Brothers and sisters, I’m here to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ today. So let’s get out your Bibles and follow along. But first a few words about today’s topic.
There is sweet satisfaction in the Gospels. Forgiveness is something we all need and knowing that a heaven awaits us, though a matter of faith, is something we can truly look forward to.
So why is it, my friends, that so many of us are tormented? Why is it that we are constantly at war with our neighbors who don’t agree with us? I’ve been spending a lot of time in the “Bible Belt” lately and everyone goes to church. Yet I see little of the love of Christ. The point of this entire message is right here at the beginning. The things we are doing in Christ’s name are poisoning us: physically, emotionally and spiritually. And so my topic for today is:
What in God’s name are we doing?
Now some of us have a collection of Bibles that we rarely look at. That includes me sometimes. But today I’m going red letter only. What does that mean? Some Bibles print in red lettering what Jesus actually said. So we’re going to enter the Red Zone. In football parlance, the red zone is the most important area of the football field. If you get within 20 yards of your opponents goal, you should be able to score. Those teams that do are the ones that win championships. Those that don’t may play the game, but like many of us fall far short of our goals.
Let’s look at what type of a man Jesus was. He made it clear that the people who were low in society were high in God’s kingdom. Turn to Matthew, Chapter Five, also known as the beatitudes.
In verse three he says if you are poor in spirit, you are blessed. It does NOT say if you are poor, you get the kingdom of heaven. I am poor in spirit. I have doubts at times. I look around at the hypocrites in the church and say if these so-called leaders are so great, who am I?
Blessed are those in pain, the mourners. And blessed are the meek, not the loudmouths who proclaim the Gospel and rip to shreds those who disagree. And blessed are the merciful and the peacemakers.
And then he gets to where the heart of the matter is today in verses 11 and 12. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me."
Let’s look at this very, very carefully. Many say this is about people who advocate Christ. But ‘because of me” has a double meaning there. How about those who are persecuted by those who advocate Christ? How many times have fundamentalists torn Catholics to shreds? And why? Because of what they believe Jesus says is slightly different. And what is the result? Ask the Irish how extreme this can get.
And then there are those who are so-called “sinners” who have no place in the church. How about those who are divorced, for example? Or those who give in to extramarital sex? In verse 31, Jesus clearly says if you divorce for any reason, you are committing adultery. And he says it in every Gospel. And what have men, and women for that matter done with the verse? Some have become brutal to their spouse, beating them both physically and emotionally. And then the men say that the women must obey them -- without realizing they must obey Christ. For this verse has no good without a closer look at Jesus actions.
Now let’s move over to chapter four of John’s gospel. This chapter is often called “the woman at the well.” Jesus travels to Samaria. At that time, Samaritans were considered the dregs of society by the “righteous.” He asks a Samaritan woman for some water. He asks for her husband and when the woman says she doesn’t have one, he tells her she is correct. She has had five husbands and is living with another man she is not married to. He talks about the time when Samaritans will be equals with the Jews and uses her to spread the news about him throughout the town. He uses a woman – some would call her a whore – to bring news of salvation to an entire area.
How would we Christians greet such a woman today? Would she be welcome in our churches? She certainly would be feared. Because we are so wrapped up in other’s sins, we don’t look at ourselves. Back in Matthew Chapter Seven, Jesus says not to Judge others, lest we be judged in the same way. He goes on to say we should not take the speck out of someone’s eye when we hypocrites have beams in our eyes.
And what did Jesus do when he encountered and adulteress? In the eighth chapter of John’s gospel, the priests drag a woman who was caught in the act up to Jesus. They tell him the law calls for her to be stoned to death. And they demand to know what Jesus thinks they should do. He bends over and writes something in the sand. And then he tells them he agrees with the law. And he told them to go ahead and stone the woman. But, the first stone should be thrown by someone without sin. One by one, the priests turn away until there is no one left but the woman. Let’s look at the dialogue between the two starting with verse ten:
Jesus straightened up and asked her: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now, and leave your life of sin.”
And yet we continue to condemn others, and our judgments of them have resulted in us being judged. There are extreme fools, filled with hate, visiting the funerals of those who have fallen in combat. They say it is God’s judgment for their sins. And the entire nation not only condemns their actions, but also condemns the entire faith. Our Holy War with Islam runs much along the same lines. We have warred with innocents because of the extremists, and we are suffering their wrath. It is a never-ending cycle of hate.
But what does Jesus have to say about this? Let’s go to Luke, Chapter Three, Verse 27:
“ But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other one to him also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
Yeah, there it is again. Jesus goes on to say it matters very little about loving those who love you, or doing good to those who do good to you. He says when you lend money; don’t do so expecting to be repaid.
That’s some radical stuff isn’t it? If you did that, you might become an outcast in your own church. But in the kingdom of God, you would be honored.
Let me share a little something from my own life. The ex had a problem with the neighbors one day. And though our children remained best friends, the adults rarely spoke to one another except in harshness. At that time, I had a minivan. And our neighbors had cut down a tree and cut up the branches so the garbage men would pick them up. But for more than a month, the tree remained on the curb. One day, I was going to the town dump to get some free compost. This is the same place where fallen trees went. I told the neighbors I was going there and asked if they would mind if I took the tree over? They looked at me with something of a dumbfounded look and agreed. I hauled the wood away and after that, relations eased considerably.
It wasn’t much. It was simply a good deed. But imagine if everyone did some small deed like that to someone who they were having problems with? Would our nation be plagued with so much internal rage?
In Matthew, Chapter 23, Jesus preaches about the religious leaders of that day. He calls them hypocrites, snakes, and says they are condemned to hell. He ends with the following words: “For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’ “
And so I say to you so-called Christian leaders who preach the gospel of politics and vengeance while telling your followers to expect Jesus’ return at any moment. Not bloody likely.
Now go back to the Bibles you thump at sinners and learn what it really tells you to do.
Can I get an amen?
