Breathing Space

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

"By Grace, Through Faith"

One Sunday, the young pastor decided to use the 23rd Psalm for his children’s sermon. He began to tell the children about sheep—that they aren’t smart and need lots of guidance and that a shepherd’s job is to stay close to the sheep, protect them from wild animals and keep them from wandering away.

He pointed to the little children in the room and said they were the sheep and needed lots of guidance. Then the pastor put his hands out to the side, palms up in a dramatic gesture, and with raised eyebrows said to the children, “If you are the sheep, then who is the shepherd?” He was pretty obviously indicating himself.

A few seconds of silence followed, then one little boy said, “Jesus is the shepherd.”

The young pastor, obviously caught by surprise, said to the boy, “Well, then, who am I?”

The boy thought for a moment and then said with a shrug, “I guess you must be a sheep dog.”[i]

In John 10:1-21, Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd, and He does it in the presence of a bunch of sheep dogs. Religious leaders have just spent the previous chapter proving that they are really blind guides who are leading the people out of a desire for their own personal gain. They are “hired hands,” compared to Jesus, who is the true Shepherd of the Sheep. Hired hands run at the threat of danger because they are out for their own self-interests, but Jesus says that the Good Shepherd is different. Jesus says that the Good Shepherd guides the sheep in truth. In verses 2-4, 14, Jesus says:

But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice… I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,¹⁵just as my Father knows me and I know the Father.[ii]

The young pastor in the above story is wrong—God doesn’t call people “sheep” because they are dumb. But Jesus knows that every one of us needs guidance, and it’s easy to follow the wrong shepherds who give the wrong advice. Today, we’re apt to follow self-help gurus, political leaders, favorite authors, news commentators, or best buddies. In addition, there are a myriad of religious and spiritual voices on TV, the internet, and in pulpits, telling you what you should believe. But Jesus is the Good Shepherd. And He says His sheep know His voice.

In Palestine today, it is still possible to witness a scene that Jesus almost certainly saw two thousand years ago, that of Bedouin shepherds bringing their flocks home from the various pastures they have grazed during the day. Often those flocks will end up at the same watering hole around dusk, so that they get all mixed up together—eight or nine small flocks turning into a convention of thirsty sheep. Their shepherds do not worry about the mix-up, however. When it is time to go home, each one issues his or her own distinctive call—a special trill or whistle, or a particular tune on a particular reed pipe, and that shepherd's sheep withdraw from the crowd to follow their shepherd home. They know whom they belong to; they know their shepherd's voice, and it is the only one they will follow.[iii]

There are so many voices in the world today, but Jesus’ voice is distinct. It usually goes counter to either the ways of the world or the ways of “powers that be.” Instead of telling you how you can get ahead, succeed, and be the best and always win, the Shepherd tells you how you can be like Him, and become a sacrifice. Yes, God calls us “sheep” because we need guidance. But Jesus also calls us this because Christians are to lay our lives down to serve others. In verse 11, Jesus models this: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” In verse fifteen, He says, “I sacrifice my life for the sheep.” He also says, “I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded (vv. 17-18).” Jesus gave Himself so we could have eternal life—but now He calls sheep to become shepherds like Him, to put others first, to serve them, and to love them. Just as sheep are sacrificial animals, He calls us to lay down our lives as a living sacrifice.

In these verses, Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd, but He also calls Himself something else:

I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before mewere thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life (vv. 7-10).

When I first read this, I couldn’t understand how Jesus could be such a poor public speaker, employing a mixed metaphor the way He does! First, He says He is the Shepherd who goes through the gate. Then He says He is the gate itself. The writer in me got frustrated, wanting to say, “Which is it, Jesus? You can’t be both!” But yes, He can. This isn’t a mixed metaphor after all. Jesus is both the Shepherd who goes through the gate, and the gate itself. He is the Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep even when we don’t deserve to be found. He gives up His life for the sheep, exemplifying and offering grace. Salvation comes from the Shepherd’s grace. We receive the Shepherd by opening the gate to our hearts and letting Him in. We can only do this through faith. And yet even the faith that we have to receive His grace, comes to us as a gift from God. It is not our own faith, otherwise we could brag that we got saved because we were so faithful. That faith is a gift from God as well. Ephesians 2:8 says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” Other translations say, “By grace, through faith.” So, Jesus is the Shepherd who gives grace, and Jesus is the gate of faith by which we receive that gift. In other words, Jesus is all we need. I pray that today the Shepherd would feed you on the delicacies of His salvation, and that you’ll open wide to receive all that He has to offer.

[i] https://www.preaching.com/sermon-illustrations/illustration-sheep-pastors/. May 11, 2017.

[ii] All scripture quotations taken from the NLT.

[iii] Barbara Brown Taylor in The Preaching Life (Cowley, 1993), p. 147; submitted by Kevin Miller, Wheaton, Illinois. http://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2013/june/5061713.html. May 11, 2017.

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

"Clear as Mud"

In John 9:1-41, Jesus heals the sight of a man who was born blind. This one fact is about all we know about the young man—that he was born this way. The other thing we know is that people looked upon him with pity and asked the question “why.” Jesus’ disciples concluded that it was the judgment of God. They weren’t sure why God would let this young man be born blind, but they figured that such misfortune must certainly be punishment for some unknown sin. “’Rabbi,’ his disciples asked him, ‘why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins (v.2[i])?’” Jesus’ answer proves that there are actually three problems with their question.

First, the question assumes that the man’s suffering might be the result of his parents’ sin. This was an old assumption that ancient people had, that children suffer because of their parents’ sins. Jeremiah 31:29 quotes the common saying, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.” But God’s desire, says the prophet, is that people realize that people are responsible for their own sins, and God doesn’t punish the next generation for the sins of their parents. You might challenge this, quoting Numbers 14:18, which says that God “lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.” Yet the point that Moses makes here is not that God judges or punishes children for the sins of their parents, but that often children bear the consequences of their parents’ mistakes—like when parents are financially irresponsible and can’t take care of their kids properly. In the John passage, the disciples assume that the man was born blind as punishment for his parents’ sins—and Jesus is saying this is not the case.

Second, the question assumes that it’s even possible for a person to be born blind as punishment for his own sins. How could this be? Either they are assuming that God has judged him for sins not yet committed (a preposterous idea), or that God has judged him for sins committed in a previous lifetime. If this is so, then the disciples have heard the unbiblical doctrine of reincarnation from world travelers, and adopted it into their own belief system. Hinduism believes that good and bad karma build up over lifetimes, and that it’s possible to suffer today based on misdeeds in previous incarnations. Jesus says that this is also not so.

Third, the question assumes that if there’s something less than perfect in a person’s life, it must be—you know—less than perfect. We are programmed from our earliest days to believe that there’s a standard for physical perfection and that anything which falls short of that perfection must be faulty. So if someone is born without a limb, for example, we call that a birth defect. What makes it a defect? What makes them less than perfect? The defect is in our understanding, rather than any measurable reality. If God makes it that way, then it is most certainly not a defect. We might not understand why God chooses to make a person the way God does—but the pot needs not ask the potter, “Why did you make me like this (Isaiah 45:9; Romans 9:20?” Instead, we must understand that everything God creates is as God created it to be—and there is no defect. Jesus says, “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins…This happened so the power of God could be seen in him (John 9:3).”

I used to have trouble with this passage, because I thought Jesus was saying, “God made this man live in blindness all these years, just so I could glorify God by restoring his sight now.” Now that I’ve seen enough brokenness in my life to understand better, I know that Jesus was saying something else. Jesus was saying, “I’m going to heal him—but I want you to understand that his brokenness is not a defect; Rather, it’s a way that God has been demonstrating God’s power in his life from his birth up to this present moment.” You see, the power of God can be shown in so much more than simply physical healing.

We forget the immeasurable impact that many disabled people can have on others, and on society as a whole. Just think of the contributions of people like Helen Keller, Stephen Hawking, Beethoven, and Stevie Wonder. Just because something’s a struggle, that doesn’t make it bad. Quadriplegic artist, author, and speaker Joni Eareckson Tada says, “Suffering provides the gym equipment on which faith can be exercised.” God hates suffering, but Tada says, “Sometimes God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves.” And that accomplishment might be using disabilities for God’s glory. We’d be mistaken if we said the power of God could only be seen in his healing, and not also in his disability.

Throughout the Bible, God uses broken people in beautiful ways—and not every time (not even most of the time) does God provide healing the way we think He should. Yet, God is still demonstrating God’s glory in their lives. Paul says he had a condition that he prayed three times for God to heal. “Each time [God] said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’” Paul continues, “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me (2 Corinthians 12:9).” Jesus wants people to know that sometimes God physically heals, but there’s beauty and godliness in all kinds of physical conditions.

Throughout the rest of the chapter, the Pharisees question the young man and his parents. “Who healed you? What happened? How did he do it? Was this man even blind, or is it a hoax? Was this healing a sin because it happened on the Sabbath? In the end, we see that what matters—the thing that has eternal consequence—is not physical healing, but spiritual. Not physical blindness, but spiritual. Because there are those whose eyes cannot see, yet who have a vibrant relationship with God, and there are others with perfectly good eyes, yet to whom the truth is clear as mud. The reality is that suffering happens in the world—it’s a part of this world’s system. What matters, more than the condition of your body, is the condition of your spirit. Your body’s just a shell that houses your soul, anyway. So the question isn’t how good your eyesight is, but how good your insight is. When moved by the Spirit, even people with bad eyes can sing, “Was blind, but now I see!”

[i] Scripture quotations taken from the NLT.

"Truth and Lies"

Recently I came across a list of lies that we tell ourselves, and that we tell each other.

- The check is in the mail.

- I'll start my diet tomorrow.

- We service what we sell.

- Give me your number and the doctor will call you right back.

- Money cheerfully refunded.

- One size fits all.

- This offer limited to the first 100 people who call in.

- Your luggage isn't lost, it's only misplaced.

- Leave your resume and we'll keep it on file.

- This hurts me more than it hurts you.

- I just need five minutes of your time.

- Your table will be ready in a few minutes.

- Open wide, it won't hurt a bit.

- Let's have lunch sometime.[i]

Reading that list made me think of spiritual lies that we tell ourselves. Jesus wants us to know the truth, just like He wanted the people in His own day to know it.

The first lie we tell ourselves is that we’re free. Yes, in this country we have certain political freedoms, but we like to tell ourselves that we are free to our very core. The truth is that everybody is going to serve a master. Either you’re going to serve sin as its slave, or you’re going to become a servant God—set free from sin so you can live as a child of God, as a member of God’s family. John 8:33-36 says:

“But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

The second lie we tell ourselves as Americans and as Christians is that we can fall back on our heritage. A lot of people think that God is impressed by the lineage we carry from pious ancestors. The truth is that God isn’t impressed by us at all—and that what God wants is people who claim Him as their spiritual Father. In verses 8:39-41a, Jesus refutes the people’s claim that they are special because of their parentage:

“Our father is Abraham!” they declared.

“No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. No, you are imitating your real father.”

This leads us to the third lie, that you can claim God as your Father if you have no love. A child who is adopted from an abusive home into a loving family needs to choose which set of values they are going to adopt for themselves. Will they behave like their first father or their second? In verses 41b-47, Jesus tells them that their true Father is the one that they learn to act like.

They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.”

Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”

There are many people who claim to be Christians, yet they have no love for Christ at all. Jesus knows that they have no love for Him because they have no love for their fellow human beings (Matthew 25:40, 45). People like this may put on a good religious show, but God will easily judge between those who follow Him and those who don’t.

The Fourth Lie is that we can be the judge. Like self-righteous people of Jesus’ day, many Christians believe that they can judge others’ behavior based on their own limited understanding. People like this wouldn’t recognize a true move of God if it were right before their eyes. In verses 48 and 52, the “righteous” people declare that Jesus is a “Samaritan devil,” and twice they say that He has a demon. In verse 53, they ask Him, “Who do you think you are?” In verse 59, they pick up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus says, “No…I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me. And though I have no wish to glorify myself, God is going to glorify me. He is the true judge (vv. 49-50).” No, instead Jesus tells us not to judge (Matthew 7:1-3), and says that even He will not be the judge (John 12:47-48).”

It seems that many American Christians these days have bought into a pack of lies. We celebrate and congratulate ourselves for our freedom, when Jesus says we’re really not free if we’re slaves to sin. We think that heritage is worth something, Jesus says it’s worthless if we think we can rely on our ancestors’ relationship with God. We believe that being a Christian is a matter of affiliation with an organization or adhering to certain doctrines, but Jesus says those things are worthless without love. We smugly judge those who don’t live up to our standards, but Jesus says that God is the judge and we are not. In fact, Christians who believe these lies aren’t really believers at all. Jesus’ standard is found in John 8:31-32: “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” I pray that you’ll not just call yourself a Christian, but that you’ll walk in Jesus’ truth and love today.

[i] Bits & Pieces, December 9, 1993, pp. 12-13. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/l/lie.htm. April 6, 2017.

"Above and Below"

Lynn Malone shares the following about how…

we seem to live in two different worlds, the rich and the poor. A striking example is shared by Brett Blair, a pastor in the Kentucky Annual Conference. Blair shared that some years ago before the death of Mother Theresa, a television special depicted the grim human conditions that were a part of her daily life. It showed all the horror of the slums of Calcutta and her love for these destitute people. The producer interviewed her as she made her rounds in that dreadful place. Throughout the program commercials interrupted the flow of the discussion. Here is the sequence of the topics and commercials: lepers (bikinis for sale); mass starvation (designer jeans); agonizing poverty (fur coats); abandoned babies (ice cream sundaes) the dying (diamond watches). The irony was so apparent. Two different worlds were on display--the world of the poor and the world of the affluent.[i]

In the same way that this world seems to be divided between the rich and poor, the Bible makes it clear that there are two realms: above and below. Psalm 103:11 says, “For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.” Isaiah 55:9 says, “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Unfortunately this has led to a lot of artistic depictions of heaven being in the clouds, or even in outer space. Rather than thinking of heaven as another place far away in the clouds, Jesus revolutionizes spiritual thinking by declaring, “the Kingdom of Heaven is near (Matthew 3:2; 4:17).” So while Jesus uses the language of “above and below,” we know that this locational language is merely symbolic for two planes of existence.

Ephesians 4:9[ii] says, “Notice that it says ‘he ascended.’ This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world.” When John 1:14 says, “So the Word became human and made his home among us,” it literally depicts Jesus moving from the heavenly, spiritual kingdom, to the earthly realm. Not only is heaven where Jesus came from, but Jesus makes a place for us there. In John 14:1-4, Jesus says to His disciples:

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am...”

But while Jesus promises Heaven to those who believe in Him, He says something else to those who don’t. In John 8:21, 23-24, Jesus says, “You cannot come where I am going…You are from below; I am from above. You belong to this world; I do not. That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I claim to be,you will die in your sins.”

Jesus said that there are two worlds—above and below. The way to enter eternal life (the upper world, the heavenly realm) is to trust the love and grace of God that Christ demonstrates by His life, and by His death. Through the cross, Jesus was literally suspended between heaven and earth—bridging the gap between the Lord above and the people below. In John 8:28, Jesus says, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I am he.” Yes, it was when Jesus was lifted up that the Roman centurion declared, “This man truly was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39)!”

This declaration of faith is the beginning of salvation, the first step toward a transformation that results in a heavenly mind and eternal life. In Romans 8:5-6, Paul says, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” Being saved is more than just getting a ticket to heaven. It’s allowing yourself to be controlled by the Holy Spirit so that you can say as Jesus does, “I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me... For I always do what pleases him (John 8:28-29).”

I love the story by J.M. Barrie of Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn’t grow up—who had a form of everlasting youth or eternal life. He flies into the Darling’s nursery window to make friends and invite Wendy, Michael and John to adventure with him. Teaching them to fly, he tells them, “All you need is faith and trust, and a little bit of pixie dust.” Learning to fly as he does, they follow him to Neverland by following “the second star to the right, and straight on ‘til morning.” There, they join the Lost Boys who have been saved by Pan, and together they meet mermaids, engage with Indians, and battle buccaneers. Peter Pan is a Christlike character who reminds us that if we have faith and trust, we too can fly. We can change our place of residence, becoming people of another world, joining those who were lost but now are found. Following Christ, we can live without fear of loss or defeat. In fact, we can even stare death in the face and say as Pan did and say, “To die will be an awfully big adventure!”

Jesus’ message to believers and unbelievers is clear: Those who place their trust in Him may go where He goes. They become people of the heavenly realm, of everlasting life. You activate this salvation by faith that leads to a new way of thinking. Through this new way of Christ, let us learn to fly, remembering that “letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

[i] Malone, Lynn. June 13, 2005. https://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-lynn-malone-movies-/-videos-21028. March 30, 2017.

[ii] All scripture quotations are taken from the NLT.

Monday, May 22, 2017

"Light of the World"

When I think back to my childhood, I remember many times when my mother turned on the light. There were times when I was afraid of the dark, and she turned on the light to make the darkness flee. Then she got a broom and chased all the monsters out of my closet so that I’d feel safe. The light that she brought meant security. Then on birthdays, when Mom lit candles on cakes, the light that she brought meant celebration. Often after bedtime, I’d be huddling under my blankets with my own little flashlight, reading a book when I was supposed to be sleeping. When she’d come into the room and switch on the ceiling light, it would reveal not just what I’d been up to, but also that I’d been trying to hide it. In this case, the light that she turned on meant the discovery of sin, and subsequent judgment. In these three cases, Mom was the bringer of light. In today’s scripture, Jesus reveals Himself not just as the bringer of light, but as The Light of the World.

In John 8:12, Jesus was in the Temple. “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, ‘I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.’”[i] What does He mean by this? The Temple itself was called The Light of the World, in part because of a huge candelabra that stood as its central lamp.[ii] Constructed with seven branches emerging from a trunk at the middle, the lamps at the ends of the branches made the metal bush to burn like the image of God that spoke to Moses in the wilderness. When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” He was saying, “I am the burning bush. I am the voice that spoke to Moses, and I am the light that still shines.”

The seven branches of the candlestick represent the seven spirits of God (Revelation 4:5), and the seven festivals in the Jewish Calendar. The Messiah is said to be the fulfillment of the feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. John 7:2 says this took place during the Feast of Tabernacles, which is represented by the central lamp in the candlestick—higher than the others. Many Bible scholars believe Jesus was born at the Feast of Tabernacles, rather than on Christmas, a holiday of later invention. In some respects, this would mean that Jesus was looking at the lamp and saying, “Look—my birthday candles!”[iii]

Jesus came to shine light on people’s darkness. He is the candle and the lamp stand all rolled into one! John 1:4-5 says, “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Like my mom bringing light, Jesus’ light casts out spiritual darkness. Sometimes that light means security and peace. Other times, it means celebration, and still other times, it illuminates sin in our lives, highlighting our need to repent. The difference is that while my mom turned on the light, Jesus said that He is the light.

So, how can we understand Jesus as the Light of the World? Imagine the sun burning in the sky, with the sun’s rays shining down on the earth. There’s no difference between the sun itself and the sun’s rays—they’re made up of the same stuff. The sun is the source of the light, and the rays are the light. This is the same as God the Father, who is the Source, shining the Christ light down upon us. There’s no difference in essence between the Father and Christ, but Jesus is that beam of God, shone down upon the earth. If the Father is like the sun in the sky, and Jesus is the light, then the Holy Spirit would be like the act of seeing. Seeing happens when that light interacts with the human eye. In the same way, the Holy Spirit acts when the light of Christ is received in our souls. The Holy Spirit makes God a verb, causing us to respond to the action of God.

This is why Jesus said, “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is (Matthew 6:22-23)!” This “eye” is symbolic of the soul. When your soul is healthy, the whole body is filled with the Light of the World. But when your soul is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. Some people think they have light—like me using my own little flashlight to read. But using that pen light was actually still relative darkness—just a dim glow that was actually an act of rebellion against bedtime. When we think we have light but are still in rebellion, our souls are in darkness indeed. Instead of darkness, Jesus wants us to open our souls that we might have the light of life. Jesus doesn’t judge—but sheds light on our lives to let our own deeds show themselves for what they are. Then, He calls us to choose the light over our own relative darkness.

After we choose that light, God wants us to pass it on. In Luke 11:33, Jesus said, “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.” Parents pass it on to children, who pass it on to the next generation. Believers share it with people in darkness, who come to the light and turn on the light for others. I pray that you, too, will become a bringer of the Light of the World.

[i] All scripture quotations taken from the NLT.

[ii] http://www.bible-light.com/BLON/STAR_V30-1_1998-02/feb98a52.htm. March 24, 2017.

[iii] http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/jesus-is-the-meaning-behind-the-menorah/. March 27, 2017.

"Above and Below"

Lynn Malone shares the following about how…

[i] Malone, Lynn. June 13, 2005. https://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-lynn-malone-movies-/-videos-21028. March 30, 2017.

[ii] All scripture quotations are taken from the NLT.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

"Condemning or Condoning"

Years ago, I had the privilege of baptizing a young man in prison. Once I was talking with him, and he was expressing his sorrow for the thing he had done. I told him, “Most of us have at some point in time done things that we could have gone to jail for. Then I told him of some things I did as a teenager. The only difference between him and me is that he got caught, and I never did. Every one of us have messed up in our lives--it's just that some of us get into more trouble for it than others. Jesus offers forgiveness for all. In today’s scripture we see that Jesus is not soft on sin, but He is big on grace!

In John 8:1-11 we find Jesus teaching in the Temple. Sometime during the night, the scribes and Pharisees had caught a woman in the act of adultery. In front of the crowds they brought her to Jesus. “’Teacher,’ they said to Jesus, ‘this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say (vv. 4-5)?’”[i] This put Jesus in quite an uncomfortable position. Jesus always taught about the grace and forgiveness of God, while the Pharisees and scribes always taught about God’s vengeance and anger. In truth, the Bible talks about both of these things. Sin does anger God. But God also desires to show mercy. So which of these two things should he show today? If Jesus showed too much mercy, the Pharisees would say he was violating the law which called for her execution. But if he gave her swift justice without mercy, he would violate his own teachings of grace. What would he say? Jesus wanted to show that He’s not soft on sin, but He is big on grace.

I know what I would have said, if I had been there: “Where’s the guy?” I mean, think about it—in order to catch the woman IN THE ACT of adultery, she would have had to be WITH somebody, right? So why had they dragged her away to put her to death, and let the man go? Pharisees prided themselves on their law-keeping, yet the verse they quoted in Deuteronomy 22:22 says, “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.” Could it be that the man was one of the Pharisees?

Well, I wasn’t there to challenge this, and that’s not what Jesus said. Instead, he carefully considered the binary choice they had presented to him: Should he condemn her to death or condone her sin? Often, when people want to trap you, they will present you with a binary choice. Often, when the devil wants to put you in a tough spot, he will make it seem like there are only two options. You may be in that same situation, when it comes to your temptation to judge others. You may feel like you have a choice between condoning or condemning. But Jesus listened to the Holy Spirit, presented a third option that neither condoned her sin, but didn’t condemn her either.

Without saying a word, he bent down and began writing in the dirt. What was he writing? Everybody gathered around to see. Now the Bible doesn’t tell us what Jesus wrote, but it does give us the effect of what Jesus wrote and said. See, Jesus had divine insight, and had access to God’s all-seeing eye. One preacher I heard suggested that Jesus was writing the names of all the girlfriends of the Pharisees—those names they didn’t want their wives to know. Then Jesus stood up and told them that they should keep the Law of Moses, which said that the woman should be stoned. (In this way he protected his integrity by maintaining the Law.) But, he added a word of mercy. “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” The Bible says that the scribes and Pharisees left one at a time, beginning with the oldest first. Why did the oldest leave first? They had probably had more time to sin, and had more of a list being written on the ground. Jesus had defeated those who tried to trap him, and saved the life of a girl who had been caught in her sin.

Today I ask you, which character in this story do you most identify with? Do you see yourself in the role of this woman, who had been caught in the very act of her sin? All of us at some time or another are guilty of breaking God's law. Some have committed this same sin that she committed. Others are guilty of different crimes. But all of us stand before God tainted with the stain of sin. When the devil accuses us, we are ashamed and want to hide our faces. But Jesus is the one who does not condemn. He always forgives those who turn to him for mercy.

Or maybe you identify the most with the pharisees and scribes in this story. Maybe you've caught someone in the act of committing a crime or a sin against you. Has someone you know betrayed you and now you want justice done? Then you need to learn the lesson of this story: There's a difference between justice and vengeance. God is a god of justice. And with God, being merciful is always better than being just. You see, Jesus is not soft on sin, but He is big on grace!

Or it could be that Jesus’ predicament reminds you of a situation you are in today. Maybe people go to you whenever big decisions need to be made. Maybe you sometimes feel trapped between what people think you should do, and what God wants you to do. If that's the case, then you need to pray that like Jesus, you might be given the wisdom of God to handle all the challenge of calling sin “sin” on the one hand, and yet reserving condemnation on the other hand, trusting that God is God and you are not.

You know, those Pharisees who so readily quoted from Deuteronomy 22:22 would have done well to read the whole chapter. They were quick to practice the law of condemnation, but Jesus was following God’s commands by practicing a higher law—the law of mercy. Verses 1-4 talk about the responsibility of a person who finds a wandering sheep or ox or goat that belongs to his neighbor. Maybe the animal has even collapsed on the road. The law of mercy says it’s your responsibility not to ignore that poor animal’s plight, but to take it under your protection and return it to its master. If God could care so much for a wandering beast, how much more does God care for an erring man or woman! Instead of condemning this woman, Jesus took her under his protection, showed her mercy, and restored her to God. Jesus did this not because he is soft on sin, but because he is big on grace!

Life constantly provides opportunities for failure and for success. Sometimes life presents you with temptations that you choose to follow to their sinful outcomes. Jesus speaks the same words he spoke to the woman who was caught in the act of adultery: "Neither do I [condemn you]. Go, and sin no more (John 8:11)." He doesn’t condemn; He doesn’t condone. Instead, He chooses to atone—and that act of divine mercy makes all the difference.

[i] All scripture quotations taken from the NLT.