This is my sermon from Mark 3 that I preached in October of 2017. I cover some details of the Mosaic Law then the added on law from the Mishnah and other later commentaries.
Then I talk about how Jesus trashed all of those goodies to point everyone to depend on Him by faith.
I’m reading William Barclay’s commentary on the letters to the Corinthians and his commentary on chapter 3 is amazing for 2019.
“This identification with some party is the acceptance of slavery by those who should be kings. In fact they are masters of all things, because they belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. The man who gives his strength and his heart to some little splinter of a party has surrendered everything to a petty thing, when he could have entered into possession of a fellowship and a love as wide as the universe. He has confined into narrow limits a life which should be limitless in it’s outlook.
Sermon on Ephesians 5:1-21 from Westminster Church in Evansville, Indiana. Here are the notes I used.
[1] Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. [2] And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
[32] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (ESV)
Again, just like last week, this stuff isn’t a law, but a response to what God has already done. This list is here because we do better when we have a guide instead of just trying to figure stuff out.
It’s like bending your elbows when you give someone CPR. You might know you are supposed to give chest compressions, but in the training they tell you not to bend your elbows. You need that weight and those shoulder/back muscles to do it because your little arms will wear out too fast. I don’t want you to figure that out for yourself! That’s why this stuff is in here. We can gain wisdom from it and grow in the Lord from these insights. This is our head-start on living a life that is pleasing to God.
[3] But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. [4] Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Again, this isn’t a law saying that we should talk about it. We should be so blameless in this that nobody can talk about us doing it! We all have to be examples of this because we are all affecting the world’s perception of Christ.
Amish people have a reputation in the world.
Galatians 6:7–8
[7] Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. [8] For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (ESV)
Then back to Ephesians
[5] For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. [6] Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
[7] Therefore do not become partners with them; [8] for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light [9] (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), [10] and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.
“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist. – CS Lewis
Ephesians 5:11-14
[11] Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. [12] For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. [13] But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, [14] for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
[15] Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, [16] making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
[17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
[18] And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, [20] giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, [21] submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (ESV)
[13] He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. [14] And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
[15] And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. [16] And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [17] And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
One of the brilliant things about poverty as mission shows up here. Jesus wasn’t afraid of the tax man. Since the man Jesus was talking to couldn’t take away anything that Jesus had, Jesus wasn’t afraid to talk to him. Jesus might not have even had the case to be bitter towards what Matthew had taken in the past.
If we fear for our lives, we won’t talk to dangerous people.
If we fear for our wealth, we won’t talk to those that steal.
If we fear for our comfort, we won’t talk to those who impose.
If we fear for our good reputation, we won’t talk to those that are below us.
6 For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice;
I delight in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings.
I’ve been learning this in an unhappily repetitive way lately. It’s come in the form of eager children and eager adults. People tend to really like to please you or really get your approval when it comes to doing things that they enjoy.
The bummer is when we have to do something for others that we don’t really enjoy, we aren’t so eager to serve them!
Take me and my timecard at work, for instance. (I’m throwing myself under the bus here, because the more I think of other people teaching me this, I realize I need to see how I am doing this myself!) It’s easy for me to come up with all kinds of cool new ways of doing stuff, of innovating new processes and thinking about how we can improve our systems.
But I can’t fill out my timecard.
It’s simple! It’s easy! It’s something I need to do FAITHFULLY!
But day in and day out, it’s easier for me to sacrifice and do all kinds of things that are above and beyond the call of duty than it is to be faithful in the little things that my work needs me to do and just fill out my ^&%#@! timecard.
This is where Hosea was. The Jewish people went out of their way to improve their burnt offerings and their festivals and their sacrifices. They probably had banners that said, “Torah 2.0: Commitment, Caring, and Charisma” or some such thing.
But they sucked at the tiny tasks that required daily faithfulness.
It’s just not exciting to do the small and simple things.
It’s just not exciting to go after a mediocre calling of being close to God in secret.
It’s just not exciting to walk in simple obedience to God without having an amazing sacrifice to show for it.
The thing is, God loves ME more than any sacrifice I bring. He knows me inside and out, with my twisted motives, my lazy-butt motivations and my desire for attention and glamour. I might as well come clean and not try to impress Him with any fancy sacrifices but just do the simple & mediocre things He calls me to do.
Because God’s mediocrity is greater than man’s excitement.
2 Chronicles 30:18-20
The majority of the many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially unclean, yet they ate the Passover in violation of what is prescribed in the law. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the Lord, who is good, forgive everyone who has determined to follow God, the Lord God of his ancestors, even if he is not ceremonially clean according to the standards of the temple.”
The Lord responded favorably to Hezekiah and forgave the people.
Here is a great spot in the Old Testament showing people getting close to God–not by following the Law but by being sincere and turning to Him with all of their hearts.
Hezekiah called the whole nation to celebrate the Passover. The priests weren’t properly prepared, the people weren’t properly prepared, but since it hadn’t been done in so long, they had to start somewhere.
God accepted them and they were so delighted in the Passover they continued it for another 7 days beyond the amount of time the Law required. The chapter ends with God listening and being pleased with all they had to offer Him.
This makes me think about all of the pickiness we bring when we go to church on Sunday. Here is God, overlooking some blatant screw-ups during one of His most important holy days:
Next time you are at church (if you know me, you know I’m the “you” in this sentence) and you want to gripe or be critical about the way things are being done, look at this hot mess in 2 Chronicles 30. Very little went according to God’s plan, and look what happened:
The Lord responded favorably to them as their prayers reached his holy dwelling place in heaven. 2 Chronicles 30:27
Next up was Seth Godin. I was pretty exited about hearing him for 2 main reasons:
I had read some of his blog posts (confession: I haven’t finished any of his books)
I heard he had 142 slides for his 30 minute presentation
A lot of the stuff he said struck more an individual and entrepreneurial tone. I think if you listened to this talk but were stuck in a corporate grey cube you’d be really really frustrated.
He talked about the individual hand made item vs. the mass-produced item. The former Better Crocker R&D kitchens now house a hand-made (and expensive) chocolate business.
There are a couple good things in here. The first was about owning your own business. If you are creating great things, and you are full of ideas, why do you hold back and not let them flow‽ He was talking about the pen making machine at this point. Before the pen making machine, it would take a skilled craftsman to make 4-5 pens in a day. Once the pen-making machine was invented, a stooge off the street with 5 minutes of training could make 10,000 pens a day. Karl Marx said, “Workers of the world unite!” and boycott such machinery. Adam Smith said, “Go buy a pen-making machine. Now.”
In 1917, Marcel Duchamp put a urinal in an art exhibit. It was new, revolutionary, and shook a lot of people up. It changed the way people began to regard art and the adoration and worship of art. If anyone would have come along after him and put a urinal in an art show, though, it would have been a copy. It would not have been as revolutionary.
Basically Godin is saying that if you are the first to come up with something, you are unique and you’re going to change people. If you copy off of someone else it will be mundane and ordinary.
(I realize this quote starts out kind of arrogant, but stay with me.)
We lack for Christians who feel themselves expendable in the warfare of the soul, who cannot be frightened by threats of death because they have already died to the attractiveness of this world. Such Christians will be free from the compulsions that control and squeeze weaker thinking Christians.
This kind of freedom is necessary if we are to serve God and mankind from motives too high to be understood by the regular irregulars who shuttle in and out of the sanctuary.
Free Christians will:
- make no decisions out of fear,
- take no course out of a desire to please,
- accept no service for financial considerations,
- perform no religious act of mere custom;
- nor will they allow themselves to be influenced by the love of publicity or the desire for reputation.
This is from a study I’m doing right now. Pretty strong words. While I was reading this I realized that I never expected to come home from any mission trip I ever went on. Every time I flew into my hometown airport or pulled into the church parking lot where I left my car, I was surprised at God. I was surprised almost to the point to paralysis because I realized that God had more to do with me.
So the question now is how does that mentality/lifestyle work in a neighborhood? In a place where you come home and walk in a door every day (if not several times in a single day?!)
There are two big deals I’ve gotten out of this study.
2 Timothy 1:6 Because of this I remind you to rekindle God’s gift…
Timothy had a gift that Paul was encouraging him to rev up again. Don’t get beat down from discouragement or whatever, turn it up Timothy!
2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Timothy was being cheered on by Paul to get out there and do the things that Timothy knew he was meant to do. He knew the call of God on his life and the gifts that God gave him to do those things. Now, Timothy, Paul says, go do those things in love and self-control (or a sound mind, not an out of control crazy person).
So what happens if we are fully unleashed? What happens when we love our neighbors and talk sincerely to each other and become a safe haven for the people around us?
What if we focused more on what we are doing right now (I’m going to show you the love of God as it was shown to me in Jesus) instead of focusing so much on a result (I’m going to make you a convert whether you like it or not!)?
What would happen if we did what God called and equipped us to do, wherever we are, without fear of death or shame or embarrasment?
What if we did it in love, not obnoxiousness?
What if we walked in humility, not arrogance?
I think we’d find ourselves really free and the people around us would become free too!