FEBRUARY 14, 2021 SUNDAY MESSAGE
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Gospel Redemption Part 2 - Feb 14, 2021
Transcription
THIS is a drumstick...but I am NOT a drummer. You see, the Common Ground Family of churches attracts a lot of people who love acts of mercy, and works of justice, and reconciliation and Paul says in First Corinthians 13 that <hit the cymbal>:
If I want to do works of GOOD like feed the homeless
If I had incredible amounts of trust in God and could walk courageously into the unknown
I can talk about liberation and helping the marginalized
If I could endure major hardships in the name of Jesus or
Take part in supernatural manifestations of God…
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels BUT DO NOT HAVE LOVE!!!
<stop hitting the cymbal>
...I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
There is a good reason why Paul uses this description - a loud clanging cymbal on it’s own is noise pollution!
It’s penetrating, uncoordinated,
a bunch of racket…
& NOBODY wants to hear it!
Paul continues:
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Paul is painting an incredible picture on the importance and priority of love!!
Because IF WE DON’T HAVE LOVE:
ALL of these things...every bit of it...becomes INVALID!
AND SO, we have to ask the question: “what is love?”
We have to recognize that there are as many definitions of love as there are cultures on this earth.
Our world likes to TALK about love...and
it LOVES to sing about it.
I’ve heard someone say there are really only two types of songs:
I love you come here!
I used to love you, go away!
There are a million ways to define or describe love but...LET me give you a Christian definition of love: “GOD IS LOVE” - 1 John 4 says this but listen:
GOD IS LOVE
LOVE IS NOT GOD
Did you hear that?
GOD IS LOVE
LOVE IS NOT GOD
Let me clarify that statement with this quote from one author:
When 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love”, it’s not saying there is this thing out there called love and that God measures up to it. There is no dictionary definition of love hovering outside the universe, independent of God, so that God answers to it. Rather, God in himself provides the definition, the reality, of what love is. Love is not an abstract concept but a personal quality of God. God’s own character gives us the definition and standards of love. Dictionary writers should observe God and then draft their definition of love on that basis. Anything called love that does not have its source in God is not love.”
TOO OFTEN, we take OUR definition of love (the definition made in OUR image) and we:
project it onto God or
FORCE FIT Him into a fabrication of that word (we may even get upset at Him when He doesn’t act within the boundaries of our definition…)
Many people have a hard time reconciling that. You think, “I love the idea of LOVE but I don’t know if I LOVE God’s idea of it.”
What I think the author I read was trying to get across is that God is the ONLY reason we know what love even IS and,
as humans, we grasp for it -and what that looks like- BUT we do so with rebellious and broken hearts this side of the garden of Eden.
When we read the scriptures and realize that LOVE cannot be defined
without compassion & kindness
it cannot be defined outside of longsuffering, commitment, and truth either!!
No matter where we stand, Jesus will likely agree, at times with our sense of love but he will also, at times, present a COURSE-
CORRECTION for our culturally skewed and sin-saturated understanding of love.
The bottom line is this: if we want to BE LOV-ING, we must look at Jesus and conform our lives to HIM b/c Jesus was & IS the very LIVING definition of LOVE:
every action, every healing, every deliverance AND
every gaze, every single word that came from his mouth was the very definition of love!
HE IS OUR EXAMPLE.
Go ahead and turn to Luke 7:11-17
With this, we jump into the next Chapter of the Gospel Story our symbol is the Cross, as we look at the life of Jesus,
observe the redemptive role He played in the overarching Gospel Story,
see HOW he lived out of a covenant relationship with His Father AND
How he operated according to a kingdom responsibility as he defined love for us!
In order THAT we would NOT:
become a noisy clanging cymbal or
attempt to create God in our own image by allowing our definition of love to fence him in!
Luke 7:11-17 says….
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.
So, don’t just read it, put yourself in the story:
Jesus has a posse now!!
I did some research and He is rolling like HUNDREDS deep into a town called NAIN.
Some evidence in the greek suggests that it could have been more than a thousand people!
Picture Jesus with a crowd!
12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.
As Jesus entered the town, the first thing he encountered was a funeral procession on it’s way out of the town.
One of the mourners was a woman. This is not the FIRST TIME this bereaved woman has had to bury a loved one. SHE IS A WIDOW and felt the sting of laying her own husband to rest and NOW...she is now walking through the grieving process AGAIN with her only son.
On top of these losses, she is mourning a bleak future of poverty:
In this culture, the husband or sons, were her means of provision.
There is no pension, no life insurance, no Social Security, no Medicare, or any kind of government assistance whatsoever!
She would be FORCED to struggle through life. Probably relying on the charity of her neighbors for her livelihood.
ADDED TO ALL OF THIS, during this time/culture this loss would have been viewed as a consequence for sin.
“Guilt is likely compounding her despair, as the premature death of a child was believed to be the punishment for sin. Possibly the town gossips were wagging their heads, wondering what she did to deserve losing everything.”
This isn’t just sorrow, it is sorrow upon sorrow and despair upon despair, upon despair!! Let’s not run from that. Just sit in this heart-wrenching moment with this woman for a bit. <PAUSE>
This is the scene Jesus walks into Nain seeing. As we move forward, it says, “And a large crowd from the town was with her. ”
While the funeral likely took place around 6pm, the mothers day would have gone something like this:
In the morning, she placed her son’s body on the floor of her home.
She groomed her son’s body. Fixing his hair, clipping his nails, and dressing him in his best clothes.
After this was finished, she would have taken the body and laid it on a BIER which was their version of a casket. It was a wooden plank with woven pieces built around it resembling a human-sized wicker basket opened at the top.
The body was placed, face up and arms folded.
Since this loss was so devastating, the whole town (of about 500 people) would have showed up to help her bury her son.
After the body was placed, they would have gathered at her door forming a mourning parade or funeral procession hoisting the BIER with the body up as they marched through town.
Women led the funeral procession. In this culture, an emphasis was placed on Eve’s sin in the garden. Basically that “a woman’s sin brought death into the world, so women should lead it out—adding shame to sorrow.”
Winding through the streets of Nain, some in the crowd would “symbolically share the mother’s burden by taking their turn holding the basket.”
They had professional mourners paid to accompany the crowd:
Some were flute players at the back, others were chanters, crying: “Weep with them, all you who are bitter of heart.”
After this, the Wicker Casket would be carried to a tomb or burial place outside the town walls.
These two large crowds converge at the gate of this small town:
The funeral procession leaving through the gates and
Jesus’ followers entering in
The “polite” thing to do would have been for Jesus’ group to step aside as the people continued their mourning, wailing, chanting b/c they are strangers BUT, watch what happens next (this piece is critical to understanding redemption and understanding love (Verse 13 says)...
13 When the Lord saw her his heart went out to her (Trans: He “was moved” or “had compassion” on her) and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
Jesus broke the taboo of the culture and the moment on so many levels!!
While at the gates of Nain he breaks into the initial barrier of people leading the procession.
He then offers what could easily be seen as an unhelpful platitude to the grieving mother,
he causes the pall bearers to stop moving, puts his hand on the casket and speaks to the dead man!!
Jesus is INTERRUPTING their funeral. Imagine someone coming into a modern day funeral while people were grieving and making statements...and a stranger walked down the aisle interrupting the funeral. It’s a level of audacity that would be received as more than rude...
It would be inappropriate on a level that would cause shock, anger, and require intervention.
I have officiated multiple funerals and if this happened I would likely have been expected to step in and escort that person out!
As you read, you’re thinking “JESUS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
...and this is what happens.Verse 15:
15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
I gotta be honest, when I was prepping this sermon my first reaction was not a deep thought or spiritual insight, I FIRST thought, “He began to talk? What’s this dude saying after a moment like this? Is he confused? Is he wondering what the fuss is all about? Why’s he dressed up...is he hungry?”
Through all of the messy cultural and social dynamics of this scene, what I want you to notice here is that “Jesus SAW THE WOMAN!”
Of all the things Jesus COULD have done next, it says, “Jesus gave him back to his mother” Jesus is focused on the widow throughout!
It wasn’t enough to just raise the young man back to life, he raised him and gave him back to his mother revealing the intent of this exertion of power was FOR HER!!
Jesus SAW the woman!!
He decided NOT to look away and
INSTEAD of stepping aside, and allowing the procession to go about their business, he moved TOWARD a pain that was not his own to bear.
AND - He - felt - COMPASSION! Compassion both for her and for her situation. He was MOVED by sorrow and empathy towards this woman.
The greek word describing Jesus was not quiet. It was a visceral, gut wrenching response to the women’s situation: When you just found out about a horrific event and your body engages. My mom used to do this thing where she would put her hand over her mouth when she shocked or extremely sad (Phone?) - Jesus did something like that when he saw her.
Jesus felt what she felt and offered hope by saying “don’t cry.” Once again, we are thinking: “Not supposed to say that, Jesus.” Let the women cry.
Certainly if he was not the son of God with the power to do miracles, this would have been inappropriate too but Jesus sits outside the circumstances & speaks with a different authority than you or I.
Jesus is moved by this women and felt her pain but he was not LOST in it. He offered hope to the mother then turns to the dead man & says: “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
This display of power is incredible...it was a resurrection. But the HUMILITY of the moment makes it even more distinct:
Jesus didn’t shout down the parade to stop it or set up the moment: “gather round because Imma do something that will blow your minds, gather your friends, build the stage, tell the next towns over.” “....For my next trick...”
Forget signs and wonders, If Jesus was just a little bit more opportunistic, he would have used this moment a little better….start preaching! I mean, He just busted a kingdom of heaven resurrection in the eye of hundreds of people. He has their attention, if he was in America he would get a logo together, post a website, and start a mega church!!
What about the man raised from the dead? His (24 hours in heaven! Let’s get this man a book deal).
Jesus doesn’t do any of this...His motivation has nothing to do with fanfare, attention, or dazzling people with miraculous signs and wonders…
His display of power is almost effortless as he quietly b-lines the widow says “don’t cry” and raises the dead son.
Jesus possesses both tenderness and power.
Usually tender people lack strength and strong people lack gentleness. But Jesus shows both and...
his attention is laser focused on the woman and undiverted from her loss
In fact, as you read it, you might be tempted to think this story is about a dead man rising from the grave or an expression of power by the God...BUT the story is focused on a grieving mothers pain and
these miraculous occurrences are merely BY-PRODUCTS or side notes in a story about a Mother who lost her son!
Moving on, I want you to notice how the crowds react...verse 16 says:
16 They were all filled with awe/fear and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
One quick reference that you NEED to see as it relates to the broader Gospel Story, the connection to the OLD TESTAMENT, and why this statement is so important:
there is a history being invoked at this moment.
When you live in a certain area, you have a keen understanding of their history: Tombstone, Arizona. Shootout at the OK Corral,
The great storm of 1978!!
In the OT, there are three resurrection moments and two of them take place in the immediate area surrounding the town of NAIN. Both the prophets Elijah and Elisha -over 800 years before this moment - raised young men from the dead.
Elijah’s account specifies the son of a WIDOW (2 miles from where Jesus is standing right now) and
Elisha raised a woman’s ONLY SON to life…
For Elisha, it takes MULTIPLE steps and LOTS OF EFFORT to accomplish the miracle but “Jesus effortlessly raised the widow’s son to life in NAIN.”
If you live in NAIN, you don’t forget that!!
This story gets told over and over so that everyone is well aware of these resurrections.
When Jesus does this, they would all think “this is not the first time this has happened”
This is why..
16 They were all filled with awe/fear and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
We are meant to connect these stories in order to understand 2 things:
A prophet greater than Elijah/Elisha has ARRIVED AND
God is (once again) REDEEMING the history of his people one moment, one story, one step at a time.
As a result, by no effort of Jesus himself, the news about Jesus spreads like wildfire!!
Everywhere God goes life, love, light, and the kingdom of God takes root and begins to spread out and sin and death are pushed back. I want you to know that when God, and his love, encountered your life, light, redemption and love was entrusted with you…word of that encounter should not be kept in...it SHOULD SPREAD!
Three things I want you to see about the way Jesus loved and it almost plays out like a formula:
Jesus LOOKED,
was MOVED,
and ACTED.
1) YOU NEED TO LOOK
Jesus’ Redemptive Love starts with LOOKING.
Looking shapes the heart but we tend to look away.
Why do we look away? It’s uncomfortable! We might have to CARE, we might have to DO something about it.
Looking is not EFFICIENT! It takes time and it intrudes upon your calendar!
But this IS what JESUS did, over and over and over. Listen to this:
Matt. 3:5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
Matt 14:14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Matt 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Mark 10:21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
John 11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
Luke 19:41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
John 19:26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
Maybe you’re hearing this and you’re thinking, I’m the widow in this story:
This is why community and perspective is so important when we read the bible!!
Some listening to me are in the position of the widow!!
I want you to know that Jesus SEES you! In the OT it says Hagar “gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."
Why hasn’t he done something. I don’t know why he hasn’t done something yet...but I do know the story is not over yet.
2) YOU NEED TO BE MOVED
Enter into the pain of others.
Feel their pain and give them hope!!
Move towards it instead of away,
Pray - real prayer - not just saying you’re going to pray...is an action. Don’t pray as a means to let yourself off the hook but PRAY is an admission that you have reached the end of your means and lift them up!!
2) YOU NEED TO ACT
When and where you can act, do it. Try to determine what your role in loving, shedding light, advocating, and bringing God’s kingdom to that moment should be.
Push for it, interrupt your plans, sacrifice your finances, engage your emotions….and ACT!
Overwhelmed? Maybe you can’t do it all! BUT, do for one what you WISH you could do for the many but DO SOMETHING!!
SO, for our next reflection time, I want you to consider two things
How has God redefined your definition of love?
What situation, person, or people group do you need to “see” more often and be “moved” by?
One thing WE need to keep in mind is that,
while some of us are VERY aware of suffering and understand their position of need -because it is a part daily life -
MANY of us operate our daily lives outside of a position of awareness of our need for God...we operate out of position of blessing.
Maybe you came to the dinner table with a hot meal every day this las week but not everyone does
Maybe you fell asleep last night knowing where you would go if you died, but some don’t
The best way for us to become motivated to open our eyes and SEE the widows of this world, see the pain, see the hurt, and notice the places where love NEEDS to shine is to constantly remember that you too were the needy party. Separated from Jesus and Jesus expressed his love, mercy, and grace to you:
You can’t even come into a saving relationship with Jesus without first recognizing your need for his Grace!! Ephesians says, “Salvation comes by grace through faith.”
You were the widow once.
You were the dead man once and God had to bring you out of death and into life!!
Our continual, cultivated awareness of this should produce thanksgiving and gratefulness in us that fuels our desire to LOOK, to be MOVED, and to ACT.
COMMUNION:
(1 COR. 11:23B-26)
“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
SAVE THE DATE: The 2020 Marriage Retreat is scheduled to be Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and November 8!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
We are hosting prayer team meetings for both the congregation at large and individuals to sign up for individual prayer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR WORSHIP:
Coty Miller’s own “Praise & Worship” Spotify playlist and “Praise & Worship” YouTube playlist (slightly different from each other), both of diverse music that are being constantly updated!
Bethel Music :
Bethel Music’s hours of live music YouTube Playlist, also being constantly updated
Bethel provides chords to most (if not all) of their songs here (just have to register email, but free!)
Live worship moments from the Upper Room YouTube Playlist
Journal writing! (I’m a writer too, so sometimes creative writing and writing my thoughts to God is my form of worship.)
Declare and worship with truth by singing and praying scriptures.
WORSHIP NIGHT! Dedicate a night to worship with friends and family, your house church or neighbors, those who need prayer, love worship, or just enjoy music through a video chat platform like Zoom. You can have one person leading at a time (switching off to whoever else wants to lead) while others sing along, pray, or prophesy, etc.
Serving your community, both online, in person, or both, is a great way to worship God, from spreading encouragement and God’s Word online to physically serving food to others. If you are able to go out and serve, click here for opportunities.
COMMISSIONING:
As Jesus said in John 20:21,
"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Go, be the Church!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.