Easter 2022 - Speak In Disbelief

  HE IS RISEN! There have been roughly 1,989 Easter Sundays beginning on that first Resurrection Sunday. Easter is celebrated by over 2 billion people around the world. The resurrection is officially celebrated in at least 95 out of 195 countries across the planet. We’re gathering today, both here at the sunrise, and possibly later at different gatherings, to celebrate the Rise Savior, Christ Jesus. 

And like today, at that first resurrection people denied that it happened. On Facebook I have been getting a blitz ad for the last several weeks from Bart Erhman a notable agnostic New Testament Scholar, inviting me to attend his teaching on “Did the Resurrection Happen?” You can search books, publications, YouTube videos, all questioning, was Jesus really raised from the dead?

And you can find counter arguments on why the resurrection happened. I’ve done a series on it, and I know my fellow pastors in this town have spoken on the evidence for the resurrection. And you would think that given that God’s Word explicitly states that to disprove the resurrection would disprove Christianity, that in the roughly 1,989 Easter Sundays, someone would have disproven it by now. Yet, the same arguments against the resurrection that were given in the aftermath of Jesus’ raising, are still given today. 

Jesus didn’t die, he swooned. Jesus didn’t die, he was replaced. Jesus didn’t resurrect, the disciples stole the body. Jesus didn’t resurrect, the disciples found the wrong tomb. Arguments that, time and time again, have been disproven, and yet persist. 

Liberal scholars like E.P. Sanders, who do not believe in the resurrection, have to admit they don’t know what happen. Sanders writes, “That Jesus’ followers (and later Paul) had resurrection experiences is, in my judgment, a fact. What the reality was that gave rise to the experiences I do not know…Paul’s tradition that 500 people saw Jesus at the same time has led some people to suggest that Jesus’ followers suffered mass hysteria. But mass hysteria does not explain the other traditions…Finally we know that after his death his followers experienced what they described as the ‘resurrection’: the appearance of a living but transformed person who had actually died. They believed this, they lived it, and they died for it (https://jamesbishopblog.com/2015/06/29/jesus-really-did-appear-to-the-disciples-and-skeptics-after-his-death-40-quotes-by-scholars/).”

But this isn’t a defense of the resurrection. Like I said, those can be found anywhere. No, there’s no difference today than on the first day the resurrection of Jesus occurred. The Bible records in Mark’s 16th chapter, “9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.”

In the Gospels, we’re told that multiple women went to the tomb and found it empty. We’re told that they encountered two angels, one of which tells them to go and tell the disciples that Jesus had risen and would meet them. 

Yet, Mark and Luke tell us that the disciples did not believe the women at first. In Mark we’re told that the disciples simply didn’t believe. But Luke informs us, that, “But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense (v. 11).”

Could it be that the disciples just thought the women were in hysterics? Could it be that they didn’t want to hope, where they believed there was none? I don’t know, but what we do know is that when the women told them that Jesus had been raised from the dead, the disciples’ reaction was disbelief. 

Did their disbelief negate the reality of the resurrection? No! Just because someone doesn’t believe something, doesn’t make it untrue. And this is what we’re talking about today. About 1,989 Easter Sundays have come and gone. There was disbelief on the first Sunday, there will be disbelief on the last Easter that is celebrated before the return of Jesus. Countering disbelief is not the primary work of a disciple of Jesus. The primary work of Jesus’ disciples, of those who call themselves Christians, is to witness to the reality of the resurrection. Mary was told by the angel in Mark 16, “6 ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”’”

Before Jesus ascended to heaven after the resurrection he tells his disciples that, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).”

We need to be like Mary, witnessing to the truth of the Resurrected Jesus, no matter how the world responds. Whether the world responds in belief or disbelief, we are to stand firm knowing the power of Christ in our own lives and pointing others to the salvation he holds for them. 

Because there will come a time when all will be witness to the Lord Jesus in his full glory. And on that day, those who profess to his resurrection will be joyful because they are heading into eternity with their God. Yet those who stand in rejection of the resurrection will be in sorrow, because they will miss knowing the Lord Jesus. 

I want to challenge all of us on this roughly 1,989th Resurrection Sunday to take our call to be witnesses of Jesus seriously. We live in a dying world, yet we Christians worship a living God. We live in a world where hope is a limited commodity, yet we Christians rejoice in a coming King. There are many out there that our waiting to here the life changing words of the Gospel of Jesus. That though we have sinned and rebelled against God’s perfect created order, he loves us enough to come to us. To live and die for us. To pay the penalty for sin and wipe it away. That all who trust that Jesus is Savior will begin an eternal relationship with God that starts the moment we accept what he has done for us, and lasts eternally. 

Let us who have already trusted in Jesus as our Savior be witnesses that the resurrection of Jesus is the proof that what God has said is true and we are in need of him. 

Today, let us be joyful and in celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, which solidifies the work of the cross and the payment of sin, and points to his returning and re-creation of this world. And as we wait for that glorious day, when we will see Jesus coming on the clouds, let’s be about the work he has given us, to be his witnesses in all the world. Amen.

King Jesus, Week 1 - “The Ancient King”

  One of my favorite pieces of writing from C.S. Lewis is from the book, “The Silver Chair.” If you now anything about the Narnia series of books, they have an allegorical aspect to them that brings out a lot of biblical ideas and themes. One of these is that Aslan, the Great Lion of Narnia, is a representation of Jesus. If you didn’t figure that out from the first two books, it’s in the third that it subtle pushes you to wake up to the fact. But it’s in the fourth book that I think one of Aslan’s greatest conversations happen. 

As is the case in all the majority of the books, children from our world are brought into Narnia. Eustace from the third book is brought, and one of his classmates as well, a girl named Jill. This is the first time Jill has seen Narnia, so she is very nervous, and then the only person she knows, Eustace, literally is flown off a mountain. So she stands alone on a mountain top and now she is thirsty. It’s at this point that she meets a lion by the stream.

“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I am dying of thirst,” said Jill.

“Then drink,” said the Lion.

“May I — could I — would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

“Will you promise not to — do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

This conversation shows the power and unnerving feeling his sends into someone. We as the reader might know that his is Aslan, whom we’ve read about before, but Jill doesn’t. This is merely a giant talking lion that might or might not eat her. Yet when Jill finally goes to drink, the lion doesn’t eat her, but rather gives her a quest to fulfill. This is one of my favorite parts of the Narnia series, because it captures an understanding of who Jesus is. He is a King that is greater than any. He is fearsome and makes no room for others to change him, like Jill wanting the Lion to walk away so she could drink.

Lewis captures an aspect of Jesus that we tend to miss. That Jesus is King, and we cannot hope to push him aside for our own purposes. And so for the next three weeks we are going to explore Jesus as King.

Today is Palm Sunday. We refer to it as Palm Sunday because in Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem, this side of the cross, the people laid palm leaves down in front of him. But this entry into Jerusalem carries with it ancient weight. Weight that reverberates through the cross, and the resurrection. In the next three weeks we’re going to explore this weight that reverberates, by looking at the past, the present, and the future within the biblical story of Jesus’ triumphal entry, his resurrection, and his coming again. 

We start this exploration through Matthew chapter 21, starting in verse 1. Let’s read together. 

“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, 'Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’

“4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 ‘Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”’

“6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 

“9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ 11 The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’”

This story, like most of Jesus’ last week on this side of the cross, is told throughout all four Gospels. Each of the Gospels relays basically the same events in the same order. Jesus is headed towards Jerusalem. He tells his disciples to go get him a young donkey, on which no one has ridden. Their cloaks make his saddle, and people place before Jesus cloaks and palm leaves as he enters Jerusalem. This is done to the excited outbursts of the people, welcoming Jesus, who they believe will over through the Roman government and establish Israel as it was in the days of King David. This story is consistent through all of the Gospels writers. But there are a few details that each emphasize, and others either leave out or pick up on. 

One of these details comes in the Matthew passage we just read. In the other three Gospel accounts of this moment, we’re told that Jesus road on a colt, which is simply a young donkey. The purpose of this is to have Jesus fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah that the Messiah, the king of Jerusalem that was to come, would ride into Jerusalem on a young donkey. There’s a lot of imagery here of humbleness that is attached to such an entrance. Yet, Matthew picks up on something the others don’t. Jesus doesn’t just ride in on a donkey’s colt, that colt is accompanied by an older donkey, it’s mother. The main explanation that is given for this, is the fact that colts, especially those who had never been ridden, were not used to having someone on them, and so what people would do is have an experienced donkey, usually the mother of the colt, lead the younger donkey with the rider. This was to calm the colt, and to keep it from throwing the rider. 

But there’s more going on. First, it’s Jesus who calls for both the donkey and colt, and second, Matthew references it. For Matthew this is important, because he is writing to a Jewish audience. An audience that picks up on subtle details like this. Mark, Luke, and John don’t pick up on this detail because it isn’t important for the overall fulfillment of prophecy. Plus, the audience they were writing to wouldn’t notice that there was an extra donkey, but Matthew and his audience would. 

And it’s this little detail that connects Jesus, not just to a king coming into a city, but an Eternal King, coming to fulfill his own words.

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, which Matthew draws his translations from, Habakuk 3:2 states, “O Lord, I have heard thy report, and was afraid: I considered thy works, and was amazed: thou shalt be known between the two living creatures, thou shalt be acknowledged when the years draw nigh; thou shalt be manifested when the time is come; when my soul is troubled, thou wilt in wrath remember mercy (https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/ambacum/3.html).”

Did you notice that God is known or experienced with the imagery of two creatures?

In addition to this, God in the Old Testament is seen many times as having his throne upon two creatures. 2 Samuel 6:2 reads, “2 He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark.”

Psalm 18:10 reads, “He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.”

Isaiah 37:16, has Hezekiah pray, “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”

But noticing the two donkey’s, Matthew is recognizing Jesus as the king, not just fulfilling the blatant prophecy of riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey, but how Jesus’ words of having two animals be what brings him into the city, reveals just who Jesus is. Jesus’ isn’t just a guy who is intentionally fulfilling prophecy where he can, no he is claiming divinity in every action he takes. 

For us reading through the story, we just see a couple of animals. But Matthew, who is steeped in the allusions of the Scriptures, understands Jesus’ words of divinity. How Jesus isn’t just being practical, but intentional about connecting back to how God is described throughout Jewish history. 

This isn’t just another Messiah coming to overthrow earthly governments. No, this is God come down. This is the Creator of the Universe descending upon his creation. This is the enthroned, all-powerful Ancient of Days, Yahweh riding into the city in which he anointed kings and brought up and down nations. And he is riding, not on the backs of fantastical beings like cherubim, but on a lowly donkey. A symbol throughout Ancient Near East that spoke of humility. 

Jesus is coming in with fanfare that is deserving of his kingly position, but with the sole purpose of dying for humanity.  

Scholar Bernard Batto writes, “Matthew is painting a picture of Jesus sitting on a throne carried by two humble animals which displays his humility and divinity.”

This makes perfect sense in Matthew, because every step of the way through Matthew’s Gospel, the writer draws our attention to this dual work of Jesus. From the opening chapter to the final one, Matthew shows us detail after detail of Jesus’ godhood and his humility. Jesus is the God who comes down, and he is the God who walks the path that leads to the cross. 

The triumphal entry isn’t triumphal because Jesus comes to the city of Jerusalem to overthrow the Roman government and establish Israel’s monarchy. If that was why it was triumphal, then it was a failure. No, it was triumphal, because the God who brought the nation of Israel into being, was on his way to deal with the most important need of humanity, which is sin. 

The Bible tells us that through the one man Adam, all humanity entered into the bondage of sin. Sin is the rebellion of a person against the created order of God. It is taking life, we are not justified in taking it, that’s murder. Its worshiping self or made up gods, instead of the God who made us, that’s idolatry. It’s disrespecting our parents and those in authority. It’s desiring what is not ours, that’s coveting. And the list goes on and on. It’s looking at God and saying, “You’re not God, I am."

And we’re in bondage to this sin, and it will carry us to a place where we will live in eternity of our own godhood, a place where no love, no joy, no compassion lives. This is called the Lake of Fire. Yet God cares for his creation, so much so, that he comes to us. Entering into Jerusalem on a donkey, showing his divinity and humility together. He makes his way to the cross to be crucified, and in doing so paying for our sin and breaking the bondage of it. All we need to do is accept Jesus’ work on our behalf. The one man Adam brought sin into the world, and it is the God-man Jesus who breaks the power of sin in our lives.

Jesus calls us to repent of sin. That means we recognize that we do sin, that we cannot fix it ourselves, and we need him. Then we accept his free gift of salvation, the wiping away sin and its power in our lives. Our lives are now his life, and we follow him by doing as he commands. Not because it saves, us, but because that’s what we were created to do. To walk in his life and so gaining our own.

Jesus is the King, not just because he rode in to Jerusalem to fulfill a prophecy, but because he is the King and Creator of the universe. There is no one more powerful and no one more humble. He is the one, as C.S. Lewis puts it, “[that has] swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms…”

So let us bow before and rejoice in front of Jesus, the King from ancient past, who comes to break the bondage of humanity.

My challenge this week is to read the four Triumphal Entry accounts. Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, John 12:12-19. Read through them, asking God, to show you his divine power in his humility as he goes to the cross. That we may better follow him in that humility as we experiencing his divine work in our lives. 

Let us be a people who are called to experience Jesus’ divine goodness and humbleness and who are to follow as our King leads. Amen.

Wrecked, Week 5 - “Experiencing A Greater Rest”

  In 1866 the National Labor Union asked the US Congress to pass a law requiring the creation of an eight-hour workday. Three years later, President Grant issued a proclamation that government workers would only work eight hours a day. Congress did not pass a law until 1916, when it established an eight-hour work day for interstate railroad workers. And in 1940 Congress amended a previous law to limit the workweek to 40 hours.

Why were these laws passed? Well in 1890 the US government found that the average full-time workweek for an employee with a manufacturing job was around 100 hours. To put that in perspective, there are 168 hours in the week. The first company to institute the modern-day five day, forty hour work week, was Ford Motor company in 1926 (https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-the-40-hour-workweek-2015-10).

This move away from such a strenuous work week for the average person, was because of the reality that a person needs down time. The body needs time to recuperate from the stress of the world, so that it can maintain competency. I had an older pastor once tell me that you should work only as much as your most involved volunteer. They have a 40 hour work week, and if they give you 20 hours, then your work should not exceed 60 hours. Yet sometimes, we have to work longer than what we “should.” If you live on a farm or a ranch, you know cattle and plants don’t take clock out. If you’ve ever owned your own business you know that the work doesn’t stop at the office. Yet, we need rest, or we’ll burnout. There’s a reason we hav sayings like, “burning the candle at both ends.” We recognize the need for rest, but don’t always take it.

So it’s this idea of being rejuvenated that brings us back to our Wrecked series, where we’re going to be looking at a moment in the life of a woman by the named Mary, that occurs in Luke 10, starting in verse 38. And as we open up to Luke 10:38, let’s look back at what we’ve covered so far in this series.

In our first week we looked at the life of Paul and how God wrecked his self-righteous perception of himself. God brought Paul to a place where he realized his wretchedness, so that Paul could understand the deep love and work God had done for him. We looked at how we too must realize our wretchedness when we are separated from Jesus’ work on the cross. And when we do realize it, we can better understand the deep all consuming love God has for people. 

The second week brought us to Nathanael’s story of a person who, though was one of the twelve apostles, not much is known about. But what we saw is that Jesus knew Nathanael. Jesus saw Nathanael and because of that Nathanael believed Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. Jesus wrecked Nathanael’s arrogant attitude and brought him to a place of submission. We walked away understanding that we need to have our desire to be seen by the world wrecked, being satisfied with only being seen by God.

Then in our third week we talked about Esther and how, though she didn’t her a voice from God, or have a prophet tell her, she walked rightly in God’s commands. And because she did, the Jewish people were saved. We walked away from that week with an understanding that we need to do what God has already commanded us, not needing to be told what God has already spoken.

That brings us to last week where we looked at the calling of Samuel. A young boy who hadn’t heard the voice of God. That voice would go onto to wreck Samuel’s life, to where God would use him to span two eras of Israelite history, and through him bring about the Davidic monarchy. We then talked about three common ways in which God speaks: through mature believers, through an audible voice, and through his Word. Walking away from last week, we learned that we must learn to listen to God, taking the time to hear through the ways he established to experience his voice.

This brings us to our final week in our Wrecked series, where we turn to Mary’s story in Luke 10, verse 38.

“38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

41 “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

Mary and Martha are two sisters that get pitted against each other, with Mary being the one who is right in the story. While Martha is mulling about serving her guests, Mary sits at Jesus’ feet listening to what he has to say. Yet, in the culture, Martha is in the right. There are two cultural problems with what Mary is doing. First, Mary should be helping Martha tend to the guests, and yet is not. Martha’s appeal to Jesus is to correct Mary’s lack of work. This is the cultural problem that Martha is so upset by. The second is that women were not supposed to sit at a Rabbi’s feet to be taught. So it’s surprising that Jesus takes Mary’s side in this circumstance. 

Now not much is known about Mary, and it is church tradition that says that she is the person same as Mary of Magdala, a demon possessed woman who most likely was a prostitute and might have been the woman who was caught in adultery. But the way in which both women are presented in the Gospels, I don’t think they are one in the same. No, instead what we know of this Mary is that she is the sister to Martha, as we see in this passage, and is sister to Lazarus, who Jesus raised back to life. She was most likely the woman who put perfume on Jesus’ feet during the last week of his ministry pre-cross. And who was one of the first to see Jesus risen and was not believed by Peter and John. In the end, tradition says that she occupied John the Apostle to Ephesus where she eventually died.

Mary’s story encapsulates one of the most important themes of the Scriptures. A theme that has its roots in the creation story, and continues through the Old Testament and into Jesus’ teaching. This is the theme of rest. 

We’re told in Exodus 20:8 in the fourth commandment to, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

The word Sabbath has a connection with an Assyrian word (sabattum) that means “a day of rest for the heart.” It occurs roughly 111 times in the Old Testament and we can gather that it means to abstain from labor. And it’s a theme that God connects to his purposeful creation. “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

And this theme of resting from labor is taken up by Jesus, to point to a greater rest that God intends. In Jesus’ teaching this rest in found in him. In Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus states, “28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

It’s John 15, that Jesus connects this rest to abiding in him, when he states, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (verses 4-5).”

These two ideas of resting in Jesus and remaining in him speaks of true Sabbath. Not just a day of rest, but a lifestyle of resting in God. This is where Mary and Martha’s story comes in. Mary was resting in the Lord. Jesus was there and Mary was in her rightful place simply being in the presence of God. But we’re told that, “…Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” She was not at rest.

We read in the Scriptures how we can be in Jesus’ rest. We saw it in Jesus’ words in John that abiding is resting. We also get places like 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18, “16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” This is rest and remaining in Jesus. To have our thoughts on God throughout our day, knowing who we are in Jesus, knowing his deep love for us, walking in his commands, listening for his voice, makes our lives a life of rest. Sure we need physical down time, but we need a lifestyle of rest.

This is what Jesus is saying to Martha when he states, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

We can easily allow the things of this world to worry and upset us, but what we need only a few things and the greatest is resting in our Savior. 

The Hebrew writer looked at the promise land of God and the rest he spoke about as being greater than the physical land. In the book of Hebrews we read, “8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience (4:8-11).”

This greater rest is done through the Gospel. It’s the eternal life that Christ has gifted to all those who trust in him as their Savior. This rest begins at the moment of acceptance of Jesus as Savior and moves into eternity. We are called to begin to experience this rest now. To lay our burdens at the feet of Jesus and follow him.

We must have our idea of rest wrecked. We tend to think it’s the weekend, or the vacation, but those are only the physical moments of rest. Those are what you take, then feel tired from, and then dread the going back to work. But God’s rest is living in his presence, relying on his strength, and walking in his will. It’s being exhausted, yet rejoicing in it. It’s feeling faint and speaking to God about it. It’s feeling like your at the end of your rope and yet thanking God for the opportunity.

Mary chose resting in the presence of God, Martha is chose working in her own  strength. So Jesus recognizes the value in what Mary has chosen and rejects Martha’s stance.

And so we must also seek the rest and presence of our Lord. We must seek to live a lifestyle of pushing into God’s rest. We do this by implementing what we have covered in this series. To recognize our need for our Savior, to be content with him seeing us, to walk in his commands, and to listen for his voice. Let us not simply think that the Sabbath God calls us to is a day off, but rather a lifestyle of being in the presence of our God.

This week I want to challenge you to go through each of the previous challenges, taking one every day and redoing it. Then on the fifth day reread and meditate on Mary’s story, seeking God to show you how to better rest in him. Then on the sixth day practice what God as directed you to, so that you may rest greater in his Sabbath.

Let us all seek to rest in the God who calls us to loose our burdens to him. That we may know him and his will for us ever greater in our lives. Amen. 

Wrecked, Week 4 - “Learning To Hear”

  Growing up I had to take this class in 8th grade where we basically learned different skills. It wasn’t a home ec class where we learned baking or sewing, though I took one of those in high school. No, this class taught us things like listening. We would take entire class sessions, where one person would sit and talk, while the other listened, and then the person listening would have to report what the other person said. This was also the class where we would go to nursing homes and put on puppet shows.

I don’t remember much else about that class, but the need to listen to people has stuck with me since then. And I’ve come to a conclusion that you cannot hope to learn, unless you’re willing to listen. 

This brings us back to our series, where we’ll be looking at 1st Samuel chapter 3, starting in verse 1. In this series we’ve talking about what it means to have our lives wrecked by God. And this wrecking idea carries with it the reality that when we put our trust into Jesus as Savior, that old life we had is wrecked so that we can be children of God. 

And so in our first week we looked at the life of Paul and saw how when Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, his self-righteousness was wrecked. He no longer viewed himself as a good Jew, but rather as a wretched man saved by the grace of God. And so we walked away from our first week with the understanding that we need to recognize our own wretchedness when we were separated from Jesus so that we can better understand his love for us now.

In our second week, we looked at the life of Nathaniel; one of the twelve apostles who we don’t know much about. We know his name, a little about his background, that he was a little arrogant, and a vague understanding of how he died. But what we saw in the only story about Nathanael was that Jesus saw him under a fig tree. That seeing by Jesus wrecked Nathanael’s life to a point where the arrogance would eventually be gone and a disciple would go to death for his Savior. We walked away from that week with the understating that we need to be content with God seeing us, and loose the desire to be seen by the world.

Then last week we looked at the Book of Esther and saw a young woman who had beauty and wisdom and followed the commands of God without God needing to speak. Because of her faithfulness to God’s Word, the Hebrew nation was saved from destruction. We walked away from this week with the understanding that we need to be doing what God has already said, while we actively watch for what God wants from us.

This brings us to 1st Samuel 3:1, where, since we’ve talked about doing God’s command without him speaking, we turn our attention to hearing God’s voice. Let’s read Samuel’s interaction starting in chapter 3, verse 1.

1 The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.

2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

6 Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

11 And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”

15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

Samuel answered, “Here I am.”

17 “What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”

19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

What is the one reoccurring action that is brought up in the passage? God’s calling of Samuel. Again and again God calls Samuel, but what’s the problem? Samuel doesn’t recognize God’s call. Why? Because Samuel doesn’t know God’s voice, and so mistakes it for Eli’s. But Eli eventually realizes what’s going on and directs the boy to what he needs to do.

This passage speaks volumes on how God speaks to us, giving us three ways in which it occurs. Not the only three ways, but three of the most common ways. And here’s the thing, when we’re talking about being wrecked by God, a part of that is having our perception of God’s interaction with us wrecked. God’s desire is to speak to his people, what we need to have done is have our ideas of what he does it wrecked, and reformed into what we see in Scripture. And in the passage of Samuel, we’re given three consistent ways God speaks to his people. So we need to learn how to listen the way God wants us to.

The first way in which God speaks is through more mature believers. When Samuel here’s a voice he assumes its Eli’s. But after three times of Samuel interrupting Eli’s rest, it’s Eli who realizes that it’s God speaking. So Eli sends Samuel back and gives him what to say in response to God.

It’s important to realize that no matter what age we are, we have people who can direct us in the path we are to go. We see this in the life of Moses in Exodus 18. Though Moses was God’s spokesman and leader of the Israelite nation, he was trying to do too much on his own, especially in the case of resolving conflicts with the people. It’s in Exodus chapter 18 that we see Moses’ father-in-law show up and say this in verse 17, “Moses’ father-in-law replied, ‘What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.’”

This is then followed in Exodus by God speaking at Mt. Sinai. When we listen to wise counsel, even unasked counsel, from people who are more mature than we are in the faith, it opens us up to the voice of God in our lives.

Solomon in Proverbs 1:8-9 states, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 9 They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”

Therefore one way in which we are to hear the voice of God, is to listen to what more mature believers have to say. 

The second way in which we are to hear God’s voice is through an audible sound. Samuel is hearing the voice of God in an audible way, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Peter, Paul, John all heard the audible voice of God.

Now this voice can be heard in two ways. The first is a booming sound like thunder. Listen to how it is described in the book of Job chapter 37, “2  Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. 3 He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. 4 After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. 5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding (v. 2-5).” In God’s booming voice, it is inimitable and will shake us to our core. I will admit, I have never heard this great booming voice, and to be honest, I don’t know if I want to. It sounds terrifying, so much so that the people of Israel did not want to God to speak to them directly and so asked for Moses to be their mediator.

A second way the audible voice can be heard is in the case of Elijah in 1st Kings 19:9-18. Elijah flees from what he perceives is his death at the hands of Jezebel and God sends him to Mt. Sinai. There we’re told this starting in verse 11, “11 The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’”

This second way in which God’s voice can be heard audibly is the whisper. This, I have heard, and I believe is God’s primary audible style to those who are his people and are in a close relationship with him. A booming voice is what you use when getting over the noise that surrounds you, but a whisper is a voice you use in the intimacy of a relationship.

The final way we see God speaking to Samuel is in the last verse of the passage we read, “The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.”

It was in and through God’s word that Samuel knew God. I believe that this is the primary way God speaks to his people. From his word, we’re told by Jesus in John 14:26, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” God spoke to Joshua in the opening of his book, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful (v.8).” The Hebrew writer states in their opening chapter, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe (1-2).”

Countless times in my own life, God has spoken through his Word just what I needed, sometimes before, sometimes during, all the time when I needed it.

And there will be people that say things like, “If you talk to God that’s okay, but if he talks back then you’re crazy.” This is why we need to resign ourselves to only desiring to be seen by God and not the world. There are people in the world that already think Christians are crazy. There are people that think that Christianity is false, and even some that say it’s immoral. All I care about is what God says. Paul states in 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Let us seek God’s voice.

But we must put a couple of disclaimers on hearing the voice of God. First, God will never speak in contradiction to his already revealed word. Jesus said in Matthew 5:18-19, “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

If ever we hear a voice that contradicts God’s Word, that voice is not from God and should be rejected. Paul said it like this in Galatians 1:8-9, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” The Word of God will never, never, be contradicted by the voice of God. That’s why it’s so important for us to hear God through his word, so that we may know his voice when we hear it. 

Second disclaimer, you are not less of a believer, if you do not hear an audible voice from God. Each of us are in a unique Father/child relationship with God and those relationships are both similar and different. Remember the Hebrew write states, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways…” God spoke in various ways, and though the message is through the Son, God still speaks with variety. I’ve known people that have been physically grasped by God, I never have. I’ve known people that have had full on interactive visions from God, I never have. The way God speaks to you is how he decides and bears no greatness or diminishing of your standing in Christ.

Yet, we should seek to hear the voice of God; whether that be through more mature believers, audibly, or in his Word. 

So this week I want to challenge you to put this into practice. Read through 1st Samuel 3:1-21, asking God to speak to you as he did with Samuel. Then go to a more mature believer and get their insights into God’s voice in their lives. To hear an audible voice from God, maybe sit out under the stars with no interruptions and just actively listen. And then read through the other passages that we’ve referenced today and seek God’s voice in his word.

Let us be a people who are seeking God’s voice, in a way that is within the unique relationships we have with him, so that we may better known and serve him. Amen.