – the Savior of all people – as our Leader and Brother in this task. Amen.   

Pentecost Sunday - Ephesians 4:7-16 - May 31, 2020

Ephesians 4:7-16 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people." 9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (NIV)

Some things just go well together – Examples: peanut butter and jelly, ice cream on a hot day, piano music and calm. But, these combinations don’t fit with everyone. Maybe you prefer peanut butter and honey. Perhaps you have a better choice of treat on a hot day, or maybe a different type of music settles your heart. Many things that go well together are based on personal choice – they’re subjective and therefore different for people.

Some things go well, not because we simply feel they do, but because they were designed to go together. One example of this is the exact illustration used in our text for the Church – the human body. Paul introduced this illustration in chapter 2 and he builds on it here. Consider some of these facts about the human body:

·       It has 30 trillion cells.

·       There are 78 different organs that belong to 10 separate systems in the body

·       These systems rely on each other and must work in coordination, an example being the brain working with the nervous system to get your heart to beat.

·       The cardiovascular system uses blood to circulate oxygen throughout the body.

·       The skeletal system relies on nutrients gained from the digestive system.

The list goes on and on and the point is clear. The body is made up of different parts working together in unity and harmony. Mess up one of the systems and you have a problem, perhaps even death. Contrary to many of the feeling-based things that work together in our lives – the body is objective. It does not depend on your opinion or feeling. It is designed the same way for everyone. It works this way because it was designed to work this way by God. And in that very same sense, it serves as a fitting picture for the Church. This morning, we study how God builds His Church part by part, and we see several examples of that in our text.

Pentecost is usually seen as the birth of the New Testament Church. It didn’t mark a different religion from the Old Testament believers. They worshipped the same God who accomplished the same work. But, at the same time, no one could deny the major changes that Jesus made. He fulfilled the Old Testament law – moral and ceremonial. The worship requirements of the Old Testament that were designed to keep the peoples’ focus on the coming Messiah were obviously no longer needed. The New Testament Church also found itself in a completely different cultural setting, with God revealing new writings by the quills of the Apostles. This caused stylistic changes in worship and further development of the teaching of the Christian faith now that God revealed more from His Word.

Pentecost was the official beginning of this new era, but clearly its roots stretched deeper. Paul brings our attention to those roots by speaking of the Ascension of Jesus. He describes this in verses 9-10 and then seamlessly transitions into what that means in terms of Pentecost. Because Christ ascended, thereby marking the total completion of His work on earth (including His death and resurrection), God now equips His Church for sharing the gospel message as He first did on Pentecost Sunday. Therefore, as it concerns the Church, the first two things that go together, by God’s design, are Ascension and Pentecost.

The second pair that fits together is leaders and lay people. God blessed the Church through Christ’s Ascension and on the day of Pentecost. He did that to provide leaders. Verse 11 reads, So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. At the end of the line, we see that God does this to equip the Church, and when the word “saints” is used it indicates each and every believer. Therefore, God intends that Church leaders and lay people work together in the task of ministry.

You can look throughout the New Testament and see examples of this in action. In the book of Acts, extra apostles and servants, called deacons, were appointed because there were too many things for the 12 apostles to accomplish. The evangelists were the foreign missionaries of the early Church, reaching out with the gospel into lands that had never heard of Christ before. There were local elders in each congregation much akin to our current Church Council at Redemption. Regular lay people are listed in the accounts of the New Testament, people like Lydia, Priscilla and Aquila, and Cornelius – people who assisted the apostles, pastors, and teachers.

Each congregation has different circumstances and needs, and therefore the way that leaders and lay people work together will be different. But the basic principles remain the same as part of God’s design in all churches. And so, there are some universal similarities that are to be present across all churches. One universal point is that leaders are meant to equip lay people to share God’s Word. The word “equip” in verse 12 indicates making something completely sufficient for a task. Therefore, we must understand that pastors and teachers, the publicly called servants in congregations, are not to be the only ones ministering. Ministry can involve many tasks, but foremost is the sharing and use of God’s Word. Lay people are to be involved in this task and growing in their ability to do so as well.

Another universal truth in this connection is pursuing unity. Churches are to be united. Paul speaks of the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. There’s a unity to all who believe in Jesus and therefore a unity that crosses over denominations and differences among teachings. We speak of this unity in relation to the Universal Church – the existence of all who believe and confess in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This is a blessed unity, but Paul does not stop there.

It is also important that as a church, we pursue a more narrow unity – an agreement in every teaching from God’s Word. Paul gets to this type of unity when we warns about being tossed to and fro like a ship on open waters when it comes to our confession as a body of believers. God desires unity in all doctrine – a difficult task to be sure but absolutely worth desiring as part of God’s design for His Church. It’s true that, at times, different churches disagree on non-doctrinal issues, matters of opinion and tradition we might say. But, that’s typically not the case. The sad reality is that many Christian individuals and churches have given up the desire to pursue unity in God’s Word – acting as if it’s either not important or not possible. This is certainly one reason why different church denominations exist today, but it’s also displays an unfortunate unwillingness on the part of many Christians to take God’s design seriously. Just as the human body is made up of many independent and complex systems, so also no two individuals in God’s Church are exactly the same. Yet, despite our functional differences we can work together for the same goals. Despite possession different qualities, skills, and abilities, we can agree upon and cherish what God has said. Taken separately, the casual observer would consider it nonsense that the human body could function as a whole. How much more so when it comes to sinners working as a church. Yet, God is able to make possible what is impossible to us, because He designed both.   

The quest for unity brings us to the final combination of two things working together – and that’s speaking the truth in love. This text is like an ascending staircase. Part by part, God is building the case for the true vision of His Church. Speaking the truth in love is near the top. By doing this, Paul writes, “we grow up in all things into Him who is the Head – Christ.”

Christ is always with His Church. He is the Head – the true Leader. He governs the decisions and actions of the Church. He gives meaning and life to all its members. He sees what the future holds before the other parts do, and so He guides and protects also. Christ is at the top of this staircase. Every member of the body is joined and knit together to Christ and is thereby given an effective role in the Church.

And though the Holy Spirit has been leading us to this point – part by part – Christ has always had preeminence over all the points of His Church. The roles we fill as different members of the Church are Christ’s gifts – given by grace. He is the One who came down to earth to complete all righteousness for us. He descended into the depths of the earth – the heart of the tomb – as He willingly offered His life in our place. And only Christ rose and ascended in complete glory. As in all scenes of life, so it is in this text – Christ is present throughout.

But this last combination is directed at us. God tells us to speak the truth in love. This will determine your standing with Jesus. Christianity is not a matter of “either or” when it comes to truth and love. Many in the world have taken that position. They say you can’t have both. Either you strive for truth and along the way you alienate those who disagree with you, or you strive for love and you accept all – including their beliefs. The world says you can’t have both.

But God takes this “either or” conundrum and makes it a “both and” reality. We can speak the truth in love, without changing any of God’s teachings and without turning a blind eye or our neighbor’s needs. God designed His Church to work this way – in the same way at the other connections we’ve looked at today. And this last step is so important because you can’t know Christ without knowing both truth and love. Many claim to have Christ without love – relying on the seemingly strong foundation of their teachings and knowledge of the Scripture while they could care less about how they treat people. Jesus said that position – one which claims to account for His Word without thinking about doing that Word, is like building on the sand. It will fall.

The other side claims to have Christ without truth. They minimize any teaching of the Bible that isn’t (in their minds) directly tied to the gospel. They are willing to cut corners on doctrine in order to look more attractive to the trends in culture and in order to sound more enlightened or “woke,” as is the current term. But Jesus said following Him was about abiding in His Word, and not a single stroke of that Word was to be discarded as unnecessary.

Disregarding truth or love is like reaching that last step toward Christ – the final part, and jumping off sideways. It betrays all other steps you took leading up to that point – celebrating the significance of Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost, learning from you pastor and teachers, working with other individuals in service to the Church, and traveling that ever present pursuit of unity under faith.

Part by part, God builds His Church. Over every step and every part, is the ever-present blessing of forgiveness and salvation in Christ. Let us heed the steps God gives as we recommit ourselves to His work this Pentecost. In Christ’s name, Amen.

 

Ascension Sunday - Isaiah 57:14-15 - May 24, 2020

Isaiah 57:14-15 And it shall be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way." 15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (ESV)

Ravi Zacharias was born in Chennai, India. At age 4, he moved with his family to Delhi, where he spent most of his childhood. Ravi lived a unique and at times, amazing life, partly because of where his life began. You might have heard of Ravi Zacharias before, or at least recognize the name. Ravi was a world-renowned Christian speaker, specializing in the field of apologetics, which focuses on defending the Christian faith.

Part of the uniqueness of Ravi Zacharias’ life is that he started out as an unbeliever. He didn’t know Jesus, and even after he was introduced, he didn’t believe. India is an overwhelmingly non-Christian community. Almost 80% of the people who live there are Hindu. The next leading faith is Islam, with Christianity accounting for only 2% of the population. That one of the leading Christian figures of our generation would come from India is miraculous in and of itself.

But Ravi Zacharias’ life was filled with many other signs of God’s handiwork. As a scholar and master speaker, Zacharias was known for many lectures, speeches, books, and general tidbits of Christian wisdom. One of his quotes stood out to me this past week: “Jesus did not come into this world to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.”

For Ravi Zacharias, at the end of the day, what mattered most was life over death. The Christian faith taught about logic, ethics, morality, politics and truth – to certain degrees - but it was never meant as a means to an end for those subjects alone. Ultimately, Christianity a matter of eternal life over death. That’s what the Bible is about. That’s what Jesus is about. Ravi Zacharias could lecture, teach, and debate with the best of the scholars. But the value of the Christian faith for him was something that every believer possesses by faith.

The ascension of Christ presents to us a similar theme. We may think of the ascension and the resurrection of Jesus as two distinct events, and that is true. But, both point directly to life over death. The resurrection is obvious in that way. But the ascension also indicates that truth, precisely because life according to God’s definition always transcends the current reality around us. Most people think that life ends in all ways at death. But for the Christian, it’s really the beginning of life. What God created and gave as life is much, much more than what we’ve experienced so far. The ascension of Christ testifies to that because Christ returned home to heaven.

Like the resurrection, connected to what Christ did is a promise of what He will do for us. Because He rose from the dead, all who die in His name will one day rise too. Because He went triumphant to heaven at the conclusion of all His work on earth, so we too will those who believe in Him. At the end of all lessons on both the resurrection and ascension, we see a resounding victory of life over death.

This is where the thoughts of our text come in. This account was not a prophecy of Ascension Day. Isaiah was not foreshadowing the day when Christ returned to heaven. This is not why we read these words today. Rather, what we see through them is that promise of life over death and how God accomplished that amazing feat in our lives.

The idea we most often associate with the ascension is God’s glory. It’s true that Jesus was glorified in the fullest sense when He ascended. Luke tells us that the disciples worshiped Jesus once He had ascended. Acts tells us that the event included the presence of angels. Even the simple visual of Jesus rising into the clouds, above everyone else, indicated glory.

But we must be careful not to disassociate Jesus’ glory with His active work for sinners. So often, we think of God’s glory in human terms. And a person who glorifies himself is not considered a very honorable person. God’s glory is not a matter of vanity or the need for personal flattery. We often associate glory with such things because that’s the way the sinful flesh portrays glory; something to emphasize the self, often at the expense of others. So, in a complete misrepresentation of the entire concept, skeptics call God the tyrant, the petty deity, and other such labels – trying to bring God down to the human level, which is really about bringing humans up to God’s level. Knock Him down a few pegs and we’ll feel better about ourselves.

The problem with that thinking is that God’s glory is always directed for our good. Think of the roles assigned in the Garden of Eden as an example. God made Adam and Eve in HIS image. He allowed them to share in His creation in a way that no other created thing could. He gave them jobs and responsibilities in leading the creation. This was part of the design – for Adam and Eve to be like mirrors that reflected back to the glory of God and in that glory they would thrive. But instead of reflecting God’s glory, Adam and Eve used it to honor themselves, and so is the case throughout the sad story of human history.

Sin distorts this proper image of glory, both in the sense that it comes from God and also the sense that it serves others. Sin leads to true self-glory, the kind that comes only from the human heart and the kind that seeks only personal interests above the will of God. It is because true glory was lost that Jesus was sent to be the Savior. The lasting image of His ascension, namely going to heaven in glory, is absolute proof that He accomplished the task.

One of the words the Bible uses the describe this is reconciliation. That word points at the process of making enemies friends. It involves restoration of a relationship that was lost because of sin. Jesus brought us back into the role that God designed us to hold, as image bearers of His glory. Jesus did this by making the payment for all sin on the cross and fulfilling all holiness through His life on earth. Jesus kept God’s commands, both in the just penalty over sin, but also in the righteous requirements to get into heaven – and therefore, all who trust in Him have this record. All who believe in Jesus are friends of God. This is the completion of reconciliation.

Isaiah was getting at the very same concept in the words of our text, and the ascension brings to mind a fitting picture in our minds. Notice, first of all, the way Isaiah describes the great difference between God and the sinner. This is done by three characteristics on both sides.

The LORD is…

          1. The One High and Lifted up

          2. The One who inhabits eternity

          3. The One who is Holy

The sinner is…

          1. Contrite and lowly

          2. lowly [in spirit]

          3. contrite [in heart]

We have what is called antithetical parallelism in the Hebrew. That’s just a fancy term for a poetic way of showing the difference between two things. Hebrew writers employ this literary device in situations where they really want to highlight a contrast. That contrast in this verse is between God and people.

Now, we referred earlier to these people as sinners, because Isaiah speaks of being lowly and contrite in view of sin. Only sinners have sin to repent of. But, most appropriately, Isaiah is describing believers here – because only believers manifest the true attitude of lowliness and contriteness in view of their relationship with God. We’re not discussing worldly sorrow here. This is not an infraction from one person to another. This text is describing the insurmountable difference between God’s holiness and mankind’s mortality. And it is as enduring and true a message as it is clear. No one can escape the validity of Isaiah’s words. 

We also get this sense with the spatial imagery of these verses. Not only is parallelism applied, but also picture language. The shout goes out – "Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way." The image presented is that something is in the way – in the path between God and man – that needs to be removed. So, what should be done? Build up! Go higher. When an obstacle is in the way, getting past it means going above – whether literally or metaphorically.

This imagery sets the tone for the perfect entrance of verse 15 – “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up…” God’s point is clear. You have a problem; I have a solution. You need to get above sin, trouble, heartache, disease, pestilence, evil, and a host of other obstacles? I am the One who is high and lifted up.

Sounds a lot like the imagery of Ascension Day, too. Part of Jesus’ message with that imagery was exactly same. You want to get to heaven? There is One on earth who knows the way – who in fact is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Listen to and believe what He has done so that you can be reconciled with God in eternal life.

Isaiah tells us our job. Be contrite – confess your sins before God and repent – believing that Jesus will forgive you. God never turns away a repentant sinner. Be lowly – don’t forge your own path. Don’t trust in your own feelings. Don’t try to create your own righteous identity. Listen to Jesus. Obey His Word. Respect what He tells you especially in the areas that are difficult to believe.

This is the message directed at us. But there is also one within these words about God. In addition to what He says about our lives, more important is what He has to say about Christ’s life. God’s glory is also a necessary part of our reconciliation to Him. Because Christ was glorified for your revival. Yes, He is the high and lofty one in heaven. Yes, He does inhabit eternity. Yes, His name is holy. But He uses all that glory for your good. To be with you in your lowly state. To lift you up with His precious promises in moments of doubt. To revive your heart when you are troubled over your sins.

From the beginning, God’s glory was always a sign of His care for us. It was never just about Himself.  Therefore, God is glorified when people are served with the gospel. It’s His design. And it’s exactly the same thing we see taught in the text from Isaiah today.

Ravi Zacharias died this past week from cancer at the age of 74. But there was a time much earlier in his life when everything appeared to be over. As a distressed youth at the age of 17, troubled by the pressures of rigorous academic goals and an unhealthy home life, Ravi attempted suicide by swallowing poison. Thank the Lord it didn’t work. When he was recovering in the hospital, at a loss as to what would happen in the days ahead, a Christian friend came to his bedside and shared a passage from John 14:19, where Jesus said, Because I live, you will live also. Ravi said five days later he walked out of the hospital a changed man. For him, Christ’s work was always about life over death. Of all the theological subjects he presented and lectured on, that single theme was always constant about the faith he was defending and proclaiming. It was, in fact, exactly why he so diligently sought to defend every truth from God’s Word.

We are blessed to learn the same today. The Ascension was not about selfish vanity from God. The glory of God always reinforces the blessed reconciliation we have through Jesus Christ. He has gone home – we will too one day – in His name. Amen.

Easter 5 - Jeremiah 29:11 - May 17, 2020

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you
a future and a hope.

Location, location, location. We are used to hearing location emphasized when it comes to property and home values. Location is probably the most critical component to property value. Truly, what one pays for a home or in monthly rent in our community, could go a lot farther in other parts of the country.   

Location also mattered in the prophecy of Jeremiah that forms the basis of our text today. Jeremiah was an lone prophet writing to people in captivity. They had been dragged away from their land and homes. Location would also play a key role in the rest of what Jeremiah would go on to tell them in this context. 

Location is also important as we apply this verse for our lives. The main thought is about the location of your heart. The divide we face in so many areas of our faith, especially in our confidence of faith, is found in the difference between centering our heart on ourselves, or centering it on the truth of Christ’s Word. As we study this passage from Jeremiah today, we consider these thoughts on location, both as they concerned the original readers, and as they apply to us today.

The passage before us today has been called the “John 3:16 of American cultural Christianity.” That may sound good on the surface, but the statement isn’t meant in a good way. The author who said that was indicating how important Jeremiah 29:11 is to many Christians today. Indeed, it has become one of the most famous passages in our society. You can find it on coffee mugs, home décor, and stationary. It’s re-posted and re-tweeting all over social media. It might be the only Bible verse from the Old Testament that many Christians know.

It’s certainly not wrong for a piece of God’s inspired Word to hold such a standing in our lives. The issue comes down to how the passage is used. Today, in modern American culture, it often serves as a message of personal empowerment and prosperity of the self. What do we mean by that? Well, in simpler terms, the passage is used to say that God has a special plan and blessing for each believer. That’s not a false concept by any means – God certainly loves and cares for all people. Without a doubt, you are special to Him. But that truth is never to center on ourselves, or exceed the boundaries of His Word

The danger of this modern, self-centered interpretation is that it ignores the entire context of Jeremiah 29, as well as the 51 other chapters of his book. You can learn from this verse, as we do with all areas of God’s Word; but God is not speaking directly about your life. God also does not promise a blessing of personal success or accomplishment in this verse. In reality, the Christian life is filled with hardships, persecutions, and general difficulties because of our faith. If we believe that God promises to eliminate these things from our lives we will be disappointed and led to doubt the effectiveness of God’s Word. All followers of Jesus live very problematic and troublesome lives here on earth to one extent or another. Jesus Himself said it would be so for those who walk by faith. Jeremiah is not assuring us that these things will magically go away because God thinks we’re special.

A critical part of this is believing that it’s okay if our lives are tough because of Who we believe in. That is the reality for the true disciple of Jesus and if we set up a different thought in our hearts about faith’s meaning and purpose, we’ll be coerced into changing what God really says for what we want Him to say. And sadly, that happens a lot with this verse.

Now, I don’t want to give you the impression that you shouldn’t apply this passage to your life, or that God has nothing to say to you through this verse. Quite the opposite, actually. We want to really see what God is saying in the entire context of this verse, so that we can know the truth of how these divine and holy Words affect our lives. Let’s dig into the context.      

Thoughts from the context:

1. Jeremiah was writing from Jerusalem to Jews in Babylon. (vassal state, under control of Babylonians). He was still tasked with ministering to these people (talk about a remote ministry). He is reminding them through verse 11 that God will not leave them behind. They will return to their homeland one day. God had a plan in action, despite the hardships of captivity. But, there were some things that still needed to be addressed by God. One of these things was judgment upon the people who were still living in Judea. As much as Jeremiah 29:11 stresses a positive thought, the predominant theme in this chapter is a call to repentance for God’s people. They needed to realize the stark reality of what their rebellion before the LORD had achieved for them. Many had not taken the message to heart yet, and so God, in His divine justice, would have to being them to bow the knee in repentance.

2. One of the direct messages to those in Babylon was given in verse 7: And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace. God tells the captives to be at peace where they are at. Essentially, the thought here is to seek God’s will, not your own personal interests. Understand and trust that there is purpose to everything in life – the good and the bad. God does not operate by chance. Instead of looking ahead to some moment of grand self-blessing and personal prosperity, as is often taught in verse 11, look to learn and grow where God has planted you today. Jeremiah tells the people to pray for the city where they were. It wasn’t their homeland. They were taken against their will. But, pray that God would bless the situation all the same. Trust God. Don’t try to get in His way. Believe that He has a plan.

3. The last major thought of the context is to stay faithful to God’s Word. When you take a look at the entire context, most of the passages are about some aspect of the peoples’ relationship with the Word of God. Jeremiah both calls them back to hear and apply the Word, but also to reject false prophets. The people in Babylon were tired of Jeremiah to some extent. They established their own teachers and prophets, without God’s consent. It was another aspect of what God was warning them about –a  deity of the self – putting personal choice over and above God’s Word.  A key step in this process was prayer. Jeremiah urged the people to return to prayer before God. Prayer respects God’s Word. Prayer is regular communication with God. Prayer dictates trust in God’s plan, not trying to forge one’s own way. Prayer involves more than requests for personal goals, but also to praise, give thanks, confess, acknowledge His power. Like all good relationships, prayer builds a healthy and well-rounded relationship with God by regularly and comprehensively communicating with Him.

These three areas from the context greatly influence the way we understand verse 11. This is not a personal blessing of empowerment, but rather a life ring of hope amidst a sea of divine condemnation and in the backdrop of a pressing need for repentance. The LORD allowed His people to be captured by a wicked and foreign power because they were too interested in their own dreams, desires, and pursuits. He wouldn’t use that very judgment to offer them a promise consisting of the same attitude that got them into trouble.

Like all calls to repentance, it was about getting back to God, and that started with getting back to His Word. Jeremiah describes the issue well in verses 19: For they have not listened to my words," declares the LORD, "words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either," declares the LORD.

The Word is our lifeline because it tells us what God wants – what He expects from our lives. Following the Word is important in the same way that eating healthy is important, or maintaining personal hygiene is important. The Word of God forms the basis of healthy spiritual living. But, God directed them back to His Word because it was also the complement to His call for repentance. As important as God’s Word is as a guide and rule for our lives, it is even more critical as a message of forgiveness for the times we have strayed.

No one is perfect. God knew the about Judah. He knows that about you. We should know it about ourselves also, at least enough to build our hope of renewal in something other than ourselves. Sadly, we mess this up often too. God doesn’t just tell us about Himself to give us comfort over our sins, He gives Himself. Our hope for a bright future is based on what God has done for us. We don’t get that promise directly from verse 11 for our lives. Those words were given specifically to the captives at that time, speaking of the moment when they would return home.

But, we can take hope in the same promise for our souls because of the testimony of other sure sections from God’s Word. One prime example comes two chapters later in Jeremiah, when the prophet foretells of a new covenant based on the forgiveness of sins that God would establish in the future. Those words speak to our lives. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus. He is, as the New Testament says, “the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” (Hebrews 9:15)

You see how we land on truth when we use God’s Word appropriately, and how that truth gives comfort and purpose to our lives. It is so much better than going our separate ways and interpreting each word from God in our own individual ways.

Properly understanding the context of this section, in God’s truth, brings much richer and more fulfilling promises than a generic thought of God blessing us because of who we are: 

1. Approach God in humility. Don’t be so impatient to move beyond the trials of your life, that you fail to discern the Lord’s plan through them. He has a purpose to everything you experience. He is trying to teach and strengthen you through those times. Faith in Him includes a desire to learn what His purpose is. Often, like Judah, He is call you to repentance. Not to strike you down further, but to lead you to forgiveness in Jesus, which is the best blessing to lift us out of any hardship.

2. Be at peace where you are at. Opening or lockdown – there is peace and joy in any setting. Jesus has redeemed you and is with you each day. Nothing in this world, or even in hell, can take that gift from you. Only you can give it up by trusting in yourself or by following something false.

3. Faithfulness to God’s Word. Use online resources. Read your Bible. Flee from sin. Don’t act like truth doesn’t matter. Stop contributing to the breakdown of our society by promoting and condoning godless lifestyles and behaviors. There is a difference between constant compassion and empathy that comes from Christ and promoting a religious ideology that opposes Christ. You don’t have to support or share in wickedness to help a person who is caught in sin. With that, pray. Take this extra time to build your relationship with God. Talk to Him. Thank Him. Don’t be me-centric in your prayer life. Don’t pray while doubting. (James)

This one verse from Jeremiah has a lot to say about location. For God’s prophet, it was about ministering to those who were far away – a tough task to be sure. For Judah, it was about a promise that they would return home one day. For you and I, the location of this verse is about truth. We want to be where God intends us to be. That doesn’t come about by taking His words and promises out of context. The truth is about being centered on God, not ourselves. Through Jesus, the one who delivered forgiveness in truth by His atonement for sin – His Word of truth really is the best, most valuable, and healthiest place to be. Amen.