Mocking the Messiah

Luke 23:35-43.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on April 24, 2016.

At the lowest point in his life, Jesus is hanging on the cross while people gather around him and mock him.  I am reminded of Psalm 1:1 where it says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of mockers.”  The Psalm goes on to state that the wicked, sinners, and mockers would be blown away like the chaff.  But the righteous man will endure like a tree planted by a river.  In every age we are tempted to join this group that mocks the way of the Lord.  We do not need to look at places in the Middle East to find it because we have it here in our own country.  All around the world, Jesus and his followers are ridiculed and mocked by one group or another.  It is important for believers to restrain themselves and not respond in kind.  Rather, we must learn to live out the love of Christ in the face of those who do not understand because this is their only hope.

Most People Mocked Jesus

The crucifixion of Jesus was the darkest day in the history of Israel.  We can think about Joseph and how he was treated by his brothers; that was a dark day.  We can think about the making of the golden calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai; that was a dark day.  How about their refusal to enter into the promise land?  That was a dark day.  Their rebellious kings and eventual destruction by Assyria and Babylon were also dark days.  But all through those times was the hope that Messiah would come some day and fix everything.  Thus the murder of Messiah becomes the darkest day of all. 

In the midst of this, the Gospels portray the people, leaders, soldiers, and one of the criminals as mockers.  Now it is bad enough to be unjustly executed, but to have people mocking you makes it even worse.  The Bible warns believers against the act of mocking others (as noted in Psalm 1).  To mock someone is to scorn and ridicule them.  Typically it employs things like taunts, mimicry, and making jokes of someone’s situation.  Even when a person is suffering justly, it is generally bad form to mock them and sets us up for a fall of our own.  Mocking seeks to pull a person down, and then when they are down it seeks to pile on top of them.  When we participate in mocking, we do not realize the manner of spirit that we are aligning ourselves with.  Mocking does not lead anyone to repentance.  It does not stir up life.  Rather it leads to destruction and takes delight in it.

Luke reveals first that the leaders mocked Jesus for his ability to deliver.  He was known as a great deliverer because of his healings and exorcisms.  He had saved people physically, mentally, and spiritually through his actions and teachings.  Thus thousands touted the amazing deliverer known as Jesus.  Yet, the leaders throw this back into his face.  If you are such a deliverer, let’s see you deliver yourself from this!  Mockers often demonstrate logic and reason.  However, it is always used for a wicked purpose.  Instead of asking Jesus why he doesn’t save himself, they use the fact that he doesn’t against him.  We now know that if Jesus saved himself he would be simultaneously condemning us.  Perhaps we should recognize that the ultimate truth that lies behind all of our questions to God, is that somehow it would bring more harm to us than good.  When we say, “God, why don’t you do (whatever it is you want),” somehow it is because he is bringing something better to us.  This is where faith in our loving Father in Heaven becomes critical.  Why doesn’t God deal with all the evil in the world?  It is because he is giving room for them to repent.

The soldiers also mocked the Kingship of Jesus.  They made great fun of the fact that they were crucifying the King of Israel.  What kind of king let’s himself be killed?  The kings of this world will sacrifice their whole army before they let themselves be taken, but not Jesus.  To soldiers, this was a foolish king.  Even the giving of the sour wine to quench his thirst seems to be done in a mocking way.  Perhaps they did so as if they were servants serving the king his wine.  Either way, they make it clear with their mocking tone that they do not respect such a king.

Lastly, with one of the criminals the mocker is really only concerned about himself.  “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.”  The emphasis should be placed on the “us.”  This criminal could care less about Jesus.  He mocks only because it makes him feel better about himself.  Jesus represents one of those goody-two-shoes that he despises.  This taunt betrays the fact that he only cares about himself.  Even if Jesus did deliver himself, why would he save this criminal?  He clearly is not a follower of Jesus.  Mocking is tempting because it gives the person a quick fix for feeling better about themselves.  Yet, at the same time it increases their judgment before God.

But Some Believed On Jesus

One of the criminals did not mock Jesus.  In fact the mocking of the other criminal sparks a rebuke from him.  Perhaps this was a mercy of the Father to his Son.  Jesus is doing this to save people and yet he is surrounded by mocking.  Yet, in the midst of this, a man declares his faith in Jesus.  Yes, the disciples would also believe in Jesus.  But only this criminal publically declared faith in Jesus that day.  Of course, he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Perhaps that is our problem; we often have too much to lose.

Notice that the criminal mentions the fear of the Lord.  Up to this point neither criminal had feared God enough to follow his plans.  It wasn’t until he was nailed to a cross and dying next to the righteous Jesus that this criminal began to fear God.  He had avoided it all his life, but now he couldn’t.  Within hours he would leave this life and stand before the Creator.  This scared him.  We are told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Until a person recognizes that they are going to be judged by God for how they lived this life, they do not operate out of true wisdom.  Have we become far too quick to mock and ridicule one another?  Even in the church we can play the mocker when we think we can get away with it.  Is this because we don’t think God will do anything about it, in this life or the next?  We should beware.  Such actions and thoughts are foolish.  We will have to give account for them before the Lord.  If you want to be blessed then avoid the decision chair of the mockers.

In Jesus both religious and secular mankind demonstrate their judgment of God.  They sit in the mockers chair and judge God as if they are the measure of justice.  Just as the world was unjustly punishing Jesus, so the world makes judgments against God and his followers.  These judgments are unjust and untrue.  The second criminal petitions Jesus for grace in the face of death.  He cries for help from the only one who appears to be able to do anything for him.  He has a great judgment hanging over his head and he deserves it.  The way he words his appeal asks for grace and makes a statement of faith.  “When you come into your kingdom, remember me.”  Death bed salvations may not sit well with our sense of justice.  However, when you weigh it against the fact that we all deserve death for our sins, it doesn’t matter.  What truly matters is that a person gets out of the seat of the mockers and prostrates themselves before God.  Have you done this?

The gracious words of Jesus to the sinner are “Today you will be with me in Paradise.”  Paradise is the word that is connected to the Garden of Eden in Genesis.  Of course that Paradise is gone.  However the book of Revelation points us to another Paradise in Revelation 2:7.  “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”  Jesus is essentially saying that the Garden of Eden is not missing, it is with the Father, and it will come back to earth some day.  Those who overcome the temptation to join the mockers of this world will enjoy it with Jesus and the Father.  What we see the criminal doing here is called repentance.  Instead of continuing down the same old path, he turns his back on his mocking lifestyle and turns to Jesus in faith.  Repentance turns from the way of sin and towards the path of righteousness that Jesus shows us.  Such a person will always receive the mercy and love of God as its reward.  Let’s be a people who shun the chair of mockers and humble ourselves before one another and our Lord.

Mocking Messiah audio

Lessons of Christmas- The Goodness of It All

Titus 3:1-8.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 29, 2015.

As we enter the Christmas season, I want us to look at some of the lessons that it teaches us.  Of course, we do not want to confuse what the world wants us to learn with what God wants us to learn.  The world wants us to generalize Christmas into a time of feeling and doing good things towards others.  But, God wants us to learn far more than this because the first Christmas did not happen in a vacuum.  It happened after a long history of mankind’s rejection of God and the tragic consequences of our chosen paths, namely sin.

The history of mankind is that of casting off the truth of God and his dealings with us, and then following our own heart.  We are told that spiritual enemies have taken advantage of this to instigate false religions and ways of living among mankind.  Thus the nations of the world were lost and worshipping demonic spirits in the guise of gods.  In this context, God creates a nation from Abraham called Israel.  He gives them His Law as a witness to all the nations.  But 18 centuries later, Israel had become a nation that sidelined the Truth of God’s Law and had embraced the traditions of rabbis and “wise men.”  Instead of a complete rejection like the nations of the world, they kept up a form of obedience, but the powerful principles of God’s Word had been rejected.  Thus all of mankind was in the same condition: bound by the sin of rejecting the Truth of God and guilty before Him.  It was time for judgment and destruction.  It was time for another global judgment.  And yet, that is not what God did.  It is impossible to overemphasize the fact that mankind was totally guilty and deserving judgment before God when He surprised us with a supreme gift of love.  God sent us His own Son, not as a conquering, warrior king to destroy, but rather as a harmless child who would save.  Christmas is a story about the supreme goodness of God.  The message of Christmas is not about the goodness of humanity, but rather, the goodness of God despite the horrible sins of mankind.

The Christian Is Called To Goodness

In Titus 3, the first two verses may look like a list of duties.  However, the list itself flows out of a central principle that followers of Jesus are called to goodness in everything that they do.  The first area Paul points out is our goodness towards authority, specifically governmental.  Christians ought to act in a good manner towards governments and any authorities in their life for that matter.  There are many times when the wickedness within a person causes them to reject the virtues of self-subjection and obedience to authority.  In fact as you read this you may not see them as virtuous, but as problems.  Yet, there are fewer times when righteousness demands that we stand against authority.  In fact, it is important for Christians to note, that even when the apostles themselves disobeyed governmental authorities by continuing to preach Christ, they submitted to the punishments without raging against those who carried them out.  In fact, they demonstrated love even to those who were persecuting them.  Yes, there are many issues in this area.  Yet, this cannot be avoided.  Those who follow Jesus must do so in an attitude of subjection and obedience to governmental authorities, and not one of rage, anger, and rebellion.

Next Paul tells them to be ready for every good work.  This is a general statement that helps us to see that we are to do more than just be good in a passive sense.  We are to actively prepare for and execute those good works that opportunity affords us.  How can we ready ourselves?  Our readiness is that of a disciple who is listening to the Holy Spirit and living out what He teaches us.  We follow the Spirit of Christ rather than the Spirit of this Age.  It is our submission and obedience to the authority of the Lord Jesus that enables us to be ready for the good things we must do, and often to those who “don’t deserve it.”

Lastly Paul tells us to be good towards our fellow man.  Verse 2 demonstrates many different ways that we can do that.  “Speak evil of no one,” uses the word that is translated blasphemy when it is used of God.  Thus we are not to speak what is untrue or unsubstantiated about any one, period.  We are to be peaceable towards others.  That means we don’t start fights and further more we decline to fight with others when they start it.  Such bickering, quarreling, and outbursts are to stop at the decision of the believer to not reciprocate such things.  We are also told to be gentle.  This is not about how we touch one another, but is about our dealings.  We should be fair, equitable, mild, and loving even in times of correction.  Lastly we should be humble before all men.  In fact, especially before those whom we feel we are above.  This life of goodness is not easy to accept.  Our flesh comes up with innumerable excuses and “reasons” why Jesus can’t really mean this. 

It is easy to be good towards those who we think are good, but in verse 3 Paul reminds us that we were not always a person committed to being good.  It is important to identify with the person we see as evil.  Even if we have left that life behind, we used to be like them.  If we condemn them then we are condemning ourselves.  If they are unworthy of goodness then so are we.  Paul ends his list of what our past life was like with a picture of those who are selfish and scrapping with everyone around them, hateful and hating.  It is survival of the fittest and dog eat dog.  This is the world as it was in the days of the first Christmas.  Little hope, little light, and thick darkness all around. 

The Goodness of God Has Appeared in Jesus

In verses 4-8, Paul reminds us that Jesus came to us during this darkness.  His “appearance” is a reference to His incarnation, birth and life.  His light broke in upon the darkness and life sprang up among the dead.  Jesus broke in upon this sad condition of ours and gave us goodness.  This is what we are called to do.  We are to be the goodness of God breaking in upon the darkness of others in this world.

Jesus did not just merely exist, but he was the goodness of God towards people who didn’t deserve goodness.  He came not as a rebel against the government in order to take over, nor as a destroyer.  He was the gentleness and compassion of God as he healed people, set them free from demons, helped them to see the truths that they had lost, and simply helped them to believe in God again.  No matter what we experience in life, we must keep this as the bedrock of our understanding: God loves us all and has poured out benevolent kindness upon us despite our wickedness.

He did so not because He was obligated to do so.  He would have been perfectly justified to judge us as evil and either wall himself off from us, or destroy us.  No individual and no nation had done anything that would deserve the kindness of God to send mankind His Son as a savior.  It was simply mercy.  He gave us what we didn’t deserve.  This salvation was not the outward destruction of our enemies.  Otherwise He would have to destroy us all due to the fact that we are all someone’s enemy.  Rather, the salvation is of a spiritual and mental nature.  It is intended to change our way of dealing with the world around us.  We are to respond and live differently because that is who God is.

Part of this mercy is described as being regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  Though this term can refer to the Resurrection, here it is referring to the spiritual resurrection of our dead spirit.  Before Christ we were spiritually dead to God.  We could not hear and respond to Him.  Instead we only listened to and followed the flesh and the spirit of this age.  When a person puts their faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit does a real work of making their spirit alive to God.  This is also called “born again.”  The Spirit takes up residence within our heart and mind in order to help us connect with the heart of the Father.

We are also mercifully renewed by the Holy Spirit.  By following the spirit of this age and our own flesh, our mind and heart have become broken and scarred.  We have believed all manner of lies and deceptions.  The renewal of our mind and heart happens through the teaching of Jesus and his apostles.  The Word of God and our obedience to it washes and renews our mind and heart from the crud of this world.  Over time it is easy to give up and become discouraged with this process.  Yet, take heart.  We were told that it would be difficult to follow Jesus and that we would be tempted to quit.  When you run into things that discourage you, this is a sign that you are on the right path.  Some people give up at the very moment they are getting on to the right path.

Verse 8 brings us full circle.  Those who believe in the person and work of Jesus will be careful to maintain a life of good works.  This means we will be vigilant and watch over our life in order to keep doing the good things that God has for us to do.  Some people balk when we talk about good works because it sounds like we are trying to save ourselves with works.  It has been said that, “The theology of Christianity is based on grace, the ethics of Christianity are based on gratitude.”   We do not do good works because they will save us.  Rather we do them out of gratitude for the salvation we already have.  If God so loved us, while we were yet sinners, how much more ought we to act in love towards all men?  Don’t let this world rob you of the goodness of God.  Instead, be one who gives it freely everywhere you go.  No, we do not do good to others because of a foolish notion of humanity’s goodness.  Rather we do so because of the truth of God’s goodness and the ability of people to be redeemed.

Goodness of it all audio

Blind

July 12, 2015--Luke 18:35-43

This sermon was preached by Pastor Nick Hauenstein.  Please click the audio link in order to listen to it.

Blind audio

Judge Not!

If a non-Christian knows any part of the Bible then it is usually these two words: “Judge Not!”  Of course that is about as far as their understanding on this subject goes when it comes to the Bible.  Sadly this can be true of some who are believers.  No one wants to feel like they are being judged.  However, the biblical teaching on judging goes much deeper than those two words.

If we are truly disciples of Jesus then we will search out what our master is trying to teach us and give ourselves to living it out.  God will not be satisfied with disciples who merely quote his teachings out of context.  Our passage for this sermon is Luke 6:36-42.  However, by way of remembrance let’s look at the last part of verse 35, “For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.”  Here we see that the reason we are to love our enemies is because God wants us to be like Him.  He is being kind to those who will never thank Him and are evil.  The present tense in that verse reminds us that there is still a future judgment coming, but for now, God is being kind.

A Call To Mercy In Judgment

In verse 36 Jesus transitions from the kindness to mercy.  Mercy is a type of kindness that involves our judgments of one another.  Think about this from God’s perspective for a bit.  God knows who will continue into eternity rejecting His kindness and who will eventually turn and give thanks to Him.  He even knows these things before we do them.  We are all evil in the sense of being sinners and needing salvation.  But most do not want to be saved from it.  Yet, even then God is still kind.  He is kind by delaying an inevitable judgment.  But, even more, He acts in love and mercy towards those who will continue to be unthankful and reject His love.  Here we see that His heart is merciful.

Mercy is not a concept to pursue, as if it was mere inspiration to something nobler.  It is more than that.  It is a description of something that God is.  He is the one who will define mercy for us through His actions and words.  Thus mercy is not up for us to define.  We need to become merciful in the way that God is merciful and not as the world or our heart would define it for us.  God delays His judgment and lovingly reaches out to the lost up to the last moment before His judgment is poured out.  Therefore, we need to hold our own judgments and instead, give people the love of God even if they will never embrace the gospel of Jesus.  We need to do this right up to the last moment when they slip into eternity.

It is also important to recognize that mercy is really a facet of love.  If love is seeking the well being of another then mercy speaks to the “Why” of love.  To continue in love with anyone will involve the love of mercy.  The word mercy here literally means to be distressed at the condition of another to the point of pity and compassion.  It is a feeling that leads to a particular action of restraint on one hand and help on the other.  Thus, God is distressed at mankind’s choice to follow Satan’s rebellion, to the point of taking pity on him and having compassion.  God has restrained himself in judgment and given time, instruction, and encouragement for man to turn to him for salvation.  It is too easy for us to think we know who will change and who will not.  We tend to give mercy to those whom we think it is worth giving mercy too.  But this is not God’s mercy.  This is a twisted self-serving mercy.

Any time we talk about judgment we need to recognize that it is a word that covers many different things.  Thus, when Jesus says judge not, we should ask ourselves how he is using that word.  There is a difference between judging an outward action as bad or good and judging the heart of a person as bad or good.  If I punch you in the face, are you being judgmental to say it was wrong?  Yes and no.  Yes you are making a judgment.  But few would say you are being judgmental, but the person throwing the punch.  How about the judgment of what kind of food you like?  Is that what Jesus is talking about?  It is impossible to live life without judging what is good to you and important to you.  Yet, in verse 37 Jesus follows up the word judge with the word condemn.  It is clear that he means to further clarify the word judge.  Thus judgment here is more than an opinion.  It refers to the calling down of punishment or censure upon someone.

This gets even trickier when we take in account whether a person is a Christian or not.  In 1 Corinthians chapter 4 Paul takes the church to task for their judgments about him.  He tells them to not be so hasty to judge the value of his ministry and person until the Lord comes, “who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.  Then each one’s praise will come from God.”  They had “judged” the quality of Paul’s ministry and motivations as a low value.  He is challenging them not to judge in that way.  However, in 1 Corinthians 5 he deals with a person in the church who is having sexual relations with his step-mother.  Instead of rebuking him, they were proud of their great grace with him.  Paul tells them that, when it comes to outward actions and outward refusal to change, they needed to make a judgment.  Yet, he points out that this is because the guy is a believer within the church.  If he was an unbeliever they wouldn’t be called to make a distinction.  Let’s read some of that passage:  “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.  For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside?  Do you not judge those who are inside [the Church]?  But those who are outside, God judges.  Therefore put away from yourselves the evil person.”  Notice that God’s Word is that within the Church we shouldn’t judge the value of a person, motivations, or heart.  But, we should judge their actions even to the point that the actions may cause us to separate from them.  Yet, we wouldn’t separate from a person who wasn’t in the church doing the same thing.  Later Paul tells them that the purpose for excommunicating a person from the church is so that they will see the error of their way and, through the destruction of following their flesh, repent.  We need to judge when we shouldn’t and not judge when we should.  We need a teacher!

So in verse 37 when Jesus cautions against judging notice that there is a present vs. future aspect.  Don’t judge and you won’t be judged later.  Don’t condemn and you won’t be condemned later.  Who is the “later judging” referring to?  Jesus is not saying don’t judge people and they won’t judge you.  Have you found that to be true?  Have you tried not judging others and they all quit judging you?  Hardly!  Jesus is warning us of God’s judgment.  What goes around is going to come around when you give account before God.  So be careful what you send around.  Also, judging is modified by the word condemn.  Jesus is not talking about making distinctions of good and bad actions.  We are to leave people’s judgment and condemnation up to God.  But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to say something when they sin against us.

Not only will it “come around,” but it will come around in “like measure.”  Verse 38 is often quoted in regard to money.  But the context here is mercy.  What standard of judgment do I use?  Is it harsh or careful?  What do I accept as evidence against others?  Whom do I condemn and censure in life?  Be careful you will find God treating you the same way.  In the Old Testament there had to be two witnesses in order to find someone guilty.  Thus one of the 10 commandments was, “You shall not bear false witness.”  A false witness is not just a person who lies.  It is also a person who presents themselves as evidence of another’s guilt and yet we didn’t actually see it.  Even if your best friend told you, you cannot be a witness only the people who saw it.  The difficult thing in life is that we do not always have enough evidence to convict.  Yet, we often do so anyways.  Even then, sometimes the witness and or the evidence is false.  Is this how you want God to judge you, based upon hearsay and the whims of others?  Thus verse 38 is a scary verse if you think about the unmerciful.  God will bring His wrath upon us, “pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing.”

Parables Given To Explain

Now Jesus gives 3 parables to help us understand this.  I will only look at two of them today.  The first is the Blind Teacher.  A student by nature cannot see or understand things around him.  He needs a teacher, “one who can see,” to teach him.  If the teacher is “blind” they will both end up in a ditch.  They will be unable to move forward on the road to Truth.  The intended question for each student is: “Who am I following?”  Am I following my own desires and lusts?  Am I following some wise person I admire and want to be like?  Am I following the spirit of this age?  My destiny can be affected by who I am taught by.  Ultimately, no pastor is your teacher.  Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the ultimate teachers.  God does use humans to point us back to himself.  But, that is the best we can do: point people back to God and His Word to better understand Jesus.  This is exactly what the prophets of old did.

The second parable is the Speck in the Eye.  This famous parable refers to a speck of chaff, or dirt that can get in the eye.  Jesus challenges his disciples to ask the question first, “Am I able to help them currently?”  I might be a great doctor, but if I have been drinking heavily or haven’t slept for 2 days, then I shouldn’t go into surgery.  Likewise, if I am going to deal with a speck in someone’s eye, I had better be sure I can help and not just because I have the correct information.  Even deeper than this is the issue of hypocrisy.  The sins of others are always so obvious to us.  But that also means my sins are just as obvious to them.  Self-inspection must be more than a hypocritical acceptance of a beam in my eye while I point out specks in yours.  Specks easily get in our eyes without us wanting them.  But a beam is not easily moved.  If I have a beam in my eye, It probably took a lot of work and compromise to get it there.  God is not hypocritical and neither should we be.  Notice Jesus doesn’t end by saying, therefore leave the specks in everyone’s eyes.  He says, “then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.”  Listen, it is irritating to have a speck in your eye.  It is also difficult to remove it by yourself.  Wouldn’t it be great if you knew someone who was trustworthy, gentle, and cared enough that they would help you remove it?  Let us hear the challenging words of our Lord and learn to make right and good judgments, so that, when we stand before Him, He will be pleased.

Judge Not Audio