7/22/12 - Pentecost 8 - Amos 7:10-17

YOU AREN'T JUST A FIG-SPLITTER ANYMORE

Amos’ Previous Occupation

            The job of Old Testament prophet was not usually the most popular position to have.  For example: the prophet Elijah was hunted down by the king and queen of Israel for most of his ministry.  The prophet Isaiah was supposedly sawed in half at the end of his.  The prophet Daniel was thrown into a pit of lions.  The prophet Zechariah was stoned in the temple.  The prophet Jeremiah was beaten, he was imprisoned, and he was left for dead in the bottom of a well.  And countless other prophets - unnamed in the pages of Scripture - were captured, tortured, and murdered.  Throughout the history of the Israelite people the prophets were severely mistreated.  And even if they were not physically abused, they were often contradicted by false prophets, accused of leading rebellions, and generally ignored by almost everyone.  These faithful men of God who should have been the most revered people in the land were oftentimes the most despised.  But out of all those prophets, the prophet Amos may have been the most despised of all.  Partly because of where he was from and partly because of the occupation he used to have. 

            Amos had been sent to preach the Word of God to the leaders of the northern kingdom of Israel.  Which isn’t anything out of the ordinary, other than the fact that he was from the southern kingdom of Judah.  Remember that the nation of Israel had been split in two after Solomon’s death and the people of the northern kingdom of Israel didn’t always get along with their fellow countrymen in the southern kingdom of Judah.  And so when Amos went up and preached to the people there he was told by one of their leaders, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.  Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”  There was no doubt: the rulers of the people did not want Amos there, not only because he was a prophet and not only because he was pointing out their sins, but because he hailed from that “arrogant” nation of Judah down south.

            And if that wasn’t enough to cause the people to hate Amos, there was one more thing that they could hold against him: he hadn’t always been a prophet.  He had been a day-laborer leading up to this special calling.  He had done the work of tending sheep and taking care of fig trees.  In fact, the word that Amos uses here to describe his previous occupation apparently refers to making a small cut in the figs before they were fully ripe so that they would sweeten by the time they were ready to pick.  Amos had been nothing more than a fig-splitter from the land of Judah when he was called to go up and preach to the leaders of the kingdom of Israel.  But no matter what he used to be, he wasn’t just fig-splitter anymore.

Amos’ New Calling

            “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son,” Amos said, “but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.  But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’  Now then, hear the word of the Lord.”  Fig-splitter or not, shepherd or not, citizen of the southern kingdom of Judah or not, Amos had been chosen by the Lord himself to bring the Word of God to the people of northern Israel.  He hadn’t been traditionally trained, he hadn’t had any other prophets in his family tree, he may not have even wanted to be God’s spokesman, but God wanted him to be.  And so the Lord took Amos from a job in which he got his hands dirty on a daily basis and gave him a job in which he had to deal with the spiritual filth of sin on a daily basis.  The Lord changed him from a physical shepherd into a shepherd of souls.  The Lord raised him up from a position where he was making small cuts in pieces of fruit and placed him in a position in which he would cut through the hearts of those who heard the words of the law and gospel he was sent to speak.  Amos, by no effort or asking on his own, was now someone new.  He wasn’t just a fig-splitter anymore.

Our New Responsibilities

            I would guess that there aren’t many of you who have split figs for a living, but there are some of us who have worked the ground, some of us who have worked at a desk, and everything in between.  Some of us who are younger may not yet have experienced a paid position in the work force and some of us who are a bit older may have left those paid positions behind.  And whatever kind of work you did, whatever kind of work you are doing, and whatever kind of work you will do in the future is a way in which you can thank your Lord and praise him for what he has done for you.  He is thrilled when you faithfully and willingly carry out your duties in whatever station in life he has placed you.  But no matter what you do and no matter how long you have been doing it, please understand that just like Amos you aren’t just a fig-splitter anymore either. 

            Along with the job you have, on top of the different roles you have already been given, you have another set of Christian responsibilities to carry out as well.  “Go, and make disciples of all nations,” Jesus tells you.  “Preach the Word in season and out of season,” Jesus tells you.  “Go and preach the Good News to all creation,” Jesus tells you.  And these words are not just for those who hold the title of ‘pastor’ or ‘minister,’ ‘missionary’ or ‘evangelist.’  These calls are directed towards all Christians, those whom Paul describes as a “holy nation, a royal priesthood,” whom John describes as “a kingdom and priests to serve our God”.  You really are priests.  You are those whom the Lord has designated to bring the Word of God to the people, to pray on their behalf, to intercede for their sake.  You may not have been formally trained for this; you may not have any other full-time workers in the gospel ministry in your family tree; you may not even want to be God’s spokesman!  But God wants you to be.  And so along with the jobs, the responsibilities, and the roles he has given you in this life, he has also placed you in a position in which you will cut through the hearts of those who hear the law and gospel that you have been asked to share.  You aren’t just a fig-splitter anymore.

A Shirking of Duties

            But that’s the excuse we like to make, isn’t it?  “I’m just a fig-splitter.  I’m just a regular Christian.  I haven’t been called to preach from the pulpit or teach in a classroom or travel to different countries with the gospel in hand.  I haven’t gone to the seminary.  I don’t have generations of ministers in my family in whose footsteps I can follow.  I haven’t even had the desire to do something like that!”  And so it’s easy to shirk your responsibilities when that is what is going through your mind.  It doesn’t weigh too heavy on your conscience to leave it to someone else when you convince yourself that you are not qualified for the work anyway.

            And I make those excuses too - probably some of the same excuses that Amos was tempted to make.  “I’m just a fig-splitter of a pastor.  Talking to people about the gospel whom I haven’t yet met isn’t my strong suit.  I don’t even know them well enough to strike up a normal conversation!  My talents really lie in other areas.  Plus, they aren’t going to want to hear it.  I’ll be intruding in their lives with a Message that will contradict their way of thinking and so it’d just be a waste of time.”  And with those excuses in mind I shirk my responsibilities too.  I put them off; I ignore them; I forget them.  And all the while the Lord continues to stand there waiting for me and for you to do the work that he has assigned us to do.  Fully aware of all the excuses we could make and not wanting to hear any of them.  He has simply asked us to share the gospel about Jesus’ death and resurrection that has worked on our hearts.  And he is extremely disappointed in us when we fail to do it.

Our Status because of Christ

            Have you ever thought how wonderful it is that the Lord doesn’t grade us on our performance?  Have you ever thought how wonderful it is that the Lord didn’t choose us based on our potential or our results?  I’m sure Amos felt the same way.  Because when Amos went from a fig-splitter to a soul-getter, was it because he had begged the Lord for so long to be placed in that position?  Was it because he had proved himself worthy of such important work throughout the years?  Was it because he demonstrated such outstanding talents and the skills that it was obvious he was the most qualified person in the entire land of Judah to do that work of evangelism to the northern kingdom?  Of course not.  The Lord picked him - despite his inadequacies, despite his past, despite his hesitations when he was nothing more than a fig-splitter!  Because that’s how the Lord operates: he picks us when we are at our lowest - sometimes even when we’re at our worst - so that we can appreciate all of his best.

            Consider your very status before God because of Christ: you are now his child, a special chosen member of his heavenly family - picked not because you have proved yourself worthy of the name but because the Lord simply wanted you to be his.  He decided to add you to the ranks of his holy people not because you met the qualifications or passed the entrance exam, but because he longed for your face to always be in front of his.  He completely cleaned you with his bloody sacrifice from all of your inadequacies and faults and inconsistencies not because you had pleased him in some way but because you could not no matter how hard you tried.  The Lord has the habit of making us into something that we once were not. 

            “You were once darkness,” Paul says, “but now you are light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8).  “You who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13).  Peter says, “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:10).  The Lord has the unique habit of making us into something that we once were not.  And it’s a good thing he does!  Otherwise we would still be lost, we would still be wandering, we would still be headed to hell instead of heaven.  Without the Lord doing what he does for those who do not deserve it, we would be stuck right where we started.  And that’s exactly why we aren’t just fig-splitters anymore either.

            The Lord understands where you are at right now in your life - he has put you there!  The Lord understands the talents and the skills that you will be able to employ (or that you will not be able to employ) - he has given them to you!  The Lord understands all of the other jobs and duties you are responsible for on this earth - he wants you to carry those out too!  But you aren’t just a fig-splitter anymore.  You have been hand-picked by your Lord to share your faith with that neighbor who does not know any better and that family member who does, with the co-worker who does not have any peace in life and that friend who doesn’t know what that even means.  You have been sent to those whom you already know with the powerful Word that you read every day.  You have been selected as a personal spiritual advisor, as an evangelist, as an Amos.  Someone who may not have had the training, the experience, or the natural talents to make you feel completely comfortable in the role, but someone who has been given exactly what they need to take advantage of the opportunities that the Lord has crafted just for you. 

            You aren’t just a fig-splitter anymore.  You are God’s spokesman.  Chosen.  Forgiven.  Converted.  Assigned.  Sent.  Go with God’s grace as your confidence.  Go with God’s power moving you forward.  Go with God’s Word in your hand.  You are qualified to do this work.  Your Lord has seen to it that you are exactly the right person for the job. 

Amen.

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us - yes, establish the work of our hands.”  - Psalm 90:17

7/8/12 - Hezekiah 5 - 2 Kings 19:35-36

OVERWHELMING

Overwhelmed by Life

            Life can be overwhelming at times, can’t it?  There are so many things that can happen; there are so many problems that can come up; and when they all arrive at once a person can feel completely overwhelmed.  I would imagine that almost everyone in this room (maybe with the exception of the really little children) knows exactly what I’m talking about!  There have been moments in your life when you did not know if you could stand up under it all!  And it probably happened for a variety of different reasons depending on who you are and what time of your life we’re talking about.  Maybe one of the reasons you felt so overwhelmed was a health issue or a family issue.  Maybe it was a problem with your income, overdue bills, or unexpected expenses.  Maybe it was a catastrophe, an accident, even a death.  Maybe it had to do with all of the extra responsibilities that had suddenly been thrown on your shoulders whether you were ready for them or not.  Maybe it had been building up for a number of years.  Maybe it all came crashing down in one day.  Maybe it’s reoccurring.  Maybe it’s something you’re dealing with right now.  In any case, life can be overwhelming at times… for everyone.  And we are all affected by it in different ways.

            Some of us are those who feel weighed down by it all.  It seems to press down on your shoulders and you feel as if you are struggling to keep your head above water as all of the problems and difficulties swirl around you.  And your mood gets a little darker and your mind gets a little cloudier and your energy just isn’t there anymore.  And it’s a little overwhelming.

            But then there are others of us who are affected in almost the opposite way: instead of feeling weighed down, you get worked up!  You get flustered, tense, wired.  You wake up in the middle of the night worrying about what’s going to happen tomorrow.  You can’t get your mind off of what’s going on during the day.  You can’t calm down, you can’t relax, you can’t even seem to catch your breath.  And it’s a little overwhelming.

            Whether you’re someone who gets weighed down or someone who gets riled up, someone who stresses out because you’re frantically trying to juggle all of the balls all at once or someone who gets depressed at how many of those balls have fallen to the ground already, everyone gets overwhelmed at times in life.  Even the strongest of Christians.

Overwhelmed by the Assyrians

            King Hezekiah was a strong Christian.  He was a man whom Scripture says “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”  And we have seen examples of that the past four weeks.  But even this godly king was overwhelmed at times.  And maybe no more so than when King Sennacherib came pounding on the door.  King Sennacherib was the king of the Assyrians.  And at that time they ruled the known world.  They could do just about whatever they wanted to whomever they wanted.  In fact, when King Hoshea, the king of the northern land of Israel, rebelled against the Assyrians, the current Assyrian ruler brought his army over and completely annihilated the northern kingdom of Israel, sending the Lord’s people into exile.  That was ten out of the twelve tribes of Israel that the Assyrians just walked over!  And the two tribes of the land of Judah were next.  Hezekiah was king in Jerusalem when all of this was going on and there was nothing much he could do to stop it.  He had only a fraction of the fighting force that the king of Israel had at his disposal and they hadn’t even slowed the Assyrians down.  And by all accounts Sennacherib wasn’t the kindest of kings either.  He made those he conquered pay for their disobedience: he humiliated them, he mutilated the, he tortured them, he burned down their homes and ripped them away from their lands.  And now he was standing on the doorstep of Hezekiah’s kingdom, ready to do the same to him.  What was Hezekiah supposed to do?  What do you imagine was going through his mind?  Who wouldn’t be overwhelmed at a time like that?

            But you have heard the rest of the story already.  You know how it ends.  Should Hezekiah have been overwhelmed?  Should he have been anxious about the outcome?  Should he have worried at all?  “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!  So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.”  The Lord struck down 185,000 soldiers with the snap of his fingers!  In the blink of an eye 185,000 thousand problems that Hezekiah had weighing down on him disappeared.  Sennacherib left and he never came back.  No war, no siege, no capture, no exile.  Not one sword was drawn on either side.  God took care of it - and he took care of it in a way that no one expected. 

Overwhelmed for No Reason

            And so I ask you again: should Hezekiah have felt overwhelmed?  The Lord had everything under control the entire time.  He knew what was coming.  He realized what was going to happen.  And he was powerful enough and loving enough to make it right.  Should Hezekiah have felt overwhelmed at any point?  Should you?

            When we are overwhelmed by anything in this life - no matter what it is - we are struggling with a serious lack of trust in our powerful and loving Lord.  At those particular times in our lives when we are weighed down or worked up, we are in that state partly because we are relying too much on ourselves.  And I say that from experience!  “I have to fix it.  I have to deal with it.  I have to find a way through it.  I have to manage it.  I have to overcome it…”  Instead of calmly saying “The Lord will fix it.  The Lord will deal with it.  The Lord will get me through it.  The Lord will manage it.  The Lord has already overcome it,” we are absorbed in ourselves.  As if we were in control.  As if it were up to us to figure out a way to make things right.  Are we that forgetful?  Or are we that bigheaded as to think that we are the be-all and end-all of what happens in this life?  Where are the Lord’s promises in all of that?  What about his power?  What about his love?  No wonder we get overwhelmed!  If we are relying on our own abilities to deal with the messes around us, of course we’re going to find ourselves way in over our heads!

Overwhelmed by Christ’s Love

            But it is at those times when we find ourselves way in over our heads when our loving Lord does an amazing thing: he reaches over and grabs all of the balls that we’re trying to juggle and the dozens that we’ve not managed to keep in the air at all, and he throws them deep into the tomb that he left empty.  And then he takes all of the weights off of our shoulders that have been burdening us for years and he hangs them on the nails of his cross.  And then he bends down and lifts us out of the water over which we could not keep our heads and dries us off in the waters of baptism.  And he leads us to sit down at his table where his body and blood are waiting for us; and in a very real way he calms our nerves; he eases our worries; he soothes our hearts.  He massages out all of the kinks and the knots with his forgiveness; he strengthens us with the powerful promises of his Word; he assures us with the guarantee of life forever with him.  This is what Christ’s love does.  And it’s all a little overwhelming, isn’t it?

            When we are in pain he points us to the pain he experienced in our place, making the physical problems we are going through seem like nothing more than scrapes and scratches.  When we are struggling with a family member he reminds us of the wrath he took from his own Father because of what we did and who we are, making our relationships on this earth seem trivial in comparison.  When we can’t seem to get around the corner, when we can’t seem to get out of a rut, when we can’t seem to get over a death, Jesus takes us to the place of his death - and then immediately leads us to the place of his resurrection.  He shows us what really matters, what is really important, what is really going to last.  And suddenly what we thought was so pressing isn’t anymore and what we thought was of such great magnitude is really only a blip on the radar.  Christ’s love is a little overwhelming, isn’t it?

Overwhelmed by God’s Power

            But then he takes you to places like the city walls of Jerusalem during the days of King Hezekiah to show you something different.  Because there he puts on display his absolute control over all of the enemies of his people as he wipes out 185,000 thousand warriors with a breath.  And then he takes you to a boat sailing on the waves of the Sea of Galilee and lets you listen in as he calms the storm with a stern command.  And then he leads you by the hand to stand with the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel and Isaiah as he gives them visions of the almighty strength and glory and majesty of your Lord and Savior.  God’s power is a little overwhelming, isn’t it?

            And then he promises you: “I will hold you in my powerful hand.  I will guard you with my powerful arm.  I will protect under my powerful wing.  No one, no one will be able to take you from me.  And nothing, nothing will be able to distract me from you.  I have taken care of it all.  And I will always take care of you.” 

            As your pastor and as a Christian who honestly has a genuine concern for your soul, I wish I could say that because you are a Christian, because you trust in God’s power and love, you will never be bothered by another problem again.  But you know that’s not true.  You’ll have problems.  In fact, as a Christian, you will have more problems than most.  But those problems do not have to worry you; they do not have to cause you sleepless nights; they do not have to weigh you down; they do not have to be overwhelming at all.  Because the power and love of your Lord is more overwhelming than anything this world can throw at you. 

            Being a Christian does not solve all your problems, but the one in whom you believe does.  And that is why you can be so positive, so confident, so calm.  The Lord who brushed away 185,000 enemies with the back of his hand in a single night is on your side.  The one who stared death and the devil and hell itself in the face and won is in your corner.  The one who sits on the most glorious throne there is in the realms of heaven is your holy Brother.  You have nothing to fear!  You have nothing to worry about!  God has taken care of it all.  And at any point in this life when you start to feel overwhelmed and you go to your Lord in prayer,  he says to you just what he said to King Hezekiah so long ago, “I have heard your prayer… I will defend you and I will save you.”  And that’s exactly what he’s done time and time again.  And it’s all a little overwhelming, isn’t it?

            Amen.

“The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  - Phil. 4:7

6/24/12 - Hezekiah 3 - 2 Kings 18:4

MAKE THE BREAK

Bronze Snake

            Do you remember the story of the bronze snake?  It happened all the way back during the time of Moses when he was leading the people of Israel through the desert towards the Promised Land.  Like usual, the people had been complaining.  They had been grumbling against the Lord and his plans and so God sent venomous snakes to punish them.  And many of the people died from this act of God before they started to cry out to Moses, asking him to pray to the Lord that he might stop this horrible plague.  Moses did pray for them and God told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it up on a pole so that whoever would look at the bronze snake and believe God’s promise would live.  And that’s what happened.  Whoever had been bit and looked at the bronze snake recovered from the bite and survived.

            It was certainly a scary time for the Israelites; but it was also a wonderful moment of God’s grace: he saved them in a miraculous way.  And on top of that, this event was yet another way that God was pointing his people to their Savior Jesus.  When Jesus himself was on this earth he told those around him, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15).  The bronze snake was a foreshadowing of salvation through faith in Christ.  And so for the Israelites the story of the bronze snake was not just another thing that happened to their ancestors sometime long ago; it was a story that was meant to remind them of their forgiveness.

            That’s the positive result from this story about the bronze snake.  But there’s also a dark side: Over the years, the Israelites had apparently taken the bronze snake with them; they didn’t leave it in the desert.  And once they were established in the land of Israel and had a kingdom of their own, they set up that bronze snake, not only as a memorial of what had happened in the past, but as something to honor and revere in the years ahead.  And so that bronze snake not only became a relic of Israelite history, but an object of worship for future generations.  That bronze snake sat in the land of Israel for a long, long time: even throughout the reigns of godly kings and prophets like Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Asa, Joash, Uzziah, Elijah, and Elisha.  For 800 years this bronze snake existed in the midst of the people of Israel and it was worshiped as if it were something more than a hunk of melted bronze.

     
Breaking Tradition

            But after 800 years, King Hezekiah took the throne.  “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.  He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan).”  Hezekiah not only got rid of all of the foreign gods and places of worship that the Israelites had been involved with, but he even took something that Moses himself had made with his own hands eight centuries before and destroyed it!  Can you imagine how mad the people must have been?  That royal act couldn’t have made Hezekiah many friends or admirers in the first few weeks of his reign!

            Let’s try to put that in perspective a little bit.  Imagine if a new President of the United States took office and within the first few weeks he decides, “I don’t like the way the people of this country look up to the Statue of Liberty.  It’s not representative of our nation and I think the people hold it in too high of a regard.”  And so the President has it destroyed.  Not just taken down.  Not just moved to another location.  But he actually has the Statue of Liberty destroyed.  Don’t you think there would be a few upset citizens that he would have to deal with?  Or what if he decided that the original constitution of the United States of America, the founding document of our nation signed by the likes of Washington and Adams and Jefferson was holding the people of this country back.  And so to lead people away from depending on the past and start looking towards the future, he had the original constitution taken from the National Archives in Washington D.C. and destroyed it.  The firestorm that would be brought down on his head would be unimaginable if he did something like that!  But the original constitution of the United States and the Statue of Liberty, two things so closely connected with the founding of our country, are less than 250 years old and 150 years old respectively!  The bronze snake that Hezekiah destroyed was almost 800 years old!  Plus it had been made by one of the most famous people ever to belong to the Jewish nation: Moses - the man who had talked to God, who had seen God, who had been buried by God!

            Don’t you think the Israelites were attached to that artifact?  Don’t you think there was some sort of patriotic pride connected with something Moses had made?  They were offering incense to it after all and so I’m sure it was a pretty big deal to them.  People probably came from long distances just to see it.  But Hezekiah had no qualms about destroying this precious piece of Israelite history because he knew that it was for the best of his people.  They couldn’t have liked it.  They couldn’t have like Hezekiah for it.  But he was willing to make the break from tradition because it was harming the faith of those for whom he had been made responsible.

Are We Bold Enough to Make the Break?

            There are many people in our lives for whom we are responsible, people that struggle with ongoing sins.  Many of them Christians, both friends and family members.  People who should know better, but people who can’t seem to get out of the bad habit that they have been in for years.  Are we bold enough to “make the break” for them, pointing out their sin and helping them to get rid of it for the good of their faith?  Or are we too weak, too scared, too concerned about what people think of us to make the break?  And by “making the break” I mean that sometimes we have to “break” the silence and talk about a sin that someone has done.  Or “breaking” the sinful pattern that someone is in.  Or “breaking” through a stubborn attitude that refuses to admit something is wrong.  Or even taking the chance that it might “break” up a friendship to say what you need to say or do what you know the Lord wants you to do.  To “make the break” is not easy.  It’s not fun.  It’s difficult and stressful and sometimes even heartbreaking.  Which is why we don’t often do it.

            The Lord calls on us to be like Hezekiah and help people break away from their sins, but we’d rather let them work it out themselves because it’s less confrontational that way.  The Lord calls us on to break through the sinful blindness of those we love and bring them closer to the truth, but we’d rather not say a thing so that no one gets angry.  The Lord calls on us to break off our relationships with those who refuse to listen to God’s Word and continue to act like unbelievers, but sometimes we act as if we’d rather have them as friends in this life than see them in heaven in the life to come.  We hesitate to “make the break.”  We continually put souls in eternal jeopardy.   We end up caring more about what people will think about us than what their Lord will think about them.  Which is about the least Christian thing we could do.

Jesus Was Willing to Break Everything

            It was a Sabbath Day in Nazareth, and Jesus was back in his hometown for the first time after he started preaching publically.  And as the entire town gathered around to hear this hometown boy made famous, Jesus called them out.  He confronted them with their unbelief and did not sugarcoat the truth.  The people that he had known for the past 30 years were so furious by his audacity that they dragged him to the edge of a cliff to throw him down.  Jesus, of course, did not allow them to murder him, but any connection he had with them was now gone.  Jesus was willing to break his associations with an entire town in order to help them see their Savior.

            And of course there are many instances in Jesus’ life that we could point out.  He was hated by his own brothers because of who he was and what he did.  He did not hesitate to call Peter the devil himself when Peter was acting contrary to God’s will.  Jesus called the spiritual leaders of the day “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” and “white-washed tombs, which are beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean” (Matt. 23:27).  Jesus was always trying to break through stubborn hearts, break off sinful attitudes, and break up damaging habits and traditions at the expense of his popularity and safety.  And he does the same for you.

            He calls your sins to attention, doesn’t he?  He does not hesitate to break up the rosy picture you have of yourself at times.  He has done that to me on more than one occasion!  He has shattered the view I have had of myself at times so that I could see who I really was underneath.  But he has done that for me so that I would rely on the Lord’s forgiveness once again.  Because that is his ultimate goal: he doesn’t just want to make us mad or uncomfortable or depressed; he wants us to realize how sinful we are and how saved we are.  He wants us to separate from sin and see the amazing love of our Savior.  He wants us to find comfort in the cross and joy in that tomb.  He wants us to understand how blessed we are to have a Lord like him who chastises but forgives, who calls us out but who also calls us close.  Jesus has never been one to mince words about who you are, but that also includes who you now are through faith in Jesus: you are his chosen child; you are a saint; you are pure, holy, and at peace; you are clean, you are comforted, you are forgiven; you are his.  And all of that is true because Jesus was willing to break everything for you: not just your own self-evaluation, but he broke the grip of sin on your soul, the chains of Satan on your life, and even the power of death in your grave.  Jesus broke everything for you so that you could now be bound to him.

To Break is to Care

            This is the very message we want all people to know and believe, isn’t it?  This is the only truth that will save them after all!  But there are so many people that are throwing it away!  People who are stuck in sin, struggling with sin, dabbling in sin, living in sin.  Help them, break them of that habit or that routine or that dangerous path they are wandering down; and do it with God’s Word.  I’m not saying it will always be a pleasant experience: breaking something usually isn’t.  In fact, it might cause a lot of hurt and a lot pain.  But if a break from sin and a bond with their Savior does not happen now, what will happen to them then? 

            To break is to care.  It is not being selfish, but loving.  It is an act of concern for those whose souls are in danger instead of being so concerned about how much they like you.  Sometimes that break means a little tap of an egg shell on the edge of a counter; sometimes that break means a hammer on a pane of glass.  Either way, the sinful attitude that blocks and blinds the hearts of those you love must be removed so that they can clearly see their Savior.  And if you do not help them do that, who will?  Pray that the Lord would give you the courage to make the break.  And pray that he then gives you the opportunity to offer them the only Message that mends.

            Amen.

“Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Cor. 15:55-57