Jun 29, 2010

Mark: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ #1

Introduction

Let's Pray...
Okay, we are starting a series in which we will take a verse by verse, passage by passage, walk through the Gospel from Mark. And I want to talk a little bit about why we are doing this series.

First off, the reason we like to preach through large chunks of Scriptures is because it forces us as the leadership of the church to address a wide variety of topics. Some of the stuff we cover will be easy for most of us to agree with and deal with. But, other topics that we cover will be controversial and they may even cause people to leave. It happened to Jesus, so we know it might happen to us too.

Likewise, going verse by verse through a book will also keep us from hitting a pet-topic just because I like to preach on that one area.

That’s all clear right, we’ve talked about this stuff before. Now the better question, the question you might be asking is, why the book of Mark? How did I choose this one? There are four gospels, four accounts of the Life of Jesus, so why are we tackling Mark instead of Luke, or John or Matthew?

There’re a couple of reasons. First, Mark is a fast paced Gospel. He hits a subject and moves on to the next subject in some easy to manage chunks. The chunks make for pretty good bookends so that I don’t try to cover too much in any given week, which I am prone to do. So, honestly, just practically speaking, it will be an easier book to prepare for each week.

Second, I want to show you that all of the Bible, every book, including this one is substantial in its treatment of theology and doctrine. Even though this particular gospel has been referred to as the “Cliff Notes” gospel. There is still a heavy weight to the book.

And listen theology is not a scary word. Tim Keller says that EVERY ONE of us is a theologian, meaning everybody has a way that they think about God, we just want to make sure that your thoughts about God – your theology – is in line with Scripture – in line with the Bible, where God has revealed Himself.

Truly everything you need to know about God and man, everything you need to know about sin and redemption, everything you need to know about how to Love one another in response to God’s love for you – all of that and more is in this Gospel.

In addressing the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul wrote:
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV)

An old preacher named Dick Lucas points out that this book is solely and wholly about just that, about Christ and Him crucified.

The book of Mark, Lucas said, can be split into two halves, The Person of Jesus and the Work of Jesus on the Cross.

The book of Mark is about who Jesus was/is, and what He did.

In Chapters 1-8 we see layer upon layer unveiled about Jesus, we see Him as powerful, authoritative, the great teacher, the compassionate healer, the man who had no time for heartless, fancy-dressed religion. We see demons terrified of Him, we see crowds mesmerized by Him and we see religious leaders who despised Him.

That’s who He is, that’s what we are going to take several weeks to unpack.

And then at the end of Chapter eight, the Gospel shifts from the person of Christ to the Work of Christ on the Cross. In 8:29, Peter makes the confession of faith upon which our lives as Christians are built. Peter confesses that Jesus is not just another profit, but that Jesus is THE CHRIST, the one that all the prophets had spoken about and all the people of Israel had been waiting for.

And that confession ushered in the second main piece to the book of Mark, the work on the cross.

In 8:31, were told that Jesus

Several of the people that have mentored me in this early stage of my ministry have made it clear that the true gospel cannot be preached without the bloody cross and the empty tomb. And chapters 8-16 are going to take us to and through all of that.

Now listen, tonight is just introduction and we are not going long tonight, this may be the shortest message you ever hear from me. Tonight is designed to tell you about the book of Mark, why we picked it and all of that. And there are two main things that I want you to leave here with tonight. As you prepare your hearts for this series and as you talk to people that you are going to bring, I want to focus you in on what our main focus will be.

First is this, Last week we talked about the mission that we have been called to. We have been called to go and make disciples. We are called to go and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and here’s what I want to hit on tonight: We are called to go to all the nations (all the people groups) and teach the new disciples to obey all that Jesus commanded.

In short, we have ALL been called to follow Christ and teach others to follow Christ.

But the world has tried to put different faces on Christ, some want to make Him like some guru with wise words, but without any authority in our lives.

Some want to make him into a hippy, who loves love for love’s sake and just wants to be mellow and not cause waves.

Some want to make Him into the anti-conformist, submit to no one, rebel who hates the idea of authority.

Others want to make Him the fighter of their one pet cause with grace and mercy for them and their people, and justice and wrath only for their enemies.

Others, and I am sorry to say this was me for quite some time; we wanted Jesus to be our savior from the consequences of bad life decisions and to be the one to sign our get out of Hell free card. And, beyond that, we just wanted Him to hide away in a corner somewhere and leave us be.

But what we see here in the Book of Mark is Jesus as God on God’s terms, not ours. Jesus as God in the infinite dimensions of His understanding, not boxed in to be a god of our understanding.

In Mark 1:16-20 (ESV) we see that while:
“Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”

I believe that Jesus is calling all of us in the same way. He isn’t bartering with us, we don’t get to have an agent who hammers out the best contract to where we’ll play on Jesus’ team for the right price.

No, Jesus says “I’m enough. You follow me and you get me.”

And if we don’t like the idea of making Jesus first. If we don’t want to make Him Lord of our life. Then He will mourn over us like He mourns over the city of Jerusalem. But, again, He is God on His terms. Not ours.

To make this point from Scripture turn again to Mark 8:31. We just talked about this earlier. We’re taking up again at the pivot point of the gospel of Mark, where we move from Who Jesus is to What He came to Earth to do. After Peter confessed that Jesus is THE CHRIST in verse 29, Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about that and then in verse 31.

Mark 8:31-36 (New International Version)

That’s what we talked about earlier, He said for this plan of salvation to work, there must be a bloody cross and an empty tomb. There must be a Good Friday and an Easter Sunday.

Now watch this. Peter does what we all do in one form or another, except he is recorded for eternity when he does this…

Peter tried to tell Jesus to knock off the death and dying talk because Peter expected — and the Jews of that time were waiting for — the Conquering King who would thrash the Romans and rule the world from then on out.

But Jesus came to destroy such a larger foe than a piddley little, world superpower. Jesus said, No I am here to defeat sin and death and save you – not from the Romans but from an eternity apart from God.

Listen God’s plan includes your little problems here, but His plan is so much bigger than just that and so much bigger than just me or you. The beauty of the Gospel is not that it is about us.

The Gospel is all about glorifying God and the Beauty of the Gospel is that we – you and I- get to be a part of it!

With that in mind, with the truth that Jesus is enough and that Jesus is Lord and that He calls all the shots He turned from just Peter and turned to all who could here. He turned to the disciples and the crowds nearby and He calls to us 2,0000 years later…


Brothers and sisters, the Gospel of Mark is the Good News about Jesus Christ. I want you to see Him for who He really is, not as a caricature that we have painted, but as the living breathing incarnate God of the Universe.

See Him as God, who is Holy and completely glorious, yet humble enough to stoop down to our level. He is the God of Judgment and the God of Grace. He is the God of truth and the God of compassion.
He will not conform to your will, but by the power of the Holy Spirit we pray that you will transform your heart and mind and life and mission to His will.

He is worth it, He is wonderful, He is Good and He came down to us to restore us and save us, Praise His name!

We’re almost done. Before we go I want to encourage you to start reading through this gospel. A real heavy hitter can make their way through in a day. I would encourage at least one chapter a day.

Just read it once for big picture understanding and then start digging deeper, reading slower, reading prayerfully, and meditating on the verses. Chew on the words of this gospel like a dog gnaws on a bone. Get all the nutrients for your soul that you can.

Email me with questions when you have them. We will start from verse 1 next week and move forward together.

I also want to encourage you to bring others to join us.
This book, the Gospel of Mark is known as the evangelistic gospel (as if the others are not) So bring a friend, preferably non-believers and we’ll minister to them with the word.

And also, encourage your friends from other churches to come out and join us in mission down here in this area. We are praying for a Children’s/Youth leader. I believe God will answer that call. But I also want to spur you and your friends on to good works in this area.

Bring them down and start breaking out on mission together in small groups. Find ways to use your gifting to love Walnut and East streets, Aulenbach and Spring. I’m not even asking you to don the badge of the Church in the Grass. Just Go and make disciples, go and love people, go and help people while speaking the Gospel to them. Start doing prayer walks and pray with me that Madison and Jefferson County might be the place that God brings another great awakening of faith.

As the gospel of Mark penetrates you, I pray that you and your brothers and sisters would get out of the locker room and into the field.

How do you learn what it is to be a disciple of Christ and how do you learn to disciple others in Christ, by doing it.
Let this series be a starting point for what God wants to do through you and your family and friends and this church to shine His light in the darkness here.

Communion…
Let’s pray…
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Don't Be a Fool #7

Don't Neglect Your Mission!

Let's Pray...
Okay, tonight we will finish the Don't Be a Fool series and I am not starting in Proverbs tonight, I am starting in a familiar passage from Psalms 51:1-15. We've read through this at least 4 times in the last year and I'm going to take you back to this at least as often as you hear John 3:16. There is so much clarity here, let's just go through it. (Read, then unpack 1-2; 13-15)

1 Have mercy on me, O God, 
according to your unfailing love; 
according to your great compassion 
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity 
 and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, 
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned 
and done what is evil in your sight, 
so that you are proved right when you speak 
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, 
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; 
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; 
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; 
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins 
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, 
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence 
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation 
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, 
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, 
the God who saves me, 
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, 
and my mouth will declare your praise.
After David begs God for forgiveness for his sins, including adultery and murder, he says, THEN I can go and tell others about the goodness of God.

That's what I want to press into tonight. I want to push you – YOU – to realize that biblically you were not simply saved FROM your sins and the punishment for those sins. No you were not ONLY saved FROM that; you were also saved TO serve God, specifically on mission to carry the Good News – the Gospel to the lost locally and globally. And not only that, not only to make converts to Christianity, though that is key. You and I are commanded by Jesus to make disciples.

So the message is Don't Be A Fool: Don't Neglect THE Mission. Let's turn to Jesus now and see where we are going...

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

We know this passage. We can recite this passage. But are you LIVING this passage? Honestly, to ALL THE NATIONS?
Jesus, who died for you and me, Jesus who has complete authority over EVERYTHING in the Universe, including the ocean tides and the rotation of the earth and the path of comets through space and the functioning of the our hearts and lungs and minds to keep us alive – THAT JESUS was very clear. He didn't stutter, He didn't say if you feel like it, HE said, John, Peter, Bart, Thomas, Ryan, Mike, Ken, Andrea – ALL OF YOU, Go and make disciples!

That's why He came down from Heaven; to begin the movement with that rag tag bunch of disciples in a backwoods part of the world, he said I've started it and now I'm going up to the Father and I'm giving the gift – giving the MISSION - of Kingdom building to you.

Jesus said, I'm starting local, and you and I are going to take it global, we are going to take it to the Nations! The Nations doesn't mean this country and that country, it means every people group. EVERY people group.

Just looking around here in Madison, Hanover, Jefferson County and Indiana, we've got hundreds of people groups: including the jocks and preps and geeks and Emo kids and teachers and cooks and janitors and administrators in the schools and to the haughty-doughty rich folks and the down-and-out cast aways in the city and to the farmers in the country and the racists and the bigots, and the drunks and the addicts and the homosexuals and the adulterers and the captains of industry and the community leaders and the jailers and the prisoners and the countless unsaved church-folk, and the republicans and the democrats and the libertarians and the unaffiliated and the animal lovers and the animal abusers and the child abusers and the spouse abusers and the sick and the dying and the old folks in the nursing homes and it goes on and on and on.

All the Nations means all the people. We, YOU and ME are called out of our sin and called out of our path to Hell and we are saved into the family of God by the grace of God SO THAT we could show others the way to the path by sharing the good news, Amen?

And while there have been major blips on the radar where growth has been ridiculously fast and hard to track, it all comes down to someone SPEAKING the Gospel and lost people being saved through hearing and believing in Christ.

Now, we're going to jump around to some different passages in the Bible. This collection of 66 books in one binding is where we find God's perfect will for you and me and His people.

You want to know God's will for your life? It is SO much BIGGER than what house you buy, what college you go to, where you work or even who you marry. All of that falls into this: How can you glorify Him most?

For some of you it MIGHT mean a fairly “normal” life with a 9-5 job, 2 and a half kids and a dog. That might be God's will for you.

But some of you might spend 70 percent of your time in a tour bus.

And some of you are going to see the meaninglessness of all the stuff you've accumulated and the dissatisfaction of all the things that you've pursued in the past and you're going to declare- maybe this week – maybe TONIGHT – you are going to declare that you will not waste another moment on you and that you are going to pursue full time ministry, as an oversees missionary, or as a soup kitchen administrator or something else.

Now that was a little rant of where you are going and who you are going to. But again, getting people saved is not the end all and be all of the Mission any more than giving birth is the end of your duty as a parent. That's the beginning.

In Matthew 28, Jesus is talking to His disciples and He doesn't tell them, go and get them to say a sinners prayer for salvation or fill out a card or come to an altar, No! He says Go and make disciples.

To understand that we need a working definition of disciple. What is a Disciple?

Matthew 10:24-25a (ESV)
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like the master.

We are to teach people to be like our teacher, like our master (or Lord), we are called to teach people through the Word and the leading and enablement of the Holy Spirit to be like Christ, and not the world.

Now, you can't do that, you can't give away something that you aren't. So first YOU have to be a disciple.

When life comes up against you – whether that means a deadbeat husband, or a misunderstanding wife or a string of bad health or losing your job, or family – you know just family being family – or whatever else, YOU are to respond like your master, like your teacher, like your divine and perfect example.

YOU respond like Christ. That is what it is to be a disciple. Back in the day, the way you could tell what rabbi a disciple followed, was by listening to the way they talked, and taught and watching how they acted.

It's like my son is physically recognizable as my son because of his facial features. That is similar to how a disciple is known to be with a rabbi. And more importantly, that is how we are to be recognized as followers of Christ.

To be a disciple maker you have to be a disciple.

Now some of you might write this message off right here and now and say, “Well, I can't do it because I keep messing up.”

If you say that I'd say you haven't read your Bible. You see, in the church we sometimes like to put the disciples up on a pedestal. You go down to one of the churches here in town and look to the ceiling and what do you see, the names of the Gospel writers and they have pictures painted next to each name of lions and other mighty animals and next to each name it says “Saint” and so we look to the first Christians and say, well I can't be like them they're mighty saints, I'm a fumbling failure who falls into the same sin over and again.

But, if you read this for yourself, just read through the gospels and the book of acts to start, and you will see God using a bunch of morons and sinners to push His kingdom forward.

Then, even if you want to self-deprecate and call yourself a failure, a moron or a rotten sinner, I'm not going to coddle you, I'm going to say awesome, that's the same type of people I want you to reach with the Gospel.

Let me ask you this, how many times will preachers have to remind us that all of history all of creation, all of the Bible and all of your life is about Jesus before we believe it?

I had to ask myself this question in the mirror this week, “Ken, how many times do you need to be reminded that this is not about you? Ken, I said to myself in the mirror, you are a piece of the puzzle, it is so awesome that God is letting you be a part of the big picture of redemption and reconciliation of the world. Ken, get over yourself and get back on mission.”

Like I tell myself, Jesus didn't give you an out because you don't feel adequate. He said, YOU! GO and God's strength will be seen in your weakness.

And here's the other deal. We had a major hurt in our family this week. We thought that we were going to be able to bring Monica's cousin into our family and it fell through literally less than a day before she was supposed to bring her home from Iowa.
Now, we had prepared our home and our hearts and we had made all the arrangements and we were expecting this blessing. And for reasons we may not know on this side of Heaven, God has chosen for this not to happen. At least not yet.

So, on Saturday night, I'm trying to prepare this sermon and get ready to preach a different sermon at Kent Baptist Church that Sunday.

But all I wanted to do was stew in self-pity and anger toward the other people involved in the process and on and on and poor little Ken, right.

But, God didn't say, Go and make disciples when you are feeling okay and everyone is following your plan and life makes sense. No, He said go and Make disciples and by the way, He also said over and over that if we carry out this mission, we are going to be persecuted for the faith we are proclaiming.

That hardship above and beyond the trials of the workaday, non-Christians of this world.

Through the trials, we push on in the mission to go to all the world and make disciples.

So, how do we do it? How do we make disciples?
We baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and we teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded.

First let's look at Baptism.
In Acts 8, as soon as Philip explained Christ to the Ethiopian and the man believed, he right away found some water and asked Phil to baptize him.

In Acts 10 the gentiles began showing evidence of their faith and because of their faith Peter was like, let's get some water, God is with them so let's go. And Cornelius and his crew were baptized.

And later as soon as Lydia and the jailer in Acts 16 believed, they were baptized, they went public with their faith.

Now, we could argue all night about baptism, but here's the point, it should be a starting point of your Christian walk. If you believe and can profess your faith, we are going to celebrate that and obey God and baptize you. You don't have to go through a class or jump through any other hoops that the Bible doesn't require. If you are ready to confess that you are a sinner and you are trusting in Jesus alone to save you and you are ready to sell out to His Lordship in your life, then praise God, let's get you in the water.

Again, this is a first crucial step in the mission. YOU as a believer should be walking with people in Gospel intentionality to bring them to faith and then get them to the water, Amen?

But don't stop there. Again, if you have a newborn baby and you just give him a book and best wishes, that kid is going to die. We are told to keep walking with our new believers and discipling them.

This is why the Billy Graham crusades had so many people working behind the scenes. They knew that a lot of new Christian infants were going to be born, or more correctly born again, born of the Spirit, so they wanted to point them into a family, a church that could care for them.

Discipling is a long process. Just think about where you were as a young believer and where you are now. It's a process and even for those of us who have been around for a while, the process is not over.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) says it like this:
(by we Paul is saying those of us who have been born again, those of us who are in Christ)

Paul is saying we have had the veil of sin soaked spiritual death removed, we have been made alive in Christ through faith. And we know Scripturally that as we continue to kill the residual sin that hangs on us on this side of eternity, we still don't see God perfectly.

But as we continue to walk in God's light, as we are discipled by the perfect teacher and Lord, Jesus Christ and made more like Him, He will make himself clearer and clearer, in ever increasing glory.

This is a process folks. A beautiful process. And as you and I walk with Him and see him clearer and clearer, it WILL create in us a passion to show others what we have found.

Last week, Andy said that anger is a “whole-body response” that is usually negative, and we are usually so gripped by that anger that we let others know about it .

In the opposite direction, our mission as Christ followers is a whole-life response to the Holy Spirit's work in us to reflect Christ. As we are discipled by the Holy Spirit and by mentors in the church, we will become so gripped by Jesus Christ, that we will be compelled to let others know about it and show them the road that can bring them out of their lostness.

So here we are, in 2010, almost 2,000 years later and the call of Jesus to the first disciples is the call to you and I, the newest wave of the Way of Christ. Go and make disciples, lead them to faith through the proclaiming of the gospel (God made everything perfect, we sinned and broke it and brought on the punishment of death, He promised a savior, Jesus came and redeemed us and paid our sin debt at the cross and has been reconciling His people to himself by faith –through the work of the Holy Spirit ever since.

How? You might be asking, I am praying that you are asking that question right now. I am praying that you are not saying yes, but I've got my own stuff to deal with. I'm praying that you see this Call, this command from Jesus as the Point of your Life from here on out.

Actually if you are still wrapped up in you, I want healing in your life, so that you can get back on mission, but if there is no desire, if there is no prompting of your soul to reach out to the lost because your stuff is so much more important, then let me just drop a quote from a guy who was a lot more bold than me, in a sermon from March 1873, Charles Spurgeon said, “Every Christian is either a missionary or an impostor.”

If you say you love Christ, but do not love your brother, The apostle John wrote, you are a liar.

And if you do love your brother you will do what ever is in your power to share the Gospel, that God uses unto salvation from sin and death and Hell.

Jesus taught it this way, if you see a man beaten and bloody you get down into the mess and you put yourself and your comfort aside to be the good Samaritan who gives the salve that heals. What's the salve? It's the Gospel. The gospel SPOKEN into the lives of the lost.

It is vital that you care for their physical needs as you are able, but never do so without also Speaking the Gospel.

Now, you may have bought into the live the Gospel only teaching and I'm here to say that is bunk.

How important is the Gospel proclamation? Do we
really need to say it, or can we just “live” the Gospel?
I believe that we do need to “live discipleship”, that is the ongoing work of growing the Christian into Christ likeness, but the power TO SAVE, the first piece that everything else spring out from, that power is found in the Gospel proclamation:

In Romans 1:14-17 Paul says it like this:

Romans 10:8b-15

Now listen, this is key. Once you hear this there is no longer any excuse.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Brothers and sisters, consider yourselves sent.
Go, tonight tomorrow and for the rest of your life and LIVE ON MISSION!

You will do this badly at first, but, you learn by doing. Start small, start by bringing people to church here next week or to another Gospel saturated church on Sunday.

Or start by taking one nugget of this sermon or your quiet time in the word and starting conversations with the lost people around you. (And assume everyone is lost, as a Christian I am always happy and blessed to hear the gospel again outside of the church walls).

OR start looking at the biblical pattern of creation, the fall, redemption and restoration and look to the complaints, and worries and praises of your friends and family – all the while listening to how their present circumstances fit into God's story of salvation.

It will be awkward, some people may start to shy away from you, but – in ever increasing glory – you will absolutely begin to feel alive in Christ when you are doing what He has called you to. Just keep pushing to greater things by the power of Christ.

When it gets hard, call me and I'll encourage you and as needed, I'll advise you. But see yourself for who you are: An agent of Christ, on Mission to save sinners like you and me from Hell by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel.

Let's pray...
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Jun 12, 2010

Don’t Be A Fool Series #6

Don’t be an Angry Fool

Eccl. 7:9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

Tonight’s topic is one that I struggle with every day – anger. I have struggled against anger for a long time, though up until now I haven’t really given it much thought. I always wrote it off as an “ugly” emotion – one that everybody has and something that as Christians we just need to deal with. Anger, however, is much more than that. As we’ll see in the scriptures, how we handle anger determines whether or not we are being fools.

So how should a Christian handle anger? Let’s find out…

To start with, we need to look at what anger is, and it is more than just a mere emotion. As described by Robert D. Jones in his book Uprooting Anger, anger is “our whole-personed active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil”.1 A lot more than a simple emotion – anger involves our whole being. It is our reaction to a perceived wrong – either against us personally or someone close to us.

And it is very much physical. When I start to react in an angry way, I can feel my whole body tense, I get hot, rational thought starts to go out the window, etc. There are many phrases about anger that paint a picture of the physical reaction: our blood boils; we get hot under the collar; we are hot-tempered. The real danger is if anger is not brought under control, then our reaction can quickly get out of hand. Sometimes we hurl ugly, nasty words; sometimes we go silent and kill with our eyes; or smash walls with our fists; or try to harm each other.

But let me be clear – what I am talking about here is unrighteous anger. There are many examples throughout the Bible that describe God’s righteous anger – when his people (us) disobeyed His commands and deliberately went against His will. If I am honest with myself, I have to admit that my anger is not righteous – not sure I can think of a single example when it was.

Anger is a heart issue – it is something that comes from within, it is my response against something I perceive to be “evil”. Whether or not I have actually been wronged is a whole other question. The first thing I have to do with anger is understand that it is mine alone. No one, nothing “causes” me to be angry; it is a choice, a reaction.

Let’s look at our passage again, starting with the first half –

Eccl. 7:9 a) Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit

As Christ’s followers, we are not told to be without emotion. Just like every other human, Christians experience feelings of love and hate, joy and sorrow, compassion and indifference – and that’s okay. What we are told, though, is to keep our emotions under control (do not be quickly provoked). On the topic of anger, the writer of Proverbs puts it this way.

Pr. 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.

Giving full vent to my anger is a bit like a truck losing its brakes as it comes down the mountain – I lose all control and the anger takes over. If we allow anger, or any other emotion, to take hold of us or to own us, we are opening up the gates for sin. We are walking into bondage – giving up control of our hearts and minds (and therefore our actions) to our emotions. Our anger can also draw other people into the fray, expanding the damage the sin does beyond ourselves to those we love, and to those who just happen to be near us. Our anger (in the right circumstances) can whip others into a frenzy, turning a group of otherwise rational people into an angry, irrational, uncontrollable mob. A mob bent on death and destruction, and not likely to be stopped by words. Worst case scenario? Maybe – but plenty of examples throughout history where angry rhetoric has started people down the path of unimaginable horrors (Spanish Inquisition; Salem Witch Trials; the Holocaust; race riots). Again, the writer of Proverbs warns us of the hazards that anger presents -

Pr. 29:22 An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.

When I look at those times where I have been hot-tempered, I can indeed see the sins I have committed. But as I looked closer, one sin that popped out was one I had not ever really considered before – idolatry. That seems like an unusual sin when talking about anger, but it becomes clear when I think about the times I have allowed anger to take hold:

  • That jerk in the sports car who just cut me off
  • When my boss criticizes my work or overlooks me for the promotion I so obviously deserve
  • When my kids disobey or talk back to me, when they show disdain for my rules
  • When my wife doesn’t follow my plan for the day

Where my anger is concerned, it’s all about me!!! Just like Ken talked about last week with money, we sin when we shift our focus off of God and onto ourselves. I am not angry because somebody is blaspheming the name of God (which would be righteous anger) – nothing in any of these scenarios involves God, or Jesus, or His Kingdom, or His will. Instead, I am busy putting myself, my desires above His. I am positioning myself as king and ruler of my own universe. And this is idolatry, plain and simple.

Continuing on with the second half of our passage -

Eccl. 7: 9 b) for anger resides in the lap of fools.

The Hebrew word translated here as “resides” is nuwach. It can also be translated “to sit oneself down” – and for me, this feels like settling in, getting comfortable, digging in, camping out. It has a sense of long-term, if not permanence about it. If we allow anger to settle in to our hearts, we are fools. We are fools because anger leads to so many other sins – in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus puts it this way (Matthew 5):

21”You have heard it said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment’. 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother ‘Raca’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Jesus considered unrighteous anger to be sinful – equivalent to murder. And He warned His followers to be aware of the anger in their hearts so that it could be brought under control and not lead them into sin. In his letter to the Ephesians (Ch. 4), Paul puts it this way:

26”In your anger, do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold.

Remember, our anger is our own. No one, including the devil, makes us angry. But the devil certainly will take advantage of the opportunity, of the sin that can follow anger. And so Paul tells us to make sure that we are in control – that we recognize the anger and ensure that it does not outlast the day. Make sure that it does not reside within us.

Controlling anger, however, is very difficult – at least for me. I think that most of us want justice and fairness in our lives. If someone cheats us out of something (like money), we want that thing restored to us. When a crime is committed, we want to see the guilty party pay the penalty. If I have declared someone guilty, I want the full penalty of law on that person – my anger burns within me.

So as Christians, how should we react? What should we do when our anger stirs? Talking again to the Ephesians, Paul (Ch. 4) said this –

31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, just as in Christ God forgave you.

It starts with comparing myself to the person who I am judging, and then remembering that I am also a sinner. I have sinned and I continue to sin every day that I am alive. And the wages for sin are death. I am guilty. But God!!!

Even though I am guilty, even though I deserve eternal damnation, eternal separation from God. In spite of all this I am saved! God provided for each of us a redeemer in Jesus Christ – a perfect sacrifice in our place so that the power of death and sin would be broken. By grace through faith in Jesus I am saved.

And if I am to follow Christ’s example, I need to examine my anger and then extend mercy, compassion and forgiveness to the person with whom I am angry. Rather than burn with rage and demand that justice be done, I should remember that my life has been spared – my debt has been paid in full – and forgive the wrong (real or perceived) that has been committed.

For me, however, this is easier said than done. On my own, I don’t have the power or strength to bring my anger under control. I need help to keep me from succumbing to anger and sin. So I should turn to the two weapons I do have – the first of which is prayer. Speaking to the Philippians, Paul said this (Ch. 4):

6Do not be anxious in anything, but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

By turning to prayer, I turn my focus away from me and to God (which is where my attention belongs anyway). I can ask God to reveal to me the root of my anger, the sin that is owning me and controlling me. I can ask for God to take the anger away from me and to replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh. I can ask God for the Holy Spirit to give me the power and the strength I need to fight and defeat sin in my life.

The other weapon I can turn to is my church family – here at CITG, this is one of our main focus points. Part of our mission is to show everyone the importance of being engaged in a loving, accountable church family. Very often when I am angry, when I have lost control of my anger, I lose perspective. One way I can sort out my anger is to turn to someone I trust and talk through the situation with them (keeping out names so as to limit the temptation to gossip). Being engaged in a church family gives me the opportunity to speak with a fellow believer about my anger – and it gives that person the opportunity to provide me with the perspective and the truth that I cannot see for myself. To point out that my anger is unrighteous (therefore sinful) and give me the perspective I need so that I can extend forgiveness and expel the anger from my heart. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way (Ch. 10)

23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, bet let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

This serves as a great reminder that we are not alone – we are all part of the church universal. By encouraging each other in love (and being able to accept that love in return) we can gain power from the Holy Spirit acting through our fellow believers.

Last point – if you are a believer, then you are an ambassador of Christ in this world. You and I are called to be the salt and the light – in Matthew 5:48, Jesus challenged his followers to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. In the Old Testament, I found six (there are probably more) separate passages describing God as it relates to anger – here is how He is described in Psalm 86

15But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Even though God is righteous in His anger and just in punishing those who do not conform to His perfect will, God is slow to anger. Unlike me – quick to judgment, quick to anger, slow to forgive. So if I am to imitate God, if I am to follow in his path, then I too should be slow to anger (do not be quickly provoked).

And for me, the key in following God’s example lies at the end of verse 15 – abounding in love. Christians are called to love God and love one another. We are called to spread the message of reconciliation to others, and to demonstrate this in our own lives. Jesus calls us to be reconciled to one another – to forgive those who trespass against us. I am doing this when I set aside my judgment and my anger, and turn to my fellow man with love.

As we leave here tonight, let us remember how not to be an angry fool. Don’t let anger reside in our hearts. Set aside judgment and false righteousness, turning our eyes and our hearts to God and what He would have us do. May we follow the example of our Lord – be slow to anger and abounding in love.

Let us pray…

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Jun 3, 2010

Don’t Be A Fool Series #5

Don't Be a Fool With Your Wealth!
Luke 12:13-21

This is a hard subject to preach on. I don’t ever want to be one of those preachers who can admonish you — who can proclaim the word of God to you in a way that confronts idols in your life — or be a preacher who can talk about something from up here in a way that makes you think that I’ve got everything under control — when I am (or have been) just as foolish about that area of teaching in my own life.

So tonight we are continuing in this series called: “Don’t Be A Fool” and we have been unpacking areas that the Bible tells us that we can either exhibit our God-given wisdom, or we can go into the ditch of foolishness, which time and again leads us away from God and into sin.

So far in the series, we’ve talked about foolishness in our words, foolishness in the realm of sex, and foolishness in who or what or when we listen. Tonight we are talking foolishness with our wealth, we’re unpacking how not to be a fool – or how to STOP BEING A FOOL with your money. And the reason this is so hard for me is that I have got to tell you from the get go; I have been and many times I still am a FOOL with my money.

Even after I came to faith, I was unaware of many of the teachings about money that the Scriptures provide us with and I led myself (and as the leader of my family, I have led us) into ill-thought out debt; into wasteful discretionary spending; and there have been times — in my life as a Christian — that my checkbook would not have corresponded with the generous spirit that we are all called to have if we are Christ followers.

I don’t think I’m the only one. I don’t think that I’m the only one who’s been a fool with his or her money, but before we get to you and all those people “out there”, let’s look and see what God has to say…

We’re going to start in Luke 12:13. And I know we’ve been starting in Proverbs and then leading out to Jesus later in the messages. But this is an area where Jesus specifically hits the fools in the crowd (you and me) with some Gospel, so we are starting and ending with Him. Amen?

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
14 Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" 15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18 "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21 "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Let’s Pray and then we’ll unpack the text…

First off, Let’s deal with the occasion for this teaching that we just read from Jesus. None of us want to be an object lesson of foolishness. None of us want to be the person that someone points to and says, “Look at him, kids. Don’t grow up to be like that guy.”

Now the guy in the beginning of our passage tonight is an object lesson of foolishness that has been preserved for 20 centuries. At least the they didn’t use his name.

Anyway, if you look at the verses leading up to this passage, Jesus is teaching the people these profound truths about their relationship with God and these things about the Holy Spirit – not to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and to depend on the Holy Spirit to give us the right words when we are put in a place where we have to defend ourselves for our faith.

All these big topics are rolling out and then this guy just stops the flow with some off the wall request that has nothing to do with anything that Jesus is talking about. It’s like this kid says, “Yes, yes, kingdom, kingdom, now can you just wait a minute and deal with what is important to me?”

Now, we can read this and see this guy as a kind of fool that we would never be. But SO MANY TIMES, this is us – this is who we are.

How many times does God want to impress something important on our hearts, but we aren’t even listening because we want Him on board with OUR plans and OUR agendas.

Not you? Just think about the Lord’s Prayer. The pattern that Jesus gave us, when He said pray like this.

How many times do we skip the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer, the pattern that begins: Father, may your name be seen as Holy by the way I live my life to reflect you…Please show me how I can be a part of your kingdom mission…Father, show me areas of my life in which I am not conforming to Your perfect will and through a heart of repentance and faith, give me victory over that sin for your glory…
And THEN, AFTER SUBMITTING TO HIS WILL in those areas, praying: Lord, give me what I need for today. Father, continue to bless me and my family with our daily provision of food, shelter, clothing, companionship, mercy and grace…

Instead of that pattern that Jesus laid out for us, how many times do we go to pray – usually while doing something else — and just dive right into the gimme, gimmes focused on our wants more than our needs?

Jesus would say it much more lovingly than I will, but we need to hear, stop talking and open your ears Fool, being a Christian means dying to our agenda and Our missions and getting plugged in to be a part of God’s Kingdom Mission.

With that in mind, with a eye on what came before in the text and with an eye on our own hearts, look again starting in verse 13.

Of course Jesus will come back as the Judge, but at the time of His earthly ministry in the flesh, He was not there to handle family disputes.

But again He did take this to be a teachable moment. Dads and future dads in the crowd, don’t miss teachable moments when you can bring Gospel truths into everyday relevance for your kids and the kids they hang out with. God calls you to man up and pastor your family well. No matter what has happened and no matter what opportunities you may have missed in the past, start today and use your time for Kingdom building in the people closest to you.

If you don’t have any kids, maybe God will call you to be a Big Brother.
Let’s see how Jesus uses this interruption:

Jesus sees into the hearts of all of us. This kid interrupted with a plea for justice, but Jesus shows that the real motivation greed, or some translations say covetousness – wanting what someone else has.


A sure sign that we are not on track with God and that we are foolishly following our real treasure of stuff can be seen when we display a desire to hoard everything we have.

We will not have a heart of generosity that reflects God’s generosity to us. We will not testify with our lives and our actions to the fact that while we were spiritually impoverished, spiritually dead, God generously gave His greatest treasure, His Son Jesus Christ, so that – as He became poor for us – we were able to share in the rich inheritance of eternal life with God in Heaven.

Look at the man’s heart: MY crops, MY barns, MY grains, MY goods…

And does he offer up prayers of thanksgiving to God?
Does he pray for God's wisdom to know what God would have him do with this abundance?

No, just like us so many times, he doesn’t even acknowledge God when things are going well. Instead, he comes up with a plan that allows him to soak up his riches in slovenly selfishness.

And this guy thinks that this is an awesome way to use what he has received.

I don’t know about you but I have been in this situation at a smaller level throughout my adult life.

I’ve never had so much that I didn’t need to work. But, with each new promotion, with each new job that paid more money, with each annual raise, with each debt that has been paid off that allowed for more discretionary spending…

Did I ask God, what can I do for the Kingdom with this extra money Lord? What can I do that will honor you?

Now, I don’t want to paint a totally horrible picture, we have been generous in the past to a homeless shelter that we support, and we do give 10% off the top of all of our income to the local church.

But honestly, the shelter giving is sporadic and the tithe can really become a motion that we go through, a box that we check off on our churchy checklist.

There is still a ton of instances that we don’t ask, “Is this the wisest way in which we could be spending God’s money?”

It’s all His.

Now at this point, I know what you might be thinking, maybe I’m saying we should all wear raggedy clothes, eat canned beans and crackers for every meal and forgo the niceties in life like air conditioning and running water.

That’s not what I’m saying. God has nothing against with you having money or having nice stuff.

But, if the majority of your thoughts, actions and prayers go into holing onto that money and that stuff or accumulating MORE of that money and that stuff, then friends, you are a fool.


Now, I am going to use scripture to unpack verse 21 in a minute, but before that let’s skip down to verse 29 where wraps up this section of teaching about our wealth and our heart treasures. If you don’t walk away from here with anything I tell you then at least walk away with this next passage in your heart.


Don’t be a fool with your wealth. Wealth is defined differently for each of us and the definition tends to change as our circumstances change.

When I was a teenager working at a Chi-chi’s for next to no money, I used to dream about the kind of money that I make now. I thought, If I had that kind of money, I’d be stress free!

Later, I allowed my standard of living to surpass my income and we are in the process of paying down more debt than I care to look at, all because of that past foolishness. And the stress of this income level has surpassed any stress that I had as a teen.

The stress isn’t greater now because of the wealth that God has blessed us with, it is greater because I have been a FOOL with that wealth.

And listen, foolishness with your wealth may wear a different mask than everyone else’s. For you it may be throwing money at the next trinket and the next and the next. Or may be for you it is trips you can’t afford, or spoiling your kids to your own financial hurt.

But, maybe your foolishness doesn’t put you in the poorhouse like it has for some of us.

Maybe your is a foolishness that the world calls wise. Maybe, like the man in the parable, you are saving and saving and being very responsible for retirement or your kid’s college funs, etc.

If that “responsible” money and wealth management is your reason in which you cannot be “rich toward God” as verse 21 says, then you too are a fool.

Now we’re almost done, let’s unpack how to be rich toward God. If you remember, in the Sermon on the Mount series, we taught on a similar passage and I took you to another New Testament book to show hat being rich toward God or “storing up treasures in Heaven” really looks like.

Keep your finger in Luke 12 and turn ahead to 1 Timothy 6:17-19 where Paul explains to the young church leader how to address the issue:


The Bible says, the wise path that we should walk to avoid foolishness with our materials, with our money, with our stuff, is to get out of self and do good, be rich in good deeds and BE GENEROUS and WILLING TO SHARE.

And one last point, a point that I will continue banging into our heads for as long as you let me preach.

We do this because of who we are God’s children. We aren’t doing this for a favorable response to God. We are doing it because of what He has already done and has promised to do. A promise He made before we were ever inclined in our hearts to obey Him.

Before the COMMANDS of 1 Tim. 6:18, we see the reason in verse 17:


And back to Luke 12, in verses 30-32 Jesus reminds us who we are in relationship to the God of the universe:


If you are His then that truth is for you. Your FATHER has been pleased to give you the kingdom, that is everything – EVERYTHING.

EVERYTHING, once it is washed clean of the sin and the brokenness will be yours and mine to enjoy. We are co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

So I am pleading with you and you can remind me of this when you see me acting the fool, please don’t let go of the treasure of the Kingdom for the fading, rusting, deteriorating, not-long satisfying stuff of this present age.

You are a child of God if you are in Christ, There is so much more in store for you.

Let’s pray…
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