This morning, as I finalized this blog, I learned of the terror incident in Florida. The point made near the end of the sermon is important for Christians: We must not think that violence is compatible with the Gospel of Peace. The slaughter of other human beings is not the way to bring about a Kingdom of Peace. We need a national and international “politics of reason,” and Christians ought to oppose the politics of violence. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

One of Kathy’s favorite movies is called “Amazing Grace.” [1] Amazing Grace is the story of William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was born in 1759, the son of a wealthy businessman. In 1780, he was elected to Parliament. Five years later, he became an evangelical Christian. Two years after he became a Christian, he became involved with the British anti-slavery movement.

From that time until his death in 1833, Wilberforce was involved in the attempt to outlaw the slave trade and then to eliminate slavery from the British Empire. He died only three days after he learned that his life’s work had been successful.

Powerful interests in Great Britain opposed Wilberforce and those who wanted to eliminate the slave trade. In the late 18th and early 19th century, Britain was the most powerful trading nation in the world. Its most important trade route involved purchasing slaves in Africa (mostly trading European goods), selling them in the West Indies, purchasing sugar tobacco and cotton and other New World commodities in the West Indies, and then transporting those goods to Europe, where the entire process began again. This amounted to about 80 percent of Great Britain’s foreign income at the time.

In other words, there were a lot of people, companies and businesses that directly and indirectly benefited from the slave trade. Not surprisingly, overtly and covertly, they were able to delay the abolition of the slave trade in Great Britain for almost half a century. Wilberforce was threatened and vilified. Many supporters grew weary of the campaign. Nevertheless, he and others kept up their opposition to slavery. Today, Wilberforce is remembered as a Christian who put his faith into practice in a way to change the world.

It would be nice if everyone agreed with our ideas concerning how to improve and rebuild our nation’s culture. However, we need to be realistic: Not everyone will agree. Therefore, Christians must learn to deal with opposition as we seek to renew and improve our nation.

Opposition to Nehemiah.

Our text for this blog is from the fourth chapter of Nehemiah, which is devoted to the opposition Nehemiah incurred as he sought to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart (Nehemiah 4:1-6).

Prayer: God of Every Good Work, please be with us as we seek to learn how to be forces for renewal of our culture. Today, we especially ask that we learn how to face opposition in a Christian way. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Various Kinds of Opposition.

For the past several weeks we’ve been looking at Nehemiah. If you’ve read the book, you are familiar with the names “Sanballat the Horonite” and “Tobiah the Ammonite.” [2] When Nehemiah began his renewal efforts, he realized that not everyone would agree with his project. In particular, he knew that the enemies of Israel might very well oppose what he was doing. Early in Nehemiah, two individuals emerge as particularly opposed to what God’s chosen leader was doing: Sabballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite. [3]

It appears that Sanballat was an “Ephriamite.” This means, that he was a descendent of one of the ten lost tribes of Israel. If you remember, when the Kingdom of David split apart after the reign of Solomon, ten tribes, led by the tribe of Ephriam, split off and formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Eventually, they were conquered by the Assyrian Empire (722 B.C.) and forcibly intermarried with the Assyrian conquerors. Their religion was not the same as Israel’s. For example, they did not worship God in Jerusalem but on their own mountain, Geranium (see, John 4:19-24). These are the people that by Jesus’s day were called the “Samaritans.” Today, Samaria is part of the area controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

Tobiah the Ammonite was also not Jewish. The Ammonites generally controlled an area south and east of Jerusalem. Tobiah appears to be the ruler of what in Nehemiah’s day was called, “TransJordan,” meaning on the east side of the Jordan River. Today, this would be part of the nation we call “Jordan.”

These two individuals were not just powerful in their own areas, but also in Judea where Jerusalem is located. Jerusalem, if you will remember, was in Judea which consisted of the tribal areas belonging to the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. It had been conquered by the Babylonians (586 B.C.). By Nehemiah’s day, this little area was all that was left of David’s Kingdom. Today, that area would be roughly the area surrounding the city of Jerusalem and its suburbs. It was surrounded by larger and more powerful neighbors.

Sanballat had a daughter who was married into the family of the High Priest. He seems to have been influential in Jewish affairs, and some of the nobles probably supported him rather than Nehemiah! In Nehemiah 13, we find that Tobiah actually had a room in the temple area from which Nehemiah ejected him (See, Nehemiah 13).

Basically, Sanballat and Tobiah were overt enemies of Israel. The nobles of the Jews tried to play both sides of the fence and sometimes covertly harmed the project (3:5). They had farms and wealth. They had learned to get along with the enemies of Israel, and while they were willing to support Nehemiah as an emissary of Artaxerxes, they were not wholly committed to the cause. They supported whoever was in power at the moment—and they knew Nehemiah might fail. In that case, they wanted to be on the winning side. Their motto was sometimes, “Get along and get ahead.”

The final kind of opposition that Nehemiah faced was that natural human opposition to any project that comes when people get tired and lethargic and begin to lose hope. We’re told in chapter 4 that people began to complain about the work as they became exhausted (v. 10). These people complained that the work was too hard and the progress to slow. They were losing hope because the job was hard and taking longer than they hoped.

As we seek to renew our society we cannot expect everyone to agree with us or to share our passion for renewal. For example, a lot of money is made in America selling pornography. If Christians oppose pornography, as we should, powerful economic interests will not agree. They will be our Sanballat’s and Tobiah’s.

If we seek to renew the media in order to  to eliminate some of its raunchier aspects, the people that make money off those raunchy aspects, will not agree. Those people that have business and social relationships with people who do not agree also may not agree. They are the “nobles” of our culture.

We can expect that a lot of people are going to get tired along the way, just as the Jews got tired of building the wall. Renewal is hard work. People by nature do like to work hard over long periods of time. Perhaps the greatest opposition Christians may face in the long work of renewing our culture will come from those who simply get tired of the good work and the pressures and sacrifices involved.

Our nation has decayed over a period of more than a half century, and the roots of our decay go back  much further. We cannot expect a quick, easy victory over embedded ways of thinking and behaving. The task of renewing our culture will take a lot longer than most of us think.

Responding to Opposition.

Nehemiah’s response to opposition can give us clues concerning how we might react when our attempts to renew our culture meet with opposition. Here are five:

First,  Nehemiah prayed. Nehemiah frequently prayed when under pressure (Nehemiah 1:5-11;2:4; 6:9; 4:4-5). One of the most important things we can do is to remember to pray when we face opposition in attempting to rebuild our nation and culture.

Second, Nehemiah was vigilant. No sooner did Nehemiah learn that his enemies were plotting against the Jews than he began to form those who were building the wall into teams. Some built and some were  guards who kept a lookout for an attack (4:9, 13, 16, 21).

Third, the people of Israel were diligent in rebuilding the wall. On more than one occasion, the people were threatened or tired, or in danger. They did not allow this opposition to stop them from rebuilding the wall. Instead, under Nehemiah’s leadership they continued to rebuild the wall (vv. 6, 16, 21).

Fourth, the people of Israel and Nehemiah were courageous. Both Nehemiah and the Jewish people continued to work despite the danger of attack. I’m a worrier by nature, and I think a lot of people worry about what will happen if we begin to take stands in order to renew our culture. It’s important to be wise and to not provoke attack; however, we cannot allow opposition to silence us. There is an old saying that there is nothing more likely to allow evil to triumph than for good men to do nothing. [4] This is true. Renewal takes courage.

Finally, Nehemiah was wise and shrewd in how he responded to plots. On several occasions Nehemiah’s enemies attempted to trick him. First, they tried to get him to meet them in secret so that they might harm or kill him (6:1-5). Next, they spread false rumors that Nehemiah was planning a revolt against the Persian Empire (vv. 6-8). Then, they attempted to get him to seek sanctuary in the Temple, trying to make him seem to be a coward (vv. 10-13). In each of these situations, Nehemiah saw through the schemes and strategies of his enemies. As we try to renew our culture, there will be those who attempt to trick us into saying or doing things that are unwise. We must be prepared to respond with wisdom, insight, and restraint.

Remember Who You Are.

As Christians attempt to internalize Old Testament teachings, it is important that we view the Old Testament through the lens of Christ. The Apostle Paul faced many of the same problems Nehemiah faced. He faced opposition, physical danger, and trickery (See 2 Corinthians 11:16-33). By the end of his ministry, he had learned to see those who opposed him in the light of Christ. Here is what he wrote to the Ephesians:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:11-17, Emphasis Added).

By now, everyone is aware that I believe one of the worst aspects of our contemporary politics is the constant personalization of political disagreements. We have talked about negative politics before. Paul seems to be aware that Christians  were, and, and will be tempted to to personalize our opponents. He reminds us that we have been placed here to love people, all people. Our battle is not against other human beings. Instead, our battleis against bad ideas, programs that won’t work, morals that will destroy human lives, a lack of respect for other people, lust for power, violence, and all the other evils that infect our politics and culture.

Our real enemies, and the real threats to renewal of our culture, are not people. To fight the battle the way Jesus would have us fight the battle requires devotion to truth, willingness to live in a moral way, commitment to peace, faith, and assurance of our salvation. Most of all, we need to be filled with the Spirit of Christ so that what we say and what we do advances God’s kingdom of love.

Blessed Are You….

Jesus reminds us in the Beatitudes that we are blessed when people insult us and persecute us because of our devotion to what is right (Matthew 5:11-12). Several years ago, we were sitting next to James Quillin at a meeting. James was the pastor of Highland Heights Presbyterian Church, a statesman in two Presbyterian denominations, and a good friend. During the course of the meeting, several people attacked us  for things we were saying and doing related to the renewal of our then denomination. James, at one point, looked over at me and said: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” (Matthew 5:11). Then he just smiled.

The fact is if we want to renew our culture we must face opposition. The key is learning to face it with the wisdom and courage of Nehemiah and grace  Jesus showed when he faced those who opposed him.

Amen.

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Stephen Knight, wr. Amazing Grace dr. Michael Apted (Four Boys Films, 2006). The writer Eric Metaxes has also written a book about Wilberforce. See, Eric Metaxes, Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2007).

[2] As always, I am dependant upon more than one source for the historical details. See, “Sanballat and “Tobiah” in Ronald F. Youngblood, ed, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1986, 1995).

[3] Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite early appear as opponents of what Nehemiah was doing (See, Nehemiah 2:10-11, 19-20, 4:1-3, 6:1-9). There is one other figure mentioned, Geshem the Arab (Nehemiah 2:10, 19; 6:1-14). I have not mentioned Geshem in the sermon or in this blog, preferring to concentrate on the two most prominent opponents of Nehemiah’s efforts.

[4] This quote is attributed to the British statesman, Edmund Burke, who said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing (www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ edmundburk377528.html).

This week we are looking at Nehemiah 3:1-2. At this juncture, Nehemiah begins the work to which God has called him.

As some of you may know, for four long summers beginning in 1968 or 1969, I laid track for the Frisco Railroad. Our day began about 7:00 a.m. when we met in small shack about 200 yards east of the main building housing the management and civil engineers of the Frisco. (The year before Mom died, Tim and I went down to see if we could find that shack. It had been torn down. I was very disappointed to lose this memory of my youth.) I was never early for work, so that by the time I got to work there was coffee ready to drink. Eight or so of us would sit around until about 7:30. Eventually, the phone would ring and the boss at the main building would tell us where we were going for the day. Most of the time we were replacing a crossing, correcting some problem with a line of tract, or working around the yard on a switch. By eight o’clock, had packed our tools onto the truck and were on our way. The easy part of the day was over.

When we arrived at the work site, we would yank out existing railroad ties, take out the existing tie plates and rails, dig a new foundation, put in gravel or other materials, replace the ties and rails, and perhaps cover what we had done with new blacktop. Every piece of rail we lifted weighed over 600 pounds. That means that four people would be lifting about 125 pounds each. Nearly every tie weighed between 200 and 300 pounds, often requiring two people to free from the soil. I weighed about 118 pounds at the time. It was really miserable work. Every day.

We would take a half an hour or so for lunch and work again until the job was done. I often felt fortunate because frequently we could not get the job done in eight hours, and so I often got an hour or so of overtime. That came in helpful when I returned to college. What I most remember about those days is how tired and sore I was, every single day. It was misery, three months of misery—and I now regard it as some of the best and happiest days of my life! I also remember with pride some of the work we did.

The Work Begins.

            Nehemiah began his work with an extended time of mourning, praying, fasting, thinking, and planning how to rebuild the Jerusalem wall. This was important. It’s good to remember, however, that at some point there’s work to be done, and work is hard. This morning we’re thinking about beginning of the building the walls of Jerusalem.

Our text is from Nehemiah 3.

Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel. The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zakkur son of Imri built next to them. The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section. Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs, and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs. The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors (Nehemiah 3:1-5).

 Eternal God who we are told created the world in seven days of hard work before resting, we come to you today asking that you would allow us to consecrate ourselves to the hard, long work of rebuilding our nation and our culture. In Jesus name, Amen.

How the Work was Done.

Nehemiah 3 describes the beginning of the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and how the work was accomplished. If we were to read the entire chapter, we would see that the pattern set by the first five verses is repeated over and over again. Basically, people in the same profession, families, people from surrounding communities, and residents near certain portions of the wall, took responsibility for rebuilding a particular portion of the wall.

Nehemiah was a shrewd organizer. He also was good judge character and of how people best work together. He knew that people who already knew, respected, and had worked together in the past would find it easier to undertake an unfamiliar task, like rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Therefore, he relied upon pre-existing relationships in building work teams. In other words, the priests already knew one another and had worked together in the past. The men of Jericho and Takoa knew one another and had already worked together. Basically, Nehemiah built on existing relationships in organizing the work.

It’s as if we wanted to do something that would involve the citizens of Tennessee and North Mississippi to rebuild a part of Memphis. Instead of recruiting people from all over and putting them into new work teams that would have to get used to one another over time, we might let all the citizens of Memphis who wanted to work together, work together. The citizens of Brownsville or Horn Lake who wanted to work together, would work together. The airline pilots for Federal Express who wanted to work together, would work together. The teachers from the Shelby County school system might work together. Work done by people who are  already familiar with one another and know how to work together goes faster and better. This was wise.

Second, I bet Nehemiah took advantage of the natural rivalries that might exist between various groups. I’m from Texas, and if you wanted to build a wall around Houston, one really good idea would be to give half the wall to the graduates of the University of Texas at Austin and half to graduates of Texas A&M. It would not be long before the A&M graduates would be trying to prove to everyone that were the best engineers and the best builders. In response, the University of Texas graduates would be trying to prove that they were the best engineers and builders.

I imagine that the citizens of Jericho, Takoa and other communities had a little friendly rivalry going, each one trying to prove they were the best. You can bet that the priests were trying to prove that they were not a bunch of softies. You get the idea—the way Nehemiah organized the task took advantage of human nature and made sure that the work went along as fast and as organized as possible.

Finally, many people were working on sections of the wall close to their homes. If you took me to Chickasaw Gardens (a Memphis subdivision) and asked me to build a wall around Chickasaw Gardens to help keep people safe, being a good person I would probably do the job. On the other hand, if you asked me to help build a wall around Riverwood Farms, where I live, I would certainly work even harder! By placing people near their homes, Nehemiah assured himself that the work would go faster, and the wall would be better built!

This has a practical value to each of us. Each of us should probably work to rebuild our culture in ways we are familiar with. For example, it would not make much sense for me to work in the area of renewing the musical culture of America. David Shotsberger (our music director) would be a far better choice. David chould better recruit the choir, the praise band, and local musicians to help because he knows them. Each of us has a talent or ability of some kind. The challenge is to use our talent and ability and our friends and colleagues to make our nation and world a better place.

The People Who Did It.

This brings me to the subject of people. I’m sure you that noticed there were a lot of unpronounceable names in the passage for today. If we were to read the entire chapter, we would find many, many unpronounceable names. We don’t like to read these names out loud because they’re hard to pronounce, but they are important. Sometimes, we make statements like, “the Jewish people rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.” This masks the fact that it wasn’t an anonymous group of people who rebuild the wall; it was a group of very specific people who rebuilt the wall—and they need to honored and remembered.

Last Sunday night, Kathy and I watched the national Memorial Day concert that is held each year near the capital in Washington DC. This year, on several occasions, the performers honored our Vietnam veterans. Naturally, the cameras would pan off to show the audience the Vietnam War Memorial whenever the Vietnam War was mentioned. For those who have not been there, the memorial consists of black slabs of granite upon which 58,195 names have been inscribed. The Vietnam War was not fought by nameless entities which we call the “United States Armed Forces.” It was fought by real human beings, 58,195 of whom gave their lives for our country. They need to be remembered and honored.

This reminds us that, if we want to renew our country, we can’t rely upon other people to do our work for us. Individual Americans, just like you and me, have to make a decision to make things better. I kind of like visiting war memorials. My father is buried in the Veterans Cemetery in Springfield, Missouri. It’s moving to walk down row after row reading names and ranks, the service they were in, and a little information about them. Of course, I never go without seeing Dad and his best friend, Robert Schmidt. I see other names I recognize from my youth. I don’t want to forget Dad, Bob, and the others in that cemetery. Their names and what they did are important.

I read a lot of military history. As fun as it is to read about admirals and generals, the work of war is done by many nameless men and women whose names are known primarily by those who loved them. The work of renewing our culture will produce some famous names; however, the work will be done by many people, most of them people like you and me. We may not be famous or remembered–but our families will know what we did and hopefully follow our example. The best place for each one of us to help to rebuild our society is by using the interests, abilities, talents, gifts, and relationships we already have and can further develop. Every little bit of work, every stone in the wall, matters.

The Building We Need to Build.

Last week, I spoke about capital campaigns. Churches need somewhere to meet. Therefore, there will always be a need for church buildings. However, some pastors spend too much time building buildings. Sometimes, I think it’s true of me. When I think I may not be doing the right things, I am reminded of the passage from the apostle Paul. We read a part of it earlier. In First Corinthians 3, Paul says this:

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames (I Cor. 3:10-15).

Paul’s words remind us that we are all building a Christian life. Our work is not done when the foundation is laid. Becoming a Christian is not the end of the Christian life; it’s the beginning. All of us are building on the foundation of our faith every single day. It matters what we do with our time and talents.

Paul indicates that the quality of our workmanship and the quality of the materials we put to work matter. On the Judgment Day it will matter whether our life is made of gold or straw. It’s not a matter of salvation. Paul indicates that believers will be saved. However, when we come before the throne of Jesus, we may not be happy with what we’ve done with our lives. When we get to heaven, we may wish we had been a little less selfish.

Renewing our culture is really a matter of getting out of our selfishness and self-centered desires, and putting our talents to work for Christ. It means getting out of our imaginations, our foolish pride, our mistaken ideas, and taking a good look at who we really are and what we are doing with the talents God has given us. Then, we need to put those talents to work as best we can.

I don’t want to over complicate what it means to renew America. Every time a parent shares their faith and sings a bedtime song with a child, they are renewing a culture in which many parents never put their children to bed or read them a song. Every time we treat a coworker with wisdom and love, we are making America a better place. Every time we reach out to share our faith with others, we are making America a better place. Of course, there are big jobs to be done; but, first we just need to repair the wall next to our house.

We may  not think that these small efforts at personal renewal, family renewal, neighborhood renewal, and the like, matter much. But, they do. Consider Jesus. No one has made a bigger difference in the renewal of the world than Jesus. What did he do? He did not lead an army, run for office, manage a big business, write a lot of books, or anything big at all. He loved people, healed those he could, trained twelve disciples, and died on the cross. In the end, however, he changed the world forever. We can do the same if we are willing to be like Jesus.

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

This week we are meditating on Nehemiah 2:11-18. In a way, I am sorry that this blog is about the condition of our cultural walls and is being shared on Memorial Day weekend. On Memorial Day, we remember the sacrifice made by the soldiers of our nation for our freedoms. In a way, however, there is no better honor we can give our fallen soldiers than to confront the reality that our culture needs all of our sacrifices to maintain our freedom and way of life.

Most pastors don’t miss building programs in retirement. Since I was elected a deacon almost forty years ago I have participated in six or so building programs. They are always stressful. On the other hand, building programs do teach you a few things. One thing I’ve learned is how important plans are. In every building program since I came to Advent we have used a company known as “Barnes and Brower.” Jeff Barnes is a member of our church. When we have a building program, we have meetings between the building committee, the architect, and the builder. Jeff always emphasizes that the detail of plans is important. If plans are too vague, construction workers don’t know exactly what to do. If the plans are detailed, it’s easier to build a project because the builder knows exactly what is needed and the foremen and construction workers understand what they’re supposed to do. The better the plan, the better the building.

This morning, we are talking about how important planning is in rebuilding our culture. As a young person, I wasn’t particularly interested in planning. In my thirties, I was often engaged in projects that went on for a number of months and had many steps. One of the most enjoyable and important tasks was developing a long list of of the various stages needed to complete the transaction and what exactly needed to be done. For example, if you’re going to buy a company, there are many stages beginning with a letter of intent, then due diligence, negotiating a contract, getting any regulatory approvals, arranging financing, and finally closing the transaction. Sometimes there are hundreds of steps. I found it was kind of fun thinking things through.

No plan is ever entirely accurate. Something always goes wrong. You always forget something and things change. Nevertheless, knowing where you’re headed is important. General Eisenhower once said that before the battle planning is everything, but once the battle is engaged no plan is worth anything. That doesn’t make planning unimportant—planning gives you a place to start thinking through what to do next no matter what happens.

The Midnight Ride of Nehemiah.

Our text is from Nehemiah 2:

I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.  By night I went out through the Valley Gate, toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. Then, I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work. Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?” I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.” (Nehemiah 2:11-20).

Prayer: God of Order and Reason: We confess that too often we forget to plan our lives carefully. Help us to learn that to renew our society and rebuild its institutions will take planning.

The Right Beginning.

Today, we are studying one of the most famous incidents in Nehemiah. Two weeks ago, we talked about Nehemiah as he learned about the condition of the walls of Jerusalem, mourned for his people, fasted, and prayed to God for wisdom. Last week, we spoke about Nehemiah’s courageous faith as he stepped out and asked King Artaxerxes for permission to return to his ancestral home in Jerusalem and rebuild its walls. This week, we’re going to build on last week and talk more about planning. If we want to renew our society, it will take a lot of planning.

Last week, I introduced a five-step process needed to renew our culture consisting of prayer, thought, faith. courage, and action. Last week, we learned that, as Nehemiah prayed through the project he had in mind, he also thought about what was needed to complete it. He realized he would need letters of safe conduct, lumber, and other items to be successful. However, he wasn’t finished planning. This week, we are going to think again about the way Nehemiah planned the work.

Rest, Reflection and Review.

This has been a hectic week. Sometimes when I’m busy, I actually try to do too much. Psychologists call this “over-functioning.” I don’t fully understand the concept; but basically it means that, if you try to do too much too fast under too much pressure, you make mistakes. One frequently quoted piece of advice that almost all leaders ignore is the need for rest and reflection.

Nehemiah was a good leader. He had made a long trip (over 600 miles) through sometimes dangerous territory. By the time he got to Jerusalem he was tired. In addition, although we know that he had family in Jerusalem, he probably didn’t know a lot of people. Our text notes that he waited three days before he did anything. What do you suppose he did during those three days? I suspect he slept, visited with family, walked around Jerusalem, looked at the walls from inside the city, introduced himself to people, and rested. I would bet you money that as he walked around Jerusalem  and rested, he reflected upon the job he had committed to do. He thought about what was going to be required. He contemplated the people of Jerusalem and how he might appeal to them. He wasn’t ready to begin the job. He was getting ready. Rest and reflection are part of getting ready.

After three days, he went out one night and rode around the city. Nehemiah left the city at about the place where many tourist buses enter the city today. It is near the current Temple Mount. He then rode counterclockwise around the city, through the Kidron Valley, around the north side of Jerusalem, and then back to the gate through which he left. For part of the time, and especially in the Kidron Valley, he was riding over pretty rough ground.

Nehemiah specifically indicates that he did this at night. Why do you suppose that was? Obviously, he could have made a closer inspection during the day. On the other hand, while he would have been able to see better during the day, other people would have been able to see him. Perhaps he didn’t want to raise expectations until he was ready. Perhaps he didn’t want the enemies of Israel to see him. In any case, he was trying to be wise.

It is necessary to plan and think carefully before acting in order to renew an organization or nation. Americans are fond of action. The media and the Internet have made us even more fond of immediate reaction. Often we react emotionally as Nehemiah reacted when he heard the condition of his people, but we don’t take time to think and plan as in Nehemiah thought and planned. A good plan takes a lot of time and thought.

On our communion table during this series, I have placed a large stone. The stone came from one of our walls during a prior building program. It was too big to be placed back in the wall, so it was laid back by the forest. It took both David Shotsberger and me just to lift this stone! Guess what? The stones in the city walls of Jerusalem were much, much larger and much, much heavier than the stone on our Communion Table. It was going to take a lot of people in order to rebuild that wall. It was going to take a lot of hard labor to rebuild that wall. Nehemiah had some idea of how hard it would be before he arrived in Jerusalem. However, he needed to ride around that wall to be sure it was possible to rebuild it and to sense how many people and how long it would take!

Our Broken Walls.

Before renewing our society, we need to take a long look at the walls. If we took a ride around our society, we would find that there are a lot of “cultural foundation stones” lying on the ground. This week I thought about some of the problems our culture faces. You might come up with a different list. However, I’ll bet each one of us would come up with a pretty long list.

1. First, Personal Brokenness. If you talk to older pastors, everyone believes far more people today have emotional problems and have difficulty navigating through what used to be pretty ordinary life situations than forty or seventy years ago. My mother died in 2014. She had been an Elder and Deacon in our home church for many years. She and I talked about the difference between ministry in her church in the years before she died and in the years around 1960.
2. Second, Family Brokenness. In 1960, more than 70 percent of children grew up in two parent households. Today, the number is much lower. Today, most children in America will experience living in a single parent household at some point in their upbringing, Not only is divorce more frequent, but birth out of wedlock has become much more frequent. in 1930, less than 10 percent of children were born out of wedlock. Today, that number is over 40 percent. Our families are in trouble.
3. Third, Community Brokenness. Many American cities have become infected with drugs, gangs, domestic violence, and other social ills. In Memphis, large areas of our city are blighted in a way that was not common seventy years ago. All over America cities and communities need to be rebuilt.
4. Fourth, Economic Brokenness. Over the last few years, the income disparity between the richest one percent of Americans and everyone else has grown. In particular, the middle class and lower middle class have seen their standard of living fall. Our economy is not producing enough quality, full-time jobs to fully employ all Americans. In addition, the education we are giving our children is not necessarily aligned with the jobs being created around the world.
5. Finally, Political Brokenness. Increasingly, our political system does not work for ordinary people. This week I read an article about the way in which members of Congress are lobbied by businesses and other organizations, how wives and children are often employed by such organizations or other organizations active in politics, and how the procurement system in many government agencies breeds corruption. The way in which advertising and media has become central to our politics means that vast amounts of money are needed to run for office and incumbents are rarely defeated. Money is a factor in politics like never before. This is not healthy.

These are only some of the cultural walls that are broken in our society.

The Hour of Decision.

When Nehemiah ended his ride, he concluded that the wall could be rebuilt. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, so he called together the leaders of the people and gave them a word of encouragement:

“You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.”

 So much of our political leadership today involves talking a lot but actually avoiding problems. We need leaders who are knowledgeable and solve problems. Nehemiah did not mislead the people. He didn’t say these are the greatest days of Jerusalem. He acknowledged that there was a problem. He acknowledged that the city was in disgrace. Having acknowledged the problem,  he motivated the people and they responded by saying, “Let’s get started building” (v. 18). Good leaders do not avoid problems, minimize problems, ignore problems, or blame others for problems. Good leaders solve problems.

I put two posts on Facebook this week about the importance of planning. For whatever reason, Americans are not particularly good planners. For example, most Americans reach retirement age without a plan for being retired. Many people enter times in their life when one can expect medical bills without planning for their medical needs. I cannot tell you how many people I’ve counseled over the last twenty-five years who bought houses or cars without considering whether or not they can afford them.

Planning is important. A strategy to solve problem that  is based on prejudice or emotion won’t work. We face serious problems, and we need leaders with the willingness, skill, and capacity to think through problems and find a realistic solution. As Christians, we need learn from the  example of Nehemiah and think deeply and plan carefully concerning how we’re going to solve our personal and national problems. America needs our sorrow, our prayers, our faith, and our willingness to think and plan as never before.

Amen

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

More than twenty-five years ago, Kathy and I moved from our home in Houston, Texas to Richmond, Virginia. We did not just wake up one morning and decide to move. In fact, for a number of years I knew that I had a call to the gospel ministry, but I didn’t have the courage to leave the practice of law, our home, Kathy’s family, our friends, and our church. Kathy felt the same way. Then, in the late 1980s, through a series of circumstances, I felt called, really compelled, to go to seminary. Even then, it was unbelievably hard and scary.

In the months, and even years, before we left Houston, we prayed about this a lot. We didn’t always pray together. In fact, we rarely prayed together, but each of us, in his or her own way, prayed about our future. In the meantime, we thought about the future. How would we afford it? How long would it take? Could Kathy work with four small children?  Where would we live? There were a lot of questions to be answered. In the end, however, the hardest thing was to trust God and have the courage to step out in faith. There is an old Chinese proverb that the longest journey begins with a single step. [1] It is true. The hardest thing for us to do is to take the first step.

Do any of you suffer from procrastination? It’s been my experience that every tough decision in life is hard to make, and scary at the moment you make it. This is where faith comes in. Hebrews tells us that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1).

Today, we’re going to talk about faith and the importance of faith as we seek to rebuild our culture.

The Courage to Act.

Last week, we began our study of Nehemiah. We learned that Nehemiah was a Jewish official in the court of the king of Persia around the year 450 B.C. Because of the visit of a relative, he became aware that the walls and the gates of Jerusalem had been destroyed. As a result, his people were suffering. He mourned and prayed for many days. He prayed a beautiful prayer that we studied last week, and that we hope all our members will pray as a prayer for our country. This morning, we pick up at the beginning of chapter 2:

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” The king said to me, “What is it you want?” (Nehemiah 2:1-4).

Prayer: Eternal God, God of History, please come into our hearts this morning so that the story of Nehemiah can become our story and so that we can become little Nehemiah’s to a culture. In the name of the Prince of Peace we pray, Amen

From Mourning To Action.

Last week, we began our look at the life of Nehemiah by studying the prayerful way in which he began his attempt to rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem. When Nehemiah learned that his people were in desperate need, he did not get angry. He mourned. We too need to mourn for our country. As Nehemiah mourned, he fasted and prayed. We also need to fast and pray for our country. Nehemiah confessed his own sins as well as the sins of his people. We also need to confess our sins and the sins of our nation. Finally, Nehemiah asked for God to help. We also need to pray for God to help us.

Nehemiah was in a unique position. He was the Cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia. I want to stop here and allow us to reflect on that fact for just a few seconds. All over America, including in Memphis, there are Christians. We all have a unique position. We all have spiritual gifts, relationships, talents, and abilities. Most of us do not have a position as important as Nehemiah’s. However, we do have some position. What God required of Nehemiah is not what God requires of us. Nevertheless, God asks that we have the same kind of faith that Nehemiah possessed, and step out and serve our nation as Nehemiah did.

King Artaxerxes was king of Persia from about 458 BC until about 425 B.C. Certain facts about his reign are important to understanding our story. Artaxerxes came to power under tragic circumstances. His father was King Xerxes. King Xerxes was murdered in around 465 B.C., by one of his advisers. The advisor, in order to gain power, blamed Artaxerxes. A power struggle ensued until finally Artaxerxes won.

This particular power struggle is important because in the early years of his reign, Artaxerxes had to consolidate his power. It was during this period of time that Ezra returned to Judah and was restoring Israel. Jealous advisors came to the King and asked that the building of Jerusalem be stopped. Artaxerxes, insecure in his power, granted their request (Ezra 4:23). This is probably why the walls of the city were in such disrepair and the gates fallen. [2]

By the time of Nehemiah, these events were twenty years in the past. Artaxerxes was no longer insecure. Instead, he had built a reputation as a very fine king! History records that he was a wise king who generally refrained from violence when possible. He seems he seems to have been kindly. In today’s text, we find Artaxerxes concerned about his servant Nehemiah. Nehemiah had never been sad before when entering to serve the king, but on this occasion his sorrow was evident. The king, concerned about Nehemiah, asked what was wrong.

A Reasonable Discussion.

As we try to renew our nation, it’s useful to think about the relationship between Nehemiah and Artaxerxes. Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king. Every day, the king’s life was in Nehemiah’s hands. Artaxerxes trusted Nehemiah. Over the years, they had come to respect each other. When we set out to renew our nation, relationships and trust are important.

We live in a culture in which politics is often seen as a kind of war. In particular, politicians have learned that it is a lot easier to convince the voters to hate someone else than to like you. Instead of political decisions being built upon trust, mutual respect, and fair dealing, our political decisions are often made on the basis of a kind of “winner take all” negative politics. The result is, we make bad decisions. Nehemiah acted the way he did because he saw himself as a servant of the king. As we try to renew our culture, we Christians need to begin by understanding that we are servants of our culture and our fellow citizens. We need to serve them in love, as much as possible respecting even those with whom we violently disagree.

Once Artaxerxes asked Nehemiah to explain what was wrong, the door was open for Nehemiah to say what was on his mind. He explained to the king that he was a Jew and that his home city, Jerusalem, was in ruins (Nehemiah 2:5). It had been many years since Artaxerxes had stopped the building of the walls of Jerusalem, and it appears he was immediately somewhat favorable to the idea. Instead of saying, “Why would you do a thing like that?” he asked, “How long will it take? (v. 6). In response Nehemiah gave him a time. You see, the king respected Nehemiah, needed his advice and counsel, relied upon him for his very life, and did want him to be gone too long. On the other hand, Artaxerxes wanted to help a trusted friend and advisor.

Nehemiah then asked the king for a few favors. The journey from Persia to Jerusalem was long and in some ways dangerous. He needed letters of safe conduct (v. 7). Nehemiah also needed a letter that would allow him to get from the king’s forest the timber he would need in rebuilding the walls and gate (v. 8). The king graciously agreed to everything Nehemiah asked.

There is a lot to learn in these verses. Here are a few things to think about:

• First of all, not all improvements are possible at any given point in time. If Nehemiah had come to the King eighteen years earlier, the answer might have been, “No.” It so happens that Nehemiah was the right person at the right place at the right time. We need to know that rebuilding our culture requires timing and wisdom. There may be improvements we want to make today; however, it made God’s will that they be made over a long period of time.
• Second, it’s important that we think through not just the improvement we want to make but the best way to approach our leadership and the best plan to present. Often, on the right and left of our society, people make unrealistic proposals to solve problems. We Americans are addicted to big, complicated, and hopefully quick solutions to problems. Most big problems can’t be solved that way. They must be solved over time.
• Finally, our plan needs to take account of dangers, difficulties, and opposition along the way.

Expect Problems and Have Courage.

Do you remember that Nehemiah asked for letters of safe conduct? Letters of Safe Conduct were important. The journey to Jerusalem would often go through dangerous territories.  The other nations living near Jerusalem would not want the walls rebuilt. They wanted Israel to be weak and defenseless. At the end of our text today we learn that the officials in Transjordan, were in fact opposed to the rebuilding the walls. Nehemiah anticipated their opposition.  He thought about what to do and planned ahead.

It would be nice if everyone would agree with our solutions to the political and cultural problems of our nation. They will not. Therefore, we need to expect opposition. We need to anticipate what objections will be made and try to answer reasonable questions. In addition, more than anything else, we will need courage. When I was in seminary, I wrote an article for a Presbyterian magazine concerning a particular social issue. I received a lot of hate mail. One letter, was actually threatening! I went to see a professor, who I knew had also written on the same subject. She took a look at me and said, “Chris I have a file draw of threatening letters.” Just do what you think is right. Unfortunately, doing the right thing almost always results in opposition. Courage is grace in the face of that opposition. [3]

Conclusion.

This week in our church, we recognized our “Salt and Light” graduates. [4] Salt and light is a twenty-four week program that trains people how to share their faith in a non-offensive way. When we discuss why it is more Christians don’t share their faith, the first answer is almost always the same: “Fear.” The second most common reason is: “I don’t know what to say.” The first and foremost thing Christians do to renew our culture is to proclaim our faith and bring others into God’s community of truth, beauty, justice, and love. It takes prayer, planning, preparation and courage.

Nehemiah overcame his fears during his four months of fasting and prayer. By the time he approached King Artaxerxes, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. In addition, his months of fasting and praying gave him plenty of time to think about what  he wanted to say and do. He had time to think about his plans and the king’s possible reaction to his plans. He had time to adjust his plans to reality. For example, early on he probably realized that the king would not want him to be gone for too long. Therefore, he carefully estimated how long it would take. When the king answered the expected question, he had an answer. Nehemiah also had time to think about what he would need in order to be successful. Rebuilding the walls of the city takes a lot of time, energy, money, and materials. When the time came, Nehemiah was ready.

Going back to the beginning of our lesson today, faith is the assurance that God will bless our undertaking and the courage to trust God and get started. It’s true, the longest journey begins with a single step. Often, that first step is the most important step of all. This past week our Organizational Task force had a meeting. That task force is almost finished with its work. There only remains one question to be answered. However, it’s the hardest question of all! During part of the discussion someone said, “There are some decisions that once you have made them you have already decided whether you will succeed or fail.” As we step out in faith to renew our culture, we need to take time, a long time, to fast and pray—then we need to step out in faith.

Amen

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Tao Te Ching, Chapter 64, See, G. Christopher Scruggs, Centered Living/Centered Leading: The Way of Light and Love The Tao Te Ching Adapted for Christ-Followers Rev. Ed. (Booksurge Publishing, 2011, 2014), 128.

[2] There are multiple sources for the historical portion of this sermon. See, See, Mark A. Throntvelt, “Ezra-Nehemiah” in Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992). James Hamilton, Christ-Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Ezra & Nehemiah (Nashville, TN: Holman, 2014), and Mervin Breneman, “Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esher” in The New American Commentary Series (Broadman & Holman Printers, 1993). It is important to note that, while Artaxerxes was a good king and not violent by the standards of his own day, he was bloodthirsty by our standards today.

[3] This is a reference to Earnest Hemmingway’s famous definition of courage as “grace under pressure.”

[4] Salt & Light is a twenty-four week evangelism and discipleship program written by Chris and Kathy Scruggs. We hope that it will be publically available to churches by the fall of 2016.

 

Monday evening, the wife of an old friend from high school gave us a call. When I answered the phone, I learned that their house had burned in February, and they had been rebuilding ever since. In the meantime, they’ve been living in the Red Roof Inn.  Naturally, there was smoke damage, which is difficult to remove from a house. In addition, they lost valuables that cannot be easily replaced. Finally,  my friend, who is an engineer and a perfectionist, wants everything restored exactly as it was before.

Of course, the whole experience has been unpleasant. Anyone who has ever rebuilt a house (or anything else for that matter) knows how difficult rebuilding is. Building things from scratch is hard; however, rebuilding something that has burned or decayed is much more difficult. For the next several weeks, we are going to talk about rebuilding our society. Rebuilding a society is, of course, much, much harder than rebuilding a house or a wall.

There’s no question about it, our society is in disrepair: politically, morally, spiritually, and in many other ways. The foundations of our society have been undermined by years of neglect. The question is: “How can Christians help?” Notice that I said, “How can Christian help?” It requires the work of all Americans to rebuild our culture. As Christians, we have a particular responsibility to see that the rebuilding is done wisely and lovingly, with his few people hurt in the process as possible. Rebuilding a physical house is really hard, but rebuilding a culture is even harder–and requires a lot more prayer, planning, courage,  and wise action than a rebuilding something physical requires.

Before beginning, I need to make one  disclaimer: this series was designed before the current political campaign began. It was designed before a particular candidate started talking about building a wall. During election years, I like to preach a series designed to help us make good decisions. However, as everyone knows, I don’t endorse candidates and try not to even point toward a particular candidate while preaching. The job of a pastor is to help people approach their decision how to vote spiritually. How you vote is your own business.

The wall we will be discussing  for the next several weeks is a metaphor for the structure of our culture that has fallen down and needs to be rebuilt. The rebuilding we need is a rebuilding of faith in our institutions, confidence in our way of life, care for our own communities, a willingness to work for justice, and a confidence in the rule of law.

Nehemiah’s Prayer.

Nehemiah is a book that preachers seldom tackle. I was surprised to learn this; however, I already knew that the book had some difficulties. Scholars know that there is a relationship between First and Second Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, but the exact relationship is not known. Fortunately, these scholarly issues do not impact the practical meaning of the book of Nehemiah for you and me.

It will help us to know that, when the Jews returned from Babylon, they did so in three waves: First, a man named “Zerubbabel” (538-515 B.C.), a descendent of King David, returned to Jerusalem with a group of people who attempted to rebuild the Temple. Then, a great scholar and leader named “Ezra” (458-457 B.C.) returned to Israel to rebuild the culture and community around the Torah, the “Law” or “Instruction” or “Way” of Moses. Finally, a man named “Nehemiah” (446-433 B.C.) returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city. [1]

Today, we are looking at the first chapter of Nehemiah:

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital,  that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.  And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (Nehemiah 1:1-10).

Preparation for Renewal.

Nehemiah begins with Nehemiah in Susa, the winter capital city of the Persian Empire (Nehemiah 1). Nehemiah was an important person: the cupbearer to the king (v. 11). In ancient times, kings were often poisoned. Kings, therefore, had cupbearer’s who tasted the wine and ate the food before the king. Cupbearers often took on other important responsibilities. Nehemiah was such a person. He was Jewish, and as a member of a minority, he was no threat to the king. Therefore, the king trusted Nehemiah and probably gave him other important duties.

Nehemiah had a relative named, “Hannani.” Hannani came to visit from Judah, many miles away. When Nehemiah inquired as to the situation in Israel, he was advised that times were not good. Those who had returned were in poverty and surrounded by enemies. The wall of Jerusalem was broken down and it gates  burned (v. 2-3). This may not seem like a terrible problem to us, but in the ancient world it was a tremendous problem. The walls around a city were necessary to keep marauding bands of thieves and outlaws, not to mention, armies, from entering it. A city without walls and gates was in constant danger of attack.

When Nehemiah heard the news, he mourned and fasted for many days (v. 4). [2] Although he lived in a palace in the capital of an empire, and was personally unaffected by the suffering of God’s people in Israel, Nehemiah had sympathy for those with less. He cared about his countrymen in need. He suffered because of their suffering. He did not just say, “That’s too bad” and turn away and think about something else. Instead, he mourned and fasted and prayed.

Wherever I go I meet people who are worried about our country. It doesn’t matter whether they are Republicans or a Democrats. It doesn’t matter what race they are. It doesn’t matter whether they are rich or poor, people are concerned about our country. Poll after poll shows that people feel there’s something fundamentally wrong in our nation and its direction. People think we’ve taken the wrong path and are headed for trouble. A lot of people have lost confidence in our institutions and leadership.

Now, a lot of the time what I and others say amounts to griping. A good bit of the time people are just plain angry. Perhaps anger is an appropriate emotion; however, I think sorrow and mourning are more appropriate. We will not get anywhere in rebuilding our culture until we are filled with sorrow not just at what other people have done but at what we’ve done. Nehemiah, as we shall see, was a good man; however, he knew that he bore some responsibility for what had happened to his fellow countrymen (v. 6). We need to feel the same way. Therefore, the first thing I want to urge our congregation to do this year is the hardest of all: mourn—mourn, fast and pray for our nation.

Prayer for Renewal.

After Nehemiah had mourned and fasted and prayed for many days, he prayed a beautiful prayer (v. 5-11). I want to point out a few things about Nehemiah’s prayer that can help us as we pray for our own country and our fellow citizens:

• Pray to our Great and Awesome God. Nehemiah begins by recognizing who God is: the great and awesome God, the all wise Creator of the heavens and the earth, who made all things, and who is able to do all things. The first thing we need to remember is the awesome wisdom and power of the God we serve.
• Pray to God, who Loves us Unconditionally. Second, Nehemiah recognizes that God is a God of Absolute Love. When Nehemiah indicates that God is a God who keeps his covenant of love, he uses the Hebrew word that means, “Steadfast Love” and which in the New Testament is translated, “Agape.” This is the word the New Testament uses for the love of God shown to us on the cross of Jesus. Nehemiah knows that God is a God of unimaginable love. We need to remember that God does love us and does want to answer our prayers.
• Pray to God who Keeps his Promises. Third, Nehemiah praises God as a God who keeps his promises. The word that Nehemiah uses is the word we translate “Covenant,” which comes from a root Hebrew uses to describe treaties. When God is made is a promise, it is ratified in heaven, and God can be trusted to keep that promise. God did not desert Israel, and God will not desert us.
• Pray to God who Sees our Condition and Hears our Prayers. Finally, God is not a distant God who lives and has his being far away from us. God is near to us and sees our condition and hears our prayers.

Nehemiah was (as we shall see) a man of action. He was not a religious dreamer. Nevertheless, before he took any action he prayed. Nehemiah prayed because he knew that the thing he felt called to do was beyond his human power. He needed God’s help. Otherwise, he would fail.

Frankly, the political, economic, social, moral, and spiritual problems of our society are so great that we all need to be in prayer. There is no single politician or political party that is wise enough or smart enough to solve them. As Christians, perhaps the most important thing we can do for our country is pray. As we pray, God may reveal to us acts of wisdom and love that he will bless to make things better. As we pray, we may be able to say or do things in ways that are helpful.

Often, we think Christians need to be in power in order to change our country for the better. We need to remember that Nehemiah was a slave, a servant of a pagan Persian king. He had no power except that which comes from prayer and the confidence the king had that Nehemiah would act in the king’s best interests. We do not need to be in power to bless our society with the wisdom and love of God. We don’t need to be in power to gain a reputation for practical wisdom and compassion for others.

Often, it appears to others that evangelical Christians want to be in power, to take over Washington, and to enact our own political or economic agenda.  We Christians in America do not need to be in power to pray for our country, to behave wisely, and to love other people. In many ways these are the most important things we can do for our nation. This week, I copied Nehemiah’s prayer into my journal twice, making it my prayer for our nation. I suggest everyone who feels inclined read and reread Nehemiah’s prayer this year until it becomes your own prayer for our nation,

Pentecost and Renewal.

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the church. Acts opens with the disciples in the Upper Room praying that God will send the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). They prayed for ten days. Then, the coming of the Holy Spirit is described:

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4).

In response to the prayers of the early church, God sent them the power that they would need to renew Israel and to bring the Gentiles into the faith. In response to our prayers, God will send the Holy Spirit to empower us to help our nation.

This week, I learned that the name, Nehemiah” means “the consoler from the Lord.” In John, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the “Comforter” who was sent by God to console and advocate for God’s people  (John 14:15-18; 15:26-27). Nehemiah was sent to his people to advocate, to console, and to comfort them in a time of need. He was called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to have the wisdom and love for others he needed for his great task. The ancient commentators saw today’s text as a Pentecost text because Nehemiah was a rebuilder of Israel, and the disciples were empowered to rebuild God’s people as a Holy Nation, a New Israel,  on Pentecost! [3]

We should pray that God will send the Holy Spirit upon us so that we can be Spirit-filled “little Nehemiah’s” for our culture. More than anything else, we need to be consolers of our nation, comforters of those who need comfort, and advocates for wise and loving change.

Pentecost 2016.

If we are concerned about our country and want to know what we can do to help, Nehemiah gives us a wonderful example. We should be concerned about our nation and mourn for its condition. We should pray for our nation and ask God to help us. We should  confess our sins as well as the sins of our nation. In addition, however there are other prayers we can make:

• We can pray for wisdom
• We can pray for love
• We can pray for power
• We can pray for renewal
• We can pray to be Christ-like during the election season
• We can pray for our society to be rebuilt

Our job isn’t over just because we’re praying.  As we will learn next week and in the weeks to come, there are other things to do, some of them requiring courage. But the beginning of renewing our culture requires something that can be harder for those of us who are active than showing courage. We need to be quiet, mourn, fast, and pray. All real renewal and all real rebuilding begins with prayer.

Not so long ago, I was with a person who was planning a renovation of sorts. Before this person began, he and his wife stopped and prayed for what would come next in their renovation. We don’t always do this, but we should. Rebuilding is hard work, and we can help ourselves a lot if stop and pray before we begin.

Amen.

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] See, Mark A. Throntvelt, “Ezra-Nehemiah” in Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), 2.

[2] We know this because when Chapter 2 opens, it is later in the year (Nehemiah 2:1).

[3] See, Marco Conti, ed., “Hehemiah” in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament Vol. V. (Downer’s Grove, Ill: IVP Press, 2008), 333-335.

This week, Acts 17:1-12 forms the basis of our Blog. It is appropriate that this sermon be preached on Mother’s Day. How many of us learned our first Bible scriptures listening to our mothers read Bible stories to us at bedtime! How many faithful grandmothers have read the Bible to children. Therefore, this blog is for everyone, but I dedicate it to our  mothers, living and with the Lord, and especially to my mother!

We are in a short series dealing with some aspects of our culture that make it difficult for us to live out the Christian life. Just to bring everyone up to date, we’ve talked about becoming unplugged from human pride and plugged into God. We’ve  talked about becoming unplugged from selfishness and plugged into Jesus. We’ve talked about getting unplugged from isolation and plugged into God’s Spirit-filled community. In this blog, we’re going to talk about getting unplugged from the media and plugged into the word of God.

One striking feature of our culture is the role media plays in our lives. In many ways, our culture is the most media-dependent culture in the world. Let me give you a few examples. A most unfortunate aspect of our culture is the number of hours a day children and youth stand watching. reading, or listening to media. In prior years, fundamental values were transmitted by parents reading the Bible and other great literature to their children, by young people attending church regularly, and by the relationships children had within families and in local communities. Today, study after study shows that young people receive almost all of their information about what it means to be human and how to live from the media. The world view of the newer generations is formed primarily by the media.

When my parents were young, the word “media” largely meant people read newspapers, magazines, and listened to the radio. Every so often, when people could afford it, they saw a movie. At night they read books, most often the Bible. Even in my parent’s generation things were slowly changing. Things began to change dramatically in my generation. We were the first generation formed more by “Micky Mouse Club” than by the Bible.

Today, young people are saturated with images, many of which involve sex, money, and violence. Music is a more important factor in forming young people than ever before in history, and young people have access to music that would’ve been unimaginable in prior generations. In addition (and unfortunatelty), increasing the media deliberately distorts reality for political and social conditioning purposes.

Pornography, which is a problem for men and women today, used to involve a certain amount of risk of getting caught buying a girlie magazine. Today, any youngster can dial into a pornographic website almost without risk. If they smart enough this includes without risk of getting caught by their parents.

In Psalms, we learn that the Word of God is a light that shines into our daily walk and a lamp that illuminates our way in dark times and through all of life (Psalm 19:105). The wise men of Israel believed that one of the most important ways to become wise was to meditate daily upon and laws of God (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2, 119:15; 97). Today, little of the news we read or watch makes any attempt to avoid bias. Therefore, if we want to live wisely and lovingly, and if we want our children to live wisely and lovingly, we need to take time to unplug from the media and plug into the word of God.

A Noble Beginning.

In the first part of Acts 17, Paul began a church in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9). Unfortunately, the Thessalonicans refused to listen to Paul when he taught from the Old and New Testaments that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. From Thessalonica, Paul went to Berea. There, Paul has a different experience.

In  Acts 17:10-15, we read:

As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.  Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea (Acts 17:10-14).

Let us pray: O God who speaks, please enter our hearts and speak to us by the silent power of your word. Allow us to hear afresh your Word of Truth. Convict us. Convert us. Make us wholly yours. Amen.

Narrow Minded Prejudice: The Enemy of Faith.

There is a little phrase in this text that is one of my favorites in the New Testament. I love the phrase reads that “the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonicans” (Acts 17:11). Various translators translate this phrase differently. Sometimes it is translated “open-minded (NLT). Sometimes it is translated “more open minded” (NLV). Sometimes it is translated “more willing to listen” (NCV). However, traditional English translations render it “more noble” (KJV, RSV, ESV). In Greek, the word literally means “high born”. The idea Luke is communicating is that wise people are always willing to learn. “Nobility” is not a matter of social class, or money, or intelligence, or education; nobility is a way of life characterized, among other things, by wisdom and willingness to learn.

When Paul was in Thessalonica, he conducted his ministry as he normally did: He went to the synagogue and began to teach. Our Scripture tells us that Paul taught in the synagogue explaining how the Old Testament Scriptures pointed toward the Messiahship of Jesus (v. 3). Like Jesus with the disciples after his resurrection, Paul looked at passages from Moses, Psalms, and the Prophets (and particularly Isaiah), showing that they did not point toward a military Messiah but toward a Messiah of suffering love. which is what Jesus was.

After a short period of time in Berea, a few Jews and a number of God-fearers received Paul’s message and accepted Christ (v. 4). On the other hand, the majority of the Thessalonians had rejected Paul’s message almost without listening and started a riot (vv sildentadal.com.5-9). Our text indicates that the leaders of the Thessalonian synagogue were jealous of Paul’s learning and of their loss of power (v. 5).  It was only when trouble makers from Thessalonica came to Berea that there was trouble.

When we did our series in the fall, we spoke about “People of  Peace” (Luke 10:6). A person of peace is a person who is open to hear the word of God and accept the peace God offers us in Christ. If we are not open to hear the word of God, it will never transform us.  We don’t need to be people of peace just once before we accept Christ. We need to continue to people peace day after day searching the Scriptures and hearing the word of God.

Scripture: Our Guidebook for Faith.

I keep in my briefcase (until I lose it or give it away) a little copy of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. In answer to Question 3, “What does the Bible teach?” the catechism responds, “What human beings need to believe about God and about how to behave” (GCS paraphrase). As Christians, we accept the fact that we are fallen creatures. We all have our prejudices and shortcomings. Scripture provides us a way to gain perspective on ourselves and hear the voice of God speaking into our hearts so that we may be changed.

In Second Timothy, Paul writes perhaps the most famous of all his words about Scripture. Writing to young Timothy, he says:

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,  my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom^[a]you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:10-17).

In other words, Scripture contains everything we need to know about the Christian life. It gives us knowledge. It corrects us when we’ve gone wrong. It trains us in how to behave morally. It makes us wise and able to do the things God wants us to do.

When I’m traveling, I often have my quiet time on the airplane. I’ve done this for forty years. It’s always been comforting to see how many people read their Bibles on an airplane. It doesn’t happen all the time; however, I frequently see businessmen and women, mothers, and young people all studying Scripture as they travel. It means that whatever they’re going, they’re getting equipped to be God’s people when they get there. Of course, we should not just do this when we’re traveling. We should be equipping ourselves every day. To do that, we have to unplug ourselves from the world, and especially from the media, and get plugged into God.

Perhaps you think this is easier for pastors or other professionals than it is for you. You could not be more wrong. I have a computer. I have a cell phone. I have an iPad. I’m addicted to the news. During election years like this one, I have to constantly remind myself to check the news once in the morning and once at night or I watch it all the time. The media knows that big headlines and juicy stories catch our attention. What we need is the wisdom that comes from comparing what we hear in the media and hear on the news to what Scripture teaches.

How to Get Plugged the into Scripture.

Some people don’t know how to get started studying Scripture, so I thought that I would take a few moments to share a few ideas.  There are some basic techniques that anyone can use to connect with the Bible and learn from the text. Some of these are:

1. Personal Reading. The first level of any text is a rendering of what it literally says. Some questions that will help get the basic meaning out are as follows:

• What did you hear the author (or character or Jesus) saying as the text was read?
• What is the context where this is said?
• What was frustrating, unclear, or difficult?

2. Personal Involvement. The next stage is to get personally involved in the text. Some helpful questions here are:

• With whom or what do you identify with in the story?
• What past feelings does this text restore?
• What personal experience does this text bring to mind?
• What joy, pain or hurt does this text bring to mind?

3. Personal Application. Remember that meditation and personal application is the most important thing in studying the Bible. We should always leave adequate time for application. Some personal application questions are:

• What is God asking you to do?
• What hope does this give you?
• What relationship does this impact?
• What will you do differently because of this study?

Sometimes, people feel that they need to be Bible scholars in order to study the Bible. This is not true. In fact, I urge people not to read commentaries until they’ve studied the text for themselves. Commentaries tell you what other people think and have thought in the past. They are very useful. However, they inevitably cause us to treat the text as an object we are studying. While this is important, it is more important for us to personally enter the text and allow the text to transform us googletest. When I write sermons, I do look at commentaries. However, the first thing I do is read the text and allow the text to enter into my heart. Sometimes, as it did this week, it takes a long time and it isn’t easy.

Christ the Center.

If you remember our Easter series, you remember learning that when Jesus rose from the dead on three occasions he or the Angels explained to the disciples that the things written in the Old Testament explained why the Messiah had to suffer, die, and be resurrected from the dead (See, Luke 24:7; 25-27;44-47). Paul does the same thing in Berea.

As Christians, we read Scripture to understand the laws of God, to learn the history of Israel and how God acts in history, to learn to be wise, to allow the music of God into our hearts as in Psalms, and to hear the prophetic word of God judging us as in the Prophets. However, the most important thing we learned in Scripture is who Christ is and how Christ acts in our lives to change us into the image of God.

Let me repeat this: the most important thing we learn in Scripture is who Christ is and how Christ acts in our lives to change us into the image of God. Christ is the center of Scripture. Scripture should lead us into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Scripture should allow us to find ourselves surrounded and permeated by the love of God. The function of Scripture is to lead us into a personal relationship with God. In fact, if we do not allow Scripture to do this, we will never be able to understand Scripture.

It is a long time since I began my journey through Scripture. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what it was like at the beginning. I do remember it was hard. I do remember that I could not understand Job no matter how hard I tried! Even today, I remind myself how boring I find Leviticus and a few other books of the Bible. Nevertheless, over the years it has been the single most important thing in my learning about God, about other people, and about myself.

Copyright G. Christopher Scruggs, 2016, All Rights Reserved

Today’s post is on the implications of Acts 2:42-47 for the church today.

If I were to take an aerial picture of our neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri in 1958 or so and another picture of our neighborhood in Cordova, Tennessee in the year 2016, one would immediately notice a striking difference: In 1958, my brother and I could run through backyards practically to Nebraska without once crossing a privacy fence. Almost no one had a privacy fence. However, today if you look at a picture of our neighborhood in Cordova, Tennessee everyone has a privacy fence. In fact, our neighborhood code requires that you have not just a privacy fence but a particular kind of privacy fence.

Privacy fences reveal and are a metaphor for a big change in American society. Once again, I remember talking to a very successful oil executive in Houston Texas around the year 1980. In 1948, he said, even in his affluent neighborhood, people got together on Friday evenings and cooked out together. They watch the children play, the men barbecued, the women prepared the table and the side dishes, and everyone ate together. There was community. I remember the same thing in Springfield, Missouri growing up.

One question I have been asked repeatedly at evangelism seminars is this: “How many of you know your neighbors?” Interestingly, the answer is always, “Not very many.” Americans have increasingly become isolated. There’s even a technical term for this, “Cocooning.” We are so busy at work, and our children are so busy at school and with activities, that Americans increasingly just want to be left alone when they have time off.

Almost every denomination in the United States is experiencing declining church attendance. Often, people suggest that this is a result of a declining interest in faith. I’m not sure this is the only explanation. Almost all social organizations are experiencing a decline in participation. This includes neighborhood associations, fraternal associations, societies, and other social groups that provided meaning and friendship for prior generations. For example, my Dad’s Rose Society has experienced a decline in attendance and participation, as has the Masonic Lodge and the Daughters of the Eastern Star.

Given all this, it is obvious that Americans  need  to get unplugged from our isolation and plugged back into into community.

The Ultimate Community.

In two weeks, we will celebrate Pentecost. At Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and the beginning of the Christian church as we know it. On Pentecost Sunday, we’re going to talk a little bit more about the role of prayer in the Christian life as we talk about the beginning of Nehemiah. Next week, we’re going to talk a little bit about the role of the Bible as we move towards Pentecost. Today, I’m going to be picking up after Peter preaches his first great sermon on the day of Pentecost.

If you will remember, in Acts Peter preaches the first sermon (Acts 2). He explicitly sees Jesus as the fulfillment of all of the prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament. He explains the cross and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit. When Peter is finished, we are told that the people were cut to the quick (v. 37). They asked Peter what they should do (v. 37). He responded that they should repent and be baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 38). Apparently, 3000 people believed on that day (v. 41). Then, we read the following:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).

Prayer: Triune God, who exists and lives in Loving Community: We confess that we find it hard, very hard, to create and sustain community. Please come among us this day that we might see and feel what you desire for each of us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Community of God.

A most striking things about the Bible that often goes unnoticed is the importance of community. When God wanted to put into place his plan to overcome the effects of sin and the Fall, he chose a person (Genesis 12:1). Out of that person (Abraham) he created a family, then a tribe of families, and eventually a nation. In other words, God created a community. Through the history of the community we call, “Israel,” God prepared his people to receive his ultimate revelation in Jesus Christ.

When Jesus came, the first thing we see him doing is calling his disciples together and creating a community. It was within the intimate, loving, nurturing, and discipling context of that community, that Jesus prepared the disciples to carry his message into the world. We can too easily pass this by. So far as we know, Jesus never told the disciples to write the Bible. He himself never wrote a book. What we do see is Jesus calling disciples, teaching disciples, sharing his love with disciples, correcting disciples, and building close personal relationships with the disciples. Jesus created a community we call, “Church” by everything he did during his lifetime.

The last thing we see Jesus doing in Matthew, and the other Gospels, is commissioning the community he had created to go into all the world and share the gospel (See, Matthew 28:16-20). In Acts, Jesus commissions his disciples and then sends them as a community back to the Upper Room to pray and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-8). When the Holy Spirit came upon the Church, it did not come just upon Peter, or upon the Twelve, but upon all those, men and women, who had been waiting and praying for the gift of the Spirit.

After Peter preached his sermon, the first thing God does is expand His community of believers. In other words, community is not optional. We human beings were made in the image of God. God exists as a community of love. We were created to exist in a community of love. One reason we have so much dysfunction in our society is that we have forgotten that community is not optional. Community is essential to the human life. Therefore, community is essential for the church. In fact, the church is supposed to model what a true Christian community is all about.

Elements of Community.

Our text today reveals for us six things that are clearly necessary for authentic Christian community.

• Bible Teaching. The Christian community is structured around and depends on teaching the Bible. This is what is meant by the phrase, “they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching” (v. 42). The Apostles were teaching new disciples the Old Testament and their memories of Jesus and how he fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament.
• The Christian community involves a deep fellowship (vv. 42-46). Our text tells us that the new disciples devoted themselves to fellowship, to eating together, to praying together, and sharing their lives. This kind of deep community is hard to create in a society devoted to individual self-seeking.
• Prayer. The community was devoted to prayer (v. 42). Jesus modeled a deep prayer life for his disciples. The disciples spent much time in the Upper Room praying for the Holy Spirit. Authentic spiritual growth does not occur just as a result of Bible study or church participation. Authentic spiritual growth occurs in response to prayer.
• Acts of love. In several places, we are alerted to the fact that the community was filled with love (vv. 42-46). Fellowship requires acts of love. We’re told that they shared meals together. Were told that they were generous. All of these things mean that they were constantly sharing God’s love with one another. We also know from other passages of Scripture and the history of the church that they were generously sharing God’s love outside of their fellowship.
• Spiritual Power. We are told that the apostles did many signs and wonders (v. 43). We are told that a kind of supernatural generosity characterized the fellowship (vv. 44-45). An unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred. Spiritual power comes in response to prayer and authentic community.
• Outreach. Finally, we are told that the community group (v. 47). In other words, they were not just a holy huddle. They were reaching out and sharing the good news in word and deed. People heard about the message of Jesus and they saw the difference that the message of Jesus made in the lives of the believers. They were attracted to what they saw and heard, and lives were changed.

The Community of our Congregation.

It can be hard to see, but everything that we do here in our local church and have done  for many years is structured around this particular passage of Holy Scripture. In particular, we have deliberately structured what happens for the children and young adults around Acts 2:42-47. For example, our Wednesday night program we call, “EPIC” is structured around Bible study, fellowship, a common meal, prayer, and the other elements of the early church.

Last weekend, some of us were at a Men’s Great Banquet. This weekend, a number of our women are at a Women’s Great Banquet. The Great Banquet weekends are structured around Acts 2:42-47, our passage for today’s blog. We hear talks based on Scripture together. We celebrate Holy Communion together. We eat meals together. We worship together. The idea of the weekend is to model God’s community of love in a special way for laypeople so that they can go back to their local church and share the same kind of love with others. The mission of the Great Banquet is to help churches become more like the New Testament church.

There is a similar weekend for our youth. In addition, week after week we have a youth program in which the young people come together, hear the apostles teaching, share a common meal, have fellowship together, and experience God’s love in a special way. When “Huddle” was created, it was consciously created to model the early church as described in today’s passage.

In other words, everything that we do, and in all of our planning for the future, we plan to help people become unplugged from isolation and plug-in to the community of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which we call the church. The church is not an organization. It’s a community modeled after the community of God.

God Sent His Son to Create Community.

When pastors get together, we often complain about how hard it is to create community. There is no question but what it is hard to create authentic Christian community. There is no question that what it is especially hard to create authentic Christian community in contemporary American society. However, it’s never been easy. For example, when God wanted to create his special community, his family, his people, his city, his kingdom, he sent his Only Son to show us what his community was like. His Son, as we know, had to give his life on the cross in order to create that community.

This is the hard fact: the reason community is so hard to create is that human selfishness and self-canteredness works against the creation of real, authentic community. It requires a special, kind of self-giving love, the kind of love Christ showed on the cross to create the kind of transforming community that we human beings truly need.

Amen

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

Last week, in this blog we talked about becoming unplugged from human pride and plugged into humility. This week, we’re talking about getting unplugged from self and plugged in to Christ. This weekend is a great weekend to talk about selfishness. There is nothing like April 15^th to make me feel selfish!

The French speak of a disease they call “La Maladie du Moi,” or “Me-sickness.” Despite all the progress the human race has made over the centuries, we have never come close to overcoming human selfishness. The only remedy that has ever been effective was that offered by Christ. His love engenders selflessness because his presence in our hearts, causes “Me-sickness” to vanish.[1] Nothing else works.

There’s nothing wrong with a certain amount of self-interest. It’s natural. We have no choice but to see the world from a center in our own being. We all see and experience the world from a center in ourselves. A bit of self-centeredness is human and natural. Unfortunately, it’s easy for our human selfishness to get out of control. It’s easy for us to begin to care only for ourselves and not for others. It is easy for us to become pathologically self-centered.

Not so many years ago, a member of a local church and his or her spouse went to a local counselor for marital counseling. The counselor advised the husband and wife that they should spend the next few years concentrating on themselves and not the marriage. I don’t know about you, but personally, I don’t think a good marriage could survive several years of selfishness on the part of either spouse! [2]

Out of Self and Into Christ.

Our text for this meditation comes from and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians is one of Paul’s “Prison Letters.” [3] Paul wrote Ephesians while imprisoned, probably in Rome. Ephesus was the leading city of Western Asia Minor. It was one of the most important trade centers in the ancient world, and home to one of the most important churches during Paul’s day.

Paul wrote to the Ephesian church because they had responded to the word of God and become a part of the body of Christ (See Ephesians 1:9-13). Paul loved this church, and he gave them really good advice. To some degree, Ephesians represents Paul’s most mature ideas about Christ, Christian faith, and the Church. For Paul, Christ is the center of God’s revelation to the world. He reflects the very image and being of God. He is the center of God’s saving action in history (see Colossians 1:15-20).

Here is part of what Paul said:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:1-9).

Let us Pray: God of Love, send your Spirit upon us that we might understand your Word and be filled with your presence and your love, empowered to live differently because of what you have done for us.

 Life Among the Self-Centered.

Some readers may remember the name, “Ayn Rand.” She was the author of several books, including one that is been made into two movies, “Atlas Shrugged.” She also wrote a book called, “The Virtue of Selfishness.” In her books, Rand explained that Christianity and other world religions that speak of selfishness as wrong were wrong. In fact, selfishness is a virtue. To some degree, Ayn Rand was simply a popularizer of a materialist philosophy and a cheerleader for an outdated way of seeing the world. (She called her philosophy “objectivism,” a view based upon a popular, but much critiqued view of human knowing and of human morals). It mirrored the materialism and self-centeredness of American culture. Although she has been much criticized by experts, she attracted a big following during her lifetime, even among cultural elites. [4]

Although the books were successful, and an earlier movie starring Gary Cooper was successful, the most recent movie wasn’t terribly successful. In a way, this is surprising. It may not be popular to talk about being selfish in a positive way in our culture, but selfishness is one of the biggest problems we face. In fact, many people note that our culture has become so self-centered that it borders on narcissistic.

“Narcissism” takes its name from an ancient fable involving a man named “Narcissus” In the Greek myth, Narcissus was proud and disdained those who loved him. The God “Nemesis” (from whom we get our phrase, “He is my nemesis”) noticed this behavior and attracted Narcissus to a pool, where he saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Narcissus could not tear himself away from his image in the pool, wasted away and died. To be a narcissist, then,  is to have an excessive, pathological, dangerous love of oneself.

Modern Americans are not the only people to suffer from narcissism. The tendency towards narcissism is, as the Greeks knew, a part of human nature. All humans, all the time, tend towards a kind of pathological self-centeredness. It is the legacy of our self-consciousness and the Fall. The apostle Paul told the Ephesians, “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts” (Eph. 2:3). In other words, it is just part of the human condition to live according to our own selfish desires. The problem is, in our culture as in the ancient world, no one can achieve happiness, peace, or stability if they’re self-centered. It is only by getting outside of ourselves and our own selfish desires that we can become whole. Selfishness always and everywhere leads to personal and social chaos.

Jesus and Unselfishness.

Jesus was different in both dramatic and unassuming ways. In Mark, there is a story of Jesus that illustrates his unselfishness. In the early part of Mark, Jesus becomes very famous and is followed by large crowds. In Mark 5, Jesus was teaching, and so many people surrounded him and the crowd was so needy that neither the crowd nor disciples had a chance to eat. Jesus, recognizing that everyone was getting exhausted, told the disciples to come with him to a quiet place and rest. They went away in a boat to be alone and recharge their batteries, so to speak.

Unfortunately, many of the people who were listening to Jesus recognized that he was leaving and ran ahead of him. When Jesus landed at the place he and the disciples had chosen for their little retreat, there was a crowd of hungry people waiting for him.

His disciples, who were tired and hungry, asked Jesus to please send the crowd away. No one could have faulted the disciples or Jesus if they had done so: Jesus had stopped preaching and healing. He never promised the crowd anything to eat. The disciples and Jesus were tired and needed rest. Nevertheless, Jesus fed the 5,000 people who had followed him. [5] Most of the time when we hear the story, we think of the miracle itself. However, this is also a story about unselfishness. Jesus was unselfish, the only truly fully unselfish person in history. Jesus needed and deserved a rest, but he met the needs of the crowd instead.

One common title for Jesus is, “The Man for Others.” Everything about Jesus was other-centered. He cared about other people. He put the needs of other people first. As a leader, he tried to serve the interests of other people. Jesus demonstrated by his life a healthy psychology that is not self-centered.

Grace as the Way Out.

It is at this point, as you probably expect me to say something like, “So, be like Jesus!” Paul, however, understood that human beings can never be unselfish by our own power. All of us are naturally selfish. All of us naturally are self-centered. All of us by nature try to satisfy our own desires and cravings. Paul understood that, by nature, we find it impossible to escape our own self-centeredness. That is why he says:

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-7).

It was not Paul that escaped Paul’s selfishness by his own effort. It was Christ who by God’s mercy rescued Paul from his selfishness by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The problem of human selfishness is so serious that it is only the cross and the power of the resurrection that can save us. Fortunately, God loves the human race and desires for us to escape our selfishness and experience the joyful,  Spirit-filled life Christ experienced. This is why Paul goes on to say, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not of yourselves—it is the gift of God not by works so that no one can boast” (vv. 8-9).

Our escape from selfishness is an act of pure grace. It’s a gift from God. It’s a gift that we receive by trusting God and being faithful to God, allowing the power of the resurrection to enter our lives and transform us. It is the Holy Spirit that empowers us to escape our own self-centeredness and live an “other-centered” life like Christ. The idea behind these verses and many like them is that God does the work, not us.

One of my favorite Pauline phrases is the phrase, “in Christ.” For example, in Second Corinthians, Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). The phrase “in Christ” connotes a situation where we are “in Christ” and Christ is in us, as if we are surrounded and permeated by Christ. How do we get surrounded and permeated by Christ?

• First we believe and trust. We invite Christ into our hearts, so that we begin to think, act, feel as Christ thinks, feels and acts.
• Second, we constantly ask Christ to change us. We lift up our lives to God daily in prayer and ask for God’s grace.
• Third, we begin to learn more about Christ and the Christian life, so that the way we think becomes the way Christ thinks.
• Finally, we live with Christ in us for a long time. We slowly but surely change as Christ changes us over time. It does not happen over night, but as I mentioned in a moment ago, we are filled with hope because “Christ in me is the hope of Glory” (Col. 1:25).

Many years ago, just after Chuck Colson became a Christian, I had an opportunity to see him. I had read his book and seen many pictures of him during the Watergate period. Then, some years later, I saw Colson in person when he came to Houston to give a talk. Interestingly, I could tell the difference years of being a Christian had made in his life. He looked kinder, more loving. The lines in his face no longer had the harsh look that they had that first time I saw him. They had become smile wrinkles. When we allow Christ to dwell in us, we do in fact change, not all at once but over time. This is the power of the resurrection at work in our lives.

The Blessing of Unselfishness.

A foundational commitment of our church is to share God’s love with others. The Great Commandment teaches us to “Love others as we love ourselves” (Matthew 22:36-40). Part of being a Christian is gradually coming to the point where we love others just like ourselves, and when we do, we are being truly “other centered” like Jesus was other centered.

There is an old story told of a spouse who came to a pastor about a divorce. The person admitted that he or she hated his or her spouse. They wanted to hurt the person as badly as possible. Of course, the person wanted a divorce. The pastor recommended that the spouse go home and practice loving their spouse like Jesus loved the church. After a few months, the pastor saw the person and asked if he or she was in the process of getting the divorce. The person answered, “No. We love each other too much.”

This story may be apocryphal, but its message is true: Selfishness destroys love; unselfishness creates love. Therefore, the second thing we have to do if we want to find the blessed life is get unplugged from our own selfish desires and plug into love God.

Amen.

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] I found this in a version at More Sermon Illustrations.com/ selfishness (downloaded April 14, 2016).

[2] This is an actual event. One member of the marriage later came to me for counseling. I thought the advice was about as silly as any I’d ever heard of from a counselor.

[3] I am indebted to William Barclay, “The Letters to Galatians &Ephesians” in The Daily Bible Study Series 2^nd ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1958).

[4] See, Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged (New York, NY, Random House, 1957) and The Virtue of Selfishness (New York, NY: New American Library, 1964). Among her more or less disciples were and are Alan Greenspan, Rand Paul, Steve Jobs, and Mark Cuban. In my view her views are behind the monetary errors of the Greenspan era.

[5] See, Mark 5:30-44.

With this post, I am beginning a new series called, “Get Unplugged and Plugged In.” Our theme this entire year is, “What’s Next?” We’re talking about and thinking about how we can have more of the joy and fulfillment of Christ in our daily lives and relationships. In this particular series of blogs, we’re talking about things in our lives and society we need to “unplug from” and things we need to “plug into” in order to be the people God wants us to be and to experience the joy and peace God wants us to experience.

We are beginning with the single biggest problem we human beings have – pride. In wisdom literature we are told that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and humility comes before honor” (Proverbs 15:5). In James, we are told to, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up” (James 4:10). Without humility, it is impossible to make any progress in the Christian life.

There is nothing that keeps us from experiencing the blessed life more than pride. Therefore, there is no virtue more important to achieving the blessed life than humility. As long as we are driven by our desires, and as long as we feel that we are competent by our own powers to achieve happiness, it will always elude us.

Before we begin, we need to be clear about what we are talking about. We use the word “pride” in more than one way. If I say, “I am proud of my children” I am expressing happiness at their accomplishments. There is nothing wrong with this kind of pride.  The kind of pride we are talking about is an inordinate, unjustified sense of one’s own capacities, abilities, merit, worth, or superiority. It is the notion that I know more than I know, that have greater abilities than I possess, etc. It is this kind of pride that can warp and ruin our lives.

Paul, Corinth, Pride, and God’s Secret Wisdom.

Our text for this blog comes from First Corinthians. The city of Corinth was a wealthy and prosperous town. The people of Corinth had every reason to be proud of their city. When Paul came to the city, he planted a church. This church was in a strategic location because Corinth was on the main trade route from Asia to Rome. After Paul left, spiritual pride began to develop and various factions in the church began to argue (I Cor. 1:10-13). Some people claimed to follow Paul. Some people claimed to follow Peter. Some people claimed to follow a man named Apollos. Everyone was sure they were right. Word of these arguments reached Paul, who was probably in Ephesus at the time. In response to the problems at Corinth, Paul wrote what his First Letter to the Church in Corinth. [1]

Paul diagnosed the Corinthian problem as a lack of humility in the Body of Christ. Here is a part of what he said:

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (I Corinthians 2:1-8

 

Let us pray: Eternal God, who came to us in the form of a humble servant, come this morning among us so that we may overcome our own human pride and have the humility of Jesus. Amen.

 

Pride and the Human Condition.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek (or humble) for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). In Romans, Paul diagnoses our fundamental human problem as pride. He says that the deepest problems of human life are caused by our propensity to think we are wise and in the process become fools (Romans 1:21-22). Therefore, we can never enjoy the Blessed Life we seek until we overcome (or get unplugged from) pride and develop (or plug into) humility.

This week, I pondered the quip from the comic strip “Pogo: that goes like this, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”  Think for a moment about the worst decisions you ever made. This week it occurred to me that many of the really bad decisions I’ve made were motivated by pride, by an excessive sense of my own abilities or worth. If we think we know everything, if we think we’re smarter than other people, if we think we’re always right, we never learn anything.

Our church has adopted Booker T. Washington high school in Memphis Tennessee as a mission project. Many people don’t remember Booker T. Washington. Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington was a brilliant student who became the president of the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. He was an early leader in the civil rights movement and an advisor to Presidents.

There is a famous story about Booker T. Washington. Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute, he was walking through an exclusive section of the city. A wealthy resident of the neighborhood stopped him. She didn’t know who he was. She asked him if he would like to earn a few dollars chopping wood. Dr. Washington agreed.            

The next day, when the woman understood what she had done, she came to apologize. Dr. Washington did not confront the woman. He just said, “That’s perfectly all right, madam. Occasionally, I enjoy some physical labor. Besides I’m always happy to do something for a friend.” The woman became a close friend of Dr. Washington and a supporter of the Tuskegee Institute. Washington’s humility was a part of his success, just as humility is a part of our success. [2]

Pride and Paul.

As Paul speaks to the Corinthians about their pride, he compares their pride with the “Cross-centered humility” he showed when he was among them.  The part of First Corinthians I read a moment ago is just a small part of a long argument Paul makes at the beginning of First Corinthians. Paul points out that the message of the Cross, the message that Christ came in human form to die for our sins and separation from God, is not the kind of message that appeals to merely human wisdom (I Cor. 1:18-21). It did not appeal to human wisdom in Paul’s day; and, it does not appeal to human wisdom today. We human beings naturally favor pride over humility.

The Jews wanted a Messiah that would do signs and wonders and the Greeks wanted a God of cold logic who would overwhelm them with brilliance (vv. 22-24). Instead, God chose to reveal himself on a cross. The true wisdom of God, the deepest wisdom of God, was revealed in weakness and vulnerability on a cross outside the city gates of the city of Jerusalem. God, it turns out, has all power and authority, but chooses to work in love and humility.

Paul, when He came to Corinth did not try to wow the Corinthians with his wisdom, preaching ability, or other natural talents. Instead, he concentrated on Christ and upon the cross. We think of Paul as a great, natural leader. He does not seem to think of himself in that way. He says that he came in weakness and in trembling (v. 2:3). He was not so much trying to be wise, as he was trying to be Christ-like in the way he shared the Gospel with the people of Corinth. Paul’s example in Corinth is an example to us as we minister to people in our culture: We don’t have to be wise or powerful, just Christ-like.

Jesus and Pride.

Most of us remember this long quote from Philippians:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:3-11).

In other words, the reason Jesus is worthy to inherit the earth is precisely because he alone achieved that humility that would make him worthy to inherit the earth. He is worthy to be the leader of the human race precisely because he was willing to be its servant. This idea of “Servant Leadership” is a uniquely Christian development. The idea that before we can be trusted to lead others we need to learn to bear a cross for them comes directly from God’s revelation in Jesus.

Wisdom and Humility.

One of my favorite books is by the legendary investor John Templeton. Templeton, who gave the Templeton Prize for Religion, was a man of humility. [3] Part of his success as an investor had to do with his understanding that he was not smarter than the market nor did he understand exactly how the market worked. Therefore, he spent his life studying companies to try to understand what made them valuable. He found that, when he understood what made a company valuable, he could see if other people were underestimating the company’s value. Many, many people placed their retirement funds with John Templeton because of his reputation as a humble student of financial markets.

In fact, scientists and others will tell you that before progress can be made in science, those involved have to have the humility to accept the limits of human understanding and let nature speak for itself. Most of the achievements of modern quantum physics are deeply non-intuitive. It is surprising and unusual how nature operates. It was only by letting go of some preconceived notions and allowing nature to point towards its surprising and mysterious character that progress was made.

There’s a story told about a very powerful king. He was also a brilliant master at chess. This king sent a message across the land stating that he would give a tenth of his fortune to whoever could prove himself worthy of playing against him. However, if that person were found “unworthy” he would be executed. Many people risked their lives to challenge the proud king. Rich, poor, stupid, intelligent, they all lost—and the king had each one executed as “unworthy” to play against him.

Many years later, a poor beggar came to the palace to challenge the king. Many people tried to dissuade him, but he insisted in confronting the king. When the beggar was brought before the king, the king asked, “What makes you think you are worthy to play me?” The beggar answered, “Because I forgive you for all the evil you’ve done.” The king was stunned. The more he thought about the answer, the more he realized the bigger was right. In his pride and arrogance, he had become unworthy to be king. Therefore he resigned and made the beggar king. [4]

Conclusion.

In First Peter, we are told:

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (I Peter 5:5b-7).

Part of becoming like God—that is becoming like Jesus—is getting rid of our pride and becoming humble.

Years ago, in the midst of Oil, Realestate, and Banking Crisis, Houston, Texas adopted the motto, “Houston Proud.” It was all over the place. Kathy and I decided to have some cards made that read, “Houston Humble” and handed them out in our Sunday school class. You see it was the pride of Houston that created its problems, and humility was the answer, not more pride.

To some degree, this is a message we all need to hear. The problems of our country are very largely problems of pride. The solution to our problems is not more pride, but more humility. So, you see, the first thing we all need to do is get unplugged from our human pride and plugged in to the humility of Christ.

Amen

There are times when God does not make sense. There are times when we feel abandoned by God. There is a kind of Christianity that pretends that if we only believe, we will be saved, God will love us, and bad things will not happen to us. No Christian lives very long without coming to understand that this is too simplistic. Bad things do happen to good people. Devout Christians do go through periods of time when God seems distant.

Take the case of a young woman who grows up in a Christian home, goes to a Christian college, marries her Christian boyfriend, has a Christian family, and yet is deserted by her husband in mid-life. She prays for the restoration of her marriage; but it does not happen. She prays that her children will not be injured by this abandonment; but they are. In due time, she prays for a companion; but no one appears. This dark time doesn’t last a day, or week, or year, but for a decade.

Or, take the case of a mid-level executive who devotes his life to the company. He gets good performance reviews. His loyalty is noticed and affirmed. Then, at fifty-five, when the children are in college and expenses are high, suddenly he is laid off. The company to which he was so loyal has abandoned him. Then, despite the fact he has an unblemished record, it takes a long time to find a new job. It doesn’t take a week, or month, or quarter, or even a year. It takes a year and a half, and in that time, almost all the family savings are gone. His new job pays less than the old job.

We all go through times when we pray for good things, and pray with good intentions, but God seems silent. Today, we are talking about what is sometimes called the “Dark Night of the Soul”—times when we feel abandoned by God.

The Last Week of Jesus.

For the past several weeks, we have been reading and thinking about the last twenty-four hours of Jesus’ life. During that time, Jesus experienced some of the worst things that can happen to a human being. He was betrayed. He was disappointed. He was treated unfairly. He was mocked, ridiculed, and physically tortured. Finally, he was crucified. He was on that cross in deep pain for six long hours. Today, we pick up at Matthew chapter 27, verse 45:

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.  Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of Zebedee’s sons (Matthew 27:45-56).

God of Life: As we contemplate the death of Jesus, we know that there are other deaths we endure, sometimes with the feeling that we are abandoned by you. Come this morning so that we can begin to understand your presence even in your absence. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in you sight. Amen.

The Forsaken Messiah.

On the Thursday night before Passover, Jesus was arrested. He was first taken to the home of Annas, the former High Priest and “Kingmaker” of the Jewish priestly class (John 18:22). After an interview, he was taken to the home of Caiaphas (v. 14). There, he was subjected to a trial (Matt. 26:57-67). The Sanhedrin, or a kind of “Executive Committee” of the Sanhedrin, agreed he should be executed. At dawn, they met again briefly and formally convicted him of blasphemy (27:1). He was then sent to Pilate, who conducted yet another trial (v. 11).

Although Pilate was aware that Jesus was not guilty of a crime warranting death, the frenzy of the crowd and danger of a riot persuaded him that he would have to release Barabbas, a dangerous criminal, and execute Jesus (vv. 12-26). Pilate washed his hands of the entire affair and turned Jesus over to be flogged and crucified. After the flogging, he was taken to Golgotha, “the Place of the Skull,” to be crucified with two common criminals. A sign was put over him, “Jesus, the King of the Jews.” The criminals, the onlookers, and the leaders of the people mocked him.

The crucifixion began about 9:00 in the morning (Mark 15:25). About noon, darkness filled the earth. At about the ninth hour, or about 3:00 in the afternoon, Jesus cried out Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabbachthani, or “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). This is a direct quote from Psalm 22:1. Psalm 22, which I cannot read to you this morning, contains many verses that reflect what Jesus suffered. It reflects that scorn he endured from the crowd (Psalm 22; 6). It reflects the taunting he endured (v. 8). It reflects the opposition he endured from those in power (v. 13). It reflects the pain of the crucifixion (v. 14-15; 16). It reflects even the soldiers gambling for his clothing (v. 18).

Psalm 22 is a Psalm of dereliction, which begins with a sense of God’s absence and ends with a prayer of faith and assurance. What is going on here? Some people focus on the sense of absence Jesus felt. Part of Jesus’ enduring the depth of human suffering, and especially the suffering that comes from sin and alienation from God, creation, and others, is suffering the absence of God.

The Dark Night of the Soul.

This week, I had to reacquaint myself with one of my least favorite subjects in theology. Many years ago, the Carmelite brother, St. John of the Cross, coined the phrase, “the Dark Night of the Soul”. The Dark Night of the Soul is a time of spiritual dryness when God seems absent. It can come upon us for a variety of reasons. Generally however it occurs at times when we no longer experience God in ways we once did.

A Dark Night of the Soul  can be accompanied by time of disappointment, or unanswered prayers, or physical illness, or old age, or any time we feel spiritual activities or practices that gave our life meaning and purpose have failed us. When God seems absent, our lives begin to lose meaning and purpose, which can be frightful and leave us filled with doubt.

The Dark Night of the Soul is a kind of death. It is a death of an old way of relating to God, while God prepares us for something new. The great spiritual masters speak of this Dark Night as God’s presence in God’s absence. That is exactly what Jesus was experiencing on the cross.

Jesus had experienced and uninterrupted fellowship with God the Father Almighty. Now, so that human beings might be restored to fellowship with God, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, had to endure the absence of God. This was a real and true withdrawal of God from the person of the Son. It involved a real and true suffering of Jesus, which is why Jesus cried out, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46).

While it is true that Jesus had to endure this for our salvation, it did not make it any easier. In the same way, when we experience times of dryness, of waiting, of unanswered prayers, of pain, of the absence of God, we are being prepared for a deeper fellowship with God. Sometimes, God has to take away things that gave our lives meaning and purpose in order for us to find our meaning and purpose in God. This is the spiritual reality behind a Dark Night of the Soul.

The Victory Cry of Jesus.

As I mentioned earlier, Psalm 22 begins with a cry of dereliction, but ends with a cry of faith. The psalmist cries out for God to deliver him and then breaks out into a song of praise as he promises to praise God’s name among God’s people (Psalm 22:19-28). It ends with these words:

All the ends of the earth  will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nation will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him– those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn:  He has done it! (Psalm 22:27-31).

In other words, what began as a cry of agony and abandonment, ends with a cry of faith and victory.

We are told that, in the ninth hour, just after Jesus uttered words of dereliction, he gave a great shout and died (v. 50; see also, Mark 15:37, Luke 23: 46). John identifies the shout as, “It is finished” (John 19:20). To us, this may seem to be a shout of desperation, as if he were saying, “My life is finished.” The word in Greek and in Aramaic has a somewhat different connotation. “It is finished,” means, “It is accomplished” or “It is completed.” In other words, Jesus had finished the task for which he came. It is as if he had just passed the finish line in a race, lifted his arms, and cried out, “I’m done!!” [1]

Jesus, like us, endured a dark night of the soul. And, like Jesus, our dark nights will not last forever, either. There will be a cry of victory in our lives as there was in Jesus’ life. The cry of victory, in this world or the next, is the result of having endured the Dark Night, learned its lessons, died to self, and experienced a new relationship with the Living God..

Our Victory Cry.

When I was in Brownsville, there was a man in the congregation who used to fix the sound system. He was in his 70’s when I arrived. He had retired from a position at the local bank. During his retirement, he was never in really good physical condition. In particular, his lungs were weak. One day, Walter had a major stroke. I was called to the hospital. When I walked in the room, a doctor and nurses were surrounding Walter. He was writhing on the bed. The stroke had destroyed his mental capacity, and he was struggling against approaching death. It was a pretty horrible scene.

After a time, the doctors brought me closer to the bed so that I could pray for him. I prayed a short prayer similar to one I’ve prayed with some of you. Because of his condition, I prayed both for his healing and, if he could not be healed, for Jesus to be with him. I don’t think the doctors believed that Walter could understand a word I was saying. However, all of a sudden, he lifted his hands and he began to close his fist and open first with two fingers and then with three. After a couple of times I recognized that Walter was giving me the number, 23. He was signaling me that his mind was not going and he was repeating over and over again, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

There are times when we face great difficulties. There are times when God seems to be absent. There are times when our prayers are not answered. It is the testimony of Jesus, and of all the great saints of history, that God can be hidden from us, but he is present to us even when he seems absent from us. Jesus can sympathize with us during these times because he too faced a time when God seemed distant. While the primary meaning of Jesus death on the cross involves our salvation, it also means that God can and does suffer all that we suffer and is with us in all that we suffer until that day when we can also cry out in victory, “It is finished.”

This series has been an attempt to show that the Christian life involves living through the same experiences that God lived through for and with us in the Life and Death of Jesus. It has not been an easy or pleasant series. Next week, we will celebrate Easter with joy–the joy we have because we know that betrayal, disappointment, injustice, suffering, and abandonment do not and will not have the lats word. The last word is our assurance of life because of Easter and what Easter means.

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] See, William Barclay, “The Gospel According to Matthew” in Volume 2, The Daily Bible Study Series Rev. Ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1975), 369-370.

Kathy and I are working on a new Salt & Light Chapter. Therefore, since I have been working on it, this week I thought that I would share it with you. As always, any comments are welcome and appreciated, especially proofing comments.

LEARNING TO BE WISE

Once we come to believe in God, we begin a journey that will last the rest of our lives. From the day we become a disciple of Christ, we begin a journey of becoming like Christ, of learning to conduct ourselves as Jesus did. And, in becoming more like Jesus, we become more like God because Jesus Christ reveals what God is like.

When the apostles thought about Christ they came to a surprising conclusion: The Jewish Rabbi, Jesus bar Joseph, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and died a terrible death was in fact the Word (Logos), or divine reason of God made flesh—God in human form (John 1:1). This wisdom of God was not what the Jews expected. It was not merely a vindication of traditional wisdom. Instead it was a mysterious wisdom (Colossians 2:2-3). In the end, the wisdom of God was revealed in the life, teachings, sacrificial death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The Jews were familiar with the idea that, if one lived in conformity with the laws of God, one would become wise and righteous and be blessed by God. The Psalmists sang songs of this wisdom. In fact, the very first Psalm was an ode to the blessings of wisdom in following the law:

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Books like Proverbs set out this expectation in detail. Once a person had faith in God, they had grasped the first principle of wisdom. A deep respect for God (“the fear of the Lord”) opened up a way of life that issued in wisdom.

My son, do not forget my teaching,
    but keep my commands in your heart,
for they will prolong your life many years
    and bring you peace and prosperity.
Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
    bind them around your neck,
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
    in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.[a]
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord and shun evil (Proverbs 3:1-7).

Prophets, like Isaiah, confirmed that to live according to God’s law, or torah, brought blessings, but to disregard the law was foolish and brought with it pain, failure, and defeat.

Jesus, when he was on earth, told his disciples that he was greater than Solomon, meaning this wisdom was greater, and more important than the wisdom taught by the wise men of Israel (Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31). Paul saw that this promise of jesus was true. There was in Christ a deep wisdom, beyond human wisdom. In First Corinthians he put it this way:

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (I Cor. 1:21-24).

In Christ, wisdom and love came together in a perfection of both. There was no love greater than the love Christ showed on the Cross and no wisdom greater than the wisdom of God in Christ. For Paul, Christians should live wisely—and that wisdom was fully seen in Christ.

Almost every letter Paul writes begins by talking about Jesus and ends by talking about how we ought to live because of who God is and what God has done for us in Christ. In Ephesians 5, for example, Paul says, Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise,… (Ephesians 5:15). Just before this admonition, Paul speaks of the very same things that the wisdom writers spoke of: the need for personal morality, love, etc. Here is the entire passage:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:8-20).

Questions for Reflection

1. Paul begins by suggesting that we should try to live as children of light (often used as a symbol for wisdom). What does it mean to you to live in the light? What qualities do “Light filled people” have?

2.  Paul then tells us to avoid the “fruitless deeds of darkness.” in your opinion, was kind of deeds are “deeds of darkness”?
What are some specific behaviors that Paul seems to think are deeds of darkness, not fitting for Christians to practice?

 

Questions for Practical Application

1. In what areas of your life do you detect a kind of darkness that needs to be healed?

2. How do you think you are doing in some specific areas:

Your willingness to respect (fear) and obey God”

 

Your willingness to work hard”
Your ability to hold your tongue and speak wisely?

 

Your ability to show respect for yourself, others, and especially to behave well with members of the opposite sex?

 

Your ability to avoid excessive alcohol and drugs?

 

Your desire to become wiser and more loving day-by-day:

 

3. What is the one area in which you would like to change the most?

 

 

Salt and Light is a twenty-four week discipling program with three parts: Becoming a Christian, Being a Christian, and Leading others to Christ. It is broken into three eight week segments. A new version will be ready by the fall of 2016.

Copyright 2016, Chris and Kathy Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

This week, the blog is from Matthew 27:11-26. This blog differs considerably from the sermon containing much information that it was not possible to include in a sermon. It is a bit headier than normal, but it deals with what I believe to be a critical problem in our society–the loss of faith in justice. I have tried to keep the most abstract portions of the argument to footnotes.

Years ago, I represented a company in connection with the sale of some assets. The transaction was not a success. Eventually, there was a lawsuit. My deposition was taken, a large number of documents were produced, and eventually I was called to testify. While I was on the witness stand, I was shown a piece of paper. It was in my handwriting and it contained a series of calculations showing that we owed the plaintiffs a substantial amount of money. I had no memory of this document, but it was in my handwriting. I’m afraid I looked like a fool on the witness stand.

During lunch break, while the lawyers prepared for the afternoon, I wandered around the conference room looking at boxes and boxes of legal documents. I saw one file in which there was a document that was not in order. I reached down to straighten the file, picked up the document, and to my surprise it was the very document I had been questioned about that morning. There was, however, a slight difference. The document I’d been shown had one column showing what we owed the plaintiffs. The actual document had two columns reflecting the fact that they owed us substantially more money than we owed them. I don’t know when I have ever been more furious. The simple fact is that the lawyers that copied, cut, and pasted the original document into a new form treated me unjustly.

There are all kinds of injustices in life. Older siblings are blamed for younger siblings misdeeds. Younger siblings mistreated by elder brothers and sisters. Parents sometimes misjudge the actions of a child and punish them unjustly. Children have false memories and misjudge the actions of their parents. Men can be unjust to women, and women to men. The rich can take advantage of the poo, and the poor can take advantage of the rich. The powerful can take advantage of the weak. The world is filled with injustice of many kinds.

Jesus in the Dock.

Jesus was no stranger to injustice. During the last day of his life, Jesus was treated unjustly. When arrested, Jesus was first brought before a former High Priest, Annas (John 18:12-13). Then, he was taken to the house of Caiaphas, the current High Priest, who together with at least a part of the Sanhedrin tried him in the middle of the night (Matthew 26:57). This was contrary to Jewish practice. [1]

It is evident from Matthew that Caiaphas had no real interest in understanding Jesus or his mission. His interrogation was focused  on finding a way to have Jesus killed. Because the Jews could not execute Jesus without the approval of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, early in the morning the Sanhedrin met again to formally vote and transfer Jesus to Pilate (Matthew 27:1). It was at this point the Judas realized what he had done, attempted to give back the blood money, and committed suicide (27:2-10).

Our text for this blog picks up at Matthew 27:11:

Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor. Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”  For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him. While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified (Matthew 27: 11-26).

Justice and Injustice.

The first thing I would like to do is clarify the idea of justice. Justice, in its simplest form, involves treating people fairly. Justice is getting what you deserve. On a deeper level, however, justice has two aspects:

1. First, there is what we might call procedural justice. The notion of procedural justice is that people are all treated the same and in a fair manner when they are being tried for some offense. Our court system was designed to provide procedures that ensure that those who are subject to trial get a fair one.
2. There is a second implication of justice, which is that people actually receive what they deserve. This notion of justice is sometimes called “equity” or substantive justice. The notion is that there is more to justice than fair procedure. People need to receive the punishment or absence of punishment to which they are entitled.

I’m afraid that the notion of justice is in deep trouble in our society. Many years ago, Justice Holmes wrote, “The first requirement of a sound body of law is, that it should correspond with the actual feelings and demands of the community, whether right or wrong.”  [2] Since his day, our law has become increasingly a war for majority control based upon the assumption that whatever the majority wants defines justice for the moment. Justice has become whatever the Congress passes, the President approves, and a majority of the Supreme Court upholds. Nothing could be more wrongheaded. This notion of justice, useful as it may seem, can too easily become manipulation by elites or mob rule. In our time, this has produced a legal system in which justice is defined as whoever wins a legal dispute or policy debate, however they win.

In a democracy, this idea of justice leads to the of manipulation of public opinion to find support for polices elites and others desire to enact. We see this from both sides of the political spectrum, from legislators and judges of conservative and liberal leanings. There is little concern to find a just and fair resolution of public debates. The emphasis is on finding the support to win. This leads, and has led, to the kind of negative, attack politics that characterizes the current election. This inevitably leads to an unjust society.

Jesus and Injustice.

During the last day of his life, Jesus was faced with people who believed that justice was whatever was in their best interests at the moment. Both the High Priests and Pontius Pilate were driven by expediency. By the time Jesus was arrested, his preaching, teaching, miracles, and mighty deeds had caused many people to believe that he might be the Messiah. This was dangerous as far as many important people were concerned. In particular, the Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, teachers of the law, and elders of the people, those in power, were threatened by his teaching. They didn’t understand what Jesus was about, but they feared him and what he might mean for them.

The Jewish leaders were particularly concerned that, if Jesus were to lead an uprising, the Romans would send in an army and destroy their lives and their positions of influence. In John, Caiaphas, the high priest, says “…it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:57). By this, Caiaphas meant that, if Jesus were to lead an uprising, successful or not, it would mean the end of the way of life to which they were all accustomed. It would be the end of their power and affluence. It was better for Jesus to die.

When Jesus was arrested, he was eventually brought before Caiaphas. Initially, Caiaphas tried to find witnesses who would testify to some misdeed that would justify putting him to death (Matt. 26:57-63). They brought a false and ridiculous charge based upon Jesus’ prophecy that, if he were killed, he would rebuild the temple of his own body in three days (John 2:29). When this failed, Caiaphas took another tact. He asked Jesus under oath if he was the Messiah, the Son of God (Matt. 26:63). Jesus answered in the affirmative, but also in such a way as to indicate that his kingdom was a heavenly kingdom from which he would come in the future (v. 64). [3] This claim contained nothing that would cause Jesus to be put to death.

Jesus, on the face of it, does not threaten a rebellion. He describes a Messiah and a Kingdom of God much different than Jewish expectations. As I was reading this week, I noticed that Caiaphas did not even try to find out what Jesus meant. Instead, Caiaphas immediately said there was no need for any other witnesses. He simply concludes that Jesus is worthy of death (v. 65-66). In this trial, there was not even an attempt at justice.

Early in the morning, the Sanhedrin met again and confirmed that Jesus must die, sending him to Pilate for his verdict (Matt. 27:1). [4] Jesus was then brought before Pilate (v. 11). Pilate, as a Roman governor, had no interest in Jewish religious disputes, such as who was or was not the Messiah of Israel or what it meant to be the Messiah. The question for Pilate was whether or not Jesus believed that he was a king who would lead an uprising against Rome and establish his own kingdom (v. 11). Pilate almost immediately realized that Jesus is innocent of any crime deserving death. In a private audience Jesus revealed that his kingdom is not of this world; it is a kingdom of truth (John 18:30). Once again, having an otherworldly kingdom of truth was not a crime under Roman law.

At this point, Pilate knew Jesus was an innocent man. He wanted to release him. Nevertheless, after a brief interlude where Jesus was sent to King Herod for questioning (Luke 24:6), Herod found himself backed into a corner. He attempted to release Jesus by giving the Jews a choice between the release of Jesus and the release of a notorious criminal called Barabbas (Matt. 27:16-17). The crowd, being incited by the leaders of the people, repeatedly choose Barabbas. Pilate, warned by his wife to have nothing to do with this innocent man, desperately looked for a way out of the situation (vv. 15-19). Nevertheless, the crowd continueed to ask for Barabbas.

In the end, Pilate delivered Jesus over to be crucified, washing his hands of the entire situation (vv. 20-26). Pilate at least tried to give Jesus justice, but he did not have the moral fiber to deliver him from his accusers.  His interest in justice collapsed in the face of injustice.

So there you have it: the Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, teachers of the law, and other leaders of the people condemned Jesus out of fear, envy and a desire for their own advantage. Pilate condemned him for personal advantage. Both knew they had condemned an innocent man.

A Christian Response to Injustice.

The story of Jesus’ unjust trial has been played out many times in history. In the last century, various regimes have conducted so-called “Show Trials” to convict innocent people they felt were dangers to the ruling elites. Hitler did it. Mussolini did it. Stalin did it. Mao Tse Tung did it.  All the evil dictators of history have done it. In Nazi Germany, Martin Neimoller, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and others were persecuted by the Nazi regime for their Christian faith and opposition to Nazi policies. One of my favorite Bonhoeffer quotes is, “Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.” [5] Martin Neimoller, a German pastor, put it this way:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me. [6]

I am afraid that the kind of injustice that has occurred elsewhere can occur here in our land. Many people have noted that Germany was the most advanced nation in Europe when it fell victim to Hitler. In our own time, certain aspects of a nihilistic postmodernism and an excessive pragmatism have left many people without any faith in the existence of justice. Commentators have noted that the press, the media, and the politicians of our nation seem to have learned more from Joseph Goebbels and the Nazi propaganda machine than from Jesus. Increasingly, the media, Congress, the Courts and other institutions of society are used manipulatively to gain and maintain power. [7]

The great philosopher of science and defender of freedom, Michael Polanyi, says this about our society:

“A new destructive skepticism is linked here to a new passionate social conscience; and utter disbelief in the spirit of man is coupled with extravagant moral demands. We see at work here the form of action which is already dealt so many shattering blows to the modern world: the chisel of skepticism driven by the hammer of social passion. [8]

Polanyi goes on to say, “Savagery is always there lurking among us, but it can break loose on a grand scale only when rebellious moral passions first break up the controls of civilization.” [9]

The greatest threat to our society, and to the freedom we enjoy, including religious freedom, is the way in which our culture disbelieves in the reality of justice and truth. Paradoxically, the human soul cannot live without a desire for justice and truth. Cut off from faith in the reality of truth and justice, human beings become vulnerable to a demonic desire for justice that destroys justice in the search for a perfect society. In Soviet Russia and Communist China, the world saw the brutality that is possible when people seek a moral ideal without the constraints of the deep and abiding morality and faith. It is only when the life of every individual is as valuable as my notion of the perfect society that freedom and respect for people can flourish in the midst of the search for a better world.

A Ministry of Love and Forgiveness.

There is nothing more needed in our culture than for Christians to embrace the need for truth and justice, and our belief in its reality. [10] We need to believe we are called to seek justice, wherever that search leads us. In the Old Testament, lone of the great complaints of the prophets was against the injustice of Jewish society before the Babylonian captivity. The prophet Isaiah put it this way:

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you,  so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.  No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;   they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. Their feet rush into sin; are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace. So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall,  feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;  among the strong, we are like the dead. We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none;   for deliverance, but it is far away (Isaiah 59:1-11).

The society Isaiah pictures is frighteningly like our society. Having lost our commitment to the reality of justice and truth and to the transcendent moral and ethical principles upon which our nation is based, we have lost the capacity to seek justice in any but a formal way. More than that, we have become subject to view our own prejudices and desires as a substitute for the search for justice for all.

Our deliverance will not come unless we recommit ourselves to the principles and moral commitments that allowed us to become free in the first place. As the embodiment of truth, as the one who came to establish a kingdom of truth, Jesus is for Christians the best way to explore the way to that truth and justice we believe to be written into the very fabric of the universe God created. As the wisdom of God incarnate, the very Word of God, he is able to deliver us from our addiction to power and our fears of what we might give up were justice to come among us.

Of course all deliverance requires a deliverer, one who can deliver us from our self-seeking and propensity for injustice. We need a savior, a deliverer. What happened to Jesus was not fair, not just, not equitable, not deserved. Jesus had the power of God and might have lashed out against those who unfairly judged him. Instead, he said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He showed loving forgiveness, even in the face of injustice. He did not destroy injustice by an act of violence; he overcame it by Truth showing its reality in Divine Love.

We are called to show this same love in our own culture as we seek to heal its deep spiritual and moral wounds—and there is no wound deeper than the loss of faith in the reality of justice as something outside of our own desires or ideologies.

It is true, as Bonhoeffer noted, that those who act unjustly need to be exposed and called to account. It is also true that there has to be an end to the anger injustice creates. If we cannot release our anger in the service of truth and love, we are doomed to live in a state of brokenness ourselves—a brokenness from which Christ died on a cross to deliver us. Amen.

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] This is one of those times where it is impossible to give credit to every source. I have looked at several books, including: James Stalker, The Trial and Death of Jesus (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1983) and Dale Foreman, Crucify Him: A Lawyer Looks at the Trial of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990), among other works and commentaries.

[2] This is a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes in his book, The Common Law. Unfortunately, I could not find another equally troubling quote defining justice is whatever the majority wants bad enough to force its will on society. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/jurisprudence (downloaded March 3, 2016). Holmes was a proponent of what is sometimes called “Legal Realism” and “Legal Positivism.” These scholars and judges were and are entranced with the idea that, in a free society, justice is defined as the majority of those in power define it. There is good in legal realism and positivism. However, in its simplistic form it can mean the end of justice, as it becomes simply a word we apply to the winner in a legal contest.

[3] There is no reason to believe that claiming to be the Messiah was of itself grounds for anyone to fear Jesus or have him put to death. Caiaphas’ questions disclose that he was subject to the common belief that the messiah would be a military leader who would lead an uprising. Claiming to be a Son of God would lead a Roman governor to put a claimant to death. Trying to lead a rebellion would. This is was what Caiaphas was after. Caiaphas never asks what kind of Messiah Jesus claims to be. He assumes he knows. See footnote 1 above for the sources of my study for this part of the blog.

[4] Scholars do not agree as to how to construe the trial. It seems possible that earlier, only a small number of the Sanhedrin had met; now the entire Sanhedrin was meeting to condemn Jesus. Of course, it is possible that they did not want to be accused by Pilate of holding an illegal night trial so they met again to pass final sentence on Jesus.

[5]www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-silence-in-the-face-of-evil-is-evil-itself-dietrich-bonhoeffer-87-28-79.jpg (Downloaded March 3, 2016).

[6] The quotation stems from Niemöller’s lectures during the early postwar period. See, www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392 (downloaded March 3, 2016).

[7] This week, I received a frightening and intriguing article about a study done concerning the way search engines can be and are used in our society to manipulate public opinion, particularly during election years. One party will be characterized as “concerned” while another will be characterized as “angry.” On a number of levels, this kind of manipulation occurs because people have ceased to believe in truth. They believe only in power. In the past, a candidate who was a great natural athlete was characterized as clumsy. In another race a candidate with an MBA from Harvard was characterized as intellectually weak, while a candidate who left school was characterized as intellectually gifted. The cases of media manipulation are so large that no article could possibly contain them all.

[8] Michael Polanyi, Logic of Liberty (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1951), 5.

[9] Id, at 5.

[10] One helpful insight of modern quantum physics is that there are many different levels and kinds of reality. At the deepest quantum level the universe seems to dissolve into an immaterial potentiality that we can examine, and the character of our examination influences the reality we observe.  In my view, justice is “real,” and the search for justice proves its reality as justice continues to reveal itself as we seek the transcendent ideal of justice in our lives and politics. The reality of a thing is not a quality of materiality or its ability to be perceived by a detached observer, but of its potential power to act upon us for good or for evil. In the case of justice, the search for justice disciplines our human prejudices as we seek a transcendent good which reveals itself to us as we submit to its reality in the search for it. (This note is a refection based upon Michael Polanyi, Science, Faith and Society (Chicago,IL: University of Chicago Press, 1964), wherein Polanyi constructs a realistic defense of the search for truth and universal values, and Ian Barbor, Religion in an Age of Science (San Francisco, CA: Harper SanFrancisco, 1990), 97-101. and Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy (University of Chicago Press, 1958).) Polanyi, who was a doctor and chemist, also speaks of “levels of meaning,” each level dependent upon but also free and emergent as respect to lower levels of reality. Justice is proved real in the search for it by those who believe in its existence and its capacity to reveal itself to human beings who properly seek it with faith that it will continue to bear fruit and reveal itself in the future. This is the same spirit in which scientists seek truth in the invisible and immaterial subatomic world. The great physicist David Bohm speaks of the unfolding of layers of implicate order, including implicate orders of meaning present even at the the subatomic level. These levels of meaning disclose themselves as they are unfolded into reality. See, David Bohm, Wholeness and Implicate Order (London, ENG: Routledge Publishing, 1980).

As we read Matthew 26:36-46, we can see Jesus dealing with disappointment. Just like Jesus, we will deal with disappointment in our lives. How we deal with disappointment is important in our walk with Christ. In this blog we look at how to deal with disappointment with wisdom and love.

We are in the third week of this series on God as our Deliverer taken from the last part of Matthew. We began with a general idea of God in Christ by the power of the Spirit as our D
eliverer. Last week, we talked about how the life of Jesus reflects deliverance from betrayal. This week, we are going to talk about deliverance from disappointment.

We can all think if times when we have been disappointed with another person. In the Wednesday night Bible study this week, I asked the group to close their eyes and think of an instance when they had been disappointed by another person. Every single person immediately smiled! Disappointment is a part of the human condition. Sooner or later we are all going to be disappointed and we are all going to disappoint another person.

Since it’s a political year, I thought I would begin with a story without mentioning a person or political party. Some time ago, I voted for someone in an election. I felt extremely good about my vote. I felt this person was honorable, experienced, and wise. As time went on, I began to change my mind and began to believe I had been mistaken about this person. in other words, I was disappointed in my vote and in the person for whom I voted. Even to this very day, I’m occasionally angry about that vote.

There are few human emotions more common or more discouraging than feelings of disappointment. One movie scene I have watched over and over again in more than one movie has a workaholic parent promise a child that he or she will be at a soccer game or other sports activity. When game time comes, the parent is missing. The camera always focuses on the child’s face—and the look of disappointment. Disappointment is a strong and moving emotion. It can scar us for life if we do not learn how to deal with it.

A Moment of Disappointment.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, three important episodes occurred: First, Jesus met with his disciples for a final Passover dinner, during which Jesus acknowledged that he would be betrayed by Judas (Matt. 26:25). Later, Jesus let the disciples know that they would all desert him (v. 31). When Peter assured Jesus that he would never desert Jesus even if everyone else did (33), Jesus responded that Peter would desert him before the rooster crowed in the dawn (v. 34). Finally, when Jesus stopped to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. He asked his disciples to pray with him (v. 36). In each of these instances, Jesus might have been disappointed and discouraged by the behavior of others.

Our text this morning is from Matthew 26. Hear the word of God as comes to us from the Gospel according to Matthew:

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (Matthew 26:36-46).

Let us Pray: Faithful God: you are the only one who will not disappoint us, and you are the only one who can teach us how to avoid disappointment. Please share with us your wisdom and your love. Amen

What is Disappointment?

Disappointment is a sadness, anxiety, or displeasure when a person, persons, or situation does not fulfill our expectations, hopes or dreams. I have already given a couple of examples. If a politician does not live up to our expectation of what kind of person he or she will be as a leader, we are disappointed. If a parent does not live up to our expectations, we are disappointed. If a child does not live up to our expectations, we are disappointed. If God does not live up to our expectations, we are disappointed. This last kind of disappointment can be the most devastating kind of disappointment of all, if we do not learn how to deal with it. Philip Yancy, years ago wrote a book called, Disappointment with God. We can actually desert God because God does not do what we expect God to do.

Here is how one psychologist described the feeling of being disappointed:

When sadness is triggered, a heavy emptiness or longing is felt because your brain‘s appraisal system has determined that you have experienced a lasting loss. You may want to have someone or something that is unattainable or to bring back what was lost, even if what caused your sadness has to do with finally recognizing something that you had subsequently denied. Sadness is a painful emotion of disconnection from someone or something that you value or had wanted to value…..Sadness helps you to remember, rather than forget, what it is or was that you desired. … Thus, the emotion of sadness attempts to assist you by giving you an opportunity to consider the impact of your loss and the necessity of revising your objectives and strategies for the future. One study found that sadness tends to decrease one’s confidence in first impressions (Schwartz, 1990). Another found that the experience of sadness leads one to struggle with the painful, existential question of “Who am I?” (Henretty, Levitt, & Mathews, 2008). If sadness can help you to remember and accept reality, achieve insight that can realign your goals, alert you to be cautious before making decisions, and create an opportunity for you to observe yourself, then perhaps its adaptive purpose is evident: like all emotions, sadness, in spite of how it makes you feel, is simply trying to protect you. Disappointment is a profound way in which sadness is experienced. In any case, disappointment is the experience of sadness involving unfulfilled hopes or expectations. When you consider what might have been, in contrast to what exists in the present, you may experience disappointment. [1]

Not surprisingly, disappointment can impact us for years after our disappointment. One reason for Christians to learn to deal with disappointment and its pain in our lives is that not doing so can actually harm us and those we love.

The Big Requirement.

Not everyone agrees with this, but I think generally disappointment requires that we have a personal relationship that causes our disappointment. Even though an institution or event causes a disappointment, there is normally a person or persons behind that event. In other words, disappointment is  a relational emotion. We are disappointed because we are in relationship with other persons who fail  to meet our expectations. Once in a while you see on the Internet or on a poster words to the effect of: “If you want to avoid disappointment, don’t expect anything from other people.” The problem with this advice is that only a person without deep relationships can avoid the disappointment that inevitably comes from human relationships. Such a person would not be fully human. If we want to experience the joys of human life, we run the inevitable risk of disappointment.

We do have reasonable expectations of friends, spouses, parents, children, bosses, employees, leaders, followers, neighbors, and fellow church members, even of God. These expectations are part of our relationship with that person. Friends, spouses, parents, children, bosses, employees, followers, neighbors, church members, all have expectations of performance and loyalty of care and concern—we all have many expectations. Sometimes people, even God, can fail to meet our expectations.

The book of Job is one long examination of the Jewish expectation that wisdom and righteousness would be rewarded with blessing. The wise men of Israel knew, of course, that this does not always happen, and Job examines that problem. I have known people to become deeply disappointed with God and lose their faith, I myself have experienced the deep disappointment that comes when we cannot figure out why God permits a situation to exist or continue. In the end, we all expect God to do many things that, in his Divine Wisdom and Love, he does not do. We have to learn to live with this aspect of God’s Divine Personhood.

Two Kinds of Expectations and Disappointments,

At this point, I need to introduce an important distinction: We can have two kinds of expectations and two kinds of disappointments. We can have warranted (justified) expectations, and we can have unwarranted (unjustified) expectations. Therefore, we can have justified and unjustified disappointments!

For example, I may expect Kathy to always have dinner ready when I get home, despite the fact she has no idea when I will arrive and never arrive at the same time two nights in a row. Furthermore, I may never inform her of my plans. If I expect Kathy to have dinner ready at any moment just in case I arrive home at any given moment, I have an unwarranted expectation! If I expect a child with average athletic abilities to play college football, I have an unwarranted expectation. If I expect God to answer all my selfish prayers, I have an unwarranted expectation.

This leads me to a conclusion we all need to remember: When we are disappointed, the first questions we should ask ourselves are, (i) “Why?” and (ii) “Am I justified in feeling disappointed?” If the answer is that I have an unjustified or unwarranted expectation, then my disappointment is not the other person’s fault. It’s my fault, and I need to do with myself! This is especially true of God, where our human expectations are almost always finite, limited, and self-centered. As Job finally concludes, we human beings are simply too limited to understand or appreciate all that God allows or does in our lives. Sometimes, all we have to rely upon is our faith that God loves us and the hope that comes from that faith. We also have the example of Jesus, who after all, was “A man of suffering, acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

Jesus and Disappointment.

Every part of the last night of Jesus’s life was disappointing. Judas should have been a loyal to Jesus, but Judas disappointed Jesus. Peter and the other disciples should not have deserted Jesus, but they did. The disciples ought to have stayed awake, waited, and prayed for one hour, but they did not. In the case of Peter, he was the leader of the disciples. He had a responsibility to set a good example. He failed.

In each of these cases, Jesus had a reasonable expectation! He was the Son of God and their leader. He had a right to expect their loyalty, their diligence, and their prayers. Jesus’ expectations were completely reasonable, and any disappointment he felt was fully justified. We can even tell that Jesus was disappointed. The phrase, “Could you not watch with me one hour?” (v. 40), expresses his disappointment.

When we are disappointed, it’s a good thing to remember that Jesus was disappointed too. In Hebrews, there is a phrase that reads, “He was tempted in all ways as we are” (Hebrews 4:15). This phrase is a reminder that Jesus experienced the human condition. He experienced every emotion, every trial, every disappointment, every hardship, and every experience, we will ever experience. He suffered as we suffer. He even suffered the disappointment of human failure and prayers not answered as he desired in his humanity.

If we look closely at how Jesus dealt with his disappointment; we can learn some things.

• First, Jesus understands. He understands Judas. He understands Peter. He understands the disciples. He recognizes the human condition. Often, we base our expectations on a misunderstanding of what human beings are capable of achieving. My mother expected me to make my bed, but sometimes I disappointed her. Children are capable of cleaning up their rooms or making their beds, but they are not capable of doing it every day without error.
• Second, Jesus communicates his expectations and his disappointment. The phrase, “Could you not watch with me for one hour?” expresses exactly what Jesus felt. Often, we do not communicate our disappointment and allow our pain and anger to fester. Early in our marriage, being a good husband, I told Kathy how much I liked boiled chicken. She responded by cooking a lot of broiled chicken. Unfortunately, I was just being nice. I really am not that fond of broiled chicken. She was shocked when I finally told her that I didn’t like boiled chicken all that much. Since that time, we only have one chicken once in a while, and I’ve come to like it. People cannot meet our reasonable expectations if we never communicate to them what they are. Once again, we should be careful about communicating unreasonable expectations.
• Third, Jesus tries to help the disciples meet his expectations. At one point, Jesus looks at Peter and says, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (v. 41). Jesus knew that the disciples had just consumed a large Passover dinner. He knew they had had a glass of wine or two. He knew they were sleepy. Therefore, he understood they needed to exercise self-control. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to stay awake and pray. So he encouraged them, voicing his understanding of their situation to help them.
• Fourth, Jesus did not get angry. He didn’t say, “Okay, I’m dying for the rest of the world but not for you guys. You don’t deserve it.” He doesn’t say, “The soldiers are here, and if you guys had not slept God would save me!” He simply said, “Rise let us go!” (v. 46). Jesus does not play the blame game.
• Finally, Jesus did the right thing. Even though the disciples disappointed him, he continued on his divine mission to save the world and them. When we’re disappointed, it’s important for us to remember that the fact that another person has failed us does not give us the right to fail them. In fact, when another person fails us and we continue to love them and do what is best by them, we are doing exactly what Jesus would do.

Conclusion.

Jesus could not avoid being disappointed with others, and neither can we. It is part of the human condition. What we can do is deal with disappointment with the same wisdom and love Jesus did. This means recognizing the fact of human frailty, not having unrealistic expectations, and dealing with disappointment with the same wisdom and love that Jesus did. In the end, this is not possible without the Spirit of God working in our lives to give us that wisdom and love and empower us to move forward.

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Mary C. Lamb, PhD, “Expectation, Disappointment, and Sadness” in Psychology Today, www. psychologytoday.com/blog/intense-emotions-and-strong-feelings/201111/expectation-disappointment-and-sadness (Posted November 20, 2011).

This week, our focus is on Matthew 26:1-5; 14-18 and the character of Betrayal and restoration.

Kathy and I have become occasional, and in Kathy’s case, reluctant, watchers of the television show, “Agents of Shield.” [1] It currently appears that Agent Ward has betrayed his colleagues, and especially “Skye,” who is emotionally attached to him and to whom he is also emotionally attached. It turns out that Agent Ward is not really a loyal agent of Shield; he has betrayed Shield, his team, and his love, having been an agent of the enemy, Hydra, all along. In addition,

A scene in which Skye confronts Agent Ward mesmerized me. She was really mad. Her love for Grant Ward has turned to disgust at who Ward really is and what Ward has done. She turns him into the police, she berates him publically, and she finally reveals that she would rather die than give Ward what he wants from her. The actress who plays Skye does a wonderful job of portraying the anger and fury one feels at betrayal.

Today, we are visiting about the subject of betrayal, forgiveness, restoration, and the life of wisdom and love. Betrayal is a feature of fallen human existence. Everyone to some degree feels betrayed by someone during the course of life. Lovers, spouses, business partners, friends, fellow church members, sooner or later all feel betrayed to some degree at some point in life. Worse, we all betray someone who is entitled to our trust to one degree or another at some point in life. It can be a big betrayal, or as small as disclosing some trivial secret. Therefore, we need to understand how to be delivered from betrayal.

This week, I wrote a  meditation for Facebook and to be included  in the bulletin that says, “There is no worse experience than the experience of being betrayed. The experience of being betrayed is unbelievably painful–and so is the shame and guilt of being a betrayer. The betrayed needs to be delivered from the anger that comes from being betrayed, and the betrayer needs to be delivered from the shame and guilt of betrayal. Judas dies because he cannot escape his guilt. Peter is restored because he can accept forgiveness and change.” This points out an interesting fact: Everyone involved in a betrayal needs a kind of deliverance.

Text and Prayer.

Briefly, our  occurs on Wednesday of Holy Week. Jesus has entered the city of Jerusalem. He has confronted the priests, Pharisees and Sadduces. He has cleansed the temple. The leaders of the people have had enough and are looking for ways to get rid of  him. Just before today’s text, Jesus has made his prophesy of the end of the Jewish Temple and of the Final Judgment. You can imagine the fear and anger of the religious leaders. Jesus has now finished his active ministry. All that is left is his betrayal, arrest, trials, suffering, and death. This is how Matthew describes what comes next:

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”  

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over (Matthew 26:1-16).

Prayer: Faithful God: You are eternally faithful to yourself, to your promises, to your creation, and to your people. We, however, are not always faithful to you, to creation, or to other people. Forgive us. Come and allow us to sense your presence and your healing power in our meditation. In Jesus Name, Amen.

The Character of Betrayal.

There is no sadder figure in American history than the figure of Benedict Arnold. Arnold was a brave, skilled military leader, pershps the best combat general serving under General Washington. Washington respected and admired Arnold.
Unfortunately, Arnold could be abrasive and made enemies in the Revolutionary Army. Other men were promoted above him. He began to be resentful. In addition, he lived beyond his means and engaged in practices that the Continental Congress found objectionable. He was court marshaled. Even then, Washington protected him and gave him a very mild reprimand. He wanted to save a good general’s career. Unfortunately, Arnold had married an English sympathizer, who led him into treason. He proposed handing over West Point, where he was in command, to the British. When the plot was uncovered, Arnold fled to the enemy lines and went on to lead British troops in Virginia and Connecticut. He later moved to England, though he never received all of what he’d been promised by the British. He died in London, in relative obscurity. Today, to call a person a Benedict Arnold is to call that person a traitor.

What makes people so deeply hate a betrayer? I think it is the fact that betrayal involves a breach of trust personally, publically, financially or otherwise. We can only be betrayed by people with whom we are friends, partners, spouses, lovers, fellow soldiers, etc. Those who can betray us owe us a duty of loyalty. We are relational people. We need relationships; however, we can be hurt in relationships. Because vulnerability is a part of any deep relationship, betrayal is especially terrible.

When a spouse, partner, or public servant betrays our trust, it strikes at our sense of security in a deep and terrible way. We are filled with a kind of fear and horror that we can be so vulnerable.  The result for the betrayer is either shame or a slow journey into a deep lack of character. A betrayer cannot be trusted by anyone. The result of any betrayal is deep anger and pain among all those involved, and especially for the one betrayed.

Judas the Betrayer.

With this background, let’s look at the man we call Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of the original Twelve Disciples. He must have had a good mind and some kind of financial expertise, because he was made the treasurer of the Twelve and was responsible for the common purse they kept. He was with Jesus  from the beginning of his ministry. He heard Jesus’ powerful teachings. He witnessed Jesus’ many  healings and mighty deeds of power. He saw demons cast out. He experienced Jesus’ prayer life and love for people. Judas is a reminder that going to church, being surrounded by Christian brothers and sisters, participating in Christian activities, and even experiencing the blessings of the Christian life, does not guarantee faith nor does it guarantee we will not betray Christ and our faith.

Everywhere Judas is mentioned in the Bible, he is spoken of in a negative way. How could Judas have betrayed Jesus? Judas, like us, probably didn’t set out to become evil. John indicates that he was greedy and took money from the common purse (John 12:6). I imagine it began innocently.
He would take a few shekels into a city to buy food and forget to put the change back in the common purse. Off on an errand, he bought a few personal items without reimbursing the little group of disciples. Gradually, ever so gradually, Judas began to lose his moral bearings. He first became a thief, and then became a betrayer.

Like the other disciples, Judas expected Jesus to be a messianic King. He expected Jesus to overthrow Roman rule and reestablish the kingdom of Israel. He expected to be part of the leadership of a kingdom that would never end—at least not in his lifetime. As Jesus moved closer and closer to Jerusalem and to that last Passover, Judas, like the other disciples, was probably disturbed by Jesus’s prophecies that he would be betrayed and die a terrible death. As Holy Week went on, Judas could see that the religious leaders and powerful people were lining up support to get rid of Jesus. I suspect Judas did not want to die.

Knowing that someone was going to betray Jesus, and that sooner or later Jesus and his followers were going to come to a bad end, Judas decided that those who came to a bad end would not include him. Eventually, he went to see the religious leaders and cut a deal with them—Jesus for safety and thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:15). At that moment, Judas walked over a line. He might have just quit and gone home. He might have stood up and spoken against what Jesus was doing. Those would have been honorable courses of action. Betraying Jesus was an act of moral cowardice.

Judas’ life is a reminder to all of us. Very few people set out to betray a spouse, or lover, or a friend, or a business partner. It happens slowly, one compromise at a time. There is a kind of slow moral slide. A lunch that should have been avoided, a deal that should never have been done, a present that should never have been accepted, a word that should never have been spoken. That is how betrayal begins. Then, one day, we’ve done something and become someone we never intended to do or become.

Judas, Jesus and Peter.

It appears that Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed and that Judas was the betrayer. The New Testament clearly records that Jesus identified Judas as his betrayer, and that Judas left the meal before it was over (Matt. 26:23-25; John 13:18-30). We know this to be true because Judas had to go to the high priests home and get the military officials who would actually arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:47-50; Mark 14:43-44; Luke 22:47-48; John 18:1-4). Confronted by Jesus and his understanding of what he was about, Judas walked over the boundary line between good and evil, became a true servant of evil, and betrayed the Messiah.

There was another person present that night who would betray Jesus. We are going to hear his story in a few weeks when we talk about disappointment. Peter was there when Jesus prophesied that all the disciples would desert him and he would die abandoned and alone. Filled with pride, Peter told Jesus that he would not desert the Messiah even if everyone else did so (Matt. 26:33). Jesus knew otherwise. He told Peter that, before the rooster crowed in the next day’s dawn, he would betray Jesus (v. 34). Sure enough, that evening, filled with terror, Peter denied the Lord three times.

The Bible tells us that, after Jesus was betrayed, Judas regretted what he had done. Apparently, he tried to give the thirty pieces of silver he had received back to the High Priest and Sanhedrin. When they refused to take the money back, Judas committed suicide (Matt. 27:3-5). In Mark’s rendition of the first Easter, the Angels tell the women to go tell the disciples, and Peter, to meet him in Galilee (Mark 16:7). Peter, you see had abandoned Christ.  He was a deserter, no longer a disciple. Nevertheless, at the end of John, we see Peter speaking of his leadership with the risen Lord (John 22:15-19). 

Both Judas and Peter were betrayers of the trust Jesus placed in them. Both owed him loyalty and were unfaithful. Why did Judas commit suicide and Peter become the chief of the apostles? I think the answer is this: Judas, filled with pride, shame, and guilt, could not go to the Lord and asked for forgiveness and be restored. Peter repented of what he had done, accepted his guilt and shame, asked for forgiveness, and was restored. The big difference between Judas and Peter is not what they did, but how they reacted to the love of God.

Everyone Needs Deliverance from the Deliverer.

Everyone needs deliverance from betrayal and its consequences. There are people whose lives are ruined because of a betrayal. Some of these people are the betrayer who never repents and turns his or her life around. Others are the betrayed who never release the anger and pain and whose lives are twisted by desire for revenge. Both betrayers and the betrayed need their own deliverance.

Wednesday evening someone shared with our group the following story. A loved one was betrayed by someone who could not overcome an addiction. The loved one ultimately died. It was a young, tragic, and unnecessary death. Naturally, the family had a hard time forgiving the one who betrayed their daughter. The person who was an addict ultimately became sober and embarked on a new life. The parents, however, still had to cope with the loss of a daughter. One day, in a conversation, the addict said that, “The one thing he could do was to provide a sober parent for their child.” In that moment, a healing began. I want to share with you just a little bit of an email I received this week:

“Then I told our Bible study what you said to me, something I’ll never forget that a changed me. You told me that the one thing you COULD do for [our daughter] was to be a sober dad for [our granddaughter], that you being [her] dad was the one thing she wanted more than anything, which was so true. That stuck with me from that moment forward. It was a beautiful thing to say & gave me a lot of comfort. Then we were able to spend Christmas together and talk about things regarding …. I’ll be honest, at first I had to pray every day for God to change my heart so I would love you & care about you, that I would let go to all that stuff in the past between you & [our daughter]. And God did – and you did. I’m so grateful that [we] are working together to parent [our granddaughter] and to raise her. I never would have thought. I didn’t know you well and didn’t understand how deeply devoted you are to [her] and that you did love [our daughter] … I wanted you to know how I feel and how grateful I am for everything that is happening…. “ [2]

I wanted to share this with you for a reason. The healing that began on the phone call did not make what happened any less tragic. It did not excuse past behavior. It opened up the potential for a new future.

Our deliverance does not eliminate the past or all the consequences of the past. It does not eliminate the need to change or make amends. Instead, it provides a point for a new beginning. It provides a way to healing and wholeness again for both the betrayed and the betrayer, so we can experience that healing and wholeness in this life as far as possible and not be trapped in the past and its pain.

The spouse that cannot forgive a betrayal, the parent or child who cannot forgive a past betrayal, the business partner who cannot forgive a past betrayal becomes trapped in the past they cannot forgive. Such persons need a healing.

The person who betrayed that person, if they cannot repent and turn their life around, and accept the forgiveness of God, becomes trapped in the past as well. Like Judas, they commit a kind of emotional suicide, and morally,  spiritually and emotionally hang themselves on the rope of their past betrayal.  It is only when a betrayer (and we) repent, forgive, accept forgiveness, and make amends for the past  that we receive the healing and  new life that Christ offers us.

Amen

Copyright 2016, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] See, Marvel: Agents of Shield: Season 1, (ABC Studios, Marvel Studios, 2013-2016).

[2] Personal Email, February 18, 2016. Used by Permission.